Calendar Girl Blog: Invitation to a Ribbon Cutting

I'm a tactile person. So this cyber existence that I lead can be a bit sterile at times. Don't get me wrong, I love working in the blogosphere and cyberspace. But there are times when I'd like to invite folks in for an open house, meet and greet, whine and cheesy sort of thing.

So here I was yesterday, wanting to stage some kind of event for my latest initiative, My Menopause Blog, when I thought...why not have a ribbon cutting ceremony? Quick like a bunny, I went to work. First I rooted through the closet that has no name and found the most fetching chunk of used ribbon I could untangle. Then, I tied it around my computer and well....I don't want to tell you everything. Instead, why don't you attend.

First there was Menopause the Musical. Now there's Menopause the Blog.

Calendar Girl gets clammy just thinking about it.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar,Sue Richards,Blog Guelph

Calendar Girl Blog: Birthday Girl Legs

Not your typical birthday portrait, I realize, but one that clearly shouts out attitude. The legs on the left, were celebrating four dozen years, that's 48 for the math challenged among you, of strutting their stuff. The legs on the right offer a more practical approach to winter in Canada.

Neither set of legs belong to me.

Calendar Girl takes notice of how people approach their birthdays. Being the publisher of the universally used 'time marker', it is prudent for Calendar Girl to be mindful and sensitive to those folks fearful of the approaching years.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar,Sue Richards,Blog Guelph.

Calendar Girl Blog: Birthday Girl Dog

Photo Credit: Sue Richards

Friend Lou turns 6. "The crown is nice, but will there be cake," wonders Lou?

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog,Breast of Canada Calendar,Sue Richards

Calendar Girl Blog: Deadlines

The neighbours house sold. Sign up on Monday. Sold by Thursday.

My 2007 calendar production is moving ahead at a reasonable pace. A few folks were unable to work with my deadlines, which happens every year, but I'm not getting in a knot over it. Why would I want to react to something that I knew was going to happen.

I've learned that people have different understanding of what deadlines mean and if those deadlines apply to them. Eighty percent of the time, my deadlines are met. For the remaining twenty percent, I simply factor in nagging, reminding, requesting, hounding or conversely, forgetting, letting go, giving up or walking away.

You gotta know when to hold, know when to fold.

Calendar Girl wonders what people who miss deadlines believe about deadlines.

Calendar Girl

Calendar Girl Blog: Exciting

This is exciting.

For Calendar Girl at least.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, Sue Richards, .

Calendar Girl Blog: The Daily Grind

No stunning news to report. Nothing shaking in the 'hood' either as you can see. Except, my neighbour across the street is selling her house. $212,000.00 if you're interested.

Calendar Girl IS going out to lunch today with a slew of folk visiting from Manitoba. I'm an adopted daughter of this particular tribe of Manitobians. We will be Thai ing one on.

Yum.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer and prevention, womens breast health,women/’s health.

Calendar Girl Blog: 2007 Calendar Details

This is multi-task day.

1. Confirm dates for 2007 calendar.
2. Confirm receipt of all the model releases and photos.
3. Coordinate model information that appears on the calendar.
4. Send above stuff to Gareth.

Calendar Girl likes doing the nuts a bolts of production. It feeds her introverted side nicely.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer and prevention, womens breast health,women's health.

Calendar Girl Blog: The Funeral

Funerals always leave me contemplative and in need of pausing.

I attended yesterdays event alone. The small crowd was heavy with sadness. Christina's husband pointed out that on one hand, she would have hated the fuss and attention. On the other, likely been tickled.

Not once during the service was the culprit breast cancer mentioned. And yet, this death was so clearly a breast cancer job. A young, smart, health conscious woman who's only clear risk factor for the disease were her own breasts, was dead. We knew 'who done it.' And yet, our lips were sealed.

Christina was not genetically predisposed to this ugly disease. In fact, few people realize that less than 10% of all breast cancers are genetic in origin.

The uncomfortable cause of the vast majority of breast cancer is environmental factors. Modifiable environmental factors. In that, we...you...me can change the environmental factors that are linked to breast cancer. I'm not referring to 'getting more exercise', even though that is a wise choice. I'm talking about the poison we, you and me, manufacture and/or use in our work places, then dump into the environment, our home, every day.

We're killing each other. We're killing ourselves.

Seems criminal to me.

Calendar Girl watched Christina's two young sons flanking their dad. On the count of three, the three guys each placed a single rose in the grave. The younger of the two stood on the side, and leaned over the hole. The older one looked at the blustery sky. Dad turned and reached for a second flower.

Calendar Girl.

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer and prevention, womens breast health,womens health, Christina C. Tyson.

Calendar Girl Blog: Christina C. Tyson

Christina was the only other woman in the Masterminds group. I was nervous, feeling somewhat out of my league, unsure of how I would present my work and excited in the way one gets when reaching for a new branch to swing from.

Will I fail? Will I crash? How weird am I?

It was 2004. I arrived on the steamy July evening and met the evenings host, my mentor who initiated the gathering, one other business man and Christina and her husband. The group had been meeting to discuss their businesses, offer solutions and ideas, support and a good old fashion cheerleading chorus for several months already. I was the newbie, and keen to belly up to a bigger business bar with players that managed businesses beyond anything I'd dare to try.

Christina warmly greeted me and off we went. By the time I left the meeting two hours later, I was pumped. I love discussing and learning about business with smart people.

For several months our Masterminds meetings continued and I could feel my business accruement evolve that much more. But eventually the group folded as groups are apt to do. Occasional emails kept up linked. But our monthly reviews of each others business life ceased.

When I called Christina last May, after learning that she had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, our conversation lingered for only a moment on the nature of her health and then we were off on a business tangent once again.

It was a difficult conversation. I'm no longer innocent to breast cancer and the path the newly diagnosed face. I did not want to avoid a more meaningful discussion with Christina. Nor did I want to add anymore fear to her very full plate. Instead I offered support information for her geographic region and urged her to make contact.

Christina passed away, Tuesday February 14, at 11:54 am. She was 36. She leaves her two young sons, her husband, a dynamic business and a multitude of people that she touched with her friendly, forthright and brilliant light and energy. I will be attending her funeral tomorrow.

Calendar Girl will pursue permission to dedicate the 2007 edition of Breast of Canada to Christina Clara Tyson, 1970 - 2006.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer, breast health,women's health ,Christina C. Tyson.

Calendar Girl Blog: Winter at The Lake

Photo Credit: Sue Richards

This photo has nothing to do with publishing a breast calendar.

"Beyond this point", is the lake, frozen solid, covered in snow.

As a child, my father would drive our family car out to his fish hut, a small wooden structure the size of a garden shed, that included a rudimentary propane stove and a couple of benches. The hut sat about half a mile from the shore of our home on Georgian Bay...the likely depth of the water at that point would have been 10 feet at least.

All my dads buddies practiced the art of ice driving and parking. Occasionally, someone would go through the ice...with their car...My father in fact offered this experience up for our family. He was lucky. The car was not.

A couple of year's ago while doing Art Jam's in Inuvick, North West Territories, my artist companion and I took a $500.00 U.S./ 2 hour cab journey on the frozen MacKenzie River, commonly known as the ice road to Aklavik. Our driver, a young man from Somalia told us that his African mother could not understand the nature of his work. That being, driving a taxi on a river.

Calendar Girl likes ice adventures. Good thing given the weather here.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer, breast health,women's health ,photo,ice road.

Calendar Girl Blog: Photo Contest Couple

A husband and wife 'team' weighed in for the 2007 photo contest. He the photographer and she the model. I chose a series of three of their pics to be featured in March 2007. The following two emails came as response to the news.

Hello Sue,
Thank you for the good news.I like all the photos I sent to your contest, and I think the three you've chosen for the next step are among the best of those. They do show my wife in her natural state (!). Plus, I think she is the prettiest woman I've ever met.
Thanks again.

Hi Sue,
You made my day! Or perhaps I should say, our day! It was Valentine's and everything had gone swimmingly for me. I guess the planets were aligned just right. A great workout with my tennis team, followed by a lunch punctuated with animated discussion about umpteen different subjects, home for a quick nap, then preparing a delicious Valentine's dinner á deux for me and my beau, a spell in the hot tub under the stars, and then we come in to find your e-mail with its exciting news.

I’d been holding my breath ever since we first sent you those photos, not daring to hope one might actually make it into your calendar. And I still can’t believe it. I feel like the young lady in “February 2006”.

My husband is calling me his calendar girl! I am delighted, honoured, and humbled to be chosen among so many brave women. And my hat's off to my photographer who heeded your good advice and never gave up trying to get a good shot.

Later today I’ll send you the information you requested. In the meantime, take care, and thank you, thank you, thank you!

Best regards.

Calendar Girl was not thinking that she was playing cupid on Valentine's Day. What a lovely bi-product of the creative process.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, breast cancer, breast health,women's health, photo contest .

Calendar Girl Blog: Photo Contest Finalized

Finally.

I spent all of last evening contacting the models and photographers that entered to 2007 photo contest. If I've counted correctly, the sixth issue will feature 47 models. Ages range from months old to 72 years.

Geographically, we have British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick weighing in as Canadian breasts to be featured. Women's work included, organic farmer, scientists, grandmothering, health care workers, office personal, massage therapists and more.

This morning, one photographer responded with, "WOW, I am ecstatic". A model offers, "I am honored to have been chosen. Thank you!"

Calendar Girls intention is to include as many participants in each calendar as possible. She is not into rejection but rather subscribes to the premise, the more, the merrier.

Next year's photo contest..for 2008...is awaiting your submissions. The theme is Women on the Move.

Skiing....snowmobiling...mushing...mountaineering...canoeing...twirling with joy...sailing...the list goes on.

Be brave. Use your imagination.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar, Sue Richards, photo contest, photographer, imagination.

Calendar Girl Blog: Happy Valentine's Day

Heart and Snow Angel Design: Katie Saunders
Photo By: Sue Richards

Calendar Girl suggests a creative approach to the day of LOVE. If you can get by the guilt and past the florists, chocolate shops and Hallmark.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, Valentine's Day, snow, photo , love, valentine

Calendar Girl Blog: Out to Lunch

With a weekend that could easily be classified as Aruba-like, my ability to be inside, nose to my blogs, was limited. Good thing too. Today is grey. Arubaness is but a faint memory.

So, given the call of sunshine and snow, friendly K9's and a gal pal set forth for a hike on frozen Guelph Lake, stopping at the boat club for an outdoor feast. I whipped up a tasty pot of macaroni and cheese, with a side of natchos and salsa. Chocolate, oranges and tea finished off the meal.

Calendar Girl is happy to have adventuring friends for just such days. Two other folks appeared over the afternoon. Otherwise, the world was our oyster.

Calendar Girl

Today's Breast Views Headline News: Dead Bra Day Today

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, 2007 Calendar.

Calendar Girl Blog: Until Next Year

Photo: Self Portrait. The end of the crown wearing day.

Calendar Girl had a most satisfying birthday. Birthday week continues for a few more days, but the crown has been returned to its staging area for another year.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, birthday.

Calendar Girl Blog: My Google Guy

My Google Guy, tweeker of my website and personal techie cheerleader, made front page news today. His restaurant review site, Restaurantica.com caught the eye of the local press and whammo, there he is, famous.

More famous that is.

The site allows you, the diner, to review the restaurant you have just dined in. Conversely, you the potential diner can check previously written reviews to determine where you will get the most taste for your hard earned bucks and tastebuds.

Power to the people another words.

Calendar Girl loves to see people she knows and respect do well. She's very proud of Google Guy!

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, Restaurantica, Google.

Calendar Girl Blog: My Birthday Crown

First off, it's not my birthday today. Tomorrow is the joyous day when I officially become four dozen years old.

Being the organized type and so as not to be rushed in the morning I felt inclined to get my birthday girl crown dusted off and ready for it's annual wearing.

I will wear this crown, but not my wig...the wig has other duties to perform on different dates of celebration....all day, everywhere I go from bed rise to bed fall. Last year, while milling about my city, crown enhanced, I was spontaneously taken to lunch. The year before, while out walking with a dog friend in a raging snow storm, crown affixed to my winter hat, a lone dog walker approached through the driving snow. He spotted the crown and stopped dead in his tracks, jaw agape.

It was his birthday too!

People smile. Strangers wish me a happy birthday. I get blessed.

Calendar Girl looks for way to create win-win situations. There are enough duties to living life to render us all dull and boring. Yet it's so very simple, cheap and cheerful to turn life's duties into fun.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, birthday, Calendar Girl Blog, Sue Richards, photo, Birthday Girl.


All About Birthday Week

Calendar Girl Blog: Self and Other Portrait

My Canon A610 has a flip around screen so that you can take photos of yourself. In my case, part of myself plus friends Jane Miller and hubby honey Richard Peters, both sought after actors in Canada. I think they should start the Dick and Jane Blog so that they can squirt their creative juice in everyone's eye, but they seem to like working with warm flesh.

Dick and Jane are brave.

I'm sporting my new hat, bought as part of the pre-birthday week warmup. We are at an Agricultural Arena watching Dog Agility competitions. I have an MPG of one fast as stink dog, taken by Jane, which is swell. I do not have a clue how to make it available to you.

So sorry.

Calendar Girl is pleased to report that calendar sales continue...despite being into the second month of the year. Today, orders will be heading to Montreal, Quebec; White Rock, British Columbia; Inuvik, North West Territories and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, Blog, Canon A610, photo, Jane Miller, Richard Peters.

Calendar Girl Blog: Photo Contest

I'm almost done working out the configuration of photos for the 2007 edition of Breast of Canada.

It's not just a matter of picking 24 photos. Instead, it's more like programming a festival of music. Each photo needs to be able to stand alone for a month at a time, yet make sense as a collection of images. The resolution quality must be high enough for our fine art publishing process. Composition needs to be interesting and fit with our theme and health focus. Then of course I look for variety in body shape, breast size, skin tone and vintage.

Ages that is.

It's a photographic puzzle that needs to be tackled in big chunks of time which can be difficult to find. But find one I did. A big chunk. Now I'm a whisper away from finalizing everything.

Calendar Girl is pleased that so many people bothered to enter the contest. From the images and accompanying notes, it would appear that much fun was had by all.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada, photo contest, body shape, women's health

Calendar Girl Blog: Good Company

I took a break from working on my new url on Saturday and lured friends Richard and Jane from Toronto with promises of BBQ'ed steaks and Blueberry Pie. Such a lively chin wag we had! This following a day of watching dog agility competitions in Orangeville,...a real place, not some imaginary land that I made up.

The lovely and talented Jane Miller captured the moment, in front of the fire. Delightful Richard was on dinner music.

Calendar Girl finds the pleasure of good company to be one of the finest forms of leisure around.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar,photo, Jane Miller.

Calendar Girl Blog: Fear of Fear

I'm up to my ying yang in stuff that needs my attention, that is not this blog.

Until I'm able to reduce the pile to a less frightening level, given my fear of fear, let me offer you a dandy photo of my friends Lou and Tully.

Someone, likely their mother, has used the c-o-o-k-i-e word.

Calendar Girl has noticed that all Labs are capable of incredible focus when the c-word gets thrown around.

Back soon with meaningful breast news.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar.

Calendar Girl Blog: Boys and Boobie Calendars

Following dinner, Alex, 4, asked poppa if he could "look at the boobie calendar again." When told that dessert had yet to be served he claimed that he wasn't interested. Instead, he plunked himself on the couch and poured over the photos lovingly.

Alex was breast fed.

He particularly likes the collage of photos in March.

Calendar Girl believes that Alex is developing a healthy attitude about boobies simply by looking at all the different photos. When he learns to read, it will simply get better.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, breast fed, boobie calendar.

Calendar Girl Blog: Breast Friends

Sean Secord is one of Breast of Canada's Breast Friends. He lives in Whitehorse, Yukon.

On Sunday, he happened to be traveling through Guelph on his way home...yes...a very long drive....so he stopped in for a meet and greet plus a calendar pickup. He took a box of 50 back home with him to help spread the word.

Sean also contributed some of the text in the 2006 calendar. He wanted to draw attention to how men can help their partners with the task of breastfeeding.

I kid you not.

Here's what Sean wrote for June 2006.

What is the father's or partner's role in breastfeeding?

This role is fundamental! The male partner's attitudes are one of the primary factors in whether a woman breastfeeds or continues to breastfeed. Unfortunately, some men view things that they cannot do as unimportant. They may think, or are encouraged to think, that they can only bond with their baby by feeding with a bottle. However, the benefits of breastfeeding are so extensive and range from immunity, to pain relief, to being able to respond to a baby's needs within the baby's seconds-long attention span. Therefore, satisfying the connection between hunger and being fed is easy; simply by dad carrying the baby to mom’s waiting breast when needed. Burping, changing, bathing and cuddling baby are perfect Dad activities too.

Calendar Girl was very pleased to make Sean's acquaintancee, thank him for his help directly, and teach him the Breast Ambassador Salute. Calendar Girl believes that these 120 words of calendar content will contribute positively to family routines across the continent.

Calendar Girl

Tags: Calendar Girl Blog, Breast of Canada Calendar, breastfeeding, Breast Friend.