VernonGirl

Swine Flu Hits Vernon, BC

At around 5:30 p.m. tonight I picked up a message off my telephone that my son's school will be closed until May 8th and that we are not to take our children to public gatherings due to one case of Swine Flu. Wow! I guess me and the kids will be in isolation for one week. I'm not risking taking the other one to daycare. This is scary. We'll see how this develops.

Courtenay

At around 5:30 p.m. tonight I picked up a message off my telephone that my son's school will be closed until May 8th and that we are not to take our children to public gatherings due to one case of Swine Flu. Wow! I guess me and the kids will be in isolation for one week. I'm not risking taking the other one to daycare. This is scary. We'll see how this develops.

Courtenay

Don't extend Spring Break for School District No. 22

School district 22 is thinking of extending spring break by 5 days. As a parent of two children, I appose this notion. I am self-employed, and I have a flexible schedule. But another 5 days out of school would mean either an additional week off work or the need to pay to put the kids into a long week camp, or daycare. Either way, the cost to my family would be at least $300 after tax dollars.

While I can handle it, I’m truly concerned about those parents who don’t have flexible schedules and can’t take the time off. That means that they are forced to put their kids into care. For families with more than two kids, this can add up. Sometimes daycare is really difficult to find too.

What about the working poor, or those who are barely making ends meet each month? It’s an extra burden. For those people who don’t have an extra support system, I am concerned. Many people don’t have family close by to help out. Or what about single moms who are already struggling?

I am already concerned with the number of Professional development days and holidays that the children have. They are out of school a lot and this adds up to a lot of missed days of work.

There has to be other alternatives.

I definitely appose the extension of Spring break. I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Review School District 22's proposal here.Download SD22_Proposed_Calendar0910

Here is a media release the board of trustee sent in April about cost savings. Download SD22_Press_Release_Apr909

Crutches

Talk about embarassing.....

I was warming up my son prior to his whole soccer team arriving to our game last Saturday. I am team coach. He is 8 years old. I am, well......old. Anyway, I slipped on the ball with my left foot and rolled to the right stretching all the ligaments in my right ankle. I had to be helped to the sidelines and waited on. The Assistant Coache's wife ran to get me frozen peas for my ankle, and a chair, since another nice lady named Sandra (I've never met her before in my life, but she  was kind) had already stolen a chair from a poor lady from another team. I never did give that chair back. Instead, I propped my foot up on it.

I feel bad for barking at some lady, right after I fell, for asking me to take my shoe off and sit up. I said, "Are you a nurse." And she said, no. And I said, "I don't think you know what you're doing. I'm not taking my shoe off and I'm not sitting up." (I was in a lot of pain and there also could be some PMS mixed in there.)

Anyway, I stayed to watch the game and cheer our team on. After the game, the Assistant coach drove me home, his wife drove my car and after 3 glasses of red wine and one ibuprofin (I know, you're not supposed to mix them), I felt great. In fact, that's practically the most excitement I've had on a Saturday night for a long time....since my kids were born that is.

Two days later, as I'm writing this, my foot is up and I'm working. Maybe I can slow down a bit. Life has been really really hectic.

In good health, Courtenay

Is blogging for Vernon, BC businesses?

Blogging is a new thing that I'm into. It started for me just four months ago due to the necessity of having to help one of my marketing clients set one up. Now, I'm addicted to it. But, it took me some time to feel really comfortable with the subject matter. I've agonized over what to blog about and when to fit it in. I came to the conclusion that my local community of Vernon, BC deserves to have more relevant information written about it. And now, that information can be accessible on the web.

But is blogging good for your business, even if you're a small business located in Vernon, BC, Canada?

Of course it is, as long as you enjoy writing. And if you don't, well you can hire a marketing company like Lava Marketing to write it for you!

Blogging is really just another way to keep in touch with your customers. It can be set up like an e-newsletter to go right into your customer's email in boxes. Where I find that it's better than an e-newsletter, is that the software allows you to categorize and tag the content so that, as it accumulates over time, you can sort and search it more easily. And so can your customers.

Blogging is also very good for search engine optimization. With relevant titles to your blogs that match your blog content, you can be found more easily in search engines. The more you blog, the better your chances of being found.

Publishing to a blog can be somewhat easy, with a small amount of training, or a little research. However, again, there are companies that will publish it up for you, while you still retain all control and ownership of the content and the subscriber system.

The best part.....is that it's cheap, cheap, cheap. For under $100 per year you can set one up. There are some free ones on the market, but I don't recommend them for reasons I'll go into another time. The biggest investment into a blog is the time to write and post. But if you're like me and you have more time than money, this may be a great marketing option.

cheers, Courtenay Pitcher 

Summer time for kids in vernon, bc

It's time to decide what to do with the kids this summer for the months of July and August. Do I take my youngest out of daycare and save the fees? Then I would need to take the time off work. This would be a loss of income, but it would also be a reduction in costs too. Luckily, I'm self-employed and therefore have the option to do this. I'm leaning in that direction.

But then again, I might go crazy having my two boys home all summer. Either that or I'll become a very great skateboarder and bmx biker hanging out at those parks all day. And, my tan will be great too.

If I was going to put my little guys, ages 6 and 8, into summer camps, the best ones that I've found so far include the Okanagan Science Centre, Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, Vernon Recreation Centre camps, and the Vernon community arts centre.

Free things to do include visiting the skateboard parks, bmx track, hiking the bx creek trail, swimming at Paddlewheel Park (my favourite park in Vernon to go with kids), walking up at Silver Star Mountain Resort, visiting Davison's Orchards, driving to the Log Barn in Enderby to see the goats, and sending them off to grandma's for a week so they can get absolutely spoiled.

It's going to be a great summer!

cheers,

Courtenay Pitcher
http://www.lavamarketing.ca

Buy tickets for Woman of the Year Gala

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009
Place: Best Western Vernon Lodge - 3914 - 32nd Street
Time:  5:30 p.m. Cocktails 6:15 Dinner
Ticket price: $35 includes dinner, international motivational speaker, inspiring stories
Semi-formal

Tickets are available at:
 
Contact: Dr. Krista Ingram, N.D.
Phone: 250-545-0103
Email: doctorkrista@gmail.com
Pick up tickets at 3105 36th Avenue or by the Vernon Women in Business website.

The 2009 Woman of the Year Event will be a gala evening designed to honour the Woman of the Year nominees who make Vernon and area a special place to live. At the gala, one nominee will earn the prestigious Woman of the Year Award. 
 
Nominees are: 
Geneffer Jantz, Barrita Durward, Rhona Parsons, Nancy Wilde, Maurie Deaton, Cullie Dueck, Derryanne Hubbard, Paula Skladan, Vickie Roraph, Nadine Poznanski, Patricia Springborn, Mary Combe
 
The Woman of the Year Event is planned and executed by volunteers made up of members from Vernon Women in Business. Generous sponsorship from VWIB members and the community make the event possible.