Friday, March 27, 2009
Mackenzie and Leo best friends?
Leandro and I had a wonderful visit today. P and her 3 year old daughter, M, came for a playdate followed by lunch. We truly love M. She is a smart little girl, and Leandro get along so well with her. It may be the fact that their are both Aquarius and they knew each other since they were little babies. But it is so fun to hear them both laughing hard, running around the house and giggling about stuff. It was nice to talk to Pam and get her out of the house. P you're real brave lady! Our thoughts are with you always!
We had Coco Brooks Alo Mo Wana pizzas, cheese and carrot with dill dip and potato patties for lunch. And a beautiful fruit salad with strawberries, raspberries and green and red grapes. Hope to see you guys more often!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Happy Planet Index (HPI)
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.
The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness). The resulting Index of the 178 nations for which data is available, reveals that the world as a whole has a long way to go. In terms of delivering long and meaningful lives within the Earth’s environmental limits - all nations could do better. No country achieves an overall ‘high’ score on the Index, and no country does well on all three indicators.
No single country listed in the Happy Planet Index has everything right. We have to acknowledge from the start that while some countries are more efficient than others at delivering long, happy lives for their people, every country has its problems and no country performs as well as it could. Yet, fascinatingly, it is possible to see patterns emerging that point to how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means.
The challenge will be whether we can learn the lessons of the HPI and apply them.
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/map.htm
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wee Wigglers at the Calgary Zoo
Calgary Zoo offers a very interesting program for toddlers called Wee Wigglers. It is not very popular yet. As they had to cancel one of the programs (The Bird one) because there were not enough people interested. But the one Leandro loved the most, was the Insect one. If you know Leandro, you probably know he LOVES bugs! That is right! He LOVES bugs! That day, he got to see a giant millipede.
Wee Wigglers:
Bring your 18 month – 5 year old child for a special visit with some of the coolest animals at the Zoo. Children will get up close and personal with small handleable animals and animal artifacts in a private classroom setting. Everyone can approach and explore at their own pace no matter their age or knowledge level. For these sessions - up to two children per adult is permitted and all children attending must be at least 18 months old. Ticket price does not include gate admission.
You're on Good Company
Another cat, for our cat
from the book 'Cat for Dummies' page 275:
"In addition to the change in human lifestyles, many cats live a life unimagined even a few decades ago: They spend their entire lives inside.
Although this change has resulted in cats who live longer, healthier lives on average than their free-roaming relatives. It also leaves some cats unhappy. And the stress of being unhappy can show up in different ways, including illness and behavior problems. One of the best gifts you can give your indoor cat is the companionship of another cat.
Although not all cats seem interested in sharing, and the introductory period may be rocky, if your cat is alone fo long streches of time, chances are that she'll benefit from having another cat around."
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