PINK Magazine - Vol. 1 May 2012

Vol. 1 - ISSUE 6 - May 2012

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

magazine

One on One Also in this issue...

Women in the Arts Mothers and Daughters New to the Spotlight

A DAY IN THE LIFE | EVERYDAY HEROES | 10 QUESTIONS WITH

Photo taken at The Mercury Cafe

with Belle Plaine

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Features Issue 6 - May 2012

8 4 |

14

A Day in the Life

20

10 Questions With

Val Moker

One on One with Belle Plaine

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

Melissa Mannett

Our Team

In this Issue

Publisher Alison Brochu alison@getcompass.ca

13 Book Club

16 Carol Cairns

Editors Stephen LaRose stephen@getcompass.ca Janelle Haas janelle@getcompass.ca

ART DIRECTOR Mustapha Itani moe@getcompass.ca

Graphic Designers Robyn Tessier robyn@getcompass.ca Kailey Pirlot kailey@getcompass.ca

Office Manager Marilyn MacLeod regina@getcompass.ca

Puts her Heart into Art

18 Cathedral Village Arts Festival 22 Health and Wellness

More than the ‘Baby Blues’

24 Everyday Heroes

From One of the World’s Hotspots to the University of Regina

25 Publisher’s Tribute

Dustin’s Story

26 Home and School Connection

Celebrating the Fun of Learning

28 Mother’s Day Tribute Photo Collage 30 Mother’s Day Recipes 32 All in the Family

A Mother/Daughter Story

34 Dress & Impress at Every Age

Photographer Cover Story: Darrol Hofmeister Sharpshooter Photography (306) 949 9113

Saluting the Best in Saskatchewan Book Publishing

Fashion Column by Riley Lawson

35 Cheating the Sun

Beauty Column by Sara Lindsay

36 New to the Spotlight

Melissa Fiacco

38 Breast Cancer 101 40 The Dynamic Mother/Daughter Duo

Employment Network Canada

twitter.com/pink_magazineSK

Account Executives Alison Brochu - Sales Manager (306) 529 7686 alison@getcompass.ca Janelle Haas - South Sask.

(306) 539 4105 janelle@getcompass.ca

facebook.com/PinkMagazineSK

1920 Francis Street Regina, SK. S4N6B3 • Tel: (306) 585 2064 - 1 (888) 717 6655 Fax: (306) 585 2080 • Email: pink@getcompass.ca • Website: pinkmagazine.ca

Copyright 2011: PINK Magazine for Saskatchewan Women is a Compass Advertising Ltd. publication, published monthly and distributed free on stands across Saskatchewan. All rights reserved by Compass Advertising Ltd. Reproduction in any form of any material in PINK Magazine is strictly prohibited without written consent. Any requests for duplication of any content should be sent to Compass Advertising Ltd..

Compass Advertising Ltd. makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all of the information and ads that we publish. However, mistakes can happen and Compass Advertising Ltd., along with any affiliates, cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions other than the cost of the ad. Compass Advertising Ltd. reserves the right to refuse ads if deemed inappropriate.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

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E T O N r e h s i l Pub

It’s surreal to me, as the publisher and creator of PINK, when a doctor of medicine or successful entrepreneur tells me how they love it, or if I’m at a restaurant and a waitress tells me she loves PINK. If anyone at any stage of their life or career can find something they enjoy in PINK then we have accomplished what we set out to do.

I have to give credit to my staff for the hard work they do to put PINK together. Please keep sharing PINK with your friends. As an independent publication we are solely based on the power of the people and growing stronger to bring you our magazine each month. Congratulations to all the mothers, the step-mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and mentors.

A big thank you to my mother who stood by me through it all.

And happy Mother’s Day to my sister Carolyn.

E T O N ’S R O T I ED

Alison Brochu alison@getcompass.ca

Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom in the world.

Mom, you are the most incredibly supportive ($$$), wonderful, and honest woman and if I didn’t have you to look up to, I wouldn’t be sitting in the position I am today. Thankyou for giving me the inherent ability to wake up every morning feeling loved, and for being my mother, my psychiatrist, my financial advisor, my teacher, and most of all, my friend.

I hope you all truly enjoy this issue of PINK. I wish every mother out there a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, and I encourage everyone to take time on May 13 to thank the woman that brought them here.

Janelle Haas janelle@getcompass.ca

READERS COMMENTS PINK just ROCKS! You have done an incredible job with the magazine and it’s just amazing how everywhere I look – there is PINK magazine! First heard about you through my press contacts, then you started showing up on our boardroom table, then I saw you at my local grocery store and most recently while waiting to get in to see my doctor. PINK is everywhere.

Keep up the great work, your magazine is an inspiration to women (and men) everywhere. I enjoy reading the stories on successful and influential women every month that live right here in Saskatchewan. Can hardly wait for the next issue! ~ Shelly-Anne Mckay

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Belle Plaine The songstress talks about her upbringing, the evolution of her career, and finding a balance when she’s on tour…

Story by: Janelle Haas | Photos by Darrol Hofmeister

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

S

itting at a coffee house in Downtown Regina, looking at a crossword puzzle, Melanie Hankewich asks in a quiet voice, “what’s a five letter word for a German law official?” It’s hard to imagine it as the same voice behind the music: better known by her stage name, Belle Plaine, she’s just released her second album, Notes From A Waitress. As the interview begins, the two personalities, performing artist and quiet intellectual, come together. Before the first cup of coffee is poured, Hankewich begins to share the story of her career’s evolution.

Starting off on the Right note Raised in the small village of Fosston, (attending school in the nearest town of Rose Valley), Hankewich immediately left Saskatchewan after graduation to attend school in Alberta. “I went to music school at Grant McEwan [in Edmonton] and from there I just continued with the arts, eventually moving to Calgary and working in a recording studio. I don’t know why I thought I had to move – I guess sometimes, when you’re young and given the opportunity, your first instinct is to explore what else is out there.”

She became unsatisfied with her lack of passion for her life in Calgary, and took to traveling to sustain her desire for something more.

Ending up in Victoria, B.C, Hankewich was once again reunited with her love for music and came to admire the city’s arts culture. Still eager to travel however, Hankewich set out again, her travels landing her across the world in Australia where she began work as a waitress. It was there that her passion for singing began to develop once again. Many of the lyrics from her recent album came from that period in her life while she was traveling, waitressing, and reconnecting with her love for music.

After spending years away from home, Hankewich made her way back to Saskatchewan in 2006 for what she thought would be “the short term,” to reconnect with the family she’d left behind. But as she began to embed herself in the arts community, the idea of moving elsewhere didn’t really make much sense to her. “Through my work as a lighting technician at the Globe [Theatre, in Regina] I met theatre artists from across Canada. I loved being part of that arts community.

It wasn’t my passion, I knew that, but it definitely showed me what the city (and this province) had to offer. It was kind of what made me stay in the province. The idea of moving to another city and starting over again didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I already had a home here. Especially since the job that I wanted to do, become a professional musician, would require constant transit.”

Six years later and living her dream with a career as a performing artist, Hankewich appears to have made the right decision. “I like it here,” she admits, “It’s a great place to live. It’s in the center of the country, which is handy for touring, and it’s really advancing its cultural presence right now on a wider scale. I think being an artist in Saskatchewan today means a lot more opportunity than it once did.”

The evolution of Writing and Performing

make up her nine-track album. “By 2010, I had been back to the city for several years, and I had wanted to get back into performance. I started composing, and it was important for me to collaborate with someone who I knew could help transform my work into completed songs.” That help came in the form of Jeremy Sauer, Hankewich’s longtime friend from Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton. Both born and raised in Saskatchewan, the two coincidently met a province away while pursuing post-secondary education.

Having always had a great connection and collaborative relationship with Sauer, Hankewich kept in touch with him throughout her travelling years. Knowing that Sauer was back in Saskatchewan at the time of her return, Hankewich was certain that the two could pick up where they left off. She knew, when it came time to putting her thoughts onto paper and her words into a melody – Sauer would be the perfect collaborator.

“Jeremy and I – we always had a great friendship. I wanted to move back and start co-writing with him because I knew, from our connection in the past, that we would be able to pick up where we left off and write music together. He was very encouraging about my decision to take the leap into a full time singing career. We wrote most of the songs on Notes from a Waitress together. I think we understand each other and he’s also from Saskatchewan, so in that sense, I think we have a lot in common from our small town upbringing.”

The Moniker that Struck a Chord The more frequent promotions and attention that she got, the more Hankewich wanted to develop a performing name – a name as easy to recall as her unforgettable voice.

“I was actively looking for a stage name. Hankewich is not easy to remember nor, is it easy to spell. So I was consciously making an effort to find something memorable. I was thinking about it on a drive home from a show in 2009, and I passed the village of Belle Plaine on the Trans Canada Highway. It just jumped out as a really good fit for my music. It provided context about how I wanted to be portrayed as an artist. It had a relationship to the prairies. It was feminine. And I sing everything from country to pop to jazz ,and I feel the name reflects all of these genres. It also has a bit of a double entendre to it, with a contrast between beautiful and plain. It felt suitable of the path I was taking in my singing career and didn’t limit me stylistically.”

Belle Plaine it would be.

Hankewich credits her time abroad and her time with the Globe Theatre Company for advancing her career and developing the lyrics that

ing, “It’s still such a relief to hear that. It’s something you worry about as an artist. You don’t want your songs to all sound the same. But I had a lot of help. I worked with great people. My band was very supportive and offered their ideas while we were in the studio. I think we did ok.

“The album is a reflection of my travels, the scrawled notes and lyrics I was continuously writing. A few of the songs are from a theatre show that I wrote and performed at the Globe with Jeremy (Sauer) called The Unforeseen Journey of Nathaniel Dunbar and Other Tales of Whimsical Sadness. But overall they each relate to traveling in one way or another. Some relate to relationships (be it mine or others) but they took place in other places so it still fits into that travel theme.”

This is one of the reasons why “Notes From a Waitress” became the title track of the album. The song itself is specific to the period of time when Hankewich was waitressing in Australia, and is certainly relatable. The song plays wittily on the vernacular and lifestyle of a waitress. The monotony and the daily chores that reflect the time when a young adult starts to question their future. The lyrics to the title song reflect her own struggle to find something more for herself. ‘And it pains me to imagine these could be my best years yet. Cause I’d hazard to bet, like your dollars and cents, they’re really just misspent.’

Despite the serious topic of the song, Hankewich still keeps the song light-hearted by discussing the humorous things a waitress sees in a day, and its jazzy, up-tempo beat.

“Waitressing,” Hankewich argues, “is a challenging profession. The underlying irony is that you’re basically paid to smile. It changes the way that you interact with people. But I took it as an opportunity to travel abroad, meet the locals and understand the community. When I was working in Sydney, I was in a popular area called Newtown.

Through waitressing I learned about the city and become involved in the culture. The song itself plays with the language that’s unique to waitresses. I think it’s immediately recognized by anyone who has served before. The lyrics are an allegory of the restaurant industry, and how I felt working on a busy weekend.

“Notes from a Waitress, as an album title, unites all of the songs succinctly. I’m playing on the double meaning of notes, whether it’s singing musical notes or writing notes in a journal – the album is reflective of both experiences. What can I say? I like double meanings.”

notes From a Waitress

The art Community

Already on her second album as a professional recording artist (her first album being equally as vivid, Hello from Belle Plaine), Hankewich is eager to begin her latest tour heading east this summer. Performing songs from her newest album, Notes From a Waitress, Hankewich is anxious to see what kind of reaction Ontario and Quebec will offer.

Hankewich has lots to say about the art scene expanding in Saskatchewan. As open and honest as she is with her music, Hankewich is equally as open when showing her appreciation for the support of other local artists and businesses.

Notes From a Waitress is a beautifully arranged album with nine songs in total, incorporating elements of jazz, pop, and country.

Each song different from the next, Notes from a Waitress tells nine different stories of Hankewich’s experiences as a traveller – dealing with every experience from a Saturday morning rush at the diner to a curtain call on a relationship.

“I hope every song is distinct, and yet there’s still flow maintained throughout the album. It was important for me to make sure that each track had its own unique sentiment, its own life. I tried to impart the details of my own life into the lyrics to connect them to a specific time. When we took the songs into the studio we continued that process and used a variety of instrumentation and arrangements to assure that each one had its own personality.”

After assuring her that each song does in fact have its own personality and sound, Hankewich shows her goofy side, exclaiming, “hot-dog!” with a smile on her face. “No, seriously,” she says laugh10 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

“There’s a lot more to it then I saw at first glance. I think Saskatchewan is getting more recognition as an arts centre because we have so many local bands who are touring and subsequently building credibility for other local artists. I’ve had a lot of help from fellow musicians who share venues and contacts from across Canada.

I’m sure rivalry exists, but maybe not as abundantly as in other places. There doesn’t seem to be an overly competitive spirit between bands. I think that has something to do with our small population and a general sense of community as a whole.”

And, Hankewich argues, there are a lot of “doer’s” in Saskatchewan (and a lot of them are women!).

“There are lots of promoters helping artists get exposure and in turn, enriching our lives and careers. They give new artists a place to get started. People like Sandra Butel (Regina Folk Festival) and Carol Cairns (Gateway Music Festival), and Carrie Catherine at the TwoTwenty in Saskatoon. Those are vital support systems – they look for new artists and help them find venues to showcase their talent. I’m sure it’s the same across Canada and not exclusive to Saskatch-

ewan, but for our size I think we have an abundance of people who are looking out for the new artists and helping them succeed.

“I think, in the past, Saskatchewan has gotten a bum rap (from outside the province), as being culturally void. I don’t appreciate that because it’s something you have to combat and overcome as a touring artist. I met a lady in Vancouver and she told me a story about her car breaking down in Regina. She said they didn’t expect that there would be much to do, but she ended up having a great night at O’Hanlon’s and met locals who changed her opinion of the city. That was such a great conversation; she had trouble pronouncing Saskatchewan, which was hilarious to me,” she laughs, “but it was good to hear. I think once people get here, they see how great it is.”

Finding out how other artist’s ingenuity gains them success fuels Hankewich. Showing the sassy and sharp side of her personality, she makes fun of herself by admitting how hard it is to be happy for someone else’s success. “I’m only kidding,” she smiles, “it’s actually really fortifying to watch other artists and see where they’re going with their own careers. It helps me to determine what direction I would like to take and certainly pushes me to keep developing. It’s very restorative to see my peers succeed – it keeps me going constantly.

Sometimes I see others’ successes and think ‘I want that.’ But I think that it ultimately pushes me to work harder. Touring bands like Library Voices, Little Miss Higgins, and Rah Rah are inspiring. I’m really happy for them and grateful for their advice.”

The Calm before the Storm Hankewich and her tour mates are currently taking a few months to relax and enjoy time off before heading east in June of this year. The band will be touring out east and then west again in the fall of 2012. The tour, less than two months away, is about 75 per cent booked already. This is a huge success considering most of those venues have accepted Hankewich through word-of-mouth publicity from audiences and other performers.

Beginning June 1st, the band heads to Winnipeg and then all the way to Montreal, making stops at small venues in towns along the way. They will return to Saskatchewan for a festival in Montmartre in the first week of July, meaning they will spend about five and half weeks on tour. Important to Hankewich as well as the touring band is that the tour allows them to live a semi-regular life.

“We try to live a balanced life. That means not driving eight hours a day between shows. We choose venues really carefully. We try to stop every couple of towns for a performance and we live as regular a lifestyle as we can. To accommodate this, we often create our venues.

We will approach a place (that doesn’t have a track record for doing shows) and try to find something truly beneficial for both of us by creating an opportunity to perform. It’s exciting for them because it’s new. It’s fun. It’s a bit more work for us, but worth it.

“The larger centres are where things get more difficult. There’s more competition because other artists are vying for the same venues. We’re breaking ground on the trip east, so we’re a little bit nervous to see what it will amount to at the end of the tour. When we went west last fall it was that same thing – that little bit of self-doubt. We’ve channeled our anxiety in to planning, rather than just hoping that it’s going to work out.”

The band also plans to play some smaller house shows as well, which Hankewich says connects her to the audience. “It’s a different show in a lot of ways – there’s someone on a couch right in front of you. It gives you a better sense of the people in the audience, much different than a bar. The listener has so many options these days – you really need to go a little bit further than just recording an album. That’s why we take time to do house concerts.

It’s a way to give them something special and thank them for supporting us.

“At larger venues I feel a stronger connection with my band. I feed off the energy of a full house and try to give that back. In a house concert I can connect one on one with the audience. Both have their ups and downs, for sure.”

On a final note, Hankewich mentions one of her favorite memories that she hopes will be recreated this summer.

“One of my favorite performances was in Wadena. We played in the Chinese/Canadian diner there, and it was just so wonderful. Everybody came for a smorg and show. We turned their regular Saturday dinner into an event. Those are experiences that I live to recreate because it’s something really special for the community and for us. I feel like I’m tapping into my own experience of growing up in a small town, and adding to it, by giving back a little to them. It’s inspiring to them too. We help them to see how easy it is to develop a culture in their community.”

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The Sisterhood If women don’t support other women, we’re never going to get the equality we deserve in this world!

That’s a big statement, and certainly here in Saskatoon the opposite is true … most of the time anyways.

I was recently invited to a screening of the documentary ‘Miss Representation,’ hosted by the wonderful and inspiring Betty-Ann Heggie. If you haven’t seen or heard of this documentary, I suggest you watch it. It’s relevant to you if you are a career woman, a mother, young or old, at the beginning of your work life or closing in on retirement. It raises many interesting questions pertaining to the modern American (and Western) woman.

I’m of the belief that the USA is uniquely positioned in the Western World as the worst place to be a woman in politics or business. America is one big contradiction: Utah versus Vegas, porn industry versus ultra conservative, Silicon Valley versus Amish … from one extreme to the other. This causes confusion in the minds of the people of the nation as to what a woman’s role is, and where her ‘place’ is.

Canada, on the other hand, is less restrictive and much the better place to be a female, so a lot of the extremes mentioned in the documentary are less likely to happen on a regular basis here. However, one happens here just like there, and that’s women actively not supporting other women.

If you’re lucky enough never to have been a victim of this, you are fortunate. Most women I have spoken to about this agreed that at one time in their lives they’ve been a victim of a hate campaign from another woman or group of women, in the work place or at school, within their social spheres or family circle. Women, when they decide to be nasty, are definitely WAY nastier than men, and they also seem to be able

to rally other women to join in their hate campaign.

In this modern world of social media and the internet, the effects can be devastating to the targeted individual. I saw this written on the door of a bathroom stall recently in Saskatoon, and it impelled me to write this article, as it illustrates perfectly what I am talking about. I think you’ll agree this kind of thing wouldn’t appear in a man’s bathroom stall!

What starts it? Perhaps you’re too pretty, too smart, too fat or too thin, perhaps they don’t like you being more successful than they are. Maybe their husband once made a comment about how great you looked at a work event. Maybe you don’t ‘fit’ into their moral code, or maybe they don’t consider you a good parent, wife or co-worker. Whatever it is, and wherever it is, once it’s started it can be very difficult to shake off! I’ve seen and heard of women leaving their jobs and even divorcing because of it!

Women already fight an uphill battle to be taken seriously and to enjoy the same success as their male counterparts. We all need to start standing up for our sex: calling out the bullies, and letting them know that this ‘high school’ behaviour is not only horrid for the person targeted, it’s very damaging to all of us! We need to all do what we can for the benefit of us, our daughters, and the next generation of women. If we want true equality at work and at home, each of us has to be accountable for our own part in this cycle. We need to change how we do things. If we are truly sisters, then we need to all start acting like sisters, and look out for each other.

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BOOK CLUB Stephen Larose

Saluting the best in Saskatchewan book publishing For the past 19 years, Saskatchewan’s literary

community has celebrated its best and brightest at the Saskatchewan Book Awards – and April 28th at the Conexus Arts Centre was no exception. More than 300 people came to honor the best in Saskatchewan literature, and for some of Saskatchewan’s women authors, it was a bit of a gold rush.

Co-authored by University of Regina art history professor Carmen Robinson, Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers received three awards – the Regina Book Award, the Scholarly Writing Award, and the First People’s Writing Award.

The book, co-authored with Luther College professor Mark Cronlund Anderson, studies how Englishlanguage newspapers have portrayed aboriginal peoples throughout Canadian history.

Adele Dueck’s fourth book for children and teens, Racing Home, took home the Children’s Literature Award. Racing Home tells the story of a young Norwegian boy who moved with his parents at the turn of the 20th century in Saskatchewan, and the life of a pioneer in the new west.

Thelma Porier’s Rock Creek Blues received the Poetry Award.

The Saskatchewan Book Awards annually presents 14 awards to salute the best of Saskatchewan’s writing in fiction, non-fiction and poetry, as well as the best of publishing.

The Saskatchewan Book Awards is the only provincially-focused book award program in Canada, and a major promotion for Saskatchewan’s literary community Award winners are determined through a jury process of acclaimed Canadian writers.

While it was the 19th time the awards have been held, this year’s event marks the first time it has been held in the spring, rather than at the end of the year. “You know,” said the night’s master of ceremonies, Sheila Coles, “when this event was held in November, in previous years, it was a time when you could do all your Christmas shopping – you could get the books and give them to your friends. With the awards gala in May, maybe people can do their Mother’s Day shopping!”

Anne McDonald’s first novel, To the Edge of the sea, possessed an unlikely subject for readers – the Charlottetown Confederation Conference of 1864 – but her work was good enough to receive the First Book Award.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 13

One of Canada’s pre-eminent artists of rural and ranchland Saskatchewan shares her story - this time with words, not with a paintbrush.

When you come through the front door of Val Moker’s home and art studio in south Regina, the first or second pair of eyes glare through you as if they’re powered by laser beams. No, it’s not Moker, nor is it her little five-year-old dog: it’s a painting of a cowboy, staring warily upon you.

He’s dressed straight from the Sam Elliott/Jeff Bridges School Of What A Cowboy Should Look Like: a long black drover, big scarf, cowboy boots and spurs, wide-brimmed hat. He gazes at you in a side profi le – almost the same way a bull looks at you. The bull does that to show off his size, to let you know that he’d rather keep his distance. This cowboy may be more comfortable in the world of cattle, but there’s a person here, and the cowboy is at least trying to be sociable …

“There are cowboys in Saskatchewan who never come to the city. They’re just so used to living on the land and the lifestyle of a cowboy that they hate the city and what the city has done,” says Moker. And she wanted to paint someone who embodied that life.

“Shakespeare once said, ‘all the world is a stage,’” Moker says towards the end of her interview. But, in her case, the world is a canvas. “People wear masks, they wear costumes, to describe who they are and to conceal as much as reveal,” she says.

Who Val Moker

Where Her home and Studio in South Regina

When April 17, 2012

Writen by Stephen LaRose

“The job of an artist – my job – is not only to show what they want to reveal, and what they want to express, but also revealing what they’re wanting to conceal, even if they don’t know what they’re doing.” That’s what makes her painting, titled “Leave Your Boots At The Door ” so … eerie? More human than human? Whatever it is, it makes the painting into a masterstroke.

Welcome to the world of Val Moker – it’s a world she both inhabits and creates. The one time Saskatchewan farm girl is now an artist who has gained national and international renown for her artwork, appearing everywhere from Cowboys & Indians Magazine, to Hollywood’s Golden Boot Awards, sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

She’s completed commissions ranging from the Kidney Foundation of Canada to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in the United States, to Government House in Saskatchewan.

She won the “Best New Artist Award” at the 1999 Calgary Stampede, the “Peoples’ Choice Award” at the Canadian Portrait Academy, and has received citations from the Will Rogers Medallion Award from the Academy of Western Artists in Oklahoma. And though she paints on commission - she’s currently working on artwork for Government House. So, what’s the typical day like for Val Moker? Or any artist? It’s a question that makes her chuckle. First of all, she says, the work of someone in the arts and someone in business is quite similar. Art, she says is quite a bit like what Thomas Edison once said about invention – it’s one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. It’s consistency – doing good work on a reliable basis – that attracts the customer to the producer, whether you’re making a painting, a meal at a restaurant, or a preparing someone’s tax return.

“I don’t think there’s a typical day in the life of an artist, especially my typical day,” Moker says. “I treat it as a business. Most of the time I’m painting, but if I get an email from a client

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

who’s interested in seeing my work, I make time to reply. Once I take my dog for a walk and get the kids to school, I get to work: eight to 10 hours. I treat it as a job. And if I’m feeling inspired maybe I’ll work into the night when the kids are asleep. If I’m inspired and want to work at 10 o’clock at night, I’ll work at 10 o’clock at night.”

As well, she’ll spend a lot of time at work, but not in the studio.

She will be spending her time researching the figures and people she wants to paint. For example, she discovered the subject of her cowboy painting during a rodeo in Qu’Appelle. She and her family often attend rodeos through southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Manitoba. That day, she saw the cowboy from a distance, and traipsed through the mud and cow manure to find him (“I’m a farm girl,” she says. “That doesn’t bother me.”).

The search was made a bit more difficult when the subject was, at first, kind of standoffish. “He was saying, ‘Oh, I don’t know why you’d bother,’” Moker says. But they made a deal – she’d wait until the end of the rodeo to take the photographs she needed to capture his essence, allowing her to begin painting. But he didn’t show up for a while after the rodeo, and she feared that he had backed out. But he did, and after a few more minutes of coaxing, she snapped the pictures which she used as a guideline and an influence on the painting that now hangs in her living room. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then that painting could tell a novella.

For her, it’s all part and parcel of the process.

“I love art. I have always loved art. I won my first art competition when I was six years old. We lived in Kamsack, and the topic was

“what does Christmas mean to me.” I drew everything – Santa, the baby Jesus, the angels – on this piece and I won five dollars. From that day on, I always had a passion for art.

After high school, Moker attended the University of Saskatchewan, intending to get a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. However, her ideas of what constituted art conflicted with the school’s art teachers, who were more interested in modern and abstract art. She switched to education and became an art teacher, first working in Big River, then in Prince Albert.

And the passion for the old West? “It’s where I’m from. It was where I grew up,” she adds. “Growing up on the farm, we would go to rodeos … these people are the core of Saskatchewan. It’s what I recognize. It’s what we recognize.”

And she’s found an audience who shares her passion. “Who buys my paintings? Well, who buys books or CDs? People who think what they read or what they see speaks to them.

“It’s kind of interesting. I keep hearing from a younger generation – they talk about buying in art as an investment – they’re investing in art. They’re tired of going to the discount stores and department stores to buy reprints. I ask them why they like a particular piece and they say, ‘because, after a hard day’s work, it’ll make me feel good.’”

“So, who buys my art? People who get something from my art. I’m giving them that feel-good moment, or they understand what the painting is about.”

Pink Magazine is looking for passionate writers that would like to contribute to our magazine.

JOIN US

CREATIVE

ConTRIbuTIng

wRITERs If you think you have what it takes, email us a sample of your work at:

janelle@getcompass.ca

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 15

C

Carol Cairns

Puts Her Heart Into Art

by Janelle Haas

When Carol Cairns began to visualize the idea of an art space that would encompass art in all of its capacities – she knew that the space had to be perfect and the timing had to be right. It had to have a feeling to it, a richness and an ambience of cultural vibrancy. Pouring her heart and soul into the venue, Cairns patiently waited for the time when her vision could be created seamlessly.

With an extensive background in the arts, including previously acting as the performing arts coordinator for the Saskatchewan Arts Council and organizing the Gateway Music Festival in Bengough SK., Cairns conceptualized the idea for over a decade before finally committing to its construction last year. Her dream is finally coming true this summer as she and her dedicated team finish up the last leg of the formation of The Artful Dodger Café & Music Emporium, located on 1631 11th Ave., Regina.The Artful Dodger (as Cairns calls it with great fondness) is a licensed café and music venue connected to a contemporary art gallery. Every element of this space reflects artistic focus.

The Artful Dodger, which cleverly shares its name with the satirical character out of Oliver Twist, has no limit to its artistic possibilities.

The building, a work of art in itself, splits into two levels, creating unique dimensions with the use of an artfully crafted ‘wavy wall’ and a strategically placed opening that connects the gallery with the rest of the venue. The idea, says Cairns, was that it had to be large enough to incorporate all the arts, and be able to give people a space to run with their own ideas.

“It [the creation of the space] wasn’t about just me and my ideas,” she says, “It was about me creating a space for everyone, with

easy entrance for the general public, because too often you have an art gallery or an art centre where people feel they have to be an expert on art before they can comfortably enter the space. Here, I want them [the artistic novice] to come for specialty coffees or soups or a wonderful lunch, and in all aspects of the venue itself they will be totally surrounded by art. In the lights, the handcrafted cups and goblets, the tables, and the fresh baking made everyday.

In the bookcases, the stage, and the gallery – artistic elements everywhere. In an environment like this, individuals with all different types of backgrounds will come to understand the importance and power of art – and that’s the biggest thing. It will be a venue for the whole community, first and foremost, with the added advantage of artistic creativity around every corner.”

Cairns’ passion and excitement for the building is contagious as she talks about all of the concepts she has been approached with. Of all the wonderful ideas taking shape in the building, Cairns shows a noticeable affection towards the Café’s library. The library, packed full of donated books, was grounded on a ‘give a book, take a book,’ mentality, where individuals will donate books and in turn, will be able to take new books out of the library. “Already,” she says, “We have thousands of books donated from all genres. What happens is, we get everyone to label their name inside of the book they donate so that their story is left behind for the next person. I love the idea of leaving traces of yourself, traces of your own story in a story, and these books are a bit of a representation of that person. Their story lingers on.”

Cairns is eager about the development of other additions to the building as well. The space provides room for photography (a camera library is also available with old and restored cameras available for rent or purchase), pottery, performance and practice space, recording studios, designing and jewelry studios, as well as open space for further opportunity.

So why does Cairns invest her time in providing a space for others to grow and express their artistic creativity? Because, she says, “There are so many artists in this city that have dreams, but they don’t have the space or the resources to run with it. So, my hope with this project is to allow them to do this. From the beginning, I’ve had the mindset that any idea is an opportunity.”

And she has infinite ideas for the future. The space, which is scheduled to open before summer 2012, already has performance artists booked weeks in advance. Additionally, Cairns has confirmed that in 2013, her company will be presenting the Atlantic Ballet’s Ghost of Violence performance, a contemporary ballet that depicts women who have died at the hands of violence, a show

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

that was going to completely bypass Saskatchewan on its national tour. Performances like this, she states, “Are crucial for people to see. So we do whatever we can to get these wonderful performances to our venue and attempt to make them as interactive as possible.”

The performance space, which is in actuality a commercial venture (owned by Cairns’ and her husband’s Windhover Artists and Events Inc. company), thinks like a non-profit in terms of programming. When artists come through, Cairns says, “We want the community to get more out of it, so we are planning workshops and meet and greets so that people can get the full experience.”

She also plans to partner with the University of Regina, the Kids First program, as well as other local art venues such as the Artesian and the Creative City Arts Centre to really get a fluent arts culture generating throughout Regina and the province.

At the end of PINK’s tour through the venue Cairns mentions, once again, how important it was for her to create the perfect atmosphere. “A space dictates what kind of an environment a venue will have. We have created a space and environment that has no foreseeable end to its artistic opportunities. We will be community focused, and continue to ask our guests what they would like to see. It’s all about opportunity. The whole vibe of the place is very cool, very jazzy, artistic and relaxed. I lived in Chicago and everyone [who has seen it] says that the place has that feel (although it certainly wasn’t intentional); however, it’s also very Saskatchewan too. Local artists, local events, fresh and local food. It’s a little Chicago in Saskatchewan.”

If a space dictates what kind of an environment a venue will have, than the person running the venue dictates the kind of heart and passion is necessary for its success. Cairns’ dedication certainly proves that The Artful Dodger will gain favour, just like the character from Dickens’ classic, as a result of Cairns’ positivity and desire to help others experience art culture in all of its dimensions.

CROSSROADS APPAREL 1920 C FranCis st 306-520-4480 regina sk.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 17

The Cathedral Village Arts Festival

by Janelle Haas

The Cathedral Village Arts Festival is a celebration of local talent,

ing all of the local artists

art, and community spirit, brought to life by a dedicated group of

in the Cathedral area of

volunteer individuals. Their appreciation and love of the arts and

Regina, Mitchell knew

the spirit of the Cathedral area has been reinforced every year for

there was huge potential

the last two decades – and it continues to grow! On its 21st year,

to showcase their talent

the festival’s committee is in full preparation; with 300 spots avail-

through a local com-

able for venues at the street fair, the event has already been sold

munity event. This idea

out. From May 21- 26, in true volunteer spirit, rain or shine, the

sparked

festival committee will bring the festival to life once again.

become the Cathedral

Over the course of six days, approximately 35,000 individuals from the city and around the province will walk through the Cathedral Village Arts Festival, enjoying art in all its various forms. The festival will showcase local artists through music, dance, theatre, film, painting, and much more. Planned activities include the highly anticipated street fair with artists performing regularly, food venues providing fan-favorites only found at local events, and, in addition, evening performances will take place in venues throughout the

what

would

Village Arts Festival in the spring of 1992. The first year of the festival incorporated only a few evenings where a play by local playwright Donna Caruso would be performed and a very small craft fair set up. The small event was a surprisingly huge hit with the locals, and the following year, a six-day event began, highlighting more of the art disciplines and drawing the attention of a much larger crowd.

Cathedral area, including restaurants, art galleries, community

The 1993 festival had a street fair of only two blocks; 19 years lat-

centres, and churches.

er, it has expanded so vastly that most of 13th Avenue and several

Having evolved immensely since its first year, the CVAF has exceeded expectations both in its longevity as well as its continuous growth. The idea of the festival originated with CACA (Cathedral Area Community Association) board member Ken Mitchell. See-

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

blocks in the Cathedral area are shut down to facilitate each of the 300 vendors. Although the festival began with mostly Cathedral area residents, it has grown to such heightened proportions that the festival now incorporates venues from all areas of Regina and across the province.

Regina’s Best Kept Secret for 25 Years The CVAF has become one of Regina’s most highly anticipated events of the spring. “The Festival is a place where you could have a young teenage band or group playing on the same stage as someone like Jack Semple, and this same teenage group might, a few years down the road, be a headliner for our main stage,” says Deb Jones, executive coordinator for the CVAF. “I’ve always thought of the festival as a place where those that can’t afford to

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see quality entertainment – and it’s all local. In addition, we can help to expose people to styles of music and artistry that they might not have ever been exposed to before. Lots of people avoid a performance thinking it may not be their cup of tea, but because we are providing them with this event in or near their area, they will go. And maybe, they will see something they really like and develop an appreciation for it. Every year is another chance to showcase somthing else to someone else.”

To showcase this talent, both Jones as well as Margaret Bessai, chair of the CVAF, agree that the event must remain free admission.

“One thing that we have always been proud of is that the Festival is free admission. We have donation boxes up at the events, but it is strictly voluntary, so we rely on corporate sponsors, local business

sponsors, and grants. But this is something we want to continue doing because it allows everyone to enter, without charge, and experience an event unlike any other in the province,” says Jones.

“This is talent that needs to be shared, but how can it be shared if people can’t afford to see it? To come together as a community and volunteer, allowing free admission and a true community appreciation of local talent is what’s most important,” Bessai adds. www.cvaf.ca

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 19

10 Questions

with Melissa Mannett

her·o·ine

by Janelle Haas

1. A woman noted for courage and daring action.

2. A woman noted for special achievement in a particular field.

3. The principal female character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation.

With the emergence of female front-runners in every genre of music, singer/songwriter Melissa Mannett knows that now is the time to go big. Empowered by the title of her new album, Heroine, Mannett is ready to begin the courageous and daring venture into a solo career

1

When did the love of music and performing really take hold of you? At what age did you start to pursue singing publically and was it hard for you?

3

I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. When I was young, I sang all of the time – in school, for family, friends, and anyone who would listen. I joined any kind of musical program I could – anything that would afford me the opportunity to perform. It’s like that story about the little girl who sings in front of the mirror all the time - that was me. It was never really that hard to continue to pursue it, because I always found a way to get people to listen, and people were generally willing to give me opportunities to perform. In every artist’s life, you face that ultimate question – is this a hobby or a career? I think that’s where I’ve faced negativity if I’ve faced it anywhere.

That’s kind of a hard question. Honestly I haven’t had a lot of experience performing my own material yet, to know what it’s like to get a crowd response to it. I love the way it feels when the crowd is pumped up and knows all the words to the songs. It makes the atmosphere that much better. But then that gets me excited and motivated to imagine a time when my own songs are so familiar that people are singing along to them. That would be the most incredible feeling, and I hope to eventually get to that point.

A lot of people think, “Melissa likes to sing. That’s a great thing for her – she must really enjoy it in her spare time.” But it’s not just a spare-time thing. I’m going for it – making it a career, if the industry will allow me. Now that they see that I’m serious and dedicated to music, I hardly ever hear any negativity though. Because I’ve played so much locally, people who support my cover bands also support my solo music – so that has been really great for me. My band is very supportive of me, and really I couldn’t have got where I am without them.

2

That is pretty heroine-like. You have been a part of several bands throughout your growth as a singer. What made you decide to go solo?

Well, I’ve been a part of a band for a long time. I love the dynamic I have in both Mascara (Rock/Pop) and Wildfire (Country/Rock), but the goal [for me] was always to pursue my solo career. I think that’s what happens for a lot of artists – they love being a part of a band, but the chance to go solo and express their own creativity to its highest potential would be the most rewarding. Fronting cover bands for so many years has given my invaluable experience, confidence and exposure that I know will really help me in my solo career. I’m hoping fans of my cover bands will be supportive of my original material.

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

Do you prefer singing your own songs to singing cover songs? Is singing cover songs more of a crowd-pleaser but less pleasing to you because it lacks feeling or meaning?

I will always love to do cover songs because it gives you a variety of songs and genres to sing. I have a tough time pinpointing my favorite type of music and this way I get to perform a great variety of songs that I love, and there’s something for everyone in the crowd!

4

You have an album out now. What made you decide on the title, Heroine?

I decided on the title because that’s sort of the theme behind my music. We’ve all heard that “you can’t rely on anyone but yourself to make you happy” saying, but sometimes it’s so hard to not let other people bring you down. I think it’s so important for women (and men for that matter) to be driven and focused on their own success, despite any obstacles. You’ve got to be the hero in your own life. Heroine is the strong girl inside of me who knows she can do it. And I think a heroine doesn’t have to be someone extremely talented or full of superpowers - a heroine is a woman that can pick herself up when things fall down and get back on her feet again. Also, I have to say … I love the shock value of the word!

5

What is your favorite track on the album?

My favorite track on the album is “Can’t Find the Rewind.” This song is about regretting something you did and trying so hard to realize that you can’t change the past ... you just have to learn from

it. It came to me so easily because this is something I’ve struggled with a lot. Accepting the past and learning from my mistakes is part of being the heroine I want to be.

6

Do you see yourself staying in Saskatchewan or moving on to somewhere else?

Good question, hard to answer. I love Saskatchewan and I love Regina. I’ve been here since I was young and so I find it hard to imagine leaving a place I’m so familiar with. It has treated me so well and has been so nurturing to my career aspirations. But I’m hoping to keep growing as an artist. If that means re-locating for my career then I am going to take the opportunity. You have to, or you’ll always wonder ‘what if?’ As I continue on with my solo career, I hope that I will get the opportunity to tour all over – watching people in the crowd sing to my music.

7

Even if your dreams take you out of Saskatchewan, what’s the best part about performing here?

The best part is definitely the familiarity of the crowds. We play regularly at a few local venues and the people in Regina have come to know us and are hugely supportive. I love meeting new people who know me because they’ve seen me singing. I like watching the crowd and seeing familiar faces. It’s comforting and exciting, simultaneously.

8

Do you write your own music?

I do. I like when I have experiences that are so powerful that they can provoke a melody or a lyric that speaks to others. Sometimes it’s really the only way I can express my emotions and this way I can say the tough things I’m feeling out loud. I have a bit of a drawback when it comes to my songwriting because I don’t play an instrument. I hear the melody and the lyrics in my head, and then I have the assistance of a musician, like my producer and co-writer Brad Prosko, to put what I hear in my head into a song. It’s a collaborative effort – but ultimately, my album is all original material.

9

What’s coming up for you in terms of releases, media events, etc.?

My new album Heroine is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Puretracks and over 40 other online music stores. I’m constantly busy playing local shows with the bands and hopefully will be able to begin playing shows based around my original material very soon.

You can keep up to date with my news and events by following me on twitter (@melissamannett) or on facebook.com/mmannett.

Singing has always been my favorite form of artistic expression, but I have also always loved theatre and creating visual art as well. The album theme and art was my concept and I got some great local artists involved to help it come to life. The dress on the cover was designed specifically for me by Tristan Sands of InVain designs, and Terry Oh did the photography. I find that if you’re an artist, whether it is visual or performing, it’s very rare that you stick to only one area of the term.My mind is constantly full of visions and ideas, and I’m always looking for ways to express them.

QUICK 10 Nickname: Melly, TripleM, M3, M&M Single/In a relationship: Single Favorite food: Seafood Favorite restaurant in Regina: Red Lobster Favorite thing to do in summer: Road trips! But really, I love them any time of year!

Favorite singer: I’ve always admired P!nk because of her ability to express emotion so powerfully.

Favorite joke to tell: I got this one from Taylor Swift. She said it was the only one she could ever remember ... and now it’s the only one I can ever remember (laughs).

Q: “What did the ocean say to the sand?”

A: “Nothing. It just waved.”

Worst pick-up line you’ve ever heard: “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

Favorite song to perform: My favorite song of all time is “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes.

Last woman you’ve met that inspired you: I recently met actress/singer Brooks Almy from Hawaii. She pursued her stage career in her late 20’s and has had a successful career acting on stage and in film for many years. Her confidence and sense of self was very inspiring. She had lots of encouragement and great advice for me.

10

This issue we are looking at different types of artistic talent and creativity we have here in Saskatchewan. As a singer, you’re already a performing artist, but can you elaborate on the artwork of your album cover? Is it your own? Do you find that when you have an artistic mind, it develops into all sorts of avenues?

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 21

Health & Wellness More than the ‘Baby Blues’

by Stephen LaRose

Motherhood is celebrated like … well, motherhood. For most women, bearing and raising a child is considered the epitome of womanhood.

But for some women, that dream can become a nightmare when the fantasy becomes a reality. Just ask Carla O’Reilly, Tania Bird, and Elita Patterson. Two things link the three women. All three have one child, and they are the co-authors of The Smiling Mask: Truths About Post-Partum Depression and Parenthood.

“The book is kind of like our second child,” says O’Reilly. “We wrote it in about 40 weeks – that’s how long the gestation period is for carrying a baby!”

O’Reilly can joke about it now, but eight years ago, her state of mind was no laughing matter – especially for her and her newborn son. After giving birth in 2004, she was wracked with nightmares of nurses bringing her son to her, bloodied and dead. She started to hear voices in her head, urging her to smother her new son. After a series of panic attacks, O’Reilly was hospitalized.

Many who suffer from post-partum depression (PPD), says O’Reilly, suffer from a belief that they have to be ‘SuperMom’; they feel pressured to be the perfect mother, the perfect housewife, the perfect businesswoman, the perfect wife, and the perfect lover. Trying to achieve any one of those states of perfection is impossible for anyone, and most often that pressure comes from within themselves, not from family or friends.

“Once I gave up that struggle, and was able to forgive myself, doors opened up, and life became so much better,” she adds.

But to understand the issue, you have to understand the difference between the ‘baby blues’ and PPD. It’s the psychological equivalent of the difference between a case of the sniffles and double pneumonia.

‘Baby blues’ is the realization that the little ball of flesh to which you just gave birth will be a part of you forever and change your life in ways you can’t imagine. It may be brought on by psychological factors or hormonal changes in the body after delivering the baby. It’s estimated that from five to eight out of every 10 women giving birth suffer, at one time or another, from the ‘baby blues.’ It’s characterized by lack of sleep, unprompted crying, mood swings, irritability, and feeling vulnerable. It usually strikes about one to three days after the baby is born – a time when Mom’s trying to sleep, nurse, and adapt to massive changes in biology and lifestyle.

PPD is a different matter. The emotional roller-coaster that’s associated with the ‘baby blues’ is much more intense, and physical side effects include numbness, chest pains, hyperventilation, and headaches. A new mother suffering from PPD may think of her newborn with ambivalence, negativity, or disinterest. This may lead to many problems that affect the bonding between mother and child.

that point, the child may be in danger. Post partum psychosis happens in one of every thousand births.

That was what afflicted Tania Bird and Carla O’Reilly. Bird’s pregnancy was a textbook example of where what could go wrong, did go wrong.

Twenty-five weeks into her pregnancy, in July 2005, Bird blood pressure skyrocketed, and she spent much of the following two months in hospital. The delivery was difficult – her husband shuttled between the baby, who was in the neonatal intensive care unit, and Bird, fighting for her life in the intensive care unit.

It was only the start. After experiencing a manic state – in which she thought she had the key to save the world - Bird spent time in a hospital’s mental health ward, taking anti-psychotic drugs. However the drugs turned her into a zombie, unable to bond with her new daughter or enjoy life. The medication also had an unhappy side effect – it created a fattyfood craving that ballooned her weight to over 200 pounds.

Unlike Bird, O’Reilly had a history of depression, both with herself and within her family, though it had gone undiagnosed until after she gave birth. She also dealt with some psychological trauma - a friend, who became pregnant around the same time, had suffered a miscarriage before O’Reilly gave birth.

This depression, which can affect from three to 20 per cent of all new mothers, occurs within the first six months of birth and can last from six months to a year.

PPD isn’t new – according to the Canadian Mental Health Association, the condition was first diagnosed in the fourth century B.C. – but it’s only recently been the object of more study.

Possibly the most extreme – and rare – case is post partum psychosis, in which the new mother loses contact with reality. If a mother reaches

What triggers PPD? Nobody’s sure. One factor, however, is that women who have suffered from depression before becoming pregnant are

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

more likely to suffer from it. Then again, in Bird’s case, there were no indicators before her breakdown: there was no family history of depression.

Do you have your

Bucket List?

As well, many doctors and psychiatrists say the hormonal changes occurring when a woman is pregnant, and gives birth, can lead to mood swings in the body. And new parents can often feel frustrated when they discover the difference between their dream and parenthood’s realities.

Other factors increasing post-partum depression risk include severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a difficult relationship, lack of a support network – family and/or friends who can help the new mother -- and stressful events during the pregnancy or after delivery.

For those suffering from post-partum depression, Saskatchewan is in a ‘good news-bad news’ territory. The bad news is that mental health services, as Bird says, are overextended and underfunded: there’s a backlog of patients requiring mental health services.

“The mental health field, overall, has been under-resourced and underfinanced,” says Bird. “There is recognition within the mental health community, however, that when a mother comes forward because she’s having problems taking care of her children, they act on it right away.”

The good news is that Saskatchewan has an extensive, province-wide support system for expectant mothers who may be at risk for PPD. And the three co-authors are part of the reason why the condition is taken more seriously.

O’Reilly, Bird and Paterson met while participating in PPD support groups in Regina. The three credit each other’s support in aiding their recovery, and spoke to people in the medical and psychiatric world about PPD issues. They were encouraged to put their experiences, and what they learned, into a book. (“We had all these orders for a book from us, and we hadn’t even begun writing it,” said O’Reilly.) The Smiling Mask was published in 2008: a video followed the next year and in 2010 they published a self-help workbook, Behind The Mask: Trust, Adjust and Transform Your Life.

Their work continued with the provincial government launching its Maternal Mental Health program in 2010.

Today, thanks in part to their efforts, every pregnant woman in Saskatchewan is tested for depression, anxiety issues, and other potential psychological red flags. “You can cut down the number of cases of PPD if you can determine the symptoms someone has when they’re pregnant,” Bird says. “We’re the only province in Canada that has one comprehensive screening program for this. Other provinces do this, but it’s done in only certain geographic locations.”

But after all this, there are a few questions. For example, how are the children? (They’re great: happy and healthy.) How are the marriages?

(Bird marriage survived; O’Reilly didn’t, though she and her ex-husband remain close). After all this, do the three want to go through pregnancy and childbirth again? (In all three cases – no, says O’Reilly. “Post-partum depression intensifies with each following pregnancy,” she says.)

“When a person is ill – mentally ill or physically ill – that’s the most vulnerable that a person can feel,” says Bird. “It’s amazing, to me, that I was treated with such dignity, respect and love, not only by the medical community but also the general public, especially friends and family. Our goal is to remove the stigma of mental illness.” www.thesmilingmask.com https://sites.google.com/site/maternalmentalhealthsk/

written by

Stephanie Staples

Have you seen the flick The Bucket List? The 2007 film, staring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, chronicles two terminally ill seniors set out to fulfill a wish list of to-dos. I bet you thought about creating your own list then - did you ever do it? Or did you just mean to?

The famed bucket list – the collection of things you want to do and experience before you ‘kick the bucket’ may sound a bit morbid, but it definitely has its place. Stop thinking about your bucket list and actually start one!

Thinking about the things that you want brings them into your consciousness and keeps you on the lookout for opportunities to get them. Your eyes start seeing occasions; your ears start hearing opportunities. Taking that a step further, by writing the list down (similar to goal setting) you bring the likelihood of them coming to fruition all the more possible.

I recently had the opportunity to cross something off my bucket list – I participated in a ‘flash mob.’ A flash mob is a gathering of people in a public place to sing, dance or otherwise entertain an unsuspecting public. They converge at a pre-determined time, sometimes having practiced together, sometimes independently via a YouTube instructional video, and delight onlookers for a few minutes of fun.

It’s a wild mix of planned spontaneity with strangers that connects humanity, challenges you to step out of the zone and create smiles for all involved.

Doing it is so much more enjoyable than thinking about doing it!

What would you put on your bucket list?

Some ideas: m Go to Europe m Do mission work m Write a book m Run in a marathon m Ride in a hot air balloon m Take a four week holiday m Learn to cook Chinese food m Try improvisational theatre m Insert yours here ____________________________________ So start your own bucket list – be bold, write your list with intention and determination. Dream big, dream fun, dream happy, and have a delightful time bringing the list to fruition!

Stephanie Staples is the founder of Your Life, Unlimited, the author of When Enlightening Strikes – Creating a Mindset for Uncommon Success. She speaks on the topic of personal & professional growth for organizations across North America. If you would benefit from finding more time, energy and motivation in your life, you can get loads of complimentary resources at www.YourLifeUnlimited.ca.

w w w. Yo ur Li feUnlimi ted. ca FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 23

Everyday Hero Patricia Elliott

From one of the world’s hotspots to the University of Regina

by Stephen LaRose Patricia Elliott sits in a Regina diner, which is about as far away from one of the biggest political hotspots in the world, and the place which cemented her reputation as one of Canada’s best international journalists.

Last March, Elliott was one of five recipients of the Global Citizens’ Award, given out annually by the Saskatchewan Council for International Co-operation. Elliott was saluted for her work as a journalist and journalism professor at the University of Regina, where she is encouraging students, tomorrow’s future journalists, to think and act globally. Elliott’s journalistic career is a good template to those students.

In 1989 and 1990, Elliott was a journalist with one of Southeast Asia’s most influential English-printed newspapers, The Bangkok Post, when her editors sent her to a region along the ThailandBurma border. Thousands of refugees were living in camps in the area (her husband, Don Jedlic, was working to alleviate the worst of the humanitarian crisis in the camps).

The refugees flocked to the border in the aftermath of a failed uprising against the Burmese military government in August 1988.

It’s a sad state of affairs in that country, which has gone through a near-constant state of internal strife since 1948. Situated between the 21st century superpowers of the Peoples’ Republic of China and India, Burma is one of the most strategic places on earth.

However, the country is also one of the world’s poorest places, mostly thanks to the bungling and corruption of the country’s military leadership.

Elliott went for the story and stayed to tell the stories of those who were facing persecution in the dictatorship. Having spent much of her life interested in politics and human rights issues, she sought to give a voice to the voiceless – in this case, people who face jail or torture for expressing the kind of opinions we take for granted.

“Journalists are on the front lines in the battle for freedom of expression,” she says. “They see it as inseparable from the politics of the anti-dictatorship movement. They’ll critique the movement’s leadership, but they do see that the work to create a free press is part of an ongoing battle to create a political society that’s more 24 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

favorable to the concept of human rights.

“There’s not a clear line of demarcation between the battle for a free press and the battle for human rights. That doesn’t mean they’re content to be mouthpieces: they’re not.”

When Elliott eventually returned to Canada, she sold several stories on the Burmese crisis to Canadian newsmagazines, and authored The White Umbrella: A Woman’s Struggle for Freedom in Burma, which told the story of a woman born into Thailand’s nobility, who was elected a member of parliament and was later driven into exile. During the same period, Burma’s political society and economy collapsed, and the heroin trade in the “Golden Triangle” became Burma’s alternate economy.

While she is proud of her award – she was nominated by one of her former students – Elliott says the real heroes are the subjects of her stories. With political change in the wind, they may be able to see the end of the dictatorship that drove hundreds of thousands of Burmese people into exile.

Elliott’s latest project is the documentary film Breaking Open Burma. It tells the story of how journalists work in Burma – where they can face imprisonment for reporting on stories that the government would rather hush up. “There are a lot of laws – press laws – but most of the laws journalists in Burma run afoul of are emergency measures laws, state secrecy – and those are the laws where journalists can get thrown in the hoosegow for 20 years after a sham trial.

“They’re not lazy. They’re not tossing stories off so they have something done by the end of the day. To be on the fringes of such an environment is pretty inspiring,” she concludes.

“Burma was one of those stories that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let you go.”

http://www.whiteumbrella.com/ http://breakingopenburma.wordpress.com/

Publisher’s Tribute: To My dear friend Della.

Happy Mother’s Day to my hero.

It Only Takes One Text Dustin’s Words: My mom found out at 1:30 in the morning. The RCMP were at the front door. Every parent’s nightmare.

They told my mom I was in a head on collision.

She asked if I was alive.

They said they didn’t know.

My mom is my hero.

Dustin On Dec 12, 2010, a family’s fate was changed forever. While driving home from a friend’s house, Dustin Vernie, aged 17, was texting while driving and crashed head on with an SUV on a stretch of highway late at night.

I remember the call; “Dustin’s been in an accident.” I still get goose bumps. Pictures of Dustin flashed in my mind. A boy I had seen grow up for the past nine years, a friend to my son, an athlete involved in hockey, lacrosse and track & field, vibrant with energy, popular with all his peers.

by Alison Brochu

son Cody, whose life was also dramatically changed to become a caregiver to his younger brother, and some friends and family, they sat with him in shifts so Dustin would not be alone for too long.

He endured 10 surgeries: the first night they fused his neck, a week later doctors put a steel rod in his leg, and then a month later they operated on his shattered foot. He was hospitalized for a few months after his lung collapsed, and he suffered pneumonia three times. He had part of his bowels removed.

He had two major brain injuries, a broken neck, broken ribs, broken hands, internal injuries, a broken femur, and a shattered kneecap. Both feet and most of his toes were broken.

The medical staff told Della that he wouldn’t ever be able to return home. They also said she wouldn’t be capable of taking care of him, but she was determined to give him the best quality of life she could. When Dustin was released, he began treatment at a rehab centre and he remained there until August. The prognosis was that Dustin would be confined to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic for the rest of his life.

“Alison,” said Della, Dustin’s mother, “they don’t think he will live.

I haven’t seen him. He went straight into surgery last night and I don’t even know if he’s alive.” The pain I felt knowing that my closest friend – who I shared so many memories with – was lost and scared was unbearable. I was two hours away when I got the call, but I didn’t hesitate and drove there to be by her side.

When I arrived at the hospital, the waiting room was full of Dustin’s friends and family all holding vigil and praying for him to survive – “how could this happen?” we thought. We had all texted or had talked on the phone while driving. Looking at the teenagers in the room, we knew they were all thinking it could have been them; that one moment, one second of time is all it takes to change your life.

Dustin remained in the hospital for over nine months, two weeks of which he was in a coma. When he opened his eyes, Della was told he was severely brain damaged. For the next few months he barely opened his eyes, breathing with the help of a respirator. At times he didn’t even know who his mother or brothers were. He cried every day. He didn’t realize why he was in the hospital or why he could not move: he had no memory of the accident. He would beg to go home and cry when his mother would leave at night (which she rarely did).

Della and Dustin are fighters and survivors. In the last eight months since he’s been home, Della has had to move her family to an apartment to be able to facilitate Dustin’s needs. Dealing with homecare gave Della the strength to return to school through the help of correspondence, and she is currently in the process of becoming a Nurse’s Assistant.

Della had just started classes one week before the accident to better her career. She left school and stayed with him until he was released on August 22, 2011. With the help of her oldest

Dustin was able to attend his graduation with the support of his family and friends. He enjoyed his night and looked so handsome.

Dustin has been working very hard and is now able to walk short distances with a cane. He still tires easily and will always have his chair, but his courage and drive to live has been an inspiration to anyone who’s been blessed to know him. Dustin has never said “why me?” He’s had such a positive attitude and has used his experience to become an advocate and mentor for other teens. He frequently attends high schools to deliver his message of why taking that one second to answer your phone or send a text can impact you and change your life. People always think “it won’t happen to me.” If it can happen to a kid like Dustin, it can happen to anyone.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 25

by Stephen LaRose For an educator – be it a teacher or a parent – looking ‘what grade do you teach?’ and they say ‘oh, I’m just around Regina’s Home & School Connection must be a parent,’ my response is, ‘no, you are the child’s first like being in Santa’s workshop just before Christmas. and most important teacher.’ When children go to school, they have had four years of learning at home There’s a bit of everything here: dolls, pencils, flash – and those are the most important years in their cards, board games, toys, maps, motivational posters, development. That’s why we have pre-school games work books … almost everything that a teacher could and toys – anything that will develop, that will make want to supplement their classroom curriculum, or a child want to learn.” a parent could have to help his/her child learn how to count, write, make a robot, or the 1,001 things Harron, who spent more than three decades as kids can do for fun while learning how to do things, a teacher, says she wants to develop a store that learning how to make things … learning how to think. reflects what teachers and parents need and want for their students and children to succeed. “Prior to Home & School Connection, Saskatchewan’s largest owning this store I was looking for quality material,” educational supply and retail store, boasts over she says.

40,000 items on the shelves – educational toys, games and resource material in almost every part The materials are not just to assist their classroom of a child’s curriculum, from kindergarten to middle lessons, but also to inspire their students. “I had one school. That doesn’t mean the material is for the person come here to tell me that when she went classroom only or for those with a teaching degree, to school, she had a hard time concentrating on what the teacher said in class that day. But she did says co-owner Colleen Harron. remember the posters – the educational posters that “I’d be remiss if I said this was just for teachers,” the teacher had around the room. She read those she says. “When somebody comes in and I ask them,

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

posters and retained the information.”

One thing that many parents may not know is that teachers pay for many supplies out of their own pocket. This is why, Harron says, teachers want to make sure that they are spending their money on such materials wisely. “We have bulletin boards, posters, alphabet lines, stickers, badges, and the certificates teachers give out to their students at the end of the year …

“And they need to look at it. They need to feel it in their hands, to see what they can do with it, and evaluate it. Catalogue shopping is available but customers enjoy the hands-on experience and feeling of the product, and playing with the demonstrator models, and evaluating it for their own children’s needs.

“Summer is coming, but learning never stops.”

Home & School Connection is located at 911 Albert Street, Regina.

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| 27

am so er’s Day. I s on Moth a e To my girl . You ar r you both inute! grateful fo joy every m en – om M l fu er wond Nanna) Mom (and Love your

Della and Dusti n Please see story on page 25

S

Michelle, Ty, Kai, Trey Happy Mothe r’s Day! omso! he’sr’sDDa ayy. IMam onotMhoter ToHm u are a Yo . apy pgiyrlsM th bo r you lison to haveLfoov A e gratefulra m every inute!

(Lor ine) om – enjoy wonderful M a) nn om (and Na Love your M

Sara and Ruby Happy Mother’s Day!

Emma Tammy and r’s Day! Happy Mothe

Happy M

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GrEAT MENu, GrEAT PrICES, GrEAT ATMOSPHErE Originally Melrose Place, The Symposium (gathering for a feast) is now renamed and serving some of the best food in the city. Bringing commitment to quality dining and service from the Southey Homestead, The Symposium has completely homemade meals, made from scratch! With over 30 years in Saskatchewan, Koutsouflaskis brothers provide a great menu, great prices, and a great atmosphere.

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

e nd Ann Kailey a ther’s Day! Mo Happy

Sally and M Happy Mo ariana ther’s Day Mama!

My two favourite women.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! I love you both, Janelle

Mother’s Day

Taya, Lisa, Neli Happy Mother’s Day!

Kristen, Norma, and Kallie

loons l a B By

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541 Albert St, Regina 565-0899 FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

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Mother’s Day Desserts

Mother’s Day is a special day to celebrate that woman that nurtured you, raised you, and helped you become the woman you are today. Often times however, there is more than one woman you’d like to celebrate on this special day including aunts, mother-in-laws, grandmothers, best friends. These easy to follow recipes make enough for all the special women in your life!

Sugary Sweet Blueberry French Toast

Strawberry/Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes 1 cup fresh blueberries 12 eggs, beaten 2 cups milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup maple syrup 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup water 1 cup fresh blueberries 1 tablespoon butters

1 (18.25 ounce) pkg. chocolate cake mix with pudding 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup water 2 eggs 1 (12 ounce) pkg. whipped cream cheese 1/4 cup strawberry preserves 1 (16 ounce) container whipped cream cheese frosting 12 strawberries, sliced

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips 1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix 1 1/3 cups water 1/3 cup canola oil 3 eggs

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes.

Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast.

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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Stir chocolate cake mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, water, and eggs together in a large bowl. Pour cake batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.

Place a small spoonful of whipped cream cheese in each muffin cup. Stir strawberry preserves in a bowl until smooth; spoon about 1/4 teaspoon per cupcake over cream cheese.

Gently press strawberry preserves and cream cheese into the cake batter with a spoon.

Bake in preheated oven until cupcake tops spring back when lightly touched, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Spread cream cheese frosting over completely cooled cupcakes and garnish with strawberry slices.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside. Beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Form the dough into tablespoonsized balls; place onto a baking sheet, and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Beat 3 eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer to break up. Add the cake mix, water, and canola oil; continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed. Spoon into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each 2/3 full. Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion of the cupcake (not the cookie dough ball) comes clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

HAPPY

MOTHER’S DAY!

Red Velvet Cake For Mom

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Fried Frozen Ice Cream

1/2 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons cocoa 4 tablespoons red food coloring 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 cup white sugar 1 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs 3 tablespoons white sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries 2 tablespoons white sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1/2 cup water 2 cups white chocolate chips 1/2 cup half-and-half cream 3 (8 ounce) pkges cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup white sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 quart vanilla ice cream

In a medium bowl, mix together cookie crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. In a saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to boil, and continue boiling 5 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt white chocolate chips with halfand-half, stirring occasionally until smooth.

In a large bowl, mix together cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in vanilla and melted white chocolate. Pour half of batter over crust.

Spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining cheesecake batter into pan, and again spoon 3 tablespoons raspberry sauce over the top. Swirl batter with the tip of a knife to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set.

Cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 8 hours before removing from pan. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

egg whites, then in cornflakes, covering ice

Grease two 9 inch round pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cream shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar well. Add eggs and beat well. Make a paste of cocoa and red food coloring. Add to creamed mixture. Mix salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla and buttermilk together. Add alternately the flour with the milk mixture to the creamed mixture.

Mix soda and vinegar and Fold into cake batter, do not beat or stir now. Bake for 30 minutes.

To Make Icing: Cook 5 Tablespoons flour and milk over low heat till thick, stirring constantly. let cool thoroughly! While cooling, cream 1 cups sugar, butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Beat this well till light and fluffy. Add to flour mixture and beat until it has a good spreading consistency. Do not ice cake until cool.

3 cups crushed cornflakes cereal 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 egg whites 2 quarts oil for frying Scoop ice cream into 8 - 1/2 cup sized balls.

Place on baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. In a shallow dish, combine cornflakes and cinnamon. In another dish, beat egg whites until foamy. Roll ice cream balls in cream completely. Repeat if necessary. Freeze again until firm, 3 hours. In deep fryer or large, heavy saucepan, heat oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Using a basket or slotted spoon, fry ice cream balls 1 or 2 at a time, for 10 to 15 seconds, until golden. Drain quickly on paper towels and serve immediately.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

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by Stephen LaRose

All in the Family There are a lot of stories about Regina’s restaurant industry. There are a lot of stories about good mother-daughter relationships.

When you tell the story of Voula Danakas and Mia Weinkauf, you’re able to do both.

With a look of contentment, Mia Weinkauf takes a look around Stats Cocktails and Dreams, a sports bar and family restaurant on Regina’s growing east side, that’s been owned by the family for more than 30 years. The restaurant industry is a tough one – it depends a lot on meeting the ever-changing demands of the customers, the level of disposable income your clients have, just being that much better than your competitors, and getting the most out of your staff.

But there’s one constant: the love and respect Mia has for the person who brought her into the restaurant industry. Voula Danakas, her mother. The two own Stats Cocktails and Dreams in Regina’s Glencairn district, and Mom still helps out – either at the restaurants or helping Mia and her husband look after the kids while they work.

“I took over Stats when I was 17, but I have been working there since 1981” Weinkauf says. “My sister and brother-in-law ran it but

Stats as a family business – first as a sports bar, then as a lounge – until Mia’s father died in 2005. He was planning on retiring that year, but before he could retire, he was diagnosed with cancer: it was five weeks from his diagnosis to his death. “It put a huge cloud over us … it gave us a huge lesson in life. Business is important, but life and family is even more important,” Mia says.

After a year of mourning and emotional stock-taking, Mia and her husband, with her mother’s blessing, started planning Cravings, across the street from the Victoria Square Mall. “We wanted to operate something that was more for earlier in the mornings – open early enough for breakfasts, but there would also be a lounge. It would be a family restaurant.”

What did Mia learn from working with mom? “Honesty, and always making your best effort – keeping your best foot forward. The restaurant industry is a tough one, for sure, but you do everything you can to meet your customers’ needs. You have to be respectable, and respectful to the customer, you have to run efficiently.

“She taught me the proper ethics to run a restaurant: serving good

“My mom is my mentor, and you’ll never find another mother that has devoted her life to her family as she has. She’s my hero.” they wanted to pursue different careers.” Mia, however, was more than willing and eager to follow in her parents’ footsteps into the family business.

food, never serving something you don’t want to eat yourself, having a clean, respectable place, a good staff, and greeting people with a smile.”

The Danakas family are former owners of the Regina Inn and the Brown Derby restaurant. They have been an institution in Regina’s hospitality industry for the better part of a generation. Mia learned the values of hard work at an early age.

And that’s what Mia does – and she’s now providing the same teaching to her two daughters, 15-year-old Christiana and sevenyear-old Athanasia. Mia has her mother to thank.

“I was involved with the hotels that my parents owned. When I was eight years old, believe it or not, I was a coat check girl at the Danakas Palace in Toronto. When they moved back to Regina to take over the Regina Inn, I spent some time working in the office at the age of 12. I helped do the payroll, my dad would give me letters to type and file after the secretary went home. I helped in housekeeping, the coffee shop – I was all over.

“When they sold The Regina Inn, they retired, and got into restaurants for us kids to run, and to have a sustainable future,” she adds.

‘Now I’m happily running another business as well as Stats – with my husband. It’s called Cravings All Day Grill and Bellini’s Lounge.”

It’s where Mia put everything she had learned from her mother into practice. “My mom’s a great person for volunteering. She’s been involved with the Saskatchewan Association of Community Living, diabetes associations … everything you could think of, for many years. She and my dad gave me impetus to start, the knowledge to run a business, the dedication to make it work.

“My mom is my mentor, and you’ll never find another mother that has devoted her life to her family as she has. She’s my hero.”

The Danakas family, along with Mia and her husband Jason, ran 32 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

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Dress & IMPRESS

at Every Age Wr It t e n bY r I l e Y l aW s o n

I

“Zest is the secret of all beauty. there is no beauty that is attractive without zest.”

–christian Dior

work with a wide age range of clients, so I wanted this month’s article to reach as many of you as possible! It might seem difficult to choose outfits as you mature, but it’s easier than you think. Whether you’re in your 20s or your 70s, here are a few things to consider when shopping for yourself (or someone else).

20s: DItch the bounDarIes Your twenties are for finding your personal style and adding the special touches that you can only get away with when you’re young. Maybe that means playing with colors, higher hemlines, or heels. Whichever you choose – just go for it!

30s: Pull It together Without going over into the bore zone, your thirties call for a bit more of a serious vibe. opt for a crisp button down blouse with a bit of a twist, like ruffles or ruching, to make it a bit more bold. a good statement jacket or blazer is a great option to add class and keep style.

40s: KeeP It classIc go for classic silhouettes and colors but try to keep some creativity in your wardrobe as well!

Maybe a dress with some volume, items rich in hue, and don’t forget about pattern! Play with scarves, handbags, and shoes to give personality to your classic pieces.

50s: tasteful tactIc hassle-free pieces that are tasteful and refined should be your main focus. try items with clean lines that have structure and tailoring to them – blazers, dress pants, a good fitted pair of jeans. Don’t stray away from color! I suggest you simplify the palette to solids in deep browns, navy, or black and add other pops of color with accessories.

60s: go for grace elegance through traditional pieces should be the foundation of your wardrobe. go for classic tailored blazers in a tweed fabric, eye-catching tops (be mindful of coverage) with a bit of sparkle, or a-line skirts in a well-draping fabric. all of these items are versatile and easy to wear at any time of day/night, for any occasion.

70s: ProPerlY PolIsheD now is the time to concentrate on quality over most other things. high quality fabrics, precision tailoring, and traditional shades wil help you to look your best. Pay attention to the hemline of skirts and go for styles that are below the knee for day wear, and floor-skimming for night.

Riley lawson • style@rileylawson.com

www.rileylawson.com 34 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

CHEATING THE SUN Written by Sara Lindsay

While spring is trying its very best to make an appearance, we are all waiting for the long, hot sunny days that Saskatchewan promises and delivers year after year.

Available at my store

Bronzed, tanned skin is still trending and we are ‘crazed’ for a warm, glowing complexion without the damage that the sun relentlessly inflicts. As women are growing more and more concerned, aware, and educated about the damage that UV rays cause, the beauty industry has responded with many alternatives to help achieve the ‘J-Lo glow’ that Ms. Lopez has made so famous. While I always advise that you do your ingredient research for any product that you use and to always use sunscreen under your makeup, the market offers everything from cream & powder bronzers to sunless tanning lotions & sprays as well as endless highlighting products to set off your golden features, leaving you absolutely luminous.

Make up by Sara Lindsay

Bronzers seem to be used incorrectly quite often, but they are something that is very easy to use once you know exactly where to apply it. Simply start at the back of the cheek, following underneath the contour of the cheekbone. Carry on along the temple and forehead just along the hairline. Try using a slight amount along the jawline to create sharpness. Remember to bring it down the neckline and make sure to blend well. There should never be any edges or lines.

While bronzed skin is very popular, I personally find very pale skin tones to be equally as stunning. A fair complexion has always been classically beautiful. So whether you’re an ‘English rose’ or you’re after the ‘J-Lo glow,’ embrace it and have fun with it. There are all kinds of beautiful!

Some of my bronzing & highlighting faves: Hoola Bronzing powder - Benefit Soleil Tan de Chanel - Chanel Body Bling - Scott Barnes (available in my studio) Uplight Face Luminizer Gel - Makeup Forever Soft & Gentle Mineralize Skin Finish - M.A.C. Copacabana Illuminator - NARS

For more in depth information, I offer private makeup lessons at my studio in the Warehouse District. www.saralindsay.ca | info@saralindsay.ca (306) 591-7829

About the artist...

Originally from Canada, and having spent many years of her career in the United Kingdom, Sara Lindsay is a professional makeup artist, with training from some of London’s top fashion academies. Having had the opportunity to work with some of Britain’s top artists, Sara brings an edge to her hometown of Regina.

Sara’s professional experience includes runway work, editorial spreads, compelling commercial campaigns, weddings and special event clients. London Fashion Week and The London Clothes Show are just some of the highlights of her career. Sara was named Canadian Makeup Artist of the Year at The Mirror Awards 2011 and most recently was named a finalist for 2012.

Sara’s successful freelance career, which complimented her time as a regional associate with MAC COSMETICS UK, gave her valuable experience in working closely with clientele to consult and direct their transformation to the extraordinary.

In a consultative style, Sara works to achieve a look that is uniquely your own.

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 35

New to the Spotlight

by Janelle Haas

Melissa Fiacco Articulation Influences Action…

Raised with an ‘it’s not what you say but how you say it,’attitude, Melissa Fiacco has stepped into the spotlight in Saskatchewan, proving that a well-spoken woman with drive and determination can put plans into action. And she sees limitless potential in the next generation of Saskatchewan visionaries.

Working in the public relations and communications sector and volunteering as the public relations and communications coordinator for the inaugural Saskatchewan Fashion Week (SFW), Fiacco has a lot to say about the entrepreneurial and innovative professional talent emerging in Saskatchewan.

Fiacco was born and raised in Regina. After exploring Europe for a year after graduation, she relocated to Calgary in 2006 to attend broadcasting school at Mount Royal University. She learned that public relations was a degree program in the communications faculty and recognized it as an industry that could provide invaluable chances for personal and professional growth, and opportunities to develop skills that were inherent to her.

Five years later, with a foundation of professional experience and relationships, she’s back in Saskatchewan. Why? “Saskatchewan is thriving and I couldn’t live away from my niece or my family any longer,” she says, “Plus, the quality of life in this province is unique to anywhere else in Canada.

“I was approached to work in a position promoting Regina and creating awareness about all of its charms. I love Regina so my attitude and conviction are authentic when I talk to people about all the great reasons there are to love this city. So I knew I had to take the position and head back home.” Fiacco adds.

In a long discussion about the future of the new generation of up-and-comers, Fiacco is very complimentary of her peers. “In all sectors, from business to the arts, from new media to education, I network with young people who are so committed to inspiring positive change - it’s so motivating!” Fiacco has first hand experience with the emerging culture of young leaders as a result of her role on the event committee for this month’s Saskatchewan Fashion Week (see last month’s issue of PINK for a detailed article about SFW, written by Fiacco herself).

When plans for SFW first began, Fiacco says she was immediately interested, but didn’t think she could commit to the time this event required. Half a year later, Fiacco has taken on the job – and she loves doing it. There are frequent challenges inherent to a first-year event that relies on a volunteer committee, but Fiacco argues that working with such talented, young professionals and seeing all the artistic creativity and intelligence involved really fuels her to continue developing the concept of SFW. 36 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

“I am just so intrigued by the legacy this generation has the potential to create. These people – my peers – are taking ownership of what’s happening. Every year we see more and more young professionals emerge; a new generation of innovators and leaders. Every original event or idea is another opportunity for us to establish personal and professional relationships. This generation is proving it has limitless potential. We are, for the most part, all striving for ‘something more’ and are determined enough to challenge the status quo, and we know that we can’t wait for great things to happen. We know that we can only expect to experience change if we create it.”

Now is the best time, Fiacco argues, for the younger generation of Saskatchewan to really start exposing their creativity and talent.

With events like SFW, Fiacco argues, “We are positioning Saskatchewan where it needs to be to receive the recognition it deserves as a progressive province. We are helping Saskatchewan become a competitor on all levels, building economic growth, celebrating culture, and achieving sustainability. It’s empowering to realize that we can influence this kind of change!”

So where does Fiacco’s driven personality and sense of civic pride come from? Her family.

“Civic pride is fundamental to influencing positive change a city experiences,” she explains, “and is one of the greatest (of many) life lessons my dad (Regina mayor Pat Fiacco) has instilled in not only me, but into the entire culture of this city. When people share a sense of pride in something, anything, it unifies them.

When you

work collectively with your peers to achieve a common goal, the results will always be better than if you work independently to achieve that goal.Your skills are complimentary to each other, your ideas grow together, and you challenge each other. That is actually what the value of achieving a goal is, not the goal itself.”

If civic pride and collaboration are things she’s learned from her dad, what has she learned from her mom? “Composure and eloquence. I’m so reactive and she’s so tactful. I’m constantly thinking, how would Mom react in this situation? I really value her advice. She is hilarious too. Her sense of humor is so clever. If I say something to make her laugh I know it was really funny.

“Both of my parents are the most influential people in my life. They are my mentors. They continue to encourage my brothers and me to take advantage of every opportunity, and to do it with integrity and commitment. For example, opportunities in something new,

like PINK, or something new like SFW. People are intimidated by fashion, or don’t know what it is comprised of. They confuse style with fashion. Fashion is inherent to everything that is visual; it’s in agriculture, arts, business, the public and private sector … it’s everywhere. The idea of a place where so many diverse people can come together, for one week, to engage and marvel in artistic design … is inspiring!”

From the young girl who watched her father engage audiences for 12 years, to the woman she is today, Fiacco has stepped into a spotlight all her own. But, like she says – success is best when shared. They say those that give, receive the most. With an attitude like that, Fiacco is sure to keep Saskatchewan prosperous for years to come. www.saskfashionweek.ca follow Melissa Fiacco on Twitter @MelissaBrie

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breast cancer 101 Breast cancer accounts for over a quarter (28%) of new cancer cases in women.

• Aching or burning: Your breast may ache or feel tender.

Some of these symptoms are similar to those caused by mastitis,

Statistics from 2011 show that there are over 24, 400 new cases

a breast infection that can occur in women who are breastfeeding.

of breast cancer in Canada and 660 of them are in Saskatchewan.

Unlike inflammatory breast cancer, however, mastitis usually causes a fever and is easily treated with antibiotics. If you are diagnosed

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

with mastitis that is not responding to treatment, ask your doctor

Although most breast cancers begin as lumps or tumors,

about testing for inflammatory breast cancer. The same holds true

Inflammatory breast cancer usually starts with a feeling of thickness

if you are told you have cellulitis, which is a bacterial infection of the

or heaviness in the breast. You also may develop red, inflamed skin

breast skin. Any persistent breast changes should be looked at by

on the breast. IBC tends to grow in the form of layers or “sheets” of

a breast specialist.

tissue, which doctors sometimes call “nests.”

Because inflammatory breast cancer forms in layers, your The breasts swell and become inflamed because the cancer cells

doctor may not feel a distinct lump during a breast exam and a

clog the vessels that carry lymph. Lymph is a clear, watery fluid that

mammogram may not detect one either. However, it is possible to

transports white blood cells and removes bacteria and proteins

see and feel the skin thickening that often happens with IBC. This

from the tissues.

skin thickening can also be detected on a mammogram.

In most cases, inflammatory breast cancer is diagnosed after you

Common symptoms of IBC include: • Redness of the breast: Redness involving part or all of the breast is a hallmark of inflammatory breast cancer. Sometimes the redness comes and goes.

• Swelling of the breast: Part of or all of the breast may be swollen, enlarged, and hard.

• Warmth: The breast may feel warm.

• Orange-peel appearance: Your breast may swell and start to look like the peel of a navel orange (this is called “peau d’orange”).

or your doctor can see or feel breast changes such as redness, swelling, warmth, or an orange-peel look to the skin. Because IBC grows quickly, it is usually found at a locally advanced stage, meaning that cancer cells have spread into nearby breast tissue or lymph nodes. Just about all people with IBC have evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes. In approximately 1 out of 3 people with IBC, the cancer has spread from the breast to other areas of the body.

Tests for diagnosis and staging

• Other skin changes: The skin of the breast might look pink or

To diagnose inflammatory breast cancer, your doctor will perform

bruised, or you may have what looks like ridges, welts, or hives

a biopsy. Biopsy is a surgical procedure that removes some of the

on your breast.

suspicious breast tissue for examination under a microscope.

• Swelling of lymph nodes: The lymph nodes under your arm or above the collarbone may be swollen.

• Flattening or inversion of the nipple: The nipple may go flat or turn inward.

Because inflammatory breast cancer usually does not begin as a distinct lump, but instead as changes to the skin, a skin punch biopsy is often used to make the diagnosis. During this type of biopsy, the doctor uses a circular tool to remove a small section of the skin and its deeper layers, and then stitches the wound closed.

38 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

If your doctor can see a distinct lesion, he or she may perform an ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. Ultrasound is an imaging method that places a sound-emitting device on the breast to obtain images of the tissues inside. Guided by the ultrasound, the doctor inserts a hollow needle into the breast to remove several cylinder-shaped samples of tissue from the area of suspicion.

If the biopsy shows that inflammatory breast cancer is present, your doctor will order additional tests to figure out how much of the breast tissue and lymph nodes are involved, and whether or not

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Once IBC is diagnosed, additional tests are used to determine whether the cancer has spread outside the breast to other organs, such as the lungs, bones, or liver. This is called staging.

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Treatment for inflammatory breast cancer can continue for many months or even years after you have surgery. Your doctor will want to monitor you closely over the long term. You can work with your doctor to set up a schedule of regular visits and find out what tests he or she recommends.

Tests that may be used include: • chest X-ray • CT scan (computerized tomography) of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis • bone scan • liver function tests

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| 39

The dynamic mother-daughter duo

by Stephen LaRose

Linda Langelier and Kristen Einszimmer know how to find jobs that will make people happy.

In love with your job? If you’re not, Linda Langelier, president and recruitment consultant for Employment Network Canada, may have a solution for you.

“I call us the eHarmony of the business world. We want to be able to make the match between the employer and the worker – matching talent to opportunity is the way we look at it,” she says.

But one of the best matchmaking efforts Employment Network has made has been within the company: while Langelier is president, her daughter, Kristen Eisenzimmer, is one of the company’s most senior staff.

“It’s not good to work for your mom; you can’t just call in sick when you’re faking it. She’d know,” says Eisenzimmer.

Business is booming in Saskatchewan, and companies are looking for people. The word is out - Saskatchewan’s population has grown by nearly 60,000 people in the last four years and the province boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada. “When I used to do recruiting in Calgary, they would say, ‘Saskatchewan? Are you kidding?’

Now they are asking about what we have going on here,” says Langelier.

Canada in 1996.

“There are so many people who hate their jobs, they hate going to work.

They show up with a knot in their stomach and they’re counting the days until they can retire. But often those people are in a groove and reluctant to make a change. We try to help them with the transition.”

For the first few years, Langelier ran her new company from home, and for many years one of her assistants was her daughter, who would come home from school to do her homework in her mother’s office, or, later, would do some filing and clerical work.

“One of my duties was to go through the faxes that were coming in, and this was in the days when faxes came through on thermal paper, on one big scroll,” says Eisenzimmer. “And there were hundreds of pages of resumes being faxed to us. I would write my time in and out on the white board, keeping track of my hours and my pay.”

“Our specialty is full-time placements – 95 per cent of what we do is full-time placements, anything from a receptionist to a CEO.” However, that doesn’t mean the job search is getting easier for either job seekers or employee seekers. The trick is this: how do you find not just a job, but the best job for someone – matching not just their background and talents but also their interests and lifestyle?

That’s where Employment Network Canada comes in.

Sixteen years ago, Langelier was the manager of a human resources department in an engineering consulting firm. “Recruitment was a passion of mine because you can make such a difference to a company’s bottom line if you can link the right people with the right job,” she says.

But her passion for that job dimmed when it came time for the company to downsize. It was difficult for her to make those cuts – especially since many talented people were going to be leaving.

“When I was laying off people at the other firm, that was when I recognized that it was an agonizing time for people to go through,” she says. “We could make it right at the beginning by ensuring that the best person is hired for the job; then we can make a difference to their lives, their families’ lives, the whole community … it just makes everything better, business-wise.”

Instead, she thought, why not work with those talented people to get them jobs in companies where they would not only be productive, but happy at their jobs? That’s why she started Employment Network 40 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

“She was – and still is – a very important part of this company’s success,” says Langelier.

After getting her Grade 12, Eisenzimmer went to SIAST to complete her diploma in human resource management and is now one of the company’s best recruiters and employment placers.

“After I graduated high school, I really wanted to work within the company,” Eisenzimmer says. “My mother, like a good mother, said to me, ‘you need to go to school first and get some education.’ I went to SIAST and took the HR (human resources) program there, which I loved.

I also worked summers for the company; administrative support, answering the phones, making coffee, just helping out in the office.”

When the two are at home, it’s a mother/daughter relationship, but when they come to work, it’s a relationship between employer and worker. Is it a difficult situation?

“At work, she’s my boss, and she is a great boss and mentor,” Kristen says about her mother. “She’s trained me very well … she’s great to work with. We try not to talk about our family life when we’re at work. It’s a supervisor-worker relationship. She expects high results.

“At home, we try not to talk about work. That’s a little harder. But when you own your own business, talking about work at home happens all the time.”

The company has two search divisions. The Management Support Division, which Kristen heads, looks for people to fill support positions, from clerical and accounting to office management and project coordinator, both in full time and part-time work. The Professional Search Division specializes in matching people with the qualifications and interests with companies seeking to fill specialized and hard-to-fill positions, from senior management, to highly technical positions, architects, and engineers.

“Our specialty is full-time placements – 95 per cent of what we do is full-time placements, anything from a receptionist to a CEO,” Langelier says. “In salaries, they range from $30,000 to $250,000 a year.

“Everyone has that talent in them; sometimes they don’t even know it themselves,” she adds. “We try to help them define what their passion is, and how we can match their interests and abilities and lifestyle – some people want to work flex-time, some want to work part - time – so it’s really matching people to their ideal work culture as well.”

For those looking for a job through Employment Network Canada, there’s no cost to apply and the service is completely confidential – your resume isn’t released to any company without your prior authorization. “We’re always looking for resumes, always looking for people to apply. Their resumes remain on file for years. They’re entered into our data base, categorized on their skills and interests.

“If we think we have a potential match, then we invite them (the applicant) into our office to meet with one of our recruiters. At any time, we may have from 20 to 25 jobs that are open for applicants.”

And what’s the advantage for the company? “We have hundreds of resumes on file. That way we do all the pre-screening for them, so they don’t have to.

“When we meet the person placed in a job a year later, and learn that they’re happy there, and that the employer is happy with them, and if we add profitability to the company’s bottom line and a good work

ic Reading h c y Ps by: mrs. johnson s

environment, we’ve done our job. We’ve made both the company and the applicant happy.”

Some of Employment Network Canada’s biggest success stories include doing the original hiring for Regina’s Staples call centers (230 jobs) and working with the Saskatchewan Roughriders – finding offseason and post-football jobs for players, and jobs for family members.

“We’re also working with a lot of immigrants from other countries, helping them integrate the skills they have learned elsewhere into positions that are available here. “ It also boasts a high success rate in workplace matchmaking.

“Maybe once or twice a year we would replace an employee within a year (ENC offers a free replacement for companies if for some reason the hired employee doesn’t work out). Our success rate is about 98 per cent,” Langelier says. “Our success rate is very good because we have a very thorough and detailed interview process. We want to make sure that the match is there – not only for the company but also for the person.”

For those seeking work, what’s Langelier’s advice? “They say Saskatchewan has lots of jobs. And we do. But the match isn’t always there between the job seeker and the positions that are available. It still takes a lot of persistence; it takes a lot of networking and getting to know people. A lot of employers may not advertise or they may be looking quietly for someone.

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“The key successes in getting a position are a great attitude and the willingness to learn. I have many companies that are saying ‘just give me someone with a great attitude, a team player philosophy who wants to learn, we’ll teach them the rest.’”

And would that mean teaching the third generation? Eisenzimmer has a son, who’s now two. “Well, he did come to his first office meeting when he was three days old,” Eisenzimmer says. www.employmentnetwork.ca

Also Teaches Psychic Development Classes

(306) 546 4582 | regina FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 41

Let’s Ta lk R ea l Estate with

Penny Milton

Don’t Fall Victim to Investing Cycle of Emotions Buying when you feel good and selling when you feel bad doesn’t make much sense as an investing strategy. Yet many investors don’t realize how often they do that. They frequently make key decisions based on the emotion of how they’re feeling about the markets at any given moment in time. These emotional reactions tend to follow a cyclical pattern that gets repeated over and over again.

The process starts with optimism. When the markets are rising, more is invested. As the increases continue, euphoria may set in, and even more is purchased.

AND THE WINNER IS....?

It’s a crazy market out there, and once again we are breaking sales records! When things are so active and there’s not quite enough inventory to go around ... you know what happens? Multiple offers!! So how does one compete in a bidding war?

HIGHEST OFFER: Unfortunately the number one factor is still who brings in the best price. In most cases, the highest offer is the winner, pure and simple!

CLEAN OFFER: Condition after condition after condition is definitely not ideal, and won’t sit well with most sellers. Don’t forgo important inspections, but making the sale conditional on Uncle Ernie’s approval, or selling your 1957 Chevy just won’t cut it. Keep it simple and clutter-free. The less conditions ... the more attractive the offer!

PRE-APPROVAL: Not to be confused with prequalified! What’s the difference? Well ... prequalified means you can potentially get that mortgage, assuming that all the information you have submitted is accurate and that you have no skeletons in your financial closet – for instance, that department store credit card from 1989 that you never did pay off could now come back to bite you. Pre-approval on the other hand ... means that you have gone through the appropriate background checks such as credit history, tax returns, employment verification, etc. At that point you will receive a letter stating that you are approved and the length of time the approval is valid.

DEPOSIT: A decent deposit is also extremely important. Show the seller that you are serious. Their future plans are riding on this deal - don’t make them nervous by coming in with a $200 deposit!

LISTEN TO YOUR REALTOR®: Your agent will have experienced this market and has come up against multiple offers many times.

Have a discussion about what’s best as far as price, consider what conditions are really necessary and which are not, but most of all ... listen to their advice and trust that they will do their very best to get you that home!

NOW START PACKING!!!

Penny is a full time REALTOR® with Sutton Group Results Realty and has been in the business for over 18 years. As a long time resident of Regina, she has extensive knowledge of the local housing market and specializes in relocations and residential sales of all types.Contact Penny at 306-522-4726 or visit www.pennymilton.com

www.pennymilton.com 42 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

Eventually, there may be a plateau or a reverse in course. A bit of fear may set in, but the view is that it’s only a temporary setback.

Then a correction may occur and the investor finally bails out.

After a subsequent rebound, the investor doesn’t believe it will last.

Yet by the time he or she realizes the worst is over, the bulk of the recovery may have already happened.

In the end, the investor has bought high and sold low – the cardinal sin of investing.

On the other hand, there are investors who follow a more disciplined, truly long-term approach that takes all of the emotion out of decisionmaking. Simply put, disciplined investors recognize how all market conditions can present opportunity so they stick to a systematic approach to take advantage of that. They realize that keeping a diversified portfolio of quality investments, with percentage weightings in balance, makes much more sense than constantly reacting emotionally to the ups and downs of markets.

Of course, past performance cannot guarantee future results, and diversification cannot guarantee a profit or protect against loss, but you might well find that having faith in this type of disciplined approach over the long term will enable you to become a smarter investor. It’s certainly a topic worth discussing with your financial advisor.

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In Sask. & Man. Toll Free 1 866 581-8777 In Saskatoon 306-241-7177 www.lindal.com/prairiecedarhomes Canada’s Top Lindal Dealer

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306-24 4-27 74 FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

| 45

advice from

DeDicateD to Business.

Committed to YouRS

the Matchmaker

Lianne Tregobov owns Camelot Introductions, a Matchmaking service, serving Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Tregobov has coached thousands of clients over the past 18 years with regards to dating and relationship do’s and don’ts. She is known for her uncanny ability to intuitively match people. She has been responsible for uniting thousands of people in marriage. Lianne interviews prospective clients in Saskatchewan on a regular basis. www.camelotintroductions.com

Dear Lianne,

I am wondering how to ever get over the guilt of being a single mom.

I never intended for my daughter to be raised without her father. He turned out to be a womanizing drunk and I could not take it anymore.

I find myself feeling so sad for my daughter. She is six and now fatherless. I do everything that I can to make her life good. What would you suggest? - Laura

Dear Laura,

Peter Fourlas – ReaLtoR® Rock Bridge Realty LtD. 306.529.0009 Peter@RedRealtor.org

Janessa Liebreich - ReaLtoR® Rock Bridge Realty Ltd. 306.530.3302 Janessa@RedRealtor.org

Your letter really saddened me. You are a devoted, caring mom who saved your daughter from a rollercoaster of a life and traded it for peace and stability. I can understand how your situation did not end up as the “white picket fence” scenario we all dream of, but you must examine the alternatives. Raising your little girl in an environment where there is turmoil and deceit is far unhealthier than having her raised by a loving single mom. Children require the sense of being secure and do not do well with yelling and fighting surrounding them.

You did what a loving mother should do by removing her from a situation that is not in her best interest. In time you will feel ready to date again. Please ensure that you are not introducing your daughter to any men until you are confident that he is the one for you. Children get confused and can feel threatened if they see mom dating a variety of people. In the meantime, you continue to be the best mom that you can be and just love that little girl.

Lifestyle Cabinetry Personalized cabinetry designed to fit any style

www.lifestylecabinetryinc.ca 1400 St. John St.

46 |

FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN

Regina SK

545-7301

photo by Shawn Fulton

Dewdney Ave

CO OP

Erin Capp - Owner of Wood Ridge Flooring photo by Shawn Fulton

Park St. McAra St.

Elliot St.

435 Dewdney Ave | Regina Sk. | 306 352 4639

SUDS

Winnipeg St.

www.woodridgeflooring.com

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Phone: 50 |

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Gourmet Kitchens • Granite countertop and under-mount sink.

• Maple Cabinets, dark or light color.

• 2 Raised upper cabinets.

• Crown mold to upper cabinets.

• Pantry door - Maple with glass insert.

• Moen single lever faucet c/w pull out spray • Stainless Steel front built-in dishwasher, microwave range hood combo • Under counter lighting • Water line for ice maker

Show Homes 4703 Glass Street (Harbour Landing) Weekends 1 - 5 pm Monday - Thursday 7 - 9 pm Daily 1 - 5 pm

4409 Padwick Road (The Landings) Weekends 1 - 5 pm Monday - Thursday 7 - 9 pm Daily 1 - 5 pm

352 Prairie View Drive (Fairways West) Weekends 1 - 5 pm Monday - Thursday 7 - 9 pm

1829 N. Blake Road (Lakeridge Addition) Weekends 1 - 5 pm Monday - Thursday 7 - 9 pm

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•

4121 Green Rose Crescent (Greens on Gardiner)

“OPENING SOON” Call 525-9801 for preview

533 Victoria Av., Regina, SK. S4N 0P8

•

(306) 525 9801