a peek inside the fishbowl

We have a winner! Thanks for you entries! There will be other giveaway in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned.

Let me give you some background before I give you the details of this giveaway.

As part of a large-scale marketing initiative to encourage Canadians to visit Syracuse and its surrounding areas, the Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau invited me and my family to visit the Greater Syracuse area for a weekend getaway in the fall. You can read about my visit here.

I am happy to be able to offer one of you (and your family) the opportunity to check it out for yourselves!

This giveaway includes:

• One free night accommodation (the family fun package) at the Holiday Inn Express Syracuse Airport, redeemable between now and December 31, 2009. Your accommodations include one free game of bowling for up to five people, one free in-room movie, chips and soda, free breakfast, and late checkout of 1 p.m. (You are going to need that late check out. Trust me.)
• Admission for four to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
• Admission for four to MOST
• Admission for four to the Everson Museum of Art

Please read this next part carefully.

• This giveaway is open to Canadians residents only
• You must provide your own transportation to and from Syracuse, NY
• Please note, you need proper documentation to cross the border. (i.e. passports for each member of your family)
• Winners will be chosen by me via Random.org
• One entry per family please
• Please ensure you leave a valid email address
• Once a winner is chosen I will give his/her email address to my contacts, who will then help make whatever arrangements are required.  
• Any other costs associated with this trip are the responsibility of the giveaway winner.

Please leave a comment below if you are interested. I’ll draw the winning name on Tuesday October 27th at 12 noon (EST).

For more information about Syracuse NY do check out www.VisitSyracuse.org.

So. Who wants to go?

We were chatting about FAMILY WORDS recently. These are words or phrases we use for certain things which might sound foreign if not totally confusing to other people.

I wanted to remember them so I’m recording them here (including translations):

• Stripey cheese = Tre-Stella brand cheese, which has stripes on the package
• Sprinkle cheese = grated Parmesan cheese
• Mouse pillows = interchangeable term for gnocchi and/or pierogi
• Daddy bread = a brand of bread
• Mummy cereal = a brand of granola
• Bum Covers = underwear
• Boobie Covers = (take a wild guess)
• Sneakbelt = seatbelt (I used to tell the girls that sneakbelts were invented to keep little girls from sneaking out of the car.)
• Huggle = a whole body hug. Combination of hug and cuddle.
• Fleckles = freckles … something Sarah used to say when she was small.

I also often find myself giving a jokingly stern warning about giving someone a “smackeral on the backeral” and I have no idea where that one started.

What special made-up words and phrases do you have in your family?

My inbox has been a busy place this week.

I thought this was a neat idea and I wanted to share.

Between October 5th and November 13th, Genworth Financial Canada and Habitat for Humanity Canada are asking Canadian students in grades 4, 5 and 6 what home means to them as part of their Meaning of Home writing contest. The winner will take part in the ultimate gift – a new Habitat home for a deserving family. Genworth will donate $60,000 towards the building of a new Habitat home in a community of the winner’s choice.

Check out the Meaning of Home website here, and the Facebook page here.