Well, back by popular demand - or just 'cause I want to - a few Post-It thoughts for a Thursday.  Here we go...
 

One week today we embark on our 5th annual Shelter from the Storm for the Cdn. Women's Foundation. Get set for 12 hours of awesome radio for a great cause on 98.1 CHFI.  And please think about how much you'll call to donate.  Please.

 

 Erin
 

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the Song @ 6...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Google "Erin Davis Twitter" and there I am!

Good day, sunshine.  Welcome to Wednesday.  We saw a moving truck the other day and the poor mooks who were carting things from the house into it, and said, "What an awful day for a move!"  Yesterday, Rob was in those exact same soggy shoes.

He drove to London - in the pouring rain - to help his mother move her stuff from the house she'd shared with Rob's dad for over 30 years, and in which they'd raised his younger sister.  She's found an amazing apartment that is going to suit her needs perfectly, and has gotten moved into it, with Rob's help (not to mention RJ's Movers).  He's a good son, for sure.

It's a situation that a lot of people are in: the so-called Sandwich Generation, in which you're caring for your kids (either pre-adult, or adults still living under your roof) and your aging parent(s).  Geography means I'll likely never be in that situation any way but financially, although my mom and dad seem to have all of their ducks in a row (provided the stock market stops draining the pond).

Well, everybody's talking about Swine Flu these days.  And now, spammers may be targetting you.  Don't worry - this isn't one of those "Let's scare the heck out of everybody, and forward this to everyone you know" e-mails.  This came to me from a legit source offering interviews with a McAfee expert.  Instead, I'll pass along the contents of this McAfee Inc. e-mail as a service to you.
 

There you go.  Please feel free to share a link to my journal with any and all friends and associates, but make sure they know that this is true, and not a bogus "I checked Snopes" e-mail designed just to clutter up people's inboxes.

Oh and by the way - petitions?  Don't bother sending them around, either.  Read why HERE.

Thanks for coming by today and helping to keep your inbox healthy with our own dose of preventive medicine today thanks to McAfee.  Enjoy today's sunshine.  We've earned it.

Erin
 

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the Song @ 6...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Google "Erin Davis Twitter" and there I am!

Well, wasn't that nice (while it lasted)?  Did you get a chance to sneak outside and enjoy some sunshine?  After work, a meeting and a workout, I dug out my bikini, stretched out on a chair on the balcony and finished up one of the most captivating books I've read in ages, Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden.  The best part - besides enjoying it on a sunny April day - was that I knew that in my Ben McNally bookstore bag, another Boyden awaits me.  Isn't that a treat?

A few sporting thoughts for a Tuesday morning...I tweeted about this last week and it's still on my mind.  And since I'm allowed way more than 140 characters here...let's go.

Why is it that in these heady days of the Jays not having lost a series this season, and a total lack of a local team in the NHL post-season, radio reports continue to lead - that is, to start their reports - with the hockey playoff scores?  I guess somewhere, radio (or sports, or radio sports) gurus have decided that more people care about hockey than baseball, but is that true?  Really?  Now?

Maybe it's a girl thing (although Rob shares the same sentiment, so we'll leave that call up to you) but I give up caring about a sport when my team is out of it.  If that makes me more a fan of the team that of the sport, so be it.  Call me shallow, then.  But when I tune in a sportscast on the radio and the Jays game is actually in progress, only to hear what is on tonight's NHL roster - that is flat out infuriating.  If the guideline is that hockey leads, surely if there's a Jays game going on, that trumps, wouldn't you think?

Let's go one step further and just suppose that the radio station you tune in to is owned by the same company that also owns the ball team.  Wouldn't that make it doubly logical (not to mention prudent) to lead with the Jays?  I'm just asking.

Anyway - here it is: Cito Gaston's Toronto Blue Jays, a team that nobody has given much of a chance to make it to the post season, is surprising and delighting us all in these very early days of the 2009 season.  Yes, we've several months (and a troubling pitching DL) to get through, but for now, can we not just glory in the fact that Toronto has a team that is actually doing WELL for a change???

Of course, that's just my two cents' worth as a fan and nothing more.  Yesterday, I slipped up and said the Jays are in their 2009/2010 season.  The baseball season ends - duh - in October.  Sometimes it only feels over 9 months long! (Not this year, boys, okay?)

Have a good Tuesday and we'll talk to you here tomorrow.

Hey there, welcome to a brand new week and the final few days of what the poet T.S. Eliot called "the cruellest month".  (Back in the day, they had extra 'L's to throw around, I guess).  No matter how you spell it, if you were caught out in that rain, wind and thunder on Saturday afternoon, you'll agree with him, wholeheartedly.

Rob and I took it in as close to nature as we could get (okay, we did have clothes on, that's not what I meant).  We sat out in the screened sunroom off our place on the Trent Canal in Bolsover (near Beaverton) and, despite getting damp from some of the crossways rain, we weathered that weather just to witness it all first hand.  Luckily, despite the black clouds that barreled across Lake Simcoe and right into our neighbourhood, we didn't sustain any obvious damage.  Plenty of people did; 100 km/h+ gusts were the strongest recorded at Pearson International since the big snowstorm of 1978!

I was caught up in a storm of another kind on Saturday - one thanks more to my tech confusion than anything else.  In my enthusiasm over Twitter, I increased the number of fellow Tweeters that I was following.  But in so doing, I inadvertently drowned in tweets and lost the ability to keep up with the small group of family and friends for which I really got on to the whole thing to begin with!  So I had to "unfollow" all kinds of folks.  Tweet responses seemed to indicate that people understood.  Once I try out Tweet Deck, I may have more of a clue.  Maybe later this week.

At any rate, with over 1000 folks now "following" me (again, their terminology and not a verb I would choose), I thought we'd celebrate together with a 1000 point bonus code for you today.  If you're new here and haven't used one, you simply go to www.chfi.com and sign in to the Loyalty Club.  If you run into problems - and really, it's pretty simple to do - e-mail Jay Kennedy.  He'll do his best to help you, but again, you shouldn't need it.  We've done all we can to make our chfi.com website as user friendly as our station.

This week (at 7:30 each morning) we're announcing the name of an instant winner of tickets to see Beyoncé this July at the Amphitheatre!  Instant wins every day.  (Every weekday of 2009 it's been $1000 - or the choice to toss that in for a chance at a weekly $10,000 win - luxury family trips and a whole lot more.)

Enjoy these 1000 points and use them to enter this week's Call to Win for Beyoncé (before you can even buy those tickets) or wait and find out what truly amazing stuff we have in store for you next week, too. The bonus code is Monday Monday.

After all of the news hype last week, I tuned in America's Most Wanted on Saturday night to see the show's coverage of Woodstock's Tori Stafford.  With surprise and disappointment, I did catch the ten second announcement they ran (between commercials) about the 8-year-old girl's disappearance.  Yes, there's info at AMW's website (www.amw.com), but we were led to believe - at least by radio news reports on Saturday - that there would be a "segment" on Tori.  Now, apparently there have been some calls to the AMW tip line; let's hope even that brief mention brings us closer to Tori's return.

Bea Arthur passed away this weekend at the age of 86.  Good-bye to the one and only Maude, a real broad in the best sense of the word.  Arthur was a feminist who never seemed to mind being the brunt of jokes (in one episode, her Golden Girls co-star Estelle Getty once said Bea looked the most like Barnaby Jones - a Buddy Ebsen/Jed Clampett reference for you if you're under 40).  But you had a sense that if she ever turned her rapier wit on you, you'd be eviscerated before you knew what had hit you.  By all accounts, she was a total class act.

Well, the drive from the cottage is just about done (it's 4:28 am now and we are so glad they reopened the Don Valley Parkway last evening!) so I'll sign off, cuddle a little more with Molly and Pepper and finish my first coffee of the day.  Enjoy the summery weather and we'll talk with you soon.

Welcome to Friday!  Alas, it's the final in our many, many weeks of CHFI Ten Grand in Your Hand giveaways (thank you PIZZA PIZZA!!!) but don't worry, we have a very cool prize awaiting you after 7:30 on Monday morning.  Oh, and trips are returning too.  Shhhh....

Monday marks the debut of a brand new 7:30 am Call to Win prize: tickets to the amazing Beyonce at the Amphitheatre July 20th.  Yep - we've got tickets to give away before you can buy them - through CHFI!  Once again, you'll have 10 minutes to phone us after your name is announced.  But you have to enter anew.  I'll be tweeting your Song @ 6 and Feel Good Favourites today and on Monday as usual so that you can gather more points right away.  But in celebration of nearly 800 Twitter followers (I'm amazed!) there are 750 bonus points awaiting YOU - not just my Twitter friends - here on Monday.

We'll end this week with a second performance tonight of Bye Bye Birdie at Lauren's high school.  I didn't write about it here yesterday as I didn't have any photos (still don't; none allowed to be taken in the auditorium) and few things are more boring than someone bragging about their kids.  For a few lines I will tell you that it was a terrific show - with the exception of some tech/sound issues, but it IS an arts school, after all.  Lauren made us even more proud than we usually are and her boyfriend Nathan, with his Sinatra-esque pipes and beautiful timbre, made me cry.

Great show, and although she'll be a weepy mess when it's over tonight (if she's like her mom was, which she is), I know that she'll take from it some of the best memories of her young life.  She was wishing her grandparents could have come, but with my folks in BC it just wasn't possible.  At least tonight her "surrogate granny", our dear friend Helen, will be there to represent and cheer appropriately!

I hope this weekend's weather affords you a chance to make a few memories, too - or perhaps dig into some as you wipe off and sweep away more of the winter's dirt and prepare for the spring and summer months ahead.

Take care, thank you for your supportive notes this week and have a lovely weekend.  Don't forget the DVP is closed both ways starting at 2 am tomorrow 'til we start our show at 5 am Monday.  Talk to you then. And have you joined Twitter yet?  I'm getting such a kick out of Jann Arden's tweets, I can't begin to tell you.

Erin
 

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the Song @ 6...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Google "Erin Davis Twitter" and there I am!

Can I just share with you an e-mail that made my day yesterday?  Here it is, from R:
 

Those are a lot of years of listening, R, and I thank you, not only for the mornings we've shared, but for your kind words.  It breaks my heart that people don't get the appreciation and applause that they deserve, but then again, I guess that Mike and I are in that small percentage of the population who are lucky enough to hear from people who like what we do.

Although it's not exactly 100% of the time.

On Tuesday, we talked very briefly about Susan Boyle, the YouTube phenom who was introduced to the world a few weeks ago on Britain's Got Talent.  The conversation that Mike and I had, centred on a column in the Globe and Mail, in which it was pointed out that we were all (happily) being duped by Simon Cowell if we thought that this woman from Scotland was a complete surprise to the panel that was so gobsmacked by her performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.

If you're one of three people on Earth who haven't seen it, just go to YouTube.  Watch the video - you'll likely smile and cry like I did.  But you'll also likely figure out that there's no way on this or any other planet that Susan Boyle hadn't been carefully pre-screened for her appearance on that stage.  And when the producers saw her (just about as au naturel as a woman can get with her clothes on), she was undoubtedly told not to change a thing - unlike most contestants who come out and give it their all.  This was truly going to be a "diamond in the rough" kind of experience and the world would love it!  We did, we do, we're lapping it up.

Mike and I shared with our listeners Globe and Mail columnist John Doyle's observation that we want to be part of a "feelgood" story like this, we want to believe that we're not a judgmental lot who'd rather look at young, pretty American Idol contestants than normal, likely average-looking people (like the ones in our own living room), and that getting excited over Ms Boyle makes us feel good about ourselves.  See?  We're not so superficial after all!  The judges and audiences scoffed and then cheered.  But we are not like that.  (I'd like to think we're not, too.)

When, live and on the air, Mike asked what I thought of her voice, I sucked in my breath at the thought of: a) having an opinion on something as subjective as someone else's voice (after all, who the hell am I to judge, right?) and b) upsetting anyone who thinks she is just terrific.  Lots of people do!  And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  Are we clear on that?

Like most, I think the whole story is wonderful; a single, 47-year-old woman who says (jokingly or not) she's "never been kissed" and who was teased as a youngster and found the courage to sing publicly again after taking care of her dying mum is a wonderful tale of believing that anything is possible.  As to whether she's got the greatest voice since Leontyne Price - well, does that really matter?  I believe there is a ton of talent out there and on any given night in karaoke bars everywhere, you'll hear it.  On Sunday mornings in any great choir, you'll hear it.  It's the story that counts most here.

She has a lovely voice and chose the perfect song.  But know that Susan Boyle's greatest attribute is her rise to the spotlight.  What happens from here on out is almost beside the point.  Whether she's got a terrific voice is also not important.  The story - a great "feelgood" fable in times that seem bereft of them - is what counts.

Let's not forget the tale of Paul Potts, the cell phone salesman from Wales who sang his way into Britain's Got Talent with "Nessun Dorma" and blew us all away.  His second CD is about to come out and then we will discover whether his popularity's shelf life outlives the curse of the short attention span that causes the swift but painful death of so many modern showbiz careers.

So here's my real point today.  Why a few irate listeners would threaten (via e-mail to producer Ian) to stop listening to CHFI simply because they heard something that wasn't in lock step with what they think - if they actually heard what we said to begin with - baffles me.

To them I say, that would be a shame.  You are allowed an opinion (such as, oh, what we can and cannot talk about) but we're not?  Are we only allowed to say we like Lil instead of Adam (not that we do - don't write - Adam totally rocks!  Unless you like Lil better...) or tell you the weather?  Has it come to that for some?  Good heavens, we're not talking politics or religion.  It's pop culture.  It. Doesn't. Really. Matter.

That's why, unlike so many other shows you can scan around for, our entire four hours are not about tv-tv-tv or Perez Sheraton or whomever is supposedly dating and dumping whom.

Get irate about a young couple in love in Afghanistan, and who were shot for trying to run away from their families.  Get angry over women being pelted with rocks for protesting the law that allows men to rape their wives - or just keep food from them until they capitulate.  Get upset because a little girl has been missing from her Woodstock home for two weeks and no one knows where or how she is.  Would you, please?  Can we not get our panties in a twist over something someone said about a Dancing With the Stars contestant or a faded Idol winner who now seems to be in Witness Protection?

All we try to do every morning is not to offend you or your family but still be entertaining, with some depth, some humour, great music and a healthy dose of fun.  Oh, and did I mention that it's live and very much without a net (or Annette.  She never shows up).

Of course, as Dennis Miller says, "that's just my opinion. I could be wrong...."

Oh, and want another feelgood moment?  Look at this clip of a 12-year-old who also made it through on Britain's Got Talent.  Unless he's been taken out by a pro-Boyle mob, he's apparently up against her in the contest.  Yes, it's completely polished and we aren't to ask how he had a second song all lined up, but it's feelgood for sure.  Enjoy.

Back here with you tomorrow.

Happy Earth Day.  As the irascible comic Lewis Black said on Monday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, every year we celebrate it and, every year, Earth does not get what it wants: for us all to drop dead.

Well, I laughed, anyway....  This Friday the city marks its annual 20-Minute Makeover, wherein we all pitch in and make Toronto a cleaner place for us all to share.

As it happens, this day, April 22nd, is Administrative Professionals' Day this year.  I've never had an assistant, a secretary or an administrative professional but I think that in every way my husband Rob fills the description of what a great administrative professional does, except of course, on occasion we hook up for more than a lunch date.  And no, he would not mind - in the least - being called an Administrative Professional.  After all, he describes his job as doing everything he can to let me "show up and shine" and isn't that often an AP's job (among so many, many other duties)?

I am lucky, indeed.  Rob jokes that with Lauren moving out in two months, his job description will no longer be "Stay at Home Dad" -  just, um, a "Stay at Home".  So perhaps a new title is in order anyway!

This day is set aside to honour and celebrate those women and men who really do make the business world go 'round.  I hope I can speak for those who benefit from the diligence, hard work, attention to detail and dedication of Administrative Professionals and say, from the bottom of our hearts, "Thank you".  If you only get those thanks one day a year, then my heart goes out to you.  Because that means you're being deprived of the two-sided coin that carries nearly as much weight as the pay cheque that gets dropped into the bank account every two weeks: respect and appreciation.

Layoffs are creeping through workplaces like that crawling, deadly green mist did in the movie Ten Commandments.  So many office workers, who have avoided the cruel scythe, are now being loaded up with the work of two or three other employees who have been cut loose.  Times are hard, not just for those without jobs, but for those with jobs, too.  And believe me, we all know about it.

Today, more than ever, we are grateful for those people around us who help a team to be the best that it can be.

On a personal note, if you're in charge of the radio at work or what customers hear when they call in and are put on hold, thank you for choosing 98.1 CHFI.  On a very cluttered radio dial, we strive to earn that honour of starting and then helping you through your day, every day.

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day.  You deserve every accolade, every "thank you" you receive today.  And in the unlikely but sad event that nothing comes your way, know in your heart that you are making a difference.  As a wise person once said, "No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another.  Thank you."

Welcome to Tuesday -- and thank you for coming in.  A few bits and bites for this chilly day….

How anyone doesn't buckle in a child in this country in 2009 is beyond me.  A baby in critical condition was nursing in his mother's arms when their van allegedly ran a red.  His head hit a window.  There she was, sharing life, and now his might never be the same.  There can be no excuse.

A man in Texas was (allegedly) driving drunk and lost control of his car when he went to answer his cell phone.  Now five children under the age of seven are dead in swollen Texas river waters.  Again, no excuses.  I saw a guy get behind the wheel of his pickup truck with an open beer can in his hand in Louisiana a week ago.  I shook my head and wondered what goes through people's alleged minds to make them think that's all right - in any scenario.

Roy Halladay pitches tonight for the Jays as they pit their 10-4 record against the Texas Rangers.  It's another beer-free night (not to be confused with free beer) at the Rogers Centre and I'm okay with that.  Booze is not a necessity to have a good time, especially if you're driving or trying to set an example for your kidlets.  They see everything.

When and where are they going to find Tori Stafford?  I'd love to believe that police knew what they were doing when no Amber Alert was issued - apparently a license plate or car description is needed - but as my friend Lisa points out, Woodstock is right off the 401 and getting her across the border would have happened so fast, so easily.  Where is Tori, anyway?

Rob got a speeding ticket as we headed north on Friday afternoon.  Bright sunshine, light conversation, no cruise control being used, and I wasn't doing my usual speedometer monitoring!  Cruise control gets used now, for sure.  Got a fine, but no points.  However, Twitterers tell me we're gonna get hit with an insurance hike and that he shouldn't have admitted to doing 102 in an 80 km/h.  Admit nothing, we're told.  We lean towards honesty and may pay for it in the end.  So to speak.

Thank heavens those Canjet passengers made it safely off the plane and home to Toronto (or on to their vacations in Cuba, if they so chose) after their crew was taken hostage.  Sangster in Montego Bay has some of the most stringent security I've ever encountered (a secondary bag check just before you board is often done after the regular security check) - so how a guy got on to a plane with a gun is a mystery.  Might have something to do with the fake ID he was rumoured to be carrying along with that firearm.  It could have ended so very badly.  Much to be thankful for and it was a nice touch that the PM was already there in Jamaica, skipped a speech in Kingston and went to Montego Bay to congratulate those involved.

With those thoughts I'll sign off for today - but with one extra note of thanks: that these cool rainy days are bringing spring with them, rather than winter.  That reminds me...tomorrow is Earth Day.

Welcome to Monday, and Happy Administrative Professionals' Week.

It's an exciting week in our house, for sure.  Here's why:

Over four months ago now, the final casting was announced for the venerable stage musical Bye Bye Birdie at Lauren's high school.  She was elated to have landed one of the leads (Rosie), especially in that her boyfriend of three years won the role of male lead, and that competition in an arts high school is pretty stiff.  There's a lot of talent there, so much so that many of the parts are double cast so that more than one diva gets to have a starring role!  Lauren shares hers with a young lady named Victoria; she'll be taking the spotlight in a school day matinee and Thursday night's show.

Ever since that casting was announced, they've had daily rehearsals that, in the past month, have turned into five hour affairs, keeping the kids at school 'til 9 pm and even all-day rehearsals on Saturdays.  Wednesday and Friday are the nights Lauren takes the stage at Rosedale Heights, and while she and Nathan both have colds now (of course), they're ready, excited and just dying to show us the fruits of all of these months of hard work and sore feet, not to mention the endless hours of singing that we've heard coming from her room down the hall!

We can't wait.  And I am so going to miss the sound of her (and Nathan) belting out show tunes.  But I've had to remind  myself what I've been telling her: be "in the moment".

My message to her, especially in the final month leading up to this week's shows, has been to try really hard to soak it all in, and to enjoy this whole process.  These really are some of the best days of her life - there'll never be another process like this, to be sure - and although there were many evenings fraught with tears and frustration over the dramas that happen within the dramas whenever two or more teens are gathered in one place, it's been a joyful experience that she'll always cherish.

Rob and I will be doing the same, going to both performances and wondering the entire time, where on earth her high school years have gone.

And on one more note - whatever her teachers are paid (and yes, she's in the public school system) you can be sure they're not getting any extra money for these hours and hours of rehearsals, not to mention the fact that they are giving up their Saturdays to be with our children and make these shows of a quality rivaling what is offered on professional stages.  I have nothing but the utmost respect and appreciation for their sacrifices and unflagging dedication to our children.  Next week, more teachers will be accompanying some of the Rosedale kids on a musical journey to New York City.  Extra pay?  Doubtful.  Extra special?  Absolutely.

Have a terrific week and we'll be back with you here tomorrow.

Welcome to Friday.  What a glorious taste of spring we've been given the past few days (and parts of the next few, too).
To paraphrase George Harrison, it was a long cold lonely winter.  And although Blue Mountain is open for skiing this weekend, the City of Toronto golf courses, like Dentonia, are open for golf, too.  So there.  That's Ontario for you, huh?  Don't like the weather?  Wait - or drive - a few hours.  That's all!

I hope you've enjoyed the New Orleans photos and journals this week.  It's extra work for both me and Rob to share these with you, but I travel with this blog in mind now; you come here every day and I want to let you in on as many of my adventures as you want!  In that my aim was to make sure that you're "Thinking New Orleans" if you've got travel plans, I took great pleasure in reading this note from Doreen:

 

Hi Erin,  You have no idea how much I am enjoying your pictures of New Orleans in your journals this week. THANK YOU SO MUCH! My husband and I had planned a trip to that fabulous city in 2005, but then Katrina changed our plans - which, I must admit, was nothing compared to the plans she changed for the inhabitants of the city itself! SO DEVASTATING!  Well, after a couple of years, last February (2008) we finally took the trip to the city that I have wanted to visit for a very long time. My husband teaches at College, so we must travel during his time off, which was great because we missed the craziness that is Mardi Gras by a week. Boy, when we got there, I was NOT DISAPPOINTED! What a wonderful, vibrant (albeit a bit sore from her wounds), beautiful city! I have much the same pictures as you and I found it absolutely amazing that the people are still so friendly and welcoming! Every time I hear the name I get chills and a wonderful warmth at the same time. I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK! With all the places I've traveled, not one has had this effect on me - I just fell in love and actually miss it, especially when I see pictures. I am so glad that you went and are able to tell your followers about it - maybe they will go now as well. I love listening to you and Mike and the Wise Guys every day (even on weekends - best of spots). Keep on keeping it real, Erin. Love ya Bye Bye - Doreen.

On Sunday morning we awoke and wondered, "What shall we do today?"  We'd walked lots, eaten, played a bit at Harrah's, enjoyed music and, on a more sombre note, witnessed the aftermath of Katrina's wrath.  As we sipped coffee in the hotel room, I happened to pick up The Times-Picayune newspaper and read about Regis and Kelly's visit to NOLA just a few days earlier!  One of their adventures included a swamp tour and I remembered Lauren telling us we just had to do it!  Yes, our kid had been to New Orleans twice already as part of her school's music program.  They even sang at the world famous Preservation Hall!  But I digress....

We called down to the front desk and got a tour suggestion; turns out it was the same tour that Kelly Ripa and her children and other relatives had enjoyed just days before.  An hour later, a shuttle filled with other adventurous tourists picked us up and we headed out of town on a 45 minute drive to a real live swamp!

About twenty of us piled into a boat similar to this one (only ours didn't have a top - way better)...

...where a guide named Gary, whose humour was as dry as the air was humid, took us on a two-hour tour of a still and placid protected area called Honey Island Swamp.

Although you probably don't know it, you've seen this swamp.  Part of it was the setting for the James Bond flick Live and Let Die and local writer Anne Rice insisted it be used in the film adaptation of her Interview With the Vampire best-seller.

Vampires were the least of our concerns; this swamp (which is just literally a forest in water) is home to 36 types of snakes, four of which are poisonous.  We only saw a few lying in what little sunshine we had, and I didn't get any pictures, but I did get these turtles...

...this alligator (which was lonely 'cause the rest wouldn't come out on such a chilly day)...

...and a wild pig who moved so quickly that you can just see his little piggy bum in the middle of this picture.  He must have heard it was Easter and worried about how he'd look with pineapple slices.

A giant blue heron was not the least bit worried about the likes of us as he or she sought out brunch...

...and while we didn't see any (except perhaps for guide Gary) there were signs of the ubiquitous Red Neck in the area.

Perhaps this tree lady was looking for one, herself...

...or for the house that floated right off its pilings in the floods following Hurricane Katrina.

Most houses are built high enough to withstand flooding, like this one here.

But when water gets as high as it did in 2005, who stands a chance?  For example, water came up over the railing on this bridge.

And countless dozens or even hundreds of thousands of animals died in Katrina's aftermath.  Even in the swamp, I wondered?  How?  They drowned.  No high land to escape to.  That's how it came to be that people clinging to their roofs were sharing shingles with alligators, if you can believe it.  Squirrels, which managed to survive better than almost any other mammal, became the most hunted of all by those higher on the food chain.  The balance of the swamp is still far from where it was pre-2005.

(A sidebar: almost all of the 10,000 fish in the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas perished because backup power died after four days.)

Like New Orleans, the swamp and her natural treasures are returning.  Her history stands intact: this tree was hit by lightning somewhere around the time that George Washington was crossing the Delaware.

Spanish Moss hangs gently from tree limbs like cob webs from a distant time...

...and if you dry and treat that moss, you end up with what they call "horse hair" - the stuff that VW Beetle seats and countless couches were filled with.  Here's how the Spanish Moss looks after treatment.

While life and beauty change with the seasons, even in a swamp, you need only look to the Spider Lily, as we did on that memorable Easter Sunday, to see signs of renewal and rebirth all around us.

An excursion truly worth the time and cost (just over $40 per person) and one we're so glad we took.

You have a great weekend - don't forget that we have another big winner in our CHFI Ten Grand in Your Hand contest...it'll be Vida (yesterday's qualifier) against whoever's name comes up today - if they decide to give back their grand!

And because my Twitter "followers" have surpassed 500, I'll have a bonus tweet going out on Monday worth 500 points.  Not signed up yet?  See below and get those free points, worth ballots for the Ten Grand and much, much more.

Hello, and thanks for coming by.

I get a lot of e-mail - you know that.  I've never forgotten one that came in to me while I was cottaging in August of 2005, awaiting a return to radio and my new partnership with Mike Cooper.  It was from a woman who was angry that I was not writing in my journal about Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

I gently wrote back that: a) I'm not a newspaper, and b) I just hadn't had the TV on and wasn't really caught up on what was happening with the storm.  I haven't forgotten that e-mail because, truthfully, I was clueless about what was going on.  And I didn't write, because nothing about the situation grabbed me; it seemed no more unusual than, say, the tornado that hit Tennessee just a few days ago.  More of Mother Nature's wrath and thank God it wasn't us, right?

I think, like most people, I took at face value the word of reports that emerged the day after, saying that New Orleans had "dodged a bullet" on August 29, 2005.  Katina had been downgraded to a category 3 by the time the eye reached the city.

But then, America's worst-ever engineering disaster hit: no fewer than 50 drainage canal levees were breached.  80 percent of the city of New Orleans was under water - in some areas, like the now tragically famous Lower Ninth Ward, water rose up to 12 feet high.  It hit the poor and it hit the rich - modest homes and mansions both were utterly destroyed, their contents in ruins.

People who had left during empty hurricane warnings in recent years and weren't going to be herded out of town this time, along with the elderly and immobile, were left either to get themselves into the Louisiana Superdome downtown, or stay and try to cut themselves out of their attics and wait for help on their rooftops.  That help didn't come for days and days and days.  It's like the city had been completely forgotten and foresaken.  (A harrowing account of the disaster's aftermath is NBC anchor Brian Williams' documentary We Were Witnesses.  Read or watch it here.)

Never having visited this historic and vibrant cradle of jazz, cuisine and culture, I had no concept of what was happening to The Big Easy and just how much tragedy was being played out with every hour that the city was ignored by federal authorities.  Thanks to our visit, I do now.

We took a Gray Line tour of the hardest hit areas.  Our driver Sylvester gave us a detailed rundown of what happened, where people died, what's gone on since and his own personal perspective too.  Sylvester and his wife lived in one of those tiny FEMA trailers for two years when their home was ruined by several feet of water that just sat there for weeks and weeks, and the mold and destruction that the stagnant, awful waters wrought.  (I mentioned yesterday that those hastily-produced trailers are believed now to contain cancer-causing formaldehyde.  Already shell-shocked Katrina survivors got out of those toxic tin cans very quickly, I'm told).

Hundreds of thousands left New Orleans in the days surrounding Katrina.  Many moved thousands of miles away to stay with relatives, some for over a year!  Can you imagine just cancelling your life as you know it and leaving with your kids (if you weren't separated during the evacuation), not knowing when or to what you would return?

You might also be interested to know that power was out for weeks; cell phone service for months. In the 21st century.  America.  Not Bangladesh.  What the heck happened, anyway?

Many houses look completely abandoned.  This one bears what residents call "Katrina Tattoos".  The National Guard and other search and rescue teams had to leave marks to show they'd been through houses.

The marking on this house showed that there were two bodies found inside.  (There was also a hole punched through the roof.)  The water line on this house was over the top of the doorway.  Below, another that will probably never be inhabited again.

The spray paint on this next house (below right) is heart-breaking.  Obviously its occupants got out and wanted everyone to know.

While the repairs on this house have just begun (3 1/2 years after the storm that nearly destroyed it)...

...they'll likely never happen for these places.

Here, on this industrial-looking building (which is a church), you can clearly see the brownish horizontal line showing how high the water sat for three weeks when those levees broke.

For one lucky woman, Brad Pitt and Mike Holmes teamed up for the "Make It Right" program.  You may have seen the story of Miss Gloria on a Global TV special last week, or the HGTV series.  We managed a shot through the bus window as we passed by the distinctive yellow house during our tour.

There are more Pitt houses to be built.  But they can't come soon enough.  Yes, the rebuilding has begun, but in areas that were never affluent to begin with, malls have been razed with no replacements planned.  The beleagured Six Flags theme park sits idle and empty (after weeks in salt water, how badly compromised were rides like the giant roller coaster?).  And in some areas, only the home improvement stores have reopened, many with jacked up prices ("supply and demand" don't you know) and waiting lists stretching out as long as 6 months to a year.

It's impossible now to fully grasp the aftermath of the storm, when devastated residents returned to their ravaged homes and couldn't even save their wedding photos.  People dragged everything out of their battered houses and left them in mountains by the curbs and in the boulevards, to be hauled off as garbage.  After all, what good is a stove or a washer or even a couch, once it's been soaked in salt water for all of that time?

We learned on the tour that thousands of animals died during Katrina as well, but those that survived were surely some of Darwin's fittest.  Imagine alligators leaving the rising swamps to find high ground, and parking themselves on a roof top - the same one where you've tried to get out of the water, too.  That scenario certainly played out (and with bears) during Katrina's aftermath.

Tomorrow, some of those swamp critters in their rightful habitat.  I'll share with you pictures from the same Swamp Tour taken by one Kelly Ripa when she and Regis visited New Orleans last week.  I had no idea they were doing some PR for the city when I booked this impromptu trip.  Good for them - New Orleans needs visitors now more than ever.

You can party it up, enjoy more varieties of food and music and fun than anyone could imagine - that's what New Orleans is about.  We did that, but we're also grateful to have more insight into the story that so gripped the world in 2005.  The waters subsided, to be sure, but the painful lessons and awful destruction it wrought will be evident, possibly, forever.

Welcome to Wednesday.  When I booked our Easter Weekend trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, I had no idea that Regis and Kelly were going the same week (we even ended up on the same Gator tour, only days apart).  I just wanted to see a place that Lauren's visited twice (school band trips) and I've only heard about.  I wanted to see what the excitement was about, but also to witness firsthand the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  We had no idea what we were going to find and were both delighted and greatly saddened by what we experienced.

As our guide on our Katrina tour Friday said, "People ask me how they can help.  I tell them to go home and tell folks to come and visit New Orleans, see her for themselves."

I couldn't agree more with Sylvester.  He and his wife lived for two years in a trailer - not a mobile home mind you, but a trailer like one you'd pull to Picton - until they learned that those little FEMA trailers had formaldehyde in them.  Yep - the stuff that is a human cancer-causing agent.  Once again, Dubya's words, "Heckuva job, Brownie!" kept ringing through my ears.

A city devastated by nature and neglected by all levels of government, but still she sings, plays and virtually vibrates with music and a hearty attempt at joie de vivre.  And so I sing the praises of New Orleans here this week to spread the word and get you "Thinkin' New Orleans".

No matter what it is you're looking for in an adventure - whether an extended weekend like the one that Rob and I enjoyed, or a week or two - New Orleans is a simply amazing vacation destination.

Let's start with the airport.  Louis Armstrong International is easy to navigate and immediately grabs your attention with a statue of their native son (and airport namesake).  It's a wonderful symbol that greets the traveller in this, the birthplace of jazz.

The first thing one notices upon approach over Lake Pontchartrain (second largest salt water lake in America) is how very wet - and green - the area surrounding New Orleans is.  To this flyer's eye, it appeared that about half of the area surrounding Louis Armstrong International Airport is submerged - and that was before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 and killed 1800 people (or about two-thirds the number who died in 9/11).

The dankness of the air is the first thing that hit us upon leaving our small United Airlines plane and walking into the terminal.  I felt immediately as though we had just landed in the Caribbean. Then the excitement about a vacation subsides, to be replaced by a wave of sadness.  Large photos commemorate the relief workers and the daunting task they faced in helping New Orleans residents.  (Victims sought shelter at the airport in the wake of Katrina's unimaginable wrath and subsequently devastating floods.)

Some of that damage - especially in the famous Lower Ninth Ward - is as fresh today as it was in the long, wet and heartbreaking months immediately after the disaster which left it, as one blogger put it, "a war zone without a war".  Many residents and business owners have just walked away, unable or unwilling to rebuild, leaving a jack-o-lantern effect of renovation in some places and ragged remains in others, often side by side.

I'll have more Katrina pictures for you later in the week, including the house built by Canadian Mike Holmes.

Eighty percent of New Orleans was underwater in the wake of the August 2005 storm.  Countless bodies were lost when waters overtook the city's famous above-ground graveyards.  (A mass memorial service was later held).

And yet, through it all, New Orleans and her residents survive and fight to thrive.  Some hard hit areas resemble parts of today's Detroit, only NOLA suffered a swipe by the harsh hand of nature (and the city's lack of adequate preparation or reaction), rather than the manmade disaster of the auto industry's failures.

But the French Quarter, the only part of the city above sea level, was spared the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.

Stretching for block after block, and teeming with stores, bars, hotels and tastebud-tempting restaurants and cafés, this part of New Orleans is a trip unto itself.  From the pious and stalwart Saint Louis Cathedral (oldest in North America)...

...to the all out craziness of a Mardi Gras spirit that runs year round!  Now, where is he (she?) going in that hat?  Doesn't look like a helmet, does it?

The Easter Parade in the Quarter had just wound up by the time we'd made our way there through the myriad live music bars on the infamous Bourbon Street.

And, oh, my birthday boy in matching mauve shirt and purple beads did get hit on in the French Quarter - and, although he pretended not to hear, I did.  Go Robbie!

If, as Shakespeare said, "music be the food of love," then surely this city's food will be music to your ears.  New Orleans is where they put the DIE in diet, as you might as well just give up the battle of the bulge while you're visiting.  Whether it's Po Boy sandwiches (a big french roll overflowing with fried shrimp or crawfish or oysters - whatever!), deep down spicy cajun and creole cuisine, or sticky sweet candied nuts better known as pralines...you can never go hungry in N'Awlins.  It's simply not allowed, dahlin'.

In fact, the city and her restaurants inspired me to write a few reviews.  They've been posted on Tripadvisor (I was giddy to read that they had been!) and I'll share them with you in days to come, and for the uninitiated, explain Tripadvisor too.

Getting around is a breeze.  You can take a ferry that crosses the mighty Mississippi for free or hop on a good old fashioned paddle-wheeler.

For $1.25 you can ride the city rails and take the cheapest, most beautiful tour any frugal traveller could hope for.  It is here that there actually was a streetcar named Desire.  In fact, the last Desire streetcar ran the line on May 30, 1948, to be replaced by a bus line also named Desire, and the original version was indeed the inspiration for Tennessee Williams' famous play, which opened on Broadway a year before the streetcar was replaced.  (Glad he wrote it before it became a bus line...somehow that just doesn't have the same ring!)

Tomorrow we'll look more in depth at the devastation that was Katrina, and the rejuvenation that goes on with startling speed in some spots, and a surprising lack of progress in others.  Take care, have a gentle Wednesday.

It's 4:00 pm, and I'm in New Orleans.  Yes this is Tuesday's journal, but it's Monday as I tap away at the crimson laptop that matches the colour of my neck and cheeks at this moment.  I am seething as I write this, and you know that's not like me.  (You also know how this story ends, as I am on the air with Mike this morning.  But here's the rest of the story. When I began writing it, I sure didn't know how this day would go.)

We arrived at the airport at 1:00 pm, in plenty of time for our 2:30 pm flight to Chicago.  We were soon notified that we'd be delayed an hour at Louis Armstrong International Airport due to storms south of Chicago (the sort-of halfway point of our journey where we were to have had a three-hour layover to connect to a flight home).

By 3:30 we were put on our little United Airlines plane.  Only one hour late - no biggie. "Yippee!" I texted to the folks riding along on Twitter.

Once we were buckled into our seats - just metres away from the food, magazines, copious leg room and endless supplies of drinking water inside the airport - my glee became gloom.  Because it was then that the captain came on and told us that, owing to weather and air traffic control in the Windy City, we'd be pushing off from the gate, but would then have to sit on the tarmac for the next hour-and-a-half (at least).

Our plans to make a leisurely transfer and grab some dinner over those three hours in Chicago - so conservative, so careful - were evaporating.  Panicked, I checked on Expedia.ca and saw that no flights at all were leaving Chicago for Toronto after ours.  Oh no.

I have a big responsibility to be on the radio show when I'm supposed to be.  The chance that I might not, made me very upset.  But what infuriated me most is the way that some airlines treat people.  Humans.  Paying customers.

Maybe it's just United, probably not, but the fact is this: they knew we weren't going anywhere but loaded us onto the plane like so many lambs heading to slaughter, so they could free up a gate.  No warning, no "Hey folks, you may want to grab a sandwich or a juice", no nothing.  Can't have cranky passengers in the terminal!  Get us into a plane and then tell us that we are not getting off.  Worse yet, that we could miss our connectors (and, for me, work).

I love to travel.  Do it every chance I get.  I guess that if you travel enough, the law of airline averages tells us that about half the time, things are going to go wrong.  We have yet to lose our luggage (and I cringe even saying that, believe me) unlike the woman in the seat behind me in the plane yesterday.  She'd lost it on her way to New Orleans - from where, I'm not sure, but her accent was Scandinavian - and now she knew she was in trouble going home, too.  So I guess I could have it worse.

Just seeing what New Orleans has been through in the past three-and-a-half years reminds me I could always have it worse.  Don't worry, I haven't lost my perspective.

But if I didn't tap out these frustrations on my keyboard, I don't know what I'd have done.  Poor Rob has his nose buried in a good book (Wayson Choy's Not Yet) and is waiting for me to chill.  I think I have.

Now, can we go?

A happy post-script: After waiting three hours to leave New Orleans (nearly two in the plane on the tarmac) we took off, had a smooth flight and landed in Chicago 20 minutes before our Air Canada flight was scheduled to leave for Toronto.  The electronic board that greeted us as we arrived at Terminal 1 said that our AC flight was on time.  Good news.  And...bad news.  If we had a chance in Hades of catching that flight, we were going to have to run like, well, Ben Johnson with his pants on fire.

We met up with another couple running through Terminal 1 and said "Ca-na-di-ans???"

"Yes!" they puffed and ran with us.  The guy who'd joined our impromptu race said that there might be a later flight to Montreal (oh goody, I thought...an all-night drive on the 401 to get on the air by 5 am!) if we didn't make this one.

As we tore past annoyed and bewildered fliers, we ran on three moving sidewalks, up a crowded escalator and along countless kilometres of terminal tile to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2.  (Now I know why they use the word "terminal" for the dying; that run nearly killed me.)  As we arrived at our gate, a crowd of people who were, blessedly, just sitting there, told us the news was great: our flight had indeed been delayed.  We were to board in ten minutes.  We'd made it!

The gate attendant told us that they'd notified United and it was the United folks who hadn't bothered to change the electronic readout yet.  Had they done so, we might not have risked, life, limb and fellow travellers.  But, now I'm just picking a fight....

At any rate, we landed at about half past 10 last night at Pearson.  After the regular drill at Customs, we headed to the Baggage Claim to wait.  And guess what?  We clearly outran our suitcases in Chicago and they failed to make it to the plane.  After a short lineup and a conversation with a friendly Air Canada rep, we filled out the paperwork necessary to ensure our bags make an appearance today, hopefully.

Of all the things that could have happened, though, that was small potatoes indeed.

So we headed to the Terminal One lot to look for our chilly car.  By the way, is it just me, or is it one of the most confusing parking garages ever?  We make a habit of writing the space number on our parking slip, so we remember where we parked.  But our new terminal is different from its predecessors, as you can't tell for sure where you're parked just by the space number.  There's an F13 on every level!

Anyway, I digress...again.  We made it home in time to give Lauren a few gifts, cuddle with two excited pups and climb into bed at midnight.  Up this morning at 4 am...and another week begins.  What an adventure!

Now, about those other adventures - I have a long list of great photos of New Orleans (both sides now) to show you.  But I've strained your eyes and patience enough for one day and my time has run out.  I will ask your forgiveness in putting off my stories until tomorrow.  If you're on Twitter, you already got little hits of highlights throughout the weekend.

I have some wonderful memories to share with you here.  Take care and thanks for flying the almost friendly skies with me.

Welcome in.  For the first time - perhaps ever - Mike and I are off on this, Easter Monday.  The reasons have to do with the fact that we've been going non-stop through 2009 (not complaining, just saying) so the odd long weekend helps us to keep going with the 4 am wakeups and a non-stop show.  An extra long weekend...well, maybe we'll be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound - or at the very least, survive a lengthy wait for the elevator.

Of course, today you're enjoying Tish, Darren and The General (and a brand new Wise Guys at 7:10 am too) and your first chance of the week at the CHFI Ten Grand in Your Hand contest.  Thursday's finale was another exciting one, with a screaming, crying, ecstatic Vicky Mangialardo taking home an Easter basket loaded with TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.  And I thought nothing was better than chocolate!

I trust you had a nice long weekend with your friends and family.  As you may know, I'll be sharing some pictures and stories with you here tomorrow, as Rob and I fly home this evening from New Orleans.  I planned the trip as a surprise for Rob's birthday (not a milestone, but a big one just the same) and in addition to enjoying some gumbo, cajun cooking, jazz and dixieland music and warmer (but rainy) weather, we're going to see firsthand the devastation and rebuilding of this troubled, storied city.  We're taking in the sights and sounds and I'm going to share as much as I can with you this week.  She needs as much love as we can give 'er.

Take care and have a good day.  If you're working - and I do know that this is one of those head-shaking days where you wonder "Why some - and not all?" - you're enjoying a lighter and hopefully happier commute.

Mike and Gord and Ian and I will be back together tomorrow.  Take care, thank you for coming by.  Talk to you on CHFI tomorrow.

Thank you for stopping by today.  Happy Easter.

I am resting from the journal today but will return on Easter Monday here, with a fresh journal for you.  In the meantime, have a safe and Happy Easter weekend, a joyous Passover and we'll talk to you on Monday.

Tuesday we'll include pictures from our journey to New Orleans, a city that - for me - perfectly symbolizes Easter: sadness and hope, death and renewal.

Be well.

Erin
 

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the 5:55 am Birthday Song...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Use this phrase: Erin Davis CHFI.  You have to be specific (and case-sensitive) or it'll say it can't find me:(  But if you type in Erin Davis CHFI, there I am!

Happy Passover - Happy Easter (almost) and welcome to Friday!  What a lovely thing, this long weekend...especially in that folks who didn't get one for the Family Day weekend in February haven't had an extra day off since New Year's.

I thought that before we bug out for a long weekend too, I'd leave the last words to you today.  Some e-mails from journal readers and listeners in response to our heartfelt piece at 8:20 yesterday regarding organ donations and the rigamarole associated, not just with filling out your card (which we've all done, I hope), but also with having to download a form, fill it out and then mail it to Kingston so there's a database.  All told, it took but one minute to download and print the form, which you'll find at chfi.com's home page.

You had this to say:

"Erin, I just wanted to pass on something I did that I think might be an idea for your listeners to put the idea of organ donation foremost in people's minds. I downloaded the form from your website and forwarded it to everyone on my contacts list with the message that, just in case they were considering being a donor, here was the form and all they had to do was complete it and mail it in. Hopefully it will generate more registrations. Keep up the wonderful work.  Karin."

"(You asked) 'If I have signed my donor card, why do I need to register with OHIP?' A donor card is a paper card carried by the prospective donor. Your decision to donate is only known to the extent that you share this decision with your family and friends.

However, when you register your consent to donate organs and tissue with OHIP, this information is stored in a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care database. The Ministry will disclose information about your decision to Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ontario's organ and tissue donation agency, for the purpose of ensuring that your decision to donate is known and respected. By registering your consent to donate, you ensure that your donation decision is recorded and is made available to the right people at the right time, and is shared with your loved ones.

The donor card that comes with your licence still works.  This is a different method.  You will also find out by reading the FAQs that what has really changed is they are only recording the Yes responses and no longer the No or Not Sure responses.

And next of kin can still over-ride your decision whether registered with Trillium or the MTO donor card....wonder what it would take to get the law changed about next of kin over-riding your decision?"

And finally, from Ingrid:

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for letting me know that the organ donation process had changed.  I have completed the downloaded form and printed extras for people that don't know about the change. You guys are great!!  I love listening to you."

And if, for some reason, you're not ready to sign a donor card or form, don't forget that the best way we can give of ourselves while we're living - at least physically - is through Canadian Blood Services.  Why wait 'til it's time to go, before we start giving, right?

Today we're heading to New Orleans for the long weekend and I look forward to sharing pictures and stories with you here next week.  I expect this to be as much of a learning experience as a brief holiday - or at least a lot of both - and I am excited about the prospect of sharing it with you.  In the meantime, have a safe and Happy Easter and Passover.  Make lots of memories and remember: if it's really good chocolate, it's worth it!!!

My favourite is Green and Black's Organics Milk Chocolate.  They come in different packages but the one I like has three little separate squares so I'm never tempted to eat 'em all!  (The only things missing are ears to chomp off.)

By the way, there'll be a journal for you here Monday, even though MIke & I will be off. 

Hugs,

Erin
 

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the 5:55 am Birthday Song...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Use this phrase: Erin Davis CHFI.  You have to be specific (and case-sensitive) or it'll say it can't find me:(  But if you type in Erin Davis CHFI, there I am!

Some Post-It thoughts on a Wednesday.  Like Twitter, only "old school."  Here goes.
 

If the heartbreak of the Baby Kaylee/Baby Lillian story doesn't increase Organ Donor awareness, nothing will.  I think - actually my Dad brought this up - organ donation should be a Negative Option affair.  Unless you go out of your way to sign a card saying you DON'T want to donate your organs, then parts of you should go to help someone else when you're gone.  Period.

Thanks for coming in today - hope you survived that nasty blast of wintry weather.

As I mentioned in yesterday's journal, Rob's gift this year is a trip to New Orleans.  I have to tell you that I pondered long and hard about going to "The Big Easy"; unlike Boston, New York or Chicago, New Orleans has never been on either of our "must do" lists.

But a few things brought me to this destination: never having been there I was curious about this lively city with such a tragic chapter, and Lauren's visit there on a school band trip last year really impressed her.  She says we'll love it; I have no doubt she's right.  Plus, we will avoid the drunkfest that is Mardi Gras (arriving near the end of Lent, as a matter of fact) so that will be a relief.  I just had no interest in it.

Of course, over the last few years, the city has endured a lot more than rowdies throwing up on its sidewalks and you know that I mean Hurricane Katrina.  Part of our planned itinerary includes a tour that will take us through some of the hardest hit areas of New Orleans.

Are you thinking what I was thinking?  "A tour...of a devastated area?  That's pretty macabre!"  But after some consideration, I realized that when we went to NYC, we made our way to the site of the World Trade Center attacks.  Although I almost felt a need to avert my eyes from the gaping holes in the ground, lest our visit seem voyeuristic or somehow exploitative, it was still somewhat of a personal pilgrimage.  Something to do to bring home and make real the myriad images that television had emblazoned on our brains.  And we're also assuming that proceeds from the tour - or at least some of them - are going to the people who need them.

Like Easter, I think New Orleans can be a symbol of hope and renewal.  And by seeing her glory - as well as her devastation - I think we'll be doing both us and this city a great service.  I will share pictures of both sides of this coin with you here next week.

In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about a show you may want to check out tonight and tomorrow night, or PVR if you need your Dancing With the American Idol fix.  Here's part of a write-up about it.  I know we'll be tuning in.

"Last June, Mike Holmes headed to New Orleans to face the toughest assignment of his professional life: in 10 weeks, make it right for one family whose home was destroyed three years earlier by hurricane Katrina.

"At the same time, the Halton Hills, Ont.-native had to set a construction standard for hundreds of hurricane-resistant, energy-efficient homes to follow.

"The result is "Holmes in New Orleans," a two-part special which begins Tuesday, April 7, at 9 p.m. ET on Global and concludes the following night. An expanded, six-part version begins April 9 on HGTV."
(full story here).

Take care and thanks.

Erin

Good morning and welcome to the start of a nice, short four-day work week!  Yahoo!

Now, I know that starting a Monday just a little weary isn't unusual (at least in my 20's that'd be the case, thanks to some weekend fun!) but I have a couple of great excuses.

First, though...the weather.  Did you find yourself yesterday saying, "Naw, they've GOT to be wrong!" about the snow in the forecast?  I sure did.  When Rob and I went for a late day walk with the dogs, we both remarked that it seemed impossible that there could be anything but springlike conditions on the way.  One look at today's weather shows how wrong we were.

It snowed like crazy at the cottage all day Saturday, which was fine by us, since Rob and I were cocooning and just trying to enjoy our one day of quiet by the fire.  It was Rob's birthday and we celebrated with a few small gifts, some cards, an incredible flourless chocolate cake made by our friend, baker extraordinaire Robina Teed, and my gift to Rob: a surprise long weekend in New Orleans.  I'll explain the choice later in the week; suffice it to say we take advantage of long weekends to explore and experience, and this destination promises plenty of opportunities.

The Women of Influence Luncheon on Friday was a grand success.  About 800 women and men were on hand to enjoy the stories of entrepreneur and marketing whiz Arlene Dickenson, and oh, she's a wonderful storyteller!  The next lunch - in June - features the new CEO of The Bay.  Should be wonderful.

I had a two hour nap after the lunch - I slept propped up and didn't even take off my makeup! - then woke up, touched up, dressed up, and off we went in the pouring rain up to Markham!

Friday night was the annual Markham Stouffville Hospital fundraising gala at the Hilton Suites.  As emcee of the event, I had the great pleasure of keeping the Irish-themed night moving and helping a remarkable hospital to raise a lot of money.  While I'm not sure how much at this point - they have a big target of $50 million over 5 years - I do know that the live auction brought in $40,000, the raffle $30,000 and who knows how much else made its way to MSH after their most successful fundraiser ever (great work by Allan Bell, Carol Wildgoose and their incredible army of organizers and volunteers).

Now, a bit of payback: I promised Ruth Ann at the store Eleven Joseph on Main Street in Markham that I'd spread the word about her fashions.  This dress - a Roberto Cavalli lookalike for sure - came from her store and was donated to the gala just for this event.  So thank you, Ruth Ann.  If I had a dollar for every kind word I heard about this dress, the fundraiser would have been even more successful!

In a Cinderella flashback, I was into my jeans and flat shoes by midnight.  A careful hour of driving on dark, rainy roads brought us from Markham to our cottage by about 1 am Saturday.  A long sleep and restful day ensued....

Then it was up and at 'em Sunday morning and back to the city, so that I could help host the Easter Seals 2009 Telethon.  This year's fundraiser brought in $4.2 million in about six hours - much of that having been raised at huge events and galas throughout the year - but we're told that, although we had fewer hours, the dollar amounts were up and the small donations were WAY up.

It just goes to show you: big corporations were cutting back on their donations and CBC curtailed the hours of the telethon this year, but individuals - people just like you - were calling in their $20 and $50 pledges more than ever.

Isn't that amazing?  And here's a shot with one of my favourite Easter Seals friends, Andrew Burke, who has worked with CBC in the past and whom you might meet one day in his job at Wal-Mart.  He and I e-mail each other throughout the year and it's great to see him - and all of the incredible volunteers - every year at Telethon time.  (That's the telethon set behind us).

Another perk for me is catching up with friends like Roger Abbott, Suzanne Leonard and Dale Goldhawk, as well as Breakfast Television's affable and inspiring host Kevin Frankish.  What a great bunch!  And none of us can ever believe that a year has already passed, when we get together for the annual telethon.

To find out more and how you can donate, please go to www.easterseals.org.

Thanks for coming by here today.  We're going to whip through this week together, you and I, no matter what Mother Nature decides to throw our way!  Take care and have a gentle Monday.

Erin

Welcome to Friday!  Was yesterday not the most delicious taste of spring?

The back patio doors were open wide at Alice Fazooli's Italian restaurant downtown yesterday afternoon as many of us from CHFI and our sister (and brother) stations 680 News, The FAN 590 and JACK FM all got together to toast the first ratings book of 2009.  What a great day!

For the uninitiated, ratings are taken by way of sending diaries to people who've agreed, via telephone screening, to take part in the survey.  Over an eight week period (four times annually), information on the number of people who listen, when they listen and for how long, their ages, their genders, etc. is submitted and tallied.  Once the numbers are crunched, all of the stations that subscribe are e-mailed files containing the ratings results.

Yesterday was one of those four days in the year when we actually get some kind of reading on what our listenership is (and how our advertising department will sell the "air time", which is how we all get paid).

Simply put - and wisely, at that - Mike likens ratings days to the only applause that we get (other than your calls and e-mails of course) and so when they're good - or, in the case of yesterday's numbers, very good - it's especially gratifying.

I think you know how hard we work - and love to work - to give you a station you can wake up to, enjoy at work, take home with you in the evening, and then even dance to on weekends.  It's why we originated loyalty rewards in Toronto radio with our CHFI Loyalty Club, and why we do things like give away $10,000 EVERY Friday (and not just hit and miss with $100 here and there) on our CHFI Ten Grand in Your Hand contest.  We want to thank you and we try to do it with great music, fun stuff like The Scoop newsletter and, of course, the most exciting prizes and contests in Toronto radio.

So, when we get results like yesterday's huge #1 in all persons 12+ (all important cradle-to-grave) and a 10.0 share, we're over the moon.  Our next closest competitor was an 8.9 (and they don't even play music).  So you'll understand our elation and a very, very deep need today to thank you once again for letting CHFI be YOUR radio station, your family's radio station, and the station that you enjoy in your car and at the office all day.

I hope you're loving the fresh sounds that are coming your way (we're really digging them) presented daily by your favourite folks like Bob Magee, Michelle Butterly, Don Jackson, Tish Iceton and Darren Osborne.  There are so many more people whose names you might not know but who work harder than you can possibly imagine to make sure that we give you exactly what you want.

I know that you know, but I'll take a moment to thank the three best guys I ever could have hoped to know, befriend and work with for four hours each day: my amazing partner and pal Mike Cooper and "The Wise Guys": Senior Producer Ian MacArthur and Technical Producer Gord Rennie.  They're fun, they're funny, they're just three wonderful people.  I know from your e-mails you feel the same way about them as I do. 

But I just had to say this here today.  I love you guys.  Thank you for everything you do every day - and making me so very happy.

I can just say thank you to you, once again.  And if you're not yet on Twitter (you'd have gotten the ratings news yesterday!) you can cash in with a bonus code I included for Twitter followers on Wed: Twitter98.  You know where to cash in Bonus Codes and all of that, so enjoy.  Get closer to that $10 Grand...which we're giving away again today after the 7:30 news.  You know, in 2 of the last 3 weeks, the Friday qualifier went on to win the $10,000.  What is going to happen today???

Please remember that this Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm it's the Easter Seals Telethon on CBC.  I'll be joining Roger Abbott, Breakfast Television's Kevin Frankish and Frankie Flowers as well as the Weather Network's Suzanne Leonard Feliz.  Now, more than ever, we need to call upon your generosity for a donation.  If you tune in and you're moved to call, that would be amazing.  It's a fun and exciting day (and now squeezed into just six hours!) that's so worthwhile for so very, very many people.

Well, whatever you're doing, take care and enjoy this first weekend of April.  I'm crazy busy with today's Women of Influence Luncheon at the Metro Convention Centre (hosting) and tonight's Emerald Ball for the Markham Stouffville Hospital (hosting again).  We'll tear up to the cottage at midnight and then tomorrow, it's Robbie's birthday (cake-ing, steak-ing and flaking) and back to town Sunday for the Telethon.  Have a great one and we'll talk to you again on Monday.

Erin

ps - I've joined the Twitter-net. www.twitter.com is another way for us to stay in touch and you can even get the latest updates on CHFI events (and insider stuff like the 5:55 am Birthday Song...shh...).  It's fun, it's fast, it's free and it's simple to find me!  Use this phrase: Erin Davis CHFI.  You have to be specific (and case-sensitive) or it'll say it can't find me:(  But if you type in Erin Davis CHFI, there I am!

Welcome to Thursday!  This week seems to be just screaming by - but for me, not as fast as the coming weekend will.  I have two emceeing engagements and a TV telethon on my plate, but each one of them is very special to me.  The one on Sunday really needs a boost and help from you.

I need to beg your indulgence for a second here and ask you please, please, please to tune into CBC Television for a few hours on Sunday.  Due to cutbacks and hard times, the Easter Seals Telethon, which used to spread over two days is now a mere six hours long (from 10 am to 4 pm).  I'll be sharing hosting duties with a number of radio and TV folks and, of course, Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson, mainstays of the late Air Farce TV and radio dynasty.

My time on with you will be between 2 pm and 4 pm and I invite you, not only to tune in, but of course to call in and make a donation.  Performers include Amy Sky and the cast of the hit musical Sound of Music...so you'll enjoy what you see.  More than that, you'll love how you feel after you call in and help out.

You may wonder why we do this year after year.  The reason is that the need is still very much alive, and it could be tough getting donations in other ways (fundraisers,etc.) in this economy.  So, it's back to asking individuals - people like you - to call and give what you can.

Did you know it can cost families up to an additional $40,000 each year to care for a child with a severe physical disability?  I know we all think that the government covers all of that...but it just is not so.  And what branch of government, exactly?  (I assumed that, too).

Your donations help children with physical disabilities live safely in their own homes with dignity, and a greater level of independence.  You can also go to www.easterseals.org to donate today - but I'd love to see you make that call and put a donation on your credit card Sunday.  It's nice for me, and everyone there, to know that YOU'RE there, too.

Well, there's not a lot more for me to add today - I'm busy getting set for tomorrow's Women of Influence Luncheon, and then tomorrow night's fundraiser gala for Markham Stouffville Hospital.  It's a busy one for sure.  Glad I take my vitamins!

You take care and have a great day.  Come back tomorrow and, for readers who aren't on Twitter yet, I'll have my bonus code for you here.  Can't leave out my beloved journal readers - ever!  Hugs,

Erin

Good morning and welcome to April!  Yes, it's April Fools' Day, but we don't do stuff like pull pranks.  We're an adult contemporary station, after all.  But we will do something extra fun today at 8:10 or so with Ticket Blitz, when you have to answer all of the Wise Guys' questions with a wrong response.  Should be fun.

By the way, just a note of caution today regarding the security of your computer.  It's still not clear if the Conficker.C virus threat scheduled for today is real or not, but experts are warning us not to open any April Fool's-themed e-mails.  If you missed it, have a look at yesterday's journal for more security tips.  If nothing else, this has been a good exercise for us in backing up our files and making sure our anti-virus programs are up-to-date and running.

Can I tell you something I discovered yesterday?  A bit of background first: I always have a healthy breakfast at work - warm barley cereal with berries, almond milk and raw sugar, a cup of Greens Plus, some pumpkin and sunflower seeds and an egg.  But sometimes during the day I get busy and a sensible lunch isn't an option.  That's when I resort to one of two things: something stupid (if there's a cherry crueller stick within 200 miles I'm in trouble) or a protein bar.

I'd been off Luna bars for a while - no good reason - and when the pantry showed a big E last week for protein bars, I asked Rob to re-up the Lunas next time he shopped.  He did, and brought home a new flavour: Caramel Nut Brownie.

With 190 calories, it packs 9 grams of protein (not quite as much as I'd like, but still...) and 6 grams of fat.  Those are the sets of numbers I really care about, but what matters most, when all is said and done, is how does it taste?

This Luna bar is beyond delicious.  No cardboard, drywall or asphalt died in its making and it's the best protein bar I've ever inhaled.

Yes, my friend and trainer/nutritionist Jill will say, "Couldn't you get an apple?  Why didn't you have an egg or a piece of chicken?" but my answer, simply enough, is that I couldn't get near the kitchen, was starving and wanted lunch after a tough workout.  Whole (preferably organic) foods are best for my body - I know that - but when you weigh a crueller against a good protein bar, well, I think I get some slack.  In my slacks.

I should add that when I was on a diet a few years ago through one of the more reputable chain operations, I compared the numbers on their bars with all of the other diet supplement/replacement bars I could find.  Gram for gram, Luna came closest and even surpassed what the program was offering.  So I've done my homework.  And by the way, having done 'em all, exercise (plus reduced calorie intake) is still the best program out there.  But everybody knows that, right?

So there's a tip for you today.  You can buy them at health food stores (we go to the Big Carrot on the Danforth) or any Metro store, drugstore, any place that sells bars.  I am hoping that they all carry that flavour but if they don't, there are several others that are pretty good.  But Caramel Nut Brownie just tops them all.  And no, I didn't get any for free!

If you buy them and don't like them, well then, just to teach me a lesson, I suggest you package them up and send them to me at the radio station.  I promise to eat them on your behalf and thank you with every joyful bite.

Have a good day and we'll be back with you here tomorrow.

Erin