LIX - Newsletter

Special Interest Groups & Activities

Hey LIX Chicks,

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed a fabulously festive holiday season! Lucy and Ana and I had a relatively calm Christmas this year. I didn’t even try to roast a giant turkey which alleviated a huge amount of stress. That being said, things did ramp up on Christmas Eve. Ana still believes in Santa Claus and she was pretty hyper by bedtime. Still...it was fun to watch her arrange cookies and milk for Santa, and peel a carrot for Rudolph before she headed off to her bunk bed all atwitter.

I’m dreading the day when we have to have ‘the conversation’ with her about how Santa Claus isn’t real. Do you remember how you found out? My mother finally had to sit me down around the age of 22 and break the news to me. Actually I had just turned 11 and I was devastated! A few years prior to this conversation, I had questioned her about how such a big fat guy could get down our chimney...especially since the fireplace was fake and the chimney plastered over (no flies on this baby dyke!).

Her quick response alleviated all my skepticism. She said, “Marie, you’re absolutely right. We don’t have a proper chimney so I just leave the front door unlocked on Christmas Eve.” To my way of thinking, that made complete sense and I was ‘in’ for another 3 years of believing in Santa. Plus my parents expected us to believe in God...a concept that seemed just as far-fetched to me as the idea of an old white-haired man who lived with a bunch of toy-making elves at the North Pole.

In terms of breaking the bad news to Ana, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that some mean-spirited little brat at school will tell her the truth. Then Lucy and I can comfort her and give her the ‘magic is in your heart’ speech. Seems far less scary.

Anyway...onto LIX news. I have two exciting events to tell you about. First, The Pantry Café has been booked for our yearly LIX dinner/speaker meeting so mark Monday, March 30th in your calendars if you’re interested in attending. We are still in discussion with a couple of potential speakers for that evening so I’ll update you in next month’s LIX e-news. We’ll have the reservation sheet at the March networking meeting at Swizzles so bring your $30 and reserve your seat! If there are any seats left after the meeting, I’ll be taking reservations by email.

Secondly, on the afternoon of Sunday, April 26th, we`ll be holding our first LIX Disco Tea Dance at the Glebe Community Centre. What could be more fun than dancing to all your favourite tunes from the 70’s and 80’s in a beautiful sun-filled room! If you’ve ever been to Provincetown, you’ll know the joys of an afternoon tea dance. If you’re not familiar with tea dances, think about this...high energy time of day, not past your bedtime. Carolyn, from the Pantry, will be selling teas and coffee and a selection of her delicious treats. Details will be announced in the next e-news.

At the January networking/social meeting, LIX Chick, Emmanuelle Rochon, took the stage for the five-minute infomercial part of the meeting. Emmanuelle, who is a financial planner with Investors Group, provided us with an overview of the services she provides. Fluently bilingual, Emmanuelle works in English and French and is licensed to operate in both Ontario and Quebec. The year 2009 is the start of her ninth year in financial planning and she represents about 100 families with managed assets of about $11.6 million.

Emmanuelle reviewed the process she uses with new clients to help manage their financial assets, namely: examine the client’s situation, help build a financial plan, discuss and review strategies to implement that plan, and finally provide monitoring and tuning of the plan on an ongoing basis. Emmanuelle emphasized that people’s financial plans vary from person to person and that, at all times, she needs to partner with the client to make the plan work. Some of the various aspects examined during financial planning are tax planning, estate planning, and retirement planning. Emmanuelle mentioned that she is also licensed to sell insurance.

Emmanuelle also discussed the new Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) which was introduced January 1, 2009 by the federal government. If you are a resident of Canada and at least 18 years old, you can contribute up to $5,000 per year to a TFSA. When you decide to withdraw money from your TFSA, the full amount (including any growth in your investments) is tax free. In addition, the amount you’ll be able to contribute to a TFSA next year will go up by the full amount of your withdrawal. Income such as Old Age Security is not affected by the money you keep or withdraw from your TFSA.

Emmanuelle finished her infomercial with some interesting survey results from the Bank of Montreal. In this survey it was found that 46% of Canadians are uncomfortable discussing financial matters. Religion ranked 34% on the discomfort scale, followed by politics at 20%. Discomfort aside, 71% of Canadians stated that they need help to manage their finances. Thanks Emmanuelle for an interesting and useful infomercial! To reach Emmanuelle, you can call (819) 483-0114 or send her an email at emmanuelle.rochon@investorsgroup.com.

If you have any interest in presenting a five-minute infomercial about your business/volunteer work/special interest group at one of the networking meetings, please contact Lucy at info@girlswanttoknow.com.

That’s it gals. Now that the canal is open, I hope all of you skaters have a darned good time. I’ll be home engaged in one of my two favourite winter sports...reading or crocheting (don’t tell anyone but this old dyke activist crocheted two dresses for Ana’s stuffed dog, Wanda). Catch you later...

Special Interest Groups & Activities
1.Monthly group for non-biological Moms in same-sex families. I’m interested in creating a group for those of us who have started families together and where one parent is the biological mother and one isn’t. The purpose of the group would be to provide an informal space to share concerns, fears and issues with other Moms going through this experience and navigating this sometimes difficult terrain. My thought would be to meet for coffee/tea at a café or at someone’s home. If you are interested, please contact Laura Cohen at lauracohen@rogers.com or at (613) 228-9778 and we can go from there. 2. Ottawa Amazons Women's Motorcycle Club. Come and join the gals for fun, friendship, laughter and travel with an all lesbian motorcycle group. Monthly meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Bridgehead Coffee, 362 Richmond Road (west of Churchill in Westboro) at 7:15 pm. If you would like information on how to become a member of the Ottawa Amazons, how to obtain a motorcycle license, and/or tips on negotiating the purchase of a new or used motorcycle, the Amazons are the gals to contact. If you plan to attend a monthly meeting, please contact Molly King at Ottawa.Amazons@monaco.ca.
LIX Chicks Want Ads	LIX Chicks Tips
Apartment to Share. One room available for short-term to share in a 2 bedroom apartment (condo) with a lesbian couple. We are located in Aylmer, Quebec (J9H 6G1). Rent is $400 all inclusive (parking extra). We would like a roommate who cleans up after herself, is quiet and independent. Unfortunately, no pets allowed. :-( For any inquiries, please email Molyda at risingsun33@hotmail.com	Looking for a restaurant that serves delicious gluten-free Italian food? Look no further than Ristorante La Dolce Vita located at 180 Preston Street (between Gladstone & Somerset on the west side of the street). Along with their tasty traditional menu, La Dolce Vita offers ALL of their pastas and gourmet pizzas gluten-free on request. Our favourite is the Five Cheese Pizza (Cinque Formaggi) made with hazelnut pesto, fresh tomatoes, red onion & mushrooms. Yum! (Lucy C.)