Cold weather is no reason to ease up on your sunscreen routine, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. UVB rays, which are the primary cause of sunburn, are weaker in the winter. However, UVA rays, which contribute to premature skin aging, remain steady year- round and can penetrate clouds, fog and windows.

On a snowy day, UVA rays can be worse: Snow reflects up to 80 percent of UV light, so the rays hit you twice.

The best protection is an even coat of broad-spectrum sunscreen over all exposed skin, even the tops of your ears and around your hairline. A moisturizing sunscreen can do double duty, protecting you from the sun and harsh winter air.

Lila the songbird lived in a dense, tranquil forest, where no wind rustled the leaves and no water flowed. With a voice that could make trees sway in emotion, Lila sang melodies that spoke of old tales and new beginnings. But in this forest, a unique silence prevailed, which swallowed her songs and caused her to feel isolated and unheard.

One day, as Lila sang a melancholic tune, a wandering fox named Ren was drawn to the faint but subtle notes. Lila, sensing a potential audience, sang louder and poured all of her emotions into the song, hoping Ren would hear her. But the forest's thick silence was impenetrable and muffled her spirited song.

Seeing her effort, Ren approached the dejected songbird, who was perched on a branch. He softly said, "Lila, while I may not hear your song as others do, I see its beauty in the way your feathers dance, your eyes shine with passion and the forest responds to your rhythm."

Lila looked at him in surprise and said, "You mean, you can feel the essence of my song?" Ren, nodding with a knowing smile, said, "In this silent forest, it's not about being heard loudly, but about being felt deeply. Your song touches the soul, even if it doesn't reach the ears."

Inspired, Lila found a renewed purpose. She sang not just to be heard, but to connect, to touch and to feel. The silent forest was now alive with emotions, stories and melodies that resonated in the hearts of its inhabitants. And in this unique harmony, Lila and Ren found a deep friendship, bound by the silent songs of the forest.

Plenty of suggestions exist about where you should put your home-remodeling money and how much you can expect in return. Some experts say kitchens, some say bathrooms, and some say family rooms.

However, you—along with the advice from a real estate agent or architect—are the person who knows best about what your house needs. Contractors might overstate how much money you'll get back from what you spend.

Few remodeling projects add as much to the value of a house as they cost. The key to planning should be to make the house more enjoyable for yourself, rather than to spend extravagantly on a feature that might or might not interest a future buyer.

Most buyers have a checklist of must-haves and won’t highly value anything not on their checklist, even something attractive, such as a solarium. If resale is a primary concern for you, then stick to the basics. A unique home takes longer to sell and could bring a lower price than a conventional home.

Adding a bathroom puts your home into a higher tier of properties in the minds of home buyers with checklists. But there is no need to make it fancy, say home designers. An expensive whirlpool will not reap a good return.

As you remodel, architects advise about preserving your home's character. If you have a two-story home, then make a two-story addition. You'll need a foundation and a roof anyway, and the cost of the additional floor might not be as much as you expect.

Think about how you will use the new space. Is there a place for kids to drop their backpacks? Is there a walk-in pantry? If little things matter to you, then they might matter to the next owner, too.

Always think of yourself as a consumer of housing and as a would-be seller. When you wear both hats, you can make smart choices and easy compromises.

Canadian employment was nearly unchanged from the prior month in December at 20.313 million. The Canadian unemployment rate also held steady at 5.8 per cent. Average hourly wages rose 5.4 per cent year-over-year to $34.45 in December, while total hours worked were up 1.7 per cent from December of last year.

Employment in BC rose 0.6 per cent to 2.84 million, while employment in Metro Vancouver rose 0.6 per cent to 1.62 million. The unemployment rate rose 0.3 points in BC to 5.6 per cent while rising in Metro Vancouver at 6.2 per cent in December. 

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-employment-december-2023-january-5th-2024

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Here’s a technique I’ve mentioned before, but it’s so good, it’s worth repeating!

Instead of setting goals and making resolutions for the New Year, try this slightly different idea that might have greater impact on the results you get.

Instead of planning simple goals and resolutions, what if you imagine forward to the time when you are already at your goal, then you ask yourself how you got there?

Instead of saying “I’m going to lose 20 pounds,” or “I’m going to start going on more dates with my spouse,” or “I’m going to start putting 10% of everything I make in savings,” imagine you are already there. Then ask, “How did I get so thin?” “How did my spouse and I get so close and loving this year?” and “How did I get so prosperous?”

This twist is similar to what Noah St. John calls “afformations” in which he talks about turning affirmations on their head. When using this idea in goal setting, instead of affirming what we want in the future, we use the power of our inquisitive mind to picture the result and then ask how we got there. Our minds naturally want to find an answer, and in that answer might lie a more certain path to our goal.

By imagining goals in these terms, too, we’re picturing more than just the goal. We’re picturing the result of the goal.

So go ahead and reframe your New Year’s resolutions. Imagine you’ve already succeeded, and ask “How did I…?

Sincerely,

Gino Pezzani