So, there I was. Hanging out in my swimsuit, hair drawn back, just minding my own business and relaxing in the delicious, luxurious Scandinave Spa, a stone's throw from Whistler town centre. The husband and I had split up for the afternoon he had decided to traverse the peaks of Whistler and Blackcomb on the peak2peak gondola, and I'd chosen a slightly less terrifying mountain vista to enjoy. It was just one of those days where we'd decided happily to do two different things, and meet up afterwards for a spot of dinner. Cascading down the hillside, the Scandinave Spa's rustic installations nestle on the edge of the Lost Lake Park spruce and cedar forest and promises to both relax and invigorate you, and provide an escape from daily stress. With several levels of hot and icy plunge pools, sauna and steam rooms, everyone wanders from indoor to outdoor relaxation spots from sun-soaked spot to waterfall spout back massages. Bliss. It's also a place where silence is "essential to the experience. By embracing silence one finds inner stillness, leading to complete relaxation." To be honest, most people who couldn't be quiet i.e. me just talked in hushed tones, but it made for a super chilled few hours. Until I was sitting in one of the steam rooms (does that make the title clickbait? Sorry using the title 'steam room with Lady Gaga' made it sound as though we were chickens cooking in a slowcooker) and a very, very slim blonde lady slipped in. Queen Gaga herself. I've got to be honest, sticking to the 'no eye contact with other people who are chillaxing' rule, I didn't pay very much attention to what was going on, but after 25 minutes or so of basting relaxing, I stretched languidly my bones like toffee and wandered out to the next room, and looking up from the drinks table, had to blink several times as she followed me out. Trying to play cool, I tried keep a poker face (after all, she was there to relax and recuperate in the middle of a big Canadian tour, she didn't need a random Kiwi gawking at her)... Question: How long was the author probably in the presence of Lady Gaga? Options: - probably about an hour or two - probably 5 minutes - not enough information - probably 4 hours or so === The correct answer is
probably about an hour or two

Once again, I've analysed my year of travel to see if I'm any closer to reducing it year on year. It's an annual habit, and if often kicks off new ideas that might affect my team's next year of work. The good answer is: yes, there is less travel! And not just that, but having reduced the schlepping I do, I've been able to hire more amazing people to lead on our work, and celebrate one of NoTosh's best years ever in terms of the quality, quantity and breadth of work we're doing. Key to traveling less has been a marked increase in the number of folk who see and are now reaping the value of working with us online. I've avoided as many as 20,000 miles of travel thanks to greener clients, who are also many dollars better off having not paid for the airmiles that are wrapped up in our regular fee structure. The quality of our work is better, too, thanks to this. We are doing fewer of those day-long workshops with teachers or leaders, when an hour or even thirty minutes before the day gets started is more worthwhile. We're seeing more school leaders take this up, although it's harder to get teachers into the habit of taking 30 minutes 'me time' to jump into a coaching session on the day or week ahead. But it's starting, and the value to us all is huge. Coaching is very different to 'consulting a Personal Learning Network' on Twitter. It's intense, targeted, focussed and involves a one-on-one discussion that arrives quickly at resolutions to current day challenges that will have a long-term impact. And we come back to measure whether that impact actually happened. I don't think it's a way of working that many are used to in Education, although many corporate clients have had some rare experience with it. Encouraging both groups to take more regular time out for coaching, little and often, is a real challenge, but we're beginning to see some huge impact from relatively little input (and relatively few dollars!). Question: What do they do online Options: - teach others - They coach and help people - encourage groups - not enough information === The correct answer is
They coach and help people

Have you ever sat around and thought about how you'd create your dream kitchen if you had the chance? Well, we are on the verge of a move (whenever the house sells, we'll move), and I keep thinking that I need to sit down and write a list of our "would likes" and our "must haves." That way, when we are house hunting, we'll already know what we're looking for. For a chance to win an Un Amore custom-designed KitchenAid Stand Mixer from PartSelect, I have been thinking about the top three "would likes" for our new kitchen and decided to check out what KitchenAid has to offer! I discovered three appliances that would change our reality kitchen into a dream kitchen. We have two young boys that will change into tweens and teens before we know it. Big Brother has always been a good eater, open to trying just about anything we put in front of him. However, discovering that he actually does have some control over what he does, he's lately turned up his nose on occasion. Little Brother is exactly like me when I was young. He turns his nose up at just about anything. Although he did just spend a week with his grandparents and decided he would eat and make up for lost mealsand make me out to be a liar! Anyway, I keep reminding myself as I find myself challenged at mealtimes, that soon enough, they'll be eating us out of house and home. So, one of the larger dream kitchen appliances I'd like in our home would be a double oven! I just think it'd come in really handy when trying to keep up with their metabolism down the road! When you're preparing a lot of food, you're typically buying a lot of products, and the garbage and recycling bins fill up faster than ever as well. The second dream kitchen appliance I wouldn't mind having would be the KitchenAid Trash Compactor, reducing our use of garbage bags and trips to the outside dumpster. Plus, I think I'd like not having to smell the garbage all the time! Question: Who is giving the prize? Options: - KitchenAid - PartSelect - Un Amore - not enough information === The correct answer is
PartSelect