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Joy Drop: 'Tis the month for friends and delicious goodies

One of Kristine Perotta's delicious brownies. (Shireen Ahmed/CBC - image credit)
One of Kristine Perotta's delicious brownies. (Shireen Ahmed/CBC - image credit)

Hi, friends! I have been having a lot of conversations about how to retain joy. One of those ways is to celebrate the accomplishments of others. And to revel in their happiness. It brings out so much pride.

As we approach the end of November and speed toward the most jolly of months, I want to share some things with you that put a smile on my face and made me proud and happy for others.

Canada's beloved Christine Sinclair will take her final bow on Dec. 5 at Vancouver's BC Place, and it will be renamed for her for the night. I wrote a piece about Sinclair's impact on the global stage and interviewed some of her international opponents, as did my CBC Sports colleagues. And there will be many more ahead of Tuesday's match against Australia. Andi Petrillo sat down with Sinclair to talk about this moment. And some famous faces chimed in!

Seeing my friends in the sports world doing well and contributing to making sports more open and accessible is my jam. Moezine Hasham and Hockey 4 Youth have been doing just that. Surrey will host programs for young newcomer girls in hockey. Their programs are free and promote social inclusion using hockey as a vehicle to connect young people. Hockey 4 Youth have programs in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Vancouver and now more locations in British Columbia.

Jennifer Fraser is a Canadian dog owner who enters competitions to show off her fancy footwork with her beautiful dog, Daiquiri. The dynamic duo will be featured in Disney's new docuseries The Secret Life of Dancing Dogs. I saw one of their videos go viral and just loved the energy.

I had never considered chickens as the type of emotional support animal that might interest me, but I was wrong. Amy Snider is a Saskatchewan woman who has four hens to help her cope with mental health issues. Julia, Martha, Scrambled and Omelette live in her backyard and Snider has a prescription from her doctor to permit them. Snider's neighbours do not have a problem with them at all, but city bylaws do not allow livestock and sadly, her feathered friends fall in that category.

But Snider's prescription prevents them from being taken so that battle has been won. She has no intention on chickening out of advocating for those wanting to keep these fine birds as supportive companions.

The CBC Sports office is full of great people with brilliant minds and creative genius. But we also have a tremendous baker among us. Kristine Perrotta is a colleague who is one of the best bakers I have ever had the privilege to sample. Christine brought brownies into the office this week. Immediately after I arrived at work, Signa Butler pulled me in the direction of the brownies and cookies because Signa's a great friend. The brownies were scrumptious, moist and chocolatey. I convinced another colleague, Josh Oubadia, to model one of them for me.

Lastly, grateful for another friend, Kardinal Offishall, who will be receiving the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour at Canada's Walk of Fame on Saturday. He is a vanguard of creativity and hip hop genius and I'm thrilled he is being honoured in this manner.

Have an amazing week! Here's some love and pride for who you are and where you're from by Kardi from me.