Panic Attacks and Husbands with Flu...

Tigger doesn’t look good green! Poor Nick came home from his meetings at lunch looking very washed out and feeling icky, so I made him some hot soup and tucked him into bed for a nap.... then Barb called (You know I’d mention you sooner or later!!!) to see how everything was. She’ll be one of my two helpers at the show in Nashville, trying to keep this bouncy dragon sane!! I was fine until she mentioned that 2 weeks from today, we’d be setting up in the hotel room and then I just felt half of my brain cells try to turn to mush!

Where has the time gone??? It seemed like only yesterday, I was getting back from the show in Toronto and the Nashville deadlines were months away!! Actually, when I take a deep breath and look around me, things are actually further ahead than this time last year... but the perfectionist in me keeps measuring things by some impossible scale of wanting to have my trunks already packed in the basement ready to go with all the right items and leaflets and models safely tucked inside!

Hah!

The one thing I can say is that I really like all of the designs that I am taking.... that I can’t wait to see reactions to the RuneKeeper model and book (just like the fun of seeing people react to “Not Forgotten” this time last year) and that I will get to hang around with some of my favourite people in the industry. At least that is what I keep telling myself every time my brain tries to turn to mush and I think “Remind me... WHY am I doing this???”

Because even with all the panic attacks, to-do-lists and late nights that the next 14 days may hold, I still like what I do!

Where is January Going??

I can’t believe that it is Wednesday already. Actually, I can! Monday was indeed a snowstorm and there was this one little circle of the province where Mother Nature dumped more than 30 cm of snow... can you guess where?? Moncton!! It was so funny to see our city shown as this little circle on the Weather Channel while the announcer was talking about one city getting double the snow of anywhere else in the storm!! So the kids and Nick were home for a 4th day!!

This time, having finished RuneKeeper in the wee hours of the morning, I called a courier company and got THEM to drive the horrible roads to get the CD to the printer... then I played with my kids and took it easy. The only problem was that our snow blower decided to conk out, so when a neighbour came to help, we decided to team up for supper and let our kids play... It was fun, but Tuesday I was very glad to have a quiet house again.

I got the Iris proofs (colour proofs) of RuneKeeper yesterday and went in to colour calibrate the front image. My monitor is not as accurate as the ones the printers use and I found the cover photo looked a little too Magenta for my tastes, so we played with that and now I am getting really excited about seeing the final product. The “bluelines” (prints made from the actual negatives) are home with me to proof tonight, and then it is a go. Wheee!!

I had meetings and errands all day until Nick called me on the cellphone to say he wasn’t feeling well. I think he’s getting a brush of the flu that has been going through his school and wiping out all the teachers that didn’t get their flu shots. Nick got his, so I am sure he won’t be down and out for long... but since he is in meetings all tomorrow, he wanted to get some rest tonight.

I checked e-mail and found 3 orders that have to ship out tomorrow, so it is off to Staples to get the charts that I don’t have in stock copied for batching.... I can’t believe it is the 21st already???!!!

Half a world away doesn’t seem so far tonight...

I guess, since the clock struck midnight here over half an hour ago, that I should say this morning instead of tonight... but I am far to giddy with the fact that everything is now burned to CD for the RuneKeeper Saga and ready to go off to the printer’s in about 7 hours.

The snow for the snowstorm that is supposed to hit us overnight and into the day has already started and the three Aries in the household were performing various forms of the snow dance before bed. Schools have been closed since last Wednesday morning due to the extreme cold... so will snow be the cause of yet another cancellation?? Time will tell. At least this time I won’t be hiding in the basement while my saint of a husband plays with the kids on the other floor like Friday!

One of the real reasons that I feel so giddy and finally confidant about getting RuneKeeper off to be printed is that my sister Laurie, a far more talented writer herself, has done an amazingly deft and thorough job of sifting through the .pdf files that I sent to her over the weekend... and even called me from Japan to go through the corrections! Just hearing her voice as we tweaked a few things and caught a whole bunch of typos was reassuring and made it feel as if she were far closer than half a world away. One of the many blessings I count in my life is the fact that my relationships with both my siblings have that ability to transcend time and distance. After hanging up with her, I felt as close as if we had been sitting together chatting over a mug of tea. I only hope that Erin and Bethany know the joys of having a sister become a true friend. (See... I did warn you that I might write about you in my blog, Laurie!)

So as the snow falls quietly outside my office window and I gather my papers together as well as my thoughts, Tokyo and my sister’s smile don’t seem so far away. Thank you, Laurie!!