Stitch & Ditch...

Nick is away at a conference for a few days and I never sleep well when he is away, even when I am totally EXHAUSTED! Why has the dragon been so silent lately? Here’s what happened.

First of all, Mum and John did find a house less than a block from ours and have now gone home to pack like fiends. Yay!! By the end of August, they should be surrounded by boxes in their new house trying to decide where everything goes.

Secondly, I have been stitching my little claws off until very late most nights but there was a project that demanded our attention due to all the massive thunderstorms that we’ve had on an almost daily basis. One week ago, the storms were so bad that I actually unplugged all my computers. We woke up to a huge crash around 2 am and the whole sky was light up with almost continuous flashes of heat lightning and actual fork lightning. Nick’s school got hit that night and the ventilation system on the roof was totally fried!! The poor custodians have to wait to wax all the floors and do any painting or they will be absolutely stoned! As the lightning crashed around us, I remembered a statistic that said you were 10 times more likely to be hit by lightning that to win a lottery in your lifetime... and I had just purchased my tickets that night. I lay in bed thinking “I don’t care about winning the lotto- just don’t let our house get zapped!”

Because of all the torrential rains we’ve had, Nick and I decided that fixing the drainage problems in our back yard had just become top priority. While he finished the last few days of school, I dug up the old drain tile that we put in over a dozen years ago leading to our front yard and then extended it all the way down to the road.



Next, Nick and I found where the old drain tile curved around in the backyard so that we could add a T joint and the new drain tile to run around the whole perimeter of our back yard. The main idea is to catch most of the water trying to run into our yard from all the other properties (we are the low spot on Highmeadow) before it reaches that window under the deck that leads directly to my office!!

Nick was a trench-digging fiend on Tuesday before he headed off to his conference yesterday afternoon and managed to complete the trench all around the backyard. We bought the drain tile on the weekend and had it coiled up in our yard all ready to go.

This morning, I dropped Bethany off at day camp, picked up Erin’s knee socks that she will need to dress in period costume all next week at her camp and bought a nice floppy garden hat to keep me safe from the high UV index. Don’t I look stylish??



Erin insisted on capturing the moment before I got down to the tasks at hand.



First, I got the T joint spliced into the original drain tile with the help of our next door neighbour.



Then, the nice dump truck man deposited 4 tonnes of gravel on our driveway so that I could start placing the drain tile. What a big pile of rocks to move all by myself!!



The next task was to place a few inches of gravel, one wheelbarrow load at a time, along the bottom of the trench and check to make sure that everything was slanted the right way.



Luckily the breeze made it feel cooler than it was, but it was still hot, dusty work. I did 3.5 hours this morning and then another 1.5 hours tonight to get the trench base filled, the drain tile measured and laid and some of those trenches filled in for the next band of rain which may hit overnight.

By the end of the evening, I had the whole left side of my garden trench filled in with gravel over the drain tile.



I even got the back curve done where we will be extending that bed slightly once our loads of topsoil arrive. (Right now, my shoulders don’t even want to think about that!!!)



Of course, I still have plenty of work cut out for me tomorrow as I space and fill along the back of the property ...



and down the right hand side...



In the end, it will be worth it. This is what SWEAT EQUITY is all about. I am also going to have cut biceps and shoulders worthy of She-Hulk by the end of this gardening adventure!

I kept a little tally with rocks for every wheelbarrow full of gravel that I moved today. Those tiny rocks don’t seem to do the sweat justice.



But, as I headed in to shower yet again and get the girls to bed, it did seem that the pile of gravel was a bit smaller than it had been this morning. PLEASE tell me that it looks smaller!?!!



Time to take a few ibuprofen and tuck myself into bed! I don’t think I could hold a needle tonight if I even tried!

THE GREAT HOUSE HUNT...

Today is not only the last full day of school for the kids, it is also Day Two of the Great House Hunt. My Mom and Stepfather, John, are here to hunt for a house now that their house in Sherbrooke is in the process of being sold. The hope to be all moved down here before the fall. It is an exciting time, yet not without a sense of bittersweetness. I really do consider myself a Maritimer now, after almost 25 years of living in the area. I may have been born in Montreal, Quebec... but once Mom and John move down here, there will be very little reason for me to visit that province again.

The first day of summer has started with rain, but my poor vegetable garden really needs the steady, gentle rain. I also need more time to stitch and catch up on paperwork, so perhaps this is a good thing. All too soon, the kids and Nick will be underfoot wanting to take a break for the summer... and I will have to still do work around them. If the weather is nice, I may choose to do most of it at night!

Happy Father’s Day!

Sometimes, pictures can say more than words, especially when you are an illustrator. I decided to put together a special book for my Dad this year and thought I also needed to post some of the words and pictures here because it will be a few weeks until he can hold the actual book in his hands.


From the very beginning, you taught me to reach for the stars. You taught me to dream the impossible, to keep reaching for the stars... even if it meant going up on my tiptoes. I have kept that sense of wonder alive even as I grew.


You sang a song to my heart. My earliest memories are of your voice singing the Lord’s Prayer to me at night or Scarlet Ribbons. You taught me how to sing in harmony on car trips and I still pick out the tenor line of harmony whenever possible.


When I rode on your shoulders, I felt taller than the trees themselves. It felt as if I could brush the clouds with my fingertips and stare down at everything from the lofty perch of sitting on my daddy’s shoulders... shoulders that were so much higher than anyone else's!


One summer, you built that sandbox in our backyard. It was hard work and I can remember you coming in from the heat and sunshine to swig half the can of black olive juice before heading out to pound more nails. I was SO proud to play in the sandbox that my daddy had made for us.


You instilled in us a love of traveling and adventure. From the moment I stepped off the plane to visit you in Hawaii that first summer, I felt as if I was coming home somehow. When you found out how much I love the plumeria flowers, you made sure that every lei I ever had on the islands after that had those flowers in it.


You walked me down the aisle. When it came time to make a life with the man I had fallen in love with, you walked beside me down the aisle to meet him, tall and proud as I held your arm. Everyone could see where I got my height and I doubt my feet touched the ground that morning.


The love continues. You’ve given my daughters memories and gifts that they will treasure all their lives. They sleep with Monster and Erin Bear every night, read and reread the books you’ve sent and savour the memories of knowing their “BobDoc” despite the miles.

It hasn’t always been easy. I can remember a Father’s Day almost 30 years ago when you told us that you were leaving and I thought my world would shatter, but instead it grew and expanded in ways that I never dreamed of then. My life has indeed been richer for all the experiences.

You have no idea how much I admire your courage as you battle the latest challenge that has been thrown your way. I know that all you are is MUCH stronger than the cancer they found inside you and that your spirit will fight this darkness with all that you have.

This Father’s Day, more than any in 29 years, I needed you tell you how much I love you and to remind everyone out there to hug their dads!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Two years ago, I pulled the kids out of school for a week and took the train up to see Mom and John in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Erin was in a 4/5 split class and the Grade 5 students were writing a provincial Math assessment, so I thought she would learn more French during a week in Quebec than in someone else’s class with the 5 other Grade 4 students from that class. While we were there, Owen Aikman was born half a world away in Switzerland.

I have only held my nephew on one occasion, which is a sad reality when family is so far flung. This summer, however, I will get to play with him, build sandcastles on the beach with him and soak up lots of Aunty Dragon moments as my brother Dave, his wife Anne, my niece Juliette and little Owen come to visit for 2 weeks and we all head to PEI for a week.

I cannot wait! Owen may not remember much about this summer as he grows older, but I know that Juliette will indeed. At 6, she can make memories that will last and enjoy cousinhood so much more than when we saw her almost 2 years ago. Thank goodness for sales on Memory cards because I intend to take a HUGE amount of pictures to get me though those times when I can’t hug them in person.

I can’t believe you are two already Owen! Your mommy tells me that you are about the height of an average 4 year old. I just love our family genetics at work!!! I am counting the days until I can hug your whole family in person!!!

I’m A Sandwich!

Honestly... this is getting a bit ridiculous! Last night was totally crazy because I came home from leading my evening Weight Watchers meeting and checked the calendar to see a little “note to self” that the cakes were due today for the Family Fun Day Cake Walk at the girls’ school tomorrow. With a groan, I pulled out the cake pans and started to bake. I really do LOVE my new convection oven! Trying to cook 6 cake halves at a time was a bit of a challenge until I took out the middle of the 3 racks because the rising cakes were threatening to bake around the rack! I was in the middle of icing them at almost 11 pm when the phone rang with the latest crisis. Nick’s mom had to be admitted to the hospital here in town!

This morning, I got the girls off to school, did my 6 km walk with my walking partner in record time (stress is good for our speed), iced the last cake, wrapped them up, printed out the gift certificates for the Silent Auction (I donated a logo design and a certificate for stress-free holiday baking) and put some pamper items in a basket for Nick’s Mum along with a few trashy magazines. I got the cakes and prizes to school, visited her in the hospital and still made it to my 10:30 am dentist appointment where they told me that 4 of my older fillings will have to be replaced this summer, the first two on Monday morning!

If I have learned ONE THING in all of the craziness since March, it is that while you cannot control what life is going to throw at you, you can control how you react to it! I have now learned to go out and walk or weed the garden furiously instead of do something naughty with a tub of haagen-dazs in the basement. If I feel powerless and out of control, there is always a cupboard or drawer to tidy that will give me a sense of order amid life’s chaos.

Suddenly, though, I have become the dragon in the middle of the sandwich...

...with children who are growing faster than the weeds in my garden. They are straining for their independence, still leaving me with much of the chores and seeking reassurance on their terms when the world gets too scary.

...with parents who are suddenly running into health problems, major transitions of their own and other milestones that make me look again at where I am.

I don’t feel that different from when I was 24 and getting married! It is so strange to think that I am older now than my parents were when they got divorced, older than my mother was when she went back to school to become a minister, older than my father was when he lost both his parents...

I just keep sweeping up the crumbs and hope that at least my sandwich is tasty!

Getting Away...

I found a T-Rex in a rock today... a kind of rorschach ink blot test with moss waiting to pounce on me as I walked through the woods, midway through a half day retreat. Can't you see it right there?

Let me back up.

This is a crazy time of year and this year seems crazier than most with all that’s going on. Since I sit on the committee that helped organize this women’s half day retreat, I couldn’t really hide in bed this morning or go with the rest of my family to watch Nick in his Dragon Boat races... so I headed off with all my craft gear in tow and many of the other supplies to a little church right on the edge of town.

I had a WONDERFUL time! I feel so much more recharged than I did this morning and so much more in touch with myself than I have in a long time!



The retreat itself was all about change, new beginnings and learning to live with chaos. Sounds perfect for my life right now. The leader told a wonderful Creation story common to all faiths by looking at where science and faith overlap to sing the proof of a world that did not just happen by accident. The whole timeline was also represented by circles of fabric that stood for different parts of the story. What a perfect thing to get a creative pattern person to look at. At first, I kept thinking about how badly everything was going to clash as all the circles were placed randomly on the floor. Soon I began to see how all of the patterns actually echoed the incredible diversity of culture and species that we have on this marvelous planet of ours. It made me think of this quote:

‘You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.’
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

So after listening to the Creation story, we headed out into a warm sunny Saturday morning with paint chips to try to find the same colours in Nature. I love a challenge, so instead of taking one, I took quite a few. The textured one was actually the easiest to match...



The brown gave me a bit of trouble until I found some older leaves...



The olive green didn’t quite match the moss, but that was as close as I could come...



The vibrant green was all around me in more vivid shades than my paint chip, but I loved the look of the fern leaves against this chip...



Amid all of this wonderful Nature walk, I found a reminder that really spoke to me. In the middle of a rotting stump where a tree had been cut down many years ago, new life was springing up. Not the same... not as a replacement... but new life none the less.



Life is all about cycles, about endings and beginnings, about new and old, about new possibilities out of something that seems dead. Then on the walk back to the church, I found the dinosaur in moss on the rock. The rest of the retreat was filled with good food, fellowship, hilarious attempts to follow a very gifted yoga leader and the making and trading of ATC (Artist’s Trading Cards) as part of the closing. It was a great day, a teaching day and a reminder about living.

It really is a Circle of Life kind of thing.

What a Guy!

Nick walked into my Weight Watchers meeting this morning on the way back to his school from a meeting at the board office with a lovely bouquet of roses, a hug and this note. Not only did he make me tear up, but half of the ladies in my meeting now think that I am the luckiest leader out there to have such a husband (and they thought he was REALLY cute too!)

At first, everyone thought it was my anniversary. Then I explained that the note said he loved me through all life’s madness, including the chaos of the past few weeks, the pressures of a school year closing and the fact that someone I love (not Nick or the girls, but still family) has cancer.

We have always joked about my husband being a founding member of the “He Can Do No Wrong Club”. That random, special, touching gifts or acts like this add up so many points in his account that when he does mess up, he can’t get blamed because all those good points wipe it out. I think that today just made him a Lifetime member of that club in spades. To see him come through the door on such a busy day for him with those flowers meant more than I will ever be able to put into words... except to keep telling him and showing him right back that I love him too.

You are one in a million, Nick!

Letting Go In Pieces...

I’m not sure if I could actually be pulled in any more directions tonight without shattering... but I am learning from all of this. Each day is a new adventure. I find things to treasure and things to let go.

Erin was in tears tonight over the upcoming Provincial Assessment and wanting everything to be “perfect”. Sigh! This is what happens when two type A personalities breed. She was disappointed with a test that she brought home that was only a 37 out of 40. I kept trying to tell my amazing, wonderful, bright, funny, athletic, empathetic daughter that it was OK and most of it still fell on deaf ears.

“Just do your best!” I urged. “We love you no matter what! Our love has nothing to do with marks or how you look or what you want to be when you grow up.”

“I want my best to be perfect!” she wailed.

I don’t think that there is such a thing here on Earth.

Nick is trying to wrap up his first year as a Principal with a school that is now almost bursting at the seams with enrollment for next year, new teachers to hire and a mountain of paperwork to get done amid all the graduation activities, retiring teacher banquets, end of year meetings etc. I want to help in any way that I can to make his days less stressful... but I cannot walk in his shoes.

I made this little plasticine picture at StoryFest last year. It was fun to play as I chaperoned a bunch of kids from Erin and Bethany’s school. It has sat in our kitchen on the top of a cupboard for a whole year. It has been dropped, dented, squashed, poked etc. Plasticine is fairly forgiving, but it was also gathering dust and slowly getting out of shape. Rather than keep the object itself, I took a good photo of it, remembered the fun I had making it and then let it go into the trash.

You have to know when to hold on, when to let go and when to just wait and see.

How can I teach this lesson to my two girls?

How can I make myself listen when part of me wants to just run around yelling at the top of my lungs that life is not fair?

I have just learned that someone I love very much is going to have to battle cancer. I can only add my strength through prayers and wait. I am not ready to let go.

Time To Reflect...

It has been a busy time, even if the blog has been silent for a bit. It has taken almost 2 weeks for me to really get my strength back after this bout of flu. By the end of each day, I was ready to just crawl into bed. I kept pushing myself to get out for a bit of exercise, but every task felt like it took twice as much energy as usual.

My sister was also here for a visit and we had a wonderful time. Much of the time or topics that I might have spent blogging about were instead great chats with her over mugs of tea, walks in the woods or lunches. I am so lucky to have a sister who is also someone I admire and enjoy spending time with. Whenever Erin and Bethany get bickering, I explain why they need to support each other. “Someday, your sister will be the only other person on the planet who understands how quirky your parents are!” I keep telling them.

Some topics are also just too personal to blog about. I have had a bit of time to reflect about some things going on in my life and I decided that it is not all going to be stuff that I choose to share with the world. I don’t want my blog to be too cerebral... and I would like it to remain fun or funny as well as an insight into the creative mind of one quirky dragon.

With that said, a few of you got decidedly nervous when you went to check the cross stitch part of our website in the past 24 hours. Yup, instead of all the usual info, there was a little dragon wearing a hard hat announcing the renovations that are going on to the site. The cross stitch part of the site has just gotten a bit too unmanageable, especially since our reports show that many of the pages don’t get visited at all.

The Spring Cleaning bug has spilled over into the website as well and hopefully, when the new parts are up and running by August 1st, you will all find it a fun and easier place to explore the cross stitch designs that I have created. That will also be when we unveil DD-98 Santa’s Dragon officially, but shops may be able to order it from Hoffman a bit sooner than that.

Are there any cupboards or closets in your own house that you’ve been avoiding because things threaten to avalanche every time that door opens? Trust me.... it feels GOOD to get rid of some of that clutter!!!

You’ve GOT to be KIDDING!

We woke up to SNOW today! Yup, snow and sleeting, stinging rain that pelted our faces as we walked up to the bus stop. Only last week we were running around in tank tops and sandals! I remember snow on May 8th, 18 years ago when I was due to get married in July, but NEVER this late in the year! The forecast for this Victoria Day long weekend seems dismal, wet and cold... but since my sister arrives on Sunday from visiting my mom in Montreal, we will just make our own sunshine and warmth. I think that my girls will explode from excitement between now and then.

My camera is due to arrive sometime today with the courier company, so I am trying not to be too much of a “Snoopy Vulture” and loom around the doorway. Since our doorbell is temperamental and sometimes doesn’t ring, I keep running down to the office for just a few minutes at a stretch so that I don’t miss the delivery again.

Luckily, piles of useless paper and things to sort are portable. Have garbage bag, can tidy office from the living room! If it gets here soon, I will take a picture as proof before it melts. YUCK!!!

My Camera Was Found!!!

I could almost weep for joy!! Thrifty Car Rental called this morning to say that my camera had indeed been turned over to the main Lost and Found at office headquarters! When I’d called, the kiosk at the airport hadn’t seen it, but said they would check into it once I gave them the name and model number as well as our contact information (which was on the inside of the case too...)

Not only will the photos of the weekend and all the family pictures I took be safe, my beloved camera will be in my hands in a few days or so. I gave them my Purolator account number so that they could ship it back to me! It’s funny how attached you get to a certain camera’s quirks. I held one model recently when I looked at what it would cost to replace my camera and hated the feel of it in my hands! Artists really are such a touchy-feely bunch!

I got caught up in all the drama of the Survivor finale last night as well. Was I ever angry when Yau-Man got voted off!! The gutsy old man had been my favourite all along and I was just furious when Dreamz turned out to have been playing the game unethically all along. Amen to Boo’s little rant about being tempted. Integrity cannot be bought. How much farther ahead would he have been as a motivational speaker if Dreamz had kept his word and done the honourable thing. He’d probably have made more than a million in the long run and been able to provide for his family for many years to come.

Integrity really cannot be bought. You must have that sense within yourself that you are doing what is right no matter what the world around you says or thinks. I absolutely loved Yau’s quote about his personal philosophy (from a Buddhist background I imagine):

Love Many.
Trust Few.
Do Wrong To None.

Great words to live by and a challenge for anyone and everyone. He’d have had my vote! Maybe I should make it into a cross stitch design so that those who “shared” it illegally would at least have to think about that last line...

Now to go skipping around the house for as long as my energy lasts in a happy Camera Found Dance!!!

Mother’s Day!!

It’s Mother’s Day and though it was a bit quiet because I am still getting my strength back, it was a wonderful day. It is VERY hard to believe that I celebrated my first Mother’s Day a dozen years ago! I love both of my girls and notice that every age just keeps getting better and better.

I spent a lot of time today being a mother... from helping sing an anthem in church to teaching Sunday School, from having a wonderful nap after lunch to helping Erin assemble a project on Hawaii that is due next week. She passed her Baby-sitting Course on Saturday with flying colours and has asked me to help her put together a flyer to hand out to some of our friends who have young children and two of the new families on the street. She has also been “asked to go out” by one of the boys in Grade 7 that she has been friends with for a while. Bethany also needed help getting all 8 of her new Brownie Badges put onto her badge scarf. It is very strange to suddenly notice that your children are growing up and experiencing things that you can still remember doing yourself so vividly. I really don’t feel old enough to have daughters of my own going through all these milestones!

On Mother’s Day, my thoughts also turn to the wonderful ladies in my life who have been friends and role models for me. My Mom not only gave me a loving example to follow of how to be a parent, she continues to be an example as I watch her with my kids. Someday, after all, I may be a grandmother too!


It can’t have been easy, going back to start a new career (especially one that is as much of a calling as the Ministry) and then becoming a single parent as well. The year that Mom started back to school, I was the same age that Erin is now. I was able to be a help around the house just like she is. As I begin to explore what else I may do in the fall when both girls are in school for the longer day, I can understand where Mom must have been. There really is a point where you begin to understand that your children don’t need you with the same intensity as they did when they were infants. In many ways, they may need you more, but not while they are attending school each day.


Mom also showed me that life can often lead to new adventures and unexpected wonders. She fell in love with John and married 20 years ago this summer. He has brought so much joy, love, music and laughter to our family that it is hard to imagine our lives without him... but I can still remember watching the depths of her sorrow as her first marriage crumbled. I learned about healing, acceptance and transformation from watching her not only survive and move on, but also rediscover new joys. After wanting a puppy all of her life, she and John also bought Maggie and jokingly refer to her as “the child they never had together”.


I am also blessed to have another Mother to celebrate this day and every day of my life... the one who brought my husband into the world. I grew up watching my own Mom’s great relationship with her own mother-in-law but quickly realized that there were a lot more horror stories out there than happy ones. I can honestly say that I am truly blessed when it comes to my other mother!


Mum is someone that I can talk to and ask advice from who doesn’t come with all the emotional baggage from growing up together. We are similar in many ways and she has made me feel loved, welcome and treasured in my own right, while still giving our family space to be ourselves. Perhaps it was her own experiences of having her mother-in-law living with her that gave her this sensitivity. She may never know how much I admire her courage and strength as well as her kindness and creativity. Leaving her family behind and coming to a new country with young children cannot have been easy. Working most of her life to help make ends meet and moving SO many times as Nick was growing up meant constantly starting over, making new friends and settling into new communities. Like my own mother, she found a second chance at love. She and Jerome built up a business to be proud of with their bed and breakfast, but also knew when it was time to sell it and switch to a slower pace. I say that with a bit of a smile because my amazing Mum continues to fill her days with quilting, knitting and fellowship as well as walks on the treadmill.

What amazing role models they provide!!

Thank you girls for a special day with lots of hugs, adorable handmade cards and the treat of eating lobster for supper!!

Thank you Mom for reminding me to celebrate life in all its glory each day that you have!!

On The Mend...Slowly

It has been a long week of feeling like a sack of wet mice, but I am slowly regaining my energy. Yesterday, I spent the day doing STORYFEST, a literacy enrichment activity for some of the kids in School District 2. It was great fun, but being “perky and bouncy” for 6 hours with groups of kids as I taught them to use their imagination and draw Petitcodiac Muck Monsters took a lot out of me. Staying up until midnight to stitch didn’t help either, but at least I was sitting down!

My walking buddy and I went for our walk this morning and then I came home and napped for a 1/2 hour! I just don’t have the strength and energy that I did before this round of flu and don’t seem to be bouncing back as quickly as my kids. I am sure that the age difference has nothing to do with it... right??

I have a lot to look at this weekend. I am starting to think that there is just no way I will have Santa’s Dragon ready for to ship to Kreinik for the Columbus show without it costing a huge amount for overnight shipping. I got the deadlines for product from Hoffman for that show and the leaflets would have to be in their warehouse by the 28th of May.

Santa’s Dragon WILL come out this summer, but I am honestly looking at how much it would take to get everything wrapped up, proofed, framed etc. in 3 weeks or less and having a slight panic attack. Especially since we discovered yesterday that we lost our digital camera during the trip home from Montreal. I couldn't find it before the event yesterday and when I got home we tore the house apart. We remember having it out at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, but whether it got left there as we changed into street clothes and raced to the airport or in the rental car itself... we just don't know. I could have cried!!! I called the rental company and the club to leave all of the information for them to check, but since it has almost been 2 weeks, I'm afraid someone may not have read our address inside the case but just helped themselves! Getting ready for a show with a borrowed camera would have been a real challenge. I feel so weak that I am almost happy it didn’t work out to attend the show in person this year because I just don’t know where I would find the physical strength. The dragon’s will is strong... but I feel as if all my scales are falling off and I am trying to hold them back in place with both hands!

A Picture Says It All...

The dragon did not manage to stay healthy after all. I started feeling rotten late Saturday night and by 4 am Sunday, I took a cab to the hospital. Nick was too groggy from his Tylenol 3s to drive anyway, so I snuck out of the house by cab.

It turned out to be quite possibly one of my worst experiences with the health care system in Moncton. I arrived at the Emergency department around 4:15 am with only one other person in the waiting room. I checked in and had to rush to the washroom to hurl before they could get the bracelet on my arm. I saw the triage nurse a few minutes later and explained that I needed the shot of Maxeran to shut down the nerve that controls vomiting. Mine has been so badly damaged from gallbladder attacks during my 1st pregnancy and 8 month of morning sickness with my 2nd that once I am sick more than once, my body just keeps hurling... whether there is anything to hurl or not.

For whatever reason... I sat out in the general waiting area hurling for 3.5 hours until the shift changed at 7:30 am and I stumbled over to the new triage nurse to explain that I was going to faint soon. Perhaps the prospect of a weaving 6’5” female towering over her was enough to tip the balance because within 5 minutes three names were finally called and mine was among them. After donning the obligatorily humiliating johnny shirt, I curled up on the stretcher and hoobed in private until the doctor saw me.

Because I had been sick so many times, the first shot of Maxeran didn’t do the trick this time. After 45 minutes, I was still having dry heaves so they decided to try an IV and a further dose. Unfortunately, by this time I was so dehydrated that the nurse had to make several attempts to find a vein... this dragon really does NOT like being a pincushion!!

Just before noon on Sunday, I was able to grab a cab home and collapse into bed for a sleep until everyone else got home from church. The girls immediately went into Florence Nightingale mode and brought me crackers or ginger ale (with the bubbles stirred out) to see what I could keep down. This morning, I am dizzy and weak, but at least able to get up and move about a bit. So I did what any stitcher would in recovery mode. I sat in bed and stitched!

The girls keep asking me what is for supper tonight. I think that it will be a “must go” meal of leftovers so that I can just have some dry toast and not stand over the stove cooking anything just yet!

MAYDAY...May Day... may days

I almost posted this on May 1st, but I was too busy mopping up Bethy barf!

We got back VERY late on Sunday night and got home safely to sleep in the next day. I had been planning to keep the girls home from school anyway and Nick took a bereavement day. We got a few errands done, but neither girl seemed quite themselves and Nick and I were feeling pretty drained as well. The weekend had many wonderful and many poignant moments that left us feeling very connected to family and uprooted at the same time. Helping clean out parts of the house was not only hard emotionally, the dust and mold made it hard for Nick’s allergies and Erin’s asthma.

By Monday night, Erin was feeling terrible and all the glands on one side of her neck were up, so we headed up to the after-hours clinic nearby and they told us how to modify her asthma meds. They checked for strep and mono as well then told us to wait for the results.

Tuesday morning I was set to leave Erin home alone for a few hours while I did my Weight Watcher meeting (which she can do now that she’s 12) and call in to check on her. Bethany kept complaining that her tummy hurt, but I assumed that was because she didn’t want to go to school without Erin. One bite of breakfast proved otherwise, so when I couldn’t find a replacement on such short notice, Nick stayed home with them for a few hours and then headed up to school as soon as I got home. Between the boxes of kleenex for Erin’s nose and the barf duty for Bethany, I was pretty worn out by Tuesday night. A little thing set me off and I suddenly found myself sobbing with all my might as the emotions of the weekend and a good cry for my Grampy and the goodbye to all that really ties me to Montreal bubbled to the surface.

The girls went back to school for 2 days and then stayed home again today as every child had the day off for a provincial teacher development day. Nick drove all the way to Saint John for Early Years sessions, but came home and went right up to the clinic himself. He has pulled something in his shoulder and is now on painkillers and anti inflammatories for the weekend. Sigh!


I think I won’t even brag about being the only healthy one right now in case that jinxes something. I’ll just keep stitching the last of Santa’s Dragon and get to my website updates as soon as I can.

Off To Say Goodbye...

Our bags are packed. The girls went to bed early. Nick and I figured out how to check in on-line with Westjet so that we already have our boarding passes for the 5:45 AM flight to Toronto tomorrow morning that continues to Montreal. Our alarm is set and I am just taking a few minutes to blog before I crawl under the covers myself.

I know that this weekend will be hard. Erin broke down and cried tonight because the reality of going to Montreal to close the chapter on my grandfather’s life is suddenly here. “It wasn’t REAL before!” she wailed tonight.

This will be a celebration laced with laughter and tears. It will be a farewell tour of sorts for many places, including the Royal Montreal Golf Club, that I shall probably never have the occasion to visit again. Places where I spent the summers of my childhood that I may never revisit, but that shall sparkle forever in my memories.

Right now, I just can’t wait for the hugs. I can’t wait to be swallowed up in the hugs from my baby brother who now towers over me and will be amazed at how tall his nieces have grown. I can’t wait to see my cousins, share limericks, laughter and fond memories.

My Grampy would have loved being the center of attention at this gathering... and in many ways, he still will be!

Sore Hands Again

I’ve been stitching so much lately, that my hands hurt. I know... I can just hear the groans of envy out there. “I’d love to have that problem! I’d love to spend 6 hours stitching in a single day...”

I am NOT a fast stitcher. That is why so often, I rely on the amazing model stitchers that have helped bring my designs to life over the years. Santa’s Dragon is different. I keep changing things and it is driving me crazy!!

I got behind with Grampy dying and a few other bumps in the road. Now it feels like the impossible deadline is breathing down my neck and so I stitch until my hands cramp. It was the same last summer working on illustrations for 8 to 12 hours a day. Such a fragile balance between demanding the best that my hands can offer and trying to protect them from damage. I will massage them well with hand cream before bed.

The one great thing about this design is that I know how much fun stitchers will have bringing it to life... especially if they don’t set crazy deadlines for themselves.

When Things Get Dark...

Tomorrow at last the weather promises to be beautiful and warm after a LONG month of snow, sleet and windy cold. Usually April is a lovely month with just the occasional sudden storm that melts almost the next day. It was hard to thaw out my hands the past two days after playing with the icy water of the pump outside when sleet switched to rain and rain to snow or more sleet. I am hopeful that tomorrow and the weekend will indeed be lovely. Our whole city will probably throw open windows to air things out, hang laundry on the line, go for walks and take a deep breath in the hope that winter is finally over.

Life is like that as well. We go through times of darkness or sorrow and it feels as if icy rain lashes us every day. We cannot seem to get warm or feel happiness. The news does not help with stories of such aching tragedies, so we make up our little survival tactics and lists...

1) Give thanks for waking up.

2) Hug those you love and tell them so.

3) Put on clean underwear like your mother always told you to.

4) Eat a good breakfast.

5) Briefly contemplate the merits of hiding from the world under a comfy blanket with an
uplifting book and lots of chocolate....

6) Go out into the world with a smile and try to say something nice to everyone you meet.

7) Do the best that you can that day. Slow but steady wins the race. Find one task,
however small, to accomplish.

8) Hug everyone when you get home.

9) Be thankful you have more than one meal to eat today.

10) Have a warm bath or shower and be glad the water is clean.

11) Wish those you love good night.

12) Before falling asleep, think of all the things that DID go right in the chaos of the day.
Avoid watching late night headlines.

Repeat daily... but occasionally give in to urge for good books and chocolate!

A Productive Storm Day!

Spring has NOT sprung here in Moncton! Yesterday saw our second snowstorm in less than a week for a total snowfall between the two storms that almost passed the amounts of snow we got ALL WINTER! Of course my 3 kids (Erin, Bethany and the big kid I married) LOVED having a snow day, as did Mum and John who are here for a visit. That gave them a whole extra day of fun and frolic with the kids. Nick went into work for several hours in the morning before the roads got so miserable that I called him to come home so that I could get the plastic organizers that I desperately needed to finish my Storm Day project.

What project? With an impending rummage sale at church and that warped urge known as Spring Cleaning rattling around in my life and too much play and excitement underfoot to do much serious work, I decided to tackle our family craft cupboard (I have my own extra supplies that they are NOT allowed to play with). For the past 6 months, the contents of this cupboard had grown and began to take on a life of their own. Contents had begun to leap out and attack anyone who so much as peeked inside the doors let alone actually needed to FIND something in there. The minute I opened the cupboard to begin, no less than 8 things fell out at once. In my enthusiasm to get started I forgot the number one rule of bragging about completed projects... I never took a BEFORE picture! You’ll have to trust me that when the contents of the cupboard were removed, I had very little kitchen floor left.

Now, the cupboard is all set up with craft supplies that the kids can grab easily. One of the ladies who solved the nightmare that was our Sunday School cupboard at church told me how easy it was if you just gave everything a home with a label on it. As you can see, I took her words to heart. Instead of 6 or 7 boxes of coloured pencils to choose from, there is one drawer to paw through. Same for crayons, markers, glue sticks & brushes, etc. The drawer marked “misc. craft supplies” now has little plastic bags full of leftover pompoms, foam stickies, glitter, beads etc. each sorted by kind. The fabric in the cupboard is the collection of tablecloths that always seemed to get stuffed back in instead of folded properly. What a sense of accomplishment!!! Here is my proud AFTER photo...



Nick left mid-afternoon on still snowy roads with his team for a tournament in Fredericton. He’s been playing on a 35+ basketball league this year and having fun, even though he comes home limping or bruised most of the time. Once, it was even a bite mark on his elbow... but I’m told the other fellow’s teeth felt wobbly afterwards. He called when they made it safely to Fredericton so that we could all relax and stop worrying.

Supper was a fun belated birthday celebration with a SMALL cake for both of them to share and some ice cream. Sigh! I had hoped to avoid the cake temptation... but at least it was only a small devouring. Now it is time to head to the gym for their swim lessons & sportfit programs. I’m going to walk some of the sugar off on the treadmill!

Surviving The Birthday Gauntlet... and the Snowstorm!

I can’t believe that it has been over a week without blogging! Life happens in all its chaos sometimes and you just have to ride the wave until you can paddle again.



Of course the excitement really began with Nick’s birthday back on the 21st of March. He was a bit surprised that we actually fit all the candles on his carrot cake!

But most of the adventures took place between April 4th and 9th in this house, especially since it was a long Easter break from school. Report cards had just come out so there was NO school from April 4th until they returned April 10th. No wonder local radio stations were calling it “Spring Break Part 2”!



Erin celebrated her day off by having her best friend over for the entire day and a sleep over. They decided to make lasagna from scratch for supper (with a bit of help from Mom), rent some video games, make macramé belts and paint heart shapes as a craft. Of course I bought one for Bethany and one for myself as well. I just can’t sit around and watch if crafts are involved. I have to get right in there and get messy! Once we’d painted things, we added some 3-D craft paint for a lot of fun and whimsy. Mine is now going to sit in my office to keep me company!



For supper, along with the lasagna, Erin decided to forget about birthday cake and concentrate on ice cream with a make-your-own-sundae bonanza. Thanks to bulk barn, there were almost more toppings that the bowls could safely handle. I was good and just had a few gummy bears and mini marshmallows freeze on top of my ice cream.



You know your daughter’s tastes are shifting when she gets more excited about all the books she got as presents than any toys in the pile. I think I have successfully raised a reader!



The first part of the Easter weekend was spent enjoying family time, although some temperamental issues with our modem and internet line did add a bit of frustration I’d rather have avoided. The services we attended Thursday night and Friday morning were meaningful, especially amid the increasingly secular orgy of gifts and chocolate that seem to be evolving around this holiday. I need the dark of Good Friday to truly appreciate the joy of Easter Sunday.



Of course, waking up Easter Sunday here in Moncton brought quite a surprise... and I don’t just mean the treats (yes, the Easter Bunny brings more dimes that chocolate in our house... because then the parents don’t nibble) !!!



After a green Christmas Eve where I wore dress shoes to church instead of boots, helping Nick shovel and snowblow (I shovel, he snowblows. I like my fingers too much to touch the beast!) the drive was a shock! Even the poor robins in our tree looked puzzled as the wind buffeted them around.



We got to church early with our fruit tray for the fellowship breakfast before the service... only to discover no other footprints! I had my key to the side door as CD chairperson, so we stomped our way in to discover that they were just in the process of canceling the service! We called a few people that weren’t on the voicemail system and a few brave souls showed up so we made tea and hot chocolate, raided the last of the hot cross buns and devoured our fruit tray before we all headed home to wait out the storm. Our service was rescheduled for that evening, but only 30 or so of us made it back out.



Bethany enjoyed the snow the following day on her birthday. We had a lazy morning in our jammies while Nick made his famous blueberry pancakes. He can get very creative with shapes and Bethany ended up with “B8” while Erin devoured her “E12” (battleship anyone?) One of the little stuffed animals ended up with slightly stained paws from getting too close for the picture, but Bethany insists that gives it more character. She chose a new kitkat blizzard from Dairy Queen as her birthday treat instead of cake, so we made sure that while they were each spending $20.00 in mad money from their birthdays, we got one for her. She chose penne pasta and salad for her birthday supper before opening her presents. One of the highlights was a special pottery “bunny bowl” sent from BobDoc and Barbara in Tulsa. She fell in love with the painted hopping rabbits around the rim and has put it in a place of honour on the living room shelves because “it would be safer there than in my room for now”.



Mum and John arrived late yesterday for a week and I am trying to get laundry on the line this morning. Today is going to be warm enough to melt the last of the snow from Sunday, but guess what... overnight a huge storm is supposed to hit for tomorrow.

I’m not putting away my boots or the shovel just yet!

My April Fool’s Brother!



36 years ago, I woke up on the morning of April Fool’s Day to find my Nanny there instead of my Mom and Dad who had gone out to a Montreal Canadians vs. Boston Bruins game the night before. When she told me that I was a big sister again and that I had a new baby brother... I replied “Is that an April Fools funny?” . I was 5 and a half.

We called David before we left for church to sing Happy Birthday to him half a world away in Switzerland. It is hard to have him far enough away that hugs are treasured things and photos or phone calls reveal each time how fast my niece and nephew are growing up. I plan to stock up on lots of hugs at the end of April when we see him in Montreal at our family gathering to honour Grampy.

My little brother grew much taller than me and got harder to pick on. Looking at the man that he has become and the father he is to his own children, I can still see the pesky little brother who ruined one of my Barbies by trying to sit it astride a stuffed pig. Both the memories of the boy and the reality of the man blend into one incredible, unique package that I am prouder of than he will ever know. Happy Birthday Dave!

In his honour, and to add to a silly little dragonlet that I put up on our website quite a few years ago, there is a new April Fool’s Dragonlet to enjoy. I spent most of Saturday in pain and a few hours in the Emergency department on Saturday night, so I am a little behind with the website updates, but those who read my blog can pass the link on or e-mail the chart itself to friends. The pain baffled the doctors, but at least they were able to determine that it wasn’t anything critical and after some blood tests and a few shots, I was able to sleep in my own bed. Today, I feel like myself again so I am baffled too. Was it another sneaky April Fool’s joke? I hope this is one April Fool’s surprise that stitchers enjoy!

Signs Of Spring...

The first few hints of spring are always teasing moments that make you long for more warmth and yet balance that longing with the knowledge that there is still a bit of winter left. Nick’s mother took the girls Friday night so that he and I could join another couple for dinner at a new Italian restaurant in town. It has been a while since I put on a dress and went out to dinner at a nice mid-range restaurant with just adults for company. I know this for a fact because Erin peered rather intently at my eyelashes when I came down the stairs and said “It must be somewhere fancy because you’ve curled your eyelashes and gooped them!” My eyes are fairly sensitive and as a contact lens wearer, I keep the mascara use to a minimum... so she knew it was a special event. Waking up alone with my husband on Saturday morning was also a nice treat!

By 11 am, we joined the girls and grandparents at the the country church on the outskirts of town near a huge sugar bush. They do a pancake breakfast every Saturday morning for 4 weeks leading up to Easter as the sap begins to run in the maple trees. Once we finished the delicious meal, we walked deep into the woods along the muddy path to visit the 4 sugar camps along the way. At the very end, they were doing maple taffy (which I grew up calling “tire” in Québec) which is boiling maple syrup poured over snow until it becomes a sticky, chewy, sweet mess that you wrap around a popsicle stick. Usually, I am the one that gets messy, but this year it was Bethany’s long hair and pair of mittens that got coated with sugary goop when she tried to savour the stuff instead of gobble it! We had a few tears and had to soak both mittens and child upon our return home, but this is always one of the first true signs of spring in our region. The days are warm enough but the nights still below freezing for the sap to run well. To have such a wonderful resource so close to the house is something I treasure. Moncton has been growing by leaps and bounds lately, but I hope we don’t lose some of the more rural touches completely.



Yesterday afternoon was also a bit warmer and very sunny, so a friend and I went for a walk in the woods near our house along the park’s trails. Compared to our frigid walks in December when there were almost no other humans in sight, yesterday was a zoo! It is as if everyone around me is shaking off that winter slumber and sticking their noses out for spring!

Today was spent getting a freelance writing assignment done, working with a translator on a joint project for 2 hours and trying to get a few things tidy around the house as well. I’ve told Bethany that since I have proof she is able to clean bathrooms now and Erin has needed to help with some laundry, that their chores are going to expand to reflect their new capabilities! That statement was met with groans, of course, but I do have the goal of producing capable, resourceful daughters who will know how to take care of themselves when they go out on their own...



Speaking of which, it is far too quiet upstairs. I must go check and see what they are up to!