Wonderful Canada Day Memories...

Yesterday was a wonderful day of celebration on our Nation’s birthday. We took our picnic lunch and headed out on the back roads to Hatley for the Canada Day celebrations. Everyone making a donation to the town’s events got one of the special yearly wooden nickels, a Canada Flag and a little pin. We got there in plenty of time to get a fairly decent parking spot in one of the hayfields and then staked out our spot along the edge of the main road to the parade at 11 am. Once we had our groundsheets, lawn chairs and sit-upons to reserve our spots, we took turns exploring the many booths and tables of everything from homemade goodies to wonderful craft items. Nick found the lady who makes such wonderful fabric ties and we expanded his collection again. We found an adorable dress on sale for only 8 dollars that looked as if someone had made it by hand for a wedding. It was just the right size for Bethany to grow into this summer, but I think Erin was a bit jealous, despite the fact we’d helped her pick out new earrings the day before to replace the ones that broke on vacation!

The parade’s theme this year was celebrating Canada’s Multi-cultural Heritage... and the floats were certainly creative!! Everyone from individuals to service groups entered floats. There were horses of all sizes from Shetland Ponies to Belgians and you should have seen the look on my two “city girls” faces when one of the big Belgian horses had a dump right on the road in front of us!! They spent the rest of the parade waiting to see if any of the marchers or float vehicles would get all “poopy”!

Right after we sang “O Canada” at high noon, my step-father John played and sang with one of his friends on the keyboard. The girls were very proud to see Grrr up on stage. (He got the nickname when Erin was little and could only say that part of Grrrrrandad)

After our picnic lunch and dessert of fresh strawberries over ice cream (or the cotton candy that Erin opted for) the grownups all needed to escape the heat and head home for a nap, much to the dismay of our girls who wanted to stay for all the races and games. We coaxed them home with the promise that we would do our own races and games after nap time.

Sure enough, by the time I woke up, Erin had set up the most elaborate combination of Scavenger/Treasure Hunt imaginable and we did some egg races with plastic eggs on spoons, bean bag tosses and races... but then the heavens opened and the lightning drove us inside for supper.

We all played a board game called the Enchanted Forest after supper (which regretfully didn’t have a dragon in it) and then got them tucked into bed. The day ended with the storms clearing off enough for Nick, Grr and I to walk to the end of the street and look out at the Fireworks in the sky over the park beneath a full orange moon. Happy 137th Birthday Canada!!

Technology is Cool!!

Sometimes the way technology has changed by leaps and bounds amazes me. Here I am on vacation at my Mom’s... and yet I was still able to send my files from the computer here to the server in New Brunswick so that the Dragon of Air sample chart could be up for the July 1st deadline. I’m even able to blog from here too!! Of course Erin and Bethany were a bit miffed that I spent over 2 hours on the computer today instead of playing with them. I got lots of “I thought you were on VACATION!” wails.

Nick is feeling a little more human but still not his usual Tigger-ish self. Poor guy!! Hopefully the next few days of rest and relaxation will help. I know that the novelty of getting lots of sleep has yet to wear off for me!!

Monkey Bars, Colouring Books and Contracts...

One of the things I love most about being at Mom’s is that she and John loan us their room and sleep in the basements with the kids. For them, the novelty of being pounced on in the morning is still something fun and for me, sleeping until I wake up on my own is heavenly!!

Despite Nick still feeling icky and pretty much being quarantined to our room, the girls and I had a great time. We wandered down to the park nearby for a play this morning and saw a real bunny munching the clover!! I managed to make it all the way across the monkey bars but not two bars at a time or with my eyes closed like my daredevil oldest child. Bethany has also learned how to get on the swing and get herself going!! She still requests the odd push, but what a leap to independence compared to last summer...

We also had a wonderful session colour in our 3 identical Barbie colouring books that we bought at Walmart along with a huge brand new box of crayons. I can’t remember the last time I just sat and coloured. It was SO much fun!! It totally recharged my batteries in a get in touch with your inner child or get lost in those creative brain wave moments.

I also went over the proofs of my class descriptions for the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this fall in Toronto. I think I am going to have a lot of fun from the half day co-colaborative sampler class to the one of the dragon in her bubble bath!! The wizard with his fuzzy bunny slippers is even back for a small design to help people learn how to stitch over 2 and the Blackwork Princess pattern is going to be a blast to stitch with the Silk Bella..... For me, the most fun is spending time with stitchers in that more limited class environment. Designers can never forget that some of the most important feedback we can listen to is from stitchers who are involved in the industry for the sheer pleasure of it instead of as a business. That is a big part of what keeps our own sense of fun and wonder alive... the other is remembering to take time to play!!!

Santa’s Village Memories and Safe Arrivals...

Road trips are SO much fun with the girls at this age!! We spent Sunday on the road and made it to Gorham, NH before supper last night. Nick wasn’t feeling that well and had driven most of the way, so I took the girls to the pool for an hour-long swim while he slept. We then had a picnic supper in the hotel room with the groceries we’d picked up at the Super Walmart along the way and my poor “Basic Cable” kids went into fits over all the choices on the television!! When the hotel found out we were returning again this summer for their package deal, they gave us the room with 2 king sized beds!! Somehow even after a second swim to tire them out, they still managed to kick each other until I put pillows down the middle of the huge bed. This morning, we went over to the breakfast buffet as part of our package and then took our passes for Santa’s Village with us when we checked out. We drove there and had a GREAT time exploring the place... even though Nick was feeling worse as the day wore on. I drove the winding roads up to Mom’s in Sherbrooke... but Nick recovered enough to take us up the one hill I hate and into the city to Mom’s. Now we can relax and enjoy some family time.

Don’t worry.... the Generosity Dragon AIR will be up on the site on July 1st along with pictures of the new designs... I can do stuff like that remotely!!

Dragons on a Road Trip....

I can still remember my parents getting ready for trips when I was a kid. When you are a child, there is only the excitement of the impending adventure. You can’t understand why the grown-ups are getting so snappy and flustered!! You are just giddy with joy and far too much nervous energy.

Suddenly I understand how my parents felt!! Then endless lists of things to do and items to remember to pack! Bethany and Erin are being allowed to stay up later than usual tonight with a DVD upstairs so that maybe they will sleep a bit in the van tomorrow morning and avoid too much of the “Are We THERE YET?” syndrome.

All of my Columbus orders are on there way except for the ones with canvas designs left to paint... and even then I had some shops where I sent the leaflets on ahead and will ship the canvas at my own expense as soon as it is painted. Like most learning curves, this one has been vertical!

We last about 4 hours today to help a very good friend get her rented cube van loaded for her move to PEI. Sigh! I have lost my two “Sister Moms” (our club of 3 families that all had babies together in 1995) but it will give me friends to e-mail and excuses to plan better so that we can still have get togethers once every few months.

Our lives are really the most intricate weavings of endings and beginnings. I sometimes don’t understand the pattern until later... or enjoy the sad threads, but they are part of my life’s design. Our local tragedy of a young girl being killed while trying to bike across the highway that circles the city this week has made everyone hug their kids more and explain to them the importance of not doing anything risky... even if their friends are. Nick found some quotes to read to me today and one African saying has the gerbils in my brain racing around on their little wheels to see what kind of design it would make.

I will still be blogging on my adventures, but I won’t be near a computer until late Monday night or early Tuesday.... this dragon is hitting the road with her family!! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!

No Longer Nervous About Needles!

After weeks of dreading her last needle that she needs to have before school, Bethany survived her needle yesterday with flying colours! I think that she had built the event up in her imagination to be far worse that the reality of it, partly because she couldn’t really remember her last shot. While it did hurt for a moment, it was over and done with so quickly that today it is just a distant memory.

That got me thinking about how nervous I get before anything new. I was lucky to have Teresa and Letha to keep me grounded before the show in Columbus... and once the show got started, it really wasn’t that different that any other trade show I had ever done.

So often, we let our worries build into such overwhelming obstacles in our heads instead of just going ahead and facing them. Yesterday I was inspired by my daughter to be brave. Today I am trying to plow through the last of our orders from Columbus and get everything in the mail by the end of the week, except for the canvases.

Whoever said you learn from your children was right!!

Summer Solstice Celebrations....

Today was the first Monday of summer vacation for the girls. Nick got up at the usual time and left early since he only had to worry about himself getting fed and out the door. I sighed blissfully and rolled over to fall back to sleep. Around 8:15, I heard the sound of little feet coming up the stairs, down the hallway, pausing and then going halfway down the stairs again... then repeating the process. By the third time, when the footsteps paused as Bethany peeked in Erin’s room and then mine to see if we were awake yet, I gave up playing possum and got up to feed her. Now I know to put a few “tide over the tummy” healthy snacks within her reach if she is going to be the early bird!!

It was an extremely busy and productive day. The girls helped me stick labels on the 6 boxes going out with Purolator after also helping me measure them with the tape measure and lift them onto our bathroom scale. I had final press proofs to look over and correct (they were missing a font and instead of letting me know, they substituted an ugly one) and a batch of charts to get up to Staples for copying on the special 24lb paper I love to use in my chartpacks.

The girls played well after the first fight this morning. Erin had declared today to be “the First Annual Be Nice To Bethany Day” which lasted for approximately 49 minutes until Bethany first got on her nerves. She then told Bethany that “Be Nice To Bethany Day” had been canceled and would never happen again... EVER... so Bethany came down to me in tears!! When I asked them to stop measuring each other in the middle of my phone call with the Purolator operator, he burst out laughing! I explained that as a home based business, I was having a bit of a tricky time with the transition to them being home.... but I could hear him trying not to giggle for the rest of the call to arrange the pickup.

Finally, the most exciting thing that happened today on June 21st, 2004 (which actually happened here last night at 10:00 pm EST) was that we added to the family!! No... I am not pregnant... and we did not buy a pet!! My sister, Laurie, was married in Tokyo to Yoshi, her college sweetheart from when she attended Lester B. Pearson International World College many years ago. We are thrilled for both of them and welcome him into our zany family with open arms, many hugs and excited squeals from Erin and Bethany. I certainly wish I could have had access to a Star Trek teleporter to be there in person, but we are hoping to celebrate with them in Canada at a later date. Laurie and Yoshi will be moving to Manila in the Philippines in August as his job with Honda takes him on to new adventures. With both my brother and sister in such exotic, far-flung places, it is certainly saving to travel on visits a priority!! Luckily Laurie will be coming to Canada in a few weeks, so I will get a chance to hug her in person!! We’re just not sure if Yoshi will be able to get any time with the impending transfer.

Our family is also starting to get very excited about our visit to my brother and sister-in-law’s house in Provence later this summer. It wouldn’t have been affordable if there hadn’t been the special charter between Moncton and Paris this summer due to the 400th Anniversary celebration of Samuel Champlain’s landing on the island between Maine and New Brunswick. I’m not sure how many tourists are actually coming to visit because of this special flight for this summer only, but we were more than happy to take up a few seats and get the chance to see Dave and my niece Juliette in person. We will miss seeing Anne who will be busy in Athens with the IOC as she works at the Summer Games.

Happy Father’s Day? YES!

I used to get a little jumpy around Father’s Day. 26 years ago, that was when my father told us all that he was leaving our family to be with someone else. What I never admitted to him was that I had actually found out a few days earlier by accident. LIke any child who hopes to change an adults mind, I poured all of my efforts over the next few days into that single purpose - I created a little illustrated book of all of the things I loved most about my Dad hoping that it would convince him to stay. I didn’t understand then that guilt really isn’t the most effective persuasion tool.

Now that I am a parent, Father’s Day has taken on a different meaning...I am more aware of how to help my daughters celebrate their love for their father. This morning, they are sitting at the dining room table putting the finishing touches on some adorable cards while the object of today’s celebration gets a much needed chance to sleep in.

Yet, as I thought about how to write this blog entry, especially as I am watching a very good friend struggle with helping her own kids adapt to living in a divorce environment, I knew that I had to also celebrate the many things that my Father continues to give to my life.

It was my father that introduced me to books about Science Fiction and Fantasy, beginning a lifelong addiction that would have me dreaming of other worlds where dragons did fly and the distant stars were not so unreachable.

It was Dad’s boundless enthusiasm and love of new adventures that made me brave enough to leave home for University on the East Coast at the age of 17. I don’t know if I would ever have met Nick otherwise...

My father loved to travel and we were lucky enough to take many trips as a family to such far away places as New Zealand, Bermuda and Florida. When he left, although it was hard to have him so far away, his living in Hawaii and Tulsa also gave me even more wonderful opportunities to travel. This is something that has become a priority for our family as well. Visiting new places, especially new countries, reminds us that “our way” is not the only one in the world.

It was Dad who first showed me that it was OK to be silly with your kids and just play with them. Perhaps that is why I looked to that quality in my husband, knowing that someday I would want him to be able to do the same with our own children.

It was Dad who taught me to adore music and singing in harmony... though it is equally beautiful to watch my “other father” John bring that alive in my daughters and keep the music going in my own life.

It was Dad whose eternal optimism taught me that you can dare to dream BIG (we do Big well in our family... it is all a question of scale!) and to chase that dream... even if it didn’t turn out quite the way you expected. While I learned more of the organizational ways to make those dreams actually come true from my Mom, I owe a lot of that “stardust and dreams” hopefulness to Dad.

I’ve learned that loving someone has nothing to do with them fitting into your expectations and everything to do with just loving them for who they are... no matter what... without conditions. That’s a great lesson to know with all the important people in my life. not just the DADs

Last Day of School and Daycare!

Wow! Where did this year go?? This morning I walked Erin up to the bus stop as she clutched her present for her teacher and told me that she wished school could last all summer (I didn’t have a thermometer to check her temperature to see if she was feverish...) !! Then Bethany and I continued on to daycare with our wagon full of little treats for her 5 “teachers” (Thank Goodness for home-baked goodies and the dollar store!!) and th owner of the daycare where Bethany has enjoyed the last year and a half.

It will be nice not to have to wake up every morning at 6:10 am in order to get everyone out the door by 7:15 on days when I needed the car... but I am sure that there might be the occasional post this summer from a grumpy dragon hiding in her cave while everyone is underfoot (and under tail!). Next year, I will get used to doing all of my creative/concentration work between 8 am and 2 pm while Bethany and Erin are both at school. I am also hoping to teach them to play on their own after homework at least one or two days a week to keep on top of e-mail & orders so that I don’t have to do it all after they are in bed.

This afternoon we will be having our traditional block party among our bus stop kids and parents to celebrate the beginning of summer, but Erin will be home off the bus in just over an hour, so I’d better get to those website updates!!!

Happy Last Day of School!!

Back Home from Columbus.....

It was hard to get out of bed this morning... I had missed our comfy bed and it felt nice to get a full night’s sleep after all the chaos of doing the show in Columbus. This morning Nick and Erin got off to school, Bethany up to daycare despite many protests about not wanting to leave me, now Mum and John have just said their goodbyes and headed back to Quebec.

In the peace of a quiet house, I am getting the trade show props put away and having time at last to really reflect on how the show went. Doing a show in a new city or new environment is always something that I find very scary. Fellow designer Teresa Wentzler and Letha Welch of Fantasy Crafts who were there to walk the show bunked with me as well. The giggles and great discussions helped keep me from giving in to the worst of the panic attacks. They were also such a wonderful help in watching the booth when I needed potty breaks or bringing back food for this dragon when shop owners started to look tasty!

Columbus was a great city and the convention facilities were wonderful! I found the growing pains of this first combined show were minimal and often dealt with smoothly. I still have to figure out how to work the dates, which are just so horrid for our family, into my future plans. Some shops seemed to share the same feeling that this show was still relatively close to Nashville. Since this was a more expensive show for me to do, I’ll have to get out the sales orders and do the math to see what that information tells me. There is nothing like the physical trade show to let you touch and feel things, talk with colleagues face to face over good meals and really let you get a scope for the industry as a whole... I did love seeing the yarns, felting, fashion and other needlepoint creations there as well as the cross stitch. It made me realize just how wide and versatile the Needlearts industry really is and how creative a bunch we can be!

I'll try to put photos of the new designs up on the website in the next day or so. No Late Knight Snacking was a definite hit and the painted canvas went over well. I hope my Josh Groban CD doesn’t wear out since that is my favourite music to paint canvas to right now!

I can also finally report, now that it is official, that Nick will be the new Vice-Principal at Petitcodiac Regional! This rural Kindergarten to Grade 12 complex is about 20 minutes from our door and actually has 2 Vice-Principals and a Principal. Nick would be in charge of the K - 5 section of the school which has almost as many children as the school he now works at, giving him the wider perspective that he needs to be a principal of his own school in the future. He has agreed to this one year “secondement” with the provision that he can return to Arnold H. McLeod to finish years 4 and 5 of his existing contract if he chooses. It will certainly mean that I walk more and do runs to the post office etc. once he gets home with the car in the evening, but I had already decided that my focus in the fall will be to do all the computer, designing or illustration work from 8 - 2 until Bethany gets home and then stuff like banking or shipping later. I am so proud of him and the experience that this opportunity will give him. He called me on the trade show floor Monday as soon as he heard on Letha’s phone and everyone around cheered when I shared the news. Way to go, Honey!!

I guess I’d better get the laundry on the line and then get down to batching orders to see how many we’ll need of each design to fill these... It is great to be home!!

Hellos...Goodbyes and Off to Columbus!!

The sun broke through today and the temperatures soared!! Summer swooped in and suddenly some people in town were complaining that it was TOO HOT!! I just kept grinning as I finally felt warm. This dragon likes the heat!

My Mom and John arrived this afternoon, about 10 minutes after I left with Erin to take the last run of parcels to the post office and do a bank run to make sure I had taxi money for the cabbie coming at 4 am!! They wandered around and checked out our garden in the backyard for the few minutes until we got home and then Mom came with me to pick up Bethany. It is such fun to see my two girls get lost in the magic of having their grandparents here. I can remember that fun and sheer love with my own grandparents. I called my Grampy tonight to let him know that Mom arrived safely and was preciously aware that at 93, he may not be around for that many more years. As grown-up as I feel sometimes, just talking with him takes me back to the mornings after I stayed over with my Nanny and Grampy. Nanny would always make me porridge and then Grampy would stomp down the stairs saying in his loudest, gruffest voice... "Somebody’s been sitting in MY chair!” Since I felt every inch the blond Goldilocks with my long hair, I would sit and squeal with glee as he rounded the corner to give me my morning hug.

Lullaby time tonight was hard. Bethany really hates it when I go away and has the most poignant ways of twisting that knife into your heart. Tonight it was “I will always love you forever, even after you die and my eyes fill with tears all the time!” I let her know how much fun she will have with her “Nanny and Grrr”, that I will be very careful and that I will think of her often.... but I don’t ever glibly promise that I’ll be back before she knows it. In a world of the unexpected, we cannot always promise safety.... but I CAN promise her right back (Nick and Erin too) that I will ALWAYS love them!!

I am thrilled to be packed and off to bed at a reasonable hour, excited beyond words to see old friends and find out the reactions to new designs (and how much the Morning Wizard sample chart is going to make people grin!!), a bit terrified of not knowing what to expect and how to get around in a new city... but ready to go discover Columbus!!

Will I Remember Everything?

I used to laugh at my mother’s lists. I can remember thinking to myself... “I will NEVER make those when I am a grown-up!” The things you need to remember as a child and as a teen, even though they seem very important at the time, just are not as complex as the stuff you need to carry around in your head as an adult. At least having a PDA has helped me keep everything in one location instead of dozens of tiny notes-to-self and lists.

I feel so strange heading off to a new show. I knew what to expect and how to set up for things in Charlotte, but that anxiety/terror/excitement mix can also be energy worth harnessing if you figure out the balance. WIth all that’s been going on here in our lives over the past week for Nick’s career, none of which I can mention yet, I am glad that I decided to scale back on what I had hoped to release to make it manageable.

Tonight, instead of trying to finish off a model or create my order forms at the last minute, as I have in other years, I am actually mostly packed. I have made my list of tasks for tomorrow with everything from picking up my tickets to returning the kids library books, which will hopefully keep me from forgetting anything major.

Nick had the District Track Meet today and somehow missed two whole patches on the backs of his knees/legs with the sunscreen. He is pretty uncomfortable and VERY red. Poor Tigger!! Luckily my mom and stepfather arrive tomorrow to stay here with the girls and lend a hand while I am away.

I must go check over my list one more time before bed...

Career Day, Picnics and Garden Planting

Friday was Career Day at Nick’s school, Arnold H. MacLeod, and I was asked to be one of the guests who came in and spoke to two classes about my job. It was such fun to bring my big black portfolio of drawings along.

The first class I spoke to was a lovely 3-4 combined (grades 3 & 4) French Immersion class. I offered to speak to them completely in French, but the kids begged the teacher to let them ask questions in English “for a break”. I started off by sharing with them that I found out at age 11 that grown-ups could draw for their jobs when I won the Young Artists & Young Writers contest through Jack and Jill magazine. I spent 5 days in Indianapolis, Indiana with the other 9 winners as the Saturday Evening Post Publishing Company showed us around their facilities and their city as well as arranging workshops for us and even taking us to see Rock Hudson in the musical Camelot! Since many of the kids in the class I spoke to were 9 and 10, they found it interesting to have decided what I wanted to do so early.

The second class I spoke to was one of the wiggliest Kindergarten/Grade 1 classes they had, so I switched tactics and we made a joint drawing. Those who were sitting nice and still each got to tell me what they wanted me to add to the picture. As the drawing grew, I also talked about being an artist and the things I do... but mostly they kept watching my pen bring the shark trying to eat the mermaid as the kitty parachuted down from beside the pegasus to nearly land on the race car next to the speed boat in the lake just in front of the burning castle where the princess and the frog prince lived..... (It was a pretty interesting picture to fit everything in on 8.5 x 11”) Afterwards, the teacher photocopied the picture so that they could each have fun colouring it in. This is one drawing that will definitely never end up as a cross stitch pattern! LOL!

Considering that I leave on Thursday for the show in Columbus, I feel remarkably calm and well prepared. Probably because I pared down what I was trying to get ready for the first time in the decade that I have been doing shows. Now as long as I remember all the important stuff like passport, ticket, new models and money, I should be fine. Nick fielded a call from a shop in Columbus that got my 4 models from Nashville sent to them in time to meet up with me for the show... but it wasn’t the shop that I had arranged to have them sent to!! Luckily, the shop owner knew me and called to ask if she could have a mini trunk show over the weekend and have me bring a dozen of each pattern to her this week!! I guess the shop in Texas that had been hosting my models lost the address of the shop they were supposed to send it to and just picked one in Columbus... but I will have to let them know about the goof tomorrow. That could have been messy!!

Today was the first warm, sunny day in almost 3 weeks of rainy, cold weather. It coincided with our Sunday School closing and church picnic, so my girls all but collapsed into bed tonight still smelling of suntan lotion and bug spray. Not only did they play around during the picnic, we got out the wading pool when we got home and they splashed while I finally got my garden planted. We’ve had frost almost once a week for the past 3 weeks... so I was a bit worried to plant it on our May long weekend. Poking around in the mud was nice and relaxing after shooting the last few pictures I needed to take of the new models.

Hmmm! Considering how much I have been yawning as I write this, an early night for me might not be such a bad idea since last night was interrupted by crazy trade show dreams.....

A Burden Shared...

It is hard to see anyone that you care about suffer and not be able to do much about it. Now that I am a parent, I understand how much my own parents sometimes set limits to keep me from being hurt. At the time, I thought they were being unfair. It is hard to watch a loved one battle a disease or illness and not be able to make them better somehow. It is hard to watch a friend go through trials and tribulations that make your teeth grind in anger and your heart ache. It is almost harder to watch another person’s pain than it is to experience it yourself... almost.

The creative person inside me always wants to try to find a solution or way of helping to make the problem better. The reality is that sometimes, the only way to help is in other small, indirect ways. A note, a hug, a word of support, an offer to share a meal. Tonight I may not be able to carry any of my friends’ burdens, but at least I can let them know that I am here. The perception that a burden is shared often helps to make it feel lighter, even if you know that you are still the one carrying it. I must go and reread that poem Footprints in the Sand...

Web Site Updated At Last!!

It was a busy but productive weekend. I had a chance to speak to the Youth Forum of the Maritime Conference of the United Church in Sackville yesterday about “Living the Call”. I shared with them how there are many ways to use the gifts you have been given without necessarily being a minister. There were lots of other guests including a songwriter, so maybe we gave the young people who heard us some career ideas. I shared that you never know when you will be led down paths that you didn’t expect. Designing cross stitch was certainly never anything that I had ever dreamed about... and yet I couldn’t imagine my life right now without that, especially when a stitcher sends an e-mail sharing how much a certain design has touched their lives. I don’t think that will ever cease to amaze me. (I still keep thinking that I should be thanking them for stitching the crazy stuff my imagination comes up with!!)

Getting the website updated is also a MAJOR weight off my shoulders and wouldn’t have been possible without my girls playing so well together or Nick handling the dishes etc. Sometimes writing that HTML code from scratch can be really hard on my brain, but it gives me the results that I want and saves the money of paying someone else to do it!!

One of the reasons that the updates were so late is that I wasn’t sure what the final line up for COLUMBUS was going to be. A book deal deadline that got pushed back meant that one adorable release (the sequel to Winter Wonder called “To Trim A Tree”) will have to be pushed back until the fall. Having a huge order to fill for one distributor also meant that cash flow got messed up enough to prevent me from sending two other pieces out to model stitchers. When I looked at the logistics of paying them, framing costs and printing costs to release them for Columbus, it simply wasn’t possible to put them out now.

Luckily, Nick IS a faster stitcher than I am and got the first in our newest series “NO LATE KNIGHT SNACKING” ready in time. Many experts are saying that cross stitch is in a decline right now compared to other hobbies. The one thing I hope to do with this latest series that will be released as a single page leaflet to needlework stores or in kit format with lots of clear instructions and diagrams, is to reach fantasy people who may not be stitching yet and introduce them to this wonderful hobby I’ve gotten so addicted to. Each one in the series is designed to fit within a standard 5 x 7 inch fame, so hopefully they will be zany projects that are challenging enough to be addictive and yet not too complicated for beginning stitchers. We shall see!

Now that all the files are sent over to the website, I had best surface from my basement cavern and read some bedtime stories!!

Two Weeks To Go!

A cold, wet day here that certainly does not feel like the end of May and no hope of sunshine in the forecast for the weekend. Hmmmmph! I got one large tote of models shipped off to a wonderful shop/designer near Columbus so that they will be waiting for me when I arrive on the 10th of June. I am still very nervous about this show because it is a new city and a new venue for me, but that excitement/terror can also be fun. Why else would someone have invented roller coasters??

I am finishing up one of the painted canvas samples into an adorable little door hanger so that I can get stitchers’ imaginations going. I’ve also decided the lineup for the show in terms of what models will be ready in time. It certainly is leaner that I hoped, but I am happy with what I DO have ready. Will I remember to pack everything this time??

Now I must put the finishing touches on the special chart that I am handing out to shops that place an order at the show. The Morning Wizard is the “companion” piece to the Night Wizard from Nashville and I hope it will put as much of a smile on people’s faces as the last one did....

One Vehicle Side Benefits...

Wednesday morning are usually when Bethany and I spend time together. The day normally begins with my swimming lessons and Bethany has a chance to play with the other kids at St. Pat’s (a wonderful lady named Brenda provides care for preschool kids in the mornings while parents get a workout in!) then it is off to do groceries. Then the rest of the day is ours to spend together until Erin gets home. While it often means that she has to come along for mail runs or bank deposits, Bethany also gets to corner me for games of Go Fish and 20 questions etc.

This morning, Nick having the van made his day so much easier. The kids also had a 4 day weekend because Monday was a National Holiday and yesterday was NBTA meetings. Tomorrow is also Kindergarten Orientation morning, so Bethany was already set to be at daycare today. While part of me misses being in the pool this morning, it is also very nice to have the morning in a quiet house (at last!) to get stuff done. There are models to pack for pre-shipping to Columbus, one chart to finalize and one more canvas design to paint. Then there is the dreadfully out of date website to update... so I don’t think there will be any lack of things to keep me busy. Factor in the insurance costs and the soaring price of gas to the fact that I’ll get stuff done at home today and I’m actually glad we only have one vehicle!

Bonds That Don’t Change...

What a fun long weekend!! Yesterday, we piled into the van and drove to Fredericton (about an hour and a half away) to see some friends that had moved there almost 2 months ago. We even experimented with setting the cruise control to a slightly lower speed than we might have driven before gas prices soared through the roof. We had lost of cars sail past us going well over the posted speed limit, but we still got there in the usual amount of time and used only a quarter of a tank of gas. - YAY!

The day was fun. Our kids all played together as if they had never been apart and it was such fun to catch up on all the news. It is also nice to spend time with friends who have been through so many of life’s major events with you... you have that whole common history and you can just be yourselves. It was wonderfully relaxing and I even finished the backstitching on one piece that Nick had stitched as well as most of my little painted canvas piece!

Today, we met up with another great friend and her son to go see Shrek 2. The kids liked it a lot, but it was the adults in the theater who killed themselves at the “inside”/pop culture jokes and not so subtle digs at Disney. Luckily, someone had also told me not to leave before the end of the credits, so I didn’t miss out on the scene with the dragon!

The best part of bonds like friendship, or even a hobby that you like such as stitching, is that they can restore and recharge something deep inside you which you might not have realized needed tending to. This close to the trade show in Columbus, I could have just spent the whole weekend working (especially since my website is in desperate need of updating) but I needed to have that time with my family as well. Life is sometimes more about balance than anything else.

Beginnings, Endings and Possibilities In-Between

Fridays are always something I look forward to. The beginning of a holiday weekend (Victoria Day is celebrated here in Canada on Monday) is even more special because there is that sense of freedom from having an extra day to “relax”. Nick and I are both feeling the need to curl up and slow down a bit tonight after such a hectic week. Nick bravely faced each crisis at school this week from grief counseling to Grade 4 students wearing “sex bracelets” (jelly bracelets that have a colour code for sexual favours to be granted by the wearer) capped off by two sudden deaths in the family of one staff member last night and today. I had a week of trying to finalize my lineup of designs for the Columbus show and ship out orders with Erin home sick two days this week and now on antibiotics. We rented a movie to watch tonight, but I needed to sneak down here and blog.

Today was also the last day of the pilot 6 week pre-kindergarten literacy program that my friend across the street and I created for Queen Elizabeth school where Erin attends and Bethany will start Kindergarten in the fall. It was fun to get sticky hugs from all of the children as they said goodbye to us today after we had our Teddy Bear’s Picnic.

On the way to pick up Nick this afternoon, Erin and I got into a wonderful discussion about why life doesn’t last forever. Trust a 9 year old to bring up the heavy topic stuff while you are driving!! It did, however, get me thinking about how I used to perceive grownups and how I think about life now that I am one. I used to think grownups never did anymore growing UP and therefore just grew old but didn’t really learn new stuff. Considering that my mother had the courage to start a second career while I was in high school, that was a pretty silly idea to have. I think by then I had started to think differently.

Now I embrace the fact that there is always some new trail to explore, some new thing to learn, a new place to visit, a new food to taste and new skills to acquire. There will always be new things I want to learn and try. I think that is one of the best things about doing crafts. There are always new colours to play with, new fibers to incorporate into designs, new combinations to put together, new stitches to try. It is probably the same for music, writing and so many other things.... the possibilities of what lies just around the corner is what makes each day so exciting.

Falling In Love All Over Again....

Sometimes you just need to fall in love all over again. I have been doing that a lot lately. Despite the blackflies, the bunk beds that were too short , the giggles and the snoring, Brownie Camp was a lot of fun. While I had enjoyed my time in the Girl Guide movement immensely when I was young, I did drift away from it until Erin became involved. Watching the experience through 14 pairs of young eyes, making crafts and s’mores, meeting the wonderful woman who will be Erin’s Guider when she flies up to Guides, using your new tea lights in punched hole tin cans because it was too dry to light a real fire or smiling when each of the girls had to introduce “Flossie” (can I pick my nickname or what!!) to her parents during pickup made me fall in love with the Guiding movement all over again.

I’ve also been falling in love with needlework all over again, partly because I have been having such fun stitching up one of the painted canvas designs I will be showing off in Columbus. It has been such fun to play with some of the thicker, funkier fibers that you just can use in cross stitch! I still wish I had been able to finish up some of the cross stitch designs I was trying to get done for Columbus, but I can always release them later on in the summer or early fall!

This past weekend also brought home how important it is to “fall in love all over again” with the people in your life that you care about. While I was up at Brownie Camp with Erin, Nick received word that one of the parent volunteers at his school has died suddenly at the age of 37. Because all 3 of her children attend the school and she was such a visible presence, this triggered the crisis protocols. Nick had to spend time calling staff and arranging things for when the counseling team came in Monday morning. He called me up at camp just to hear my voice. Moments like this are always reminders not to take anyone we love for granted, even when we are ready to scream at things they do ( I think that’s why kids look so cute when they fall asleep... so that you can forget/forgive some of the things they did when they were awake!!)

I’ve also fallen in love with having a sense of humour. Moncton is a small enough town that I heard via a very roundabout grapevine about the woman I had spoken to in Staples about making illegal photocopies. It seems that she has recently purchased her own copier so that she can continue to make copies in the privacy of her own home without anyone pointing out that such behaviour is still illegal. I wonder how many “expensive” patterns she could have bought legally for the cost of that copier?? I hope still feels this dragon’s shadow looming over her every time she hits the copy button!!