rekindling Friendships and Cleaning Closest
This weekend was a lot of Fun! My godson had his 5th birthday party on Saturday, so we headed over there for a Harry Potter party. Ben’s Mom, Karen, had a full slate of Hogwarts activities for them from Quidditch to Potions class and gave them all report cards for their “term”. All of the kids eyes grew round when they poured their green goblets of vinegar into the cauldron of baking soda and everything got fizzy. They they had to add from bowls of catsup, oats and flour to thicken out the mixture. Erin had great fun making a big pot of goop!!! Some of the younger kids were a bit more hesitant.
Sunday afternoon we headed over to PEI to reconnect with some good friends of ours from University who also have kids. Both families have been making excuses with busy schedules for far too long now. Tracey and I actually had some business to discuss, so I put her logo on CD rather than send it by e-mail and took it over as my excuse. It was great fun and the Confederation Bridge makes it so easy to get back and forth. There was the 39.00 bridge fee of course, but we did fill up on cheaper PEI gas!!
Today was much harder. Nick started work officially (though he’s been back at the new job for over a week now) and so he headed off early. I have already tackled Erin’s closet but now it was Bethany’s turn.... and my little pack rat had stuffed all kinds of clothes and toys in hers!! Trying everything on, including a big pile of hand-me-downs took over 2 hours. 5 year olds just don’t really have the patience for that so we had several bouts of tears and Erin saved the day more than once by being the “fashion critic”. The nice thing is, we discovered a whole bunch of clothes that she is about to fit or can just now get into!! Even though she has grown much faster than Erin this summer, there is a wealth of stuff to fit into that is pretty nearly new. I will round it out with some new turtlenecks and t-shirts, along with the exciting socks and underwear, but it won’t be as drastic a shop-up as Erin was. I tuck away a bit each month towards clothing, but as I shopped around for bargains last week for Erin (who is hovering between a size 16 and a ladies small just to get the sleeves long enough) I kept thinking of that thread on one of the pattern groups about designers all being millionaires! LOL!! We have a wonderful second hand store here in town that many of us with fast growing kids rely on to keep the clothing budgets from being unbearable!
After the Great Closet Tidy came the Great Muffin Bake. Nick is bringing muffins for the staff at his school for a speacial breakfast event, so the girls helped me bake 24 double chocolate muffins, 30 carrot muffins and 32 oatmeal and raisin muffins to go with the 28 blueberry muffins Nick made on Saturday. Having the oven on all afternoon i the warm temperatures was a bit much, but we endured.
Tonight is batching up charts again. I have a baby-sitter coming in tomorrow and Wednesday for two meetings, but I am still looking very much forward to having everyone off to school by next Thursday... I can’t even find the floor in my office again! Surely there are LOTS of other parents out there who are counting the hours????
Monday, August 30, 2004
Friday, August 27, 2004
I’ve Run Out of Tricks! Send Them Back To School!!
As much as I love my 2 children, I am ready to box them and ship them to China!!! This past week, with Nick back to work and thus no van to run errands with, has been a real test of my patience as a Mom.
They have played well together for the occasional small stretch and Erin even invented her own comic book this week about a tiny vampire chipmunk that runs around trying to nibble people’s ankles because he’s lonely (rather than evil) but when I cam up from checking e-mail this morning to find that they had strung a “tightrope” for their Barbies to slide along that was halfway to pulling a desk drawer handle out of the desk!! Luckily a friend of Erin’s had won a pass to the local water park and offered to take her along this afternoon, so that just left me with Bethany. She and I walked up to the park behind the post office then mailed some letters that needed to go off and paid the power bill on the walk home. It was only about 15 minutes each way, but by the home stretch her legs were “going to fall off if she didn’t get something good to eat”! Hah!
My latest order of plastic bags to hold my chartpacks also arrived this morning, but they are different from the ones I usually get with more plastic above the hang hole. That will just get in the way on most shipments, so I called them to ask if they’d changed suppliers. Apparently no one there bothered to look at my order before they sent them out and their first comment to me was “Yes, those look very different, don’t they. We’re not sure what’s up either!!” What a way to instill confidence!! I’m going to keep 1000 to handle the orders I have to ship out and kits for Toronto in October, but then send the other 2000 back and have them send me my regular bags. Sigh! A quick check on their part before sending things on to me could have saved us all a lot of trouble!
Well, the girls are finally down so I am off to watch Hidalgo with my husband for date night upstairs... and maybe by the morning the urge to mail my offspring will have calmed down. They do look very cute once they are asleep.....
As much as I love my 2 children, I am ready to box them and ship them to China!!! This past week, with Nick back to work and thus no van to run errands with, has been a real test of my patience as a Mom.
They have played well together for the occasional small stretch and Erin even invented her own comic book this week about a tiny vampire chipmunk that runs around trying to nibble people’s ankles because he’s lonely (rather than evil) but when I cam up from checking e-mail this morning to find that they had strung a “tightrope” for their Barbies to slide along that was halfway to pulling a desk drawer handle out of the desk!! Luckily a friend of Erin’s had won a pass to the local water park and offered to take her along this afternoon, so that just left me with Bethany. She and I walked up to the park behind the post office then mailed some letters that needed to go off and paid the power bill on the walk home. It was only about 15 minutes each way, but by the home stretch her legs were “going to fall off if she didn’t get something good to eat”! Hah!
My latest order of plastic bags to hold my chartpacks also arrived this morning, but they are different from the ones I usually get with more plastic above the hang hole. That will just get in the way on most shipments, so I called them to ask if they’d changed suppliers. Apparently no one there bothered to look at my order before they sent them out and their first comment to me was “Yes, those look very different, don’t they. We’re not sure what’s up either!!” What a way to instill confidence!! I’m going to keep 1000 to handle the orders I have to ship out and kits for Toronto in October, but then send the other 2000 back and have them send me my regular bags. Sigh! A quick check on their part before sending things on to me could have saved us all a lot of trouble!
Well, the girls are finally down so I am off to watch Hidalgo with my husband for date night upstairs... and maybe by the morning the urge to mail my offspring will have calmed down. They do look very cute once they are asleep.....
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Missing Designs....
The Postal System has eaten another parcel!! While on vacation, I did receive a few e-mails from stores that were trying to reorder our newest designs that we released in Columbus from Hoffman. Before we left to visit my Mom at the end of June, I mailed out the copies of the new designs to Hoffman, so I was baffled as to why they wouldn’t have them yet. As it turns out, that parcel never arrived!! Hoffman never e-mailed me in follow-up once I had sent my price information in, but I probably should have remembered to check all the parcel slips like I usually do to make sure that the trackable stuff arrived!!
After almost half an hour on the phone with the post office, they are almost as baffled as I am as to where the parcel could have gone, but they have opened an inquiry. The parcel was insured, so that means that I will get some of my money back, but now I need to sit down and make up a replacement order and get that off as soon as possible. I picked up the charts from the copy center this afternoon and a new shipment of bags is on its way from Toronto because another order just used up all but 100.
There are times when I wish that I lived close enough to the US border to drive my orders across and ship them from within the USA... but 3 hours each way makes that a bit pricey!!
The girls are getting very restless and I will be quite glad when they head back to school. As much as I love my family, I have also missed having the quiet time to get my work done that now only comes if I stay up after everyone has gone to bed!!
The Postal System has eaten another parcel!! While on vacation, I did receive a few e-mails from stores that were trying to reorder our newest designs that we released in Columbus from Hoffman. Before we left to visit my Mom at the end of June, I mailed out the copies of the new designs to Hoffman, so I was baffled as to why they wouldn’t have them yet. As it turns out, that parcel never arrived!! Hoffman never e-mailed me in follow-up once I had sent my price information in, but I probably should have remembered to check all the parcel slips like I usually do to make sure that the trackable stuff arrived!!
After almost half an hour on the phone with the post office, they are almost as baffled as I am as to where the parcel could have gone, but they have opened an inquiry. The parcel was insured, so that means that I will get some of my money back, but now I need to sit down and make up a replacement order and get that off as soon as possible. I picked up the charts from the copy center this afternoon and a new shipment of bags is on its way from Toronto because another order just used up all but 100.
There are times when I wish that I lived close enough to the US border to drive my orders across and ship them from within the USA... but 3 hours each way makes that a bit pricey!!
The girls are getting very restless and I will be quite glad when they head back to school. As much as I love my family, I have also missed having the quiet time to get my work done that now only comes if I stay up after everyone has gone to bed!!
Friday, August 20, 2004
Mud...Mud....Mud!
What a busy day!! I now know how fighters must have felt after sword practice... Our family had Vacation Bible School this morning for the last time as the session ended. I had a great time helping out with Arts & Crafts... but it did make getting the order off to the UK a bit more hectic that I would have liked!
Yesterday afternoon a very nice man in a dump truck delivered our 3 yards of topsoil to bring up the area in the backyard that had settled over the past few years and created a lake that kept trying to flow into my basement office window. Nick and Fred dug a proper window well when they replaced the deck, but since we changed where the steps down from the new deck come, we wanted to build up that sunken area as well to prevent any surprises next spring.
When we ordered the topsoil, the forecast for the weekend had been clear and sunny, so we’d planned to do a bit each day and get the project done by Monday. By lunch time today, the forecast had changed drastically and they were calling for heavy rain all weekend. I had visions of the nice topsoil being washed down the driveway before we could get it spread... so Nick and I donned our sunscreen and headed out into the backyard for a four hours mud moving marathon! Erin was just super about answering the phone (wasn’t she Barb?) and bringing us cold water to drink. I now know why they call it SWEAT equity!! At one point during this Topsoil Turmoil, Nick reminded me that we can NEVER sell the house now because we have too much blood and sweat invested in this property...
I am now a bit more scratched (from moving garbage bags of trimmed shrubbery down to the curb) and blistered (shovel calluses) that I’d expected, but almost all of the mud has been spread. The remainder is hiding under a tarp that one of our wonderful neighbours lent to us so that we can see if there are any spots that settle further with the heavy rain tomorrow. After 3 late nights this week, I am going to head off to bed before the Cinderella hour and enjoy!!
What a busy day!! I now know how fighters must have felt after sword practice... Our family had Vacation Bible School this morning for the last time as the session ended. I had a great time helping out with Arts & Crafts... but it did make getting the order off to the UK a bit more hectic that I would have liked!
Yesterday afternoon a very nice man in a dump truck delivered our 3 yards of topsoil to bring up the area in the backyard that had settled over the past few years and created a lake that kept trying to flow into my basement office window. Nick and Fred dug a proper window well when they replaced the deck, but since we changed where the steps down from the new deck come, we wanted to build up that sunken area as well to prevent any surprises next spring.
When we ordered the topsoil, the forecast for the weekend had been clear and sunny, so we’d planned to do a bit each day and get the project done by Monday. By lunch time today, the forecast had changed drastically and they were calling for heavy rain all weekend. I had visions of the nice topsoil being washed down the driveway before we could get it spread... so Nick and I donned our sunscreen and headed out into the backyard for a four hours mud moving marathon! Erin was just super about answering the phone (wasn’t she Barb?) and bringing us cold water to drink. I now know why they call it SWEAT equity!! At one point during this Topsoil Turmoil, Nick reminded me that we can NEVER sell the house now because we have too much blood and sweat invested in this property...
I am now a bit more scratched (from moving garbage bags of trimmed shrubbery down to the curb) and blistered (shovel calluses) that I’d expected, but almost all of the mud has been spread. The remainder is hiding under a tarp that one of our wonderful neighbours lent to us so that we can see if there are any spots that settle further with the heavy rain tomorrow. After 3 late nights this week, I am going to head off to bed before the Cinderella hour and enjoy!!
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Back Home and Blogging Late Nights or Early Mornings Again!
Well, after a wonderful two weeks of holidays and a few days of chaos after we got back home, I am finally back in front of my computer screen to blog again. Funny that it seems to be after midnight again! Thanks to a special charter flight that was happening between Moncton and Paris this summer for the 400th celebration of the founding of the Acadian settlements here in Canada (the ones who became known as Cajuns when they were later deported to the USA), we were able to get over to France to spend 3 crazy days in Paris before joining my brother and niece at their home in Provence, far to the south of France.
As usual, life and business have collided again. Nick and I volunteered months ago to help out mornings this week with the Vacation Bible School at church. This morning we did a Noah’s Ark Relay where you run down a field as different animals (I am sure that many of you would have laughed to see me demonstrating how the elephants, crabs, kangaroos and monkeys should move!) but then we rushed home so that Nick could head down to work at his new school in Petitcodiac for some afternoon meetings and I could finish batching an order from the UK that came in while I was away and needs to ship out tomorrow. There were two new girls working at the copy center of Staples who mangled one of the batches and I had to ask them to redo the job. The afternoon was spent printing out some of the covers for the chartpacks and assembling those I didn’t do between 11 pm and 2 am last night (this morning?) Nothing like hitting the ground running after a vacation!
Our vacation really did recharge my batteries on the deepest creative level though, so I don’t really mind the chaos before the girls head back to school. The colours, textures and light levels of Provence are still mulling around in my heart and head. The smells of olive oil and lavender linger in my drawers and on my counter top from souvenirs I brought home. The photos I took of crumbled castles and weathered stones just begging to have dragons drawn for them are all safely tucked in an album for me to leaf through whenever I get the urge to escape.
It was a wonderful vacation... but it is also good to be home!!!
Well, after a wonderful two weeks of holidays and a few days of chaos after we got back home, I am finally back in front of my computer screen to blog again. Funny that it seems to be after midnight again! Thanks to a special charter flight that was happening between Moncton and Paris this summer for the 400th celebration of the founding of the Acadian settlements here in Canada (the ones who became known as Cajuns when they were later deported to the USA), we were able to get over to France to spend 3 crazy days in Paris before joining my brother and niece at their home in Provence, far to the south of France.
As usual, life and business have collided again. Nick and I volunteered months ago to help out mornings this week with the Vacation Bible School at church. This morning we did a Noah’s Ark Relay where you run down a field as different animals (I am sure that many of you would have laughed to see me demonstrating how the elephants, crabs, kangaroos and monkeys should move!) but then we rushed home so that Nick could head down to work at his new school in Petitcodiac for some afternoon meetings and I could finish batching an order from the UK that came in while I was away and needs to ship out tomorrow. There were two new girls working at the copy center of Staples who mangled one of the batches and I had to ask them to redo the job. The afternoon was spent printing out some of the covers for the chartpacks and assembling those I didn’t do between 11 pm and 2 am last night (this morning?) Nothing like hitting the ground running after a vacation!
Our vacation really did recharge my batteries on the deepest creative level though, so I don’t really mind the chaos before the girls head back to school. The colours, textures and light levels of Provence are still mulling around in my heart and head. The smells of olive oil and lavender linger in my drawers and on my counter top from souvenirs I brought home. The photos I took of crumbled castles and weathered stones just begging to have dragons drawn for them are all safely tucked in an album for me to leaf through whenever I get the urge to escape.
It was a wonderful vacation... but it is also good to be home!!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Why We Go On Journeys......
My kids can barely contain their excitement. Nick is grinning and so am I. There is something so magical about setting out on a new adventure into the unknown. Dragon Dreams will be closed from July 29th until August 15th. I tried to find someone here to train to cover things, but explaining everything and finding someone I trust to allow into my home and into the business was just a bit too tricky. That is one of the major drawbacks of being your own boss and being the company in general. If you want to get away, it has to come to a halt. Luckily, stitchers can still get stuff through my distributors and shops that already have product.... but it is a bit of a worry.
Getting ready for an adventure made me think about why we go on journeys in the first place. Sometimes, the journeys take us across miles or oceans, and sometimes they are just emotional or intuitive leaps, but the process of breaking out of the pattern you’ve gotten into is the same. Journeys give us the chance to see and explore new things... get a broader picture... think outside the box.... and they capture some of the wonder and excitement that we too willingly seem to set aside as adults. I really learn a lot from my children in that department.
I am also really looking forward to getting away for just over 2 weeks. That’s something that I haven’t done in 9 years, since I went freelance. Every other time I went away, I found ways of checking in by e-mail, phone , fax etc. to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important. The only thing I really learned those times was that I didn’t really let myself get away completely. Letting go of control is scary, but it can also be refreshing. This time I am determined to just get away and enjoy spending time with family. I am sure it will recharge my batteries deep down inside!!
Here’s to adventure!!!!!
My kids can barely contain their excitement. Nick is grinning and so am I. There is something so magical about setting out on a new adventure into the unknown. Dragon Dreams will be closed from July 29th until August 15th. I tried to find someone here to train to cover things, but explaining everything and finding someone I trust to allow into my home and into the business was just a bit too tricky. That is one of the major drawbacks of being your own boss and being the company in general. If you want to get away, it has to come to a halt. Luckily, stitchers can still get stuff through my distributors and shops that already have product.... but it is a bit of a worry.
Getting ready for an adventure made me think about why we go on journeys in the first place. Sometimes, the journeys take us across miles or oceans, and sometimes they are just emotional or intuitive leaps, but the process of breaking out of the pattern you’ve gotten into is the same. Journeys give us the chance to see and explore new things... get a broader picture... think outside the box.... and they capture some of the wonder and excitement that we too willingly seem to set aside as adults. I really learn a lot from my children in that department.
I am also really looking forward to getting away for just over 2 weeks. That’s something that I haven’t done in 9 years, since I went freelance. Every other time I went away, I found ways of checking in by e-mail, phone , fax etc. to make sure that I didn’t miss anything important. The only thing I really learned those times was that I didn’t really let myself get away completely. Letting go of control is scary, but it can also be refreshing. This time I am determined to just get away and enjoy spending time with family. I am sure it will recharge my batteries deep down inside!!
Here’s to adventure!!!!!
Monday, July 26, 2004
Surfacing At Last...
It’s not quite 1 am here... and since this is an EARLY night for me compared to some of the nights this past week, I thought I would blog before bed. The highlight of today was singing “Seek Ye First” with Nick, Erin and Bethany as a family anthem in church. I’ve loved singing in parts ever since Dad first taught me Tenor harmony on car trips. Erin sang a solo verse and then they held the melody line for my alto and soprano decant variations. Bethany had decided that next time SHE wants a verse of her own, so I guess my worries about her getting stage fright were all for naught! This was a nice smile after all the chaos since last Sunday. It’s been a grueling week for both Nick and I physically, but also one of great achievements. Never give two Type A personalities challenges to overcome... it puts us into overdrive!!!
We knew that if we wanted to have a new deck to replace the one that was rotting, that Nick would be doing it himself under the guidance, supervision and expert craftsmanship of our next-door neighbour, Fred.... but the reality of building a deck in 2 days of cloud and drizzle followed by one of scorching heat, coupled with a new cordless drill that turned out to be defective and a wife with her own production issues turned out to make the first 3 days of this past week a bit more stressful than we’d anticipated!! Thanks to Nick’s incredible efforts and Fred’s help, we now have a wonderful two level deck that has had everyone peeking over fences to oooh and ahhh. We even coaxed two other Canadian cross stitch designers, Lee Fraser of Stitchable Expressions here in town and the visiting Joanne Gatenby of X’s & Oh’s (along with her husband Bill) over for some dessert on the new deck. It was a great time for fellowship and giggles at the thought of us three “millionaires” (‘cause all designers are just ROLLING in cash according to those who share our charts illegally!) enjoying the chance to talk shop and vent together. I needed that night off from what has been going on.
I’ve been painting furiously for almost 2 weeks now and am just putting the finishing touches on the last two canvases so that all of those can ship out tomorrow night. Painting with a deadline has been hard... but having canvas arrive 2 weeks later than I’d been promised, after already arranging a second, smaller shipment to Mum’s while I was up there on vacation, certainly made things MUCH harder. I was at the point where I was about to buy the canvas RETAIL from our local store when the “missing” canvas finally showed up. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of why the date on the mailing label is 13 days later than I’d been assured that it was mailed.... It irks me to know that I will have to ship two of my parcels by courier instead of regular post to meet special deadlines because of someone else.
I honestly don’t think I would push myself to such limits for anyone else. One of the reasons that I haven’t blogged much is that by the time I pry my paintbrushes out of my hands around 2 am, I’m not really in the mood to type or click a mouse. I certainly don’t have a staff of little helpers or hirelings to work through the night like Debbie Travis does!! Some of the canvases didn’t have to go out right away, but it was easier to paint them at the same time and ship them early. On Thursday, I am shutting down Dragon Dreams for a holiday with my family and won’t be near a computer, paintbrush or e-mail for 2 weeks. I’m not sure I will be able to blog either... so don’t worry if the Musings are pretty silent from the 29th to the 13th!
Yawn! That’s about all this dragon can handle for tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know I was still breathing!
It’s not quite 1 am here... and since this is an EARLY night for me compared to some of the nights this past week, I thought I would blog before bed. The highlight of today was singing “Seek Ye First” with Nick, Erin and Bethany as a family anthem in church. I’ve loved singing in parts ever since Dad first taught me Tenor harmony on car trips. Erin sang a solo verse and then they held the melody line for my alto and soprano decant variations. Bethany had decided that next time SHE wants a verse of her own, so I guess my worries about her getting stage fright were all for naught! This was a nice smile after all the chaos since last Sunday. It’s been a grueling week for both Nick and I physically, but also one of great achievements. Never give two Type A personalities challenges to overcome... it puts us into overdrive!!!
We knew that if we wanted to have a new deck to replace the one that was rotting, that Nick would be doing it himself under the guidance, supervision and expert craftsmanship of our next-door neighbour, Fred.... but the reality of building a deck in 2 days of cloud and drizzle followed by one of scorching heat, coupled with a new cordless drill that turned out to be defective and a wife with her own production issues turned out to make the first 3 days of this past week a bit more stressful than we’d anticipated!! Thanks to Nick’s incredible efforts and Fred’s help, we now have a wonderful two level deck that has had everyone peeking over fences to oooh and ahhh. We even coaxed two other Canadian cross stitch designers, Lee Fraser of Stitchable Expressions here in town and the visiting Joanne Gatenby of X’s & Oh’s (along with her husband Bill) over for some dessert on the new deck. It was a great time for fellowship and giggles at the thought of us three “millionaires” (‘cause all designers are just ROLLING in cash according to those who share our charts illegally!) enjoying the chance to talk shop and vent together. I needed that night off from what has been going on.
I’ve been painting furiously for almost 2 weeks now and am just putting the finishing touches on the last two canvases so that all of those can ship out tomorrow night. Painting with a deadline has been hard... but having canvas arrive 2 weeks later than I’d been promised, after already arranging a second, smaller shipment to Mum’s while I was up there on vacation, certainly made things MUCH harder. I was at the point where I was about to buy the canvas RETAIL from our local store when the “missing” canvas finally showed up. I’m still trying to get to the bottom of why the date on the mailing label is 13 days later than I’d been assured that it was mailed.... It irks me to know that I will have to ship two of my parcels by courier instead of regular post to meet special deadlines because of someone else.
I honestly don’t think I would push myself to such limits for anyone else. One of the reasons that I haven’t blogged much is that by the time I pry my paintbrushes out of my hands around 2 am, I’m not really in the mood to type or click a mouse. I certainly don’t have a staff of little helpers or hirelings to work through the night like Debbie Travis does!! Some of the canvases didn’t have to go out right away, but it was easier to paint them at the same time and ship them early. On Thursday, I am shutting down Dragon Dreams for a holiday with my family and won’t be near a computer, paintbrush or e-mail for 2 weeks. I’m not sure I will be able to blog either... so don’t worry if the Musings are pretty silent from the 29th to the 13th!
Yawn! That’s about all this dragon can handle for tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know I was still breathing!
Thursday, July 15, 2004
It’s Amazing What You Can Fit Into A Day!!
It’s almost midnight and time for me to crawl up to bed. As I write this blog, I am struck again by the repeating thought that I would never work this hard for anyone else’s dream.
Today began early. After vacation time up at Mom’s, I almost resent waking up to an alarm now, but at least it was 7:30 instead of 6:15. We got up and started breakfast, but our neighbour, Fred, showed up earlier than expected, so Nick bolted down his food to head outside and begin the Great Deck Demolition. We coaxed the deck through one more winter because we just couldn’t afford to build a new one last summer. This year, the boards are rotting and the steps have collapsed, but Fred has offered to oversee the project with Nick doing all the labour, so we are squeezing it in now before we head off again.
I got the girls dressed and tried to tackle the day’s e-mail before I headed off to fill in for another Weight Watcher leader from 11:00 to 1:30 pm. Once you’ve covered the material in your own meeting, it is easy to share the same information with other groups and fun to see new faces. This meeting was a lunchtime one, so I had to make sure I kept things brief. It went well and , as it turned out, my Regional Manager was there observing/critiquing me, so I am glad it went well.
I headed home afterwards only to discover that work had progressed much faster than expected!! The deck was gone and Nick now needed to rent a pickup truck for the day to haul the old deck lumber to the dump and pick up the gravel needed to put a proper window well in for the window under the deck. Since this window leads directly into my office with all my computer equipment and the soil under the deck had settled, we’d had to sandbag the window a few years ago to keep all the water from collecting outside and trying to come in! No one had eaten lunch yet, though Erin had made up a peanut butter sandwich for Bethany and used a heart shaped cookie-cutter to put a shape into the middle of it, so we piled into the van, drove Nick down to the car rental company and then picked up lunch on the drive home.
I tried to get a bit more work done after the girls were fed, but after squabbles erupted for the 5th time, I put the computer on sleep mode and went upstairs. I am playing the Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time on our Game Cube and the girls had been pestering me to get to the Temple of Time so that they could see our character grow up. LIke I really needed to be coaxed into playing for a bit!! It was fun, but now that everything is suddenly changed, I am all lost again in the game!
Fred and Nick made their trips to the dump, got the window well installed and started spreading out the rest of the gravel over some landscape fabric before the huge rainstorm hits tonight or tomorrow. He fired up the barbecue and did double duty while I made salad and the rest of the meal. They raced to get the job done while the girls helped me with the dishes and then I managed to coax them into “playing nicely with each other” (which 15 minutes later turned into each of them drawing in their rooms) while I finished graphing something out on the computer and working on a layout for a client. I checked e-mail quickly before putting the girls to bed only to find out about a Hoffman order and another copyright infringement on a Brazilian site... so it was off to the translation site to help turn a “Please don’t do this” message into Portuguese!
As I headed up the stairs to tuck the girls in, one of the other Weight Watcher leaders called to see if I could do the early Friday morning meeting so that she could get her boys up to camp. Once you have done a subject twice, doing it a third time isn’t that much harder... and I get bonus pay when I do more than 2 meetings in the same week. It did make me chuckle when I thought of the pattern sharers who think I am a multimillionaire....
Erin was thrilled to get to stay up to watch Canadian Idol tonight. Nick found it hard not to fall asleep on the couch. I had the whole dining room table taken up with paint and canvas again, which Erin had to check out each commercial break, but it lets me work on a whole set of a design at once. They went off to bed once the show was over, then I turned off the TV and painted until that whole colour was done on each design.
I fired up the computer about an hour and a half ago to finish up the 4 banners I needed to make for the Vacation Bible School at our church in August. The person in charge wanted to get everything set up before she heads off for her vacation because we will be away when she gets back.
As I finished that job off, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t really blogged since getting home, so this became my late night ramble. Do I still think I am lucky to do what I love for a job? Of course!! Would I work this hard for someone else’s dream? Never!! I'm glad each day only has 24 hours, though.... I don't think I could have fit anything more into today... or should I say yesterday??
It’s almost midnight and time for me to crawl up to bed. As I write this blog, I am struck again by the repeating thought that I would never work this hard for anyone else’s dream.
Today began early. After vacation time up at Mom’s, I almost resent waking up to an alarm now, but at least it was 7:30 instead of 6:15. We got up and started breakfast, but our neighbour, Fred, showed up earlier than expected, so Nick bolted down his food to head outside and begin the Great Deck Demolition. We coaxed the deck through one more winter because we just couldn’t afford to build a new one last summer. This year, the boards are rotting and the steps have collapsed, but Fred has offered to oversee the project with Nick doing all the labour, so we are squeezing it in now before we head off again.
I got the girls dressed and tried to tackle the day’s e-mail before I headed off to fill in for another Weight Watcher leader from 11:00 to 1:30 pm. Once you’ve covered the material in your own meeting, it is easy to share the same information with other groups and fun to see new faces. This meeting was a lunchtime one, so I had to make sure I kept things brief. It went well and , as it turned out, my Regional Manager was there observing/critiquing me, so I am glad it went well.
I headed home afterwards only to discover that work had progressed much faster than expected!! The deck was gone and Nick now needed to rent a pickup truck for the day to haul the old deck lumber to the dump and pick up the gravel needed to put a proper window well in for the window under the deck. Since this window leads directly into my office with all my computer equipment and the soil under the deck had settled, we’d had to sandbag the window a few years ago to keep all the water from collecting outside and trying to come in! No one had eaten lunch yet, though Erin had made up a peanut butter sandwich for Bethany and used a heart shaped cookie-cutter to put a shape into the middle of it, so we piled into the van, drove Nick down to the car rental company and then picked up lunch on the drive home.
I tried to get a bit more work done after the girls were fed, but after squabbles erupted for the 5th time, I put the computer on sleep mode and went upstairs. I am playing the Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time on our Game Cube and the girls had been pestering me to get to the Temple of Time so that they could see our character grow up. LIke I really needed to be coaxed into playing for a bit!! It was fun, but now that everything is suddenly changed, I am all lost again in the game!
Fred and Nick made their trips to the dump, got the window well installed and started spreading out the rest of the gravel over some landscape fabric before the huge rainstorm hits tonight or tomorrow. He fired up the barbecue and did double duty while I made salad and the rest of the meal. They raced to get the job done while the girls helped me with the dishes and then I managed to coax them into “playing nicely with each other” (which 15 minutes later turned into each of them drawing in their rooms) while I finished graphing something out on the computer and working on a layout for a client. I checked e-mail quickly before putting the girls to bed only to find out about a Hoffman order and another copyright infringement on a Brazilian site... so it was off to the translation site to help turn a “Please don’t do this” message into Portuguese!
As I headed up the stairs to tuck the girls in, one of the other Weight Watcher leaders called to see if I could do the early Friday morning meeting so that she could get her boys up to camp. Once you have done a subject twice, doing it a third time isn’t that much harder... and I get bonus pay when I do more than 2 meetings in the same week. It did make me chuckle when I thought of the pattern sharers who think I am a multimillionaire....
Erin was thrilled to get to stay up to watch Canadian Idol tonight. Nick found it hard not to fall asleep on the couch. I had the whole dining room table taken up with paint and canvas again, which Erin had to check out each commercial break, but it lets me work on a whole set of a design at once. They went off to bed once the show was over, then I turned off the TV and painted until that whole colour was done on each design.
I fired up the computer about an hour and a half ago to finish up the 4 banners I needed to make for the Vacation Bible School at our church in August. The person in charge wanted to get everything set up before she heads off for her vacation because we will be away when she gets back.
As I finished that job off, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t really blogged since getting home, so this became my late night ramble. Do I still think I am lucky to do what I love for a job? Of course!! Would I work this hard for someone else’s dream? Never!! I'm glad each day only has 24 hours, though.... I don't think I could have fit anything more into today... or should I say yesterday??
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Back In My Cave... And Surrounded By Laundry!
We made it home safely today from Mom’s and now I just have to sort through two huge piles... one of mail and the other of laundry! No sign of my original order of canvas from Zweigart. The replacement order sent to Mom’s arrived just 4 days before we left, so I have been cutting and tracing and painting like mad! I’ll unpack my paints first thing tomorrow while the girls are getting to know their toys all over again so that most of the canvas orders can go out this week.
It feels good to be home in my own house... but back to work I go!!
We made it home safely today from Mom’s and now I just have to sort through two huge piles... one of mail and the other of laundry! No sign of my original order of canvas from Zweigart. The replacement order sent to Mom’s arrived just 4 days before we left, so I have been cutting and tracing and painting like mad! I’ll unpack my paints first thing tomorrow while the girls are getting to know their toys all over again so that most of the canvas orders can go out this week.
It feels good to be home in my own house... but back to work I go!!
Friday, July 09, 2004
Celebrating 15 Years... and Mourning Theft...
I came back to Mom’s today after 2 marvelous days away with my husband, taking a small break from being a designer and small home based business person to discover that the Legends of the Dragons pattern had been posted to a Yahoo group illegally. What saddened me the most was the horrible backlash against those who spoke out to post about this type of illegal activity.
The scanning and sharing of patterns illegally over the past two years has been one of the most controversial and damaging things that this industry has faced. Too many pattern sharers promote the idea that designers are multimillionaires that are
too busy or too wealthy to care that their patterns are being "enjoyed" by others harmlessly in yahoo groups.
Legends of the Dragons was the first collaboration that Teresa Wentzler, Karen Weaver and I created to try to add some excitement to the industry and to work together since we all admired each other's work. Over 400 collective hours went into the design, production, stitching, framing, proofreading and creation of that piece between the 3 of us. We paid for the entire press run of that pattern up front, with our own money. Unfortunately, that pattern has been especially sought after among illegal groups, including those who use Russian or chinese sites to trade patterns. When fans ask us if we will do another collaboration, we smile and say not yet... but all 3 of us have decided not to bother risking our work being stolen from us yet again.
There will always be a campaign to portray designers as wealthy enough to afford such theft by those who are sharing patterns illegally. This is no less a theft that someone who creates “fake” copies for sale at a flea market or on E-bay. There are no shades of grey to make one worse than the other.
I wish I could have spent less of my day defending what is rightfully mine.
I came back to Mom’s today after 2 marvelous days away with my husband, taking a small break from being a designer and small home based business person to discover that the Legends of the Dragons pattern had been posted to a Yahoo group illegally. What saddened me the most was the horrible backlash against those who spoke out to post about this type of illegal activity.
The scanning and sharing of patterns illegally over the past two years has been one of the most controversial and damaging things that this industry has faced. Too many pattern sharers promote the idea that designers are multimillionaires that are
too busy or too wealthy to care that their patterns are being "enjoyed" by others harmlessly in yahoo groups.
Legends of the Dragons was the first collaboration that Teresa Wentzler, Karen Weaver and I created to try to add some excitement to the industry and to work together since we all admired each other's work. Over 400 collective hours went into the design, production, stitching, framing, proofreading and creation of that piece between the 3 of us. We paid for the entire press run of that pattern up front, with our own money. Unfortunately, that pattern has been especially sought after among illegal groups, including those who use Russian or chinese sites to trade patterns. When fans ask us if we will do another collaboration, we smile and say not yet... but all 3 of us have decided not to bother risking our work being stolen from us yet again.
There will always be a campaign to portray designers as wealthy enough to afford such theft by those who are sharing patterns illegally. This is no less a theft that someone who creates “fake” copies for sale at a flea market or on E-bay. There are no shades of grey to make one worse than the other.
I wish I could have spent less of my day defending what is rightfully mine.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Joy Multiplied...Plus A Chance To Sneak Away!
What fun to hug my sister again in person and to share in her and Yoshi’s happiness!! How amazing to watch my kids parade around in Yukatas (summer
weight kimonos) that came all the way from Tokyo!! What a joy to welcome Yoshi into our family again! We looked back at pictures of my Mom and John’s wedding 17 years ago when he was last here and marvelled at how little and how much we had all changed. Back then, despite their love, the distance between their cultures seemed too vast to bridge... now I listen to Laurie teaching my kids how to count to 10 in Japanese and smile, knowing that my family has just gotten bigger more diverse!
Tomorrow we all head into Montreal to see my grandfather and meet my cousin’s bride and daughter from the West Coast. My grandfather will have 3 of his 4 great granddaughters under one roof! My girls will understand the fun of having a second cousin even if she is only 1 and everyone will be able to wish Laurie and Yoshi congratulations in person!!
Best of all, for Nick and I, comes the chance to sneak off and be just a couple for 2 nights in Montreal as an early 15th wedding anniversary present! As much fun as it has been to do all the family games, crafts and fun things with our girls over the past week, it is also going to be nice to show Nick parts of the city where I grew up and discover how much things have changed!
What fun to hug my sister again in person and to share in her and Yoshi’s happiness!! How amazing to watch my kids parade around in Yukatas (summer
weight kimonos) that came all the way from Tokyo!! What a joy to welcome Yoshi into our family again! We looked back at pictures of my Mom and John’s wedding 17 years ago when he was last here and marvelled at how little and how much we had all changed. Back then, despite their love, the distance between their cultures seemed too vast to bridge... now I listen to Laurie teaching my kids how to count to 10 in Japanese and smile, knowing that my family has just gotten bigger more diverse!
Tomorrow we all head into Montreal to see my grandfather and meet my cousin’s bride and daughter from the West Coast. My grandfather will have 3 of his 4 great granddaughters under one roof! My girls will understand the fun of having a second cousin even if she is only 1 and everyone will be able to wish Laurie and Yoshi congratulations in person!!
Best of all, for Nick and I, comes the chance to sneak off and be just a couple for 2 nights in Montreal as an early 15th wedding anniversary present! As much fun as it has been to do all the family games, crafts and fun things with our girls over the past week, it is also going to be nice to show Nick parts of the city where I grew up and discover how much things have changed!
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Family ties...
In just a few hours, my sister Laurie and her new husband Yoshi will be here for a visit!! They landed safely in Montreal last night and stayed with friends, but will head down once they’ve had brunch with some school chums this morning. I know that my girls are excited to meet “Uncle Yoshi” and see Aunty Laurie again... but I have a hunch that MY excitement level is greater.
I have been SO lucky to have a wonderful brother and sister that I truly like as friends and not just because they are my siblings. The hardest part is that we have all settled in different parts of the world, not just far corners of the same country, so I don’t get to see them in person as often as I would like.
The highlight of this summer for me is definitely going to be spending time with each one of them in person and to stock up on hugs so that the physical touch part will last through the phone calls and e-mails until the next time I can see them in person!
Oooooooh! I just can’t wait!!!
In just a few hours, my sister Laurie and her new husband Yoshi will be here for a visit!! They landed safely in Montreal last night and stayed with friends, but will head down once they’ve had brunch with some school chums this morning. I know that my girls are excited to meet “Uncle Yoshi” and see Aunty Laurie again... but I have a hunch that MY excitement level is greater.
I have been SO lucky to have a wonderful brother and sister that I truly like as friends and not just because they are my siblings. The hardest part is that we have all settled in different parts of the world, not just far corners of the same country, so I don’t get to see them in person as often as I would like.
The highlight of this summer for me is definitely going to be spending time with each one of them in person and to stock up on hugs so that the physical touch part will last through the phone calls and e-mails until the next time I can see them in person!
Oooooooh! I just can’t wait!!!
Friday, July 02, 2004
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
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!!!
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!!!
Monday, June 28, 2004
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!!
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!!
Saturday, June 26, 2004
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!!!
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!!!
Thursday, June 24, 2004
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!!
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!!
Monday, June 21, 2004
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.
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.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
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
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
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