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!!
Friday, June 18, 2004
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
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...
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...
Sunday, June 06, 2004
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.....
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.....
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
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...
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...
Sunday, May 30, 2004
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!!
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!!
Friday, May 28, 2004
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....
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....
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
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!
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!
Monday, May 24, 2004
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.
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.
Friday, May 21, 2004
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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!!
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??
Friday, May 14, 2004
Of Rupert, Pigeons and Brownie Camp...
A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with two ideas for painted canvas designs. I’d been looking at canvas work stitches to incorporate them into a sampler design for this fall and instead found myself thinking about how pretty some of those patterns would be if worked up in Fantasy pieces instead... I have only tried painting canvas one other time, and I didn’t like it that much, but suddenly my fingers were itching to try these two designs. Thank Goodness Tink Boord-Dill was only a phone call away!! She answered most of this pesky dragon’s questions.
So last night, I had a great time painting away while the Survivor show was on in the background. I was thrilled that I could actually vote for something this time. Watching American Idol and not being able to vote has been SO frustrating!!! I was just thrilled when Rupert won the million dollars. I wondered if Dani was shouting with glee too.
This morning, as we all tried to get out the door in the rain because I need the van to go teach the pre-K literacy program at Erin’s school in an hour, we had a lot of unexpected excitement. There on our driveway were two pigeons. One seemed to be fluffing its wings rather pathetically while the other huddled close and of course my girls erupted into fits of “Oooooh! The poor thing!! What are we going to do??” Since the birds were right in the path of our van, backing around them wouldn’t work and backing over them certainly wasn’t an option even if most people around here refer to them as “flying rats”.
As everyone continued to get ready, I put on my rain gear and donned my bright yellow rubber gloves. I figured that I could lift the injured pigeon over to the lawn, get everyone where they needed to be and call someone if the bird was still there when I came home.
I marched out onto the driveway, hood up against the rain.... only to have the two lovebirds take off!! I guess they’d been doing some post aerial nookie cuddling on our driveway!!
Off came the gloves and away we raced.
I had to come home to check the tracking numbers for our shipment to be sure everything id going smoothly, so I thought I would blog now. Erin and I are off to Brownie Camp for the weekend, so there won’t be any blogging until Sunday. We’ll be in a big cabin, so the fact that it should be freakishly warm tomorrow with thundershowers won’t be as scary as in a tent. Bethany was a little miffed about staying behind with Nick until I pointed out that when it is her turn to go to Brownie Camp, Erin won’t be able to come!!!
Time to dig out my camp blanket with all my badges on it, my Girl Guide camp hat with all my trophies and buttons... and hope that SOMEONE there will know the melody for the song “Barges”. I love to sing harmony on that one, but nobody down here seems to know it!!
A few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with two ideas for painted canvas designs. I’d been looking at canvas work stitches to incorporate them into a sampler design for this fall and instead found myself thinking about how pretty some of those patterns would be if worked up in Fantasy pieces instead... I have only tried painting canvas one other time, and I didn’t like it that much, but suddenly my fingers were itching to try these two designs. Thank Goodness Tink Boord-Dill was only a phone call away!! She answered most of this pesky dragon’s questions.
So last night, I had a great time painting away while the Survivor show was on in the background. I was thrilled that I could actually vote for something this time. Watching American Idol and not being able to vote has been SO frustrating!!! I was just thrilled when Rupert won the million dollars. I wondered if Dani was shouting with glee too.
This morning, as we all tried to get out the door in the rain because I need the van to go teach the pre-K literacy program at Erin’s school in an hour, we had a lot of unexpected excitement. There on our driveway were two pigeons. One seemed to be fluffing its wings rather pathetically while the other huddled close and of course my girls erupted into fits of “Oooooh! The poor thing!! What are we going to do??” Since the birds were right in the path of our van, backing around them wouldn’t work and backing over them certainly wasn’t an option even if most people around here refer to them as “flying rats”.
As everyone continued to get ready, I put on my rain gear and donned my bright yellow rubber gloves. I figured that I could lift the injured pigeon over to the lawn, get everyone where they needed to be and call someone if the bird was still there when I came home.
I marched out onto the driveway, hood up against the rain.... only to have the two lovebirds take off!! I guess they’d been doing some post aerial nookie cuddling on our driveway!!
Off came the gloves and away we raced.
I had to come home to check the tracking numbers for our shipment to be sure everything id going smoothly, so I thought I would blog now. Erin and I are off to Brownie Camp for the weekend, so there won’t be any blogging until Sunday. We’ll be in a big cabin, so the fact that it should be freakishly warm tomorrow with thundershowers won’t be as scary as in a tent. Bethany was a little miffed about staying behind with Nick until I pointed out that when it is her turn to go to Brownie Camp, Erin won’t be able to come!!!
Time to dig out my camp blanket with all my badges on it, my Girl Guide camp hat with all my trophies and buttons... and hope that SOMEONE there will know the melody for the song “Barges”. I love to sing harmony on that one, but nobody down here seems to know it!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Holy Shipping Nightmares, Batman!!
Today was one of those days when I needed a knight in shining armor to ride to my rescue... and Nick did just that when he came home... but let me back up a bit.
We spent most of the Mother’s Day weekend packaging up this huge order to go out to one of our US distributors that deals with chain stores. Since I was dealing with a larger volume than usual this time, I had asked Purolator about shipping one palette instead of many, many boxes. “No problem!” they replied. “Just sending your dimensions of the skid once it is ready so that we can arrange everything.” So Monday, I hired the daughter of our LNS owner who is home from University and not yet employed for the summer to help batch the last of the chartpacks. Another friend helped me get half of the shipment over to our printer, who had kindly volunteered the use of their loading dock, a palette and to shrink-wrap all the boxes on it for us. When Nick got home, we took the last half over, called in all of the dimensions to Purolator and were told that I’d be contacted the next day (today) to arrange the last details.
By 2pm, when I still hadn’t heard anything, I called them back to check the status. Their computers had been down the day before, so they reentered the information and put URGENT on the file. “You’ll get a call before 3pm!!” I was told.
At 3:10 pm, I picked up the phone and went through some managers this time, thanks to a very nice Purolator person (who sounded like she was a stitcher because she knew who I was!) When I started to discuss the arrangements with the Logistics person, it quickly became apparent that I was... how shall we say it... in deep doo-doo. The only way they could guarantee delivery by the date I needed was to send it AIR, since they hadn’t contacted me that morning to arrange pickup today! This is when I discovered that the “special shipment” department isn’t really Purolator either...
I then called my printer and told them to stop shrink-wrapping the palette because I was coming down to pick up all the boxes again!! Nick loaded the girls back into the van and we drove across town to pick them all up. We then made a pit stop at Staples to pick up some photocopy paper boxes to help hold all these individual cardboard boxes that get split up for the chain store shipments. Nick backed the van into the driveway and I began to pack them into the bigger boxes while he cooked supper for the girls and made sure that Erin got into her brownie uniform. Luckily it wasn’t our turn to car pool tonight.
Once the boxes were packed up and I had all the dimensions, I fired up the computer to do a multiple shipment which the last Purolator person I had talked to insisted I could to on-line. After 40 minutes of entering all the information, the program refused to go any further due to memory errors!!
Off we went to the airport terminal after another phone call to Purolator assured me that I could get a manifest form there to do all the boxes on ONE waybill.... but once we arrived there, it turned out that was only for Canada!! Bethany sat down in one corner with my gameboy while Nick and I commandeered the photocopier and main room breaking the shipment back down for 3 waybills, even though all my customs documentation was written up for one shipment... and everything made it out on the plane to Toronto by the 8 o’clock deadline. We also made it home about 10 minutes before Erin was driven home from Brownies!!
Now, having relaxed a bit while watching American Idol, I am more philosophical about the whole thing. I have learned that it really is more affordable to do things the more difficult way sometimes (many shipments instead of one) and that when you are working for yourself, you will do those crazy things that are above and beyond... I feel like I have run a Marathon or taken part in some extreme sport where I had to push myself to the limit today and not freak out under pressure.
I am also so lucky to have a true partner that will put up with this kind of chaos and unpredictability. He jokes that this falls under the “for Worse” part of the wedding vows... and I am not sure he isn’t right. It is truly one of the more challenging parts about being the whole company and why I get so angry when people scan my stuff.
The highlight of the day was finding out that my brother’s contact was able to get all of our designs removed from the site! I’ve also been getting a bit of information on some of the offenders, so perhaps I’ll be able to track down a real person this time and take some legal action!
I sure hope tomorrow is calmer!! Boring is so HIGHLY UNDERRATED!!
Today was one of those days when I needed a knight in shining armor to ride to my rescue... and Nick did just that when he came home... but let me back up a bit.
We spent most of the Mother’s Day weekend packaging up this huge order to go out to one of our US distributors that deals with chain stores. Since I was dealing with a larger volume than usual this time, I had asked Purolator about shipping one palette instead of many, many boxes. “No problem!” they replied. “Just sending your dimensions of the skid once it is ready so that we can arrange everything.” So Monday, I hired the daughter of our LNS owner who is home from University and not yet employed for the summer to help batch the last of the chartpacks. Another friend helped me get half of the shipment over to our printer, who had kindly volunteered the use of their loading dock, a palette and to shrink-wrap all the boxes on it for us. When Nick got home, we took the last half over, called in all of the dimensions to Purolator and were told that I’d be contacted the next day (today) to arrange the last details.
By 2pm, when I still hadn’t heard anything, I called them back to check the status. Their computers had been down the day before, so they reentered the information and put URGENT on the file. “You’ll get a call before 3pm!!” I was told.
At 3:10 pm, I picked up the phone and went through some managers this time, thanks to a very nice Purolator person (who sounded like she was a stitcher because she knew who I was!) When I started to discuss the arrangements with the Logistics person, it quickly became apparent that I was... how shall we say it... in deep doo-doo. The only way they could guarantee delivery by the date I needed was to send it AIR, since they hadn’t contacted me that morning to arrange pickup today! This is when I discovered that the “special shipment” department isn’t really Purolator either...
I then called my printer and told them to stop shrink-wrapping the palette because I was coming down to pick up all the boxes again!! Nick loaded the girls back into the van and we drove across town to pick them all up. We then made a pit stop at Staples to pick up some photocopy paper boxes to help hold all these individual cardboard boxes that get split up for the chain store shipments. Nick backed the van into the driveway and I began to pack them into the bigger boxes while he cooked supper for the girls and made sure that Erin got into her brownie uniform. Luckily it wasn’t our turn to car pool tonight.
Once the boxes were packed up and I had all the dimensions, I fired up the computer to do a multiple shipment which the last Purolator person I had talked to insisted I could to on-line. After 40 minutes of entering all the information, the program refused to go any further due to memory errors!!
Off we went to the airport terminal after another phone call to Purolator assured me that I could get a manifest form there to do all the boxes on ONE waybill.... but once we arrived there, it turned out that was only for Canada!! Bethany sat down in one corner with my gameboy while Nick and I commandeered the photocopier and main room breaking the shipment back down for 3 waybills, even though all my customs documentation was written up for one shipment... and everything made it out on the plane to Toronto by the 8 o’clock deadline. We also made it home about 10 minutes before Erin was driven home from Brownies!!
Now, having relaxed a bit while watching American Idol, I am more philosophical about the whole thing. I have learned that it really is more affordable to do things the more difficult way sometimes (many shipments instead of one) and that when you are working for yourself, you will do those crazy things that are above and beyond... I feel like I have run a Marathon or taken part in some extreme sport where I had to push myself to the limit today and not freak out under pressure.
I am also so lucky to have a true partner that will put up with this kind of chaos and unpredictability. He jokes that this falls under the “for Worse” part of the wedding vows... and I am not sure he isn’t right. It is truly one of the more challenging parts about being the whole company and why I get so angry when people scan my stuff.
The highlight of the day was finding out that my brother’s contact was able to get all of our designs removed from the site! I’ve also been getting a bit of information on some of the offenders, so perhaps I’ll be able to track down a real person this time and take some legal action!
I sure hope tomorrow is calmer!! Boring is so HIGHLY UNDERRATED!!
Sunday, May 09, 2004
Pancakes...Presents...Packing Charts to Great Music and Films...
Today started VERY early for a Saturday in our household. The alarm went off at the usual time and we bundled the girls into the van under blankets still in their jammies to get Nick to church to cook the famous Mount Royal Happy Face Pancakes for their Pancake Breakfast. I can’t reveal the secret here, but it does involve a turkey baster...
We came back home without him, but the cold air had done nothing but wake my two princesses up completely, so we played until it was time to go get our own turn at eating the pancakes. Then, while Nick was still working on cleanup, we girls went to the Farmer’s Market, picked up the new covers for the designs we have to batch this weekend and bought the supplies I need from our local needlework shop to try my hand at one canvas design for release in Columbus .
I was given one of my Mother’s Day presents a bit earlier in the week when things were going a bit hectic. Nick had found some lovely “sparklies” for my ears and then today, he tracked down the Josh Groban CD I’d been trying to find with the song “You Lift Me Up”. Not only does the man have the most glorious tenor voice, I truly love the lyrics of that song and may very well wear out that track on the CD should such a thing be possible.
Tonight, after the girls went to bed, Terri came over to help us pack up part of our order while we watched Calendar Girls in the background. It was a wonderful movie and I felt very “well fed” in the movie department having thoroughly enjoyed seeing Time Burton’s Big Fish the night before.
Both movies made me realize that we just never know all the ways in which each one of us touch other people’s lives. We may never see the ripples we cause or the seeds we plant bear fruit, but we all have such an ability to create real differences in the lives of others around us. It was also a reminder of how something that seems like such a simple idea... can sometimes grow!
Today started VERY early for a Saturday in our household. The alarm went off at the usual time and we bundled the girls into the van under blankets still in their jammies to get Nick to church to cook the famous Mount Royal Happy Face Pancakes for their Pancake Breakfast. I can’t reveal the secret here, but it does involve a turkey baster...
We came back home without him, but the cold air had done nothing but wake my two princesses up completely, so we played until it was time to go get our own turn at eating the pancakes. Then, while Nick was still working on cleanup, we girls went to the Farmer’s Market, picked up the new covers for the designs we have to batch this weekend and bought the supplies I need from our local needlework shop to try my hand at one canvas design for release in Columbus .
I was given one of my Mother’s Day presents a bit earlier in the week when things were going a bit hectic. Nick had found some lovely “sparklies” for my ears and then today, he tracked down the Josh Groban CD I’d been trying to find with the song “You Lift Me Up”. Not only does the man have the most glorious tenor voice, I truly love the lyrics of that song and may very well wear out that track on the CD should such a thing be possible.
Tonight, after the girls went to bed, Terri came over to help us pack up part of our order while we watched Calendar Girls in the background. It was a wonderful movie and I felt very “well fed” in the movie department having thoroughly enjoyed seeing Time Burton’s Big Fish the night before.
Both movies made me realize that we just never know all the ways in which each one of us touch other people’s lives. We may never see the ripples we cause or the seeds we plant bear fruit, but we all have such an ability to create real differences in the lives of others around us. It was also a reminder of how something that seems like such a simple idea... can sometimes grow!
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Princess Day Tomorrow...
Well, we finally have our van back now that they managed to discover what the problem was... the alternator (at least I think that is how it is spelled!) but we won’t need it tomorrow!! Whenever there is a “professional development day”, we let Nick go off to work, then the girls and I lounge about in our PJs and watch DVDs or play games, do crafts, bake things etc. It can be a wonderful break and down time with my girls... or it can be a masterful feat of juggling so that they feel like they are being spoiled and having Mommy spend time with them, but I still sneak down when they are watching movies to check e-mail etc.
Tomorrow we are also inviting two princesses from up the street and that Mommy for an afternoon Tea Party... so it should be a bit more chaos, merriment and juggling than usual.
With the large order I received from one distributor, I took the plunge and decided to have the cover sheets for A Dragon’s Tea Party, Of Woods and Wilderness as well as Dani the Stitching Dragon printed up my local printer rather than run my dependable little Epson 740 into the ground, so I stopped by to sign off on the Iris proof this morning so that the job can go to press first thing in the morning and I will have all the covers by Saturday at noon. Then I am calling in some favours because many hands make light work and we shall have a batching party to get everything ready to ship.
Now it’s time to run up and tuck my oldest Princess in bed....
Well, we finally have our van back now that they managed to discover what the problem was... the alternator (at least I think that is how it is spelled!) but we won’t need it tomorrow!! Whenever there is a “professional development day”, we let Nick go off to work, then the girls and I lounge about in our PJs and watch DVDs or play games, do crafts, bake things etc. It can be a wonderful break and down time with my girls... or it can be a masterful feat of juggling so that they feel like they are being spoiled and having Mommy spend time with them, but I still sneak down when they are watching movies to check e-mail etc.
Tomorrow we are also inviting two princesses from up the street and that Mommy for an afternoon Tea Party... so it should be a bit more chaos, merriment and juggling than usual.
With the large order I received from one distributor, I took the plunge and decided to have the cover sheets for A Dragon’s Tea Party, Of Woods and Wilderness as well as Dani the Stitching Dragon printed up my local printer rather than run my dependable little Epson 740 into the ground, so I stopped by to sign off on the Iris proof this morning so that the job can go to press first thing in the morning and I will have all the covers by Saturday at noon. Then I am calling in some favours because many hands make light work and we shall have a batching party to get everything ready to ship.
Now it’s time to run up and tuck my oldest Princess in bed....
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Pedometers are addictive!
Once I finally got my stride properly programmed into my pedometer, I was hooked! It is such fun to see how many steps you actually take in a day or week when you make a conscious effort to move more! I’ve even started making two trips up and down the stairs sometimes instead of risking the trail with overly full arms.
I’ve had to run a few errands to places within a 5 or 10 minute walk and am gleefully leaving the van in the driveway to do it... or looking for parking spaces in the middle of two points I need to visit. It may not seem that much at the time, but all those little steps really do add up. Considering that I need to sit to stitch or to be on the computer, making an effort to move more often during the day should keep this dragon’s butt from getting any bigger.
I need to get the web site updates done... but I just have no energy tonight after a very hectic day... so I am going to goof off tonight and finish knitting a scarf I started weeks ago. Sigh! It’s hard to ignore that little voice that screams of deadlines and pushing the limits... but I shall just duct tape it’s mouth shut for tonight!
Once I finally got my stride properly programmed into my pedometer, I was hooked! It is such fun to see how many steps you actually take in a day or week when you make a conscious effort to move more! I’ve even started making two trips up and down the stairs sometimes instead of risking the trail with overly full arms.
I’ve had to run a few errands to places within a 5 or 10 minute walk and am gleefully leaving the van in the driveway to do it... or looking for parking spaces in the middle of two points I need to visit. It may not seem that much at the time, but all those little steps really do add up. Considering that I need to sit to stitch or to be on the computer, making an effort to move more often during the day should keep this dragon’s butt from getting any bigger.
I need to get the web site updates done... but I just have no energy tonight after a very hectic day... so I am going to goof off tonight and finish knitting a scarf I started weeks ago. Sigh! It’s hard to ignore that little voice that screams of deadlines and pushing the limits... but I shall just duct tape it’s mouth shut for tonight!
Monday, May 03, 2004
Pack, Stuff, Ship, Fax, Phone......
It was one of those days with so much to do and get out... and it didn’t help that our van was in the shop to try and figure out why the battery keeps draining too fast. Nick also had things to pick up for school and get ready for a staff meeting. Moncton is one of those cities where there really isn’t a viable public transit system unless you can handle waiting an hour between buses on the same route, so the dealership was at least cooperative enough to give us a demonstrator for the day.
I also discovered a form on my desk that should have been faxed out on Friday, so off that went while I sorted through e-mail... only to discover that May somehow crept up on me before I knew it. Yikes!!! I’d best get my website updates done before even more e-mail comes in asking about what is new for this month!!
I have meetings tonight and tomorrow morning, so I guess it will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. I sometimes wish I could clone myself.... but then I’d probably fight with myself all the time who was going to have to do the ickier tasks.
At least it feels good to know that most of my packages for the last batch of orders has gone out and that Just Cross Stitch received my ornament this morning. Now I just have to finalize my Columbus lineup and get ready to pre-ship stuff. Five weeks is plenty of time... right??
It was one of those days with so much to do and get out... and it didn’t help that our van was in the shop to try and figure out why the battery keeps draining too fast. Nick also had things to pick up for school and get ready for a staff meeting. Moncton is one of those cities where there really isn’t a viable public transit system unless you can handle waiting an hour between buses on the same route, so the dealership was at least cooperative enough to give us a demonstrator for the day.
I also discovered a form on my desk that should have been faxed out on Friday, so off that went while I sorted through e-mail... only to discover that May somehow crept up on me before I knew it. Yikes!!! I’d best get my website updates done before even more e-mail comes in asking about what is new for this month!!
I have meetings tonight and tomorrow morning, so I guess it will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon. I sometimes wish I could clone myself.... but then I’d probably fight with myself all the time who was going to have to do the ickier tasks.
At least it feels good to know that most of my packages for the last batch of orders has gone out and that Just Cross Stitch received my ornament this morning. Now I just have to finalize my Columbus lineup and get ready to pre-ship stuff. Five weeks is plenty of time... right??
Sunday, May 02, 2004
Sunshine, Songs and Bubbles...
I try to always keep Sunday as a family day. It doesn’t always end up being a day of “rest” and certainly a far cry from the times my grandmother used to tell me about when they had to sit quietly all afternoon and not play with their toys!
Today is the second, glorious, sunny, hot day in a row we’ve enjoyed here. A very FAR cry from the snow last Sunday!! Several of us in the choir loft found it almost too warm under the gowns by the end of our special Anniversary service, but the two anthems we got to sing were just too much fun.
Since lunch I have found time to putter in the garden while I watched Erin and Bethany enjoy the first soap bubble bonanza of the year and listen to their giggles as they raced around the backyard to try to pop each other’s biggest bubbles.
Now they are out with Nick washing the van and “helping Daddy”, so I thought I would grab a few minutes to blog as my second printer chugs out the cover sheets for another batching session tonight.
I try to always keep Sunday as a family day. It doesn’t always end up being a day of “rest” and certainly a far cry from the times my grandmother used to tell me about when they had to sit quietly all afternoon and not play with their toys!
Today is the second, glorious, sunny, hot day in a row we’ve enjoyed here. A very FAR cry from the snow last Sunday!! Several of us in the choir loft found it almost too warm under the gowns by the end of our special Anniversary service, but the two anthems we got to sing were just too much fun.
Since lunch I have found time to putter in the garden while I watched Erin and Bethany enjoy the first soap bubble bonanza of the year and listen to their giggles as they raced around the backyard to try to pop each other’s biggest bubbles.
Now they are out with Nick washing the van and “helping Daddy”, so I thought I would grab a few minutes to blog as my second printer chugs out the cover sheets for another batching session tonight.
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Packing charts on a Summer evening...
It’s only May Day, but it sure felt like summer today! The sun was shining and the temperature soared into the high 20s (about 78 degrees) which was a welcome and very far cry from the 1/2 inch of snow we woke to last Sunday morning.
A very good friend of ours came over tonight to help package up leaflets and chartpacks for a few orders that needed to go out and to make some headway on the huge order that came in on Thursday. It almost felt like a warm summer evening and since Erin still has her heavy blankets on the bed, she kept coming down to complain that she couldn’t sleep. I think hearing grown-ups laugh and chat had something to do with it as well.
Even though the actual batching of charts is somewhat of an assembly line process, it is fun to do when you either have something good to watch on television (I often use batching as a way to justify what little TV I watch) or to have good company to chat with. Burdens shared don’t always come up with answers or solutions, but sometimes I think it helps to just be able to talk to other people. We had the chance to both share and listen tonight and it made getting through the piles more bearable. My Nanny was right - Many Hands DO Make Light Work!!
It’s only May Day, but it sure felt like summer today! The sun was shining and the temperature soared into the high 20s (about 78 degrees) which was a welcome and very far cry from the 1/2 inch of snow we woke to last Sunday morning.
A very good friend of ours came over tonight to help package up leaflets and chartpacks for a few orders that needed to go out and to make some headway on the huge order that came in on Thursday. It almost felt like a warm summer evening and since Erin still has her heavy blankets on the bed, she kept coming down to complain that she couldn’t sleep. I think hearing grown-ups laugh and chat had something to do with it as well.
Even though the actual batching of charts is somewhat of an assembly line process, it is fun to do when you either have something good to watch on television (I often use batching as a way to justify what little TV I watch) or to have good company to chat with. Burdens shared don’t always come up with answers or solutions, but sometimes I think it helps to just be able to talk to other people. We had the chance to both share and listen tonight and it made getting through the piles more bearable. My Nanny was right - Many Hands DO Make Light Work!!
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