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!!