Recharging Batteries...

If it hadn’t been for the CreativFestival and all the wonderful memories of last weekend, I doubt that I would have found the strength to get through this week. That... and having my sock to work on at the hospital helped.

Bethany is getting used to having the splint on her arm. It still hurts quite a bit and she found it hard to sit on the sidelines on Thursday when the rest of her class went swimming. Every grade 4 class in our school district gets 5 weeks of swimming as an extra gym event once during the year and Bethany will have to miss the last 2 sessions due to having her splint on her arm. At least we were able to remove it to bathe and wash her hair yesterday, but it felt very fragile to her and she was glad to have the support of the splint back on as soon as she was dry.

One of the girls on Erin’s team lost her father suddenly this week and so we had another visitation and funeral to go to. This has been the second girl close to her in age to lose a father figure in the past 5 weeks. She has been shaken by this since she can imagine all too well how she would feel if it were HER Dad. She’s kept a close eye on Nick during the week and keeps telling him to take care of himself.

Another young boy here in Moncton that used to attend Nick’s school decided to end his own life and that caused ripples for Nick to deal with among the staff who had taught him in the years just before Nick became Principal.

There were some bright moments as well. I spoke in the next community over from ours during a Writers In The Schools program and head off down to Riverside-Albert to speak to another Elementary school tomorrow. I love visiting with children and helping them understand what an illustrator does. They also get to “boss my hands around” as we draw a monster or silly picture together, which is always great fun.

Friday night, our family went to “Boo At The Zoo” put on by the Magnetic Hill Zoo as a fundraiser. They convert the zoo into haunted sketches with a fireworks show and almost a hundred volunteers. It was cold and crisp, but you could see so many stars in the sky as we waited in line with some of our best friends. I wore a long blond wig, a blue dress, a tiara and a huge wand... yes, I was the Size Fairy! Wearing my 3 inch heels, I got asked if I was on stilts a few times until they saw Nick dressed up as a huge pirate. Our best friend Karen dressed up as Jack Sparrow and had the walk and mannerisms down to a T! When one haunted house part got scary, she even pranced away like Jack causing the security guards to bust a gut!

It was wonderful to have all the great memories from the CreativFestival to savour though. Meals with good friends, pajama kit packing parties, getting the giggles in the dark, crying at a beautiful story from one of the class attendees that made the trials and tribulations of being a designer all feel worth it, sharing new projects with old friends, finding new craft supplies to fondle and inspire me and wandering the streets of a huge city then having the fun of flying back to the one that has truly become my home.

I just can’t wait for that “FALL BACK” hour of extra sleep next weekend!!