Indecent Exposure Officially Side-Stepped!

Well Folks, another week of great, not so great, good, and not so good.


First, of course, the great. I received the finished clothes for Lexi! Not only is Lori, the sewing goddess, a genius, but, as it turns out, she is a phenomenally speedy genius!

The clothes are sooo cute, and she looks so adorable in them. My grandbaby is out visiting this weekend and has been loving playing with the Lexis! A very good sign!

Also under the great category, would fall our Milden Centennial weekend.  There has been an awesome turnout at all the events, people catching up with old friends, lots of food, drink, music, ball games, a great parade, and an incredible fireworks show. Our part, the music for the History Tea, was very well received. Pulled out the oldies for an afternoon and dusted them off. It was fun! It's not over yet, there is still music in the park and museum tours and market garden going on this afternoon. Very proud of our little town.

Now, for the not so great. Although the weather has been picture perfect for the entire weekend, the mosquitoes have been horrible! Man, they can literally suck the fun out of being outside!

As for what may fall under the good category of this week's ramblings is the fact that our eldest daughter and her hubby have so generously volunteered to stay for the whole weekend to give us a hand ripping apart our basement walls. We do appreciate the slave labor alot!


The not so good? Well, the fact that we have to take off visiting time with the kids to do grunt work is not so good. Also under this  column would be the entry of the fact that first thing this morning I was stung by a wasp right in the arch of my foot. Twice!  Hopefully it doesn't hinder the demolition efforts too much. What a dumb place to get stung, Geez!

Now, for the upcoming week.

As I am off work until Thursday, the centennial is finished, and hopefully by the end of this long weekend, the basement walls are pretty much gone, I plan to dedicate myself completely to the guitar effort. I've been assured by a seasoned musician that if I just give it 3 solid days of practice, I'm talking hours a day, I should have those chords down cold.  I sure hope so!

Also, assuming the walls in the dungeon will be obliterated, I can hopefully start moving some the basement stuff back down there.  I love my Christmas and Halloween decorations and sound equipment just fine, but I really don't want them in my kitchen, dining room, living room, and hallways anymore!


Thanks again to all out there who are reading these ramblings. From the family and friends on North American soil to those I've yet to meet in England, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Thailand, Australia and all those in between. Thank you.


Until next Week.


May you keep in mind that all those you meet are simply an "as yet to be introduced" friend.
May you nurture carefully your happy relationships and your fractured ones, may you mend.

May you enjoy a comforting sense of community no matter where on this planet you may live.
May you always keep in mind that to receive that sense of security to your community you must give.

May you take daily moments to enjoy your view, whether it be an ocean, a valley, or a city street.
May you remember that though the grass may be greener on the other side, it may not be as sweet.


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Motivation, Mucking Out, and Moving On!

Hi all!



Well folks, this week has been pretty interesting. First, an update on the basement situation. Let's just say it's not the most pleasant job we have ever tackled, heck it doesn't even make the top 50 list, but we are making progress. We have the humidity down to about 70 percent, a vast improvement from our starting point of 92!

Our two youngest daughters came out yesterday with every intention of giving a hand to the clean up effort. But, as luck would have it, Codey's alternator died on the way here, so Randy spent the rest of the day and evening chasing down parts and trying to replace it.  Long story short, while Kerianne and I made as much headway as we could, not nearly as much mucking out was accomplished in the humid dungeon as we had hoped.

As for the rest of the week?

We were able to get our new tub home in one piece. Having it sit here provides a lot of motivation to get the bathroom finished as soon as possible. In spite of the dungeon!

As you can see in the picture, Lexi is no longer naked! When I met Dana for lunch, she brought the completed pieces of Lexi's wardrobe with her, along with a couple of unfinished ones for me to look at. I am so excited and so grateful to Lori, the sewing goddess, for all of the time, effort and care she is putting into this project. I'm sure she would have much more exciting things to do with her summer!
The firefighter outfit is going to be killer! And Super Lexi? So completely awesome!
I was able to finally find and buy fabric that will work for the ringmaster clothes and rain boots for Lexi. They aren't a perfect match to the details in the book, but hopefully they are close enough to please your average 3-6 year old. Next time, I will try to think it through a little better while writing. Who knew blue with red dots, purple with yellow stripes, and orange with green frogs would be soooo hard to find!

As for the upcoming week?

Well, we will continue to muck out the basement, and hopefully start on the dismantling of the upstairs bathroom.

With Milden's centennial next weekend, I'll be doing a lot of prep for the show on Saturday, planning for kids coming home, and giving a hand to the planning committee wherever I can.

Oh, and go to the dentist, yay.

Yep, Milden will be celebrating it's centennial. It's a great community, and a wonderful place to raise kids. We moved here on April 14th,1990. We were 25 and 24, Crystal was 3. Sarah 2, Codey 3months, and I was pregnant with Kerianne, but didn't know it yet.

We were wet behind the ears, without two nickels to rub together. We live in a community where, when someone is in need, people don't just sit around and watch and point fingers. Yes, there may be some whispering on coffee row, but it usually ends up with a mystery box of groceries on a doorstep, or anonymous money in a mail box. Having been on both the giving and receiving end of this generosity, I can say, even though it may not be perfect, we wouldn't have raised our kids anywhere else.

So until next week,


May you find a place to set down roots, where they can grow both wide and deep.
May you recognize that transplanting from the place of your origin, even just for a while, leads to strength that keeps.

May you find a place that envelopes you with warmth, security and care.
May you be greeted with genuine welcome, and know in your bones, "this is it" when you get there.

May you find your "place" on this earth both externally and within your soul.
May you discover early that when these blissfully collide you truly can be home.

www.margyreidbooks.net

Tell Your Friends!

I Have Always Dreamed of an Indoor Pool, But.........

Hi!

First off, thanks for reading these ramblings, once again. I would love it if you became a follower!


Well it got a little exciting around here this week!

Monday and Tuesday were fine, just your average, run of the mill, typical July days. Then came Tuesday night!  As far as we can tell, the downpour left about 5 inches of rain in about 21/2 to 3 hours. It also left about 4 inches of water in our basement!

So, naturally it isn't covered by insurance because it's classified as "seepage." Our new neighbour had his downspout pointed directly at the wall where the water and his landscape soil came through, but is still not insurable. We've been told we would have to sue our neighbour for compensation. Not only are we not really the "take you to court" kind of people, but it would probably cost 3 times more in legal fees than we would actually be awarded. No point.

So anyway, after discovering the water Wednesday morning, I called the hubby at work, he came home and the fun began. Gotta love cutting rolling and hoisting wet carpet out of the basement window! Let me tell you, wet couches are not the lightest thing on the planet either!

There is definitely something to be said about being married these 24 years. We work extremely well together and we have handled much harder situations in the past. Although this will be a costly pain in the butt, we both realized very quickly that, in the grand scheme of things, this is just losing some stuff. You can always replace stuff. We have had much more valuable losses. This is fixable, it just takes elbow grease, determination, and money. Two of which we have an abundance, the latter can always be earned.

So, for the next few weeks of evenings and weekends, we will be dismantling the basement, walls and all. No point in taking chances developing mould. While we have the big dumpster here we are also going to do the demolition of the upstairs bathroom for the previously mentioned reno we are planning there.


On another subject, I did manage to get a wee jump on the wedding we are doing in Elbow, on Sept. 10. Because of the basement, I didn't, however, get to lay my hands on a guitar much.
Also, this week, I received an email, from the Events Coordinator for the Saskatoon Farmer's Market. Apparently, every Wednesday of the summer, they do a story time for kids down there. This year, they have been inviting local authors to join in the fun. They also have a bouncy house, colouring, and crafts. So, I'll be doing a reading/signing down there on Aug. 17th. from about 10:30 til noon. Come by and say hi!


So, other than dealing with a soggy basement, this week:

Hit up Fabricland for Lexi's Ringmaster material and her rain boot fabric.
Write at least one more kids' song
Try to find a Justin Beiber look-a-like. (Long story will explain later)
Find out the nuts and bolts and get prep work done for the show for Milden's Centennial
Have lunch with Dana (YAY!)
Oh, and probably should go to work!lol

Until next week!


May your Summer go by slowly, so you can savour every day.
May your days at the lake be long and lazy, and be filled with nothing but play.

May the smiles of your sundrenched, sticky, wet, children, lighten the loads of laundry they produce.
May you find amazing solutions to bug bites, sunburns, and sand getting places it really has no use.

May your toddlers not eat anything that really harms them, because the odd bug and some foliage is pretty much a given.
May your teenagers meet new friends and have the greatest of times, but always, without fail, use the common sense they've been given.

May you, after the hot dogs and s'mores, destickifying, and tucking in, have time to sit and look up at the night sky.
May you feel, in that moment, you are exactly where you should be on this earth, and sigh, satisfied.


www.margyreidbooks.net

Is Brilliant Drivel Possible?

Well, hi!

Well, it's 2:00am and I can't seem to sleep. I'm not sure if it's a "being 45" thing, or just that I have a lot of things jumping around in my head right now. Either way, you lucky people are going to be witness to what will either be a brilliant, insightful, life changing collection of words, or complete drivel. You decide. (I'm pretty sure on which side of the fence I'll be coming down).


First, the guitar is still kickin' my butt. Not giving up, though. Maybe I just need to find an alternative way of playing it. I don't know..heck, I might just try the "August Rush" approach. If you don't get the reference, you should watch the movie, it's really good.


Next, I didn't get in at the Sundog trade show. At least, not first string. I'm on a waiting list, so if there is a cancellation, I have a shot! By the tone of the letter, it seems I have a pretty good chance next year. I was right at the deadline for applications for this year, next year I'll know to start the process in March. the price you pay for being Green!


I have good news! Lexi's eye surgery was a grand success! Amy (the puppet lady), was able to remove the googly eyes of the original puppet and replace them with the kinder, gentler, felt version. And.......the chances of Lexi being arrested for indecent exposure have gone down considerably! The sewing goddess has put together the "Super Lexi" t-shirt and her jammies! They look incredible! I'll share pictures as soon as I can.

I never got around to starting prep work on either the Milden Centennial gig or the September wedding, but I did manage to add a party to our Rainbow Entertainment agenda for the third weekend in September in Kindersley.

September looks like it's shaping up to be fairly hectic. Do some readings and music in a few schools up North, Wedding in Elbow, Birthday in Kindersley, Word on the street festival in Saskatoon, and the Unity Trade show! Hectic, and I wouldn't miss any of it for the World!!!

So I guess I better get busy, this week, with some prep work. No more slackin' off!

Also jumping around in my head tonight, are thoughts of the mini-renovation we will be doing of our bathroom this fall, trying to get the Lexi puppets ready for McNally, thoughts of pitching the puppet to one of the big toy companies if it seems like it might take off. As it sits, we are not exactly set up for mass producing her. (If I should be fortunate enough for kids to actually want to play with her!)If I do approach them, how do I even start to go about it? I'll have to do a ton of research on that one, so I don't come off as some kind of idiot! How do I picture the next story as a book? How many illustrations? Same style?Size? I need to have it ready for Hazel by Spring. My second daughter was regaling me with tales of how people keep trying to run over her as she rides that crazy motorcycle around on the freeway! Another daughter is feeling stressed about her summer lay off as a school bus driver, another is welding heavy farm equipment 5 days a week and has the burn marks to prove it! Wouldn't biochemistry have been much safer? My other daughter is having problems with her shoulder and nobody seems to be able to nail down a cause, or a solution, for that matter. With her injuries, there is usually something specific to blame it on. She has a tendency to run into things, trip over things, fall up stairs, out of buses...well, you get my drift. When she was 3, she used to ask me why she's the one that gets all the owies? Probably a good thing she turned down that modelling job. Her + high heels + elevated runway = more x-rays. Believe me, that would not be good. It's amazing she doesn't glow in the dark, as it is!

(Sigh)I guess it's no great mystery why I'm not sleeping, after all.

So, brilliant? Well, I don't know that I will ever be brilliant, and if I am, I highly doubt it will take place on an insomnia-driven night at 2am. Drivel? Well, I hope not. Well, not complete drivel, anyway. Thank you once again for reading my ramblings!

As I am very confident that I am not the only one who has a lot on their mind and maybe has trouble sleeping, now and then, I'll leave you, until next week, with this wish for all of us.



May your sleep be filled with only good dreams, ones that make you smile as you awaken.
May you not even have to get up to pee, and to wake up, need to be shaken.

May your slumber be as deep and restful as Sleeping Beauty's fabled doze.
May your Prince Charming wake you with the softest of kisses, and not his frozen toes.

May you sleep until you are done sleeping, no alarm clocks to jolt you from your dreamy bliss.
May you, in times of chasing real shut eye, be able to fall asleep remembering this wish.


Until Next Week!

www.margyreidbooks.net

Roots, Hoots and Salutes!

Hi All!

I apologize for not getting my ramblings up last night, as promised, but by the time we got home and had everything unloaded and cleaned up, it was pretty late. And I, my friends, was beat!


It was completely worth it!

Let's start off with my niece's graduation. It was so cool to watch her accomplish this milestone with such maturity and grace. Even better, was watching my little brother, as he watched her. He has 3 kids, and this is the first to leave the nest. It's very bitter sweet to see your babies graduate. On one hand you are so proud of them you just want to burst, on the other, your buffering days between them and the huge world out there, are coming to an end. They are, for all intents and purposes, grown up.

The graduation brought back all kinds of memories, those of our girls' graduations, and even those of my own. Which brings us to the next part of my ramblings. The Denzil Centennial!

To start things off, I did a reading/signing on Friday afternoon. It went pretty great! Some of the faces in the crowd were those of people I used to babysit in high school! Others were the faces of their kids, some were Aunts and Uncles, some were covered in face paint and cotton candy. The best part is, that when I was finished reading both books, they were all covered in smiles!

So after we finished up signing books, we headed back to the lake for a bite to eat and a bit of a wade in the water. It was gorgeous! Then, it was back to Denzil for the first of 2 nights of dancing!

The band the first night, was, well, disappointing. Two guys on guitars, a lot of canned backtracks (and not great quality ones), forgotten lyrics, and missed chords. All in all, it seemed like a band dipped heavily in rust, that didn't really bother to shake off the cob webs for our little country town.

Now, did we let this hamper our good time? Of course not! My hubby, some cousins, and I still had a complete blast!

Now, on to Saturday. Through the course of this gorgeous day, we were able to pick up a few missing or forgotten pieces of camping essentials (we are pretty much novices), to meet my newest little cousin, Elijah, who, by the way is adorable, and get ready for the next round of food and dancing!

We drove back to Denzil for an awesome supper that fed well over 500 people. Here is where I was able to meet up with a few familiar faces! I was a little disheartened to see only 2 of my graduating classmates during the weekend, but there were a lot from the classes a little older and a little younger, so a person was still able to get caught up with a few people.

The band for the dance on Saturday night was phenomenal! They had a huge arsenal of songs, which they played and sang with perfect three and four part harmonies.  The hubs and I had a hoot and spent very little time on our chairs that night!

Also, on Saturday night the little town of Denzil put on the best fireworks display I have ever seen! They hired a company that has been honored with all kinds of national and international awards, and, Wow! It was absolutely spectacular! We were standing with the band, watching, and the lead singer, commented on how it was the best he has seen, way better than Disney World! A huge salute to Denzil!

During the bands' breaks, we had a chance to chat with them about music, dance crowds, venues, etc. Through the conversations, we found out the lead singer has a CD out and a 5 year old son. Well, we did a little swap, and now his little guy, Noah, has a signed copy of " A Crazy Day," and we have an awesome CD to listen to!

The combination of my niece graduating, coming back to the town where I grew up, and capping it off with a reading/signing of my very own books, sure makes a person reflect on your roots.

It was good to go back and see where and who I come from. Roots are important, even if they aren't perfect. The hard soil and rocks our roots go through to thrive, is what makes them strong enough to withstand the harshest storms.

Now folks, as for the upcoming week.

Armed with some tips from Saturday night's band (The Hudec Brothers), I will take a fresh stab at the guitar.

 I also need to start the music prep for Milden's Centennial.

We are also doing that wedding is early September. I need to start the initial prep work on that.

I need to work on more childrens' songs.

I have to get in touch with the Sundog Craft Show people to find out if I made the cut.

Shaping up to be a busy enough week!

Until then.


May you see your roots for what they are, the beginnings of who you've become.
May you let the solid ones run deep, let the ones carrying poison die, for they can only hinder your run.

May you become a root in another's life, one they can hold on to, a deep runner, solid and true.
May you find being that root for others, makes you, your happiest you.

May you accept your roots, both good and bad, and turn them into gold.
May you accept that they are only the beginnings of who you are, the rest is for you to own.



www.margyreidbooks.net