Big Picture Fatigue!

Hi!


Often you hear people talking about looking at the "big picture." Hey, I'm all for looking at things from a grander perspective than our day to day lives tend to allow. But, sometimes, just sometimes, I think there is absolute merit in honing your focus on what lies directly in front of you.


Sometimes the traffic in the background of the wider shot can be nothing but a distraction. Maybe sometimes it serves no other purpose than to pull our attention from what resides at the tip of our nose. Sometimes, giving the lion's share of our full energy into the tasks and people closest to us is just as important, if not more so, than spreading ourselves so thin across the abyss that is the "big picture."

Or maybe....just maybe.... I am completely full of crap and am writing this when I am waayyyy toooo tired to do so properly. You be the judge.

Soooooooo....

The past seven days have included several failed attempts at sleeping in. I long for the days when, short of a tornado touching down on my head, I could have easily slept until noon. Even though I haven't achieved "sleep in," I have slept past 4:45am every day of my holidays so far. That, was my goal, after all. So not a complete fail.


Oh, and..........wait for it..........I finished that #@&*ing press release, and released it! Here's hoping somebody reads it! I ended up scrapping everything I had done and punched one out in about an hour. Sometimes, those kinds of things turn out better than the things you stew about for days. Sometimes.

This week also was witness to my hubby's last day of work. A Sad/happy/hurtful/angry/peaceful/anxious day.

Some ground work has definitely been laid for future endeavors.(part of the reason I'm so tired) I'll keep you posted.

And, I know one bride who will be happy to be informed that I also was able to put the finishing touches on the wedding for tomorrow. We are really looking forward to it. We both need to burn off some steam. DJing a wedding where you are almost guaranteed to need to participate in a game of "name the drunk uncle" is probably not the way most people do it, but hey, since when do we do anything like most people?

Anyway so that concludes the adventures from last week.....onward and upward.......

The upcoming week includes.......

The aforementioned wedding tomorrow.( Where I will unabashedly encourage people to behave in ways that they hope will not show up on facebook)

Continue my efforts to sleep in ( Stop calling me names!)

Continue on the quest of our new adventure.....details soon.

Knock down a few cocktails as I anxiously await "Tags" and "Wishes", which are due next Friday!

I should probably do something grandmotherly in there somewhere, and I will, I promise!


So, my bloggy friends, I hope that this week's ramblings, although they are just that, have made some minute spec of sense. I promise I will try to get more sleep before flinging my gibberish so mercilessly in your face next week. Or, at the very least, give a good old college try. (Oh yeah, I never went to college) ;)


Until next week I will leave you with this wish...........



May all you do be achieved easily, without an iota of real effort or stress.
May every occasion requiring attentdance find you feeling and looking your best.

May all of those from which you need cooperation, bring it forth with enthusiasm and charm.
May they not, under any circumstance, bring one tiny bit of your plan to harm.

May everything you have worked so hard toward, finally land firmly in your hand.
May you know and have it proven that now was absolutely the right time to take a stand.



Until next week........

 

Sunsets and Possibilities!

Well, hi!




You know, life is pretty interesting. Shake ups happen, you get thrown for a loop, ya spin around for a couple of days, and then, if you can leave just a little of yourself open, look past the hurt, anger and frustration........ideas, dreams and goals start taking shape.



As you know from last week's post, my hubby will be joining the ranks of the officially unemployed fairly soon.  We've taken the last few days to process the shock, let it sink in, swear at a few inanimate objects and punch a couple of pillows. Now that that is out of our systems, we are ready to move on.


In the grand scheme of things it was, after all, a job. A means by which to earn money to live. There are countless ways in which to do that. We'll survive. Better yet, thrive.

Throughout our lives together (27years and counting), we've been hit by what most would consider a lot of unexpected, life-changing events. Some of these were great, some not so much, others took us to our knees, and yet others, almost took us down completely.

We've been asked on more than one occasion, how we are we still standing. I'll tell you our little secret. Each and every time something hits, we just take a look around. You never have to look far to find someone who is worse off than yourself. This, whatever the this is, is just a hiccup, a bump in the road.  We still have each other, and our family. We are able bodied, and still have what's left of the sense we were born with.

We'll be fine, because our lives are not defined by what befalls us but, by how deep within ourselves we are willing to dig to find the strength needed to right ourselves.

So, moving one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, as we have done in the past,  soon we will be far from this moment in time, we'll look back and see it's purpose.


All that being said, is it wrong that a small part of me(granted it's probably the good ol' farm girl part) still just wants to go kick some ass?!


Moving on........................


This week we played the show at the Denzil Hotel... it was a great time. We may not have had the hugest crowd (beautiful lake weekend), but what they lacked in numbers they definitely made up for in enthusiasm! We ended up doing a 6 hour show! Another late night well worth the loss of sleep. We saw a few cousins, met some great new people, introduced a few more poor souls to "Music Roulette", and might have picked up another wedding!

Also this week...... hours and hours were spent working (ok, having water fights, and playing dance party)

.........I did throw some words at that pesky press release
.........did a bit more polishing of the music for the upcoming wedding
........snuggled grandbabies
.........went to a movie with my hubby!( Can you say "wild and crazy?")


So, for the upcoming week........

On holidays....... so sleep past 4:45am......every day.

Finish press release and..........release it! (new books will be available by Aug. 10th!)

Put finishing touches on music for wedding on the 4th

Do some research and leg work for possible future venture....(details will hopefully follow soon!)


Wish me luck!


Until next time, I will leave you with this wish.........



May the sun setting on any given day bring with it serenity and peace.
May you feel between it's rise and it's set, that you challenged, you seized.

May you let not one drop of sunlight be wasted, filling every day with worth.
May you understand the value not only in toil, but relaxation and mirth.

May you see each day as a gift of lessons, some easy and light, others carry sharp edges and weight.
May you see that all have equal value, where they fit in our lives, is a constant source of inner debate.


Until next week!

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Blindsided...Blessing in Disguise? Here's Hopin!

Hi!


You know, sometimes I think that fate, or karma, the universe, the powers that be, God whatever you choose to call it, looks upon us and says, "You know what? You are getting a bit too comfortable with the status quo, time to shake it up!"

And shake it up they do.

Sometimes, the shake up comes in the form of a flooded house, an unexpected grandbaby, a car accident, a health problem, a death, or in our case, several deaths in the family, and sometimes it takes the form of an unforeseen career change.

Imagine my hubby's surprise this morning, when after almost eight years of nothing but dedicated and loyal service to his employer,  he was informed that he will be permanently laid off in the very near future. The reasons given were very convoluted and confusing, leaving a lot of room for interpretation. It's just baffling to me why you would lay off the guy that shows up every day, shows up early, stays late, and works his butt off the entire time he is there. Weird way to run a business.

Anyway, we are going to take this as the shake up that, apparently, we are due. It's been an entire four months since the car accident, after all.

Being a firm believer in everything happening for a reason, I have to believe this will lead to something great for my hubby. God knows he deserves it. When a door closes, a window opens. Sometimes it's just the one in the attic or the basement and not the one in front of you, so you need to do some snooping to find it, is all.

The sum of our life experiences always lead us to where we need to be. It's not the best news we've ever gotten, but in the grand scheme of things, it's far from the worst. It's an obstacle that, with a little tweaking and nudging, can become an opportunity.


With this latest chain of events, however, our downgraded holiday has had to be downgraded once again. For those of you who don't know, this year mark's the hubby and my 25th anniversary. Not ever having a honeymoon, we had planned on taking a holiday this summer.

Originally it was a 3 week trip to Tofino, BC. Then came the flood. Then it was changed to a week in a rented cabin at a lake a couple of hours away. Then came the car accident and new car to pay for. The latest trip was going to be to go to Winnipeg to pick up my new books. Now, with the lay off looming, probably not a good idea.

So, my books will now be shipped. On the upside, I may have them sooner than August 10th.


Well folks, the rest of this week has been spent prepping for the show this weekend, and the wedding on the long weekend. It was also spent making trains out of dining rooms chairs that took sweeping trips through Paris and Venice with a variety of dinosaurs as passengers. It involved a treasure hunt riddled with rhyming clues to tickle a 7 year old girl's imagination. There were craft challenges including making dollhouses out of popsicle sticks, mini pom poms and glitter glue. There were trips around the world as travelling veterinarians of exotic animals. It's been a busy week.

As for the upcoming week............

As I am writing this a bit early because of the weekend...

Tomorrow will be spent at work.
Saturday we have the show in Denzil (why I;m blogging early)
Next week I'll be putting the last touches on the music for the first of our August weddings.
Finish bloody press release.......hopefully. ( ya know, you would swear it was war and peace!)


Until next time I will leave you with this wish..............forgive me if it seems a bit dark (this week it's blatantly, selfishly therapeutic)




May any monkey wrenches thrown into your life's plans become tools with which to make them your reality
May those blinded by self preserving smoke see through and share the consequence of tossing a valuable treasure with finality.

May those true of heart and clear of conscience find the respect and loyalty they deserve.
May those too dipped in short term greed come to understand they may end up with nothing to preserve.


May windows of opportunity be wide, plentiful, and bright with one more beautiful than the one before.
May those who have discarded your abilities with such frivolity know their mistake wholeheartedly, immediately upon the last closing of the door.



Until Next Week...............................................

Dreams And Coffee On The Deck!

Hello there!


Ahhhh, summer!

It's so nice and peaceful to kick back and relax on my deck with a morning coffee and listen to the birds. A lawnmower is humming in the distance, kids laughing somewhere just out of sight, soft music is streaming from the CD player, yup, this is what I look so forward to during the long, winter months.



Well, this week was back, more or less, to the everyday shenanigans. I was able to get back to work, although I had to modify some of the playing. For instance, taking my big water gun to work with me and taking the munchkins into the back yard for a rousing game of  "Try to catch the stream of water that Margy is shooting high up in the air."  Hey, don't knock it til you try it!


I did some rehearsing for our show next weekend in Denzil. I think it's going to be a blast! I'm not quite running at full throttle yet, but I should be good to go by then, for sure!

I need to send a big thank you out to Maggie and Amanda! They found a Trade Show in Eatonia in October that will work in great with everything else. It looks like a great show, and gets me into a new area of the Province. Thanks, ladies!

I was able to work a bit more on the Wedding coming up, and throw a few more words at the new press release.


So things are shaping up pretty well, time wise. We have the show in Denzil, Wedding to do in Kindersley, Winnipeg to pick up books, Wedding to do in Elbow, launch and signing for the new books at McNally, Word on the Street Festival in Saskatoon, Unity Trade Show, Eatonia Trade Show, North Battleford Trade Show, and hopefully I'll have some readings booked in there somewhere. So looking forward to all of it! I'm excited, but also a bit nervous about how the new books will be received.

I still have to pinch myself now and again when I stop and think about everything that has happened in the last two years. I'm actually going to be launching my 3rd and 4th books this fall! Unreal!



So for the upcoming week..........



I need to get everything ready for the show in Denzil.... rehearse,check song binders, request slips, make sure there are pencils etc...

hopefully, finish press release.......

The usual work, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning and other glamorous things..........





Well folks, that about does it for this week.


Until then, I'll leave you with this wish............




May you dare to dream the dreams for which you fear to give a voice or even a whisper in the night.
May you bring them to the forefront, where they can gain strength, colour, shape and fight.

May you nurture them and help them grow until they are mature enough to see the light of day.
May you push past the fear of being judged, and hold them high, no matter what the world has to say.

May you step outside of what's comfortable, for dreams need big spaces to thrive.
May you stand facing skyward as your dreams learn to soar, knowing what it means to be alive.


Until next time!

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Sciatic Nerves and Silver Milestones!

Hi All!


I thought I would post a photo of one of the first wonders of a human life. A window to the outdoors. How incredible something as simple as a front yard with some grass, trees, and a few birds must seem through the eyes of a 4 month old.

One of my personal beliefs is that the key to true happiness is to hold tightly to even a shred of the incredulous wonder we experience as children, and put that to the forefront when we come upon new experiences in our adult lives. Sadly, I think the awe and wonder gets overtaken by skepticism and fear due to the bumps and bruises our egos endure through the course of growing up.

I believe one of the greatest disservices we do to both ourselves and those we raise, is to believe the skepticism and fear, give it undeserved merit, and push aside the wonder and awe as naivete. The reality of life dictates that we do need to exercise a measure of caution in things we do. My hope is, that caution stays just that, and doesn't become the fear and skepticism that has the power to paralyze our dreams.

Annnyyywhooooooo.............................


The majority of this week was spent with my buttocks planted firmly in a recliner. Now, just so you know, the reason for this is not voluntary. As last week's b-b-q was drawing to a close, I began experiencing a weird pain in my left hip. By the end of the evening, I couldn't take more than a few steps without a lot of pain. (Now, just to keep that in perspective, keep in mind I have had 4 kids, experienced approximately 200 hours of labour and no epidurals.) I think I must have pinched a nerve during the water fight or something. Anyway, sitting still is not one of my strong suits, as those who know me can tell you. It's been a bit of a long week.

On the upside, did you know that there was actually a reality show to determine the cast of a new version of "The Partridge Family"? Aaaaand Emma Stone ( using her before fame name Emily Stone) won the role of the new Laurie! Although I don't ever remember seeing this new Partridge Family show, I wonder if this was her launching pad. Just goes to show you that you never know what can come of any given experience. This show was in 2004, a mere 8 years ago. She went from the new "Laurie: to "The Help" in that time. A LOT can happen in 8 years.


Also, with all of the chair time, I was able to get a bit of a start on that ever nagging press release. The words are not exactly flowing like the  Mississippi, but they are moving along like a pretty.... good...creek.

Unable to safely keep up with two rambunctious toddlers, I had to leave my munchkins' Mom in a bit of a lurch. I hate that I couldn't go, but, I just don't think it would be fair to go and not be able to do what I need to do. I'm sure hoping that all is good by Monday. It would help immensely if I didn`t have weird reactions to so many over the counter and prescription meds. But that`s life, if this is my biggest problem, life is pretty damn good.

So, for the upcoming week........

Hopefully go to work............

Work on music for upcoming wedding.................

Rehearse for show that happens in 2 weeks.......

Do some more work on press release..........

Make sure I squeeze some grandbabies.......


So folks, this week marked the passing of a pretty sizable milestone for my husband and I. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary! Man, how time flies when you`re having babies....ummm and fun!


In honor of that, I will leave you with this wish.....

For my Honey.........


May you know, the day we met, my life`s course was ever changed for the better.
May you know how incredibly grateful I am, every day, that we are together.

May you understand how completely I love you with everything I am and can be.
May you know how much I appreciate you simply loving me for being me.

May you know that through life`s hardships, and Lord knows we`ve had more than a few.
May you know in the deepest part of your heart, the only one I would want get through them with is you.

May you know how much I love that we`ve made it, against all the odds society placed upon our young married life.
May you really feel in your soul how much deeper my love for you grows with each passing day, it`s still so much my honor to call myself your wife.

Weddings & Water Fights!

Well, hi!



The above pics are from the wedding we did last Saturday. It was beautiful. they had a gorgeous tent that housed the 450+ guests very comfortably. The weather was absolutely perfect and the people were terrific. We had the usual few who either thought the music was too loud or to quiet, too fast or too slow, but all in all, a great crowd. Even after about 6 hours of straight dancing the "one more song" choir was singing strong and loud. A couple of young gentlemen who had perhaps been partaking of the beverages in some rather generous portions, offered us $100 to play a few more songs. In situations like this, the Mom in me comes out. After turning him down as gently as possible, I told him no matter how disappointed he was right now, he would be much happier with himself in the morning. Although I'm sure the morning, for him, brought with it a plethra of other issues, being $100 lighter in the pockets, at least, wouldn't be one of them.


Yep, it was a great wedding, but a looooong day. We didn't get home until 4:45am. That, my friends is the time for which our alarm is set for work days. This made the beginning of the work week a little off kilter, but everything got back to normal soon enough. It does seem to take longer to get our systems back on track after a night like that than it did when we first started doing this 12 years ago.

It's still worth it. To see the smiles, delight and laughter. to see the bride and groom share their first dance as husband and wife, to see Daddies dancing with their toddler daughters, the gray haired grannies with their long haired grandsons, the look you see on the faces of the couple when they hear "their song."  To have even the smallest part in bringing that kind of happiness to a group of people, even just for an evening, it's without a doubt worth a couple of tired days.


The rest of the week went pretty well. I STILL don't have a press release written. I'm hoping to get some kind of mojo flowing with it soon. It seems the harder I try to come up with something the further the words retreat from my fingertips. It'll happen, I have faith. I just have to be patient with myself. Or at least, try.


We did, however, get a call for another show. We will be heading down to Denzil on July 21st for a full on karaoke show. I'm looking forward to it! It's always such a good time to head to my old home town. The people are great, I usually run into several old friends and still have a ton of family there, it's going to be a blast!


Also this week, I did a bit of snooping as far as trade shows for the fall. I haven't found any that will work yet, but am still looking. If you know of any smaller fall trade shows that are still taking applicants, please let me know, and I'll check them out.


To top off the week, we had most of our kids, my sister, her hubby and kids out for a bar-b-que today. It was a lot of fun. To keep a long story short, it involved a few water guns, a giant frisbee, some burgers, some watermelon, some cheese cake, and many giggles, especially from the munchkin gallery. A great day!





Now for the upcoming week............



As this is a long weekend it will be a pretty short work week. Maybe some divine inspiration will hit me for the press release.....maybe.

With any luck at all my web guy will get my website up and running again. Whatever is going on sounds complicated, something about some regulations, something or other. I don't know, he tried to explain it, and I know I'm not an idiot, but after about the first paragraph it started sounding like he was speaking a foreign language. Charlie Brown's teacher. 'nuff said. I hope it is fixed soon, that is all.


I also need to put more time into the wedding coming up on the August long weekend. I've started to work on it, but it still needs some time.

There will also be some quality time spent in my basement this week, rehearsing for the Denzil show. May hunt for some new music there as well.

Well folks, that about does it for this week. As my hubby celebrated his birthday yesterday I'd like to dedicate this week's wish to him...................




May you see each passing year as a right of passage, an honor earned, a blessing bestowed upon you.
May you know in your heart how absolutely loved you are, appreciated, valued, by us, your crew.

May you know I love you with all my heart even though I can sometimes be teasing and sarcastic.
May you know that this birthday poem could not stay completely heartwarming and fantastic.

May you know, although I have some grey hair, and need an assist from drugstore reading glasses, just the same as you.
May you, even knowing all this, keep in mind, I'll always be your junior by two years, count 'em two!


Happy Birthday My Honey!

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Summer! Oh Yeah!!!!

Ahhhhhh, Summer is officially here! For those of us in this part of the world, anyway. I was finally able to enjoy a morning cup of coffee on my deck. I know it probably seems silly to most of you, but that is something I start looking forward to starting in February. The weather has been a bit on the soggy side, to say the least, and on the odd day when it hasn't been raining and/or miserably cold, I haven't been home! So, yes, even though it may be silly, I so thoroughly enjoyed my morning java fix. Now..... time to get after the day!



But, first I should let you know what has and hasn't happened in the past week.

First, the bad news..............

I received a letter from the Sundog Craft Show, and once again they don't have room for me. I am on a waiting list, however, in case they get any cancellations. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Also in the "not happened" column lives my press release. I know I need to do it, but am finding it difficult to write, for some reason. Bit of a block where it's concerned. I need to bust through that hurdle very soon.

My website is still down, hopefully I will have good news on that front very soon!!!!!!

Now for the good news!!!!!!!!!!

I have a date set for a signing for both  "Tags Go In The Back", and "Everyday Wishes For Your Extraordinary Life"! I'd love to see you all there! It will be at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Saskatoon, on Saturday, September 1st at 1pm.

Because this one is a bit different, with "Wishes" and all, I've opted out of doing the reading, and going to just do the signing instead. Again, I'm going by my gut, and the seat of my pants, I hope I'm making the right choice. Only time will tell, as usual.


This week also saw me putting the final touches on the music for the wedding we are doing this evening, and putting the first touches on the wedding we are doing in a few weeks. I love the fact that every wedding is so different, the tastes in music, the traditions, or lack thereof, the people themselves. I guess I just love weddings, and we are always so honoured to be part of this special day. Our goal, always, as with any gig, but especially weddings, is to make sure every single person there has a great time. Whether you are 2 or 92, we want you to walk away at the end of the evening thinkin' "Dang! Now, THAT was fun!"


Now, for today, and the upcoming week.........................


As soon as I finish here, we need to start packing up and getting ready for today's wedding. Equipment, camera, snacks, energy drinks ( will be about a 19 or 21 hour day by the time we get home ), ride home clothes and wedding info sheet (first song, MC name, etc).

I also need to get dressed, do hair etc. and have it stay looking half decent through a 2 1/2hour drive in a truck with no air conditioning and setting up equipment. From the time of getting "prettied up" to "showtime" is about 5 hours, most of which will be spent sweating, not to mention the 6 hour gig itself. I need industrial make up and hair stuff! Lol

This week will also involve seriously diving in to the music our next wedding.

Press release. ( at some point the right words just have go come to me, right? )

May do some research into doing a couple more smaller trade shows, as I have an opening in my schedule because of Sundog.

Get set for upcoming long weekend! (Who knows what it will bring!)

Holy Crap! I just looked at the clock, I better get at it!


Until Next Week I'll leave you with this wish.......





May your summer days be long and lazy, filled with frothy drinks and time in a lake pulling oars.
May they, if you'd rather, include hours in a boat, on a beach, playing games, and making s'mores.

May it include time with family and friends, bar-b-ques, story telling and epic water fights.
May it be clear, at least mostly, of sunburns, wipeouts, road rashes, and mosquito bites.

May every day stretch out before you as some grand adventure just waiting to unfold.
May you take full advantage of every single one, it's a time for fun for all, young and old.


Have a Great Week! Until Next Time......Thanks for reading these ramblings!