I've managed to survive the month of December although some parts of it were tough. It's such a busy time - so much to do and everything just seems to pile up. One misstep and holey, moley you are big time behind the 8 ball.

I was successful in getting my product into the store although he would probably like to have more of it. However, I made a pledge to myself (after I had my TIA) that I would try to achieve more balance in my life. I find I tend to be waaaay out there sometimes - kind of an "all or nothing" kind of gal - and that is not always a good thing! So while I've made some successful life changes I know there's still lots of room for improvement.

Which brings me to my New Year resolutions. I want to become more organized than I am right now. I want to declutter and rid myself of the stuff that I'm not using; it's just taking up space and making my mind and my environment untidy so it has got to go!! I want to manage my time better and I want to be more focussed. Not asking for much now am I?

I must say, though, that I've already done some minor decluttering. It's not much but it is a step in the right direction. As I am a total makeup queen, I have soooo many cosmetics and nail polishes.....and I don't even wear nail polish that much. Anyway, I went through my cosmetics and nail polish and actually chucked some of it. That's not such a big thing for most people but it's huge for me!! I also started going through my closet and pulling out stuff I'm not wearing/ don't like/doesn't fit anymore/ stuff that isn't to my taste anymore... well you get the picture. I've been taking about 10 minutes a day and sorting. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in that little time! Appears there may be some hope for me after all.

I've been experimenting with a new technique and I'm very pleased with the results. I've altered several plain, glass ornaments. These make up very quickly and I'm having a lot of fun playing!

I participated in my first big craft sale this past weekend. I was so excited and had such high hopes. What a total waste the weekend was! I'm not so upset about not making money, I guess I'm more choked that I put so much time and effort into making new cards and it was a wasted effort. Needless to say I won't be doing that again.

I did receive some positve feedback and I tested a new product - little heart ornaments - and this was very well received. I'm hoping that the shop I work with will carry them for me. Guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

My Dad is a veteran. He, along with his older brother, my Uncle Vic, served in France, Holland and I think in Germany. My dad was born in 1925; he lied about his age and joined when he was 15; he was 20 years old when the war ended in 1945. Dad never talked about the war much. He hated war movies - my mother loved them and didn't figure she had gotten her money's worth unless she had a good cry. Dad would always get mad because he said the German army was always portrayed as being stupid. Clearly he knew better - he'd always say they were tough, battle hardened fighting men. He'd say too bad the enemy wasn't as stupid as the films made them out be - the war would have ended a lot sooner had that been the case!

Funny the things you remember. Growing up we never had lamb - Dad said he hated it and wouldn't allow it in the house. I never tasted lamb until I was in my 40's. Turns out, dad had had more than his fill of lamb when he was in England. He always said that the lamb he ate was mutton and that the animal had been slaughtered only moments before it would have expired from natural causes anyway - old, tough and fat - ooooooh, now doesn't that sound appetizing?

My dad celebrated his 8Oth birthday in 2004. My younger (and only) brother had his medals mounted and framed for him. My dad's funny about things like that so my brother gave them to him in private. I know dad, he would have been very gruff but would have gotten all choked up about it. He just celebrated his 82nd birthday in March. My brother always says "the old man's slowing down" - well, of course he is, he's 82 years old! He's old, bent and crusty but we love that old man more than you can imagine.

I am so enormously proud of my dad. Recently he took my 28 year old daughter on a tour of the new War Museum in Ottawa. A moment in time that can never be replaced! Vets get in free, so Dad brought his original discharge papers with him to prove he was a Vet. My daughter got a huge kick out of that. She said they were all creased and worn but he proudly pulled them out to show the lady. She was astounded at this. She couldn't believe, nor could my daughter, what a wealth of knowledge my dad had to share with her. It was a wonderful, special time for my daughter and something she will remember and treasure for the rest of her life.


On Remembrance Day - the 11th day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour - at the moment of silence, I'll be thinking of and eternally grateful to my dad. I'll also be thinking about all the other men and women who served and are now serving, fighting and dying, all over the world. Please kieep them in your thoughts and prayers.

We Canadians will be celebrating Remembrance Day on November 11th. As I get older, I realize what a special day it is and should be for all of us.

I guess the fact that this year we have Canadians fighting and dying, almost daily, in Afghanistan really brings it home to me. I'm not sure how I feel about the war but I can say this - I am so enormously proud of and grateful to our fighting men and women.

I always wear the poppy but this year I feel so very different about it. I wear it with so much pride - it's almost like it's some kind of badge. It reminds me that the freedom I enjoy does not come free.

I finally made it through the mad week - getting ready for an open house is always hectic for me so I can only imagine what it must be like for the shopkeeper. But, I guess all the hard work pays off because Ron said he had his best Open House so far in the Maple Ridge store. I'm so glad for him - he's such a nice man and an absolute joy to work with.

Now I'm into another phase - trying to get ready for the craft fair at the end of the month. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that it's successful for me but I'm feeling a little scattered - much like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

The weather here on the coast has been absolutely spectacular but unfortunately, the cold, wet weather has finally arrived. A friend and I made a trip down to Granville Island on October 20th. I hadn't been there in almost 20 years and since I was looking for something to do, it seemed like a good idea. It was one of the last days of sunshine for us and the view was outstanding so I took a few pictures with my little digital camera. They are wonderful, even if I do say so myself. Enjoy!

It's weird - I would never had thought it was 2 weeks already since I posted to my blog. Lord, how time flies!!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me. I've spent the last several days making cards for the Open house at one of the stores. I had taken the time off so I could get prepared without getting stressed. So ask me if that worked for me. Well, not so much! As usual I ended up behind the eight ball. I only had to pull a half-nighter instead of an all-nighter. Big surprise that. Anyway, I got everything done and still managed to keep my mind so all is well.

I had a really nice thing happen to me on Sunday. I had been out all day Saturday so hadn't really spent much time on the computer. I came down on Sunday to a message from an organizer from a prestigious craft show in the area. She had seen my cards in the shop and loved them. She was contacting me to invite me to participate in the upcoming event at the end of November. Bear in mind that this "invitation" does requiree the purchase of a table, for a hefty price, but it is an invitatioon, nonetheless. This event is juried so it is considered to be a serious event with a requirement of good quality art. I provided her with a website where she could view more of my greeting cards. She has since contacted me a second time that she feels my work is something they want at their event and that they would love to have me there.

My first reaction was to decline the invite and then I gave my head a very quick shake. This is a very classy event and the exposure will be wonderful for me so I'd have to have rocks in my head to decline the invitation. It's an excellent opportunity to get my name out there and hopefully I'll make some new contacts. After all it is all about networking and this should be a perfect opportunity to do that! So it looks like I will be sending my cheque in as soon as I get the paperwork. Now that I've committed to the event, I have a ton of work to do to prepare for it.

A friend is helping me design some new business cards and I have to think about packaging and how I will display my cards. Expected attendance for this event is 2500 to 3000 people over 2 days so I have to come up with some new designs and try to figure out how many cards, journals and gift tags to take with me. Also I need to decide about signage.

I must admit I am so very flattered and tickled pink to have this opportunity. Busy, busy , busy!!!

It was a beautiful day on the coast yesterday and today. I managed to get out for what may very well be my last round of golf. The day was gorgeous, the company was wonderful and I came in with a good score. What more could a girl want?

I haven't posted lately as I've been busy getting my stock ready for the annual open house at the gift shop. The shopkeeper likes to have all his Christmas stuff in stock for the OH so people can pre-shop. He has about 1000 invites sent out to it really is a worthwhile exercise.

I've also been having computer issues. My CD writer stopped writing for some stupid reason. I personally think it has something to do with the automatic updates from MS but could be wrong. My program is old and I think one of the updates wiped out one of my files. Either that or the file was corrupt. In any case, I can read and listen to a cd, but I cannot write to a cd. UGH!! I've tried everything I can think of, including downloading drivers and re-installing and none of that works so your guess is a good as mine. I visited the computer shop and the techie says he doesn't know what is wrong with it as the things I've done should have corrected the problem. Anyway, appears my computer will be going in for a checkup sometime in the next couple of weeks. I can't take it in until I finish all my work for the OH so it will be a few weeks yet.....this is definitely going to pick me Big time!

Where has time gone? September is almost over. The fall weather arrived with a vengeance on the Coast yesterday. It was overcast and cool and rainy. I guess our shorts and sandals weather is over for this year. Time to put the fireplace on and veg out in front of it with a glass of wine and a good book.

Seeing as the weather was not great yesterday, DH and I made a run for the border. I needed some card supplies that I can get in Bellingham way cheaper so off we went for breakfast and a quick run to Paper Zone and Stampadoodle. I love both those shops and could spend all day there, but didn't. I was finished shopping quite quickly and I think DH was quite surprised at how little I purchased - I think he had visions of a trunk load of paper.

Christmas is just over 15 weeks away - can you believe it? The shop I sell my cards in has 2 open houses coming up - one at the end of October and one at the beginning of November. The shop owner likes to have all his stock in for those dates so I will need to have everything ready for him pretty much by mid October. I'm really looking forward to creating some new Christmas designs - I always have fun doing those.

Will post some of my new work once it's done.

I wanted a blog in the worst way but didn't really know what I'd do with it once I got it. That's pretty typical of me - all these fantastic ideas swirling around in my head but not always able to focus on a goal and then work toward it. My friend Faith was so kind and came over and helped me - no that's not totally true. The fact of the matter is that Faith did it all while I watched and asked dumb questions.

I really want to keep up with this blog business. My hope is that I can use it as a vehicle to post some of my artistic endeavors and experiments. Maybe it will help me to keep focused and work toward some of the goals I have set for myself - doing more art for art's sake, stretching my artistic muscles and, hopefully, having some of my art published.

I wasn't sure what to call my blog. Friends have always told me that I have a way with words - sometimes eloquent, sometimes entertaining and frequently profane. Maybe it's the frustrated writer in me but I soak up verbage and vocabulary like a thirstly little sponge. I love the turn of a phrase, the poison in a particularly pointed remark and the poetry of a well turned phrase.

When I was growing up, one of my mother's favourite, and oft repeated phrases was "Sandra you don't need to get the last word!" Since I am the queen of the last word, it seemed totally appropriate that I would name my blog "last wordz". I hope my art, my musings and my "last wordz" prove to be both enlightening and entertaining!

Welcome to my new blog!!