Hallowe'en .........busy, busy

Crazy busy day! Had a lot of phone calls and emails to get out today regarding the cousin Christmas Tea and Gift Sale. Then went to town and met one of my cousins to pick up the hand out flyers for the sale. I then met another friend for lunch at a local 'Tea Room' called 'The Magic Rolling Pin'...absolutely wonderful! The decor, the food, the service and the desserts .....amazing. This girl used to be in charge of the local business development office so has amazing insight, network and just plain smarts. The purpose of the lunch was to pick her brain, so to speak, for both job hunting and for my 'Maggiemags' business. She had some invaluable advice which I intend to put into action once this sale is over. I'm going to completely rewrite my resume and leave off a lot of my past history and turn what I did in the past that applies to the creativity I now have the chance to focus on for the future.
Once I've done the work needed we will get together and then she's offered to help connect me to people that are in the fields I'd like to pursue...mostly event work.
I then went around to some of the local vendors that will be in our sale and gave them a stack of flyers to hand out to people they know. I went to both newspapers to place ads for the Christmas Tea and Gift Sale next Saturday.
I then had to go have bloodwork done for an appointment I have next week.
Afterward, went and did some grocery shopping for my girlfriend's mother who is laid up at the moment and then went to have a visit with her...I just love her to pieces!
Before coming home, I went and did some grocery shopping for an Open House I'm having here tomorrow for my nephew who will be here with his girlfriend. He is the nephew that just got back from his second tour in Afghanistan and thankfully is now safe and sound.
At this point, we've only had seven kids to the door for Hallowe'en candy.... will have lots left over!
I finished all the glass blocks I'm going to make for now and will start on Sunday doing some more holiday plates...from now until Christmas is very, very busy. I am still convinced that sales will pick up on my Etsy 'Maggiemags' shop....it WILL happen! It's not 'if' it is 'when'.........

It's going to be a good day.........

As opposed to yesterday....
Yesterday started out great with the family breakfast and I went my way to do some errands and my husband went his way to do some errands...I get a call about an hour afterward and my husband is at our local mechanics...car trouble. Well, the end result is he barely made it to the mechanics with his van..end result is the transmission is shot and will cost almost $2500.00 to replace with a rebuilt. We just can't afford that for a van that's eight years old and has over 300,000 kms. on it...SO.. we're waiting to hear from our mechanic to see how much he can get for us if we turn it over to a junk yard...my husband is SO upset as he loves his van. I guess we'll be down to one vehicle!
The great news though is my nephew that was in Afghanistan will be arriving in about one half hour...he's safe and home....can't wait to see him and catch up.
I made three more glass blocks last night and hope to get a couple of plates done today or tomorrow.
I also have over 300 bulbs that I'm late getting planted so MUST get that done today.
Our cousin Christmas Tea and Gift Sale is one week Saturday and still have a lot to do to get that all ready. Whew! Busy time of the year.

Home..........watch for my new Etsy Shop!!!

We arrived home this evening and there's always just a lot of stuff to do just to get caught up. Unpack, sort for laundry, go through newspapers, go through and read a back log of mail, catch up on email, catch up on phone messages, etc. etc.

I have a lot to do this week as I have opened a new Etsy shop called Maggie's Studio which will be exclusive for my photography. I'll pull out the photos in my current shop and transfer and then begin adding some new photography. I REALLY hope I get it all done by the end of the week...when ready to go I'll announce on my blog.

Another great thing this week, is my nephew who was over in AFghanistan on his second tour of duty is now back safe and is coming to see us this week. I'm so relieved he's back. I am a bit worried about his emotional well being but will get a chance to talk about that and lots of other stuff with him. He's a very special guy and I truly hope his ongoing hopes and dreams come true. He is a very driven individual...and deserves some good things to happen for him.

Home tomorrow....

We got to New Jersey last night and had a nice dinner with our youngest daughter and our son-in-law...they ordered in as it was 9:30 when we arrived... tired and in bed by 11 PM...wow, that's early for us!
Got to spend the day just hanging out with our little angel girl. Their neighbourhood was holding a street fair today so we did some of that and then went around the corner to their local pub for lunch.
Today is our daughter and son-in-law's wedding anniversary so we are babysitting and their going out for a nice dinner and a few drinks. They are out as I write this. We have the little one in bed and she appears to be down for the count.
I made homemade macaroni and cheese and apple crisp for my husband and I for our dinner. I made enough to freeze for 'the kids' to have this week or whenever. Both of them have really busy week coming up, so maybe that will help.
We are leaving after my daughter and son-in-law make a nice breakfast for all of us and then we have an eight hour + drive home.
I love travelling to see the girls and their families, but, I also enjoy getting home.
It has been SO much fun spending time with both grandkids...they change and grow so quickly!

Down south ........time with my family here

We arrived last night to spend a few days with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. It was so cute earlier in the day...we were driving and my daughter called our cell phone and said my grandson was upset because we weren't there yet and he thought his Mommy hadn't told him the truth about us coming...so he had to talk to me to be sure we really were coming.. I so love this little guy and we have such a special bond. Tomorrow he and I are going to make peanut butter cookies in the shape of pumpkins and decorate them...his attention span isn't real long yet so we'll see how he does... He is such a happy boy overall and really affectionate and loving...but nevertheless, he's definitely a boy in the sense he loves to rough house.
I'll be checking my email and Etsy shop daily but tonight can't get into my site.....darn! Will try later though.
It's my Dad's birthday today...he's 89 years old today...I'm pretty sure I'll never make it to that age....he's still driving and although earlier this year he was really ill, it appears once again he's bounced back...I told him before we left that I'd make him a pumpkin pie when I get home. He's SO happy when I do that! A whole pie to himself..yeah! There's no point in buying him stuff because there isn't much he wants or needs. I will have to do that very shortly after arriving home or believe me, I'll get a call wanting to know where his pie is....glad to do it!

Happy and Sad ...all in the same day...

I woke up this morning and for the first time in two weeks I was feeling better overall. I'm still coughing a fair amount but that foggy, crappy feeling for the most part is over...
My husband and I had a few errands and paid some bills and I continued to feel better so made the decision to go to North Carolina with my husband. I'm so excited about that for many reasons. I can tell you that I miss my daughter's so much and although I'm so proud and happy for them I miss them very much. I also miss the opportunity to spend more time with my grandchildren. I don't want them living next door to me, but, gosh it sure would be nice if it were just an hour or so apart. Oh well, it's never going to happen so I'll just appreciate the time we do get together. Being rich would help, but that won't likely happen either....one can hope and dream though.
On an extremely sad note, my sister-in-law called a couple of hours ago to say my brother was leaving for work and as he was pulling out of their driveway, he saw their cat laying dead in the road...omg, she was crying, I was crying and I know my brother must be having such a rough time at work...he LOVED, LOVED that cat. That cat was usually so good about crossing the road, but this time some idiot was probably going around the curve of the road so fast and hit him. My brother had to pick him up and because he had to be at work, he put him in his workshop and will bury him tomorrow when he gets home. I really loved that cat as well and quite often took treats to him when I went visit. SO SAD! Goodbye, Frankie! You sure will be missed....

Productive day....

My day started by going to the medical clinic to be checked out and get results of a chest xray I had yesterday...even though I still feel poorly, the good news was I do not have pneumonia which is what they were beginning to think. I apparently have a viral infection and bronchitis so on to a new regimen of medications and I've been told this particular viral strain probably will last another week...oh, yeah!
I am beginning to feel a bit better but very, very tired.
I really hope the next couple of days I improve enough to make the trip to North Carolina with my husband to spend time with my daughter, son-in-law and my little man. I saw him on webcam last night and he's growing up so fast. He'll be four years old next month! He's fun to talk to now and can carry on quite the conversation if he's not distracted by his love of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, High School Musical...after all, one does have one's priorities. He's really into dinosaurs at the moments so I think that's what we'll get him for his birthday...we'll see.
I made a carrot cake this morning and put a cheese platter together for my husband's woodturning group. The executive met here tonight.
I then managed to almost finish a custom plate I have to deliver by the weekend. My aunt ordered it for her son's future in-laws. It's a momento of the day her son and his new fiancee got engaged. It's turned out quite nice even if I do say so myself.
I got some more glass blocks cleaned and ready to decorate.
I called one of my cousin's who celebrated a birthday today to wish her 'Happy Birthday' and she sounded like she's coming down with what I've had.
Tonight I called my sister-in-law to wish her good luck on the weekend. She's walking a complete marathon. I'm really proud of her as she's the same age I am...yeah, I could see me trying to do that....NOT! It turns out she's starting to get the cold as well...it's everywhere apparently. I hope it doesn't cause her to have to back out on Sunday....she's worked and trained so hard to do this.
OK, I'm officially tired and off to bed I go.

Election is over......thank goodness!

I tell you what, you put in a VERY LONG day when you work at an election. We got there for 8 am and didn't leave the polling station until 11:20 pm...then my husband still had to drive the sealed ballot box into the main polling station. We were both so exhausted. It was made more difficult by the fact that I've had this brutal cough for two weeks and having some breathing problems. I was so tired, but was awake on and off all night. Finally, around 4:30 am I got to sleep and didn't wake up until 10:30 am. At that point, there was a phone call and it was from a girl who I was suppose to meet for coffee and discuss some opportunities I should look at in the way of work. Guess what? I TOTALLY forgot. That is so unusual for me but I did forget all about the appointment. I feel so bad! She was doing this to help me as she has an amazing network here in the area and she was so willing to share information to try and help me find a job.
I called the medical centre and she ordered a chest xray and hopes to have some results tomorrow. My fear is this stupid thing hasn't developed into pneumonia.
My husband is leaving for North Carolina this coming weekend and I had planned to go and spend the days he was at the conference with my daughter, son-in-law and my 'little man'...I'm so sad that I haven't seen him in person since March.
I now have to get working on the final details for the Christmas Tea and Gift Sale my cousins and I are holding on November 8th. We have added new vendors as well this year for the sale.
I hope it goes well. I'm not sure if we'll do it again at this point. I think we'll wait and see how successful this Christmas sale ends up.
I am getting ready to set up a new Etsy shop just for my photography. I think it may draw more people to both shops if I separate out the two. I think my existing shop is too 'busy' and confuses people. My new shop name is 'Maggie's Studio' but to access it once it's up and running you search under' MaggiesStudio.etsy.com.'

Whew, I'm worn out..............but a good day!

Well, our Thanksgiving dinner was a big success on many levels. The turkey was cooked to perfection and the veggie contributions by others were awesome and then we ended up having over 10 different desserts. One of the women makes the most wonderful homemade buns, two make the best butter tarts ever, my sister-in-law made two new desserts and they were so, so good! I made a Dutch apple pie, we had pumpkin pie and pumpkin tarts, and on and on.
The weather was perfect so the kids could go outside. I have balls they can toss around and I always have bottles of bubbles for them to have fun with.
The day ended with some great conversation and a real big highlight for me was I sold one of my fall theme glass blocks to one of my cousins relatives on the other side of her family. Terrific!
I have to buckle down tonight and read this boring manual so I at least half way know what the heck I'm doing at the polling station and election tomorrow. OMG, wish me luck. It's a long 16 hour day. I made and packed two different lunches for my husband and I and got the coffee pot, etc. ready to take. I will DEFINITELY need lots of coffee!
I'm starting to feel a bit better and coughing a little less, however, when I take a coughing fit, I swear I sound like a bull moose in heat!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!!!!

Yes, tomorrow is Canadian Thanksgiving Day and a legal holiday. At this very moment, my house is filled with the fall cooking smells. I have a 25 lb. turkey stuffed and cooking on low and will cook it all night and part of tomorrow at a very, very low temperature. I just took a Dutch apple pie out of the oven. Yum!
We are having approximately 28 -30 people here tomorrow afternoon for a Thanksgiving dinner. We obviously will eat buffet style but I've had as many as 75 here, so this amount won't be too bad.
The weather here has been spectacular and the fall colours in the area are the richest I've seen them in years.
The drive up north yesterday was wonderful. Unfortunately, my battery in my camera died. I was really bummed out about it, but then, I have no one to blame but myself..dummy! Our family dinner at the camp yesterday was so great. The lake was so calm, the colours so vibrant, and there were over 60 family members in the lodge dining hall. We ate ourselves silly. One thing about my family, is there are amazing cooks and bakers. We ended up with enough desserts for almost double the people that were there. Needless to say, everyone got leftovers. My chocolate pecan pie is always a major hit and I was told I should have brought more....next year!
The kids grow up so fast. They just love running around the camp property!. My cousin and her husband that have a cottage at the end of the same lake, came up by boat. The boat is a pontoon boat, so the kids had so much fun going out for rides. We didn't stay overnight, but some did and apparently they had a bonfire.. gosh, I remember those fun highlights of my own childhood!

Up and Down Day...

I got up early for me this morning (7am) and had my coffee and cigarette...felt so lousy I went back to lay down and got up at 10:20 am. I had to shower and go back into town because the letter stickers I got for the custom plate ended up being too small... Did some last minute grocery shopping before our very busy weekend. I made two pies to take to the family Thanksgiving dinner at the camp. I made a pumpkin pie and a chocolate pecan pie.
It's been an up day as I was notified I was one of the shops featured in the 'indiecraftcorner' blog so felt happy about that and grateful. However, I'm trying so hard at the moment to 'stay up'. I'm SO disappointed in my sales on Etsy thus far and seriously hope I get a few in the next week or two. My heart tells me I'm doing exactly what I should be doing, and I love it, but I need a boost in my morale at the moment. I hate when I get feeling like this, but with everything else going on in my head, I could really use a major positive reinforcement.
This nasty economy really sucks in more ways than one but I'm in this for the long haul..I'll just have to pout every now and then..I guess I could call it one of my pity parties.
Another up part of the day was I heard from the person who just recently purchased one of my plates from my Etsy shop and was told she 'Loves it'! OK, I'm grateful, I just want to be more grateful...is that a bad thing?

Well, I pretty much wasted this morning....

Went to our family breakfast and then went on a search for clear mini lights, with white electrical cord and only one end with the plug...and I hit every major store and the not so major stores in this city with none to be found. Furthermore, I was told by two separate store clerks they will not be getting them...they've discontinued stocking them...........what's up with that? Last year, I struggled to keep supplied because the stores told me they couldn't keep them on the shelves. As soon as they'd stock their shelves, the product would be gone! Now, wouldn't you think with that kind of demand last year, someone would have the common sense to make sure they had lots this year? Oh, Noooooo! I even called a few of the stores in Toronto that I thought would for sure have them...no.
I guess if I get down south in a week or two to spend some time with my daughter, son-in-law and my little man, I'll have to see if I can find them down there. Gosh! It sure is frustrating! If I can't find them I'll have to discontinue making my glass blocks.
I'm still feeling really crappy and the fatigue is almost overwhelming at the moment. I have SO much to get done .....!!
We spent yesterday getting training to work at the election next week. Omg, more frustration..two 'old farts' trying to teach other'old farts' and they wandered all over the place and confused me even more. In this country, we still use paper ballots and what's involved would boggle the mind! You look at all the paper work and the mass confusion, and it kind of shakes your faith. Boring, and not much further ahead as far as being informed. It will be a long, long day..the polls are open 12 hours and we need to be there one hour ahead of time to set up and then it will take another hour or so to count the ballots, call the vote for our polling station in, get the supplies boxed up, the ballots sealed in a box and then need to take it to the main polling station approx. one half hour away. We're in the little village, so I plan to take a coffee pot, lots of coffee, and LOTS of snacks and munchies!!!!
This Saturday, my Dad's whole side of the family (those who can make it) are going up to a Camp for one very large family Thanksgiving..yes, this is our Thanksgiving weekend It should be great but I need some energy and enthusiasm at this point.
I hope to finish one custom plate on order and still have three more custom orders to go. I'm already tired and haven't even started this next week yet..what was I thinking?...Oh yeah, I obviously wasn't!

I need a fairy godmother..........

to wave her wand and help me get rid of this darn cold/flu....it's a week today I got sick. I'm finally over the worst of it, but boy, do I feel beat up! I coughed non stop last night for over 45 minutes.......irritating or what? It's a catch-22 situation..I take the prescription cough med with codeine and it slows down the coughing but then all I want to do is sleep. I don't take the medicine, all I do is cough and cough and cough.
I did go to family breakfast today and then was suppose to go out to the Shriner's Club to pace off how many vendors we have room for, but got there and it was shut up tight....hmmm, I wonder why I made an appointment! Our cousin Christmas Tea and Craft Sale is in four weeks and still lots to do.
I finally got my hair cut today and even doing that helped me feel a bit better. Isn't it weird how lousy you feel when your hair is out of control? I keep it incredibly short and sort of spikey and I don't colour it. I figure I've earned every grey hair I have, and besides that, I'm too cheap to spend the money. Right now I don't even get manicures or pedicures anymore. I used to get that done about once a month. We have to cut back our expenses as many ways as possible.
I still haven't found a job. Who says there is no age discrimination! I believe there is indeed. You can't even get people to talk to you in person to sell yourself ... oh, no, everything is handled via the internet and email anymore. I spent three hours the other day trying to apply for a position on their online website, getting incredibly frustrated. I'd fill it all in and go to send and it would delete it all. I called the company the next morning only to find out there is a glitch in their software. Meanwhile, they had no problems wasting three hours of my time!
Tonight, I'm going to just take a bit of time for me and try (operative word is try) to get a decent nights sleep.
I have some photography I have to get done of the new plates and glass blocks I've made for the holiday season, but it won't be tonight..TOO TIRED!

Just got this pic.........how cute is this!!!

It's times like this I sure wish I lived closer...my little angel girl!
By the way, the onesie and the tutu are from Etsy shop owners!!!!

She's One Year Old.......tomorrow.

It's so hard to believe that my little grandaughter (my namesake) is one year old tomorrow. I wish I could be there. I think her parents are having a little party for her today. I just love her to pieces!
It's funny to me that my daughter has bought her such girlie stuff. My daughter never liked too much 'foo foo' stuff as she calls it....and yet, for this little one she's bought a tutu from an Etsy shop for her birthday party and buys her quite a few 'girlie' things...something she said she'd never do...
How can you not love that little face?
It's my brother's birthday today and we're meeting with him tomorrow to celebrate. His wife is barbequing lamb and making him his favourite cake...
I'm starting to feel a little bit better, but my rib cage is so sore from so much coughing. I'm on cough medicine with codeine and anti-biotics and it's still beat the crap out of me.
My husband is away all day today doing demonstrations at our 'Pioneer Village' on woodturning so I get to create all day in my shop/studio. In between, I'll nap!
I went out for the first time in over four days yesterday and it wore me out. I had to go vote at the advance polls as both my husband and I are working at the elections on October 14th. It was SO hard to decide who to vote for but it sure wasn't going to be for Harper, our current Prime Minister...personally, I think they all lose sight of why they are there and rarely do what they say they are going to do.

Sleep, sleep and more sleep....and STILL tired..

How can a person sleep the largest part of three days and still feel so beat up and tired....the coughing is so bad, I'm not getting consistent sleep so I suppose that's it. I'm usually such a solid, sound sleeper. My rib cage is actually sore from coughing so much.
I have two really busy weeks coming up, so I hope this is over SOON!
At 2 am this morning I couldn't sleep, so went down to my shop/studio and made two more glass blocks.
My Etsy shop is getting 'busy' with so much going on. I think when I'm feeling better, I'm actually going to open up another shop just for my photography.
I'm busy reading other people's blogs and I'm going to pick a few to follow. Why...you ask. Many of the blogs I've read have great creative and marketing content and others have really touched me with what's going on in their personal lives.
Reading blogs can certainly make you appreciate the life you have, even though there are days you might think your own life could and should be better.
I'm taking on a pretty big responsibility by trying to help my nephew and his little girl. He really has so much growing up to do for his age and he really needs tangible help and emotional help. I can't even begin to give him all of that, but I can do my best to find the people who can.
Ok, tired again...off to sleep I go!

Yes, it's the flu..........

Went to the medical centre yesterday and confirmed I have a full blown flu...I feel SO lousy at the moment! I've spent most of the last day and a half sleeping. At least I have medication now and hopefully this thing won't take too long to run it's course. I'm one of the world's worst patients....I hate being sick! Too much to do, but at the moment just too weak to care.
I'll talk to my nephew tonight who's going through really tough times and see how he's progressing with his plans to move to this area and to get legal custody of his little daughter. He's made some really poor decisions in the past and is trying to get himself straightened around. Family members I've talked to about his situation are willing to help but we need to figure out the best ways to help him. He needs to grow up and do most of this himself in order to start feeling better.
When I'm feeling better, I'll start calling the social agencies in our area to see what might be available to him. I'll also start gathering information for him like map of the city, bus routes and times, food banks, etc. etc. I feel a real need to help him. He lost his mother (my sister) when he was just a little over three years old. My sister was killed instantly in a head on collision. He has a lot of issues that relate back to this very sad time in his life.
Well, I'm heading back to lay down, AGAIN!
I'm really going to try and get some glass blocks made tonight while I watch the American Vice-Presidential debates..Boy, this ought to be interesting to say the least!

Feeling really crappy...!!!!

In the past two days I have developed a full blown cold and tonight, I almost feel I'm in the flu stage...chills, slight fever and just generally uncomfortable. Isn't it awful when you feel like this and have things to do?
We had one of our family breakfasts this morning and there were a LOT of us today...
20 adults and two babies today...Wow, our poor waitress was worked hard today! She is wonderful! The regulars, she remembers every single person's order, every single person's name and actually looks forward to us coming on Tuesdays..
My husband and I had some errands to do today. One of those was to shop for new cell phone service. We've had the same cell phone for four and half years and the service provider just kept increasing the costs. We found a brand new phone today with a service provider whereby the phone was free, and the basic service we wanted was half the cost of what we were paying AND the store added a $50.00 gift certificate in with the offer. We could never get service in the area we live UNTIL today! We thought there was no signals in our area and it apparently turns out it was our phone that was the problem. Needless to say, we got the new service and the new phone. I asked them at the store if they knew any charity that takes old phones and they gave me two in the area, so I'll drop our old phone off there sometime later this week.
My husband and I have to go in to town on Friday to advance vote as we are both working at a polling station for our election on October 14th....the USA isn't the only country in the midst of a lot of political rhetoric...Can you tell I'm cynical?
I spent some of tonight sending out resumes over the internet. One of my cousins dropped in for a while. He had given my husband a very large deer antler last fall and my husband turned a pen for him as a gift. He liked it and wants my husband to make three more pens that he'll pay for to give out as gifts.
Tomorrow, depending how I feel, I have a couple of more resumes to send out responding to a couple of postings on line and then I need to get back to making glass blocks and plates. At this moment, I don't feel like doing squat.