I also had a crazy pumpkin hat order.  My biggest one yet.  I had an order for twelve hats and they were to be delivered in two weeks.  It was a challenge so I knit my way through the last two weeks, every spare moment I had including driving in the car to all these awesome places.  As much as I enjoy knitting, it was a bit much. So I may not do another order quite that big, but we will see I am always up for a challenge.

 I have also been busy photographing fabulous families.  I do love my job and am happy that I am getting busier and able to share with others.

Although I am not looking forward to J returning to school it will mean that we will have a return to some normalcy around here. Our summer has been chalk full of visiting and mini-vacations with those visitors.  We need to get back to eating right, proper bedtimes and organization.  My house feels like it is a mess and everything is upside down.  What I would really love is a two week extension on summer vacation just to hang out with my kids and do nothing.  What are my chances?

Sometimes when I arrive she is disoriented and confused. I start by getting her up from bed, telling her about the weather, sharing a story of my children.  I get her to the bathroom to start her morning routine.

As we move through our routine she is sometimes concerned that she will be late for class.  You see thirty years ago she taught English at High School.  She was always prompt and expected the same from her students.  These days are hard, I talk to her about her retirement, how she now can enjoy the quiet life.  I remind her that she is 86 years old.

She is always a little shocked at her age.  She still feels like she is 21, despite the fact that she can no longer drive or go out alone. Always 21.

By this time we are getting into the shower.  As the warm water washes over her you can see a transformation starting.  She picks up her soap and carries through her routine, the same routine she did several times a day after swimming practice.  She was a Mermaid after all.  Synchronized swimming kept her agile and graceful for many years.

As we continue along I get out the shampoo and wash her hair.  As she tilts her head back into the water for a rinse the transformation is almost complete.  I won’t say for a minute that she remembers everything, but she is no longer disoriented, no longer confused.  It is like the water washing over her brings her back to today or almost today at the very least.

By the time we are finished and into fresh pyjamas we are chatting easily about her former students or my children and how they too love to swim.  Brushing out her hair she thanks me again and again for helping her with her shower so she could be ready for breakfast.

And every time I take her down to breakfast I am thankful for the warm water that washes over her and brings her back to us for another day.

Seven years ago I was weeping with Joy because this little guy came into my life.  I still relish the days we spend together and try not to suffer the days when he is gone from me at school.  He is half of my team where I am the coach, he is my everything.  What I wouldn’t do for this little guy.  I love you J.

And not to shrug my new dedication to Workout Wednesdays, I have to say that this week was a good slap in the face.  Last night at an event a lady approached me to offer her Doula services. Needless to say I am not pregnant and it took all I had in me not to scream at her, but it was certainly the slap I needed to wake up my abs and get them into shape.

So, this week I am offering up a challenge should you wish to join me.  In addition to my running, I am going to do a set of  hundreds each day.  Hundreds is a Pilates move that works out your abs and if I wasn’t already in my pj’s I would show them to you, but check out “hundreds pilates” on the web and you will find some great suggestions.  Will you join me?

**disclaimer: I am in no way a Doctor or Physical Trainer. I am going to share with you my thoughts and ideas about how to get into shape again. I strongly advise consulting a medical professional prior to starting any workout routine as well as a professional trainer. I am in no way responsible for any injury you may sustain from trying any of my suggestions.

I have known Cupcake Cowgrrl for a few years now, we have met on occasion but mostly we have connected through blogging. Through our love of being crafty, baking and photography.  I have to say that Cupcake Cowgrrl surpasses me on all levels, but if we had met when I had no kids and lots of free time, I would like to think that we would have been fast friends.  Hanging out at a pub, enjoying a beer and talking about our next crafty project.

I have watched Cupcake Cowgrrl bake for a few years now, admired all the cupcakes she has displayed on her blog and even tried a few icing recipes. But, I had never tasted one of her cupcakes, just admired from afar and hoped that one day I would get the chance to taste one.

Then on Monday Cupcake Cowgrrl was tweeting about having the fixings for some lavender infused blackberry cupcakes.   Or something to that effect.  I told her she was free to drop some off for me, totally joking of course.  Well she decided that I should be hit with her Random Act of Cupcakes and delivered a sweet box of deliciousness right to my door.

The Random Act of Cupcakes started at the beginning of the summer, I think and she has been spreading her love of cupcakes and baking around for others to enjoy. I was so thankful to be a recipient.  Believe me when I say, they are so much tastier than they look.  These are just photos, but honestly they are like little bites of Heaven and I am so thankful that I was hit

Thank you Cupcake Cowgrrl!

More photos from NYC can be found here.

Ok, so I never really stopped working out, I just stopped doing anything more than running.  And well, that can get boring to write about after a while.  Add to that the fact that I have had a hard time understanding why my body just doesn’t want to let go of the last ten pounds I am at a stand still.

I have been to the Doctor and run test after test after test. I have tried different things and still I remain the same.  My Doctor tells me I should just get used to I am almost 40. I was getting pretty discouraged and felt bad to come here and whine about it. But, after talking to a couple of people that told me they missed my Workout Wednesdays, I decided to raise it from the dead.  And perhaps with raising the weekly accountability I can try some new things and figure out why things aren’t working for me.

So please pick up your running shoes and join me, whether it is for a run a walk or some of the exercises I will be demonstrating. Join in and enjoy.   If you don’t run and want to get started there are a couple of ways to do it.  By yourself with the Couch to 5k or locally with others and The Running Room.  I just kept adding distance to my running until I reached that 5k and that is how I got here.  I did run years ago and it just seems to come back to me when I lace up again.

Will see you next week, where I hopefully can raise my abs from the dead too!

**disclaimer: I am in no way a Doctor or Physical Trainer. I am going to share with you my thoughts and ideas about how to get into shape again. I strongly advise consulting a medical professional prior to starting any workout routine as well as a professional trainer. I am in no way responsible for any injury you may sustain from trying any of my suggestions.

I have met many celebrities over the years, or should I say almost met.  I came close to many and felt that I shouldn’t approach them because they were in their downtime.  Who am I to go up to them and and talk to them and possibly interrupt their day?  Nobody, I am just a fan who admires their work, so onward I go leaving that moment behind me only ingrained in my memory.  So, I asked my travel companions what I should do, is the blog celebrity world the same as television or movie stars? Is it alright if I walk up to The Pioneer Woman and shake her hand and blubber on and on in nervousness?  Are there rules for this?

Nobody had the answer.

On Thursday night, when I was celebrating with the other Ladies who traveled to BlogHer in a Chevrolet sponsored by GMCanada, I spotted Marlboro Man going into the elevators.  I was a couple of drinks in and in a good mood and I almost, yes almost yelled out to him, “Hey Marlboro Man, tell your wife we love her!!!”  Then I chickened out and he got into the elevators.  Then, he came back down!  And it took all my Canadian politeness to keep it in again.  This could be the closest I would get to saying hello to his gorgeous wife.  I let it go, I remembered my manners and the fact that he may or may not call security to have me removed from the Hilton.

The conference went on and there were no further sightings of either Marlboro Man or The Pioneer Woman.  I saw her tweets, wished I had been at her cocktail party (but really, I do not cook as well nor photograph my food as well as PW or her guests) so onward I went.

On Saturday afternoon, in between lunch and sessions I dropped into the trade show with A Capital Mom, we were checking out some of the booths, and I turned around and beside me was The Pioneer Woman.  I am sure she was thinking who is this crazy woman pointing at me, but I said, with my finger pointing towards her (sorry Dad, shame on me I know), “May I say hi?”  And she said, “certainly”.  Gosh I almost passed out.  I think I told her I was BeachMama but, did not give her my real name, nerves, then went on to thank her for my mixer, thank her for inspiring so many people with her website and tales of her family and held her hand for a brief moment.  Then let her go.  Off into the trade show, most likely running away from me as fast as she could.

A Capital Mom had sort of moved on and back tracked.  I wanted a photo of that moment, but couldn’t do a self-portrait shot with my big Nikon, so let it ride. It wasn’t like I wanted to pull my iPhone out of my bra in front of The Pioneer Woman to take a picture.  It was ok, I could let it go, I had that memory forever ingrained in my memory.

Then later that evening, we were all standing in the lobby waiting to go for dinner when who should also be waiting, but The Pioneer Woman.  It took a long time for me to get up the courage to ask for a photo and it truly was GlidingLara who convinced me to do it.  GlidingLara wasn’t going to let me let it slip away, so I set up my camera for her (with the flash that I NEVER use) and off we went.  The Pioneer Woman was so sweet, remembered that I was BeachMama to which I told her my real name, we had a small laugh, then moved into better light to get a shot.

And so we have the photo, proof that I did meet The Pioneer Woman, that I did make a huge fool of myself and that I really need to work on my introduction to strangers.

Thank you Pioneer Woman, my smile in this photo alone says so much.  I was really, really happy to meet you in person and to thank you for all that you give to your readers, both in stories and gifts.  You are a gem and an inspiration to others and so, so beautiful. Thank you for letting me get a photo of us and so sorry I didn’t have my proper flash with me, I shot from the hip most of the weekend and didn’t want to carry more than I needed to, lesson learned.

Until we meet again,

BeachMama

I have been trying to decide what to write almost all day.  I have done laundry, wrote a few lines, made lunch, wrote a few lines and downloaded pictures then wrote a few lines.  Then it all didn’t make sense so I started all over again.

I went to BlogHer and I loved it.  My partner in crime and roomie, A Crafty Mom made it to NYC only to come down with a tummy bug that saw her spend a day and a half sleeping it off in bed. I would have rather that hadn’t happened so I could say that the trip was perfect from beginning to end, but it did and we have to acknowledge it.  We did agree that it was probably the best place to be for her to get sick as she could spend the day and a half in bed getting better instead of trying to take care of her children while sick.

While A Crafty Mom was getting better, my other roomie, Barbara, was helping me get around NYC and keeping me encouraged to do stuff by myself.  I had registered for the BlogHer 5k Tutus for Tanner along with A Crafty Mom and thought about bailing out.  Why would I run around NYC by myself in a tutu? Why?  Because I can and Tanner can’t. That is why. With everything that went wrong for Tanner to make it NYC, surely I could put on my running shoes and run around the streets of Manhattan with my tutu flying in the breeze.  Shannon was live Tweeting the run, so she caught me bright and early in my tutu.

I made it.  Imagine that. I am almost 40 years old and I managed to run a 5km square through Manhattan with strangers staring, laughing and me singing, taking pictures and crying.  Yes, crying.  Running is emotional and when you do it for someone else that makes it worse.  Add to that I was tired and the song “Forever Young” by Alphaville started playing as I was pushing the last few blocks. It was all I could do to not break down and sob.

With the run behind me it was officially time to start attending BlogHer.  I made it to the opening speeches and the first round of sessions and was having a great time.  I did expect a little more from the opening, a chance to meet others or something, but we were a large group so there were other ways to get out and meet others that I had to make use of.  The sessions I attended were great.

After listening to others talk about their experiences, good and bad, I have come to the conclusion that BlogHer gives you what you want to take out of it.  I went there with very little expectations.  I have a teeny tiny blog, it isn’t even small to me, just teeny tiny and all I wanted was to either confirm what I was doing was right or should I be moving in a different direction.  And that is what I got.  I got to hear others share in their experiences of writing, photography, small blogs, fitness blogs, environment and activism.  And all of it was great.  Even if all I took away was that I was doing the right thing,  I am happy.

I did not go to Blogher expecting to walk away with sponsors or book deals or even to be recognized. I went for the community and the sharing and that is exactly what I got. Were there sponsors onsite? Sure, did I talk to any, nope.  Did I try, nope. I went to a few parties and built more of my community and it was fantastic.

Was I recognized?  You bet. I met two fabulous ladies whom I have known for a few years now, Emily and Cooper from the Motherhood.  We tweeted with each other and Emily was certain we would meet, I on the other hand wondered.  Then I stepped into a very full elevator and who was right in front of me?  Emily.  And we were going to the same floor.  After years of emailing and talking through blogs and comments I got to give them hugs and share for a few minutes.  And that for me, was fabulous.

I also got to meet Kathy Buckworth, whom I did a book review for and that was really lovely as we were dancing it up on the dance floor and I saw her and knew I just had to say hi as we had tweeted that we should meet up at some point there.  I ran into Erica and Sharon from the Yummy Mummy Club, whom I had met at Winterlude. And Candace from Best Tools whom I volunteered with at the Food Bank. It was a little like a reunion of sorts, but a good reunion, not an old High School reunion.

I also got to meet another special lady, but I must include a photo and really it is a post of its own so I will save that for tomorrow.

So yes, I loved BlogHer10.  I loved the women that made it wonderful for me Shannon, Lara, Brie, Barbara, Shannon, Andrea, Julie, Sherrie and Cheri-Lynn.  And a huge shout out to Chevrolet and Adria for making out drive there and back quite lovely in our fabulous Chevrolet Equinox for our #ChevyBlogHer Roadtrip.

And yes, I would love to attend BlogHer11 in San Diego next year.

I cashed in some Lay’s Chip Trips for a two for one coupon and we headed downtown.  We thought we picked a perfectly cool day and even brought sweaters for the kids, but Mother Nature has been playing havoc on us this summer and we were melting before we left the docks.

We travel Colonel By Drive all the time, but for this ride we got to see it from the water, so lovely and so green this year.

Our tour guide was funny and resourceful and we met some very nice folks from New York, so it really was like being a tourist in our own city. We passed this beautiful walking bridge and J yelled, “Hey that is where we skate in the Winter!”  to which we replied, “we skate down this whole canal.”  J was so amused and thought it was pretty cool that we were now boating on the same place that we usually only skate.

The cruise down the canal took just over an hour and we were hot and hungry so we had a lovely brunch on the Market.

Whether you are playing tourist in your own city or taking a trip somewhere else in Canada, Lay’s Chip Trips has a large variety of discounts available for you to use. It’s not too late to sign up and enjoy the benefits.

Disclosure I am participating in the Lay’s Chip Trips program by Mom Central on behalf of Frito Lay and PepsiCo. I received Lay’s Chip Trip points and a gift card to offset my trip costs to facilitate this post. The opinions on this blog are my own.

I know that everyone brings business cards with them, but I wasn’t sure which ones I should bring.  So I decided to make up a special card to hand out with all my blogging, crafting and photography information on it.  And I selected 50 wonderful photos that best represent me.  Most of them are photos from the beach, but some are from photo shoots.  I chose to go with Moo cards because they were the easiest ones to put together, in the end I wasn’t even sure they would make it here in time, but they did and I am quite happy with how they turned out.  If you see me at BlogHer, be sure to say hi!

 In addition to getting my cards made and ready, I have printed out all my passes and information and got that all organized today.  I had some spare time so I took advantage of it.  I also put everything in my iPhone calendar in hopes that I can keep track of everywhere I need to be.

And one last fun tidbit before I even start to think about what to pack, I have to share that we were given a GM Chevrolet Equinox to drive down to BlogHer for a wonderful road trip.  It all came together so beautifully because A CraftyMom and I were a little leary about our choice of vehicle and then we added another passenger and then another, so for us to ride down in the luxury of a new vehicle is just fabulous.  Be sure to follow us on Twitter as we head down, I am sure you will get a play by play of our journey.

I hope to update you as the weekend progresses, but you never know.. when in New York you just may have to go with it and just be with the city that never sleeps.