Science really does Rock!

As a kid, one of my favourite places to go in Toronto was the Ontario Science Centre. Between the bouncy bridge, the electrostatic ball that made my hair stand up (mine went straight up and out to both sides), making paper, and the machine that said “coffee” in different pitches, it was a great place to spend a day. I went with school, with my parents, and with Girl Guides – usually at least a couple of times every year. Then when I was a teenager, I didn’t go as often – and when I did go I was helping out with younger cousins or my Brownie unit. As an adult, my experience with the Science Centre has been as a leader with Girl Guides (which includes 2 “Sleepovers” with my Brownie unit which mainly consisted of me chasing down 7 year olds who didn’t want to sleep at 3 am and trying / failing to convince them to go back to their sleeping bags) and taking my friends’ kids around the exhibits. While I won’t do another sleepover soon (my Pathfinders prefer to camp and are too old for the official “Sleepover at the Science Centre” program), I have quite enjoyed taking my friends’ kids to the Science Centre. The one problem I’ve had is that the while the Ontario Science Centre has a lot of exhibits that are of interest to adults, it can be hard to see them and almost impossible to interact with them when there are kids around. I mean I’m not going to push a little kid out of the way so that I can play with a fun exhibit – that’s a jerk move if ever there was one. Besides, it’s hard to enjoy the exhibit when you’re also watching to make sure that little Janey doesn’t disappear again or that little Johnny isn’t punching the kid behind him in line. [Please tell me I’m not the only one this happens to out in public]

 

 

All of this is why, whenI heard about ScienceRocks! at the Ontario Science Centre I knew I had to go check it out. ScienceRocks! is a chance for adults (19 + as there is alcohol available for sale) to explore the amazing Science of Rock and Roll exhibit without any children present. I got a couple of girlfriends together and we met up at the Science Centre not sure what to expect but hoping for a fun girls night out at the very least. We were clearly not the only ones with this idea, and a number of couples seemed to have chosen the event as a great place for date night. If you have only been to the Science Centre with kids in tow, you need to come and see it after dark.  There is something about walking through the Science Centre sipping on a gin and tonic that makes you feel like a rebel.

The Keytar is from the 1980s time capsule.

There were so many things to do that I stayed for the whole event (which runs from 7pm-midnight).  I didn’t get a chance to see the IMAX movie about the Rolling Stones (but am aiming for it this time).  I did, get a rock and roll makeover courtesy of The Beauty Team. It was amazing.  I sat in the audience and listened to League of Rock do a few numbers (though if you’re more ambitious than I am, you can actually play with them).  I watched and participated in a presentation on neuroscience and music where we had to clap out different rhythms at different tempos. I ate some of the Fleetwood Mac n’ Cheese (topped with pulled pork – it was amazing).  Then, after taking in all of the various attractions, I headed into the main exhibit.  The Science of Rock and Roll exhibit has something for everyone!  I loved the history exhibits with artifacts from different decades in rock history.  The reactables were a lot of fun to play with and distort all the music and see what effect changing the balance or the instrumentation has on a piece of music. The hands on demo with the different instruments that make up a typical rock band was a ton of fun – I especially enjoyed the left handed bass guitar.  All the adults lined up nicely to take turns and nobody felt bad about trying things out because we weren’t taking time away from a kid who wanted a turn.

 

All in all it was one of the most fun nights out I’ve had in a long time. Sorry you missed it?  Don’t be – there is still one more ScienceRocks! Adults Only night left – Thursday September 18th!  The event on the 18th features all of the fun of the earlier dates plus a ukulele choir (I have to admit, this intrigues me).   There is a hands on session where you can make your own cigar box guitar to take home which looks pretty awesome. The headliners for the evening are Steve Cropper and Jonny Rosch.   I’m looking forward to finding out what Johann Sebastian Joust is all about.  It sounds fun.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the door for non members and $12 in advance or $14.40 at the door for members.  Parking is free.

For more information and to purchase tickets, head to the Ontario Science Centre website.

 

Hair today…

I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. It grows quickly, which is both a blessing and a curse (my one experiment with a fringe was extremely frustrating as I had to trim it weekly to keep it out of my eyes). I’m never sure what colour my hair is – it’s either light brown or dark blonde depending on the lighting and the season. In the summer, I get gorgeous natural highlights. I’ve dyed my hair twice – not permanently, and not recently. Again, the quick rate at which my hair grows would mean that I’d be forever touching up roots and that isn’t something I want to spend time and money on. My hair is what my former stylist (he retired from the haircut business to teach others how to work magic on hair at the high school trade level) calls “poker straight”. I will never need a straightener. It is also incredibly soft. So soft that clips and pony tail holders often slide out. I’ve had some success with curling irons but it usually involves mousse in damp hair and half a container of hairspray to get a couple hours of moderate curl. My hair is fine – when it is short (at my ears or even at my chin) it seems even finer. So for the last decade or so I’ve kept it shoulder length or longer. Every couple of years I donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. The minimum donation length is 8″ but I’ve donated 15″ twice (I still had “medium-long” hair afterwards too). I’m at the point where my hair hits the small of my back so I need to do something about it. This is where the trouble starts.

I’m not a fashionista. I don’t like looking through beauty magazines because doing so often brings up all sorts of body image issues. I don’t know what type of hairstyle would look good on me and though I want a change, I don’t want a drastic one. My best friend has been hounding me for years to get a short haircut. I don’t think that going from below the bra line hair to a short cut would be too drastic for me. I also have a practical need for slightly longer hair – I work with kids who have special needs and being able to pull my hair back so that it can’t be pulled is really useful. I don’t want to have to pull it back all the time and right now it is so long that having it tied back is the only practical option, whether it is in an updo or a braid. I’d love to have hair that didn’t need to be tied back or done up all the time but I’m not sure what that would look like. The other problem is that since my stylist retired, I’ve been bouncing around and haven’t yet found anyone I trust completely. I have had some really bad haircuts in my past when hairdressers didn’t listen to me or when their idea of a trim ended up being 4″ shorter than my idea of a trim. I’m not the kind of girl who washes her hair daily (it’s too soft as it is, and washing it daily makes it even softer and completely unmanageable). I own a blow dryer but have used it mostly to make melted crayon art. I don’t want to buy (or use) a ton of hair products, and I really don’t have time in the morning to spend more than 10 minutes on my hair trying to make it look “right”. I need a style that is pretty much wash and wear.

The final issue is that the last time I donated my hair, it didn’t go as planned. I raised money to support breast cancer research, and donated my hair at a Toronto Argos game. It was my 4th donation so I knew what to expect – two elastics, hair cut in between them. Except the volunteer hair stylist (a friend of a friend) didn’t follow the program and cut 2″ above the top elastic. This made my hair seriously uneven and when it was evened up, it was too short to pull back. I cried for days. It grew back, as it always does, but I don’t want to have that happen again. Given that horrible experience, you may ask why I want to donate my hair again. The answer is simple: it’s something I can do to help others. After the last debacle, while I was feeling sorry for myself after the game, someone approached me to thank me. He told me that a close friend had received a wig through the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign and that it had given her a much needed boost in morale at a very difficult time in life. I have never forgotten his words that night or the picture he brought to show me at the next home game of his friend. I feel that donating my hair is something I should do because I can and because it is a small gesture that can help a woman going through hell. So I’m announcing it here – I’m going to donate my hair in the near future.

 

Now all I need is to figure out what to do with it after my donation. I’m including a pic of what my hair looked like 6 months after my last donation it grew out quickly – it took a lot of fussing with the curling iron to get it to flip and there is a section at the back that flipped the other way so I don’t really want to do this again.  Besides it’s not really a style it’s just shorter hair that still doesn’t do anything. My hair looks like that now except it’s a good foot longer. 

 

My Comfort Zone and Why I’m Jumping out of it for BlissDom Canada

On October 27th 2013, my world was turned upside down. My mum, who was my rock, passed away quite unexpectedly. I had just started teacher’s college and was looking forward to sharing the joys and sorrows of my new career with the woman who had always pushed me to try new things and follow my heart. The last year has been hard.  Harder than I ever thought it would be. I am immensely thankful for the support of friends both new and old, online and offline. Were it not for them, I don’t know how I would have managed.  My best friend dropped everything and drove up when my dad called her and broke the news so that I wouldn’t have to hear it on my own. A close friend from public school and high school who I’d lost touch with came to the funeral. My classmates were phenomenal – the first week back was awkward because nobody knew what to say but they understood when I rushed out of a class in tears. My online community closed ranks around me and were there when I needed to vent and checked in on me if I’d been silent too long. I found a new online community as well – those who have lost someone close to them unexpectedly. We support each other through our ups and downs and celebrate the good times and try to make the bad times as short as possible. I can’t thank these people enough.

Grief changes everything. It is as if you are looking through the word through a mist. Some days you feel the fog is lifting but other days it obscures everything. I know mum wouldn’t have wanted me to stop my life, but some days it’s just so hard to find motivation to do anything. Routines bring comfort, I was back at school a week after mum died (mostly because my program demanded it), but some things brought back too many memories. It took a couple of months before I could return to my Pathfinder unit. Guiding was something special mum and I shared and while continuing in Guiding was what I wanted to do, the first time I put on my uniform I laid on my bed and cried for 2 hours.

I spent the last year trying to get back in the rhythm of every day life. I moved home after mum died, partly to help take care of dad who had lost his partner and best fried, but partly because I needed him to support me too. It hasn’t always been easy, but we have learned to lean on each other and take life one day at a time. I think we are getting closer to a ‘new normal’. I have battled the twin demons of depression and anxiety and while I’m not cured (nor will I ever be), I am having more good days than bad. I still miss mum every day, I still catch myself thinking “I should call her” when I get news, but I’m adjusting to life without her physical presence in my life.

Given all of that, I was surprised when I found myself entertaining the idea of going to BlissDom Canada. I’m not a social butterfly. I don’t like crowds of people when I know many of them. Interestingly, put me in front of a room full of strangers and I’m golden. I had no problem appearing on radio talk shows to talk about military history, hosting a podcast about Canadian Football, or lecturing to 400 students in an undergraduate class. Once I know more than 10% of the people though, I start getting really nervous and imagining all the things that could go wrong or all the stupid things I could say.  It gets bad enough that I have broken out in hives at social gatherings. So why would I want to attend a social media and blogging conference where I would know many of the people either from real life or from social media? The answer is pretty clear – because mum would want me to. Mum always encouraged me to test my boundaries, to push myself out of my comfort zone and live life as fully as possible. She would see this conference as an amazing way to meet people, learn new skills, and have some fun. So I registered.

In the week since I registered, I’ve vacillated between excitement and dread. Financially, it was a stretch to afford the conference fee, but with the discount code from the Yummy Mummy Club and the Early Bird pricing, it was doable. I’m not sure about the hotel – I think it would be really good for me to stay over at the conference so that I don’t have the temptation to jump in the car and drive home, but it’s another expense and the thought of finding roommates brings up even more anxieties – what if nobody wants to be my roommate, what if nobody likes me, what if i make a fool of myself? – so I’m still debating that. I’m reading the posts in the Facebook groups, following the tweets, and reading the newsletters and website obsessively. I’m beginning to swing more towards excitement than dread but I’m still more nervous about this than anything I’ve done in recent memory.

The people I know who are going to BlissDom Canada are awesome. They are telling me how much fun I will have and how nobody will care if i need to escape out of the room for a few minutes to calm myself down. They tell me not to worry about what I wear but, of course, I do. I was never one of the cool kids. I was never what you would call fashionable.  Clothes are something to be worn so that you don’t go around naked. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve worn heels. So I worry that I won’t fit in. I worry that I won’t know what to wear for the parties. I worry that I will be over dressed or under dressed or dressed in the wrong clothes. I worry that people won’t like me. I worry that people will decide I’m nowhere near as interesting as I appear to be online (which is pretty sad since I’m not all that interesting online!) and not want to talk to me.  I worry that since I took the last  year off from blogging (mostly because the thought of one more thing to do overwhelmed me – there are at least 15 posts that I started and never finished), I’m too out of the loop to be at a blogging conference. I worry I won’t have anything in common with the people I thought I knew.

Despite all of this, I’m still going. I have watched the tweets and posts from previous years with a twinge of envy. This year I won’t be reading the tweets and posts from home but from the conference itself. I’m not sure what to expect, I’m not sure I can get through it without a panic attack, but I am sure of one thing: Mum would have wanted me to go. So if you see me at BlissDom Canada with a look of terror in my eyes, come say hi. It’s not you, it’s me.

2 am ramblings

Tonight, I tried to fill my head with beauty to mitigate the horror my mind is imagining to go along with the news stories I read. I worked a holiday concert for a local Montessori school – over 150 children singing and making music and generally being children – which helped a bit. After that I went to my friend’s house, gave their 3 year old her Christmas present and helped her get ready for bed. Her hugs helped mend my heart a bit too. I got to cuddle a 6 month old baby and spend time with his parents. I got caught up in the TV show Arrow (yes… there is beauty there too). I even stayed too late and watched an episode of Doctor Who.

At this point it was 1 AM and I really should have gone home to bed but I couldn’t do it. Instead I drove 5 minutes further west until I was outside the city limits and found a side road to park on. I had my BlackBerry with me for safety and took a blanket, my padded stadium cushion and my mittens and just sat in the dark. In the span of half an hour I saw 14 meteors. I sat quietly, and prayed for the world and for the families that wouldn’t be getting any rest tonight.

After 30 minutes, I drove home, got into my fuzzy pjs and am writing this. I’m not healed by any stretch but my soul feels a little lighter. Sometimes a bit of alone time with astronomical phenomenons in the dead of winter can help our minds proccess the unimaginable.

Hug your children (or other people’s children)! Go out and sit in the dark. Volunteer. Choose your method of healing but acknowledge that our lives have changed forever with the senseless deaths in Connecticut.

Making sense of the senseless

I woke up this morning, a little bleary eyed but happy. I went to babysit a friend’s 6 month old while she volunteered at her daughter’s preschool. Nothing out of the ordinary. This afternoon I sat looking at my BlackBerry in disbelief as I read the stories out of Newtown Connecticut. I spent the better part of an hour just staring at my twitter feed on my BlackBerry as if my doing that would somehow change the news. I wanted this to be a tragic mistake, that somehow, through some kind of Christmas miracle, those children and adults wouldn’t be dead. I cried a bucket full of tears. It put everything in perspective – yeah the job hunt isn’t going great right now but I’ve got a supportive family and a great network of friends. It could be so much worse.

I just don’t understand what has to be going on in someone’s mind for them to take a semi automatic rifle into a school full of children. Yes there is something to be said for gun control but there is also something to be said for the identification and treatment of mental illness with which the shooter was clearly suffering. With the gunman amongst the dead, we will never know his true motivations. What I do know is that there are 26 people, 20 of them children who won’t get to celebrate Christmas. That is a national tragedy.

Please: Go hug your kids, your neighbour’s kids, a friend’s kids. Tell your family how much you love them and how mich they mean to you. Try and make something good come out of this truly senseless tragedy.

Poppies

I have a thing for Poppies. I love them. I love what they symbolize, I love that I can grow them, and I think that they’re one of the prettiest flowers out there.  I also love how they blossom on the lapels of Canadians for 2 weeks before Remembrance Day.  With Remembrance day being less than 2 weeks away, I thought I’d post some fun facts and figures about our symbol of Remembrance (Source: Legion.ca)

• As I mentioned in my post on Remembrance, 18 Million poppies are distributed annually.
• There is NO COST for a Poppy.  They are freely given.  If you wish to make a donation towards the Poppy campaign, that is strongly encouraged.
• There is no “set period” for when Poppies can be worn, though traditionally they are worn for the 2 weeks prior to Remembrance day and the official kick off to each year’s Poppy campaign is the last Friday in October.  Poppies are also traditionally worn at Commemorative Services such as National Peacekeepers’ Day, The Battle of the Atlantic, The Battle of Britain, and at funeral services for Veterans.
• While you can attach your Poppy however you wish, the Legion does not promote using any other pin through the centre of the Poppy (even if it is a Canadian flag or the ceramic Poppy pin that you buy at the Legion) In the words of Legion Canadian Command though their FAQs: “It is the position of the Legion that the Poppy is the sacred symbol of Remembrance and should not be defaced in any way. No other pin, therefore, should be used to attach it to clothing.”  That said, if it’s a choice between wearing a Poppy with a pin through the centre or no Poppy at all; Wear the Poppy!
• To keep your Poppy on your coat or shirt, use a plastic earring back (you can get a package of 50-100 at a dollar store) or a piece of eraser on the pin.  You can also double the pin back but then you risk stabbing yourself.
• Poppies should be worn on the left side – closest to the heart.
• Poppy centres in Canada were originally black, then changed to green to represent the fields where Poppies grow.  In 2002, the Legion changed the centre back to black as that is what a true poppy looks like.
• Proceeds from the Poppy Campaign are held in trust (separate from Legion funds) to be used to help Veterans, their families and to help promote Remembrance.

Please wear your Poppy with pride and remember the sacrifices made by our veterans.

A Remembrance Day Craft Idea: Poppies made with love

Last, but not least, I have a craft that I’ve used with my Brownies, Guides, and Sunday School kids in the past to help promote Remembrance.  It’s a Poppy made out of love.  I was trying to figure out how to make an easy Poppy craft and thought that hearts looked a lot like the petals of a Poppy.  I also really liked the symbolism of the hearts and the Poppies together.

Supplies:  Red paper, black paper (you can also use red and black foam either precut or not), scissors, glue (glue sticks work well if you are using paper, white glue if you use foam), safety pins

Optional: heart punch, Cricut machine (Especially if you are trying to cut out enough hearts for 50 kids!)

Step 1:  Cut 4 hearts out of red paper (If you’re one of those people who can plan things in advance, you can use foam hearts from the dollar store purchased around Valentine’s Day)

If you are using a Circuit Machine, my poppies were made using the basic heart from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge on the 1 1/2 inch setting or the 1 inch setting and the circles are either the smallest circle on the smallest setting or the inside of the charm circle on the smallest setting.

Step 2 Cut a small circle out of the black paper.  This will be the centre of the Poppy so adjust sizes according to the size of the hearts.

Exploded view of the process

Step 3: Apply glue on the black circle.

Step 4:  Attach hearts to the black circle The can either be touching or spread out a bit.  It’s really up to you.

Step 5.  Allow to dry for at least 5 minutes.

Step 6. Attach a safety pin to the Poppy.

The Finished Product

Voila you have a poppy made from love.  It’s a quick and easy craft – the hardest part is the prep work!

Remember

Remember   verb \ri-ˈmem-bər\

1. To retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of.

2. To recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think of again.

(Source: Dictionary.com)

Today is the last Friday in October, which means that it’s the start of Poppy Campaign by the local branches of the Royal Canadian Legion.  I have worn the same poppy for the past three years but I always make a donation into the box whenever I see a volunteer giving out poppies.   It’s a common misconception that poppies are for sale.  Poppies are not for sale, rather they are freely given away.  You can choose to make a donation but it is not mandatory.  According to the website of the Royal Canadian Legion, “During the Poppy Campaign some 18 million poppies and 70,000 wreaths, crosses and sprays are distributed across Canada and overseas annually”.  18 million poppies.  The number is staggering.  When you make a donation to the Legion through the annual Poppy Campaign, the money is used to help veterans and the families of veterans.  The main purpose of the Poppy Campaign, though, isn’t to raise money but to remind Canadians of the sacrifices made by over 117,000 Canadians who died in service to their country.

With the Canadian involvement in Afghanistan in recent years, Canadians have begun to think more about military service and what it entails.  Canada is very fortunate.  2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812, the last war fought on Canadian soil.  As a nation, we do not know first hand the horrors of war.  Our military, however, is full of brave men and women willing to forgo the safety and comfort of their home and native land and serve in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Kosovo, Cyprus, Sudan, and Libya as well as protecting Canadians here at home.   All veterans, regardless of whether they were involved in military action overseas or remained in Canada are eligible for membership in the Royal Canadian Legion.  Regardless of military service, all Canadians are eligible to become members of their local legion branch.  Like donating to the Poppy Campaign, Legion Membership is another way to help support the terrific programs and services that the Legion provides.

My 2012 Poppy.

Back to the poppy though.  One of the most common misconceptions about the poppy is that it is somehow promoting war or militarism when in fact the opposite is true.  The poppy is an international symbol of remembrance, our promise to those who died so that we could be free that we will not forget their sacrifice.  Rather than promoting militarism, the poppy is our unspoken vow to the fallen that their death shall not have been in vain; our promise that we will strive to keep the peace that they fought so valiantly for.   Wearing a poppy over the left lapel of your coat or on the left side of your shirt (close to your heart) is a way every Canadian can say thank you to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

This year, Remembrance Day is on a Sunday.  I truly hope that everyone who is able comes out to a cenotaph near them to pay respect to our veterans.  Every year the number of World War II and Korean War veterans diminishes.  We owe it to all of our veterans to have a strong turnout at cenotaphs across the country this year.  It is likely that this is the last weekend Remembrance day with many of our WWII vets.  Having been fortunate enough to spend time with veterans at my local Legion branch for the past few years, I can assure you that the veterans appreciate it when people take time out of their busy lives to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony.  If you cannot attend, please observe two minutes of silence at 11 am on November 11th.

I close now with the words of the poet Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) in his poem “For the Fallen”, that are spoken at Remembrance Day and memorial services around the world:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

How will you remember?

Thoughts on She’s Connected 2012

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been blogging over at my other blog Adventures with my BlackBerry for the last few months.  I’m going to have another wrap up there but from the technological side of things – how my BlackBerry helped me make connections and made my conference experience more enjoyable.  This is more about the experience I had at She’s Connected (or SCCTO which was the twitter hashtag for the event), what I learned, and the great people I met.

Overall, I had a great time at She’s Connected.  The getting up at the crack of dawn wasn’t something I was looking forward to but I had great carpool with Courtney and Jacki and not only did we get to the hotel an hour before the conference breakfast was supposed to start, the fabulous people at the Renaissance Hotel were able to check us into our room super early (at 7am) so that we didn’t have to come back later and check in or try to do it after the conference when we were tired etc.  I have to say that the Renaissance is a fabulous hotel, and I wish I’d spent more than just one night there!   I’d go back for Grey Cup in the blink of an eye but it’s definitely out of my price range!

I learned a lot about myself at the conference.  I learned I can be funny and witty in real life even with strangers and when I’m scared to death that I’ll say something stupid and they will write me off as a moron.  I learned that mink eyelashes are pretty cool and very dramatic but take a long time to get used to.  I learned that having a professional do a blow out on my hair leads to the same result as me doing one – flat hair in less than an hour!  Not that the stylist from Blo wasn’t really good, but my hair is stupid that way.  It looked fabulous for the hour, but then it was just messy and full of product.   I learned that I really get a kick out of people complementing me on my business cards (which were super fabulous thanks to Lindsay from Grace Announcements).

The sessions were amazing.  It’s impossible to pick just one to single out as the best.  One of the best part of the sessions was that the panelists and speakers were more than willing to meet and speak with the attendees after the panels.  There were 2 time slots in which I couldn’t find a session that I really wanted to attend, one on Friday and one on Saturday.  This worked out pretty well because it gave me a chance to hang out in the McCafe lounge and get my nails painted and enjoy a chair massage.  On Friday I got to hang out in the Molson 67 lounge and learn about pairing Beer and Cheese.  This was really awesome and I’m never going back to wine and cheese again.

Beer and cheese = nature’s perfect pairing.

I learned a lot about trying to find a niche in the overcrowded world of online writing, editing and social media.  I got some awesome advice from awesome people.  I got to meet people with whom I’ve been tweeting and BBMing for over a year (I’m looking at you Christy and Christine).  I learned that if I love blogging (and I do) I should keep doing it.  That getting a chance at a community manager position isn’t as impossible a dream as I thought it would be and that some brands and agencies are okay with paying bloggers.

I missed the Friday ’80s Party because I wanted to go watch the Argos Lose Argo game and play with the Argonotes.  I love playing with the best band in the CFL.  Even when the team loses, we get to go out and entertain thousands of people.  I did, however, stick around for the Shades of Grey party on Saturday night.  There’s not a lot to say about that Party other than wow.  I got gel nail polish put on – it’s supposed to last 2 weeks and so far it’s lasted through me digging in sand and typing so I’m impressed.  The food was delicious!  It’s A Cake Thing made some of the best cookies and cupcakes that I’ve ever had!  They looked as good as they tasted.

The Shades of Grey Cupcakes

All in all it was a great 2 days.  I’m glad it was only 2 days because I was exhausted at the end of the party.  I know I’ve missed some wonderful people and things in this wrap up but the point is, it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go again next year.

Please Excuse my absence.

It’s been a rough couple of months. Every time I think I’m going to get back on track and blog again something happens. First it was pneumonia. I have had it before but I had obviously forgotten just how much it takes out of you. I ended up pulling the muscles between my ribs by coughing so much. Let me tell you – sitting at the computer (or anywhere really) was the last thing I wanted to do. Then, my house was burglarized. I am thankful that it was only material goods that were stolen (Wii, games, DVDs, Monitor, Laser Printer) but it’s still shaken me. I’m pretty good at putting on a happy face and going out into the world but having my space invaded and *my* things taken scared me. It’s especially frustrating since I’m still looking for work and don’t have the money to replace what was stolen. The total for the stuff that was stolen was just under my deductible on my renter’s insurance so there’s no point putting a claim in.  I’ve had to evict a housemate because he a) didn’t pay rent and b) took a swing at me when I asked him about the rent.

The lack of a full time job is also frustrating.  I have applied for over 100.  I’ve been interviewed 10 times (and yes I know that a 10% interview rate is good) but keep hearing that I’m overqualified.  I’ve been lucky enough to find contract work redoing a doctor’s filing system to add dividers and repairing all the broken file folders.  It’s hard work but it’s work and I’m grateful for it.  I’m not sure what the future will hold.  I’ve had more than one company tell me they want a full social media plan as part of my application for the job.  Um.  I’m pretty sure that’s what you’d be HIRING me to do.  If I gave it to you as part of my application, why would you hire me?  Why not just steal my ideas and get someone else to implement them?  I know I sound jaded.  I hate sounding jaded.  I am a trusting person by nature and I hate that I’m becoming less trusting.  I want to see the best in people.  I want to work where my ideas will be appreciated and where I can learn new things.  I want to be challenged in my work.  Is that really too much to ask?

This wasn’t the post i sat down to write today.  but it’s the one that needed to be written.  Hopefully now that I’ve jumped back in, my words will come more freely.