[i] LoveLife

Luck be three ladies!

 Hey!! Surprise post, but THANKS TO KRISTEN'S TIP we found our boot!! When I saw the comment AWESOME-Kristen left this morning we rocked over to the bakery we stopped at yesterday AND LO AND BEHOLD we found the boot!!! Thanks Kristen!! YOU ROCK. Since FIND-BOOT is not off our TO-DO list I've added FIND-SOMETHING-AWESOME-FOR-KRISTEN to the list instead. I know just the thing since I'm headed here this morning...
On the way back by the shops it totally blew Pilot's mind to see a Meow (that's our word for cat) in the window of a closed bookstore. I thought something was up because the book display we saw yesterday was all knocked around, but obviously kitty-kitty didn't like the titles. COOL ANYWAYS. Crash would make a fantastic window dog.

Three cheers for Kristen!! Hip, hip hooray!!

Out like a lion.

Hi Tuesday. Hurray for life. I have successfully tied up a bunch of loose ends that were eating up my brain. Yay! My girl tribe and I celebrated by taking a long walk around the neighbourhood in the sunshine. Oh, what a beautiful day. We wandered over to see Grandma Janet and find out about her trip to the Domincan Republic. We meandered by the natural bakery and bought fresh buns. We lost one of Pilot's super cool UGG boots so we retraced our exact steps BUT NEVER FOUND IT. Rats. SUPER rats! But, we also managed to feed a big grey squirrel a fruit chew RIGHT OUT OF MY BARE HAND. That was cool. One of the things I love about our area is that the posts are covered with posters and announcements. Layers and layers and layers. Billions of staples. This one caught my eye because I am a big fan of both Steve Earl and acoustic concerts. And the design of the Weakerthans poster. And the texture of the post itself. And the disintegrating papers. And just about everything to do with these reminders that there is a whole lot of things going on all the time. Visual good stuff.

Today: I'm pumped! We're off to do errands and meet friends and break in some new wheels. I'm in search of a good book to start. We have four ENORMOUS bags of clothes to drop off for Goodwill. I have a box of goodies for the Foodbank. We're picking up some prizes and donations for a social on the weekend (it's for Tammy so email me if you want tickets) and we're crushing our TO-DO list with hot vanilla latte in hand. I'm also on a mission to get fresh flowers to pretty this place up. I feel like spreading some cheer and doing nice things for people. Come to think of it Pilot could use another boot, too.

Alright. See ya later March: you were AWESOME. GO!

Spring is the thing.

[Awesome photo by Beth and her iPhone from some shop in Minnesota. Very cool! ]

Hi Monday. Another great and busy weekend including a little painting time, a little brunch with relatives, and a little cleaning out the basement. It's not really full on spring around here yet, but it's coming. I've definitely got the start of spring fever. I feel like making lists and airing out quilts. I feel like getting rid of ugly winter sweaters and stretched out toques. Thanks to SuperDan I got the opportunity to paint a little but I was so distracted by the state of the basement I started SWEEPING. S-W-E-E-P-I-N-G. And that is how I figure I know the world must be coming to an end. I never sweep. Sweeping is for men.
I can also tell that spring is coming because Crash is looking longingly out the window giving big heaving sighs. Silly dog. As soon as the ice is melted my girl tribe and I will be hitting the pavement more regularly with our pooch. Crash, I PROMISE. (I haven't had a chance to run since the snow storm because there's been A HECK OF A LOT OF SNOW. This week will be better. My goal is 10km... which is probably pretty lame, but I'll start low and work my way up.)

PAINTING + POUTING. I got a lovely, lovely opportunity to paint on Saturday afternoon. Only I couldn't find my groove AT ALL. I started about 5 different pieces and just couldn't get my point across. Which got me all agitated. Which made me panic because I was running out of kidfree time. Which is where the pouting came in. Which was all and all kind of a stupid way to spend the afternoon. I'm not gonna lie. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that Pilot + Penn have been working me over the last couple of night with their tag team I-AM-NOT-SLEEPING-IF-THE-OTHER-ONE-IS night routine. It will pass, I know this... even in the middle of the night they are still pretty cute. But, I'm so tired I'm turning delirious.

SO other than posting more Pilot + Penn photos - this post is a bit of a wash. OH YEAH! I have some winners to announce. I promised to draw a name from all people who bought YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print sets before March 27th. The winner gets a 12 x 18 Custom YOU-ARE-AWESOME poster... I had Dan do some random drawing and THE TRUTH IS THAT I HATE PICKING JUST ONE WINNER. So we picked two.

And the 12 x 18 poster winners are:
Juel McDonald
Laura Singleton

Okay, then I wanted to pick another - so an 8x10 poster to:
Debbie Rosenkranz

AND I can't help myself - how about one more 8x10 poster to:
Cheryl Dyer

Whew!If you are one of the winners - please email me ASAP so I can get your poster made for you. Thanks to everyone who bought a YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print set. I wish I could have picked even more, but I'll end up living on the streets. I can tell you that I have exactly 15 sets left and then that's the end. I can also tell you that $35 Canadian is pretty good deal for the rest of the world and the SHIPPING IS FREE.

Today: We have a LOT of places to go. Penn has literally 1 more diaper so we must rock and roll before any major blowouts occur or I will be forced to use our curtains on her butt. In a perfect world I would revisit a painting I started on Saturday to see if I can turn it around and fall in love with it. It feels pretty perfect - but that is probably my delirium setting in. I'm hoping for a Tiny Art posting this week. Bonnie & Cash are coming from the West Coast to visit and I can't wait to catch up. I hear the coffee percolating right now.

Fill 'er up. GO!

Hold the phone.

Eeeep. We're busy bright and early today. No time to chat. Hurray for Friday!

Today: Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law that I have never met. (Hi Jessica!) Get your orders for YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print sets in today because until midnight tonight (CST) you will be entered in a draw for a Custom YOU-ARE-AWESOME poster or two. Sweet. Sweeter. And sweetest.

GO!

FAQ + FSS

Hi Thursday: you could not have come soon enough for me. Yesterday was good. Pilot and I made cookies. Penn and I cuddled for a full half hour UNDISTURBED. Wow. It was a full on SNOW STORM out there which always brings delicious chaos. I love snow storms. I love a big ass dump of spring snow. It happens pretty much every year and EVERY YEAR people act all surprised. It makes everyone go crazy: driving wacky, crying about spring disappearing... even Crash went outside yesterday morning and stopped in the doorway and gave me one of those WTF looks. Funny. Amazing how you get three days of spring-like weather and the idea of spring becomes our new habit.
We had our buddy Otto the Boston Terrier over for the day again. He's so cute. Pilot adores him. Actually, she adores tormenting him. He is not so sure about her - especially after she chased him around with his 'house' and then decided that SHE should spend some time in his kennel. Don't worry about him though - he got back at her by chewing up her brand new organic, wooden, design-award-winning elephant that she JUST GOT THE NIGHT BEFORE (sorry Dean + Eila!).
I gotta give Otto credit though - that beautiful little elephant didn't leave her dirty little hands all day. But, the minute she put it down - he snatched it up and chewed the face beyond recognition. SHE WAS VERY UPSET. And I couldn't help my instinct to shout BAD-DOG in hopes that he would learn not to chew up toys. This served two purposes: he didn't eat anymore toys and she was thrilled to run around after him for the rest of the day shouting 'BAD DOG, BAD DOG!' at the top her little lungs. I didn't care for the shouting, but it was terrifically funny to me when she knocked over the bowl of dog water and pointed to HERSELF shouting BAD DOG, BAD DOG!
Penn and I got some extra time to hang out together because Pilot tired herself out chasing Otto. The nickname Peaceful Penn has grown into Poor Penn. Seems like the whole world was excited for Pilot's arrival - and I completely understand that part of that energy was for me and Dan - going from kidless to parents. I get that. It just seems like Penn has been forgotten about. Even by our familes. That's probably how always it goes... but, my heart breaks a little because she is every bit a cool person. She has definitely nestled herself a special, special, special place in my heart. I feel like she needs someone to notice her - protect her - stand up for her. Baby girl - I NOTICE YOU. I see your sweet self in there. I see you...
She is such a sweet girl... (I love that her face and features are starting to unsquish themselves.)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS + FREQUENTLY SAID STUFF.

Let's start with the FAQ:
What time do I wake up in the morning? EARLY. Really, early.
How do I get so much done in a day? Dan and I threw out our TVs when we got married (so you will never hear me discussing which stars are dancing). I like to feel productive, I like to keep moving, I like to .
What is my 'day job'? ACK!!! I get this question a lot. I'm an artist/designer/writer. I own a design studio, wrote a book, paint, sell paintings and take pictures. That said, I'm raising two really small people right now along with doing my regular things like painting, designing and all that jazz.
What kind of dog is Crash? A pure bred Boxer.
How do you create your Bulletin Boards? I'm a Photoshop Wizard. I say wizard because I think that's a lower rank than czar or master, but still awesome.
Can you teach me Photoshop? No.
Can I be found on Twitter? Get serious.

Now the FSS:
You're so LUCKY to be living your dream of painting and designing for a living. Oy. I take the word LUCKY really personally. Yes, I'm totally lucky in the sense that I have not been struck my lightning or stung by killer bees. I'll agree to THAT. I'm not so luck that I have won a gazillion dollar lottery or found a 50 carat diamond up my butt. But, LUCK has nothing to do with making the commitment to follow your heart, work very hard and make your passions your full-time gig. 
You're so LUCKY you get time to paint. ACK! ACK! ACK!! I make time to paint by paying/trading/begging people to watch my kids or by missing out on other things; LIKE SLEEP.
You have cute kids. Thanks. They're not all that attractive when they're screaming their heads off tandemly, in the middle of the night, and without their dad hearing a bit of it. (But, thanks - I think they're cute, too.)
Dan rocks! This I know. He's totally awesome and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Alright. In regards to the comments left yesterday with the HABITS you're working on... THAT WAS frickin' AWESOME. If you haven't read through the comments - go do that. Totally inspiring. It will make you want to floss your teeth and eat veggies. I was NOT expecting such a big response so instead of picking two winners - I had to pick three. If you are one of the comments below - EMAIL ME YOU ADDRESS so I can get Super Dan to send you a set of YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print sets.
Very cool indeed.

One of my habits is making sure there are fresh flowers around here as often as possible. (These daffodils are a gift from Dan). Seems like no matter how much chaos or mess there is - flowers bring a sense of peace.

Today: We are getting OUT OF THE HOUSE. We're off to brave the big dump of snow to get groceries and stop in for visits with friends. I love snow like this. HOWEVER I'm not jogging outdoors until the snow melts... so I need to get off my lazy butt and ride the exercise bike at some point OR JUST STOP STUFFING MY FACE WITH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. That would probably work, too. I'm going to try Pilot's Crayon Diet to see if that works for me. ;) I'm heading out for dinner with an old friend tonight and really, really, really, really looking forward to some adult conversation and kid-free time. YEAH!

Here we go. GO!

Bit by bit.

So. Everything took a little longer that I thought it would yesterday. The stormy, icy weather meant a little rearranging of TO-DO's and a little bit of bite-your-tongue patience... BUT, I got my errands done, I got the girls into good hands, I got to paint, and I got a kick-ass haircut to boot (thank you Tamara!). It's still taking me longer than usual to find my paint groove and once I find my rhythm I am three times as pissy about being disturbed. Which makes me frustrated on all kind of levels. I was happy to be painting. Frustrated to hear my chicks having fun/not-fun with someone else. Happy to have a break. Sad to be away from them. Happy to be making some time for myself. Frustrated that I was taking so long to find my zone. I want this so I will push until I figure it out. [Yikes, it looks like I have man-fingers!]

NOTE TO SELF: TOTALLY inspired by the muddy colours of spring. Brown is not a natural palette for me, but it's everywhere and I found so much inspiration driving around in the grey, grey world of spring melt.

Today: Who knows. Now that I have a couple paintings on the go - it's like opening Pandora's box. I can't seem to zen out and pay good attention to much else. Which isn't cool or fair to my small people. Not so sure that Pilot or Penn are interested in cleaning out the basement - so that's out. Grocery shopping. Maybe some mall walking. Definitely some napping. Custom YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters need some work. I have a feeling Grover, Big Bird and Elmo are in my near future. I'm going to dig out the baby monitor so that if the stars align I can sneak away to the basement during naps. Okay, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

HUMP-DAY-GIVE-AWAY: I have two extra sets of YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini prints. Who wants them? Leave me a comment for a chance in the random draw. Hey - tell me what habit you are trying to form in your life... besides painting time and exercise - I'm trying to show my cuticles a little love (and make sure Dan knows how much I appreciate him).

Start with coffee. GO!

Three times a lady.

Singing in the rain and all that jazz. Yesterday was exhausting. My girl tribe was up entirely too early so by 9am we needed to go for a walk before we started turning on each other. So off we went for a LONG walk in the mist and rain. We walked and splashed and looked like quite the traveling sideshow - 2 dogs (we were baby-sitting Otto the Boston Terrier), 2 kids and one lady ring master. Out of the blue - an old lady we see walking from time to time waved us into her house for tea and to gift us a mighty precious orchid. GULP. She might as well have handed me five sets of newborn twins because I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH PLANTS. Especially not high-maintenance expected-to-be-beautiful type plants. When she got to the part about planting them with live ashes I just glazed over and ended up feeling a wee bit sad for the plant that was just sentenced to live out the remainder of its life at our house.
Then we tromped and bomped through the icy, mushy, puddly mess home. I suddenly remembered that I TOTALLY FORGOT that my sister-in-law AWESOME Tamara was on her way over to hang with the girls so that I could go for a run (Thank you, thank you, thank you Tamara!!). Which means that after we walked 3 miles - I ran 3 miles, went to 3 stores for errands and had 3 mega cups of coffee. We watched the same Elmo dvd 3 times. Pilot had 3 meltdowns. I did 3 loads of wash and then 3 BIG pieces of chocolate - which seemed more appropriate than having 3 bottles of wine at 3pm in the middle of a rainy-gloomy afternoon.

Today: I'm leaving my girl tribe in the hands of nanny Kelsey so I can go downstairs to get some painting time in. Holy crap - I'm POOPED from yesterday. I've got too much on my mind and I'm going to try to paint it out so that I can GET ON WITH LIFE ALREADY. Until 2pm today - it's my turn... hopefully I come out of this one with a painting.

Off to the races. GO!

On your marks!

Hi Monday. That was a fun weekend. The girls were terrific. I got myself all hooked up and dialed into Nike+. I'm not much of a runner. I haven't run in about three years. Four years if you count the time I was recuperating after fracturing my hip in a fall at the dog park. And even then - I preferred alternate forms of exercise. Prior to my trip to injury-city I was a workout junkie and fitness instructor. I got up at 5am to be at the gym for 5:25am. 5 days a week. And before that I taught high-impact aerobics. FOR A DECADE. Fitness isn't new to me... it has just been on a bit of a hiatus while I was making some people. I recently went to a big-deal acupuncturist in Saskatoon and after a week of treatment he said the best thing I could do was to run as fast as I can. Which sounded about as ridiculous as if he had said RUB YOUR BUTT WITH CINNAMON HEARTS. Because just about everything I did/do - hurts. BUT I strapped on some shoes this weekend and ran jogged. Running seems like the most logical FIT-IT-IN exercise that doesn't include traveling to a gym or taking big chunks of time that I don't have. (It's like Tiny Art for my body.) IT FELT sort of AMAZING for the first 7 minutes to stretch and move. And then I just waffled back and forth between 'I'm going to die' and 'I must be already dead'.

But WHATEVER! I made it back and plugged in my iPod to SEE how my run charted. And then Dan and I laughed because my run graph was all up and down and up and down. CRAZY bad. But, who cares! I got the ball rolling. THE REALLY COOL PARTS: that I felt amazing after my heart and lungs came back to life AND that Dan decided HE wanted in on the action, too. So cool because we can run together without having to RUN TOGETHER. And we will both benefit. He loves charts and graphs so I should have guessed he would be into this. I just assumed that he would be WAY better than me... afterall - he has not grown any small people lately. So he went running on Sunday and came back HUFFING + PUFFING. When we plugged the iPod into my laptop it was so interesting to see that where my run was slow and fast and here and there - his was a nice and smooth and textbook. BUT WE WENT THE SAME DISTANCE (I actually went 0.01km further!!) IN THE SAME TIME. Woot!

So NOW it's GAME ON. I'm gonna KICK HIS BUTT all over town. I have several friends and relatives using this Nike+ system and I'm pumped about it. It feels good to be excited about exercise. This is certainly using technology for GOOD instead of EVIL and I am TOTALLY pumped to get into a routine of regular SHORT runs where I can fit them in.

OKAY. Enough about that. Chatty-Cathy here. I said I'd post the winners from Friday's post on SATURDAY but I was too busy having a good weekend. I totally LOVED going through and reading everyone's DREAMS. I also wanted to add that there is no such thing as THE dream. Write that down. There is only YOUR dreams so keep on living it. If you see your name here then EMAIL ME because you each won 2 LoveLife magnets of your choice. Sweet.

AWESOME. Thanks for playing along. I love reading the comments. I have another giveaway that I will post on Wednesday. Watch for it.

Speaking of awesome...

Penn is still a peaceful, easy-going little doll. It was especially cute to see these two snuggled up on the couch because Dan's been waiting a long time for a baby to cuddle with him. Pilot has NEVER been one for snuggling up. At all. EVER. Sweet Penn likes nothing more...

She doesn't know this yet - but, she's gonna love this guy. A LOT.

Alright COOL. Productivity! I also got some new Tiny Art posted yesterday...

Today: We must get out for exercise + errands. We have a whole bunch of YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters to pick up. And mini print sets. I feel like I'm starting to find a routine. A bit. We've got Otto the Boston Terrier hanging with us again today because his owner is at work FILMING A MOVIE. That's pretty cool. Pilot is looking forward to chasing Otto around with her toys again (poor dog) and Crash is always up for a buddy. In the mean time - more coffee please. We're on the bring of a busy, busy, busy week.

Let's get it started. GO!

Run, run, run, run, runaway.

Hi Friday. Yesterday rocked. My girl tribe was being especially agreeable and we got everything done. EVEN GOING TO THE MALL so I could buy runners and get myself all dialed in to burning some calories. I'm all set. Nikes + iPods + a target of 12000 calories in 12 weeks. I'm not one for publicly posting fitness goals - but, I've never had such a jiggly flop before either and I'm feeling pretty serious about this. My body is needing to stretch and run. FAST. Peaceful Penn is 6 weeks old and that means my grace + healing period is OVER. In the past, I haven't been much of a runner. BUT, I haven't been the leader of a girl tribe either. SO, I find HOPE in CHANGE. [You can find me on the Nike+ site where I set up my profile last night.]
I like this YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print from the set. Wwhen my frustrations are maximized and there are little people busting my eardrums and I haven't painted in a few weeks and my body hurts and Dan is leaving his dirty socks all over the place and I'm TIRED - this is the card that I turn to. YOU ARE LIVING THE DREAM. I am. I just forget sometimes. I think a lot of people forget this. So...

FEEL GOOD FRIDAY: I'm loving spring and getting organized and feeling clear - that feels like living the dream to me. IT ALSO makes me want to GIVE STUFF AWAY. Leave me a comment with the dream you are living and I will be giving away two sets of MAGNETS (of the winners choice) and maybe some other really good stuff. Comments are open until midnight CST and I will post the winners tomorrow (AFTER I RUN!).

Custom YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters are available here. YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print sets here.

Today: We have visitors this morning. The small people will seriously outnumber the big people in this house AND THAT'S COOL. I can handle it. It was a productive week and it's time to have some laughs and play. And orange slices for a SWEET LIFE. I need to pick up shipping envelopes and posters with my girl tribe. I'm hitting some Tiny Art during afternoon naps and when my awesome husband comes home - I AM HOPING THAT HE BRINGS ME SOME WINE. Aloooooha Friday.

GO!

You should see the other guy.

Mr. Potato Head and I were a little worse for wear by the time 5pm rolled around yesterday. ALL MESSED UP. Could be because I had wine for lunch, but it was PROBABLY because that Pilot kid is a firecracker. Most of the time she's pretty good - hilarious in fact. And sweet. But, when she's not being pretty good - she's being REALLY BAD and REALLY LOUD. If you think Mr. Potato Head looks roughed up - you should have seen Penn. Poor sweet baby. It was NOT her lucky day because she was in the direct line of fire every single time Pilot breezed by. Including a big scratch on her head. AND a little topple off the couch. Ouch.
Pilot, I've decided, is like one of those doesn't-know-her-own-strength monsters... because most of the time all she really wants from Penn - is a hug.

Other than that - we went non-stop. All day. Out of town. In town. All over town. Groceries. Posters. Prints. Laundry. Work. Naps. More work. More naps. And then a little more work. It's definitely not seamless yet, but we're having a pretty good time (when we're not causing injuries or tears). I am not getting as much painting done as I want to... but there are only so many hours in the day, I guess.

COOL TIDBIT: The YOU-ARE-AWESOME mini print sets have been ordered from 12 different countries. That makes me happy - like blowing one of those dandelion seed puffs and filling up my neighbours lawns with weeds. (Tee hee.) The Custom YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters are warming my heart, too because they are pushing their way into people's homes. Dan is a shipping-machine working every single night getting things ready for the post. There's a lot of awesomeness around here.

THE TAX MAN COMETH. April is a busy month for Dan because he's an accountant and APPARENTLY you're supposed to file income tax things around this time. LA TEE DA. No one told me! My girl tribe and I are busy finding other things to do with ourselves because Dan's ridiculously good at his passions and that makes him very busy at this time of year. In DEMAND. Popular. Working hard. He's a money wizard so if you need your income taxes sprinkled with some magical dust - email him. (CERTAINLY DON'T email me about taxes because that will make me throw up on the spot.)

Today: We're out and about in the morning again. Home in the afternoon. Trying to get outside as much as possible to tire Pilot out. I have YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters to finish. I have to finish some other work-type junk that's getting on my nerves. I'm also going to attempt to get to the store to buy myself some new runners (with my girl-tribe in tow) so that I can jog off the last of this jiggly belly. I'm not so sure that will be as easy as it sounds, but YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.

Three more cups of coffee, please. GO!