In case you’re the forgetful sort (like me!) & didn’t pick up a card yet, I put together a printable Mother’s Day card as a PDF last year. You just need to download the file & print it out. Easy peasey!

My mom & dad are in town this weekend & I have to say, I’m really looking forward to spending Mother’s Day with my mom. I’ve lived in a different city since I was 19 years old, so phone calls and maybe a card, if I remembered early enough, were about the extent of my Mother’s Day festivities. I always talked to my mom on the phone a lot throughout the year & tried to visit as often as I could, so I’m sure she knows how much I appreciate her, but still. It’ll be nice to spend the day together on Sunday.

We probably won’t do anything particularly exciting. I’m thinking puttering around in the garden (which is great because I have no clue what I’m doing out there), a BBQ on the deck, maybe a walk along the sea wall if we’re feeling ambitious. It’s amazing how well I get along with my parents when it’s just us. Big family gatherings (like Christmas) when there are piles of people always seem to stress everyone out & we end up with at least one bickering blow-out at some point. Multiple people trying to talk at the same time fry my ADD brain. Trying to focus on one conversation while others are going on is like trying to get my pug to pay attention to me in a room full of squirrels.

Squirrels aside, I’m incredibly grateful to have such a supportive mom. She was 100% behind me wanting to pursue making art for a living. She encouraged me to travel after high school instead of pushing me to go to college right away. She’s always there for me & never makes me feel guilty about needing help when I have needed it. She rocks.

Now that I’m a mom myself (step-mom, technically), I appreciate even more what a great job she did raising me. I know how frustrating kids can be & I now catch my stepson doing the things that I used to do (that drove my mom up the wall). Why does he go all the way downstairs to pull a pair of jeans out of the dryer BUT LEAVE THE REST OF THE CLOTHES IN THERE? Why??? The hard part was walking all the way downstairs, so once you’re there, you might as well bring up ALL of your clothes, right? No. And you know what? I did that too.

I left my stuff all over the house. Books, nail polish, homework…whatever. My mom would eventually collect it & put it on the stairs for me to take up to my room. I’d walk past it a dozen times before she would finally snap & yell at me & THEN I’d bring it upstairs. I have no idea why I did this, but I swear to god I just didn’t see it. And my boy? Same thing. Argh!!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas out there!

Best $10 I’ve spent in a good long while? A jump rope.

I spend so much time sitting or standing in one spot, whether I’m painting or packaging orders or making jewelry, that it’s about time I got some exercise. I walk the dogs every day, but my pooches are both senior citizens, so that’s verrrrry slow going. I like to play tennis, but it rains so much in Vancouver that I can hardly count on that as a way to get in a daily workout. I’ve started several exercise regimens where I promised myself I’d take up running or roll out the yoga mat in my living room every morning and nothing ever seems to stick for very long. Hopefully something simple like a jump rope will do the trick!

I initially figured I’d do 15 or 20 minutes once a day, perfect little break in the middle of my work day without really having to change my clothes or go to a gym. Ha! It takes me all of about 2 minutes to be totally winded. And yes, I am embarrassed by how out of shape I’ve become. Seriously, when did skipping get so hard??

New plan? Only a few minutes at a time, but 3x per day. It will be great to get my heart rate going every day & will hopefully boost my energy levels too. Now if I can set up a rusty weight bench & punching bag in the back yard, my ghetto fabulous gym will be complete!

Got Craft is tomorrow here in Vancouver and after checking out the swag bag pics on their blog, I’m jealous that vendors can’t line up too! The first 30 people through the door get one of these bags filled with items donated by the vendors of Got Craft. I should qualify “through the door” with the more likely “waited in line for hours”. The bags are getting quite a reputation & I know there were a few people lined up before vendors even started arriving at the last one! Here’s my crafty donation:

I still have quite a bit of prep work to do before tomorrow, so I best hop to it. Hopefully I’ll see you there!

Got Craft? Spring Show

When: Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 from 10:00am to 5:00pm

Where: Royal Canadian Legion 2205 Commercial Drive (@ E.6th Ave), Vancouver

Admission: $2.00 (kids under 10 are free)