So my husband is going back to work. Don't get me wrong he has worked since we've been back in Canada, mainly for himself. He is going back to work for someone or I should say some company and this is a big change for him and even a bigger change for us. For the last 13 years we have rarely been apart and I know this would destroy some marriages and it almost destroyed ours. So you could say I am so excited for him and this change. I am always promoting change. Change is exciting and terrifying at the same time. It's healthy and it promotes growth. I am excited for him to feel apart of something besides this family, excited for him to have a sense of purpose again. But I am mainly excited for the change I hope it brings to my marriage. Let's be honest here distance drives my hormones more than he is aware of. Bring it on baby!!!!!

I found a display piece for the store on Craig's List and it was located in Lake Bonavista, my old stomping ground. I lived there for 25 years, an amazing place to grow up. Anyway my husband and I went down to "Bobs" house and met Bob and his lovely wife and daughter and purchased the unit that Bob actually made himself. Bob is over 80 years old, married to his lovely wife for 60 years and moving into what he called "a home for the dead" I figured he meant a seniors home. So I asked his wife "is it hard to move into a seniors home after all these years of living here"? She replied "No way! it's been 60 years of taking care of Bob, I'm tired". "Shit, I've been married for 11, and I"m $%$#@* exhausted" I mentioned. "Well", she said "good luck with the next 40 years, it doesn't change". Can I move into a seniors home at 41?

So I just returned from a week holiday with my 2 boys and husband. Now I use the term holiday loosely because holidays are meant to be relaxing but when you are looking after 3 males it is anything but relaxing. Thank god for my girls weekend, that was a holiday. This trip was not about me it was about creating memories for my sons. One day we ventured up to Sylvan Lake for the day and while the boys were in the sport store I cruised into the women boutiques to talk to the owners. The common theme among them were that most stores have been affected by the recession but the main culprit to their low sales was the super center Walmart moved in to Sylvan. Now I have always despised Walmart, and my hate for that store grows at a rapid pace. North America was built from the back bones of small business and when the big box stores entered the picture the livelihoods of thousands of merchants crumbled and it's happening again. Please support your local business, they need your help.

I just returned back from a 4 day girls weekend, it has been 2 years since I have been away from my husband and boys and did I ever enjoy myself. Why as women and mothers do we not take more time out for ourselves. I will never wait 2 years to decompress again. Every year I am going away for atleast 2 days even if I have to sleep in my car. On the Friday as it poured rain the whole day, I stayed in my PJ's the whole time and my glass of wine stayed full. I sat under the awning by the pool and just relaxed. The women who I went with were not my friends but my girlfriend's close crew and we were all there to celebrate her 40th birthday. Well when you stick 6 women who are connected through one, in a beautiful house together what do you get...One %$%$# fabulous time !!! I laughed, I mean deep belly laughed for 4 days. I had great conversation with 5 amazing and completly different women. I came home feeling fresh, renewed and hungover (in a good way). If you haven't laughed hard you need to.

Have I mentioned that I used to work in the health club industry. For 1o years I worked exclusively with women, I have figured out that I have formed some level of relationships with all of these women, at least 1000 women, all ages, nationalities, races, you name her I have met her. I was a wellness coach long before it became an actual profession and buzz word. Now I own a retail store and on average I meet 20 new women a day, by that I mean I have actual conversations with them. I am not including just the "hi there" stage women. So get this, in the last 2 years I have met a minimum of 13,600 women. Holy shit! So does that mean that I am an expect in forming relationships with women? Not at all. The one thing I know for sure is that we women are very complex creatures. Men are not. They are the simple ones. Women... well I have never met 2 women who are the same, but I can say that I would rather be a women any day. I toast all of you for your uniqueness, beauty and I am honored that you have stepped into my boutique.

Wow it has been awhile since I wrote and I apologize. This weather has really affected my motivation and I told my husband that I will never say I want to live on the west coast again. The rain really affected my moods this time and it doesn't help when I have been detoxing from sugar. Trying to better yourself and embrace personal growth is hard and %$#@# exhausting. It's interesting though to watch customer's come in the store when the weather is poor. They are non talkative and grumpy. Not like today. There has been a steady flow of people in the store today and they are chatty, happy and in the buying mood. So does weather affect shopping behavior? I think so.

One of the things I love most about having my boutique is that it has become the spot were my girlfriends pop in not to shop but to talk, vent, discuss and visit. At least everyday someone I have a relationship with stops in for a good conversation. Sometimes there will be customers in the store who will start to engage in our conversation and for the short period of time they are here, a relationship is created between them and myself. I have met the most fascinating people in the last two years and have made some amazing connections but my favorite relationship is the one with my girlfriends. Today is Friday and it is normal to find a bunch of women in the store sipping beverages and laughing. This is the best job I have ever had.