Seniors

During the week I have a large amount of senior visitors. They come in and wander around the store commenting on the antiques and making references to their earlier years. 90% of them don't purchased and that does not bother me at all. I completely understand. They are out enjoying the day, socializing with their friends and window shopping. I will usually start a conversation with them. Whether it is a simple dialogue about the weather or a complex conversation about the current election. This population makes me smile and laugh. What I learn from this population is lessons on life. Ask a senior a question and most of them will love to tell you what their opinion is. They are always gracious, kind and polite. The younger generations could learn a lot if they lifted their eyes up from their mobile vices and turned their ears on and REALLY listened.

As I sat down for the Thanksgiving feast that I hosted this year, I looked at the 14 friends sitting down laughing and talking in front of me as well as watching the 7 children running around the house playing and I allowed myself a "be there" moment. Something I have been doing for awhile. Just truly being in the moment and breathing. I am incredibly blessed to be living this life and thankful for my family and friends. Just 1 day prior to my dinner party a dear old friend informed me that his mother had suddenly died. Poof! her life was gone. Wow. I am attending the funeral next Monday, haven't been to one since my mother passed away. Yes I will say it again, over and over...I am blessed.

So the store just turned 2 years old. Where is the time going? When I take time to reflect I am truly surprised on what I have accomplished. I am proud to announce that my cream and body line can now be found at the hot Vancouver boutique Fine Finds in Yale town. It is amazing what you can do when you have a clear vision and concrete goals and a realistic time frame. Being a wife and mother I have to make sure that I set realistic goals because work is second to them, but I wouldn't have been able to make it to my second year without some amazing people. I really want to thank my personal board of directors for helping, guiding, mentoring, and unconditionally loving me. My family, Janet, Dana, Tammy, Katherine the BCWG women, Virgina. Cheers to all of you and thank you for your love and support.

Today my sons went back to school, and I was so happy that I almost felt guilty. Knowing that they are safe in their classrooms and busy all day while I am a work eases my heart. I love summer and the freedom it brings but when you are a working mom it's a different ballgame. Trying to balance children, home life and work is extremely difficult. Something suffers when you are a working mom and this summer it was the time I spent with them. Because the weather sucked so bad, sales were down and I had to work most of July. So the boys went to camps. Week after week I sent them to our community camp which they enjoyed but I still felt bad. So having them back at school eases my heart.

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.