Worst - Kaelan wants to stay the rest of the week and it's really not affordable to leave him.

Funniest - Watching Kaelan's body disappear instantly when he fell while bare footing.

Heading home tomorrow, and wondering what's been going on at the store while I've been away.  Even though things have been left in great hands there is always an accumulation of work that is the penalty of going away. 

Worst - It's so late and the drive really took it out of us causing us to quickly rethink travelling to France in a few weeks for a  holiday.  Save it for next year.

Funniest - Justin has a pet cockatiel named after his favourite skater Jeffery Buttle.  This bird lives in our living room and we all talke to him every day.  Well... yesterday Justin came running to find me yelling "Jeffery just layed an egg, he just layed an egg!!!!"  Hahahaha  I guess a he, he is not!  Now we have to get used to calling him a her and instead of Jeffery Buttle, she is now Joannie Rochette.  After 2 years this transition will be difficulty to get used to, but hey, I can always use more girl power in the house!

The camp we are at is called Winning Techniques, a specialty sports camp with all the traditional camp experiences to go with.  Justin is taking figure skating for the week but he will still get to do the climbing, archery, boating, skiing, crafts and and other such activities.  We are staying for 2 days so that Kaelan may do some extreme water sports and finally learn some tricks on his wake board and possibly barefoot waterskiing.   There is the distinct possiblity that he may learn what the underside of the surface looks like and we are fine with that.  Tomorrow will be a great day, watch my Twitter feed for pictures.  When this mini holiday is over I look forward to getting back to painting.  Did I mention that there will be an awesome new piece of equipment waiting for me at the shop when I return, just wait and see.

Worst - Summer is almost over and all I've done is work!

Funniest - Our bird is squawking his head off, annoying but funny.

I've just finished preparing all the maps and wall labels for the exhibit.  My dad is pleasantly surprised that  I am ahead of schedule, believing for some strange reason that I would still be doing things minutes before the deadline.  I will be glad once everything is up and I can view it as a whole.  I've become to accustomed to the individual images and the appeal has gotten lost on me and so I hope the whole will have the impact that I have been planning.  I have chosen 22 images based on composition, season, and region within the Huron County, 15 of which are printed at a full 40x60 inches.  I went so far as to create a scale model of the gallery space (back to obsessive) and have planned the location of each image to be sure that they all fit.  Now all I need is a crowd for Friday night to fill the rest of the space.

Worst - No change in Scott's condition from the accident.  Still no feeling down his left arm and hand and lots of pain in the neck, literally.  We have 2 MRI appointments for him and saw the lawyer today.  All we can do now is wait.  He's been off work for what seems like forever.

Funniest - One of the students in the class today was showing off his new sandals.  He hates wearing shoes so he painted on a pair to be able to get in and out of stores before anyone noticed.

Sid was forced to the Sally Ann to get a pair of shoes to be able to take the class though as it would be wrong to drop a red hot enamel piece on your foot without any protection.

Worst - Obsessing over the details.  Stymied by the variability I am told that I tend to obsess over the details in all I do.  Everything I put my hands to has to be just so, adding extra work, time and cost.

Funniest - Justin was allowed to create an enamel piece today while the class was working and he did a great smiley face.  Someone else while working away proclaimed "Oh Shit!" at some error and Justin with impeccable timing responded "child here" causing everyone to laugh. 

The worst thing about obsessing over the details is that they are probably details that no one else will notice. I have printed sample after sample of different variations of black and tested various laminates to arrive at hopefully the best choice.  The problem is I have all these taped to the wall and I am unable to determine which is the best.  This is just the latest in the long list of decisions that have delayed the process.  BTW  the picture of the river below did not translate well to black and white... in my opinion.

Worst - Scott's hurting to much to come out and play with me.

Funniest - Watching friends submarine under the lake.

It's great to take a mini at home holiday and refreshing knowing how hard I am going to have to apply myself next week getting all the printing, laminating and stretching completed.  Anyone have a mini sofa that I can put in the back of my store?  I noticed when previewing my images for the show that I missed getting any of my Maitland River.  I literally grew up on the Maitland, spending every day exploring every inch within reach of my childhood home. 

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time.  Unfortunately I started my shooting morning by formatting my media card.  I always start with a fresh card BUT... I didn't realize I hadn't copied the previous day's shooting to my computer.  AAARRGGH.  I had actually gotten a picture of a Heron catching a giant gold carp.  I'd show it to you but alas I am unable so to do so here is the picture that replaced it.

Worst - I still have to pick 3 images for the exhibit.

Funniest - My dad getting excited about picking up their new kitten tomorrow.

After spending about 30 hours working on accounting I am repeatedly asked why I don't hire someone to do that work for me.   Several reasons... another payout for something that I can do myself, loss of control of knowing where I stand and half of it is done at point of sale anyways.  I find it hard to wrap my brain around the fact that someone else would be able to pick their way through this mess.  Well I'm caught up again and just have to re-vow NEVER to let it get that far behind again though other things seem so much more important at the time. 

On the printing front the new printer is running beautifully and the old one was successfully sold.  I hope the new owner is enjoying the benefits of being able to do his own wide format printing.  I just received the product for the laminator now we have to figure out how to cut the 51" roll down to a usable 44".  That's a good project for dad and I this weekend.  Janes class is in the gallery on Saturday and Monday the Celtic college starts and we are hosting the stained glass class and the jewellery enameling class... so I will be finishing my printing work with lots of company but I look forward to the energy that this brings into the gallery.  Stop in to see the great things they are creating.

Worst - 11 hours later and I'm still at work. 

Funniest - Justin's excitement over his new haircut and how different he looks.

I can't believe how the shape of his face looks so different with his new doo.  I swear both of these pictures are cropped the same size!  At least now his skating coach can't complain about his hair being in his eyes.   What a handsome boy!  I'm blessed with 2 very good looking boys. If only I could hold the other one still long enough to get an up-to-date picture of him too!

Tommorow Scott picks up my laminating machine so I am working late to be ready to set it up and get through the learning curve.

Worst - Once again an aching back from the drive.  Think I will head to the hot tub shortly.

Funniest - Trying to keep my bathingsuit in place while going down a waterslide... enough said.

I believe that this was a very successfull day.  I get so involved with what I am doing that I am unable to catch the gist of other conversations and reactions around me.  but... here is where my husband comes in handy.  Scott is so unassuming that people tend to talk freely around him and he stores everything that he hears for me.  Thankfully he heard great things about my presentation.  The Epson rep from the states was impressed with my creative approach to using this printing technology and the framing company may be interested in hiring me to do some training with their individual clients to help them get started.  Now that is over, my next focus is on selling the printer that I just upgraded from, geting the laminator in, and begin preparing for my Blyth exhibit... so little time!

Worst - My back is aching from all that driving.  Still not fully intact from the car accident.

Funniest - The poor guy trying to demonstrate the laminator couldn't get that thing to run smoothly to save his life.  He was terribly embarrased but wasn't feeling well and it was definately his murphys law day.

I can see the benefit that UV laminating will give to our canvas prints.  Speed and increased durability is a big plus and the laminate seems to do a great job of holding together the surface fidelity of the ink when stretching around the edges of the canvas bars.  The other immediate benefit is to get away from having to breath the fumes that the spray leaves behind.  I wonder how steep the learning curve will be?... no matter getting a new piece of equipment is like getting a new toy!