Community Impact

I love Sunday's. Its a guilt free day to stay in your jammies and do whatever you want---or don't want to do..I slept in, made coffee, stepped over the dogs who sleep in Sundays too and now Im sitting here, in my animal print jammies rambling about doing nothing. I haven't had a morning like this in a while. I tend to not be very good at doing nothing, so I usually get up, feed the dogs/the cat/make coffee and instantly jump into what needs to get done...but today, I have gifted myself the day off and do not plan to leave my house unless it is required of me to do so for my own personal wellbeing and safety.  I dropped off some bags of food at the Fire Hall yesterday for the town's food drive and they were kind enough, in thanks and appreciation, to offer me my first rescue for free...*laugh* Hopefully I wont have to cash it in on my day off.

Thank you ALL for your votes and emails of congratulations' for my nomination in Small Business of BC award in "People's Choice".....last week I opened my email and was shocked and humbled and excited and overwhelmed by another nomination.. This one is for "Community Impact." so, Ill again shamelessly ask for you to consider casting your sole internet vote in my direction..I'm so grateful I didn't listen to the voice in my head the first time I received my "do you accept this nomination" email, foolishly thinking it was spam and hovering my mouse over the delete button. I was hopeful and excited enough to take the risk of a virus imploding my laptop to click the link. Thank you! Voting ends November 30th.

This way to Vote!

When we chose to move, it was for many reasons. I remember when my gears revved right up and the flame to leave the city was lit...Near our old house, there was this open space. Across the street from it was Home Depot, next to that Superstore, then Wal-Mart Super Center, Safeway, Canadian Tire...all in a 3 city block span. When construction started on the open space, excitement and apprehension... I hoped and pleaded with the Universe with what was going to be built there...something my little community in this huge city was in dire need of. Something that would be a gathering place for families besides a checkout line...Like: a library, a swimming pool, a community center, a recreation center. Any one of these would clearly be the perfect choice, because obviously we were well stocked in our shopping options. Call me old fashioned, but the idea of buying winter tires, paint, hamburger patties, underwear and apples all at the same place has never appealed to me anyways....and when the Lowes sign was lit on that construction site. I completely checked out of planting my roots there and started planting the seed in my own family to leave. Lack of community more often than not happens in large cities. Its hard to maintain when people come and go so frequently that people just tend to not think much beyond themselves anymore. We lived in our house for 9 years and watched our neighbours house on one side turn over 7 times..house across the street 5, eventually all of them..even we stopped introducing ourselves when we ran into anyone at the mailbox...just a friendly wave and off we went.  Having both me and my husband grow up in small communities in southern Alberta, we knew the power of them and that was what we wanted for our daughter. A good life takes a village, for supporting each other, recognizing each other and looking out for one another..my neighbor texted me the other day to let me know my garage door was wide open....whoops... I truly appreciated her doing that for me.. especially since my garage is the holy grail of my furniture stash of soon to be revived awesome pieces Ive hunted the world and many barns and alleys for. The Mister did it....I thought "accidently" but he confessed that he was kinda hoping to park in there this winter *grin* (Bahahaha!)  When I was working late at the shop one night, unloading pallets of paint with Liam and Vic from van Gogh and the Mister, there helping me prep for a huge workshop I had going on the next day, someone called the RCMP to drive by and check on things since it wasn't normal to have action in there at that time...I really was so grateful..because what if right? Casual conversations always ends with "and what was your name" so the next time we're in line at the post office together, we'll remember each other. The support I get at the shop means more than just people coming into shop, joining me at a workshop or buying a piece of my furniture. Some just pop in to visit. To have tea and see what I'm working on, to let me know they just saw my daughter over at the skate park or to ask about my husbands new job. I had a couple come in to tell me about a doctor in town who was accepting new patients, all because in casual conversation a few months earlier, I mentioned we didn't have one.  I am being supported by a community who really rallys behind itself to *be* a community and when you get supported, you feel the need to then go out and support--to pay it forward--to take the time for someone else and that's the grease---that's how communities work and isn't that awesome?!  ReVived Vintage was my dream...yes..and Im blessed and grateful every single day to go there and live it...but so was living in a place just like this, to have my daughter grow up here with the values being lived and taught everyday outside of our home, that are so similar to what we teach her inside, and I'm grateful every single day that, on whim, we came to this island, found this lil town and chose to plant our roots here.