What flavour are you?

Today I went to the Pride celebration in my city. I worked as a volunteer for one of the many organizations helping out with the festival - I worked the beer beverage tent. I helped set up all the umbrellas on the picnic tables and then I helped stock all the tubs of alcohol.

Then I had the honour/joy of being a "Beer Tub Girl". An honour usually reserved for skinny, barely 20somethings hotties. But I was one of the 'chosen ones'... So I (wo)manned my station in the blistering heat and served their beer (and Big Rock Dry Cider) with a smile, some wit and always a "thank you!" It was a fabulous way to spend a few hours outside on a sunny afternoon. The plus was NO mosquitoes!

I hadn't volunteered at Pride before but I'm so glad I did. I like volunteering but I'm an introverted extrovert and I often find new situations awkward and uncomfortable... But this event was just so much fun - and it had nothing to do `with the crowd`- it was just the volunteering - being out, doing something positive and lending a hand. I ended up worked part of a `double shift` because many volunteers didn`t show up - I didn`t mind. It was a few hours from my day and I got to talk to many people, laugh, see some fantastic performers and just have a good time.

I even got told I was the `best lesbian ever` - I just smiled back when that was said. I love people, all people, and Pride, for me, is about celebrating diversity. We are all different - and that`s a positive thing.

How boring would the world be if we were all the same flavour of ice cream?

How being creative led me here...

I love to create. I have since I was a little girl. Whether it was fashioning new furniture for my dolls from scrap pieces of wood in my Dad’s garage or sewing clothes (without patterns) from my Mom’s fabric stash, I was always putting things together to make new things or cooking up ideas for different things.



Sweater Set handmade by Brennan's Mom


I remember re-purposing the foot rest from my kid sister’s high chair to make a table I could use while sitting in bed and turning a first crochet project into a wall hanging (as I’d dropped enough stitches it could no longer be used as the intended pot holder it was supposed to be). I taught myself guitar when I was 13 and even began writing and playing my own songs a year or so later.



Baby blanket & card handmade by Brennan's Mom


I learned to sew, crochet, create with clay, make cards, scrapbook, arrange flowers and a whole host of other ‘crafty’ things because it’s just who I am. And today, when I started questioning my entire career choice, I began to remember all these things about me and perhaps why I chose to go into interior design ten years ago. Because honestly, three hours ago, I had no idea why I’d chosen this field.

Brennan's Nursery designed & all items in room handmade by Brennan's Mom


But what I did realize over these few hours was that I have not created a thing lately. And my job is of minimal creative value and other than my writing; I haven’t made time to do anything. I have a mother/son apron project half cut out on the sewing table and I owe my friend at See Spot Run a final crate cover! I was supposed to sew my niece pajama pants two years ago and then decided to make her gym bag from the fabric because she’d outgrown the pattern I’d purchased. I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 100 metres of fabric waiting to be sewn into something… Anything… But it sits and collects dust instead. And the yarn – I tease my Mom about the thousands of balls of yarn but I’m just as bad – I’m just better at hiding it!


Wedding decorations handmade by Brennan's Mom before she was Brennan's Mom


So although I don’t know how to fix my current dilemma, I know that reading this on The Organic Sister's blog made me think perhaps I should try to apply myself more and find some time soon to get back to the things I know bring me joy.

Diversification is the key?

My blog is new – only a couple of months old and lately, I’ve been having difficulty writing regularly. When I started it, I was MOTIVATED to clean and organize my life and I felt truly inspired – why not share my bumbling tale with others and I shot out of the gate like a winning Thoroughbred!

Except I’m far more diverse. Sure... I’m trying to organize and clean but I also like to postulate about politics, life, children. I like to think of funky design ideas, dream about paint colours and complain about annoying people. I have learned many things from TroubleMaker (my 2 year old) and the Wonder Pup (my 10 year old Standard Schnauzer) that I’d like to share with the world...

I feel that I’ve pigeon holed myself thus far by trying to focus my blog on one idea. I really thought my blog had to have a ‘theme’ – a guiding light that would make it interesting and helpful but I’ve come to see that I have far more to offer everyone by just sharing me and the various parts of my life I write about.

Or maybe you have a design question you’d like answered. Or perhaps want to know about cloth diapers and extended breastfeeding or c/sections and breastfeeding or babies (who turn into toddlers) who do not sleep. Or life as a step child or having your son be the first, fourth and fifteenth grandchild or what family gatherings are like when you have a HUGE (immediate) blended family. I'm open to suggestions too!

Yes, I think it’s time to diversify the Barefoot Deliberations portfolio. I’m not a static, flat person so why should my blog be any different than Brennan’s Mom is in real life? I hope you’ll enjoy the changes I’ll be making in the coming weeks.