Hi! I’m Back!

Hello Babies, I’m back! What a lovely summer I’ve had. I know that it isn’t officially over until the kids head back to school next week, but it is September 1, so here I am as promised. I hope you’ve all had a lovely summer. Did you read anything good? Cook anything good? Make a dream come true?

Today is my Baby Girl’s birthday. Alex turns 22 today… Holy Hannah! I couldn’t be more proud of the woman she’s become and I so look forward to the things she will do. We gab a lot, get to see each other a few days a month

when she hikes out to the boonies or I have to be in the city for something. We spent a couple of days in August down in Niagara-on-the-Lake seeing three shows at The Shaw Festival. (Thanks again for the tickets darling Laura.) If you get a chance to go I highly recommend Peter and the Starcatcher and Sweet Charity, which has one of my all time fav show-tunes: Big Spender.

Boyo has headed off to The Shwa to start college. Actually, he moved in the middle of July so he’d have loads of time to get used to his new life before adding the stress of a new school and all those new people. It’s worked out well. When I asked him what the biggest surprise for him living on his own he said, “How easy it is.” Job. Well. Done.

I took time off from writing about money this summer because I wanted to try my hand at children’s fiction… a chapter book for the 8-10 age group. I had no idea how much the creative writing would eat my brain. So much so that I haven’t painted a thing all summer. So I’m looking forward to getting back to the canvases this fall. I’m going to see if I have any “fiction stamina” by doing three books before giving them over to my agent to shop… assuming my daughter says they’re good enough. I trust her to tell me the truth.

The final edits for Money Talks: When to Say Yes, and How to Say No, have been done and now it’s just down to production. (This is my very best book.) I’m doing cover photography later this month. One of my least fav things in the world is having my picture taken (right after root canal) but I worked with a terrific photographer recently – Andy Vanderkaay – who made the process as painless for me as it’s ever been. Happily, he’s taking the next photo too so I won’t have to sweat buckets and scream inside my head while I’m doing it.

I have a couple of interesting side projects in the works and as I get closer to firming things up I’ll fill you in. I can tell you that I’m having a blast. And that empty-nesting isn’t anywhere near as bad and people make out. And that I am so glad I followed my own advice financially so that I now have the time and the freedom to do with my time and freedom exactly what I want!

I’m heading to New Brunswick on September 9 for a talk on the 10th. Here’s the website if you want tickets. Tabitha will get to spend a couple of days with her big brother while I scoot down east, then I’m home pretty much for the rest of the month except for a couple of days in The Big Smoke towards the end of the month.

My girlfriend, Victoria, and I are planning a road trip to New York State at the end of October to attend a Caroline Myss workshop on navigating change in your life. I’ve read several of her book and look forward to the opportunity to be in here sphere for a couple of days to see what I can learn from her.

Well, that pretty well catches y’all up on life at My Little House.

I’ve read your comments and will make sure you get lots of This & That posts, which seem to be your favourites. I’ve also been reading a wicked amount over the summer so I’ll share some of those with you so you can put them on your holiday list this year. There’ll be new recipes. And, of course, money tips.

If you posted questions over the summer, I didn’t answer any… I was on vacay… so if you want to try again, I’ll be answering a question a week (at least) now that I’m back at work.

Money Talks: When to Say Yes, and How to Say No, doesn’t officially release until January 2016, so if you want it in December, you’ll have to jump on the pre-order so you don’t have to wait for the next reprint. (I love this book, and I hope with all my heart that you do too.) I’ll let you know as soon as it becomes available for pre-order.