some 2009 conversations

It is amazing how one thing often leads to something else, starting with a conversation:

• “Why don’t we ___?”
• “Would you be interested in ___?”
• “You should talk to ___”
• “I’ll introduce you to ___”
• Etc.

This past year has been such an amazing progression of conversations the connections and decisions that arose from them. Here’s a brief (and not comprehensive) outline of the year:

January

• Minus 40 Tour with Dara Hallett. This was the result of a conversation in September about the possibility of touring together. So we made posters & tickets, made some calls and booked some places, and hit the road for 3 weeks, singing in churches and coffeehouses. Eric Lafrance of Jawbone Studios recorded our final concert in Moose Jaw.

February

• Lots of conversations result in a full team for Martha Morgan’s book Notes from Over the Hill.

March

• Progress continues on Martha Morgan’s book.
• Had been contacted ‘out of the blue’ by Otto Guggemos, a fellow alumnus from Regent College. He had digitally remastered the cassette of my thesis project, and the CD arrives in the mail this month: a nice birthday present.

April

• Excellent visit and prayer times with Judith Oldridge and Tammy Evans in Carnduff, SK where they had me sing in their coffeehouse.
• My sister Jaime turns 40: wonderful party in Carlyle, SK.
• Meet the Jost family when they give a concert at Strasbourg Alliance Church. Beautiful mutual blessings.
• First date and conversation with Kevin McCubbin in Calgary.

May

• Release Notes from Over the Hill before Mother’s Day.
• Conduct songwriting workshop at Write! conference in Saskatoon.
• Rich, artful trip to BC.
• Kevin visits me at the Calgary airport during my layover to BC.
• Writing retreat with Kathleen McMillan. Conceive the BlueBeary children’s book project.

June

• Hire illustrator for BlueBeary; edit, design, layout, conversations with our printer—Friesens in Altona, MB.
• Host art retreat for Andria Wiehle.
• Martha Morgan receives good feedback for the font.
• 4-day tour with Martha Morgan.
• Receive Award of Merit from Canadian Christian Writing Awards for “Child of My Heart,” co-written with Dara Hallett, Lisa Cornish and Betty Taylor for Options Pregnancy Centre.
• Kevin takes a day off work and visits for Father’s Day weekend. We have lots of conversations and start dating.

July

• Start pre-selling Colleen & Dara’s live CD from the Minus 40 Tour
• Digital version of the Minus 40 Tour music available online.
• Participate in gospel jambouree in Spiritwood, SK
• Colleen & Dara coffeehouse at Arlington Beach family camp.
• Visit Kevin in Calgary for long weekend, meet his daughter
• Kevin & Steph vacation in SK for 9 days.

August

• Official release of BlueBeary on August 1st. Kathleen becomes VERY busy with farmer’s markets, trade shows, and bookstores.
• Open a Twitter account: www.twitter.com/siretona.
• Kevin attends a wedding in Spiritwood and meets most of the family on my mother’s side. But don’t expect him to remember any names.
• I start talking about moving to Calgary by Christmastime.
• We start work on the second book in the Open Eyes series of books for children.
• We launch Open Eyes fan page on Facebook.
• I speak for a week at Manitou Lake Bible Camp.

September

• Visit Kevin & Stephanie in Calgary.
• Give tribute at funeral for Jean (nee Whittaker) Rohde Mahn.
• Jeffrey & I host Bryan Moyer Suderman concert.
• Sent away the artwork and music files for Minus 40 Tour CD.

October

• Minus 40 Tour CDs arrive in Saskatoon!
• Thanksgiving in Calgary. Realized that I need to move on November 13th.

November

• Drive to North Battleford for a meeting with two other women about a potential creative collaboration.
• Sing at a ladies’ night in Saskatoon.
• Say tearful good-byes to the wonderful people in Strasbourg & area.
• Drive all night to arrive in Calgary in time for Calgary Children’s Book Fair & Conference. My niece Emma helps out.
• Attend an Mpowered Marketing workshop for women and come away “so inspired”!
• Friend Susan invites me to an author reading and again I come away “so inspired”!
• Live with my brother & sister-in-law for a couple of weeks.
• Design new business card.
• Launch Siretona fan page on Facebook
• Visit Kathleen in BC for some strategic planning and to help with trade show.

December

• Moved into my new place.
• Returned with Kevin, pulling a trailer, to Duval, SK to retrieve the rest of my belongings. Sadly (though serendipitously), the trip corresponded with the funeral for my friend Alanna.
• Attended another Mpowered Marketing workshop. Inspired again.
• Got Martha into a Calgary bookstore (Owl’s Nest) and BlueBeary into two bookstores (Owl’s Nest and Monkey Shines).
• Start using my dormant LinkedIn account.
• Set up this blog.