Filling The Gaps

Hello all!

We promised updates and here's a beauty! Do you remember that short demo reel that Deb, Barbara and Colin created, along with the amazing skills of Yuri Yakubiw? Well, Westwind Productions has it rolling! 

Here's an excerpt for your viewing pleasure.



If you want to see more, please share share share!

Hope you're all well. xo Deb and Barbara

A Fond Farewell Video And A Surprise Video!

Deb and Barbara: It's with tears in our eyes that we post this last (for now!) Blogging Out Loud. Thanks for the amazing comments throughout the week. You guys are the BEST!



This is a re-post of Monday's "what to expect from the blog" info, just in case you missed it: 
We’re leaving the blog up because, down the line, if we have any big announcements to make or things we want to share with you in a new post, we can (if you want, you can subscribe on the left-hand bar to get any updates). But we also feel the community that has grown here and the stuff we’ve talked about deserves to be here for any of us who might want to revisit conversations (you can easily search in the left-hand bar for key words, and Blogger will find the pertinent stories for you). Colin can also keep you posted of any of our news through Twitter, and we will keep our Twitter feed live (although probably won’t be there a lot for the next while). Just so you know, after two weeks, Blogger won’t take comments without moderation, but since we won’t be moderating, we hate to have you think we’re ignoring you. You can comment if you want, but just so you know, we might not see it (we don’t get updates) or be able to post it for a while.

And now for something really special!

The lovely Shalaka sent us this retrospective video of our blog years, and we were so touched and overwhelmed that, of course, we had to share. This is such a beautiful keepsake for us and we think you'll love it too! Thank you so much, Shalaka! And thanks to each and every one of you who have supported, nurtured, and grown with us over the years. xo



PS (added at 7:46 on Fri evening): I (Barbara) finally did a bit of "housecleaning" on the blog -- (which I had on my list-of-things-to-do for sooooo long). In case any of you check back here: I've added a page of "Comfort Food" to our lefthand sidebar. This is a collection of your favourite goodies to bring to friends in times of need -- which we asked for waaaay back when. You all said it was okay for me to post these, aaaaand I just let it fall behind. So thank you for contributing -- and check it out in the sidebar.

I also updated our videos page and my recipes page (added my easy Christmas goodies). I hope you can use the updates I've posted :) 

Blogging Out Loud: Merry Christmas With Or Without Gifts!

Deb and Barbara: Today we talk about whether we could or couldn't celebrate Christmas without gifts (a hint: we are honest but not proud).



And on that note: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, happy day to those who don't, and to everyone on every day, we wish you love, peace, and joy!

Blogging Out Loud: Your Dream Holiday

Deb and Barbara: We know most of us try to love and appreciate what we already have, but in the spirit of "wishes", could you dream up a fantasy holiday celebration? If you don't celebrate Christmas, dream up another favourite holiday.



For more information on the beautiful Casa Loma, click here!

Blogging Out Loud: Voicing The Bairn

Deb and Barbara: When we were taping our Blogging Out Loud series, we had a little fun. We decided to post this one today for a few reasons. Deb is in the Yukon! (yes, story to follow), and Barbara is getting ready to visit her daughter in Paris! (yes, Paris Diaries next week). We hope you enjoy our silliness as much as we did. If you want to know how much fun we had, just watch the last 20 seconds … of non-stop laughing…

Blogging Out Loud: Aging and Ageism

Deb and Barbara: Here's another instalment of our ongoing video blogs! Hope you enjoy (and that you have something to say on the matter in the comments section below...)
xo

Blogging Out Loud: Empty Nest

Barbara and Deb: Hello, everyone, and welcome to our first installation of Blogging Out Loud! We've wanted to do more video blogs for a while now (and many of you encouraged us too), but we are always at the mercy of our limited tech skills (or, rather, our perception thereof) and our lack of camera crew. Lo, our wonderful Luke has returned to the fold and sweetly agreed (we didn’t really ask him) to tape our convo. Thank you, Luke!

We put a few episodes in the can (so don’t wonder why our clothes are always the same), and we hope you enjoy! As always, we look forward to continuing the conversation in the comments section.

If you didn't read it, click here for the post Barbara refers to in the video. And this is the original set-up post.

The Low Down, Low Grade Blues

Barbara: After a wonderful whirlwind long weekend in Montreal last week, after seeing my daughter and reveling in family and friends, I am now back at home and officially navigating my new path of quietude. Because back at home there are no dinner parties or kids (or noise), back at home life “goes on”. And, yes, as we’d all anticipated, this new life of quietude is not without its challenges: namely, it also comes—at the moment—with an undercurrent of wistful, delicate sa-tigue (see how I made that up? “Sad” and “fatigue” together … because it feels remarkably like fatigue).

I swear I wasn’t even going to write about this as I don’t want you to worry about me or get all schlumpy yourselves (ever notice how moods are infectious?), but then … well, when you gotta write, you gotta write what you know, right? And right now, this is what I know.

I am doing my thing, by the way, and getting LOTS done (which is very satisfying and wonderful), but this satigue just follows me everywhere. Kinda like a puppy who’s forced to be with you on a long road trip and does so only because he loves you and the alternative of being left behind is much much worse but who is in great emotional distress the whole time because he HATES the car but he’d prefer you didn’t know this as his favourite purpose in life is to follow you around happily and adore you and so he suffers the dreaded 6-hour car ride in whimpering “silence”. (… Yes, this would be Chaplin on last week’s road trip to and from Montreal. Make sure you listen for his low down, low-grade whine...)

And do you ever find when you’re nursing the low down, low-grade blues that you kinda want to be left alone with them? That you don’t really want to chat and visit and be cheered? I know, for me, it’s all about letting it run its gentle course. And, in my experience, it is a gentle course. This is not the same feeling as true depression, or frustration, or angst, or grief. It is something else entirely. It feels almost like that dull ache you get when you’re a young teen and your bones are growing you into your next shape and size. Everything kinda throbs and hurts and your longer arms and legs make you all clumsy and awkward. But. BUT. You have this niggling, insistent, committed certainty that this new size and shape is going to be just swell in time and that it will all be worth it in the end.

So the truth is out: definitely feeling the blues right now. But the hope is there: definitely convinced it won’t last that long or be for naught.

Deb: Oh Barb. I have no words of wisdom. I hope you take solace in the fact that you know I have been where you are. I hope you see that we made the best of it and that we were rewarded with the return of our boy plus a girl. I also hope you see how very very fast that time went. We are reversed, aren’t we? We are reversed. I am feeling your satigue and I am phoning you...right now. Sending love. xo

Video Of A Typical Day In The Writing LIfe Of Deb And Barb

First of all, thanks to everyone for the fun and games over the last two days on our Fun And Games post. We just loved watching the story––and the computer-tweaks––unfold. 

Today we have something a little different for you. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it (that might be hard...).

And thanks, Luke Mochrie, for all the help! 

xo Deb and Barbara