testing the waters with my soul sister...

i did say 'grand news' didn't i?

of course after i said it, i began to think about the word 'grand' and what it could mean.

perhaps my thoughts of 'grand' are quite different from somebody else's 'grand'.

therefore you could be popping by today, thinking "oooh, that's right... Tif had something really grand to tell us" and then when i tell you, you may very well think "well that's a load of pants, by 'grand', i thought Tif was going to announce she was eloping with Colin Firth, or perhaps having Johnny Depp's baby"...

now i fear i may disappoint with my 'grandness' of yesterday.

perhaps i should reset the words to 'breaking news', then again perhaps not... for that would imply my news is on the level with eloping or having a baby.

so i think for the purpose of my 'unveiling' i will go with not 'grand news', not 'breaking news' , or even 'earth shattering news' but just good old 'news of the utmost kind'.

i think that's perfect, it sums up exactly what i'm going to divulge to you and probably right now you are wishing me to stop 'twitting' on about whatever blimen' news i have and just go ahead and spill the beans...

but you know me dearest readers, and you know i cannot possibly do that without 'telling a tale'.

so if you have rediscovered your patience with me and are sitting comfortably, then i shall begin...

i am the youngest of four, my three elder siblings being brothers.
although i love them dearly, as a small child i wished for a sister.
i am not sure if i ever voiced this wish to my parents, and i am quite sure even if i did, to comply with such a wish was not top of their list of 'to dos'.

i was nearly 12 when i found my sister.

she was in math class sitting up front, with her pens all color co-ordinated, her hair long and perfect, she stood a foot above the rest of the class and she was beautiful.

i was in awe of her ability to sit up front of class, her non frizzy hair, her color co-ordinated pen set, her 'underlining of relevant' information with said 'pen set' and most of all, the way she carried herself so beautifully.
for close to 30 years this wonderful person named Debbie has been my soul sister, through good times, crappy times and downright funny times... we have been together despite the miles between us.

as we step into our 40's together, she is still organized with her pens, makes fabulous lists in pretty notebooks and remains beautiful, standing a foot above the rest...
i have marvelled over the years as to why i had the good fortune of finding my sister so early on in life and that best of all, she should want to go through her life holding my hand and being the sister i never had. after all, i am 'total pants' at keeping my pens in order, never 'underlined' in my school books, i need my hand holding nearly everyday across cyber space and as is often the case, nearly 'pee my undies' whenever we get together. (and yes, it was a close call for both of us, this past week in my grocery store...)

"so why is Tif telling us this tale?", i hear you wonder and i do feel it is a relevant question, after all i am apt to wandering off when i ramble...

but today dearest readers, i feel my little tale is most relevant, for without Debbie i would not have pushed the envelope so to speak (is there such a saying, where did that one come from?)

Debbie left her little brood in old blighty, to visit moi and my little brood, stateside... so we could plot, devise a plan, map out our future.

she bought notebooks,

i provided the pens.

her notebooks were pretty,

my pens were crappy,

(you know the sort... with the dentist's telephone number on.)

typical.

and our plan?

apart from opening a shop one day together,

apart from growing old and laughing about it together,

apart from ending up in the same retirement home together,

our plan is

to put dottie angel 'out there'...

no 'eloping' or 'celebrity babies' involved,

just paper, pictures and my ramblings.

now of course, technically a few sets of 'every eventuality' cards is hardly taking the world by storm, even if they cover such important sentiments such as

"so sorry you are feeling crappity crap"

and

"thinking you are quite peachy perfect"

but me and my soul sister are going to test the waters by placing some cards in the store next week and see how they are received...

in the meantime our little cogs are turning and we hope to take bigger 'paper' steps in the future,

until then, i shall put in a call for some 'elves' to visit my studio at night for card making purposes

and continue to think myself most lucky to have found my soul sister all those years ago...

she will be back tomorrow with a new series (oooh, the suspense! )... that's if you are still awake ~ Tif