Well, here we are – Friday already. It’s been a busy week, but nothing I’ve done in the past little while has been as gratifying as putting on my “performer” hat again and moderating a Q&A for a club which I joined last fall. And it happened during, appropriately, International Women’s Day. How perfect!
 
It’s called the Peninsula Newcomers’ Club and you can belong for up to (I think) four years before being shoved out of the nest as a “former newcomer.” Every month, 60-80 women gather at a local Sidney hotel restaurant for a lovely meal, an interesting guest speaker and some prize draws. My first (and, until yesterday, only) one was last September; my schedule or that of friend Nancy who introduced me to the gatherings has gotten in the way. But yesterday I felt right “at home”: I was on the microphone. 
 
Sharon Seemann and Janice Dickens are members of the Peninsula Newcomers’ club. These two women have moved here to the Saanich Peninsula after having lived in Saudi Arabia; Canadian wives of oil workers who took jobs – and their families – in SA and ended up living there for nearly three decades. Their lives in a special enclosed city of 30,000 that is built for non-Saudis (think Truman Show in real life), are fascinating and I feel that our half-hour chat was as enlightening and interesting to our audience as the four-hour talks Janice, Sharon, Nancy and I had leading up to the all-female event! (Of course, Rob was there running the AV for us…I couldn’t do this without his help.)
 
As I asked questions, Janice and Sharon spoke about life on the compound, the reasons they moved there, how it felt sending their 10th grade children off to boarding schools abroad – all of the things that hopefully everyone in our crowd was wondering. Afterward there were another ten really good questions, and Janice and Sharon were at ease on the mic while I asked questions, facilitated the audience part of the afternoon and generally just (I hope) made people laugh.
 

 
I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt. While getting up in front of a microphone is the polar opposite of most people’s comfort zones, to me it felt like it was right where I belonged. It didn’t hurt when I got a warm round of applause during my intro from Nancy; it seems there are other ex-Ontarians in the group, too! YAY! 
 
All in all, it was just the best experience. I’ve been approached about perhaps doing an interview at an arts festival at the local theatre in October and I may well do it. Do I expect a pay cheque? While it would be nice (I have fantasies of actually having freelance work pay for our living expenses for the next few years) it’s doubtful and that’s not why we’re doing it, why Rob came along and did the audio/visual aspect of the day and why I put on lashes and heels for the first time since, oh, November.
 
It’s because, as Dr. Phil puts it, a “racehorse has gotta run.” And this is still my race. I’m not slowing down just because I’m in the back stretch and goodness knows I hope that the home stretch is a way off. I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope that more comes out of this and that I get bumped up and out of my cocoon a little more with each passing month. The world appears to be unfolding – or unravelling, depending your outlook – as it should!
 
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that Rob and I are going away for the better part of ten days and I will take one week off from journalling next week. It happens to coincide with March Break for many and since I know that a lot of journal readers take time away from the laptop during that period, I thought I would, too. 
 
I’ll come back with lots of fresh ideas and hope you’ll join me here again on March 19th; until then, take it easy and thank you for sharing time here with me. In the meantime, I expect we’ll be getting a link to a recording of the AMA Waterways/New Wave Travel webinar that we did on Wednesday to talk about next April’s Tulip Time cruise with Mike & Debbie Cooper and Rob & me. I hope to post a link to that soon.
 
Be well, my friend and thank you for sharing time here. Speaking of time, don’t forget the clocks go ahead this Sunday at 2 am as we return to Daylight Saving Time. 
 
Come back on the 19th and I’ll be here if you are.