Life in General

Some days are not really the stuff of extraordinary moments – the kind you’d write about in your journal and remember for years.

They’re just a series of ordinary moments infused with a kind of contentment that leaves you feeling at peace in your corner of the world.

Last Thursday was such a day.

Sleeping in an extra hour to make up for the hour I spent wide awake in the middle of the night. Starting the day with a vanilla flavored coffee accompanied by the NYT puzzles. Making six guesses in Wordle and still not solving it – but nonetheless admiring the word they chose.

Expending elbow grease scrubbing clean the kiln shelf for my husband, so it’s ready to refinish with kiln wash for his next glass project. Seeing Dave sharpen the kitchen knives and knowing how much we’ll appreciate his efforts the next time we go to slice a tomato.

Booking tickets for an upcoming comedy play at the Station Arts Centre so we have something to look forward to that will hopefully make us laugh.

Expressing my thoughts on FB about a change in our local newspaper and following the responses that roll in.

Watering the outdoor plant pots that are wilting in the sun. Stooping to sniff the first of the sweet pea blossoms each time I pass by the trellis on which they are climbing.

Enjoying a cool salad for lunch in the shade of the umbrella on the back deck, while reading a few pages of a novel I won’t remember two weeks from now.

Delivering four bags of bottles to SARCAN and tucking away the $20 to share with the young grandsons when they come for a visit later this month.  Treating myself to a Tim Horton’s Ice Cappuccino and honey cruller (thanks to a gift card from my sister for my birthday).

Dipping into the first few pages of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic. Reflecting on the concept of eudemonia (the state or condition of good spirit). Seeing my husband out the door to his regular Thursday gathering with a group of buddies. Contemplating a late afternoon nap.

Yep…it was an ordinary day for which I found myself feeling inordinately grateful.

In just over a week, our Artists’ Workshop group will throw open the doors and share an enthusiastic welcome to our 2025 Spring Show & Sale.  This is your personal invitation to join us to enjoy all of the brand-new original works we’ve been creating.

The event will be held at Grace-Westminster Church (505 10^th St E in Saskatoon) on:

• Friday, April 25 (5-9)
• Saturday, April 26 (10-5)
• Sunday, April 27 (11-4)

‘The Inside Story’ is our theme for 2025. Unique to this year’s show will be a set of 12×12 works featuring ten different points of view around the ‘Inside Story’ theme.

I’ll be presenting work under several different themes:

• Travel Sketches
• Figurative Characters
• Whimsical Village Scenes

(more…)

Mark your calendars!

The annual Artists’ Workshop Show & Sale is coming soon: April 25 -27, 2025 at Grace-Westminster Church in Saskatoon.

A unique addition to the 2025 Show is a collection of 12” x 12” artworks (one by each of our ten artists in their own creative style) interpreting and showcasing the theme “The Inside Story”.

Hope to see you there!

Location: Grace-Westminster Church, Saskatoon 505 10th Street E, Saskatoon

As subscribers to my Pause Blog, you may have noticed that things have been pretty ‘quiet on the western front’ in recent months.

Back in December of 2023, my husband received a serious health diagnosis. In March of 2024, he started treatment. When something like this happens, it turns your world upside down. That’s certainly been the case for us.

Suddenly, so many things that seem so important in ‘normal times’ (travel, ambition, projects, blog posts) fade into the background. What matters more than anything else is health and relationship. That’s been our focus for well over a year and continues to guide our days.

Treatments continue – and our days roll along. We try to be as present and loving as possible – embracing each moment without fretting too anxiously about the future. (more…)

I have travelled a lot throughout my career. When my daughters were younger and still living at home, I’d occasionally take them with me on the road.

I like to think it was a treat for all of us.

Sometimes they would attend an event with me. Sometimes they’d visit with nearby family or friends while I worked. And when they were older, while I was involved in a program, sometimes they’d enjoy time on their own in a new location.

I was reminded of those shared trips last week when my youngest daughter, Lindsay, asked ME to tag along with HER on an overnight business trip to Moose Jaw. (more…)

In just one week, our Artists’ Workshop group will throw open the doors and share an enthusiastic welcome to our Spring Show & Sale.  This is your personal invitation to join us to enjoy all of the brand-new original works we’ve been creating.

The event will be held at Grace Westminster Church (505 10^th St E in Saskatoon) on Friday, April 26 (5-9), Saturday, April 27 (10-5) and Sunday, April 28 (11-4).

‘Creative Synergy’ is our theme for 2024. We celebrate the many ways that creating together improve our art and enhance our connections with community.

Unique to this year’s show will be a set of ten 12×12 works on canvas featuring our very different takes on life in Saskatoon. (more…)

It’s been an unusual fall and winter here in Saskatoon with high (for us) temperatures and no snow to speak of all the way through into the new year.

But now that we’re coming up on the middle of January, that’s all changed. The snow arrived this week, and with it the deep freeze temperatures that are common in our part of the world at this time of the year.

Before my fingers get too frosted to work on the keyboard, I want to take a moment to wish you and yours a healthy and happy 2024. May the adventures ahead lift your spirits and your relationships fill your hearts.

I usually sum up our family’s experiences with an annual photo collage of the special moments from our year.  Here’s a link to the 2023 Katz Family Highlights. We’re grateful for the many blessings and adventures that were ours to share.

Perched on the corner coffee table in our living room is a digital photo frame.

It only comes out to play in December and it’s tucked away again in January.

Loaded on its SD card are 500 family Christmas photos spanning two decades. The frame is set to just keep cycling through the images over and over again.

Sprinkled through the collection, you’ll find the odd attempt at a ‘formal’ group photo, but most of the images are candid shots that capture the spirit of our holiday times.

You’ll see Christmas ornaments, trees, lights and decorations, tables set for brunch and dinner, and baking fresh out of the oven. But even more importantly… (more…)

It’s been a while since I published a piece on this Pause blog. That surprises me.

I’ve written my entire life. Publishing a weekly message was part of my business for 25 years. That practice served me and the business, and I like to think my clients and followers, well.

When I stopped penning the weekly Pause ezine and blog at the start of 2021, I thought the writing would still continue as organically as it had in my early days when I could not not write! Not so, as it turns out.

Take away the commitment to and expectation of publishing a weekly message, and apparently, I’m no longer as devoted to putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Who knew that’s how it would be? Not me.

Oh, I’m still noticing in much the same way I have all my life – things, experiences, ideas, and more. And I’m still writing – but mainly in my head – as in ‘here’s what I think or what I’d say about that’.

Mostly that form of ‘talking to myself’ feels like a sufficient expression. The second step of getting the ideas down on paper seems somehow less essential. (more…)