A day of many blessings

We were driving down to Edmonton to pick up Coco, the newest member of our family, a three month old cockapoo, when I saw the first comment.

"What the heck is this?" I said, as I clicking on the very positive Instagram comment.

The photo of my recent painting of Alexander Ovechkin had been shared by an account called @TSN_Official.

It can't be, I thought to myself.  It can't be the real TSN.

It was. 

They had shared it about 20 minutes earlier and it all ready had over 1,000 likes and several comments.  With over 500,000 followers, a lot of people surfing Instagram on a Friday were seeing my painting.  But it's what TSN wrote that was the real blessing.

By this morning, some 20 hours after it was posted, it has inspired over 7,000 likes.  I'm still shaking my head.

The day's second blessing happened at AC District Moto on 107th Street just off 104th Avenue in Edmonton.  We had received an invitation to display and sell some works in this very cool space in the heart of the Ice District just a few days earlier.  As this unplanned trip south popped up suddenly, it gave Heather and I a chance to go and see the space and meet the lovely people who give AC District Moto its positive vibe.

We LOVE the idea of partnering with this fantastic business to share our work in Edmonton.  In addition to being a place to get a great cup of coffee as well as grab-and-go meal options from Edmonton's Italian Centre, AC District Moto sells both iconic Italian scooter brands: Vespa and Piaggio.  They also carry a number of pedal assist E-bikes including some of the first Piaggio Wi-Bikes in Canada.

The first two pieces - "What Chew Lookin' At" and "Chet Baker" - are already up at AC District Moto with more to come.  We are so excited to begin sharing our work in Edmonton and being featured in such a perfect space.

The day's final blessing is scurrying around the house as I type this.  Our primary reason to travel south yesterday was to pick up Coco, our first dog in a long, long time.  As our son Ben is allergic to dogs and cats, we have avoided bringing fur babies into our house.  We had been on a waiting list for a future litter of hypoallergenic cockapoos when Heather received a note from the breeder that she needed to re-home a three month old that had just been returned.  Heather was vibrating with excitement when she heard the news.  As it turned out, Friday was the only day that would work for both of us to make the long drive.  We spent 12 hours on the road to bring Coco home.

We got to meet Coco's parents:  Lola and Frodo.  In fact, Frodo jumped on my lap and hung out for the duration of our visit.

Heather and I took turns driving and snuggling Coco as we made our way north to Fort McMurray.  It was quite a night as he tried to settle in.  Heather ended up curling up in a sleeping bag next to his kennel to keep him company.  This morning he is having fun barking at his reflection in the mirror and finding new things to chew.  We feel like new parents all over again.