We had an especially nice time between Christmas and New Year’s and even managed through a few power outages to boot. We had a very good friend of mine come and stay for a few days over the holidays. Was great to just hang out, catch up, eat good food and sip some wine. We also had a client of mine from California and her husband come for two days. We had a wonderful time with them. Again, great food, wine and conversation. They even loved our little Village even though they came at an unusually cold weather time. Nice and brisk for walking into town. We survived some more snow and cold temps. Our newly finished fireplace surround and built-ins were a real treat and created such a nice ambiance.

Big news again in our household. Seems there’s always something new to report. My mom who has been with us now for over two years has decided to move back East to her previous hometown of Kingston, Ontario. She has been thinking about this for some time now, I think since her visit there in the fall. Kingston is really where her heart is. It is where she has several grandchildren; some of her kids and the other ones aren’t too far away either, as well as over 25 years of friendships and community services. A big decision and the right one for her. Since she has made her decision we’ve been busy looking at housing options and my mom has found an apartment in an exceptionally well-run and cared for Senior’s complex only two blocks from my youngest sister’s place. My sister and a niece went and took several photos of the apartment and emailed them to us so we could all see where my mom will live. Seems to be very clean and bright. Since then mom has been very busy downsizing her stuff that she will move with her. She’s moving to a much smaller space and she has done an incredible job of choosing to take things that have great meaning for her and what she needs to furnish her place. The nice thing is that she can come visit anytime and will be familiar with the community and surroundings. That will certainly be a plus for her. David & I and our animals will certainly miss her and we also know it is important to listen to your heart when it comes to where to live. We are likely going back East next December so we’ll have a chance to see “mom’s new pad”. I am sure it will be just as homey as the one she created here. Seems in our family we all have a knack for creating a very warm and inviting home wherever we live. Home really is where the heart is and I know my mom will love being back in Kingston after she is settled and unpacked. I know too, folks back there are very happy that she is returning.

So now, what do we do with mom’s beautiful self-contained suite? David and I have decided to make it into a Vacation rental, which we are calling “The Village Hideaway”. We have been busy making lists of what we need to get, how we will lay out the suite, what kinds of “guests” we’d like to have and attract and how best to market this. We have a professional photographer coming in February to take a variety of photos to use for marketing and we have a website in the making (photos in next month’s newsletter). Another fabulous thing for me with having the suite available is that I use it to host my 1:1 retreats. I am very excited about this as it allows me so much more flexibility with scheduling and marketing. I can now do one day, two day or three-day retreats. I can also hold full day workshop retreats for small groups and when I do a group retreat of 3 or more I can rent the Guest House I have used in the past. Send in your requests for retreats and now I can make them happen much more easily. Yahoo!!

So...get your thinking caps on for booking holidays or retreats, tell all your friends and associates, book that flight and come rent the Village Hideaway. Here is a list of just some of the amenities you’ll find:

Large, very bright, south-facing, private, one bedroom suite looking out to the forest complete with:

• Nine foot ceilings and many windows

• Office including internet and wireless

• Complete kitchen and living room

• Soaker tub to unwind

• Local telephone, satellite TV, DVD, VCR, stereo

• Gas fireplace

• Private deck with gas BBQ and patio furniture

• Miles of hiking trails, a ski mountain nearby, and... even a garden to putter about if that is what you like to do.

Until we get the website up and running you can send your inquiries or booking requests for the Village Hideaway suite to Oprica@ascentcoaching.com or Oprica-muir@shaw.ca.  Bookings start February 13th, 2007 - just in time for a romantic getaway in the wee Village of Cumberland.

Life in our little Village is never dull. We have a developer who has been diligently working with the Village for over a year now to be able to bring in some more housing and commercial ventures. There of course is opposition and to me it comes from a rather odd place; those who are more recent transplants from other places in BC, Canada and some from the rest of the World. It seems like the going mantra for these folks is “Now that we’ve moved here we don’t want anyone else to come.” Sound familiar? I think it happens in many places, particularly when you have a place that is as beautiful as Cumberland that gives you a small town experience with big town amenities near-by. Our infrastructure in our old Village is in dire need of attention, repair and replacement and without some further planning, conscious and purposeful development, the existing population will be footing ALL of the bills with higher taxes, taxes that will grow exponentially to the work that needs to be done. If we are to improve what we have and sustain it for generations to come we need considerable money spent in this Village. I have been attending the development meetings in the Village and am impressed with the developer’s ideas and proposals to date. I am also highly impressed with our Mayor and his leadership in this Village; surely a tough job to balance what the Village needs to sustain it and what it needs to grow. Always a balancing act. Well, there’s my political piece for the year.

We had a quiet time over the holidays here in the Village and are now gearing up for the annual Chinese Lantern Festival in February. Will be great to see all the decorations around town and the parade of lanterns mid February. Cumberland was a mining town in its heyday and there was a large Chinese population at that time, thus the Chinese Lantern Festival. It is really beautiful and something to come and see for those readers who live anywhere near here.

Another couple of months the bears will be waking up from their winter’s nap. Wonder what new delights they’ll bring us this year?