The Audition

Between the day that I wrote my rant about doing laundry and actually going to be the first person to audition was about four months.  Lindsey and Michelle were the producers there doing the auditions.  They were so fun and laid back.  So far in the process I had invested about $4 on my product in the form of two socks and one shoelace and one tank of gas to get me from Swift Current to Saskatoon.

Take a Chance- My Dragon's Den Audition

I asked the camera man to take my picture after the pitch. I am not used to being on that side of the camera. I wore my lucky "Bronco" Blue scarf!

It went great!
Behind the scenes

Please excuse my absence from blogging of late. I have been out in the world seeking adventure. My latest quest for excitement occurred this morning bright and early in Saskatoon Saskatchewan where I auditioned to be on the hit TV series "Dragon's Den". I have been patiently waiting for CBC to announce the audition schedule for the upcoming season. Our family watches the show each week together as we evaluate the pitch and try to guess if they will succeed in making a deal. There aren't that many shows on television that a family can sit down together and the kids and parents can be equally entertained so Dragon's Den has become part of the Wednesday night ritual for our household. When the host of the show Dianne Buckner announced that information about auditions was online I literally jumped off my couch and ran to the computer. The very first stop on the audition tour was Saskatoon. I wasn't sure if I would have the biggest or best pitch of the tour but one thing I was hoping was to have the very first road pitch of the tour and I did it! The audition wasn't nearly as scary as I was expecting. The producers were fun, warm and encouraging. They really want you to do well and were more interested in helping you improve your presentation then tearing it apart. I can't say how good my chances are of making it on the show as they only choose 300 or so from the over 3000 entries but I do know that if I hadn't auditioned then the chance of making the show would have been 0% so that makes the trip worthwhile! (This year there were 10 000 people who auditioned across Canada)

My kids kept saying to me, "Mom you're not really going to go and pitch your idea are you?" I guess they don't know me that well after all. So many of the great things in my life have come about because I took a chance. I did something that may have seemed scary or overwhelming at the time but upon later reflection I am so glad I didn't let fear and common sense stop me. If I had used rational thinking I would have never gone on a blind date to a hockey game in 11 years ago with a guy I ended up marrying and being head over heels for to this day. If I had decided to take the easy road I probably would have stayed being a teacher and wouldn't have put an ad in the paper 13 years ago advertising my professional photography studio before I ever even owned a camera. I said I could do it and then figured out a way to make it happen afterwards. I have tried out to be a Rodeo Queen, Miss Canada, Miss Saskatchewan Roughrider, a Saskatchewan Roughrider cheerleader (which I quickly gave up when I found out there was no salary and you weren't allowed to date the players!). I also love entering contests which has lead to having my husband and family featured in Today's Parent magazine and giving me the opportunity to write a blog for the Today's Parent site where I am lucky to reach out to other parents across the country and hopefully provide some entertainment and information. My point is that you don't have to wait for experiences and opportunities to find you that you can make things happen.

And just because your life is filled with diaper cream and potty seats doesn't mean that you too can't have adventure. If you like to paint or sew or write poems or take pictures or if you want to run a marathon take the time for you to do something you enjoy. If you want to share what you do with the whole world or just keep your talent to yourself find a way to do something for yourself so that you will be a more whole person for your family and to be a role model for your kids that you can pursue a dream. But my advice to you is to get up off your couch a do something don't watch life from the sidelines, get in the game! I am not interested in creating a "Bucket List" of things to do before I die rather I am adding to my "Life List" which is a compilation of things that I was not afraid to go after no matter how crazy, unconventional or silly! Today I can add pitching to the Dragon's Den to my life list!

Welcome to the Snappy Socks Blog

Little did I know when I wrote this rant about doing laundry would it turn into an idea that changed our whole lives.  Here is where I got the idea for connecting two socks together.  This is from my personal blog www.thecircushouse.com   I say in this post that I will take the idea to Dragon's Den in my wildest dreams I never thought that I would be auditioning 4 months later in Saskatoon and then get a call to come and tape Dragon's Den in May.  

 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2009

The Mother of Invention

  I believe that Laundry is the butt hole of all domestic chores. In fact it may even be the hemorrhoid. There is no glory in the job of laundry, in fact quite the contrary. Upon completion of the task I present my children with a stack of clean folded clothes and do I get a hug, smile, high five, of a big "Thanks Mom!" Nope they just roll their eyes and sigh knowing they have to put the clothes into the drawers that is unless they have learned to jump into the drawers themselves ( sounding a bit like my mother there)

My husband and I split the household chores and somehow he seems to get the glorious jobs. Cooking meals involves everyone gathering together in anticipation at parties or our nightly family supper. The kids lick their lips in anticipation and throw out suggestions of what Dad should make. We all sit together and appreciate the hard work that went into a meal, say thank you and then help clean up. "Glorious!"
He also does the yard work which lets the whole neighborhood know. I am a busy guy taking care of my family. Passing cars honk, neighbors admire and even offer him a beer at the end of a job well done so they can sit back and admire...well.. grass. Every time we attend a fundraiser I will undoubtedly find Patrick at the silent auction table bidding on some "gas powered, destructive, dangerous man tool" for the lawn. He talks the previously mentioned neighbor into going "halvsies" the grass mulching machine that cuts and sprays and requires goggles much to our children's delight and my horror. It is all for a good cause he assures me..."Glorious!"

I am stuck at the back of the house surrounded by stinking, dirty, piles and piles of clothes which are covered in all manner of human body fluids. I believe the piles are like Gremlins if you get them wet they just multiply. Come on give me a deck to build with tools, something social you can invite buddies to assist with and then upon completion I can call people over to admire what I have done. No one has ever stopped by to admire my piles of clean folded laundry...no one. I think that is why in the old days women would hang clothes out to dry. It was a sign to all the neighbors, "Hey I am working in here that's right I am busy busy and I take good care of my family." Maybe I will move my laundry room to a see through bubble in the back yard and people passing by could wave and toss me food every once and a while. My teenager complains that my laundry room is in his bedroom and I have to remind him that actually his bed is in my laundry room.

In my house, because the duty of laundry belongs solely to me every other family member takes advantage of the situation by taking absolutely anything off their bedroom floor and putting it in the hamper and will then declare their room clean and read for inspection. My husband is especially guilty of this domestic crime. I am so pleased to come home to a clean bedroom until I realize in the hallway there are four belts, 2 Halloween costumes, every outfit I tried on for my ladies splurge night and piled in the corner, blankets, clean clothes and a fancy velvet dress. The laundry hamper is not a "Get out of cleaning your room Free card!" Once clothes are on the pile in my house whether they should be there or not they must be washed. That pile just becomes one giant cesspool of bum and armpit smell.

And don't get me started on socks. I love the summer because no one needs to wear socks. No sorting, matching, or dumping out the sock box to just settle for any combination of socks that is close after 10 minutes of searching. Growing up I vowed to myself that I would NEVER have a sock box. The amount of my youth that was wasted in the endless search for two matching socks is too terrible for me to recall. The only benefit of winter is being able to wear tights and if I could bear the thought of my husband wedged into a pair of my tights and still have romantic feelings for him I would insist we get rid of socks all together.

In our family the seven of us wear 2 socks a day so in a week I am forced to contend with 98 socks. Is there any wonder I can't find two matching ones. Well necessity is the mother of invention so stayed tuned in the fall when I present my newest invention to the good people at "Dragon's Den" Idiot socks.... You know what idiot mittens are right? Well these are idiot socks with a string up the pantleg.

Here is the website I registered. www.idiotsocks.ca Stay tuned for design and ordering information and together we can put an end to Sock Boxes across this great Nation......."GLORIOUS!"