Rachel Coleman

Here I Go I’m On A Plane
Spring and fall.

I love spring and I love the fall. It gets crazy around here in the spring and in the fall.

Remember last September and October? (Natalie I know you are smiling… or cringing!) I was flying back and forth from one Signing Time event to another, stopping in Salt Lake City for the birth of a baby, or two… or three. Aaron and I rented a car and drove all night, arriving in Colorado just in time to grab a coffee from Starbucks and do my sound check at the Oh Baby Expo, while my friend Natalie endured how many days of labor??? Three? I don’t even know… but it was long enough for me to start out in Oregon, come to Utah, drive to Colorado and then fly back to Utah in time for the birth.

The busy season is starting. The calls are out to Marcus. My flights, cars and hotels are set.

This Friday I take off for 10 days. Then I come home for 4 days and leave again for 3 more days. Thankfully, I love traveling and the uncertainty of wake-up calls. I love highly chlorinated pools and fresh towels and fresh sheets every day. I love the view from hotel room windows, no matter where I am. I also love seeing new places and familiar ones. I love meeting all of you, hearing your stories, and sharing mine.

Here’s the run down for April and May. Hopefully I’ll see some of you out there!

Friday, April 24 – 4:00 pm
YUCCA VALLEY LIBRARY
57098 29 Palms Hwy in Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Join me for our 2nd annual singing, signing and story event at The Yucca Valley Library.
This is a free event, open to the public.

Saturday, April 25 – 11:00 am
Sunday, April 26 – 11:30 am
BABY & TWEEN CELEBRATION LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall, Hall K
Join me for my 3rd annual appearance at this fun and funky baby expo! I will be singing, signing and sharing how sign language is beneficial to all children of all abilities.
After each performance I will be at The Signing Time Booth for autographs and pictures.

Tickets: $10 per adult
For more information, please visit Baby & Tween Celebration LA

Thursday, April 30, 2009
I will be in Florida for a private and REALLY cool event! SHHHHHHH! I can’t wait until I can tell you all about it and show you the pictures!

Saturday, May 2, 2009 – 1:00 pm
BABY TIME EXPO – LAS VEGAS
South Point Hotel – The Events Stage
9777 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89183
Wondering How To Sign With Your Little One? I will be sharing the benefits of signing with your babies and toddlers and walking you through how to start. Signing and signing included, of course.

Tickets: $6 per adult
For more information visit Baby Time Expo Las Vegas

Friday, May 8, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Vegas PBS Ready To Learn Family Concert
The Rainbow Library Amphitheater
3150 N. Buffalo Dr., at the corner of Buffalo and Cheyenne
Join me and Hopkins for our 3rd annual Vegas PBS event! This is one of my favorite events each year.

Bring a blanket and bring a picnic to this fun outdoor show. The amphitheater has limited seating, only a few thousand so PLEASE be sure to arrive early. I am not kidding. We fill it to maximum capacity every year and once the fire department even stopped by because they were worried had let too many families in!! What can I say? Signing Time and Vegas PBS Ready To Learn sure know how to throw a party!

Stick around for meet and greet opportunities after the concert. I mean, haven’t you always wanted to meet Hopkins?
For more information please visit: Vegas PBS Ready To Learn

Saturday, May 16, 2009 – 10:00 am
Association for Deaf Children 5K/1 Mile Walk
Draper City Park, North Pavilion
12500 South 1300 East
Draper, Utah 84020
Hopkins and I will be performing after the run, before the medals ceremony.

ADC sponsored my second trip to Ghana, Africa in 2008. This is great organization that that provides activities and services for deaf children in Utah.

For more information visit: www.dodeaf.org to sign up, volunteer or donate!

So…. Where IS Rachel?

Every single time I do an event… within 24 hours of that event, someone will email, or post, or call, or tweet saying, “Hey I would just love it if you did an event in _________!” (fill in the name of the town where I JUST performed). To keep this from happening to you, we have provided a number of ways for you to figure out where I am going and when I am performing…

1. Check our Signing Time Events Calendar for shows near you. This is found on our home page at www.signingtime.com

2. Visit our Signing Time Forums and read the thread “Where Is Rachel?”

3. Subscribe to the Signing Time Corporate Blog

4. Subscribe to our Signing Time Newsletter and we will send you an email letting you know when I am traveling near your town. Just enter your email address on our home page where it says “Newsletter and Promotions”

5. Follow ST_Rachel on Twitter.com (This is where I gave away free tickets to Baby & Tween Celebration)

6. Subscribe to my blog www.signingtime.com/rachel

7. Come to The Signing Time Chat on Wednesday nights 7-9 pm Mountain.

8. Join the Signing Time page on Facebook. The official page has a picture of me, Alex and Leah with the Signing Time logo in the corner. It says Signing Time (website)

If you do all of the above and you still miss me when I show up at your child’s elementary school, local educational conference, or Down syndrome Buddy Walk… I will be shocked! So, please stay on top of it and check back often Because, I just cannot remember where you all live. Sorry. I just can’t.

The flip side is, if you or your organization book an event, we put the word out about it through all of those Signing Time channels. Cool eh? Oh, and if you want to book me in spring or fall… or winter or summer for that matter… get in touch ASAP!

And so my friends, my orange shoes are packed and I am putting together my/your set lists. Yes, I fly with scissors (and blue and orange electrical tape) in my carry-on. That’s how I roll;)

Sometimes You’ve Just Got To Retreat

There are only a few things I dread.
One of them is the phone tree.

You know… when something bad happens and you have to call everyone in your family, plus your friends and tell, then re-tell what happened. I hate that. Maybe it’s because there are nine kids in my family… maybe not. Maybe it is exhausting even if you are an only child.

When Lucy was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at nine months, I was done. Prior to that I had really tried to just put on a brave face and pull up my boots and manage whatever it was I was dealing with. People would offer to help as I juggled a deaf three year-old, and a 9 month-old baby who continually arched away from the person holding her, her head thrown back and hollering.
“No, thank you,” I said, time and time again “this is my life. I do this every day and I need to be able to do it with or without help.” (Though I rarely did it with help.) These words almost became my mantra… “Thank you, no. This is my life. I need to be able to do this with or without help.”

Then, one day… I crashed and burned.
It’s true.
I couldn’t be strong, not for another minute.
I was curled up, in the fetal position, on the floor of our apartment and I could not stop crying… no it was more like wailing… I couldn’t stop wailing. I called Aaron at work and told him, “You have to come home. I can NOT do this!”

I broke.

I snapped.

I couldn’t imagine one more day, let alone many more years, of being strong AND brave AND responsible AND managing it all. It was just too much.

But I learned something that day, yes, the day that I was completely leveled by the thought of cracking open a can of soup and making a grilled cheese sandwich for Leah, I learned that sometimes you don’t have to be brave or pull up your boots and tromp through the waist deep mud. I learned that sometimes you’ve got to retreat.

Go to a safe place.

Lick your wounds.

Gather your strength.

Not only is there nothing wrong with retreating… it is necessary at times.

I watch my friends, especially the ones who have kiddos with special needs. I can’t help but note when they refuse help and assistance. As I meet families who are struggling with unexpected circumstances I let them in on my secret- “It’s ok to retreat.”

Sometimes it is “RETREAT!!!!!” like you might imagine hearing called out on a battlefield, when things are not going as expected or planned.

The last few weeks have been tough. Aaron and I lost a very dear friend. I did end up in the fetal position, crying, more than once… my head pounding as day after day my brain cycled through accepting and completely rejecting the fact that our friend is really, really gone…and sure enough just last week I was once again confronted by opening a can of soup when I realized it was 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and I had not even fed my kids breakfast.

The day before the funeral, my sister found out that the baby she had been carrying, at 18 weeks, no longer had a heart beat. I could hardly cry. I had nothing left.

I’m not Wonder Woman or Supermom.

I am just me.

And I am sitting here pondering how sweet
sad
fragile
short
and exquisite life is.

Sometimes, I need to be reminded to take my own advice… and retreat.

~In loving memory of our friend Jed Arveseth

Excited!

Painting with Leah