I’m Alive…

From a recent bio photo shoot…one week ago today actually.

Remember that scene in Weekend at Bernie’s, where Bernie is being drug behind the ski boat?  Yeah, the past few months have sort of been like that. I’m Bernie and there was no way I was letting go of the rope.  I never know how much to tell about my personal life over here on the ol’ blog, but I feel I owe you guys an explanation of where I’ve been….  Plain and simple:  Butch and I got a divorce.  It was finalized a few days before Christmas.  Heart-breaking…even when you know it’s the right thing to do.  They say you go through a denial period when confronted with decisions like this and I’m pretty sure I did when I came back from China early.  I’m not hateful about it, we’re still friends.  I’ve spoken to many folks who’ve been “through it” and often the story is the same:  things just get away from you.  It was no different for us.  My family and friends have been so supportive—we’ve grieved the loss and embraced life together.  There are days when I really can't believe I lived so far from my family.  My mom and I teach art classes together, dad's bbq's, walks with Rocker and Grandpa.  Oh, I love being near them again.  Then there's dear Katie Hacker and beady sleep-overs at her house.  Double trouble there!  I played the violin all through high school and put it down when I went to college.  Recently, I decided to start playing with some ol’ boys from a garage band I was in back in HS.  It seemed so un-cool to play the violin in school, but now 10 years later, it’s kinda cool!  Another old friend from my youth works in a building near my apartment—so she and I catch up often.    Someone once said “friends are the best medicine” and I believe it—love my friends!  We’ve taken road trips to Michaels craft store, went sledding, made Valentines, cooked food, played music, gone to see live music, museum parties, and the list keeps growing.  Rocker still struts his stuff all over town—had to get him a parka for Indiana’s brisk winter days (which he hated-talk about “un-cool”).  The snow concerned me because he is a tropical dog, but boy, let the fella off the leash and he turns into a little white deer prancing around in the snow.  So cute.

My Compass ring, for those days when you're feeling a little bit lost 😉

I’m teaching, working at the Craft and Hobby Association show with Plaid, finishing my new book, designing new stuff for magazines—all very exciting.

Sometimes we have to make-over our lives if something isn’t working.  It's hard.  I can think of a million analogies for it, the first one coming to mind is deep cleaning my apartment–where's the fly-lady?!?!  But, through all these alterations, I’ve learned a ton about myself (some things I wanted to know, some I didn’t, of course).  Forgive me for the disappearance, it's been a ton to digest, lots of growing pains, and I'm happy to be feeling back to my old self again.  Thanks for sticking around, thanks for the worried emails, and thanks most for the support over the years. 

(compass component from Ornamentea.com—you'd be amazed how many people want one of these rings!)