I can’t believe that it’s been 3 months since I’ve written anything here. It’s been a whirlwind of activity for my family. Kofi has been working a temporary freelance job that has lasted longer than we hoped. It’s at a company that he really likes and they really like him back. We are hoping that they will figure out a way to hire him on permanently after the New Year. I never got the break from craft shows and deadlines that I was longing for in September. Instead I signed myself up for another show in December with my friend Heather. I stressed myself out even more than the first time and worried about getting another big project done at the same time. My sister asked me to crochet sweaters for her two daughters for Christmas and like an idiot I said yes. In retrospect I’m really glad that I did. Reading patterns has been a huge block for me as a crocheter. I never use patterns when I crochet, not because I feel I can do better, but because they seem scary to me. Someone created this crazy code that I should be able to understand, but I’ve never been able to. So, I took a few big breaths and jumped into the project with a lot of fear and and sweaty hands working against me. I’m not even sure how many times I had to undo my work before I finally started to get what they were trying to tell me in those confusing little abbreviations. Eventually, the light flipped on in my head and I was making a sweater. I just shipped out the finished sweaters yesterday morning. They should reach Florida by the end of this week. Big sigh…

So, the past three months have been stressful and filled with hope at the same time. We are finally making some real money (sadly with no medical benefits), and I was able to push myself over a hurdle that I was never willing to consider before. I feel proud of us as a family. We’ve held on for a long time living week to week, month to month with no idea of what would come next for us. Kofi has bravely kept us afloat by diligently looking for work when there was none to be had.

Miles is 15 months old now and running, not walking, everywhere he goes. He has an amazing sense of humor and has become a little mockingbird to everyone he comes into contact with. He talks into everything, pretending it’s a phone. He loves to see his grandparents on Skype every other week and has made fast friends with the owner of the children’s consignment shop on the corner. I think that he’s a pretty average kid and try not to compare him with other children around his age. It’s not easy of course. You always want your child to be the fastest, smartest and most well liked. It’s hard to move your ego out of the way of your child’s development.

So, it’s almost Christmas/Holiday time and I’ve decided to take an extended vacation from social networking. I’d like to allow myself to concentrate on my little world and not everyone else I’ve ever known. As much as I love many of the people that I have daily internet contact with, I need to stop getting sucked into their dramas, political views and what they have and don’t have. I have a small boy that needs me to be present mentally and emotionally for him. I have my own dramas, political views and feelings about what I have and don’t have. I have a superb husband that I would like to spend more quality time with. I just don’t have the time or energy for the other 115 “friends” in my life. Do I miss it? Yes. Of course I do. It’s addictive and fun knowing that my friend in San Francisco just got another tattoo and that my friend back home just found a pile of dog excrement outside her office door. Is it a necessity for me to know these things all the time? Not really. I do need to look inward more and not at the hundreds of trivial activities going on in everyone else’s lives. Not trivial to them of course. I’m not trying to diminish their existence in any way. Sometimes though, I just need to make things about my own existence instead.

I hope that I come and write here more and more, like I use to. I enjoy it and it makes me feel healthier inside.