me, weird?

As suspected, I haven’t had much opportunity to stitch other than after the kids are in bed (and I’m usually half asleep by then). The kids go back to school tomorrow, but only for two days … then it’s the crocusvakantie and they’re free for another week. Sigh. Don’t get me wrong, I generally relish the idea of extra time with the kids, but my resources aren’t quite back up to normal yet and after just two days of having them home, I’m plumb tuckered out. An entire week is going to be a challenge.

But here is a picture of the bit of stitching I’ve managed. This is Homestead, from the Bent Creek Snapperville series which Anne generously sent me after I left a comment on her blog sometime ago about how much I’d love to stitch this series. Is this cute or what? Bent Creek is for stitching what chicken soup is for health – simple stuff that makes you feel so much better.

Arden is two calendar months old today. I can’t believe it. On the one hand, it does not seem possible that two months have already gone by – maybe two weeks, but months? – on the other hand, I cannot imagine life without him, so a mere two months doesn’t seem anwhere long enough to explain the profound impact he’s had on our lives. I intend to post some pictures on my children’s blog after I’m done here if you want to take a peek, but here’s a cute picture I took of him this afternoon. What a baby, huh?

and now for the weird, such as it is

Danica has tagged me to reveal seven weird facts about myself. It’s been awhile since I did this one, so at the risk of boring your socks off, here comes:

1. I learned cross stitch on doctor’s orders, so to speak. I was suffering from an ulcer and other stress-related problems at the ripe old age of 20 or so; after trying my hand (and frustrating myself to unprecedented levels) at drawing and several other artistic endeavors, Sara took pity on me and taught me how to stitch. My first two projects under her gentle guidance were a Christmas ornament and a simple alphabet sampler.
2. I still have the pattern for that alphabet sampler. It cracks me up to see how simple it is, yet remember what fits it gave me.
3. I used to be scared of having kids. Even of having friends who had kids.
4. I got over my fear by confronting it head-on and becoming an au pair to a family with four children in Germany. When I returned to the US, I became a sort of nanny to two families who shared childcare – I fell in love with the kids, and the rest is history.
5. I was deeply ashamed of my Maine accent (which really was pretty mild, in hindsight) when I attended university in Massachusetts and went to great lengths to lose/hide it.
6. My best friend from high school could not pronounce Massachussets, and since she was also going to study in that state, I spent hours (and hours!) helping her say it so it didn’t come out sounding like ‘mass of two sh*ts’. LOL!! Hmm. Maybe that’s a weird fact about her, not me.
7. I’ve almost always wanted to be a writer and my mom gave me my first typewriter for Christmas when I was 5. My first endeavor was an illustrated story about the pilgrims.
8. (Penalty point for number 6) English was initially my minor, then my double major, in college. I inteneded to become a (well-read) psychologist until I read the play Equus when I was living in Germany. The doubts I’d had about whether anyone really has the right to dictate the guidelines for ‘normal’ behavior were suddenly too much for me to ignore, and when I returned to college I dropped my psych study although I was only a few months away from completing my major. I regret that I didn’t finish the study, even if I didn’t intend to go into practice.

I’m not tagging anyone. If you want to play, consider yourself invited.