Who Are You?

When I made the switch from commuting designer to homeschooling housewife I jumped right into ladies groups, kid groups, floral aprons and regular dusting. None of those things have ever appealed to me, so why did I do them? Why do we put ourselves into molds that don’t fit?

I am not a floral apron. I am a stained lab coat with burn marks and a few rodent hairs. But I can still make you a mean scone if you want it.

My point? If you’re feeling trapped maybe you need to figure out who you are.

prayer hat

A good friend of mine is fighting an aggressive cancer. A couple of weeks ago she was telling me how she was going to start very strong chemo and her hair was most likely going to fall out. In the two decades that I have known her I have always been struck by two things when she walks into a room: her long-legged height and her thick long brown hair. When she told me about her hair I tried to not let my face react the way my heart felt. I know that in the grand scheme of things hair does not matter. But, it is the needle on the haystack of a series of already unbearable things.

As soon as she said she would lose her hair this exact hat popped into my mind. The style, the color, the fit. It was all there. I knew I had to make it. Four days later I was sending it off to her. It also happened to be her birthday. 

She called me yesterday. She has been feeling lousy from the chemo and yes, she did lose her hair. She loves the hat, it's the hat she has been looking for. She found one on etsy but it wasn't right. She said she never takes if off because her wig looks bad without it. I feel like this hat was a gift from God to my friend. I just had to follow a path that was already laid. 

I  prayed for healing through every stitch I knit. 

Would you please say a prayer for my friend? 

My Measuring Spoons

This is what they look like. Bent up and jumbled, but I still use them. If you have a sink disposal maybe you have some that look like this too. When my Mother in Law visits she often says "You need new spoons". I tell her it will just keep happening so why bother? She gave me a set that she used when my husband was little. I refused them because I don't want to ruin them.There are so many things in a house that are a bit off, like a chipped teacup.  Somehow the imperfect things become more homey to me. 

The messed up can be more endearing, like our new gerbil with the broken tail. I gifted my boyfriend (now husband) a baby ball python for his birthday 23 years ago and we still have her. Over the years my husband has fed her over 200 gerbils/rats. This is the first critter that has been pardoned by love. My daughter fell hard for this little guy with his broken off tail. She said "He's so kind. He's my buddy, how can I do that to my buddy?" Of course we couldn't do that to her buddy either. Maxwell Spock is proving himself to be a very sweet pet.