on meeting Meg and remembering I have my dream job

meeting meg

(Thanks valet at Meg’s fancy hotel for taking our picture even if it is with a harsh flash and horrible light.)

My long time blogging  and pattern designing friend Meg from Sew Liberated came to Denver last week to film a class at Denver based Craftsy.  We went out to dinner one night while she was here and had a happy adventure.  My down town excursions to date have consisted mainly of museum visits with packed lunches.  This time I picked Meg up from her fancy hotel, wandered about looking for the parking garage, walked a few blocks in the wrong direction, and then found our restaurant (that even needed reservations).  Meg was a very good sport.  We exchanged crazy in-law stories, meeting our husbands stories, and chatted and chatted.  She is every bit as beautiful and thoughtful in real life as her blog is.   I had to pee no less than three times over the course of dinner.  They were very good at refilling water glasses at Osteria Marco.

At one point we talked a bit about business and making things.  She expressed how much she wished she didn’t have to work so much and could just focus on her boys.  As Sew Liberated has grown her and Patrick have divided parenting time and she frequently spends half the day focused just on her business.  “Oh, so that’s how you do it,” it dawned on me.  I often wish I had more uninterrupted time to focus on making things, designing things, blogging things– but the last time I had 4 hours of focused, uninterrupted time was probably in early 2000.  I don’t have a popular blog, a craft book to my name, or recent art covering my walls.

But I do have my dream job.  I’m a stay at home, homeschooling mom of the six most amazing little people that ever were.  There will be days in my future that I can focus on things other than refereeing who sits in the corner of the big couch, reading stories, feeding mouths, and examining the intricacies of the latest Lego ship.  These are the days I can never get back.  Someday these days of nursing my last baby, tickling my 3 year old, watching Ian learn to read will have seemed too short.

And I have to remind myself THIS is my dream job.

catching up– an 8 year old birthday

Our exuberant, sweet, bouncy, spinning, creative, handsome Logan turned 8!!  He wanted an art party, so we drew, painted, and tie dyed t-shirts.

art boys

tie dying

singing

blowing

There were a lot of boys who had a lot of fun.

And of course on that hot July day it degenerated into a water fight.  The 4 Super Soakers he got contributed to that too.

water fight

printing

How are you doing this summer?  Dealing well with the record heat?  I have to say there were a few nights while we were trying to sleep in my mother in-law’s un-airconditioned and only one fan house that I thought I would literally melt into a puddle and disappear from off the face of the earth.  Luckily the second half of our stay was MUCH more pleasant in the temperature and humidity department.  Thank heavens.

Now we’re home.  I’m an air-conditioning kind of girl.

inking up

But, I didn’t sit down to write a post about the weather.  What I wanted to show you was my start on printing fabric for my poor worn out wing-back chair in the living room.  When I realized Barry would be home on Thursday I told him that it was going to be my printing day and he’d be in charge of kids (along with his mom who is visiting us now).  He makes it a priority to spend hours upon hours doing what he wants to do– riding his bike.  I have a hard time feeling like I’m not selfish carving out time to do what I want to do– make things.

Anyway, I got some time and took advantage of it.

printing slipcover fabric

with some mums

(My sweet husband took some photos of me working.)

I’m no Galbraith & Paul, but I’ve got a good start.  Next time I work on it I’ll take some photos of my printing blocks so you can see how I made them.