Me

Just to help you navigate the blog: I'm in the process of going through a separation, so one of my pages is pretty much entirely dedicated to that....that page is labeled "Journey".  I have another page dedicated to my random political/religious rants, so if you're curious, head over to "The Mire".  I am working on my actual writing-writing, so whatever pieces of writing, from essay to short story to poetry, will be under "The Craft", and all else will be thrown in, naturally, "Misc".

When filling out online profiles, it's easy to try and squish ourselves into a box.  But I (and probably you, if you're honest) don't fit!

I'm thirty, and I'm a mom...it took me a while to figure that out and get the hang of it, but if I do say so myself, I'm doing pretty well now!  My kids are currently 7, 5, and 4 (boy, girl, boy), and they're pretty awesome so if I can take credit for any of that, I will. *smile.

I'm also a writer with fairly atrocious grammar, so I am working on that.  I love to write and do it very often, but usually my craft is wasted on  way-too-long Facebook rants and such. I'm in the process of redirecting that enthusiasm to actual pieces of writing, not just diatribes that will get blocked from others' news feeds.

I'm also a good, maybe great, cook, and a novice gardener.  I've had pretty awesome success with all the gardens I've had with a marginal effort of buying/composting good soil, and then just dumping the seeds in, watering, and waiting.  I don't get a lot into the "scientific" names for things and what nitrogen level is in the soil...if the plants don't do well, I plant seeds of other plants that are going to flourish in that soil.  I look forward to honing this craft in the future, however, and actually become what I may call a "real" gardener.

I like all things vintage and old-worldly.  I love music that harkens backs to another day, as well as listening to "A Prairie Home Companion" (and anything else involving Garrison Keillor) and most of everything else on NPR (the local NPR station is stored at #1 on my car's radio auto-tune buttons).  I've been told many times I have an "old soul", and I take it as a compliment!  I like making things myself, from crocheting to sewing to bread and homemade pumpkin butter.

Mid-century design is where my furniture niche lies, and I do own a 1954 Kroehler sofa that has beautiful lines....our dog chewed up the original upholstery, but I reupholstered in a plain beige canvas and that works for me for now. The sofa is the first of a "sectional" variety, but isn't curved or L-shaped...it's basically a normal, armless sofa, but cut in half. My favorite, however, is a glazed ceramic lamp (store estimated it to be from around 1955 but has no manufacturer's marks).  The lamp body is of a sitting Indian man with the original stitched drum lap shade....gahhhh, I love it. I looked for original Eames chairs but didn't have a thousand bucks to plop down on them, so I got replicas instead....works for me!  I got lucky with thrift store finds of original Lane tables, awesome period curtain panels

I also like repurposed/recycled anything.  I made pallet gardens and some outdoor pallet furniture with some free pallets. I like doing woodwork and making things, although I may not be terrifically good at it.  I basically hate throwing anything away, so if I can use to make something that's what I'm going to do.

Basically, when it all boils down, I'm an average woman trying to make an extraordinary life for herself.  I'm an activist, an organizer, a community leader, and a visionary- I want to see a better world for my children when they're adults, so whatever I can do to influence those forces of change, I will.  Stay tuned for stories of our escapades!