For me, the pull of the outdoors is strong on days when I can’t really stay with one thing for very long. While never having officially been tested for ADD, I’ve lived with a child who was. After puberty, it got so severe that he actually took medication for it, which I have very mixed feelings about. While it helped him pull through school it was still a severely invasive treatment and I wouldn’t have been okay with it had he not asked for it himself. Anyway, I know a little about the condition, and I may or may not have a disposition for it myself.
At this point in my life, it’s neither here nor there. Having chosen to work from home, and to be self-employed, it’s a very comfortable way to deal with a wandering mind, restless hands and feet and processing a whole stack of ideas, all at the same time. I believe that the way my mind works enables me to juggle household and mothering chores while managing my actual workload as a professional. None of my clients is going to care how I get there as long as I submit my work on time, and whether I choose to work on the couch, at a desk or at a kitchen table. Not sure I’d still be able to sit still in an office all day – and I feel very lucky not to have to.
Last week I had a week off, which was a good thing. I took the dog out to the cottage, to a freaking freezing house (it was 3 °C when we arrived), so the first 2 days were spent frantically feeding the woodburners, and taking advantage of the heating pad and electric radiator for the bedroom.
Being there all by myself without the family was strange, and the fact that I wasn’t working was even weirder. My last two years were busy in a way that I was barely able to accommodate, one book after the other … and it took a few days to sink in that I was allowed a break. And apparently, now the week has passed, I’m not quite done with the vacation mode.
One remarkable thing that happened last week was our son turning 20. He’s an amazing young man, and we’re so lucky to have had the privilege of raising him. Truth be told, in a lot of ways, I feel he and I raised each other. I have learned and grown through him more than through anything else I ever did. Our daughter, who entered the picture almost 7 years later, reaped the benefits of this process; I know I was a lot more relaxed about stuff that would have sent me into a tailspin when her brother was little. Astonishingly, looking back, I still managed to do a decent job with both of them, even when I had no idea what I was doing, 20 years back. Go me, I guess.
That said, I’d be remiss not to mention our awesome friends who became chosen family along the way, and whose help cannot be weighed in gold. They grounded me when I was freaking out, gave advice when I asked for it, had my back when I was feeling lost, and provided love and acceptance my parents weren’t around to give anymore. You know who you are, and I feel it’s a good opportunity to say thank you for everything you have been to me over the last two decades!
Ha. That got a little maudlin. I guess Big Round Birthdays will do that to you.
So what else happened last week? Long walks with the pup every day, which was a given.
Cooking for self, which was nice.
Knitting while watching Netflix during the day. Felt very daring ;-). Ordered new yarn online and got started on a red sweater, inspired by this IG post:
Running a tub whenever I felt like it, eating when I felt hungry, wearing PJs until noon, buying myself flowers.
In short, not being a mom, for a little while.
Also, before I went, I was lucky enough to get a spontaneous tattoo appointment with my lovely friend E. I’d wanted this motif for a while now, and now I have it, and I love it very much.
She is a woman of many talents, but I think it’s fair to say that fine line tattoos are a specialty of hers. Here’s her website. Highly recommended!
Also, the funniest thing happened the very same day I got the tattoo – a publishing house I had not worked for in a few years made an enquiry for a crochet book! These things work in mysterious ways, don’t they? I haven’t signed anything yet, but getting the enquiry alone seemed surprisingly spot-on! Wish me luck, the book looks really good!
Have a lovely week, everyone, and thank you for dropping in to read.
A Stitch is a stitch 