Love Your Blog - A Challenge

I just fell off the limited-carb wagon. I'm doing it right, it's a brownie pudding, with real bits of cookie* because it's just not on to fall off over something insignificant. I'm eating it from the bowl it came in with a teaspoon. I can stop any time I like, but for now, I don't really want to. For one, holding on to that spoon is keeping me from writing a lot which is something I've been avoiding.

So thanks, APlayfulDay, for taking the spoon out of my hand, thanks a lot. Love Your Blog? That is a challenge. Can you love a thing you've been avoiding? We'll have to see. The Spoon is Down**

Interactions and Community

Let's take that subject away from the blog. As much as I love all of you individual readers of this blog, Interaction and Community has never ever been a strong point, or even a point at all to this blog. Starting out as a readalong to my adventures (I went to the USA), musings on what now seems silly and insignificant***

(Dad walked in from dinner out and immediately started "testing" the pudding, repeatedly)

to a record of my crafty adventures, it's those crafty adventures that have lead to Interactions, and Community. And then there was the Bubs, and with him the interrupted nights and the eventual return to 32+ hours at the mind-numbing work and before you know it, 2 years have passed and hardly a peep on the blog. Sorry.

Not sorry. I just erased a long paragraph about exactly why the blog has been so quiet. Being a soloMUM and longdistanceWIFE most of the time, struggling employee for too large a part of every week leaves little room to be wordy about being crafty. So there. I invite you to keep up by medium of Twitter and Instagram, if you so wish. Fewer words, easier postage, doable.

Coincidentally (not really) that's where most of my interactions take place. It even leads to a sense of community, in my own twisted way. Without once buying a thing from Helen, it was through Twitter that I ended up on her retreat, as a last solo-trip**** to Scotland before the arrival of the Bubs. If you've paid lots of attention, you'll know it was her that gave the Bubs its nickname. There's a special bond if ever you went looking for one. It was the desire to hug her in real life that took me on my first, uncomfortable outing, once again to Scotland, by my single lonely self.

By Gods, that's rough, isn't it? Pretty much all of the trip would make a good tragicomedy (from a rebooting phone not playing alarm clock by way of a middle-of-the-night false fire alarm cutting a much needed sleep in a Bubs and Husband-free environment short in its infancy to airport security insanity induced running in knitwear)***** but the worst bit was being away and not being entirely comfortable with that at all. But I did it, and boy did I get a reward!
Not only did I get to give Helen an (almost but not quite awkwardly) long hug, I also got to meet her friends Lizzie and Dorothy and be known as the heavily pregnant lady who climbed up a hill only to announce having a slight fear of heights. It was delightful to re-meet Louise and newly meet her mother, and the other Louise who clearly understands the importance of a large piece of chocolate cake. I watched Shiny and spotted Sparkly, admired Devine doing her thing. I hugged Bookish, who is much further along in being smart and clever and surprised me by even knowing who I am at all to begin with. And then there was tea with Isobel and a chat with Fiona and a second with Kath and one with Stevan. I got a sock knitting tip from Mel whom I only knew from pattern pictures and found out that John loves going to Utrecht where I once went to uni. (edit: Also Suuf and her sister(s) and probably a lot more people I'm currently forgetting)

It was lovely and inclusive and for a good while I wasn't on the outside looking in. And when I wasn't I was Woolly'ing it outside looking out. Or running around awkwardly like an indecisive headless chicken spotting other people's children. It was amazing and awful and next time there will be more gin****** and photographs*******. And possibly a little more yarn-buying. Bugger that exchange rate...

Proof I was there

Interactions and Community? Yes, I can do that for a day. The rest of the days I'm getting more comfortable with not being an actual part part of it. Outside looking out, taking it day by day and grabbing a moment or two when they pop up even if they are few and far between. It's nice to know it's out there though, waiting.

x
J




*mmmmMona toetje
**it's in my tea, where it belongs, alright?
***this is encouraging. They appeared big at the time, mayhaps the current struggles will turn into mouse-sized items over time, ha!
****that's no longer true
*****you should've been there. It was "great"
******there was none
*******there are a few