“Sea monsters at the volcano”

For some odd reason, this week, in the midst of the doctor appointments and bad news (hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to a GI specialist we go), I’ve been surrounded by art, in many forms and mediums.  I think God was trying to lob me an easy one, knowing the suffocation I feel with our new family diet of water and lactose free air.  My whole foods cooking has taken a backseat to the desperate search for foods my children can digest.

I had coffee with Ana Paula on Wednesday morning (talk about a rare treat), and she shared with me her new hobby of jewelry.  Her face just lit up with inspiration.  Why?  Because you can’t be an auditor in corporate America without some kind of a creative outlet.  Even the most practical and logical thinkers need to let their brains dance every once in a while.  I walked away feeling refreshed and inspired.

I was met at home by my Dad, his car overflowing with his newest artistic endeavor: painting.  He calls it Life Engrained, and his work is patterned on the natural grain of wood.  He has an art showing in the near future (which I’m sure I’ll link to soon), and we started the work of photographing and cataloging his art (with our two photography assistants, Sara & Kelly).  We just couldn’t get our minds away from it: where it took our thoughts, and its possible applications.  Sara had her own names for the art, mostly involving the word “Map”.

“Caveman Thinking”

Again, when Dad left, I felt deeply satisfied, as if a deposit had been made in my inspiration bank.  Listening and watching people fall in love with a creative outlet was an awesome and powerful way to spend the day.

Then tonight, God saw the stress lines on my face (as I drove the 2.5 hours round trip with cranky children to buy pediatric probiotics), and gave me just one more blessing.  I don’t deserve it.  I’ve been horribly short-tempered all week.  I went to pick up my quilted wall hanging from my quilting teacher.  She finished the machine portion of the quilting for me, as my current (and very grateful to have it) machine isn’t powerful enough to free motion through the layers.  I met her at her current Intro to Quilting class, filled with women far more welcoming than my group last fall.  She held up my work to show them how their projects would look when finished.  Like a thunderclap, 15 women shrieked and began clapping.  I don’t share this brag, but to let you know how desperate I was for any feedback on my life.  Staying at home is a bit like living in a vacuum.  To have any comments on anything is like a refreshing rain on my spirit.  So thank you, thank you, thank you for the comments and emails re: our recent trip through pediatric gutville.  Your words center me.

I’m not going to lie and claim to be renewed.  My spirit is lagging this spring.  It will take some time for me to regroup and pull up the old bootstraps.  But it has helped me charge my engines towards my current quilting project.  It’s a gift, but she already knows that the pictures below only represent 1/6th of the patterns, so the surprise remains largely hidden.  Plus, she’s a real gal.  An awesome gal.  My sister-in-law knows that no woman can juggle a month of sick kids and a quilt.  What has started will be finished.  I only sew and cook when I feel it in my bones that I must.  Otherwise, you will only meet with frustration and failure.  Working filled with love and joy makes for projects that are perfect in every way.

Just touching these fabrics makes me want to sew.  Looking at them brightens my entire day.  The pattern makes me feel like a rock star quilter.  So I will keep at it until my mood lightens.  Wishing you all some creative sunshine and…CHEESE.  Eat lots and lots of cheese for me.  I flippin’ miss…CHEESE.