The Social Porcupine

I took on a couple seamstress positions last year. Which means I hardly clean anymore, and I've discovered I actually like sewing a lot. It's rather amazing how a change of work has impacted me. I love life just that much more. I love people better, and feel better, and do more things outside of work.  And I sew more.  Here are most of the things I've made outside of work.  1.  I did a bit of sewing for Revivall last spring, and she gave me a black trash bag full of wool scraps. Originally, I was wanting to make a sweater dress. But the wool was too heavy for the sweater top. It was meant to be a simple wool skirt with a diamond cashmere top. This dress is one of my first truly creative pieces. I had no pattern and no idea of what I was making. It changed with every added piece. At the end I even added a ton of embroidery to the hem and bodice. Only thing new: buttons bought in Germany.  2. February I went to a we...

I run a small cleaning business. I love it. I take pride in my work and would believe that there is no one alive who can clean quite as well as I do, nor do it half as artistically (I feel there is great art in my methodology). I adore most of my clients, and the ones who I don't like all that much I still find fascinating story fodder.  And so, bad reviews wound my pride. Unhappy clients make me cry. And really mean clients . . . ah, but then it really isn't those specific clients that make me feel awful, but all the things going on in life besides, and somehow this outward thing is what allows me to break.  It's never the work that we truly hate or love, after all. It's everything else.  I'm not sure what was going on that day, but my spirit was already in a frazzled state. One moment I was laughing, confidently entertaining a bunch of people. The next moment I was looking for some small corner to hide away in for just a few moments, to breathe, to close m...

This is me .  This is me .  I'm not sure if the two me's overlap, or if they are completely different? Part of me has a life.  I sew. I model. I read. I write (and have manuscripts to prove it). I have friends (and spend time with them. At least long enough for a selfie). I have family. I always have something big happening, normally more than one thing at a time. And my clothes are very . . . shall we say artistic? Mostly I smile, but sometimes I share about pain, or my Dad being in a car accident and nearly dying, or rocky friendships, or stress. I have a colorful life, and the colors spread from pink to black, to all the shades between. Overall, when you see me you see an unending variety of life. Part of me has no life . . .  . . . Yet, that part of me seems to be obsessed with mirrors and smiling and cleaning. EVERYTHING is clean. My humor is clean. My singing is clean (and the toilet brush is my mic). My friends are cle...

I mentioned to you all in a  recent post  I'd write this one. I thought it would be a good follow up on  time and spending money .  "Now, don't work too hard." "Remember, fun is important, too!" "I saw this great movie the other day about a workaholic. He never noticed his family or did anything but work. So sad."  "Rest is good. After all God rested on His Sabbath." Now all of these statements are true. But the way I've been hearing them as of late, it's almost as if work ethics are being devalued. And the movies especially, love to have a "theme" where people who work hard are evil. Because, obviously, working hard means you are not paying attention to the "truly important parts of life." I'll admit, I'm a workaholic. And I'm proud of it. I'd like to explain why I think it's good to love to work hard.  1. Too busy for fun and why that's not bad: "How'...

I saw a post on twitter awhile back that said something all the line of, "Maybe bribing myself with the potential ability to buy a ---- will motivate me enough to keep a job." My first reaction was, really??? I'm a workaholic. I love working. I also believe in working hard. I have never had a need for more work. I have never turned down work. I have hardly even searched for work. It just . . . finds me. And I do it. From cleaning houses, to working for small businesses, to office work, to custom sewing, to babysitting. Some of it I've loved. Some of it . . . was me laboring because it was the thing to do, but I was dreaming of being done soon. But I've never had to motivate myself to work. Especially with a bribe. I am also a bit of a saver.  I love working. I hate spending money, unless it's on books, gifts, or something large I'm working toward (travel, land, etc). And any other way seems foreign to me. So, after reading this tweet and thi...