bits of unfinished business (or 27 things on my mind at 2am)

been home with a sick boy for the last two days. a fever yesterday, and a mending day today. i'm hopeful that he's back to himself now. but i'm a wee bit stir crazy.

also, i've missed the last two thursdays in the painting studio. missed another creative date on tuesday morning. there's not been much cooking or baking lately, between the house and the finger. i haven't created anything for days, which is making me itchy. and i haven't been to yoga either.

all in all, a bad combination.

that, and d. is working around the clock this week, there was a game of musical beds in my house in the wee hours of this morning, and somebody gave my daughter a copy of the classified-guide-to-every-single-one-of-my-buttons (and helped her to study it).

phew. it's been a week already.

so, in an effort to purge myself of the bits and bobs running through my mind last night during the aforementioned game of musical beds, here's just a smattering. in no particular order.

* i've become exceptionally lazy lately about responding to your comments. i mean, it's not as though there hasn't been a lot going on here. and the nine-finger-thing has put a bit of a damper on my typing. but still. i've always responded to every comment. for me, it's a really important part of blogging. it's a conversation, after all. and we're not conversing, really, if i'm not responding to you. i'm sorry about that. i'll be resuming proper shining-egg-comment-responding-behavior shortly.

* the stitches did come out on monday. it wasn't bad, but the finger is still really yucky. i'll spare you the gory details.

* for the record, the picture of "the scene" of my finger injury was taken after we returned home from the hospital. not before. (i'm crazy, but not that crazy. though even my mother wondered how i managed to take the picture!)

* to say that i am grateful for your feedback on my paintings is an understatement. it's exciting and encouraging to me that you're enjoying them. i've been thinking, a good bit, about where i'll be going with them. i've got no answers yet, but i will.

* your enthusiasm about wordplay is energizing. really, your excitement makes the whole project even sweeter, if that's possible. i forgot to mention yesterday that tracy designed our amazing logo. and she made these super cool wordplay tokens. aren't they fantastic? i've been dreaming about gossamer, by the way. in my waking hours, i mean.

* we painted the new creative-space-to-be bright white. and i'm really happy with it. it will be awhile until it's ready to move into. and it won't be all mine, this room. i'll be sharing with d. and the kids. but we've agreed that i'll be the landlord and they'll be leasing space from me. so i'm calling the shots in there!

i think that's it. phew, that's better. there might be more, later. but that's it for now.

i do know, by the way, that this is just a little moment in time and that it will soon pass. honestly, i feel rotten complaining about anything; my life is so full of blessings. i try to remember to take time every day to be grateful for those blessings, and that helps me to keep all of this in perspective. it also helps me to remember that with some sleep, a chunk of time spent with a paintbrush in my hand, a few moments alone in my house, maybe a loaf of bread, a walk, and two or three sun salutations, everything will be righted once again. i do know that. i know it. i do. thanks for listening to me say it anyway.

Comments

[Molly]

No, thank you for saying it! So we can all try to remember it. Lately I've been focusing on remembering to BREATHE and SLEEP. These two things will cure most of my ills. Oh, and a loaf of bread does sound good as well. :)

[leslie]

oh , i hope you can create soon. i know that itchin' feeling. and i hope you can do a little yoga, too.

[Pina]

We are all human. We all have ups and downs. I am sure that your life will soon get back to track, when you will be able to do the things you like.

[TD wool design]

sounds like we're on a similar page. i too, hate to complain, know i shouldn't and yet just now noted my ailments on my own blog. don't feel like changing it though. my post, that is. it is what it is. am fighting to improve the ailment part however. i'll win. with warmer temps and happy knitting, i'll win. rooting for you as well!

[erin]

a classified guide to all my buttons....love that.

[raina]

hugs. Hope things get a little less hectic...I send some serenity wish to you.

[Michelle]

I don't see it as complaining, and although this phrase is used way too often, you are "keeping it real." Because sometimes it's just hard to put any gloss over the day;)

[Sarah Jackson]

It's okay to complain right now - sometimes thing just get to be too much. It'll right itself soon.

I wonder if the guide to your buttons is the same one as the guide to mine. Hmm....

[kosenrufu mama]

I UNDERSTAND YOU... WITH SICK CHIDREN AT HOME... I KNOW, I SPENT SOME TIME LIKE THAT TOO....;)ESTER

[Mariss]

Thanks for being honest! I had a similar post on my own blog recently, about being honest but not wanting to a complainer. Just keeping it real, like someone above mentioned.

Life is messy at times. No need to apologize! I think that sometimes a conversation doesn't need to be comment per comment. So be easy on yourself, and no need to respond to this one! ;) Hang in there.

[vanessa]

i went and bought that book yesterday at lunch and couldn't put it down- I have visions of a "creative family" dancing in my head... and a baby doing somersaults in my belly (I think that means baby likes the whole idea, let's hope at least)

[julia]

emily- thank you for saying all of this. not complaining at all. we all have times like these. bread, yoga, and painting will definitely help. i'm glad you're getting some time to paint today. hope it's what you needed.

ps: package is officially in the mail. hope you like it!

[ani]

it's good to hear i'm not the only one has these days! i like to hear the whole story, ups and downs.

here's to getting some crucial time for yourself to recharge...i'd send over the wheat french bread or banana choco chip bread i baked, but it would probably not travel as well as i would hope. :)

[Tracy]

We all have those moments. Or bundles of moments. When things just aren't quite right. Then it swings back upward again. Bread and yoga and getting that creative energy out will definitely help.

[D.]

E. - i appreciate everything you do. i can see the light the end of the tunnel...we're almost there. love. D.

[Grace]

Here's the thing. In my experience, that feeling -- lacking the time to create, feeling like you're itching to do it, but the opportunity not arising, etc. -- leads into a nasty chain of events. I am discovering, with much help from a certain wise friend, that sometimes when you feel like there's "no time", it is less because of there not actually being an opportunity (there is always a little opportunity), but because it's not really what you need to be doing (and if you were honest with yourself -- by which I mean myself, of course -- not what you want to be doing, either). Remember the lying fallow thing? Not that I think that you are in the same place that I was, but I just mean that sometimes it looks like these circumstances are "happening to us" when we're actually right in the middle of it, orchestrating it ourselves. OK, that doesn't sound exactly right, either. I don't mean to say, "You made B sick, you cut your finger on purpose, you are looking for excuses not to go to the painting studio." That is not what I mean at all! But I think you know that, my dear, eloquent confidante.

What I was really popping on to say was that I am never pre-ordering anything from Amazon ever again, because my pre-order of a certain book shown in your last photo still has not arrived! I would at least like to *see* it someday! The same thing happened when I pre-ordered "Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts." I felt like I was the last person on earth to receive my copy! So, poo on Amazon. (I mean, poo on them anyway, because, well, you know. They're all Amazon-ish. But you want to support people by pre-ordering their books. But then it backfires.)

Ugh. I'm rambling. Hang in, E. You can make it. Even through a fallow time. I know this now.

[Living Inspired]

Just discovered your website. Love the pics@ What type of camera are you using? I have a minolta point and shoot digital camera, and I'm looking to upgrade. Thanks!

[amisha]

hi emily. thinking of you and just wanted to say hi... hope everything is going well with all the busyness happening right now, and hope you are enjoying visits and vacations :) hugs to you. xo

[joanna]

hope you feel better and come back soon =)