Friday, April 8, 2016

AWOL Sewjo

Gah. I hadn't realized that it's been nearly two months since I've posted anything here.  I have gotten a few messages and emails wondering where I've been, and I thank everyone who has sent those.

The truth is that I've been dealing with Life for the past few months and a disturbing lack of sewjo. The lack of sewjo has killed any desire that I've had to blog about sewing, and with my nearly non-existent free time, I've been writing about other non-sewing related things (not writing on a blog or anything, though).

I am really hoping that this is all just temporary, but in the past few months, I've been dealing with the following things:
  • My preschool-aged daughter has started getting up a lot earlier in the morning than she used to. If you'll recall, I used to get up and sew before work in the morning. That hasn't been happening because I'm usually putting on my "mommy hat" as soon as I'm waking up these days. 
  • Husband has turned into a gym rat and typically goes in the evening after I get home from work. This means that I need to be a mommy after work and thus, there goes any evening time that I had to sew.
  • Husband also had surgery related to his chronic acid reflux issue, so there's been that, too.
  • And here's the big one:  My mom moved up to the Seattle area and lives about 10 minutes away from us now. (If you've been following my blog for a while, you might recall that we lost my dad to cancer about a year ago.)  Having her so close by and trying to help her adjust and keep her spirits up has been a learning experience. Yes, I know that I need to set some boundaries, but I'm still not yet sure what boundaries I'm comfortable with yet.
On a related note to the last item, I've started a personal writing project related to my dad and what we went through with his illness. It's something that I've felt like I needed to do for a while but wasn't emotionally ready to tackle until recently. I may or may not seek to do anything with it beyond letting it sit in Google docs--I'm really hoping to put a humorous spin on some topics that people don't really talk about publicly (at least in the US). We'll see.

So that's the deal with me. I am still trying to sew a bit here and there, but it's going monumentally slow, which is frustrating. I've been working on the same shirtdress (from a McCall's pattern) for the past month. I have finished a few things that I haven't photographed or blogged--my favorite of which has been the Blank Slate Rivage Raglan (okay, I was a tester for that one), which I love because it has the PERFECT amount of easy--not too baggy and not too tight. Sometimes you hit a homerun with a simple pattern!

I am hoping that when my life calms down a bit and I figure out what sort of time management adjustments I need to make, my sewing will become more inspired and I will want to start blogging again. In the meantime, I am still writing my occasional posts over at the Curvy Sewing Collective, which I know that many of you follow. :)

38 comments:

  1. Good to hear from you and know that you are OK--except VERY BUSY.

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    1. Yup. I am really ready for things to calm down!

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  2. Hopefully life will become a little more relaxed and you can sew again! I'd be interested in reading your writing project sometime.

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    1. I will probably take you up on that when it's a bit farther along. I would really welcome some feedback from someone who isn't my husband. ;)

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  3. Glad you're hanging in there even though life is incredibly challenging right now. Hopefully you get things figured out with your mom, that must be really tough.

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    1. Thanks! And yeah, I really had no idea what I/we were in for, as far as taking care of my mom. To be fair, we do utilize her for free babysitting occasionally now, at least.

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  4. Glad to see you posting again. Maybe your daughters changes are due to the clock switch to daylight savings time? Even I still am having a nard time with it. Do her room's curtains truly shut out early morning light?

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    1. That's been a big part of it. We've thought about blackout curtains for her room but haven't made the investment yet.

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    2. It was the best investment we ever made with our son. We couldn't afford blackout curtains the first time round, when we were renting, so I got a second pair of curtains from the op shop and put them up instead of nets to block out the light. As soon as we had our own home, each year I invested in blackout lining for another room until we had all bedrooms plus the lounge. It really helped on the toddler sleep front.

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    3. Sometimes people don't realize just how bright the sunlight can be here in the PNW... it's because of all the waterway that surrounds us!

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  5. All completely understandable, and I hope things improve for you and your family. Thanks for the pleasure I've had reading your blog!

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  6. Very happy that you're okay and sending you best wishes :)

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  7. I really hope that things will calm down for you and that you will find some time for yourself again. I have been missing your "Week in patterns"-posts!

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    1. Thanks--I just haven't been able to bring myself to follow all of the pattern releases, let alone write about them, when I haven't had any time to sew.

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  8. I really hope that things will calm down for you and that you will find some time for yourself again. I have been missing your "Week in patterns"-posts!

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    1. Thanks. It's been a bit rough mentally. I actually had my mom come over and babysit for 2 hours last weekend just so that I could get in 2 hours of sewing time!

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  9. I didn't realise all that was going on - I just thought it was pre- and post-trip exhaustion! Hope you figure out a new sewing time soon!

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    1. Well, yeah, there's been that, too! I had hoped/planned to do a London write-up, but we really didn't do much fabric shopping, etc, there.

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  10. Thanks for the update- a few people were wondering if you're ok! Good for you for writing about your family's experience.

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  11. Missed your pattern reviews......glad you're back

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    1. I don't know when I'll start doing the pattern reviews again--hopefully, I'll pick those back up when I get things more sorted out.

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  12. Hopefully life will settle down soon and you will find time to do what you love whether that's sewing or otherwise.

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  13. Glad you're back but sorry to hear there's so much on your plate!

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  14. I've been missing your posts. Hopefully you'll find a routine soon that works for you.

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  15. Since you have already lost a parent you know that boundaries are wasted time. Instead, I recommend bringing your mom into your life instead of her bringing you into hers all the time. Before you know it, she'll have interests and friends that will have her saying no to your invites.

    Life gets in the way of our personal time all the time. Relish Life. I hope you sneak in more me time. I know when my guy turned 5 I started having more time.... Hugs to you from this stranger.

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  16. Since you have already lost a parent you know that boundaries are wasted time. Instead, I recommend bringing your mom into your life instead of her bringing you into hers all the time. Before you know it, she'll have interests and friends that will have her saying no to your invites.

    Life gets in the way of our personal time all the time. Relish Life. I hope you sneak in more me time. I know when my guy turned 5 I started having more time.... Hugs to you from this stranger.

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  17. Life happens. I'm glad you stopped for a minute to give us an update. Yours is one of my favorite blogs so I'm always happy when you write but understand when you can't. Lots of changes going on for you all but at some point you'll find your new balance and the blog and everything else will still be there. No rush. Good luck with your personal writing. It sounds like a nicely fulfilling project.

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  19. You will never regret the things that you can do for your mother nor will you ever regret the time you spend with her.

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  20. Welcome back Michelle, I'v so missed your blog and pattern roundups! Sometimes things take over our lives that take priority and we have to put aside our own desires. I hope things settle down for you soon and your sewjo returns....... and your little one starts to sleep a little longer! :D

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  21. I'm glad to see you post whenever you can. Adulting is for the birds! Things will get better for sure. I sent you an email. =)

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  22. Thank you for the update on why no blogging here. I don't know of anyone who hasn't had life upset the routines at some point. The situations with DH, DD and DM will get sorted out. The sewjo and blogging will be back, maybe not in the same exact form, but it will be back.

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  23. Hi Michelle, just wanted to say hope all is OK. Miss your blog posts!

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  24. You are certainly in a different season of life. From experence I can tell you that you will not regret spending so much time with your Mom. God bless. The sewing machine will still be there when you get back to it no matter when that is.

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  25. Big hugs, Michelle! Take your time.... we will be here for you when you are ready to be back.

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  26. Don't worry about not posting too often Michelle, less is more!
    Just curious (because I value your opinion) what do you think of this? https://www.upliftedlingerie.co.uk/buying-a-bra-for-my-girlfriend/

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