"Me" time

OK, I'm trying to get back into the habit of blogging...it's been a few months since I've done it on any kind of regular basis. Lots has been happening (as is inevitable when one is a new parent) but I just haven't had the energy to record much of it, either in photos, words, video, whatever. I guess that's one of the many things that makes me a lousy mother (or at least a lazy one), but I'm working on it.

Lately I'm finding myself much more stimulated (huh-huh) in terms of creativity...whether this is due to a positive-energy type change in my personality, or merely out of plain-old boredom is arguable, but I figure it doesn't really matter so long as I'm acting upon it. And acting upon it I have been...I've been taking classes in stained glass for the past few months, and I've been enjoying it very much. It's painstaking, meticulous (not to mention somewhat hazardous) work, but it gets me out of the house every week or so. Anyway, I'll post some photos when I have my projects completed (my first fell out of a window and broke, and I need to repair it).

I've also learned to live without the midday nap that I used to take while Sy is down for his own nap..."me time" is just way too valuable and rare to spend all of it sleeping. I've cracked open a H.O.T. book on Dreamweaver 8...I've been wanting to spend more quality time with my baby-bling (i.e., my Mac Pro), and I need to brush up on my skillz, so to speak. I'm hoping to be able to put together my own website (especially as a showcase for my artwork). I'm not sure how I'm going to host it, given that I'm reluctantly letting my .mac membership expire (we're too broke and I can't justify dropping $100 for the annual membership fee). Maybe I'll just put together a CSS and apply it to my myspace page, what the hell.

My family is doing fine and well...mostly, anyway. Simon is awesome -- crawling like mad, getting into everything, pulling himself up to a standing position, cutting his top teeth, and giving his mom holy hell with his erratic sleep patterns and separation anxiety. I wouldn't trade him for the world, by the way *wink*. Motherhood is exhausting and the most comprehensive lesson a woman can ever learn about self-sacrifice, but yes, it IS worth it, at least for me. I love my little guy to pieces.

Matt is in a near-constant state of panic over our finances (or more specifically, our lack thereof)...I can't say that I blame him. We're not starving but it's a very hand-to-mouth kind of existence; and we're hardly living high on the hog, either. We've made every kind of cutback in spending that we reasonably can, but they're just isn't enough money coming in. Matt takes it more personally than I think he really should...it sucks, but I know we're far from being alone in this. The economy is tanking and a lot of folks are in the red, just look around.

For a variety of reasons I won't go into, it's not possible for me to get a job right now, but I'm thinking that sometime next year I may start looking for something. With any luck DPL will need another imaging tech, but that's a long shot (and they're in the midst of a hiring freeze anyway). So long as I'm not waiting tables or taking care of other people's kids, I'm open to just about any kind of work (no jokes about prostitution, please -- no one would wanna buy a ride on my fat middle-aged arse anyway, har!).

I'm giving serious thought to going back to school this fall...a lot of times I truly hate it, but I'm close enough to being done where it seems stupid not to just finish the goddamn program and get it over with. I have a hefty resentment for the art department administration, but it seems like the best thing to do will be to grit my teeth and try to ignore the fact that their inane policies irritate the hell out of me. Gee, does this mean that I'm growing up??

That's about all for now -- I need to shower and eat lunch while Sy is still down for his nap. Stay tuned for more info about my site.