Happy Birthday to Me!

28 years ago yesterday, an overdue 8 1/2 lb baby was born in St. Paul. It was me. My family tells me it was unseasonably hot that day - shirt sleeve weather. Not this year. Right now my browser is telling me it's -7.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Shiver.

One year ago yesterday I formally launched my seller account on Etsy. I'd been making scarves and washcloths for about a month and managed to post them, complete with really crappy photography. I'm still no photographer, but in the last 12 months I've at least managed to get a proper tripod and halfway decent lighting. My username to start was (and still is to date) my buyer username - melanie7915. I didn't want to call my shop that. So I started calling it Crochety Mel's. I thought it was a cute play on words, but it wound up being too much trouble to try to pronounce. Plus, at some point I expanded into needlepoint as well as crochet. Auntie Mel's made much more sense, especially as my nieces learned to talk. My identity as the goofy aunt who had cool toys to play with and yummy snacks to eat, who gave good presents is something I claim with a great deal of pride. Tonight one of my nieces asked her daddy, "Do you like Auntie Mel's house?" He said, "Yes, do you?" She replied, "Yes, I like it here."

This next year holds major changes, for me as a woman, an artist, a wife, a daughter, and a sister. I have so many ideas and goals, and I'm excited to pursue them. I may have to go back to a "real" job soon, and I'm a bit terrified about that process, and also concerned that I will have to give up on my artistic endeavors. At the same time, this crummy economy has caused my family some financial difficulties - layoffs, cutbacks, and general uncertainty lie before us. I expect to have some new responsibilities, in all of my roles, and to sometimes feel pulled in every direction. But I'm determined to succeed, as much as I can. The phrase, "We'll get through this as a family" is a value that I, with my family, hold dear. At any rate, I expect it to be an interesting ride. No bickering in the backseat, now, kids.