(Or, Why Auntie Mel Fell Off the Face of the Earth)
So it's January now, just about 6 months since I last posted. I've got a couple of good reasons, which I'll get to in a moment. Not only has my blogging slowed down, but my crafting / Etsy-ing has ground to a halt as well, so I didn't really have anything of that sort to write about.
In August, my unemployment compensation ran out, and therefore I made the decision to go back to school full time, for one year, to finish an associate's degree in accounting. The idea is that I don't want to go back to a secretary office drudgery type job, and being an accountant or bookkeeper would give me some professional credibility in the workplace from here on out. It will also help me run my small business better. While in school, I stopped making new designs except on an as-requested basis, and stopped promoting my Etsy shop as much. I have kept up with Etsy as far as the existing products I have, and they are still for sale, but I haven't dug into any new projects. Over the winter holidays I made a few sales and had to stitch my fingers almost numb to keep up, but everyone got their stuff on time, so I felt I was still doing a good job as a small business owner.
In October, my husband and I found out that we are expecting our first child. Now, this space is not intended to be a baby or pregnancy blog, but that's pretty much central to my existence at this point. My school schedule has been slowed down a bit, because since I'm due in June, I won't be taking as many classes this semester or during the summer as I had originally planned. My transition from just "Auntie Mel" to "Mommy" (and still Auntie Mel) will most certainly be a significant one. A big practical change, related to my crafting life, is that I'm losing my office to the nursery. I also anticipate spending more of my crafting time on personal projects for my baby and the others my friends and family are expecting soon.
What's the upshot? Well, I'm not certain how regularly I'll be posting or crafting for the foreseeable future. I'm spending time on Facebook, and posting my personal stuff there, but Auntie Mel's Gifts is in a holding pattern until further notice. One fun thing is that we just found out that it's going to be a boy, so I've got a huge backlog of boy-appropriate afghans to choose from, I mean, ahem, test.
