Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Three more days people!!!

Wow, thank you. Thank you all a million times over. The support has truly been amazing. I particularly wanted to thank 'Anonymous' who left me some amazing insight (from a man's point of view no less!) Ladies, you really should read it!

I am doing a million times better. Once I mourned the loss of the relationship, which turned out to be more the loss of what I thought the relationship could be and less of the loss of him, I felt so much better. Those first few days were rough. I didn't really think I'd be ok again for a long time, but here I am, not even a week later feeling back to normal and ready to move on with my life.

In the spirit of moving on, I'm 100% ready for Rhinebeck. I was going to post about a little something I made for it, but then 'the incident' went down and I never got to. Please don't laugh, I realize I am a huge dork, and I mean huge. I think I had seen some other blogger do something like this awhile back and I thought it sounded like a fun idea. So without further ado, I present to you my Rhinebeck blog bag:Ever since someone posted, I think it was Grumperina, about freezer paper stenciling I've been wanting to try it and this bag gave me the perfect opportunity to do it! It really was so much fun! I highly recommend it. So I'll be carrying this baby around with me at Rhinebeck (hopefully it will be overflowing with fiber purchases!) I just thought it was a great way to put a blog name with a face, you know?

If you have the time between now and Rhinebeck, try it! The bag was super cheap at Micheals, as were the paints. All you have to do is trace the image on to the non-waxy side of the freezer paper, cut it out with an X-acto knife, iron it on and stencil. Super easy and lots of fun. I think the total cost for all the materials was something like $10. Cheap, cheap, cheap! (I'm an enabler, what can I say???)

Three more days to Rhinebeck!!!

14 comments:

Jackie said...

I'm sorry to hear about your breakup. But glad to hear that you are on the mend. At least he is somewhere else and you don't have to worry about running into him.
Love the bag! What a great idea.
And I think that I know who your anonymous commenter is. He thinks that most men are jerks. And, unfortunately, he is right. I was 24 when I met him, and he was 36. We were both ready to settle down, but both of us had pretty much given up hope of finding someone compatable. But here we are 13+ years and 4 kids later. Good luck to you and always remember that you are the most important person in your life and be good to your self. Be especially good to your self while shopping at Rhinebeck!

C+SK said...

Good for you! For all good things that you just mentioned - for realising what your feelings of loss are all about, for overcoming this, for being strong - and I gotta admit, being the dork that I am - I LOVE that bag!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

Are you playing Blogger Bingo? If so, you're making it awfully easy for the players ;o)

Anonymous said...

Great bag! I think that's a fab idea to match the name and the face.

Knittripps said...

I love your bag! I can't wait to see all the goodies you fill it with. Have fun at Rhinebeck!

Katie said...

What a cute bag, Erin! You might be an enabler, but you're a creative one!

Anonymous said...

That is really cute, and so easy to make!

Anonymous said...

I see that I've been "outed" by Jackie.

You're welcome for any shred of useful insight that came from my comment. As Jackie said, I'm not a big fan of "men". One of the cures for the ills of the world is to grow better men. The current crop has a lot of problems. How we do this, I don't know. I even worry about bringing up our two boys.

On the subject of relationships I'm no oracle, but after knocking around the world for a few years one does pick up one or two hard won lessons. I was reminded of another tidbit earlier today while reading Jackie's comment.

When I was a teenager my parents (like parents of the time, totally incapable of actually talking to their children about anything of substance) just passed me this book about relationships. I don't think they ever read it, but I did. This book said that you should look for three things in a life partner. These are, in no particular order, as follows: First, they should be your best friend. Second, they should be an inspiration to you. And third, you should have a strong desire for them; you know, lust, that animal thing where you want them all the time.

Well, without dragging this out with examples, I'd say that's a pretty good set of things to look for in a "good chemistry". Even the mix of lusting after your best friend is a very potent thing. The inspiration is almost a bonus.

We can be attracted to many different people, and some of them become friends, some of them flings, some of them long time relationships. But not all of them are the right healthy mixture and you have to be on your guard about which are which. Trust your instincts about this. Trust science books about evolution, but there's no text about the personal chemistry between you and any other person, so that little voice inside of you: listen to it.

I'll shut up now. I just wanted to say again that you seem like such a lovely young woman that I hope you find a decent guy. They're "thin on the ground" and I'm very happy that I'm not a woman looking for a good man. Don't settle for something that doesn't feel right. One of these days that absolutely radiant smile of yours will catch the attention of someone worthy. Meantime enjoy life. Lots of good around even outside of relationships.

Cathy said...

I think "anonymous" should get his own daytime talk show. It's so nice to hear a man's opinions that favors the woman's perspective. My husband, Mr.V, is always saying that men are "pigs" (him being one of the few exceptions) and I always thought it was a little harsh, but then I guess he would know because he's man. "Anonymous" makes a great point about raising boys to be good men. We're so concerned about raising our daughters a certain way, we should definately be just as concerned with our boys.

Anyways, Erica, I'm so glad you're feeling better already. :)

lesley said...

glad to hear you are doing better and what a cute bag! i want one. i don't need one but what fun! take care and have a safe trip!

erica said...

I'm glad to hear that you're on the mend. Breakups are never fun, but like "anonymous" has stated you have to follow your inner voice. In all of my previous relationships there was always something missing until I met my husband. I've noticed if it seems too easy, then it's probably meant to be. I think every man goes through a period of fear of commitment, then they turn 30 and their lives change. Keep smiling and you'll go far.

Have an absolutely drag out fabulous time at Rhinebeck. I wish I was there, I'd be looking for that cute Skein Street bag. I've done the same with t-shirts and I love it when people ask about my shirt.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous has enough to do now, so I'm afraid a daytime talk show, or even a blog, is out of the question. Trying to teach some rather reluctant university students is challenge enough.

As for bringing up my two boys, yes, I do have concerns. I don't have those concerns for my two daughters. I think women are, on the whole, better equipped with the emotional machinery to make "civilization" a success, and they don't all want to kill each other in some kind of dominance game. Sure, there are exceptions, and I've met a few nasty women, but statistically they are a tiny fraction of the number of undesirable men.

Men, especially young me, veins coursing with testosterone, head full of feelings of invincibility and immortality, and often lacking in any positive way to unleash all of that pent up drive, will do things that make me shake my head in bewilderment. I'm not sure what we do about it, but it's not working now. In North America at least 1 out of every 9 women is beaten by their partner. I once read that in the period that the Vietnam war ran there were more women in the US killed by their partners than there were soldiers killed in the war. I can't find the article now, but the FBI stats on the web are 1,400 women per year killed in the US in this manner. More unpleasant stats here:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=2445589

Clearly, we have a problem with the way men are brought up. I don't have a solution, but until we find one we not going to be what I would consider "civilized".

All the more reason to pick your partner carefully.

Anonymous said...

Yikes!! Major bad typo. Above where I wrote "Men, especially young me,...", I intended to write "Men, especially young men,..." That's the most deplorable typo I've ever made. Must do better proof reading.

LisaB said...

You are not a dork - I love that bag and think it is so cute!

Have a great time at the festival!