And even more borg meme (yes, one day I will post something real).
- Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."
- I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity
- Update your journal with the answers to the questions
- Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions
1. How do you like living in Tennessee?
It's not a place I ever expected to wind up, but I've really grown to like it. It's hilly. There are lots of rivers and lakes. I absolutely adore the Eastern side of the state (apart from Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and Cherokee though the undeveloped areas around them are gorgeous). Nashville itself is about the perfect sized city for me. It's not so big as to be overwhelming. Traffic is heavy but manageable. It's big enough to always have something to do. There's a plethora of great restaurants (except German, authentic Chinese including dim sum and I'm still looking for sushi and Japanese food as good as Mikawa).
2. How tough were the "terrible 2's" with Jonah?
Not that bad, but so far it's the three's that are getting. . . interesting. Shortly after his second birthday, we had our first tests of limits and some lashing out against being told no or punishment (time outs). At school, we had a short lived (about 2 week) problem with hitting, kicking, biting and snatching toys from other kids. Granted, he was in a class with all girls, so it may be that he was just the rough and tumble boy and by comparison looked like a bully. It appears, however, that we're going to have to up the punishment ante. Time outs aren't really working anymore and he tries to defy us by hopping out of the chair we put him in for it. Now, in addition to the time out, we take away certain toys if he hops out of the chair. We might have to get even more creative than that, but for now, it's mostly working.
3. Out of all the wonderful experiences with motherhood, what is your favorite memory?
Man, there are so many amazing ones and it's hard not to feel like every new one somehow trumps the last one. But I think the one that sticks in my mind the most and always brings a smile is seeing Chris hold Jonah for the first time and seeing the look on Chris' face. I don't know if I can even describe it, but it was just a beautiful image and I'm so happy that I was awake and alert to witness it.
4. Everyone says you forget the pain of childbirth (I haven't). Have you forgotten?
I haven't either, but the pain was the labor beforehand, not so much the actual birth. For me, pushing was relief to the extremely painful contractions. I mean, there was tremendous pressure and a feeling like I might just be split in two when passing his shoulders. But my body took care of me with the appropriate chemicals and that quickly faded into a nice euphoric state of adrenaline and endorphins and just the sort of magical feeling of having just brought a new life into the world and being completely lucid through the entire experience. There really is nothing like it or nothing I've experienced anyway.
5. Is your jewelry business taking off?
Relatively speaking, I guess so. Actually speaking, I wouldn't say so. I've made more sales in the last two months than I have all year. Even though I've not done any holiday promotions, people have found me and I've done a few sales (as opposed to no sales all year). I'm also doing a lot of custom work for people as gifts for friends and family and not just gifted from me this year. But, it's certainly not enough for me to call successful. I think I'm still at the point where I've put more into it than I've returned, financially speaking. I've got all the numbers, but I just need to run them to figure out where I stand. Regardless, I'm hopeful for next year. I think I had a pretty good year in terms of learning where I belong and figuring out my niche. I need to increase the time I spend on it and get more consistent with the work and fringe projects (like blogs and such) and I think the sales will follow. Also, definitely more shows next year.