8 Years Sober

8 years sober. Once I got the hang of not drinking and going to meetings it gots easier and suddenly, it's 8 years and I rarely think about drinking or even be worried about drinking. I still struggle with other self-soothing things like food and shopping, but those things don't make my life unmanageable (or make me intolerable to be around) and I'm better at being in control of them when necessary.

Sitting in my AA meeting this morning, the topic was the 4th step but I was thinking about "The Promises" which is a paragraph in the AA Big Book that's been broken down to a list form for purposes of meetings and practice: 

We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. 

We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. 

We will comprehend the word serenity 

We will know peace. 

No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. 

That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. 

We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. 

Self-seeking will slip away. 

Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. 

Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. 

We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. 

We will suddenly realize that the Universe is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. 

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us — sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

I took some liberties with one of the wordings because, well...this is my blog...and I don't like having religion mixed in with my spirituality. The main thing for me, today, is that in a mere 8 years, all of these things have happened in my life. Despite job loss and change, getting out of and taking on debt, some weeks, months, feeling like we're just working and sleeping and sometimes, due to working, I don't always get to see my husband for a day or two or three. Life has changed a lot, but every day I wake up and feel like life is good and manageable. That's a huge change from spending a lot of my life wishing I hadn't woken up at all. 

I no longer stress about not getting enough work done. The work is never done, there is always more, and I won't ever get to all of it. Artwork, Yardwork, Housework, Work-work, Self-work. I try to take on what I can handle and no more. I am diligent about giving myself at least one day every week or two with nothing planned so I can do what I feel like rather than what I think I have to do. 

Major changes for me this year? I haven't knit as many socks. I've graduated to tops/sweaters. I've knit 4 socks so far this year (totaling 48 pairs in the 8 years of sobriety), 4 hats, 3 sweaters (posts to come on the latest 2) and started my 4th (and most complicated) and one guitar cuff. 

I've given up trying to lose weight and am rediscovering my style and thrifting online for this current body. I no longer have anyone in my life commenting or giving me shit about my weight. I'm still working on getting rid of [my mom's] voice in my head commenting on my weight and what I'm eating, not speaking to her and getting back to a therapist has helped leaps and bounds with that. I'm working a lot, I'm tired, I'm happy and I can afford to have some frozen meals like pizza and chicken nuggets for when I get home from a long day.

Baking. I always thought I sucked at baking, mainly because I could not follow directions, my mind always wandering, and I'd always forget or mismeasure something. My mind is more at peace and wanders less. If I have to follow a recipe I cannot have anyone else around me. I'm finding a peaceful meditative quality to learning baking. I started making French bread every 2 weeks instead of buying bread to have on hand. I even made blueberry muffins, twice, and was like...huh, that was easier than I remembered any past attempt being. I know I also fought baking and cooking in the same way I fought liking the color pink. It represented being "girly" and "homemaking"...don't expect me to ever be in the kitchen making you or a family dinner was always my attitude, I felt it would keep me from the prison so many woman have found themselves in throughout history. I still despise grocery shopping and I doubt I'll ever have the desire to meal plan...however, I have learned to never say never (re: 48 hand knit socks later).

This year I learned all about Home Equity Lines of Credit, what my foundation looks like from it's outside, being sidetracked (again) by larger projects before I can get to ones that I meant to get to last summer (ie: cleaning out the garage and tearing down the falling-in murder-shed). I also learned that it's not necessarily up to me how many cats we end up with after taking in a newborn and keeping the little stinker alive. We're up to 4. All of them provided to us by the Universal Cat Distribution System in cahoots with the city of Lansing. I'm getting really good at just rolling with it. 

And lastly, I have had such joy and relief from the outcome of yesterday's election. Texas went BLUE as did Ohio. And Michigan mostly voted all Dems. There's a tidal wave across the country of women, non-christians practicing other religions, people of color, LGBQT+ including Trans persons (despite the horrors they have been experiencing these past years) being elected into office. It feels like people are waking up and voting for kindness and taking care of one another and that this country might survive the downward spiral its been in. I have HOPE for politics in a way I haven't had...ever? Maybe with Obama? Back then I was much more careless and probably in a checked-out haze. I never cared for politics, but I know now that voting and leadership is important...I literally never knew it could get THIS bad. 

I'm thankful for the past 8 years sober, my husband and I are coming up on 10 years together and he was the first reason I got sober (and no, he did not ask me to, but he's very long fuse had burned out with my behavior)...it took about 6 months for me to start getting sober for me. Thankfully, it only took one day at a time. 

Burgundy and Ice Checker set at REACH Art Studio

Checker Bangle and Circlet Earrings

I dropped jewelry off to REACH Art Studio this week for their Not So Silent Night Exhibit and Fundraising Event. The Opening Reception for the featured artist exhibit is this coming Sunday, November 8th from 2pm-4pm. The Not So Silent Night Party fundraiser (ticketed event) is December 12th at 6:30pm. I'll be in attendance at both events. 

Checker Bangle

I had finished the leaf set in this color and then moved on to my usual, checkers. This was fun to explore how the different tones of the burgundy and blues played against and with each other. Often this will move me into another color idea, I did a couple red and gold items, but ultimately I think I've worn myself out of this color combo. 

Circlet Earrings

Huggie Earrings, Checker Stripes

Huggie Earrings, Stripes

Burgundy and Ice Beaded Jewelry Set for Not So Silent Night at REACH

I still follow some fashion forecasting. It helps me get out of my color rut if I'm not feeling particularly inventive. I found this image on Pinterest while looking for color inspiration and latched on to it:

They're not normal colors for me but I liked this because I have plenty of this light blue that I don't gravitate to. It's been fun to mix it with burgundy and a dash of purple. 

This set will be featured at REACH Art Studio's Not So Silent Night Exhibit and Fundraising Event. The Opening Reception is Sunday, November 8th from 2pm-4pm and The Not So Silent Night fundraiser (ticketed event) is December 12th at 6:30pm. 

I am honored to be part of this event, it's been a few years since I've been involved and the layout has changed, so when I got the call from Melissa I joyfully accepted the invite to be a featured artist. Which sent me looking for fresh inspiration. REACH is Lansing's best spot for kids creative classes and they've continually expanded throughout the 20 years I've been living in the area. In the past I've helped with various events and classes. I feel that it's SO important to have creative outlets for kids to grow up in. I personally grew up with a lot of extracurricular art classes which helped me apply myself in ways I wouldn't have expected as I got older. I was always terrible at standardized testing and memorization in school, but applying the physical world of craft to my own creative problem solving has made me much more capable and resilient person. We need to get kids excited about making art and following their imaginations! 

I'll be in attendance at both the Opening Reception and the Not So Silent Night Holiday Party and I hope you'll join me in supporting REACH Art Studio. 

HGA Convergence in New Orleans, 2026

We were SO excited when HGA announced that Convergence was in New Orleans for 2026. It is a city that my husband and I have talked about going to but never gotten around to making the effort to plan. I've realized that to get excited about any vacation, I need to have a starting point to go there. Like a concert (Madness in Seattle, Rammstein in Minneapolis...) or a weaver's conference. Now that I've been to NOLA, I get it. Every time I mentioned to someone that we were headed to New Orleans who had been, they lit up. What an awesome city. HGA had the conference downtown close to everything which made it easy to try all sorts of food and hear lots of jazz. 

I keep saying that putting together proposals and trying to fill classes is just too stressful for me to manage along with my day job, but then when I'm there, the whole time, I'm so glad I made the effort. Will the stress and anxiety ever subside? Probably not. Is it worth it every time? Yes. I know more and more people every year and if I stop teaching and sharing my knowledge with other fiber artists then I loose that momentum that I've spent...decades...building. Something I've learned to do though, while I'm there amidst other weavers and fiber artists, is I start to think of more proposals and run ideas by my colleagues while I'm there...and write them down. I have a 2028 Proposals draft started and need to go through my notes in my sketchbook.

Convergence was busy from Day 1. The fashion show was particularly stunning this year. I had 3 blocks of time at the Leader booth and had better than usual sales this year. My Finish and Exhibit that Piece! Seminar was a low attendance but we went forward with it anyway and it was still fun and informative with a smaller group. A day or 2 later my husband said he ran into someone who took my seminar and she was very complimentary about how much she learned. This was Bryan's second Convergence, Reno was his first introduction to the weavers guild world and he fits right in along with being super helpful.

I took Tina Linville's Class on “Crafting Clarity: Writing Art Statements.”  I've always struggled with writing artist statements and bios. Her class actually got me excited to work on mine!  I utilized her talk to work on a Bio I needed to submit and it might be the first time ever I felt like it was saying and doing what I wanted it to.  She also pointed out to us just how much different types of writing and statement us artists have to do. I feel like I could take a longer workshop on this, but it was a great start to what I really should be focused on with my submitted writing.

My Beadweaving Sampler Class (Even Count Peyote, Flat Herringbone and Right  Angle Weave) was the last day of the conference and everyone was excited to take the class but also tired from all the stuff we'd been doing and classes we've been taking. I was worried about being tired, but I get so exited to teach beading that I didn't notice. Peyote and Herringbone went well for most everybody, Right Angle Weave was a bit more difficult because it doesn't have a flow to it. 2 students would agree, the other 2 eventually got it (and one had to leave early). 

Above are some of the student's flat herringbone stitch that 

I remembered to take photos of while everyone went to lunch.

My friend Sydney (thank you Instagram for another in-person fiber-friendship) invited me to pop into her dye class. I caught the end and got to see some of the beautifully dyed warps that her and her students worked on. It was also cool to see how they set up a hotel conference room for a dye-class. Lots of plastic coverings.

We stayed an extra 3 days past the conference. On Monday morning HGA hosted a very nice volunteers appreciation breakfast. I considered that I hadn't really done any volunteering, I will on the fly if my schedule allows but I was also trying to enjoy myself, it was nice to thank those who did though, and talk with the HGA staff and discuss the forward movement of HGA. 

The next stop on Monday was taking the bus out to Small Expressions at Longue Vue House & Gardens. The down side to the buses and trolleys was that there were a lot of screens that weren't working and my google map wasn't updating properly so we missed our stop. The bus driver asked who requested the next stop and pulled over early to drop us off, worried that two, clearly out-of-towners, weren't going to survive the walk in the heat. We did, we were quite hot by the time we got to the exhibit. As with the rest of the exhibits put on by HGA, Small Expressions 2026 is phenomenal and I'm honored have my original Resist Bangle as be part of it. 

We were close to one of the large pubic cemeteries at the Longue Vue House and got to walk that in a light rain storm, the overcast sky was really fitting and the graves in New Orleans are as beautiful as you hear about and unique as you always hear or see in photos. 

Looking back, Monday was a pretty long day too, Tuesday we walked around more, shopped and had an amazing dinner at Maïs Arepas. I picked this restaurant partially because it was close to the Rabbit Hole where we were headed for music for the night and the online photos looked great. It did not disappoint! Then we headed (a bit too early, as everything runs slow in the South) to the Rabbit Hole to see the Rebirth Brass Band. This was the only show we paid to go see and it was such a great time. I hear that every show is different at the Rabbit Hole when you go see Rebirth. The bartender cannot get enough of getting to see them all the time 

The last day was more exploring, we like to walk around and for some reason the heat didn't get to me as bad as it did in Reno. I also am probably better at knowing when I need to quite before it feels awful.  I took lots of photos of cool doors, hinges, bright color house paint colors, and "look! Real shutters!" We had great food, took a nap nearly every day, and I finally know why people light up when you mention New Orleans if they've been before. We'll look forward to going back sometime.

Spring Green Gold Plaid Bangle and Earrings

I packed this bangle as my travel beading project for when I went to Complex Weaver's Conference in June. I didn't work on this much during my trip and decided in the future, smaller projects, or pieces of projects will probably be better for plane travel rather than a whole bangle that's gets wide quickly. I had wanted something in case the urge to bead hit me so I pulled out the plaid pattern that I created forever ago and continued working the the spring greens from an earlier project, adding teal and gold. The nice thing about this "plaid" pattern is that I can make it a wide as I feel like. I got a bit bored with it, so it was finished a few weeks ago. 

I like to make a matching earring while the beads are all out so that was the actual finish of this set. I got around to photographing it. It's very different than a lot of my work. Definitely a brighter springy feel than I'm used to.

I'm trying to get better at not packing as many projects for when I travel. For this June trip I could have packed just the sweater (Cozy Classic Raglan) I had decided to take and my sketchbook. I got nearly the whole body of the sweater knit and I was slightly obsessed with working on it during my travels. It made my hands happy and eased my anxiety at the conference and for bus and plane trips. 

I finished and photographed this set in time to bring to Convergence Conference with me, then forgot to post this blog about it! I'm just back and sorting things out with home and work...I'll post about Conference and New Orleans eventually! This set did not sell there, so it's available for sale at the moment. 

Upcoming Local Show at Loewen Gallery in Williamston: Adorn

Loewen Gallery's  August Show is a break away from their usual beautiful quilts and is a juried show titled "Adorn"  The show will run August 6th - August 29th.

The Opening Reception for Adorn is on Saturday August 8th from 12pm to 2pm and I plan on being there. Winona, the gallery manager, and I picked out a grouping of my jewelry to be on display and available for sale for this show. 

Loewen Gallery is located at 128 W Grand River Ave, Williamston, MI 48895

A few pieces that will be in the show: 

Weavings and Beadwork accepted to Exhibits lately

I tend to think that I'm not creating as much as I'd like to be, but, the things I am making are selling and headed to exhibits, so I'll take that as a success. Two exhibits will have my piece for a year. The first is Handweavers Guild of America's Small Expressions. This show starts in New Orleans at Longue Vue House & Gardens in New Orleans, Louisiana from August 10, 2026 - October 16, 2026. From there the travel schedule is HERE and goes through May 11 (currently). My first Resist Bangle (in red) as accepted and is on the move. 

The second show that will have my work until April 25th, 2027 is called Piercing the Silence: Everyday Art of The Resistance at the Museum of Beadwork. Both of the pieces I entered were accepted: Angry Angry Angry Feminist and Rainbow Resist. I'll miss having both of these pieces in my personal collection...I might be making more. I'd like to go to Portland, ME to see this show in person, but with all the travel plans this year and next I'm not sure I can fit it in. 

The last exhibit that my work was accepted to is only during the Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence Conference. Perception was accepted to Threaded Revelry: Throw Me Something, Mixed Media Exhibit and will be on display August 13-16, 2026,  at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA