I've noticed that I've been feeling a lot better lately, mood-wise. I just feel...I dunno, lighter. Like I don't have this giant cloud of dread following me around all the time. I'm still anxious and worried about cancer stuff and such but I'm having more moments of feeling genuinely lighthearted and happy, which is so nice! I feel like I'm thinking more silly thoughts, laughing more readily, feeling less like I want to avoid everyone I know. I don't feel back to my old self yet, and I imagine that will take quite some time, but it's just so wonderful to feel more like me again.
With that feeling of relief and a semblance of normalcy has come an explosion of desire to have hobbies. I know I've had tons of time on my hands these past months but the idea of trying to do anything remotely productive or constructive was just too overwhelming to contemplate. It's like I was deer-in-the-headlights frozen with all the cancer crap as the car. It was just so hard to even consider anything else, even if it might have been therapeutic. In the past week, I've picked up supplies for 2 new things to try and discussed another with a friend.
First, and something I've been meaning to do for quite some time, I've started planing a picture framing project. I have been collecting art, mostly prints with a small handfull of original works, for quite some time but it has all been sitting in its packaging in my closet. I don't have a ton of wall space right now, but I really should be displaying some of it! Having things framed is so expensive and buying frames can also be expensive unless you want something boring, or is hard to get the right size. I've decided I want to try my hand at framing. I might hate it, but it sounds like fun. I like fiddly planning things, attempting to be precise and trying to figure out color schemes and such so I don't think it'll go too badly. Plus, Aaron has so much construction and building experience, so he'll likely be able to help me with any confusion. Plus, he has power tools :P
I bought this fruit bat watercolor on etsy a few months ago:
I adore it. It's so simple but also has a lot of depth to it. I love bats and it's so hard to find things involving bats that aren't Halloweeny/gothy. It's a small painting so I think it's a good place to start my frame endeavor :)
Second, I've decided that I want to make a frilly apron for my friend Genevieve. A long time ago, I bought some of this fabric because she's really fond of Abraham Lincoln:
I really didn't know what to do with it, but she's planning to move in with her boyfriend and I thought a silly apron would be an amusing housewarming gift. I've been looking for a good pattern, but it shouldn't be too difficult of a project. I haven't sewn much of anything since I stopped working on the quilt I was making for Aaron (I should finish that someday too I guess...), so it'll be interesting to see if I can still remember how to work a sewing machine!
Third, and this was a somewhat impulsive decision, I bought this on ebay last night:
Yep, I bought a mandolin. According to the seller, it's in near-new condition, with plastic still on the pick guard. I made an offer for $45 (initially he was asking for $60) and he, much to my surprise, accepted. Plus, it's coming with a hard case, which are expensive, and a capo. It was a pretty good deal. I was very attracted to used, vintage instruments but I don't know anything about mandolins and really don't want to have to pay to get something fixed that I'm not sure if I'll even enjoy playing. I've missed playing music so much and I haven't really done much of anything consistently since I was in high school. I miss playing the violin but it isn't fun to play by yourself, plus I think the shoulder rest wouldn't play nicely with my port. I love bluegrass so the mandolin seems like a fun thing to try to teach myself how to play. Plus, it's small, which appeals to me. When I tried to learn guitar, the neck always seemed way too big for my hands.
I should go shower. We're going to the U of M's production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the showboat! It's always a good time.
Oh! Saw this today and thought it might be an amusing thing to get to go with my dalek nails :P
Quite silly :)
Also, I'm sorry if any of this didn't make sense. I woke up at 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep despite being sleepy so I might be slightly incoherent :)
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