Who Moved My Cheese?

I'm living the dream. I really am. I spent the last two days nursing a cold and it was wonderful because even though I felt crappy, I could spend the day paper crafting completely guilt-free. Well, nothing's ever completely guilt-free, but it was close. Wade came home from work and I was all giddy, running to him with the card I'd spent all afternoon on, and seriously, he doesn't get this excited about his job.

And today I made up my schedule for the next three months. Three or four times each month, I'm going to be crafting and painting and sharing my projects and there's nothing un-fun about that. I sent out a newsletter to my email list (are you on it? It's that giant box on the right sidebar.) detailing my schedule for January - March (which you can also view here). Oh, I am a lucky girl!

I realized today that I am nine years an at-home-mum, or whatever you want to call it. I was blessed to be able to leave my graphic artist job a few weeks before I gave birth to my firstborn, and she's celebrating her ninth birthday this month. Being home full-time is a weird kind of a career - kind of a career that doesn't feel like a career at all. I often feel like at-home parenting is something I do on the side, while trying to make a career of all the things I want to do. On a monthly basis, I work as a graphic artist, web designer, bookkeeper & secretary, writer, art teacher, paper crafter and painter, and that's supposed to be in my spare time.

Over the last month or two, I have realized how much I need to give myself permission to focus on my primary job. I am blessed that I can shape my life to include the arty things I love, but I don't need to feel pressured to make it pay or even to justify the expense of art supplies. My life as Mum is as rich as I allow it to be.