Run On and On

I started running.  This is nothing new.  I've run before.  I've participated in races.  I hated every second of it.

So why would I start again?  There are a lot of reasons.  I'm doing Weight Watchers (again) and I actually wanted to lose weight.  Activity is a great way to do that and running is an activity.

I had friends who were on similar journies.  I followed their progress on Facebook, every morning at the gym, every morning doing something.  I felt their passion.  I saw their results.  I wanted that, oh how I wanted that.

I was inspired.  I had a goal.  So I laced up my shoes, walked outside and I ran.  I ran 2 miles and I felt great so I did it again and again and again.  I finally found what I had heard so many runners talking about, endorphins, a runner's high.

The feeling carried me through my day.  I went to bed excited to get up early and do it again.  There have been mornings full of sunshine where I have felt the power of something greater than myself.  There have been mornings full of clouds where I knew running would clear away the clouds inside of me.

There is a time in every run where I want to quit.  I can feel it coming.  My body will ache, yelling do you not remember you are 43, you should be in bed.  But I know that just a block or two more and that feeling will leave.  It will be replaced with a feeling of calm and of strength.  I yell back at my body, I am doing this because I am 43, because I am getting stronger.

I am doing this because I love it.  I love every second of it.

Contagious

Activity begets activity.  It's evident in my running.  Once I start I can't stop.  I run one day and the next thing I know I am waking up at 6 am four days in a row to pound the pavement.  I love it.  I need it.

I'm finding it now in other areas as well.  Rather than sitting and watching reruns of Grey's Anatomy during Lion's nap time, yesterday found me on my hands and knees digging through our game and puzzle bins.  Games and puzzles that had not seen the light of day in months were taken downstairs.  A part of me wanted to take them directly to  Goodwill but baby steps.  Once I know they have all the pieces and no one asks where they are, they will be gone.  I know that now.

After I hung the canvases on the wall, I knew it needed more.  So Lion and I got the paints out and went to work.

It was fun.

It was comforting.

It was familiar.

The rhythm we had was so much like the one I used to have with Bunny when she was his age.  The questions about what will happen if you mix one color with another, the desire to paint one after the other, all so similar.  He's even painting his own version of Hamstacks (albiet without the fascinating backstory of French scientists who live at the circus).

And now I'm blogging again.  I haven't blogged with any real regularity in months, maybe even a year.  But here I am three days in a row in a place I haven't been in so long.  I don't know why but it just feels right.  It feels like something I need to do.  My first blogging home But Why Mommy doesn't feel like fits anymore.  I'm still a mom but it's not all I am.  This is freer, there are no expectations here.

I once had dreams of being a style blogger, a craft blogger, something.  Now I don't.  Maybe it's age, maybe it's maturity, maybe it's apathy.  I'm writing for me.  I'm writing about the things I want.  There are no apologies for being gone for so long.  I obviously needed the break.  There are no promises of more.  I may be here in a week, a month, a year or I may not.  But I am here now and I think I'd like to stay.

Day 3 - And The Answer Is . . .

Day 3.

What is the question you might ask? How many days could I write in this blog that is just for me without mentioning my daughter?

Three days?! That is pretty ridiculous. I mean I have an entire separate blog where I post about all things mommy and daughter. She is the star of the show there. This blog is all about me, my life, my art, my stuff.

So why would I mention her here? Well it has everything to do with today's post. You see Bunny wanted to bust out the water colors yesterday and paint away. I love watching her paint - way, way too much water on the brush, the brush stabbed repeatedly into the colors until they are mere puddles of liquid. She is only 3(almost) but she has a good sense of color. Its a fun experience.

When she paints, I paint too. Usually I'll just make stuff that I will cut up later and use in collages. I'd rather make my own decorative paper than buy it because I'm cheap like that (plus I control the output). So I got out a few sheets of my old letterhead from work and we went to town.

But then I started thinking what if I painted the background of a piece rather than using my papers? It would be the same effect but different. Instead of having marbled papers glued onto the piece, I would paint the marbled effect myself. Hmm, this is interesting. I liked it.

And as always is the case when there is a toddler with a paintbrush, she has to help out. I had a green-blue background that I was envisioning doing something floral on later. Well Bunny came over to look with her big paintbrush dripping with purple paint and a big drop fell on it. Hmm, interesting. So I played with her addition and came up with something cool.

I'm not sure what, exactly, I'll do with these backgrounds but I think they turned out pretty good.

Why Are We Here?

Well I am here because I am planning on creating and crafting every day in 2009.
This blog will be a record of my adventures and misadventures. It will recount my year of crafting dangerously.

I run a jewelry shop ReneeDesigns on Etsy. The shop is still there but I have been seriously lacking in inspiration to make the shop what it should be. I hope that this year of crafting every day and documenting my progress here and on the Crafting 365 flickr group will fill me with much needed inspiration.

I am also planning on exploring some mediums that I am not all that comfortable with, painting and collage. I hope that these experiments are successful and that I grow as an artist.

Along the way I plan on showcasing some really talented artists who inspire me to do better.

So stop by from time to time and see whats up in the world of Juniper and Coffee.