The Young and the Restless

I'm turning into my mom (and that's a good thing)

One thing I've always admired about my mom, besides the amazingness that comes with being a mom of 10, is that on top of her momly/wifely duties she was always working on some project and developing her talents. I mentioned before how she is an amazing seamstress and I've always wondered why she never sat me down to teach me how to sew before, but now I understand. This was her outlet. When we were all running around going crazy, she could just lock herself in her sewing room and find her happy place. I know it's important to make time for yourself to do something you enjoy and find an identity outside of "mom", the only problem is that I don't have any talents, I don't have any hobbies and I don't have anything that interests me. A while ago they were passing around surveys for enrichment and asked us to write down our hobbies/talents. I'm emberassed to admit that I threw the paper away because I couldn't think of anything to write, unless diaper changing, mac&cheese cooking and toilet scrubbing are considered talents. I admire (and am secretly jealous) of those moms who go and take cake decorating or photography classes or something to enlighten their Disney channel filled minds. So I've been looking for something that would interest me and when my friend Heidi wanted to learn how to crochet these adorable little baby hats to give to the heart babies at Jersey's hospital, I was all over it. The first hat I made was, well, comical (what a patient teacher I had!) and I seriously was about to give up because I figured it would take me atleast 3 months to finish. I stuck with it and finally got the hang of it and now I'm hooked. I've been MIA from the blogging world because all my free time is filled with crocheting hats. I'm such a nerd. For heaven's sake I've got a freakin' crocheting tan line where the crease in my arm is white because I've got my arm bent to crochet my little heart out while I watch the kids swim. When I called my mom to tell her about my new hobby my dad said she was gone to the store.....to pick up yarn because she was in the middle of crocheting blankets for sick babies at the hospital. That's when I knew I was my mother's daughter. It's funny to look back and remember how I rolled my eyes when my mom would spend days in the kitchen canning fruit and now I just spent all day canning apple pie filling with my friend. How I used to think that my mom was so old because she liked to crochet, and now I still haven't even watched the Grey's Anatomy season finale on DVR because I'm too busy crocheting (not to mention the fact that I've missed the Bachelorette twice). How I used to not understand why somebody would spend hours sewing when you could go to the store and buy the same thing for cheaper and less time, and now I love the satisfaction that comes from making something yourself. After my baby blanket fiasco, I've been trying different sewing projects like Maddox's crib set and baby slings and I've really enjoyed it. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but it is nice to finally find something I enjoy to fill my free time instead of vegging in front of the TV or computer. I just never thought the day would come when I would have the same hobbies and interests as my mom, but now that it's here, I have to say that it's kind of fun. I just wonder how long it will take before my own daughter realizes that crocheting is not just a grandma sport.

(You know I couldn't resist. Don't judge. He sure makes one cute girl!)