Recent work: I must be dreaming of a summer garden without slugs

Best sesame noodles ever

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package linguine or spaghetti
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons safflower oil
• 6 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil (or toasted sesame oil)
• 1-1 1/2 teaspoons chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
• red pepper slices
• purple cabbage pieces

Directions

1. Cook pasta per directions.
2. Meanwhile, place a saucepan over medium heat. Sautee garlic for a couple of minutes in oil. Add sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili sauce. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves, increasing heat if necessary. Add tahini. Stir until combined. Pour sauce over linguine, and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds or purple cabbage and purple cabbage

The Race to Christmas

While you are out running errands on Sunday Dec. 4 stop by and see me at my friend Aisha's holiday craft sale between 2 and 4 at 11616 Cobblestone Landing Court, Glen Allen 23059. I'll have some birds and owls for sale for your tree!

I finally saw The Race to Nowhere. The problems the film highlights are overwhelming and complicated, the consequences heartbreaking. It left me feeling helpless, like moving to NYC to enroll my kids at the school the Blue Man Group guys started, www.theblueschool.org. I have this feeling that what so many kids in the film were looking for is meaning in their lives. Part of that is what you are supposed to be doing as a teenager, struggling with identity and purpose. But it seems as if we are pressuring them to already have the answers instead of helping them navigate the journey. One of the things my husband and I are struggling with is how do we teach 'meaning' to our children? Some of us find this meaning in religion, politics, shopping, online, sports, sex, or time spent with friends or family. (Some of those examples may be more pertinent for self knowledge and growth than others.) My children are happiest and most fulfilled when we connect and engage in activities together. Things like cooking, working in the yard, constructing, playing sports, or taking an art class together. I think this is when they are figuring out what their 'meanings' are. (Keep in mind this is coming from the perspective of someone who toys with the idea of homeschooling if I could stand the stress of my kids fighting and didn't have some stuff of my own I want to accomplish. I believe in public school, and isn't 'homeschooling' what I've been doing for the past 8 years anyway on some level?)

Our preacher said recently that the use of anti-depressants is up something like 400% since the 1980's. So it's not just our kids that are searching for meaning or finding it difficult to hold on to. I cut a John Updike quote out of magazine recently and taped it to my cabinet, "Most of American life consists of driving somewhere and then returning home, wondering why the hell you went." This quote seems especially pertinent this time of the year. Do I really need to make a special trip for the $26-a- bottle eye makeup remover from Nordstrom that won't dry out the area around my eyes? Won't she be ok without that 10th gift this year, are they going to count and compare? To teach my children how to create meaning in their lives I need to model it I suppose, like everything else. I used to be much more concerned with what I was wearing, if the house was clean, is the food good enough. But the older I get the more I cherish the simple act of just being together. So this holiday season I am going to let go, slow down, live in the moment, and just enjoy my family and friends. Even the fighting. After I run out for those last few gifts.

Slow Down Star

I had a vision in college, woven into a strong feeing of connection with grandmothers never known, that like them I would someday sew. A lot. The trouble is, I don't like to measure. Usually, when I make something large enough to call itself a blanket it doesn't line up. I love to cut, and pin, and stitch. I prefer working with forgiving materials like felt, dough, and my sons hair. I do not like silk, it is very uptight and serious. Perhaps this hatred of measuring is a metaphor for something. Or maybe it has to do with not wanting to slow down and take my time. My daughter has been rushing to finish her work at school, missing problems she knows the answers to, so she can finish. I asked her what for, told her there is no prize for finishing first. What about getting absorbed in the process? Her teacher put a star on the corner of her desk to remind her to slow down. Then I turned the lens on myself. Our life of rushing doesn't model being slow, thoughtful, and engrossed. Now I have a red star on my sewing machine. Maybe I can slow down for her.

Everyone Needs a Life Coach!

I finally gave in to my frustrations and negative self talk and enlisted the help of a life coach. It never felt right to go see a shrink. I had a wonderful childhood and have the best parents and husband a girl could ask for. So what would we talk about (well, maybe the negative self talk?) Anyway, Carroll from Organic Blueprints is really helping me eliminate all the distracting chatter in my head and focus on what I want to do and what I am good at. In art school 20 years ago, we didn't take the Myers Briggs or any other personality tests. Those calculated, definable things were left to the psych and business students. But the truth is, there is some validity in them. And while I am not only or completely an ISFJ, seeing my traits, tendencies, and strengths on paper helps me own them. So I am not going to fantasize about going into Law or trying to be an anchor on the Today Show anymore. Lord knows we don't need more student loans to pay off. Stay tuned for the exciting future, including some ornaments and patterns like the ones here, and more to come in October on ETSY and at Strawberry Fields in Richmond.

The Great Big Postcard Swap

Join me in the Great Big Postcard Swap! Follow this link from the Do What You Love Blog and maybe we'll be postcard partners... http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/blog/. Happy stitching!

DWYL Retreat in England

The Do What you Love Retreat http://dowhatyouloveforlife.com/ I attended in England was fantastic. It was the first one ever and somehow Beth Nicholls was able to assemble an amazing collection of generous and talented souls, including Rachel Taylor, Hannah Nunn, Flora Bowley, Matt Stinchcomb, Priscilla Jones, and Rachel Hazell. I met some inspiring fellow participants following their dreams like Louise Gale, Juliette Crane, and my flatmates Eileen http://www.westofwhimsey.com/) and beautiful Sara, just to name few. Even though I made a weird wax and fabric sculpture of a building, I learned a new technique and had time to reflect on what was important to me about art and why I create. The sense of community and sharing of ideas and support can be rare in the art world so this retreat was really uplifting. Another DWYL retreat is happening again next year and I highly recommend it. I have thought about starting a retreat in the Southeast, but after I saw all the logistics involved I think I 'll leave it to superheroes like Beth.

England is beautiful, the people I met were polite and helpful, (I wandered around lost in London for a few days so I relied on quite a bit of help), and the architecture and countryside is stunning. It was a much needed respite, then it was home to reality: chauffeur, chef, mistress of laundry, chief negotiator, you get it. Now I am faced with the enormous challenge of how to incorporate the business ideas I have decided on (FINALLY) into my life and family. But look what I came home to...

Stay tuned...