lala2mom

Hi! I'm a single mom of two great teenagers, 18-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter. I can't stand that thought that I have only one more year with my son and two more with my daughter before they go to college! I also live with three black cats and a dog (none of whom will be going to college, luckily). The love of my life lives in Wisconsin (it's a complicated story), and I wouldn't recommend a long-distance relationship to anyone. Please cross your fingers for us (and for an improvement in the job market) so that we might be together soon.

I teach English and composition at a local design school, where I love the creativity of my students (and enjoy showing them how they do need to be able to write).

I love fabric--batiks especially. I used to sew lots of clothes when the kids were little (and any outfit took just a yard); now I am trying to be a quilter. If anyone knows the "One Block Wonder" quilts, that's what I am working on now, using an Asian fabric.

Also, I just took a class in tatting and am really enjoying (slowly) developing my skills. I needed something that I could work on waiting for kids or on airplanes, and I've never gotten the hang of knitting or crocheting, but I think this may finally be it!

Lately I have had more time to be creative, but have faltered--if anyone has a recipe for motivation, please send it to me!

Update--SwapBot has been wonderful for inspiring me. I have tried some new things and have re-tried some old ones. Thanks to everyone!

I'm not much of a big brand/label person, but I do have a weakness for Hello Kitty (Choco Cat and Badtz Maru). I like old cartoons--Jetsons, Boris and Natasha, Underdog. I also like some of the new quirky cartoons like Invader Zim. I love the Muppets! Oh, and I REALLY love Totoro and other Miyazaki movies and characters. (I would adore having a dust bunny!)

I love cats, and think hedgehogs are totally cool (but have never had one).

oldies: Room with a View, Lady Jane, all the Muppet movies, Philadelphia Story

newer: Mamma Mia, Bride and Prejudice, Dr. Horrible (little known musical, but worth finding!), Die Hard 4, Kabluey, Lars and the Real Girl, Son of Rambow, Breaking Away

This is hard for me. Let's see... I love candy, especially international things that I might not have seen before; tea is always nice; quirky stickers (but I can't stand Disney--sorry!--or other mass-produced, overly commercial stuff); fabrics of all sorts; lace; highlighters and gel pens. I don't do well with perfume-y things or bric-a-brac that gather dust.

I'm sorry if this is not helpful enough--I'm not yet as big a crafter as many of you.

I have never outgrown the "young adult" literature that my children started reading in elementary school. Anything by Jerry Spinelli, Louis Sacher, Lois Lowry, Eva Ibbotson, or Sharon Creech is great. More "adult" books I have loved include The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, both by M Zusak; Dick Francis mysteries--especially the older ones; Jane Austen novels; The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje; The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.