Wow... I have been gone a long time.

It is darn warm out there if you didn't notice.

I am making it warmer by firing a bisque.

It should be up to temperature in another 30 minutes or so.

So, while I was gone....

I fractured my right hand (by hitting a chair when I got too angry),

and no I would never have hit my child, I was just at my limit and had to hit something. 

In my defense, I did choose a cushy armchair, it was just not cushy enough.

So while I was moaning about not being able to run in my one and only marathon,

I decided to do something anyway.

I decided to make hand-built functional pottery.

I haven't stopped since and it has been almost 8 weeks.

It seems that wonderful things really can come out of rotten situations.

It is hard to see it when you are in it. For sure.

I am cast free, throwing and hand building and trying, for the first time in my 25 years of living with clay, to make a go at it.

I mean to make a it a way to supplement my families income.

I am not delusional. I understand how hard this is and how many hours it takes and most of all that I might actually have to learn the business part of all this mess.

But I am excited. Like want to be in the studio all the time excited.

I am firing almost once a week and am working on a "line" that I feel proud of 

and that I hope will enrich people's eating experiences.

I have continued being a mom, which tends to happen when you have two kids who are 7 and 10, and have struggled with rebellious, confused, angry children. 

Not every minute, of course, but enough for me to anticipate it happening every day.

I am officially reading Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility.

The premise is to hold them accountable for their actions with consequences while maintaining empathy about the situation they are in. 

The empathy part is quite challenging. :(

This could all be applied to other people I know and love and live with too ;).

Well, life is about learning and it is about being the best person we can be for those we love.

So here I go, trying again, like I will, over and over.

I have been cherishing my friends as of late. Well, I always do, but sometimes you

just realize

they are incredible and they make

the days

so much more

incredible

and 

meaningful.

So thank you 

friends.

So I am potting, parenting and partying 

(not really partying just sounded good)

Oh and I have a new pottery blog... like really new, as in only one post new

freemanclayworks.blogspot.com/

Come visit and see my new pots and leave comments on how they can make you happier.

Happy almost summer. Only 23 more days of school. Yikes.