I’m hiding from my mom’s housekeepers. The stale chemical smell drives me crazy, even more so with my hypersensitive pregnant nose. So I’m sitting on Mom and Dad’s bed. I was going to sit on my old bed but something beckoned me to come here so I did. Maybe it’s the anticipation of having a kid who will do the same when he’s hiding from company. 
I can’t count how many hours I’ve spent in this room learning how to sew, quilt, and nap. The old Singer sewing machine that’s at least 40 years old still lives here in its built-in seeing table with its old, uncomfortable wooden chair. Someday when my sisters and I have to go through the house and sort through all of the stuff, it won’t be much fun, but more nostalgic than anything else. And I have a gut feeling I’ll be doing most of the sorting… 
I was conceived in this bed, so maybe that’s why it has always been my favorite napping space. It’s strange to think that I’m about to have my own baby, and the younger ones may do the same once Jesse and I secure a house with new bedroom set and mattress. Thinking this far into the future makes me wonder how I can make my bedroom my own, but still welcome the children to play and let their imaginations wander like mine did. Jesse has a rule about keeping the house neat. All work areas and computers need to be in the back of the house because that’s where all the mess gets made. The rooms guests actually see (living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen) need to be tidy. I argue that we need to decorate at least a little bit so it doesn’t look like a prison. My hope is that there will always be fresh flowers from the garden adorning my kitchen table. I want roses and fuchsias and daisies and day lilies. That should be enough but you never know. He wants the backyard for his garden so I get the front yard. It’ll be fun to have projects to work on and kids to teach about gardening. 
Jewelry supply storage will be an interesting challenge. Jesse already said that I can have some of the linen closet, assuming we have linen closets. But I think I’ll need to sit in the house for awhile to determine the best location for me to work. I can do that while we’re unpacking and getting settled in. Lord knows it won’t be for awhile with housing prices the way they are. But one can always dream. My friend gave me a great idea that Jesse would actually consider. A wall unit of bookshelves with solid doors on the bottom half to hide toys and other miscellaneous things, then glass doors on the upper half with recessed lighting to display my finished jewelry, the wedding china, the bar glasses with his family crest that are at least 50 years old, the teacups and tea pots I plan on procuring during our excursion to Seattle and Canada when we finally visit his sister, and anything else that won’t make it look too ridiculous. I already warned him my He-Man DVD collection with the spine mural is going in there, whether he likes it or not.
I need lots of natural light when I’m working on jewelry. That’s why I really loved my old room here. All the light that came in warmed both my heart and soul and made it easy to create. All my supplies were at my fingertips… I just had to GO! It was magical. It’s harder in the apartment but I’m trying to empty out the workbench to make it a more permanent place. First thing I’ve been trying to do has been emptying out the jewelry box that’s sitting up there and bringing it back here until we have a house. That will provide at least some good working space. I just have to make sure it’s always kept neat or else someone will have a cow. He did once and moved EVERYTHING off the table and onto the middle of the living room floor so I could put it away. I had an even bigger cow (freshly pregnant and hormonal) so he never touched my stuff ever again after that. Just occasionally whines about the apartment being messy.
(It used to look like this… it’s gotten considerably worse over time. I need to get back to what it was, minus the stuff on the floor)
