When one door closes...

When we moved to a small town in rural New Mexico last spring, I knew I was taking a chance that I might never find a job that would allow me to use my experience and education. But, we loved the lifestyle and the country and we were really burned out on the big city (Houston). After 20 years of working at a major research university, I was ready to try something else--something that made me feel like I was making a difference some how. So when the opportunity came up for my husband to transfer to southern New Mexico, I just said go for it...I'll find something to do with my career when we get there.

Boy, am I glad I did that. I would never in a million years have thought of museum education as a career. But here I am planning education programs around some of my lifelong passions. My interests outside of work and family are gardening--organically and using ecologically sound, sustainable methods--fiber arts, especially knitting and crochet and anything else that lets me play with gorgeous yarn; and historical crafts, patterns and gardening methods. So what am I doing right now at work, you may ask?? Well, I am planning a big event for spinners, weavers and other yarnies (in April-happy birthday to me), a rendezvous that includes traditional crafts that were part of the mountain man era--spinning, weaving, quilting, basket making, corn husk dolls (and I'm still researching it--it will be in mid-July), and I've been discussing a collaboration with Julia Price of Sierra Dove to establish community gardens in the area, with the museum garden having a focus on traditional methods used in the southwest. I am going to work every day and researching my hobbies and planning events with people who love the things I love.

Could it get any better than that? Whoop!!

So tell me--have you thought about what interests and passions you could turn into a career?

Food for the mind

One aspect of living more wisely, at least for me, is to spend more time on things that feed your mind and soul. I've tried to do more reading and writing and less watching of the boob-tube. Or, if I am in front of the tube at night with the hubby (who collects movies), I have a knitting or crochet project in hand and work on creating my own designs.

I do make a couple of exceptions though. I have found two web sites that showcase truly inspirational videos. Be careful if you are at work because it is easy to lose a whole afternoon to one of these sites.

ArtBabble was created by the Indianapolis Museum of Art and allows you to explore the art world through video. Really fascinating, whether you are an art lover or not, and the videos go far beyond just looking at paintings or sculpture.

Another wonderful and inspirational site is TED. TED videos are free to the world and showcase brilliant and truly remarkable people sharing ideas that make you stop and think about the world around you. TED Talks cover every conceivable topic, ranging from business to science to design.

So get a cuppa tea or coffee and settle in some afternoon and watch a video or two. Betcha can't stop with just one!!

Not your Grandma's quilts

As a would be fiber artist, I think I sometimes forget that you can take the oldest techniques and methods and give them a completely new twist. This guy has done just that with solar system inspired quilts--jimmy mcbride.

Ten Things I love about New Mexico (so far)

1. Being swarmed by hummingbirds when I carry the feeders out early in the morning.

2. Listening to elk bugle on the hills around our house.

3. Eating lunch at El Paisano in Capitan, where the same family has been cooking traditional New Mexican food for 62 years.

4. Watching the sun light up the mountains around my house early in the morning.

5. Watching deer come and go around the house all day.

6. Picking raspberries and drinking lavender lemonade at Lavender Spring Ranch.

7. Roasting fresh picked green chiles and making green chile stew.

8. All the art galleries in the area. New Mexico seems to attract artists of all kinds.

9. Going barefoot at White Sands. The gypsum sand never gets hot, no matter how hot the day is.

10. Eating green chile pistachios and chile pistachio brittle and drinking pistachio flavored wine right on the ranch where the pistachios and grapes are grown.

Proud mom bragging

My youngest son is starting his own business and I am very proud of how hard he has worked to do that. He is a WOSTEP certified watchmaker and has been working at Breitling for the past couple of years, but they started laying people off this summer. He returned to Texas and is starting his own watch and clock repair business. He will start by contracting with jewelry stores instead of dealing directly with the public. He is very driven and self-disciplined and I think he will be very successful. He doesn't have a web site up yet, but can be reached currently at info.keeperoftime at gmail.com.

This lady is an inspiration

I hope I have this much get up and go when I am 89, not to mention moxie. I've been driving the same Ford F150 since 1998 and Henry has about 140,000 miles on him, but that is nothing compared to Miss Rachel and her Chariot. I particularly like the way she chose lifetime guarantee parts and has had mufflers and batteries replaced at no charge. Smart lady!! You can view her video at GrowingBolder.com.

Collecting inspiration--making a "glue book"

This is an idea I came across on the Think Crafts Blog--a glue book. I am always coming across ideas in magazines that I like--decorating, landscaping, hair styles, doggie couture, whatever. Often times, it is not something I want to reproduce exactly, but it inspires some kind of design idea or an idea for a gift for a particular person, an organizing problem that needed a unique fix, a quote that would be great for starting a lesson, planning a special event, ideas for writing an article--that kind of thing. At one time I tried tearing out pages and saving them in an idea file, but that stacked up way too much paper way to fast and I usually never went back to it. A glue book would be an easy way to keep ideas, pictures, poems, quotes--anything you come across that you don't want to send out to the recycling bin, but really don't have a place to store. Plus, when you just need a quiet moment to recharge your batteries, you can get a cuppa your favorite beverage, kick your feet up, and thumb through all your favorite and very personal inspirations in one little book. What a great idea!

Meet Miss Clara, Recessionista Extraordinaire

My mom and I got the biggest kick out of Miss Clara and her wise advise for cooking and living on a budget--so timely for us right now, as it was for her back in the Great Depression. My grandparents lived through the Depression, but unfortunately, we did not capture all that wisdom before they were gone. I think Miss Clara's family has done a wonderful thing helping her put together her website, blog and videos. We should all make more of an effort to record and archive the wisdom of our elders for future generations to enjoy. My mom just completed "Grandmother Remembers" books for my two boys, both in their twenties, and they loved them. I have no doubt that, as they get older and perhaps have families of their own, these books will grow in sentimental value.