Saturday, August 4, 2012

Meeting


Blogging is a lonely business. By that, I mean that one can create and maintain an entire persona from the comfort of one's home and never actually interact with another human being (who isn't immediate family) face-to-face. One of the most drastic differences between my life as a stay-home-mum in the US and the one I had in Singapore was how ridiculously miniscule my social circle is now. This is not a bad thing - with the sort of responsibilities I have raising three smallish kids, I couldn't cope with a social life like the one I had pre-marriage-and-children. So I'm not complaining. It didn't, however, stop me from asking God when I first arrived in the US, to recreate my old social patterns. To which He very wisely- and gently- replied, "Child, you don't need 20 friends. You don't have the time for 20 friends. Here are 2." Gotta love God's sense of humor.

Every now and then, though, through my blog, I get to meet actual humans. Now, before I get to the good news, let me say that, as a rule, I am always suspicious of meeting online people in er... person because one never knows what such humans actually are in real life. For example, what if the ostensibly harmless homeschooling mother-of-seven you really connected with on some random blog were in fact a 48-year-old male serial killer, international terrorist or (worse) an anti-cardboard proponent? It's hard to tell until you meet them, isn't it? And even then, one should always carry a small test swatch of cardboard in one's purse to thrust in their faces - if they break out in hives or convulse on the floor, foaming at the mouth, immediately unfriend them on Facebook, block them on Twitter and also shoot them with your glue gun. Repeatedly ;)

The good news, however, is that so far, the blog people I've actually physically met have been really, really, really nice. And have also become friends over the course of corresponding by email and snailmail. I like to think of it as the powers-that-be enriching my social life in ways I never would have imagined, say, 20 years ago. Case in point: these two amazing ladies I had pie-and-tea with last Saturday:

That's Grandma G in blue, and Jessica Jones in pink-and-orange (of course). You might know Grandma G from her blog, her impeccable sewing skills and her awesome work as my bag pattern testerGrandma G is as gracious and calm as I'd imagined and just absolutely lovely. And she didn't even once poke me in the back for procrastinating on that bag pattern I owe you all. Mercy personified. Juicy sewing nugget I learned about her: she once sewed a three-piece suit for her husband (yes, I had trouble scooping my jaw off the floor too). You can read Grandma G's account of how she got my kids to give her personalized artwork here. Save them, GG, for bragging rights when my kids are world-famous artists! 


And you might know her daughter Jessica from her blog, her graphic design work and her beautiful fabric lines that I use in many of my sewn stuff because they are so gorgeous. Jess is every bit as delightful, humorous and witty as she is online- and even more so now that we got to see her smile in person!  We had a truly wonderful time visiting with them -and Jess's husband Alex - an absolute treat!



10 comments:

  1. Hmmm... you were pretty subtle with your test swatch of cardboard! Glad I controlled myself... I've never been shot with a glue gun before, and would just as soon keep it that way! :)

    It was so fun meeting you all. If you ever want to take a road trip to see a 'real' farm, you're welcome anytime!

    Now about that bag pattern.... c'mon, you're soooo close!!

    P.S. I noticed the wink! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jenna's drawing of two butterflies getting married is fantastic!

    I recognize Grandma G's name from blog comments, and I think I will now have to follow her blog. Three-piece suit - wow!

    LOVE Jessica's fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, you got to hang out with these amazing ladies? Lucky you! I saw your cardboard barbie house on pinterest and had to check it out on the post. That is one amazing doll house -- so creative and detailed! Much much more than I expected!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I see a girl wearing a striped shirt and plaid shorts :) My ten year old wears the same thing and loves it! Actually, it's either the striped shirt or the tie-dye, with the plaid shorts. We are such good moms for letting our girls choose their own outfits. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I SO enjoyed having pie with you guys! You're all wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. i followed jess' blog, how about orange, to find yours, and i love it! i had no idea such work went into making sewing patterns - very impressive. and i loved reading about how your girls ran their own craft show booth!

    i'm so sad that i'm just now discovering you just as i'm moving away from minneapolis! hope you enjoy the rest of summer and that the winter this year will be as mild as last year's!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's great to meet such lovely women! Like you I miss my social life now...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh wow, that's awesome that you got to meet Jessica and Grandma G! Wish I could hang out with more cool people like you guys :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Isn't GG fabulous? When I met her the first time three years ago, it felt kind of like a blind date. Nervousness, same thoughts running through my head as your second paragraph. She is just so wonderful. My husband loves her too--in fact, they have decided to be brother and sister now. I'll admit to a bit of envy that you got to meet Jess and Alex too. So the next time we are in the Cities, we should get together!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow. "LiEr", Geandma G, and Jessica Jones. All Together. Really really cool. Oh how I wish y'all would collaborate on a book together! And Grandma G looks just as sweet as I imagine! Love these blogs.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for talking to me! If you have a question, I might reply to it here in the comments or in an email.