...they make us happy, they bring us peace. But why do they bug people around us? Especially those nice quiet hobbies....

I have a hobby. It's a nice quiet pasttime that doesn't usually cause me bodily harm. Well, it might draw a little blood once in a great while.

I'm a cross-stitcher. :) And I love it. It's the first hobby that I've stuck with for more than a year. It's been at least 4 years, come to think of it. I love the fabrics, the fibers, the patterns. I love it all.

But with this passion has come some derision - as with every hobby. You see, I'm married to someone who doesn't understand it. At least, I don't think he does. He knows that it puts something pretty on the walls (considering he asked me to stitch something for him that he's very proud of) and he knows that it's a wonderful thing that I could make something for someone as a present (if they're a very close person to us). But I still don't think he gets it.

I've been called lazy because all I want to do some days is sit and stitch. I use it as a way to get rid of the stress of the day. I stitch while I watch a movie after the kids are in bed for the night (when it's really not a good time to be shampooing carpets or power scrubbing the bathroom floors). It helps me to relax.

More often than not, I've been found snoozing with a needle in hand. But only when I'm REALLY tired.

I have the fortune to also be a model stitcher. I'm quite proud of this accomplishment, and I take great pride in the work that I do for the designers/shops that I have worked for. But I don't think that DH gets the "deadline" portion of this job.

Oh yes, deadlines. Every task has them, except hobbies. But when you get paid for your hobby, sometimes you have to take a deadline along with it. And I'm very afraid of not making this deadline (which is Saturday, and I have a lot of backstitching ahead of me). Of course, I've let the designer know this...

But then there's DH. I asked him and B for good vibes last night so that I finish on time, and the response I get is "B, let's send Mommy the best vibes so she can finish and do something important."

Something important? This isn't important? It's important to me! It's important to the designer! I tried to explain that, and got a revision: "B, let's send Mommy good vibes so that she can finish and do the important things around the house that need doing."

Ok, I'll concede that point, but why pick on my hobby? Just because it's something that's received the very bad rap of being a grandma hobby? No, it isn't riding for 12 or 15 miles up and down hill on a mountain bike. I can't ride a bike to save my life - usually bike rides for me end in injuries that keep me on a couch for a couple of weeks. I prefer to stitch. But I exercise (a devoted Curves junkie), and I have a very large warehouse to wander every day at work.

I don't pick on his hobbies. Why should I? They are things that make him happy, he enjoys them, gets benefits from them, and if he's happier, then I'm happier. And he enjoys talking about his hobbies, and I always have something nice to say....

...so why is it when I talk about mine, there's nothing nice to say? *sigh*