Confessional

Forgive me, bloggers and blog readers, for I have sinned. It has been four months since my last post. During that time I've continued work (which has been a bit stressful at times), gone on holiday back to the States, had my first wedding anniversary, and have started going to Roller Derby practices (though as of late I've had to miss out because I've been under the weather).

It's been a bit hectic, all told. And I've not been the happiest of bunnies, all told. I've been over working myself at work (what can I say, I'm industrius), and have been desiring a project to work on, and have missed blogging. My super secret project is on hold at the mo, but I've done some major rethinking about my time management and what would make me happy, as well as what I'm interested in.

I've come to the conclusion that I want to take a more active role in my life, and I want a bit of adventure. I want to learn new things about topics I'm interested in, and I want to share that with you all. I finally came to the conclusion after reading Spook by Mary Roach and beginning to read Join Me by Danny Wallace. Both of whom decided to go out and DO something; Mary having done a load of really practical research about the idea of ghosts and the afterlife, and Danny bringing together a large collective of people seemingly by accident after he began his project on a whim.

I've come to realize that there are a lot of things that I don't know about and haven't experienced or learned for myself. I'm a skeptic and a reluctant atheist by nature, but haven't properly looked into the science and the religious enough to completely understand them. I don't think ghosts exist or that aliens abduct people, but at the same time, wouldn't it be kind of cool if some of that stuff were true? And how does brain function account for any of the aforementioned? Are some people more predisposed to believe in God, aliens, ghosts, or Bigfoot? The words "quantum physics" are bandied about by many, but how does quantum physics actually work?

I'm naturally inquisitive, and I soak up information like a sponge. What I'd like to do is learn as much as I can about things that I find genuinely interesting and that people seem to be divided on and share my findings on this blog.

I've now got a purpose! Let the adult education of Stephoodle begin...

Nearly two months later...

I'm still alive. It's been a rough couple of months for me, and that's the main reason I didn't post anything at first. And then It had just been so long that it felt awkward. But fuck it, I still want to do this, and I've managed to (mostly) pull myself out of the major depressive funk I was in.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to get used to living in a new country. It still is, actually. Just because our language is (mostly) similar, doesn't mean our cultures are. I'm beginning to feel a lot more comfortable and at home here, though.

It was a bit strange celebrating Thanksgiving when (practically) no one else was. We did have turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls. I also made a couple of pumpkin pies, one for us and one for Michael to take into work. It was a big hit! Many people (including Michael) had never even tried it before.

I'm still unemployed, but I recently received my National Insurance Number (the equivalent of a Social Security Number in the States) in the mail and that should help a lot. Thankfully, I was able to do a couple of commission pieces for a friend of ours for some extra money. I'll post them up after Christmas passes, as they're gifts and I don't want any chance of spoiling the surprise.

I've also got an Etsy storefront set up, so in the next day or two I'll list the prints I have leftover from last year's Alternative Press Expo. I also want to put up some original artwork, commissions, and other handmade goodies; maybe even some baked goods*. Hopefully that will help out a bit. I want to treat that as my full time job for now. I'll be sure to throw the link up when I've put up those listings.

I also want this blog to be part of that job. Instead of just focusing on being an American in the UK, I also want to post artwork and other unrelated things. More of a catch-all. So the name has been changed from Yankee Stephoodle to Oodles by Stephoodle**.

That's all for now, I suppose. Tomorrow I've got to get those commissions printed up, or at least sent to the printers to be picked up on Tuesday. I also need to run to the library, because one of my books is overdue (oops). If I get a chance, I'll post the wintry coloring pages I drew for Michael's third year class.


*I WILL make maple bacon fudge, so help me. And if it's good, I will sell it occasionally.
**Which also happens to be the name of my Etsy store. :)