Hobbies

Hobbies are a great way of passing time. But its also a great way to reduce stress. I picked up crocheting back in April of 2012 and here I am making outfits lol. This is just one that I've made. I started with a vest using red, white, and pink. Billy, my husband, said it looked like it was for Valentine's Day and I didn't think much about it but now I kind of think it does look like it. Of course, its perfect for those warmer days of summer lol.

After I was finished making the vest, I thought it was missing something, so I made a "bathing suit" top. I made it a little bigger to cover up more and then I made some bottoms to match lol. Perfect for a day at the beach but no swimming because this can't be put in the machine, hand wash only lol.

If you pick up crocheting or knitting, you have to pay attention to the yarn you select. Its always better to have it match the project you're making lol. If you're making clothes or a blanket, you want something you can throw in the washing machine. Look at the package before purchasing the yarn to make sure its right. If you're using a pattern, you'll want to make sure you're using the size of needle and yarn as well. Being a first time, you want to make sure everything is correct before you begin making anything. And then once you know what you're doing, go with what's more comfortable in your hands. I use patterns as a guide so I know what I'm doing when I make something new.

But anyway, hobbies are great and I really think everyone should have one at least. Even writing can be a hobby. If you don't want to make it a profession, writing can really be a stress release in more ways than one. I've enjoyed writing since I was a kid. It helped me get through a lot of bad times. I was able to escape the real world. It was too painful not to. I could pretend to be people I wasn't. There were so many different people. I was a witch for a long time. I think Emily Peterson was my favorite person during my childhood. We connected in so many ways! She was the person I wish I really was. She was able to handle situations I couldn't dream of. Not the witch part but the person part. We were the one in the same but I think she was stronger in whole. I lack some of the things she's got lol. But that's the beauty of writing I think. You can take yourself and make you better! You can be that strong-willed, no holds bar, no care in the world type person and add it to your own character from your within. You can be that smart, college graduate with a bachelors degree and doctorate. Or you can be that look at danger and laugh, daring kind of person. Or the combination of everything. There's no limit and then you can put yourself in a real situation in your own life and see how it plays out. Its really cool. I think that's why I chose to make it a profession for me. I am who I am but with writing I don't have to be lol. I love it!

Amber Rigby Grosjean

Lost and Found

A quite a few months ago, I was in a clothing bank, sorting through some clothes. I spotted a shirt I used to have in my own closet and memories flooded back to me from those days when I used to have this shirt. Low and behold the shelves opened up and I stepped into a room where all the things I had lost were waiting for me to find once again. Imagine how ecstatic I was when I saw all those things that I wished I hadn't lost. Someone had called my name and took me out of the trance I was in. I was mad because I was almost out of the room with an armful of clothes I missed lol.

That was when the book "Lost and Found" hit me. Could you imagine what you would do if you found a room like that? Oh my God, the possibilities! Well Kathy became obsessed with the room, just like I imagined I would if it really happened to me. I'm not a materialistic kind of person but when you lose an entire wardrobe because someone told you someone threw it out due to a flood, and then find out no they hadn't but you were suppose to go get it and that person was suppose to tell you that; you would be upset too. Yeah, it really happened and its in the book too! I put a lot of me into this one because over the years I have lost a lot of stuff, I mean a lot. You know, there really is a black hole in the back of the closet. I've had closets that literally swallowed some of my things. In this book, I was able to find those things and get some closer but it takes a very special man in this book to help me see that, well I mean Kathy lol.

I'm still working on this one but I'm having fun opening each box to see what else I can find. Not really. Its not all about this room, its also about a marriage that goes bad because of this obsession. No one believes Kathy that she found this magical room because she's the only one that sees it. When she pulls out things that shouldn't be there because they were destroyed, her husband believes but now he's against her for doing what she's doing--reclaiming lost items. In the real world, when you lose something, someone else finds it. Sometimes it saves their lives, sometimes it changes them, sometimes it fills in those empty gaps we sometimes get. By her reclaiming them, the item becomes lost to that person. Will Kathy break that balance? Will she even care? Will her obsession destroy her and her family?

I really don't know but I'm having fun finding out and I think you will too! I'm about 20K in so we'll see how it ends and then we'll see what the publishers think!

A.R. Grosjean