{"id":8881,"date":"2026-01-14T14:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/?p=8881"},"modified":"2026-01-14T14:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T19:30:32","slug":"midlife-maxxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/2026\/01\/14\/midlife-maxxing\/","title":{"rendered":"Midlife Maxxing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fates, we will know your pleasures: That we shall die, we know; \u2019tis but the time, And drawing days out, that men stand upon. \u2014Shakespeare, Julius Caesar<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Life\u2019s not over until the fat lady sings. And I don\u2019t hear her yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A midwesterner for decades, my husband and I moved to Florida in 2020. All five of our children are grown and flown, delightful humans and my best contribution to date. <\/p>\n\n\n

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A fiber artist since 1996, I used to publish a knitting blog (called Living and Dyeing<\/em>) back when blogs were shiny and cool (2003-2008) using Typepad (I\u2019m really dating myself here. Good thing I\u2019m a fun date). I own three spinning wheels, two weaving looms, multiple spindles, countless knitting and dyeing supplies and my knitting goal for 2026 is to make a Dale of Norway sweater<\/a>. I\u2019ve done some traveling, skiing, boating and I even co-piloted a small two-seater plane from Chicago to Idaho and back. I\u2019ve lived a pretty good life and I\u2019m grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why, do you ask, am I here? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago as my kids became teens, I was an Office Manager in downtown Chicago<\/a>, on track for a higher level admin job when one of my teen daughters was diagnosed with anorexia. It was serious and required me to be closer to home. I pivoted to a position nearby at a tile store<\/a> where I catalogued, organized and sold architecturally significant and historically accurate tile to designers and homeowners alike. I fell in love.<\/p>\n\n\n

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There was something about this small detail of the past that was precious and worth saving. The experience took me by surprise and I realized I loved serving these clients by providing them with the information they needed to make the world a more beautiful place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly my husband\u2019s employment swept us away to Florida, and I dealt with a health situation which began in 2021. Here I am, alive for now, facing mid-life with hope, excited to increase my digital content skills through this class and hopefully head into a world where I can direct people to resources that educate and bring meaning to their lives. Whether at a museum, an archive or a library, I look forward to \u201cdrawing days out\u201d for this next act, whatever time is allotted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fates, we will know your pleasures: That we shall die, we know; \u2019tis but the time, And drawing days out, that men stand upon. \u2014Shakespeare, Julius Caesar Life\u2019s not over until the fat lady sings. And I don\u2019t hear her...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[86,88,84,87],"class_list":["post-8881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student","tag-chicago","tag-jesina","tag-ml1","tag-tile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8881"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8893,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8881\/revisions\/8893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}