About CurvyLou

My name is Robin Stephanie, and I was laid off of work in April, 2014, with a nine-month wait for my termination date.

We work really hard.  Full-time work at any job I know is exhausting given the inadequate nature of most vacation policies to provide real rest, and given our responsibilities outside of the work world. How rare breaks like this are in our adult lives, and when they occur we usually need to find work as soon as we can to remain financially healthy.

I’d been anticipating a layoff for years, have decent savings, and was given generous severance. It occurred to me that a break from full-time employment can be a much-needed rest.

Sobriety in my early 30’s filled me with a passion for life, and for learning as much as I can while I’m here. A life-saving operation for a pancreatic cyst ten years later left me even more hyperactive and lusty for life than ever before.

So I decided to take a risk—and take a break. And live a little, according to what that means to me.

What does one DO on such a break? Knit, crochet, prep one’s own fiber and spin the yarn for doing so.  Learn to weave and to dye.  Learn American Sign Language (ASL). Learn to bellydance. Start a blog. Treat that all as a jumping off point, and see what develops.

So here I am, on January 31st, 2015, one day after layoff, beginning to blog at least the next 12 months of adventures as an intermediate knitter and spinner, and brand new weaver and dyer, belly dancer, signer, and whatever else pops its head up says, “Look at me!” 

Wish me luck. I have no idea what I’m doing.

Updated May 15th, 2018

My break being long over, it occurs to me I should update my About. Now the challenge is to see how much living I can get in around the edges of working.