So, what's a Cheeky Cognoscenti? Dictionary.com defines a cognoscente as: "a person with superior, usually specialized knowledge or highly refined taste; a connoisseur" and "a person who has superior knowledge and understanding of a particular field, esp. in the fine arts, literature, and world of fashion." The word is derived from obsolete Italian, and pronounced "con-yuh-SHEN-tee" in its plural form (cognoscenti with an "i" at the end). My favorite definition of cheeky, on the other hand, comes from the web site The Very Best of British: The Americans' Guide to Speaking British: "Cheeky means you are flippant, have too much lip or are a bit of a smart arse! Generally you are considered to be a bit cheeky if you have an answer for everything and always have the last word." As you're probably starting to realize, I really like WORDS, particularly unusual, colorful, precise words with layers of meaning, words that are rich with imagery and flavor. I enjoy the discordant anachronism of mixing these two words together, with their wildly different connotations and origins. I'm not an expert on everything I'm interested in, but I enjoy learning as much as I can and believe that all things worth doing are worth doing well. The "cheeky" part is a reminder to keep my sense of humor and perspective throughout the disasters of daily life. I’m Queen Mother of the Universe to two deceptively innocent-looking little boys, both "gifted" and both "ADHD," yet totally different from one another, who suck up vast quantities of my energy and emotional reserves but who are also the light in my world. I drive myself crazy trying to be the best mommy I can be, and still worry that I might not be doing a good enough job. Somehow I managed to find the one man on Earth who can look past my grouchiness and various quirks and convinced him to marry me. For twelve years, I straddled the fence between the Working Mommy and the Stay Home Mommy camps by running a residential interior design business out of my home office, meeting with clients and visiting showrooms while my kids were in school, then going into full-on Mommy Mode from the time they got home until I'd tucked them into bed at night. In 2012, with Birthday 39 lurking around the corner and my oldest child halfway to college age, I finally decided that I'd accomplished what I set out to achieve in my design business and that it was time to call it quits. What started out as a part-time business when Lars was a baby had grown into a full-time job that had me working late nights and weekends, crowding into my family priorities and becoming increasingly difficult to balance, especially considering how much my husband travels with his job. It's difficult to walk away from something I've put so much of myself into for so long, but it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my heart now that it's behind me.
I love reading, sewing, design, cooking, and the planning and supervising of garden projects -- but like Martha, I get an underling (darling husband) to dig my holes. I am known for taking the simplest task or project and dreaming up variations and customizations that make everything infinitely more complicated (and more expensive) than it needs to be. My husband says I like to "stir the pot," but I just like to get lively discussions going on controversial topics and see what happens. I live in a big glass house, figuratively speaking, so I'm not throwing rocks at anybody!
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