I am 1 in 1,000

Number 800, to be exact, if Franklin's calculations were right the day I sat for him.

I loved meeting him. Such a fangirl. I don't know Franklin, but I do know about him. More about him than most other artists whose work I enjoy. I thoroughly enjoy his blog...the way he writes, the stories he tells, the cartoons he draws. He is an accomplished knitter, but yet Every Knitter and the way he dotes on his niece...well, does that sound familiar to anyone?

I can be pretty shy, so I maybe wasn't freaking outwardly the way I was inwardly. In fact, I never even got up the courage to ask to have a photo taken with him. It was all I could do to ask for a photo of just him. Kristina got photos of my sitting, as I got photos of hers and Jean's. I'm not sure why I didn't get photos of Melanie's sitting.

I don't ordinarily photograph all that well, so already knowing that and just wanting to participate in his project, I was only a little nervous. His "bedside manner" is very good, though. He talks to his subject as he candidly photographs them. No posing.

We arrived around lunchtime, so we didn't get much of a chance to visit with him. We didn't want to disturb his lunch. But he had offered to sign The Knitting Nests' shirts, so after he finished eating I picked out one and asked him to sign mine, along with a card for my scrapbook. (I told y'all...TOTAL fangirl.) I ended up giving him my driver's license to work off of since he was concerned about spelling my name correctly.

Speaking of scrapbook's, my old scrapbooking/knitting friend Jean met us at the store. I found Franklin through her blog and thought she might be interested in sitting for him. I hadn't seen Jean in years, although I follow her blog and that of her daughter, who lives in Boston. Jean lives in an Austin suburb, so it was a perfect opportunity to visit with her and catch up. I can't believe her youngest boy is about to graduate HS. She went with us for lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant and we had a really nice visit.

Jean used to be a...chemical engineer, I think. This was her first year returning to the workforce in a full time capacity since she became a SAHM many moons ago. She teaches physics...and knowing her, I think she is probably a pretty awesome teacher. C has contemplated "retiring" from corporate finance to teach, but he isn't sure how much he would actually enjoy it...and once he makes the jump, jumping back won't be possible. Jean did substitute teaching for a while before jumping in full time. Unfortunately, C can't do substituting while working full time elsewhere. If he jumps, he will have to jump blind.