My horoscope for this week has resonated with me ever since I read it. It's not that I'm really all that hung up on astrology. My take on horoscopes are that they are so general that they could really apply to anyone. But every now and again, I read one that fits like a glove.
I have been well aware of the indirect route that I have been following towards my goals. I have recognized that I have learned many lessons that I needed to know. The key word in the horoscope that put a different spin on what I have been thinking all along is the word wanted. "... the winding path is a function of destiny's intent for you to learn more than you wanted to know ..."
I have learned a few things that I didn't enjoy learning. I recognized that they were still very good lessons for me and my Middle Son told me that he was glad that I learned that the ways of the world are not always kind, fair and full of happy endings. I became more empathetic to what others were going through after I experienced a few inequities first hand.
I have learned many other important lessons. Flexibility, the ability to think on my feet, adaptability, how to take constructive criticism ... I could go on and on.
I honestly thought that the lessons were over. I had accepted my fate, learned and was grateful for all that unfolded in the end. There is usually a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is where my story typically ends. Not this time.
This time around, there isn't a happy ending in sight. This is not the lesson that I wanted. I am still striving towards my goal and I have no idea how long it will take to attain it. It may be around the corner. It may not. I must prepare myself for more rocky road if I want to keep travelling this path. Just when I think that maybe I am going against the natural flow of the way things are meant to be, a get a good dose of hope and it pushes me through another rough patch.
I have recycled and rehashed these same thoughts for the better part of the last ten months. But the phrase in my horoscope that really made me think was the last one. Destiny's intent has been for me to "... connect with people with whom you wouldn't have otherwise connected."
It made me think twice about an invitation issued by a co-worker and gave me the courage to invite another co-worker out for lunch.
Last night I went for coffee with someone I wouldn't have otherwise connected with, had it not been for this long and winding path towards my destiny. We talked like old friends and our time was up much sooner than either one of us was ready to see it end. Her parting words to me were "I think that we are going to be great friends!"
I have met many people that I would have never met this year, had life gone according to plan. I cannot help but think of the infinite ways that this could change my destiny. There is not one person that we encounter that does not affect us in some way. Big or small. The flip side of that phrase (that I rarely, if ever consider), is the difference I may (or may not) make in the lives that I touch.
One of the thought provoking questions in the movie "The Bucket List" is: "Has your life brought joy to others?" I was in a bit of a depressed state when I watched the movie (it lost its impact for me when I kept falling asleep and had to go back three more times to finally piece all of the movie together) and when I pondered that question, my answer was, "I think that my life used to bring joy to others ..." It is time to turn that phrase into the present tense.
I have had a 'needy' year. I have pulled my energy from outside sources. Though there are times when we need to lean a little and let ourselves accept a little help from our friends... there is danger in becoming dependent on that energy source. We need to be self sustaining as well.
I can feel my energy coming back to me. It has been gradually seeping its way back into my being in a way that feels like it is here to stay. It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride at times. It went from that, to being a little 'hilly'. Ups and downs ... but not too steep of an incline or a crash.
I grew up on the prairies. Long stretches of road as far as the eye can see is what I have become accustomed to. I'm ready steer my life back onto that familiar path.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A Little Dab'll Do Ya
I write this in the spirit of 'ask and you shall receive' .... I have been receiving a very nice little dose of what I have been needing this past little while.
I have been fretting a lot about work lately. Should I be looking for another job? What will happen in the fall? Do I need a second job? If I don't know any of these answers, how should I make the most of the upcoming summer holidays??
Then there is the work itself. I have been beyond blessed to get a half time position until the end of the school year. I could not be working and learning in a better school. The person I am working with is meticulous and I am learning the correct way to do things. They like their newsletter to be a showcase of the school so that people who read it think 'I want my child to go to school here!' So I have had some excellent training in regards to the newsletter as well.
The unfortunate part is that I haven't been called out to very many schools lately. I have high expectations of myself, so when I am learning the correct way to do things, I strive to be perfect. This places undue stress on all of my systems (especially when it seems the harder you try not to make a mistake, the more likely you are to do so). I have been craving some kind of feedback so that I can monitor the ongoing 'where do I go from here?' dilemma.
Ask ... and you shall receive!
I worked at a different school on Friday. As always, when I run into a situation where I cannot complete 100% of what needs to be done, I left a detailed note for the secretary (admin assistant) I had replaced. I do this consistently, where ever I work. I strive to do the job that I would like someone to do for me, if I was away. Sometimes I get some acknowledgement for what I do, but more often than not there is nothing said one way or another.
Monday afternoon, I received an email from the admin assistant that I replaced on Friday. She was overly kind with her praise and gratitude. This was on top of the words of thanks from the principal and vice principal when I left Friday afternoon (it is a very rare occurrence to leave a school without an acknowledgement of gratitude). Little things. They mean so much!
Yesterday I got a last minute call to work at a school that I have worked at before. But when I arrived, I found that I was replacing the part-time secretary and I would finally have the opportunity to work with the admin assistant that I had replaced in the past. My role for the day would be vastly different as support staff (verses just trying to keep the office running in whatever capacity you can make it happen when replacing the full time admin assistant).
One of the first questions I was asked was, "Have you ever done a newsletter?" I was overjoyed to be able to answer with one simple, unqualified word. "Yes." ("!!!" I thought) And having learned from a school that strives for perfection with their newsletter, I asked almost no questions. I was on my way (and I knew where I was going!!).
The newsletter was completed, printed and on its way early that afternoon. I still had time left over to work on another job that I had been given. I worked all day and felt that I was of value. I rarely get this feeling of accomplishment in my role as a substitute. It felt a little bit wonderful.
As if that was not enough in and of itself, the admin assistant that I was working with all day told me that she would be asking for me in the future. She was grateful for all that I was trained and equipped to do, to lighten the load. Her words meant the world to me.
It was so nice to have the opportunity to get to know just a small piece of the person that I had been working with all day. She has been working at this school for 21 years ... but it has not always been easy. When she talked of the first weeks in her position, it made my appreciate the 'easy road' that I have been travelling.
Sometimes we are tested, to see what we are made of. Once challenges are overcome, the road to success becomes an option. Turning around and running the other way does not pave the way to achieving what you have set out to do.
I'm not running away. I am receiving what I need to keep me hopeful about the future. I have asked for answers to my questions. I am not receiving the specific answers that I have been seeking ... but I have been getting exactly what I have been lacking. Hope.
We all need to feel of value within our world. Be generous with your praise and positive thoughts. You never know just how much the person on the other end of that conversation may need to hear those words.
Feedback and acknowledgement. A little dab'll do ya ...
I have been fretting a lot about work lately. Should I be looking for another job? What will happen in the fall? Do I need a second job? If I don't know any of these answers, how should I make the most of the upcoming summer holidays??
Then there is the work itself. I have been beyond blessed to get a half time position until the end of the school year. I could not be working and learning in a better school. The person I am working with is meticulous and I am learning the correct way to do things. They like their newsletter to be a showcase of the school so that people who read it think 'I want my child to go to school here!' So I have had some excellent training in regards to the newsletter as well.
The unfortunate part is that I haven't been called out to very many schools lately. I have high expectations of myself, so when I am learning the correct way to do things, I strive to be perfect. This places undue stress on all of my systems (especially when it seems the harder you try not to make a mistake, the more likely you are to do so). I have been craving some kind of feedback so that I can monitor the ongoing 'where do I go from here?' dilemma.
Ask ... and you shall receive!
I worked at a different school on Friday. As always, when I run into a situation where I cannot complete 100% of what needs to be done, I left a detailed note for the secretary (admin assistant) I had replaced. I do this consistently, where ever I work. I strive to do the job that I would like someone to do for me, if I was away. Sometimes I get some acknowledgement for what I do, but more often than not there is nothing said one way or another.
Monday afternoon, I received an email from the admin assistant that I replaced on Friday. She was overly kind with her praise and gratitude. This was on top of the words of thanks from the principal and vice principal when I left Friday afternoon (it is a very rare occurrence to leave a school without an acknowledgement of gratitude). Little things. They mean so much!
Yesterday I got a last minute call to work at a school that I have worked at before. But when I arrived, I found that I was replacing the part-time secretary and I would finally have the opportunity to work with the admin assistant that I had replaced in the past. My role for the day would be vastly different as support staff (verses just trying to keep the office running in whatever capacity you can make it happen when replacing the full time admin assistant).
One of the first questions I was asked was, "Have you ever done a newsletter?" I was overjoyed to be able to answer with one simple, unqualified word. "Yes." ("!!!" I thought) And having learned from a school that strives for perfection with their newsletter, I asked almost no questions. I was on my way (and I knew where I was going!!).
The newsletter was completed, printed and on its way early that afternoon. I still had time left over to work on another job that I had been given. I worked all day and felt that I was of value. I rarely get this feeling of accomplishment in my role as a substitute. It felt a little bit wonderful.
As if that was not enough in and of itself, the admin assistant that I was working with all day told me that she would be asking for me in the future. She was grateful for all that I was trained and equipped to do, to lighten the load. Her words meant the world to me.
It was so nice to have the opportunity to get to know just a small piece of the person that I had been working with all day. She has been working at this school for 21 years ... but it has not always been easy. When she talked of the first weeks in her position, it made my appreciate the 'easy road' that I have been travelling.
Sometimes we are tested, to see what we are made of. Once challenges are overcome, the road to success becomes an option. Turning around and running the other way does not pave the way to achieving what you have set out to do.
I'm not running away. I am receiving what I need to keep me hopeful about the future. I have asked for answers to my questions. I am not receiving the specific answers that I have been seeking ... but I have been getting exactly what I have been lacking. Hope.
We all need to feel of value within our world. Be generous with your praise and positive thoughts. You never know just how much the person on the other end of that conversation may need to hear those words.
Feedback and acknowledgement. A little dab'll do ya ...
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Shopping - A Necessary Evil
Shopping. I dislike shopping. A lot.
Shopping has filled many needs for me in the past. I can remember one point in time when I filled the shopping cart to fill a void (much the way I now eat L ...). Other times, shopping was pure recreation. It was our family's preferred form of entertainment. There were the Dog Days of Summer when we shopped to find a cool spot to be (before the days of living in an air conditioned home). Shopping was fun.
Then there was shopping on a budget. A time when the only time I allowed myself to spend, was in the grocery store. Buying groceries was the only place where I filled my need to fork over my hard earned cash and receive goods in return for the favor. Grocery shopping became my fun.
Then there were the Daycare Days when it felt like there were simply not enough hours in the day. I investigated on-line grocery shopping at one point in time until I realized that it was not necessarily the act of shopping that I had come to despise, it was the time involved in putting everything away. I bought a lot of groceries in those days. Unpacking the groceries was a job that took as much time as going out and buying them. Grocery shopping became a chore.
Shopping has lost its lustre along the way.
Fast forward to today ... shopping in almost every form has become something that I squeeze into the cracks of life.
When I must buy groceries, I like to pick them up on my way home from work. I don't have much expendable cash these days, so I find that I am less tempted to overspend if I am in a hurry to get home. This trick seems to be working well for me.
Thank goodness for WalMart. It is the one-stop-shopping-spot that allows me to cross off many items that seem to accumulate over the month. Thankfully they have moved half-way-to-the-next-small-town, so it is a store that I never drive past on my way home from work for those quick pit stops. But when we do make the trek, it usually means that I don't have to stop anywhere else that day. And I like that. I like that alot.
Clothes shopping. Blech!! I do have one store that I gravitate towards but I cannot afford to look at clothes until they are out of season and on sale. Trust me, I have tried. But I simply cannot pay full price for these items that may or may not work for me once I take them home. Oh, what I would give for a personal clothes shopper. I do not love the way age and gravity has affected my body. But I have learned that some styles and cuts accentuate the change, while others camouflage it a little bit. I hate the time it takes to find camouflage wear ...
Shoes. Thank goodness I came upon a shoe store that specializes in hard-to-fit-feet. My feet finally have a place to call their own. But oh-my-gosh ... the prices!! I could buy half a month's worth of groceries for the price I pay for shoes that make my feet happy. But the investment will last much, much longer than the groceries do. So once I perfect the art of buying something once and not returning it a few times, this is an investment in time and money worth making.
So you can imagine the small squeal of pleasure that coursed through my veins this morning when I realized that I had a spare eyeliner pencil on hand when my current one ran out. Immediately thereafter I made a mental note that my deodorant was also running on empty and I had a vague memory of stocking up on that when it was on sale as well. Then I proceeded to fill up the empty soap container with the back-up supply of liquid soap ...
Oh, how I appreciate the warehouse system of supplies that I have on hand!! To know that (in many cases)I have a back up on hand is a luxury that not everyone can afford.
Yes, I have come to dislike shopping as a form of recreation. It is a necessary evil and it gobbles up much more of the budget than I want it to. But in the end, we have food in our fridge and cupboards; a back up supply in a closet ... we have clothes on our back; shoes on our feet and many luxury items to keep us fresh, clean and satisfy the vanity in me (the back up supply of eyeliner and eyebrow pencils is living a life of excess. I know).
We are blessed.
Shopping has filled many needs for me in the past. I can remember one point in time when I filled the shopping cart to fill a void (much the way I now eat L ...). Other times, shopping was pure recreation. It was our family's preferred form of entertainment. There were the Dog Days of Summer when we shopped to find a cool spot to be (before the days of living in an air conditioned home). Shopping was fun.
Then there was shopping on a budget. A time when the only time I allowed myself to spend, was in the grocery store. Buying groceries was the only place where I filled my need to fork over my hard earned cash and receive goods in return for the favor. Grocery shopping became my fun.
Then there were the Daycare Days when it felt like there were simply not enough hours in the day. I investigated on-line grocery shopping at one point in time until I realized that it was not necessarily the act of shopping that I had come to despise, it was the time involved in putting everything away. I bought a lot of groceries in those days. Unpacking the groceries was a job that took as much time as going out and buying them. Grocery shopping became a chore.
Shopping has lost its lustre along the way.
Fast forward to today ... shopping in almost every form has become something that I squeeze into the cracks of life.
When I must buy groceries, I like to pick them up on my way home from work. I don't have much expendable cash these days, so I find that I am less tempted to overspend if I am in a hurry to get home. This trick seems to be working well for me.
Thank goodness for WalMart. It is the one-stop-shopping-spot that allows me to cross off many items that seem to accumulate over the month. Thankfully they have moved half-way-to-the-next-small-town, so it is a store that I never drive past on my way home from work for those quick pit stops. But when we do make the trek, it usually means that I don't have to stop anywhere else that day. And I like that. I like that alot.
Clothes shopping. Blech!! I do have one store that I gravitate towards but I cannot afford to look at clothes until they are out of season and on sale. Trust me, I have tried. But I simply cannot pay full price for these items that may or may not work for me once I take them home. Oh, what I would give for a personal clothes shopper. I do not love the way age and gravity has affected my body. But I have learned that some styles and cuts accentuate the change, while others camouflage it a little bit. I hate the time it takes to find camouflage wear ...
Shoes. Thank goodness I came upon a shoe store that specializes in hard-to-fit-feet. My feet finally have a place to call their own. But oh-my-gosh ... the prices!! I could buy half a month's worth of groceries for the price I pay for shoes that make my feet happy. But the investment will last much, much longer than the groceries do. So once I perfect the art of buying something once and not returning it a few times, this is an investment in time and money worth making.
So you can imagine the small squeal of pleasure that coursed through my veins this morning when I realized that I had a spare eyeliner pencil on hand when my current one ran out. Immediately thereafter I made a mental note that my deodorant was also running on empty and I had a vague memory of stocking up on that when it was on sale as well. Then I proceeded to fill up the empty soap container with the back-up supply of liquid soap ...
Oh, how I appreciate the warehouse system of supplies that I have on hand!! To know that (in many cases)I have a back up on hand is a luxury that not everyone can afford.
Yes, I have come to dislike shopping as a form of recreation. It is a necessary evil and it gobbles up much more of the budget than I want it to. But in the end, we have food in our fridge and cupboards; a back up supply in a closet ... we have clothes on our back; shoes on our feet and many luxury items to keep us fresh, clean and satisfy the vanity in me (the back up supply of eyeliner and eyebrow pencils is living a life of excess. I know).
We are blessed.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Ask ... and You Shall Receive
I love my weekends!!
I am enjoying this life where I am not racing against the clock. I accomplished a lot more in the days when I felt the need to schedule the day so that I could fit everything into it. But this Life of Leisurely Living is quite enjoyable once you get the hang of it.
I walked everywhere I had to go on Saturday. I walked for (almost) two hours. I enjoy walking. It is quiet. I let my mind wander. I am finding the peace that I have been seeking when I walk. I need to walk more. I believe this is the the quiet place that I have needed lately. And ... my feet don't hurt!! The combination of good fitting shoes and my orthotics is a good one. I have my feet again! And this is good.
I have committed myself to a few things lately. Small things. A sign language class and Zumba classes. I don't love going to either class. But I am coming to realize that I need to push myself into doing uncomfortable things in my leisure time and succeed, so that I can take that courage and apply it to my Monday to Friday world. I have learned that uncomfortable is a good thing to overcome. Saturday, I attended both classes. And I felt like a school girl at the end of the second class. The rest of the weekend was mine, to do with as I pleased!
In this life of walking, exercising and sweating ... a shower has taken on a new meaning. It feels so good to feel clean and fresh after actually getting dirty. A shower is refreshing no matter what way you look at it, but it is somehow more rewarding to scrub off a little bit of sweat, dust and grime of a day well spent. And now that my hairstyle is finally one that requires little to no primping, washing my hair is not the chore that it used to be. So I don't avoid getting dirty the way that I did when I had High Maintenance Hair. This is very good indeed!
Saturday nights are not what they used to be. Saturday nights as a newly single person used to be tough because they reminded me of what my new life lacked. It has been so long since I felt that 'loss', that Saturday nights have become a night like any other. But this past Saturday night was kind of special. My Oldest dropped by for a visit. A friend that I hadn't talk with for a while called. My Saturday night was complete and I didn't have to do a thing but show up. I like when life comes to me ... sometimes I just don't have the energy to go out and meet it half way. I've been feeling a lot of that lately. So Saturday night was perfect. I don't mind spending the evening with my own company, but the pleasure is doubled when shared with a friend.
Sunday was to be a day of brainstorming and coming up with a plan. Instead, it was day that took on a life of its own once it got started. It was another day that I just had to show up for. It was a day when breakfast was ready and waiting for me, the moment I got up and felt ready to face the world. It was a day of easy conversation. It was a day when a few people in my world reached out to me at a time when I just didn't have the energy to find them. It was a day when my written correspondence seemed to have the words that weren't coming to me before. Perhaps it was because people that know me well gave me the springboard I needed to think the thoughts and say the words that I had been stifling.
Sunday was a day of small miracles. I received everything I needed and asked for. As if to accentuate the point, I wrote of my financial shortfall for the upcoming month and named a specific dollar amount that I was lacking. Tell me this is not a sign of Powers Greater Than Myself, when within the hour, the doorbell rang and my shortfall was covered. I quietly smiled to myself and thought '... everything is going to be okay. Ask ... and you shall receive.'
I ended the weekend with a letter to my mom. I had just talked with her on the phone, so I quite honestly didn't have a lot to write about. But she has come to expect my weekly letters to arrive on time (otherwise this is a sign that all is not well in my world and she worries), so I wrote to her anyway.
It was as I wrote her letter, that the weekend ended exactly the way I needed it to. And (as it so often happens) once I let my fingers do the talking, I found the answer I was seeking. I now know where I need to start. And I know how much I need to do this. I have a plan. I must follow through ... and once I do this, I have a strong feeling that the rest of my answers will reveal themselves to me.
The brainstorming idea that I had planned for the day blew out the window in lieu of a day where prayers were answered and opportunies arose where I could just write and talk my way through.
It was another weekend that unfolded perfectly. A weekend that was full of everything that I needed. I feel energized, inspired and ready to take on the week.
I am enjoying this life where I am not racing against the clock. I accomplished a lot more in the days when I felt the need to schedule the day so that I could fit everything into it. But this Life of Leisurely Living is quite enjoyable once you get the hang of it.
I walked everywhere I had to go on Saturday. I walked for (almost) two hours. I enjoy walking. It is quiet. I let my mind wander. I am finding the peace that I have been seeking when I walk. I need to walk more. I believe this is the the quiet place that I have needed lately. And ... my feet don't hurt!! The combination of good fitting shoes and my orthotics is a good one. I have my feet again! And this is good.
I have committed myself to a few things lately. Small things. A sign language class and Zumba classes. I don't love going to either class. But I am coming to realize that I need to push myself into doing uncomfortable things in my leisure time and succeed, so that I can take that courage and apply it to my Monday to Friday world. I have learned that uncomfortable is a good thing to overcome. Saturday, I attended both classes. And I felt like a school girl at the end of the second class. The rest of the weekend was mine, to do with as I pleased!
In this life of walking, exercising and sweating ... a shower has taken on a new meaning. It feels so good to feel clean and fresh after actually getting dirty. A shower is refreshing no matter what way you look at it, but it is somehow more rewarding to scrub off a little bit of sweat, dust and grime of a day well spent. And now that my hairstyle is finally one that requires little to no primping, washing my hair is not the chore that it used to be. So I don't avoid getting dirty the way that I did when I had High Maintenance Hair. This is very good indeed!
Saturday nights are not what they used to be. Saturday nights as a newly single person used to be tough because they reminded me of what my new life lacked. It has been so long since I felt that 'loss', that Saturday nights have become a night like any other. But this past Saturday night was kind of special. My Oldest dropped by for a visit. A friend that I hadn't talk with for a while called. My Saturday night was complete and I didn't have to do a thing but show up. I like when life comes to me ... sometimes I just don't have the energy to go out and meet it half way. I've been feeling a lot of that lately. So Saturday night was perfect. I don't mind spending the evening with my own company, but the pleasure is doubled when shared with a friend.
Sunday was to be a day of brainstorming and coming up with a plan. Instead, it was day that took on a life of its own once it got started. It was another day that I just had to show up for. It was a day when breakfast was ready and waiting for me, the moment I got up and felt ready to face the world. It was a day of easy conversation. It was a day when a few people in my world reached out to me at a time when I just didn't have the energy to find them. It was a day when my written correspondence seemed to have the words that weren't coming to me before. Perhaps it was because people that know me well gave me the springboard I needed to think the thoughts and say the words that I had been stifling.
Sunday was a day of small miracles. I received everything I needed and asked for. As if to accentuate the point, I wrote of my financial shortfall for the upcoming month and named a specific dollar amount that I was lacking. Tell me this is not a sign of Powers Greater Than Myself, when within the hour, the doorbell rang and my shortfall was covered. I quietly smiled to myself and thought '... everything is going to be okay. Ask ... and you shall receive.'
I ended the weekend with a letter to my mom. I had just talked with her on the phone, so I quite honestly didn't have a lot to write about. But she has come to expect my weekly letters to arrive on time (otherwise this is a sign that all is not well in my world and she worries), so I wrote to her anyway.
It was as I wrote her letter, that the weekend ended exactly the way I needed it to. And (as it so often happens) once I let my fingers do the talking, I found the answer I was seeking. I now know where I need to start. And I know how much I need to do this. I have a plan. I must follow through ... and once I do this, I have a strong feeling that the rest of my answers will reveal themselves to me.
The brainstorming idea that I had planned for the day blew out the window in lieu of a day where prayers were answered and opportunies arose where I could just write and talk my way through.
It was another weekend that unfolded perfectly. A weekend that was full of everything that I needed. I feel energized, inspired and ready to take on the week.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Horoscope for This Week:
"The route to your destination won't be a direct flight. You could blame timing or economic and logistical factors, but more than likely the winding path is a function of destiny's intent for you to learn more than you wanted to know and connect with people with whom you wouldn't have otherwise connected."
It kind of says it all!
It kind of says it all!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Airing My Dirty Laundry
How often do you wash your sheets? I know that I learned that it should be a once-a-week chore. I used to adhere to that. But in this Life of Living Lazily, I have bent that rule.
The rule is so bent that I don't even think it exists any more. I play it by ear. If I don't crawl into bed feeling like the bedding should be laundered, I think to myself good enough. Why waste energy when it is not necessary. I call it 'living green'.
Since I gave up the habit of eating chips in bed, I rarely find that my sheets feel dirty. Since I gave up working hard and sweating, I rarely feel that my bedding even gets dirty. Since I kicked my cat out of my bedroom at night, even the cat hair isn't an issue. Since I am the sole owner and utilizer of the aforementioned bed, it seems that my adaptation of the rules-my-mother-taught-me can be adapted with the new and changing times.
The last time I washed my sheets and made the bed, one corner of the fitted sheet ripped as I was stretching it further than it wanted to be stretched. The elastic remained intact and held the sheet in place and I thought good enough ... until the next time I wash the sheets.
This morning as I laid in bed, I knew the time had come. I have washed the windows and blinds more recently than I have washed my bedding. Today was the day. Except ... I had to mend the corner of the fitted sheet first.
This should have been a quick and easy task. If I had a sewing machine, it could have been. But ever since I gave up the one and only sewing machine that sewed properly, for a used and improved garage sale model with the ultra-fancy-accessory of zig-zag ... I have not had a sewing machine that worked.
I sent my garage sale model out to be fixed, brought it home and didn't try it out again for another year or so. When I did, the tension of the thread still made a bungled mess. I believe my mom found me my next sewing machine. If I remember correctly, it was also a garage sale model. The first time that I had to change the thread, it never sewed properly again (in retrospect, I wonder if I just never did figure out how to thread the new machines??). I think I sent that out for repair. All I remember is ... I haven't had a sewing machine that sewed properly for at least 20 years.
Any mending that is done around here, is done by hand. It may not be quick and it isn't pretty. But it can be done. Thus, you can imagine the procrastination that is involved when it comes to any kind of sewing repairs.
Add my Lazy Woman's Guide to sheet washing frequency to that equation and ... Houston! We have a problem.
It took an extra dose of ambition to crawl out of bed this morning, knowing that not only did I have to wash the sheets today ... but I had to mend them as well.
Short story, even longer ... it has been three hours since I got up. And I'm finally writing this post. Need I say more?
The deed is done. Until next time.
The mended corner held while I stretched the other three corners to ease the strain on the weakest link. My bed looks exactly the same as it has every single day that preceded this dastardly deed. But when I crawl into it tonight? I shall feel like I am sleeping in a light spring breeze (if the fabric softener does everything it claims to do).
Clean windows. Clean blinds. Clean oven. Clean under the fridge and stove. Add clean sheets to that equation and .... I have a house that looks absolutely the same as it did several weeks ago.
Housework. Is it really worth it??
The rule is so bent that I don't even think it exists any more. I play it by ear. If I don't crawl into bed feeling like the bedding should be laundered, I think to myself good enough. Why waste energy when it is not necessary. I call it 'living green'.
Since I gave up the habit of eating chips in bed, I rarely find that my sheets feel dirty. Since I gave up working hard and sweating, I rarely feel that my bedding even gets dirty. Since I kicked my cat out of my bedroom at night, even the cat hair isn't an issue. Since I am the sole owner and utilizer of the aforementioned bed, it seems that my adaptation of the rules-my-mother-taught-me can be adapted with the new and changing times.
The last time I washed my sheets and made the bed, one corner of the fitted sheet ripped as I was stretching it further than it wanted to be stretched. The elastic remained intact and held the sheet in place and I thought good enough ... until the next time I wash the sheets.
This morning as I laid in bed, I knew the time had come. I have washed the windows and blinds more recently than I have washed my bedding. Today was the day. Except ... I had to mend the corner of the fitted sheet first.
This should have been a quick and easy task. If I had a sewing machine, it could have been. But ever since I gave up the one and only sewing machine that sewed properly, for a used and improved garage sale model with the ultra-fancy-accessory of zig-zag ... I have not had a sewing machine that worked.
I sent my garage sale model out to be fixed, brought it home and didn't try it out again for another year or so. When I did, the tension of the thread still made a bungled mess. I believe my mom found me my next sewing machine. If I remember correctly, it was also a garage sale model. The first time that I had to change the thread, it never sewed properly again (in retrospect, I wonder if I just never did figure out how to thread the new machines??). I think I sent that out for repair. All I remember is ... I haven't had a sewing machine that sewed properly for at least 20 years.
Any mending that is done around here, is done by hand. It may not be quick and it isn't pretty. But it can be done. Thus, you can imagine the procrastination that is involved when it comes to any kind of sewing repairs.
Add my Lazy Woman's Guide to sheet washing frequency to that equation and ... Houston! We have a problem.
It took an extra dose of ambition to crawl out of bed this morning, knowing that not only did I have to wash the sheets today ... but I had to mend them as well.
Short story, even longer ... it has been three hours since I got up. And I'm finally writing this post. Need I say more?
The deed is done. Until next time.
The mended corner held while I stretched the other three corners to ease the strain on the weakest link. My bed looks exactly the same as it has every single day that preceded this dastardly deed. But when I crawl into it tonight? I shall feel like I am sleeping in a light spring breeze (if the fabric softener does everything it claims to do).
Clean windows. Clean blinds. Clean oven. Clean under the fridge and stove. Add clean sheets to that equation and .... I have a house that looks absolutely the same as it did several weeks ago.
Housework. Is it really worth it??
"There was no need to do any housework at all.
After the first four years, the dirt doesn't get any worse."
~Quentin Crisp
Friday, June 1, 2012
Nerves
I got called to work today. My stomach jumped when the phone rang and hasn't settled down since.
Yesterday our school newsletter was due to go out. I woke up with a funny head 'thing' going on. It's been so long since I've had any type of head ache I didn't know what to call it. It wasn't a head ache but it felt like fists were kind of squishing my brain.
I got up anyway (assuming that a cup of coffee would cure all that ailed me) and then I was on the cusp of nauseousness.
The morning before that, my stomach was a mess. I had volunteered to help out with the Volunteer Appreciation BBQ. Something new. All I had to do was dole out macaroni salad. And I wondered if I could do it correctly ...
Every day I go to work, my stomach does flip flops. (Almost) every day I stay home, I feel a quiet relief wash over me. I am often so overcome with relief, I feel a sense of paralysis.
It's no wonder I am not relishing the idea of finding summer employment. My confidence level is better than it was ... but it is still a far, far cry from where it should be.
I know this is one of the things in my life that must stabilize or else I must change it. And the very idea of more change sends my stomach into another frenzy.
There it goes again ...
P.S. The moment I walk out the door and head out and confront these fears ... the nerves, the stomach, head and stress issues immediately dissipate. The moral to this story is that it is the lack of doing that gets my nerves all on high alert. The moment I take control and just plow through and 'do', I am fine. And I suppose even stronger because I faced up to another scary day and dealt with it ...
Yesterday our school newsletter was due to go out. I woke up with a funny head 'thing' going on. It's been so long since I've had any type of head ache I didn't know what to call it. It wasn't a head ache but it felt like fists were kind of squishing my brain.
I got up anyway (assuming that a cup of coffee would cure all that ailed me) and then I was on the cusp of nauseousness.
The morning before that, my stomach was a mess. I had volunteered to help out with the Volunteer Appreciation BBQ. Something new. All I had to do was dole out macaroni salad. And I wondered if I could do it correctly ...
Every day I go to work, my stomach does flip flops. (Almost) every day I stay home, I feel a quiet relief wash over me. I am often so overcome with relief, I feel a sense of paralysis.
It's no wonder I am not relishing the idea of finding summer employment. My confidence level is better than it was ... but it is still a far, far cry from where it should be.
I know this is one of the things in my life that must stabilize or else I must change it. And the very idea of more change sends my stomach into another frenzy.
There it goes again ...
P.S. The moment I walk out the door and head out and confront these fears ... the nerves, the stomach, head and stress issues immediately dissipate. The moral to this story is that it is the lack of doing that gets my nerves all on high alert. The moment I take control and just plow through and 'do', I am fine. And I suppose even stronger because I faced up to another scary day and dealt with it ...
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