Friday, April 25, 2008

Back from Oklahoma

I am back from my vacation in Oklahoma. It was warm and sunny, but a little windy. There were no thunderstorms this trip, and no tornadoes which is always a good thing. Mom is ok. Being 98 has it's own trials, but she is happy and works hard to be independent. It is hard when your sight and your hearing is bad, but there is nothing wrong with her mind, and she is sharp as a tack.

I made a lot of nice meals for her, did some shopping and dish washing, and bought her a lovely new Lazy Girl recliner in a beautiful wine silk. A lovely chair that she wanted "so she could sit in the sun in her livingroom with her feet up." A good goal, I thought, so off I went to Mathis Brothers, the huge furniture store in Oklahoma City. It is really fun to shop with someone else's money.

I am very happy to be home. Work is good. George is happy and healthy. Life is good. I am enjoying the flowering trees and looking forward to getting back to the health club and back to the garden.

Have a great day.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Quiet Time

I am staying home from church today in order to find a big chunk of quiet time for myself. Before I worked full time, I had lots of quiet days. I turn the TV off, I don't play music, and I just listen to the house and the birds, the stillness. I don't know when in my life I decided that quiet was good. Maybe having 236 channels of mostly unwatchable television stations made me realize that OFF is better. Maybe I got so engrosed in making jewelry in my little studio that I forgot to turn it on.

Since working full time, I have to try hard to find my space of quiet time. I miss going to church, but something had to give. Being quiet stills my spirit, and makes it possible for me to be creative, to think about things, to remember things, and to recharge my juices.

This afternoon my good friend Connie is coming over this afternoon to bead with me. It will be great fun to see my friend again, and being with her will also stoke the fires of creativity. Nothing like a kindred spirit, who knows the value of making something beautiful and what it does to one's soul. She and I are going to Milwaukee in June to the Bead and Buttons show and we are excited enough to pop buttons. It is going to be so much nicer for me to go with something and have a companion for dinners, lunches, breakfasts, and to share the WOW of this vast bead show. I can't wait to share it with her.

My quiet time gives me time to think of all that. Nice.

Have a great day.