Sunday Secrets: January 24, 2010

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

The first secret is from Frank's blog today. The second, from my PostSecret archives.

Me neither.
Sometimes I'll have a favorite figure skater or gymnist,
but I've not even had that in the last several years.
I do, however, have favorite chefs from Top Chef
and favorite designers from Project Runway.

I do my part by being extra kind and smiling to the clerks
who have just had to deal with a difficult customer.

Procrastination

Procrastination. Guilty as charged.

I live a very charmed life. My husband has a great job that supports the family, so I don't need to work outside the home. I am a full-time homemaker. My day, my time, is my own.

My problem?

My day, my time, is my own.

My inability to manage that time wisely is a challenge. I'm a great one for making To Do lists. I'm a great one for checking things off those lists. But I'm even better at creating lists where ten things go on and six things get done.

Generally speaking, no single item on the lists is intimidating. Most projects can be broken down into simple steps. Unfortunately, I too often view the entire list and get discouraged. There's just too much to do!

Here is where my ability to hyper-focus and pay attention to details might come in handy. Focusing in on just one job -- or even just the next three things -- can be beneficial. Allowing myself the relief that comes with concentrated effort, reminding myself to "Just Start," and perhaps even setting a timer to segment the workload, will help me overcome the procrastination that keeps me from checking those items off as done!

I get so discouraged when I reach the end of the day and wonder where the heck my time went. So Friday, I began by picking three things, and just starting them.

1. Get some exercise -- take a walk in the sun
2. Get the photos off my camera and cell phone. (Some were there since last November!)
3. Write some blog posts.

By 10:45 in the morning, I'd already completed them!

Those things accomplished, I gave myself the satisfaction of scratching them off the list, then took a break. Once refreshed, I picked the next simplest three things to begin.

My father-in-law had a great saying:

Do the easiest thing first,
and you'll have the easiest thing left.

Those are great words to live by. I'll start with this time that is given me.

Spiders in the Woods

With winter upon us, I haven't made my two-mile walks in the neighborhood very often lately. But since it's been so mild here in the last week, I resolved to get out in the sun and fresh air today. I took my favorite walk through the woods in a park by the Spokane River.

Those familiar with my blog may remember this photo from 2008. This dainty flower with a more dainty spider was captured on a walk through those woods. This spider is about the size of my pinky finger's fingernail.


Well, today I was greeted by another spider friend while I walked through the woods. It was not nearly as fragile, nor as dainty. Rather than crawling nimbly over flower petals, this guy was boldly catching the rays, sprawled out in the bare branches of the underbrush.


From the look on his face, I do believe he was enjoying the rare January sunshine.


(Yes, I know it's Friday ... but since I was out of town, I missed Macro Monday this week!)

Macro Monday is easy to play,
snap a macro (or close-up) photo,
post it on your blog
then go to Lisa's Chaos
and sign Mr Linky.

Sunday Secrets: January 17, 2010

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

The first two secrets are from Frank's blog last Sunday. The final one is from the PostSecret archives.

I'm glad I have a lot more reasons to go on Facebook
than just to play Bejeweled.
Oh, but I LOVE playing Bejeweled!
(and I'm very good at it)

I guess I'll start here
in Post Falls, Idaho.

My husband and I had a weekend away
in the Columbia Gorge.
We took turns driving; we took turns riding shotgun.
It works ...
as long as we're heading down the road together!

Talk About Gratitude!

The holidays are over.
Gifts given and received.
Life getting back to normal.
One thing left to do?
Write a few Thank You notes for the blessings received.

I think it's really important to teach your kids the value of saying "Thank You." So does Jennifer Casa of JCasa Handmade. (One of my favorite crafting blogs!) She designed some wonderful thank you notes that are ideal for children. The kids can fill in the blanks for the gift given and why it's appreciated. Plus, there's a spot on the front of the card to draw a special picture.

Jennifer offers this template for free on her blog. It's a simple pdf download. If you have little ones, I encourage you to take a look.

* * * * *

Weekly Gratitude
For 52 weeks, count your blessings and document them once each week

Easy Street

I was listening to the This I Believe podcast from October 16, 2009. The essay of the week was by Rebecca West, entitled Goodness Doesn't Just Happen, an essay written for the original series in the 1950s.

Ms. West was a critic, journalist, novelist and feminist known for her studies of the Nazi war crimes trials at Nuremburg. Her essay spoke of her attempts to live out her beliefs in freedom, the rule of law, the importance of God and the exercise of religion as a way to connect to God. It's worth reading (or listening to) the entire essay, just to get to this line.

Happy Dance: Penguin Bookmark

I decided to start my 2010 stitching in a small way.

My stitching group is egging me on to try stitching a BAP this year (Big A** Project), so I thought I'd better work up to it. Would be hard to start smaller than this!

In truth, I found this little penguin and was going to make it into a Christmas ornament for my middle daughter, Julie. She's a bit of a nut about penguins, so I've stitched a few for her over the years.

But because we were pretty busy at the end of last year getting Julie ready to move across the country, I didn't get much stitching done. The week after Christmas, Julie moved to Pittsburgh, PA to begin grad school.

So I decided to stitch the penguin anyway, but turn it into a bookmark. Seeing as she has to read over 600 pages on a weekend, I figured a bookmark might find a bit of use!

Avoid the Tragedy

It can take concerted effort to keep living. I've got to feed these parts of me by taking time to tend them.

I ignore and avoid people that belittle me or don't appreciate what I have to offer. And I read the kind of books and articles that parcel out morsels of hope in participating in something bigger than myself. That keeps my spirit going.

I stitch and knit and crochet and take photographs and cook and write and play with words. That keeps my creativity going.

I interact with friends and acquaintances and daughters and husband in my slightly cockeyed manner. I joke a lot and allow my earthy humor to bubble to the surface. That keeps my glorious uniqueness in full swing.

Oh. I get enough sleep. If I don't do that, all the rest goes to hell.

(yes, terrible pun)

Macro Monday - Flylady

Macro Monday is easy to play,
snap a macro (or close-up) photo,
post it on your blog
then go to Lisa's Chaos
and sign Mr Linky.

Flylady

I'm using this image as a double whammy today. It's for both Macro Monday and Weekly Gratitude.

So, what is this image and who is Flylady?

The image is a 4 inch 'clingy' ... one of those vinyl doohickeys that you can put on glass, then peel off and use again. This is Flylady's logo.

As for Flylady ... well, she's my mentor and cheerleader. She's an easily sidetracked woman that learned to turn a chaotic lifestyle into one of peace. Then she taught a half million women to do the same.

With her help and inspiration, I've learned that cleaning up my home can now be viewed as a blessing to my family. I've learned that to give the best of myself to others, I first must care for myself. I've learned that by putting simple routines in place to take care of the "gotta dos" in life, I have a lot more time to do the fun stuff.

I'm grateful for all Flylady has taught me, and for the more peaceful life I lead because I followed her lead.

If you live in chaos and want to get out of it, I highly recommend taking a peek at Flylady's website.
(Don't worry. All the guidance is FREE!)

* * * * *

Weekly Gratitude
For 52 weeks, count your blessings and document them once each week

Sunday Secrets: January 10, 2010

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

This first secret is from the PostSecret archives. The second, from PostSecret Germany, and the final one from Frank's blog today.

I hope I pass that test more often than I fail it.

It's so easy to get sidetracked
by putting time and energy
into people that don't return the love.

A former boyfriend showed up at my first wedding,
pulled me aside,
and told me HE wanted to marry me.
When my marriage fell apart,
the old boyfriend returned to try again ...
even though he was then married.

The Wisdom of Harry Potter

I recently listened to the audio version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the umpteenth time. It seems I glean new insights from these magical books on each pass through them.

This bit of wisdom came from the mouth of Albus Dumbledore after Harry had helped Sirius Black and Buckbeak escape. Harry was bemoaning the fact that, even through these two were saved, Wormtail escaped and would soon be back in the service of the Dark Lord. Harry was not able to save the world from the evil to come.

Professor Dumbledore's response?

The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
~ Albus Dumbledore

Gosh, does that ring true!

Life is such a journey! We move from our parent's home into the world where we think we have our own road mapped out. We take our tentative steps ... college, a job, a bit of volunteerism ... and think we're on a clear trajectory.

Then come the surprises and detours. Who knew a year of volunteering as a campus minister would lead to remaining in north Idaho for the rest of my adulthood? Marriage. Raising children. Caring for ailing parents. The responsibilities thrust upon me after their deaths. The interests I have developed since then. The love and constancy of my life partner.

Yet who is to say that a different set of actions when I was young would not have led me to this place? Other actions and decisions may have ended up teaching me the same lessons I needed to learn.

Indeed. Predicting the future is a very difficult business.

So I think I'll follow the path outlined for today.

Happy Dance: 2009 Snowflake Ornaments

One of my joys of 2009 was meeting up with old friends from high school on Facebook. Though I became reacquainted with over 100 former classmates, I am blessed to be part of a group of eight special women with whom I chat daily.

To honor our new-found renewed friendships, in November I stitched a holiday ornament for each member of our group (including me!)

This pretty ornament pattern was just the ticket.
It is small.
It's not too intricate.
It's delicate.
It lent itself to using many colors.
It didn't bore me to tears to stitch it over and over!

The oranments are the same, yet different -- just as we women are. Some are strong and bold. Some are gentler. We all have various shades of color in our characters just as these ornaments are varied due to the DMC color variations fiber I used to stitch them.

One of my favorite parts of these ornaments are the surprising fabrics I used for the backs. These are not your typical Christmas prints! But they are bigger than life or sweet or delicate or floral or geometric, predictable or unpredictable instead.

It's the vary traits this wonderful group of women embody. These precious ladies were my greatest blessing of 2009.

Honing in to Authenticity

I remember being in my first year of college, taking general ed courses that had me scratchin' my head. What in the world does Sociology 101 have to do with what I want to do with my life?

And just what the heck do I want to do with my life?

(I do believe that I'm still asking that question!)

I was dating a guy that seemed to have his act together. He was heading toward becoming an engineer. We had a discussion on this topic that I'll never forget.

"So, how do you know what to do? How did you figure out which way to go?"

He shrugged. "Just pick a direction and go. If it doesn't work, you can always change direction."

Such sage advice. So hard to take when one lives in fear. I lived so long in fear of making mistakes, of "getting in trouble," that the simplicity of his statement pulled me up short. Really? It's that simple? Go one way, and if you see you're getting lost, just turn a corner and go another way? Brilliant!

Oprah puts it another way:

"Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction."

I still have to remind myself that it's through my trials, through traveling down unknown paths, through attempting to trust people, that I learn. Some activities I try will be incompatible with my preferences and abilities, some paths I take will have forks or dead ends, some people who were once valued can become toxic to my spirit. By giving things a try, picking a direction to go, making errors in judgment, I find out who I'm not.

That is bringing me closer to sharpening the focus on who I am -- and just what the heck I want to do with my life at age 52.

Happy Dance: 2009 Family Ornaments

Though I didn't create a lot of needlework at the end of 2009, I did manage to make a number of Christmas ornaments.

click for larger image

These embroidered felt mittens were stitched for my family. (The pretty snowflake is the one I kept for myself). The six of them stitched up fairly quickly. I started them on Sept. 20 and finished them on Oct. 1, 2009.



The pattern for these came from a kit purchased through a mail order catalog:

Mittens
Design by Rachel T. Pellman
Rachel's of Greenfield

I don't see this pattern in their current catalog, so I'm offering for sale my used pattern (includes left over floss, beads and samples of the felt so you can match colors).
$3.00 will cover the patterns and postage in the United States.
E-mail me if you're interested in purchasing this used kit.

It's Not a Dragon

It's just a little lizard.

That's one of my favorite lines from the Disney movie Mulan.

Change can be something I want badly.

• I want to change my sleep habits so that I'm ready to jump into my day.
• I want to change my exercise habits so that my body feels happy.
• I want to stop complaining so that I stop being tired of hearing that whining coming out of my mouth.
• I want to find the courage to take day trips by myself.
• I want to make peace from broken relationships.

Looking at those desires and realizing what it will take to make the change seems daunting. Perhaps because I've been looking at my cracks through a magnifying glass, the little seems big.

What? That's not a dragon? It's just a little lizard?
It's really not a big deal, even though it's significant?
Oh. It's a medium deal.

A magnifying lens can be helpful when seeking details. And I love details. But peering through such a lens constantly keeps me from seeing the bigger picture.

I suppose my first change is to step away from the glass, and look up.

Macro Monday - Laundry Day

Macro Monday is easy to play,
snap a macro (or close-up) photo,
post it on your blog
then go to Lisa's Chaos
and sign Mr Linky.

Laundry Day

It's been quite a long time since I played along with Macro Monday! When I saw this bubble form on the spout of the laundry detergent dispenser, I was inspired to grab my camera and give it a go.

Sunday Secrets: January 03, 2010

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment.

The first two secrets are from Frank's blog today. The third is from PostSecret France.

The one and only job I ever quit happened just this way.
It felt great.

An atheist friend of mine
said something similar this week,
believing everyone prays now and then.
"It's a human thing to do."

My fragile brain chemistry
sometimes gets the better of me.
I can't always push the unhealthy feelings to the back.
They loom up ... and catch me off guard.
This week, I won.

Come Splash with Me

Oh! That I may be open to change this year!

(I can be so resistant and such a stick-in-the-mud.)

Home From the Holidays

Home life, humbly returning to unremarkable

... Julie learning new school, new town
... Dale's trip over, now enveloped in office, school & trust work
... Jodie active with community service
... Me, typing, tidying, tinkering


I love the holidays
I'm a glutton for anticipation

Today, a whisper of easy tranquility

* * * * *

I've joined Weekly Gratitude. For 52 weeks, count your blessings and document them once each week in whatever format suits your lifestyle. Some have chosen scrapbooking. Others, writing. Still others, photography or other artful measures of expression.

For me, I plan to combine my talents and interests and will use my blog as the format to express the gratitude I have for the charmed life I lead.

Absorbing the Wonder of Words

If you asked my daughters what their parents expect them to achieve before they head out the door to their adult lives, they'd respond,

"You want us to be active, responsible, thinking people."

Dale and I have done a good job drilling that into their heads.

But if, instead, they came out with the sentiment above, we'd feel darn proud, too.

So today, to start out the new year on the right foot, I'll not watch endless hours of parades and football games, nor wile away my hours with Facebook fun. Instead, I'll give my imagination a treat that I've denied it for far too long.

I'll sit with a cozy afghan, a glass of diet orange soda ... and maybe some Christmas cookies ... and luxuriate in the words, ideas and visions of a good book.

Might as well set an example for my daughters and pick up a tome from our overflowing library.


(psssst! They are really the ones setting the example for me these days!)

Up, Up and Away!

“…to make an end is to make a beginning.”
— T.S. Eliot

May all your troubles of 2009 float away,
as do these balloons.
Let's celebrate the dawn of 2010 together!

(photo credit unknown ... sent to me in an e-mail forward. thanks to the photographer!)

A Little Bit of Heaven

This is the best verbal image of heaven
I've heard in a long time!

I have experienced moments of this
in the here and now.
Yes.
A little bit of heaven.
On earth.

Color Your World with Words

I've recently come across the work of Peter H. Reynolds. He is an author, illustrator, doodler, poet, teacher, sparker of ideas. His mission is to help other folks be the same!

I highly recommend stopping by his blog, The Stellar Cafe, and getting a taste of the inspiration he has to offer.

Check out some of his books:


THE DOT

A book for folks who have begun to doubt their own greatness.










ISH

A story about creativity and the artistic process.










THE NORTH STAR

An inspired fable about one's journey through life.

I Need a Vacation

I hope to have lots of laughs this week.

Have a favorite funny link? Share it in a comment!

Sunday Secrets: December 19 & 27, 2009

Wishing my blog readers
the best holiday season ever.

~ CameoRoze

-----------------------------------------

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. I find it to be an insightful sociological experiment. Here are some of my favorites from the last couple weeks:

My daughter may have authored this one.

I started having similar feelings,
then remembered that the gifts were picked,
wrapped and given with love.
(I'm ashamed I felt that way).

Sometimes I do, too.

I'd appreciate them more if they were
less insistent 'Republican'
and more accommodating 'Family.'

I know the feeling.

No one deserves to be lonely,
so I forgave my dad.

My Sweet Dale