Just Pure Lovely

Blessings Aplenty

I felt a little down when I paid the mortgage last week.  It took up nearly all of our 2-week  paycheck, making Christmas look like it’ll be a handmade-like-it-or-not affair, and the  grocery list edited down to cheaper meals like potato soup, chili, and beans and rice.  I like those things, but Christmas goodies call for …butter. Lots of butter.  And pecans and chocolate.  Lots of chocolate.

Then I slapped my cheek. 

So I got all Pollyanna on myself and decided that instead of thinking "That darn bank took nearly all our paycheck and the insurance company is surely run by robbers,"  I should think, “Wow.  Another month in this castle.”

“Castle” it is not, really, with a leak in the verandah roof, a big unpainted patch in our bedroom, and mattresses and couches that are begging to R.I.P. in the county dump, but then again…castle it is, as it is much more than so many in the world have and it really is quite nice when you turn a blind eye to its bad points.

So.  I get another month in this castle. 

"And what about that tight grocery budget?" Well, thought the Pollyanna Me, when on vacation we don’t fill up a pantry and freezer to the brim like I prefer to do at home.  Instead, we meal plan (gasp!), thinking ahead and getting just what we’ll need for that time. Why not meal plan as if we're on vacation for a month in this castle?

So.  I get another month to work on making menu-planning a new habit.

Today I slapped my cheek again.

I read of a blogger who lost her 2 year old son in a drowning accident yesterday afternoon (while Daddy is away at war), then I read of another blogger who normally writes about her child’s cancer but can no longer write – or even talk - because she had a stroke near Thanksgiving, and

It

Occurred

To

Me

That I don’t have any reason at all...not at All...to feel poorly about a tight paycheck or a low pantry or a castle that needs repairs.

We have our babies, we have each other, and we have our health.

That’s blessings aplenty.

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Busy Hands

My hands have been busy lately, crocheting and knitting Christmas gifts. Since I'm always more about the process than the end product, I don't often finish projects.  But this year, I'm happy to say, I've so far completed two in time for Christmas:  a bright red cotton crocheted afghan for my parents and a pea green capelet. Including I and completed in a sentence is worthy of a "whoo-hoo!"

Pictured, from top to bottom, are the works still in progress:  a blue and white cotton crocheted afghan for our 9 yo little guy; a shades-of-blue checkered (in texture) cotton knitted scarf for our 6yo little gal who chose the yarn and would not budge on it no matter the brighter colors I showed her; a not-yet-started brown woolen knitted helmet liner for our 14yo Civil Air Patrol cadet (this is the project that scares me into frozen numbness, and so it is not yet started); and - finished right after this photo was taken - a pea green cotton crocheted capelet with brown ribbon decoration for our 12yo ballerina.

I have to do more than one project at once, or I'll get so fed up and/or bored that I won't pick the thing up again (I know myself well after all these years of being me!).

But it's easy to do several projects at once when they are so simple. These projects are done with easy-peasy stitches so that my easily-distracted mind can work on them while multitasking.  I've been crocheting and knitting in snippets all Autumn,  taking whichever project tickles my fancy, to ballet rehearsals, to the library, to the movie theatre, to the Nutcracker,  to the beach, in car rides, and even to a church service (I honestly listen better when my hands are preoccupied!).

Are your hands busy making gifts for Christmas? 

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Maybe This will Help My Forgetfulness?

Forgive me for the formal-ish banner today.  I've spent the last half hour gleefully glee because I finally figured out how to do much more with banners in Photoshop.  (That Photoshop is a tough thing to self-learn!)  I may soften it up a bit, but it's nearly midnight, so the formal banner will stay for now...or until Christmas..or New Years or even Valentine's Day since I live in the South and it's perfectly acceptable here to leave your Christmas lights up for months, so why not a Christmasy banner, then?

While I'm here, let me tell you about a free site I saw featured in a recent issue of either Woman's Day (Womens'?) or Better Homes & Gardens...

Reqall, I think, is going to be a great servant to me.  Here's the Lori Version of how it works:

I call a phone number.

An automated voice says "hello," then asks something like, "Add? Recall?"

I say, "Add."

The voice says, "Add your item."  Or maybe it beeps.  I'm going from memory here.

I say, "Buy garbage bags."

Or, "Write a post about the free cookbook on Kindle."

Or, "January 18, 2010, 1:30pm, First drama club meeting."

I did all of the above today.

Then...Reqall organizes what I say (and keeps the recording so I can later hear myself say whatever I said!). 

I can go to Reqall.com to log in and view my organized lists.  My lists are: shopping list, to-do, "today", and others.

Or, I can patiently wait for my daily Memory Jog (I think this is a pro feature.  I'm on the free pro trial right now) to arrive via email.

Or, I can look at my Google Calendar, where magically I'll see anything that was filed by date (such as the January 18th drama meeting).

So.  I'm sure my version was quite confusing, so go to Reqall.com to check it out and maybe sign up, too (free!). 

I think this will be a big help to me as I'm forever thinking of things -- things to write, things to not forget, things to add to the grocery list -- when paper and pen aren't handy.  I frequently email or text myself, but this way I can have Reqall not only jot down my note, but organize it into lists. 

I've only used it for a few days now, but already like it enough to pass on to you.  Let me know what you think.

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Thinking about Resolutions a Bit Early

My birthday is on the last day of the year.  Next year, on the last day of the year, I'll be hitting a certain big birthday that is in the double digits and includes a 0. 

This year, like now, I'm thinking of all sorts of things I always thought I'd accomplish before I reached 40:  Write a book.  Get healthier (skinnier. whatever.).  Learn how to ___ (many things).  You know, that kind of stuff.  Since that big birthday is only a little over a year away, I've been spending a lot of time at the bay with the gulls lately, thinking.

Thankfully, I'm living most of my dreams.  I mean, hello!, what kind of gal woudl I be if I complained about this kind, loyal man I married 17 years ago, or these two boys and two girls we were blessed to receive straight from Heaven?

Still, there are a few dreams that haven't been accomplished yet, and although I could blame stay-at-home motherhood or time-gulping homeschooling, to be honest, I'm the reason some goals have never been accomplished.  My children and the husband aren't blocking the path between here and there.  They'd happily come along for the journey. 

This year is the year I stop making excuses.  I can't tackle every project I'd like to, though, so while hanging with the seagulls, I've been soul-searching deep down, asking myself what is really important to accomplish this year. 

Since I'm pretty sure I won't be gifted with an extra hour or two each day, I know that something or other that I'm currently doing needs to be purged in order to get these new goals accomplished.  So, the seagulls and I are also discussing what is Cluttering my Life and Needs to Go. 

My friend Mary, who was my first college friend (many!) years ago and who comes to visit each Thanksgiving from her far away Chicago, and who is the most goal-oriented and goal-meeting person I've met, wisely said, "Resolutions that are started before New Year's Day have a better chance of success."

I guess starting now might be a good idea, then?

I'll be off to spend some more time with the seagulls tomorrow, staring over the bay, watching the sunset or the children, an empty sheet of paper in front of me and a pen in hand....waiting.   Praying and then waiting until I realize where my focus should be in 2010, my last year to be a certain age that is in the double digits and includes a 3.

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A Morning with Daddy

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Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree

Last week, we spent some time searching for the perfect Christmas tree at a local tree farm ....

What a tough decision!  We ended up choosing a live tree, as in, one growing in a bucket instead of in the ground (aren't they both "live," though?).  On December 26th, my man will plant it in the backyard alongside Christmas Tree 2008, which is currently adorned in red lights. 

This year, we bought a golden cypress, somewhat like the solo tree above.  Last year, we got a Caroline Sapphire, like those in the top photo.  Our plan is to keep buying live Christmas trees - a different variety each time - to put in our flower garden so that when the flowers die back, at least something is still pretty.  Eventually, we'll have a wee forest of Christmas trees to light up (hopefully not with red lights - that was absolutely not my decision).

The thing is, to make our plans work, I cannot forget to water the tree while it's in the house.  Right.  As if that's easy to remember in the busy holiday season. 

Did you get your tree already?

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:

I'm also thankful for you and how supportive you are of me and of my little home on the web, Just Pure Lovely.

May God bless you! I really mean that.