I'm following through on the new "10 Things" kick I started with my last blog post. I really believe we make time for the things we truly want to do. But what happens when the things you want to do are more than the time you have available? Oh, yeah. A priority list might help...unless you hate making lists and being confined to schedules. Am I the only person who desires to do lots of good things but never does them? I seem to have lots of good intentions but I never follow through on about half of them. So here's a list of confessions, things I want to do, have started to do, but never made the time to finish.
1. Stained glass-This one is easy. I never have the money to start this kind of project because of the plethora of other projects I always have going. I love the art of stained glass, though. So this is on my mental list of 'things to do before I die'.
2. Make stuff for all my friends-I always get some kind of compliment on the work I do. And I like to share. Currently, there are 5 projects in the works for friends. Are any of them finished? No. How many are actually started? Two, both just barely.
3. Keep my desk clean and organized-This is a hard one. I spend the most time at my desk. It gathers the most clutter. I tried the Fly Lady thing but the emails were so overwhelming, I felt unable to comply. Besides, I work better under pressure...well, that's what I tell myself anyway. Right now, my desk looks like an F-5 tornado swept through, followed by Hurricane Katrina, followed by a tidal wave of epic proportions. There's barely enough space for my water glass. I've tried organizing it. I bought great little drawer boxes and labeled them. Those are still functioning as described. It's mainly the paperwork that gets out of hand. I even simplified that but it's still like a paperwork swamp! (sigh)
4. Keep my house dust free-This one is practically impossible unless I walk around with dust rags or Swiffer mitts surgically fixed on my hands, feet and head. We live next to a dirt road and there are fields all around us. I'm beginning to think the dust rhinoceri are my pets and am getting quite attached. This is a sad thing, though, when I'm allergic to them. :(
5. Keep up with dishes and laundry-Well, in a family of five, I guess I'd be doing dishes and laundry non-stop. Not gonna happen. I have no desire to constantly stand at the sink or in front of the washer. I do love hanging laundry on the line but there's only so much room out there. I've come to the conclusion that I just need to accept the fact that there will always be some laundry in the laundry baskets and some dishes in the sink.
6. Indulge my budding inner artist-I love art in all forms. I see beauty in so many things. In fact, I see beauty in many areas most people turn away from in disgust. However, putting this down on a piece of sketchbook paper seems to be beyond me. At least, I can't seem to do it on a regular basis. I seem to do things in ragged lumps. For example: 1 week of sewing non-stop, 2 weeks of chainmail jewelry non-stop, 4 days of calligraphy non-stop, etc. As a result, I usually finish a couple of the projects I have going and get started on others so they can sit in a box for a couple of months before I get back to completing them.
7. Exercise-I'm not a sporty person. In fact, I hate sports. I realize the importance of staying fit. But I do not believe people should be paid more to play games than to make a building safe for thousands of the workers inside. That makes no logical sense to me. Anyway, I love the idea of a regular workout routine. I do well for about a week, then the novelty wears off. I'm not getting any younger and my metabolism will be changing before too long. But I can't seem to stick with it for long enough to make it a habit.
8. Eating a good breakfast-I used to eat breakfast every day. Now my breakfast usually consists of 2.5 cups of coffee. I know that's not a healthy breakfast but I can't seem to desire a good breakfast. Not only that, if I eat too early in the morning, I feel kinda yucky. If I do wait to eat breakfast, I'm usually sidetracked by something else that needs doing.
9. Writing a book-One day, I'd like to write a book. I can't really decide on subject matter, though. I thought a book of my blog posts might be interesting. But then I thought it might just be a bit redundant. I did take a course on writing books for children. And I wrote a book...and was told there was too much information in it for the target age. That was interesting since my little cousin didn't seem to have too much trouble with it. Anyway, I haven't tried again and that was years ago. It's not that the critic was dissing my attempt. It's more about me not being sure of what I really want to say.
10. Jam with some of my favorite musicians-I'd love to just sit in on a jam session with some of my favorite artists. There's nothing more comforting to me than sitting in a small, intimate setting with friends and just having fun with music. Sadly, I never seem to be in a position to make this happen. Ah, well...
So there are my ten things for this go round. I hope you find them interesting, funny or helpful in some way. Feel free to comment. I'm not looking for help or guidance. I know what I need to do to 'make' these things happen. I also know that some are more probable than others. I'm a realist, after all. ;) Have a great day!
Showing posts with label ecclectic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ecclectic. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ten Things I Learned From My Family
These aren’t like a top ten list of things but rather random things I just remember learning. I either learned these things by watching the example of family members or by hearing them taught in our home.
1. God exists and He loves people. Why do bad things happen? I don’t know. But I /do/ know God /does/ exist and that He loves the people He created. He is everywhere I go, hears everything I say or don’t say and sees everything I do. You can pervert and twist that any way you’d like but it won’t change my mind about this being a good thing. I learned this from my mom and dad and my mom’s parents.
2. We are people of the land. The land is a part of us and we are a part of it. We can’t get away from it. It’s in our blood. When we are apart from it, we pine for it. Home is truly home and a safe haven. It’s not something to run away from or a trap. Rather the traps are set all around us and avoiding them can be a bit tricky. This is a good thing, too, because it keeps me on my toes. Some might call that paranoid. I guess they are as entitled to an opinion as any other person. I learned this from my dad and his mom and dad and brother.
3. We make do with what we have. We choose to be content. We don’t go begging for handouts because we want what everyone else has. We may not have the newest, coolest gizmos and gadgets. We may not have the most outstanding house on the highway. But we have an adequate domicile in which we can live a life that is abundant with the things that count the most-the joy of family living. This is not to say we don’t work hard which brings me to my next item. I learned this from both my parents and both my sets of grandparents.
4. Hard work never hurt anyone. Slave labor has. But hard work, willingly done, never hurt anyone. In fact, my grandfather (my dad’s dad) was one heck of a workhorse. As a farmer, he worked from the time he walked out the door after breakfast until sunset or after. Many are the times I remember bringing a sandwich lunch out to my dad, his brother and my grandpa as they worked the fields. Many were the nights we didn’t see them come home until well after dark, which in summer can be 9 p.m. Another familiar saying that goes along with this is “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Yeah, you can laugh at that one if you want to. I notice the number of obesity cases is climbing… I learned this from my parents and grandparents.
5. Life isn’t usually fair. Every now and again, you’ll get this really awesome fairness that happens when you least expect it. Cherish it. You might not get another chance. I learned that from my mother.
6. There will always be a few regrets. Learn from them. Move on. Living life with a bunch of regrets weighing you down is no fun at all. Of course, you may look at all these ‘Life Lessons of Mel’ and think I have no fun at all anyway. Stick around. You might be surprised.
7. Being yourself is really, really hard. I learned this from some extended family on my dad’s side. Anytime I tried to be myself, I was wrong. I think they might have been trying to ‘help’ me ‘fit in’ but when ‘fitting in’ wasn’t necessarily going to happen anyway, all that did was make things worse. Still I am more firm in my belief that being myself is by far the better thing to be. It’s worth all the ridicule, teasing, bullying, mockery, etc. Trust me. No need to be bitter, though. Let that part of learning the lesson go and revel in the breath of fresh air that it is to be YOU.
8. Marriage. Ah! What an interesting thing it has become these days. Do any marriages last anymore? Do people even go into marriage with the idea, no, conviction that this is a lifetime deal? I did. And I learned that from my parents and grandparents. ‘Well, I’m just not happy.’ Or ‘We just don’t get along.’ (sigh) Try looking at things from your partner’s perspective. I remember my mom saying, “It takes two to tango.” It means there are two sides to every story and taking the time to hear both sides is usually worth it. Just because the grass might /look/ greener on the other side, doesn’t mean it really is. Consider that you might be seeing only part of the picture of that green good-looking grass. My mom talked to me before I got married and right after I got engaged. She said this, “Don’t ask yourself whether you can live with him but rather ask yourself whether you can live without him.” I knew. I was convinced my husband was the man for me. And we are still together. Through sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death parts us? Yeah, I meant every word I boldly spoke that day before God and my family and friends. I made a VOW. I’m holding to it.
9. Never break a promise. If you do break a promise, you better have an awfully good reason for doing so. I learned that from my mom.
10. Life is short. Live it well. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Self-control. Do you see anything bad in this list? People who live by this list are few and far between. Some of you will recognize it. You should, and probably are, thanking God for the person who taught it to you. So far as I know, it is still not against any law to use any of these actions. I do not always measure up to this list. It’s a tough one. But it’s worth my time and effort, especially if it means someone gets a bit of help along the way. I learned this from my mom her parents.
This concludes my random list of ten things I learned from my family. Maybe I’ll share some more things later. I have 35 years of experiences to draw from. Maybe next time, I’ll share ten things I learned from going to school or maybe from church social life. I really do hope this list will help someone. It helps me to write things down. This way, I’m less likely to forget. Thanks for taking time to read it. Feel free to share your thoughts but please be courteous. Also keep in mind that these are my perceptions of the lessons taught in my home. They are my firm beliefs. I do my best to respect the beliefs of others and I expect the same respect in return. Thanks!
1. God exists and He loves people. Why do bad things happen? I don’t know. But I /do/ know God /does/ exist and that He loves the people He created. He is everywhere I go, hears everything I say or don’t say and sees everything I do. You can pervert and twist that any way you’d like but it won’t change my mind about this being a good thing. I learned this from my mom and dad and my mom’s parents.
2. We are people of the land. The land is a part of us and we are a part of it. We can’t get away from it. It’s in our blood. When we are apart from it, we pine for it. Home is truly home and a safe haven. It’s not something to run away from or a trap. Rather the traps are set all around us and avoiding them can be a bit tricky. This is a good thing, too, because it keeps me on my toes. Some might call that paranoid. I guess they are as entitled to an opinion as any other person. I learned this from my dad and his mom and dad and brother.
3. We make do with what we have. We choose to be content. We don’t go begging for handouts because we want what everyone else has. We may not have the newest, coolest gizmos and gadgets. We may not have the most outstanding house on the highway. But we have an adequate domicile in which we can live a life that is abundant with the things that count the most-the joy of family living. This is not to say we don’t work hard which brings me to my next item. I learned this from both my parents and both my sets of grandparents.
4. Hard work never hurt anyone. Slave labor has. But hard work, willingly done, never hurt anyone. In fact, my grandfather (my dad’s dad) was one heck of a workhorse. As a farmer, he worked from the time he walked out the door after breakfast until sunset or after. Many are the times I remember bringing a sandwich lunch out to my dad, his brother and my grandpa as they worked the fields. Many were the nights we didn’t see them come home until well after dark, which in summer can be 9 p.m. Another familiar saying that goes along with this is “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Yeah, you can laugh at that one if you want to. I notice the number of obesity cases is climbing… I learned this from my parents and grandparents.
5. Life isn’t usually fair. Every now and again, you’ll get this really awesome fairness that happens when you least expect it. Cherish it. You might not get another chance. I learned that from my mother.
6. There will always be a few regrets. Learn from them. Move on. Living life with a bunch of regrets weighing you down is no fun at all. Of course, you may look at all these ‘Life Lessons of Mel’ and think I have no fun at all anyway. Stick around. You might be surprised.
7. Being yourself is really, really hard. I learned this from some extended family on my dad’s side. Anytime I tried to be myself, I was wrong. I think they might have been trying to ‘help’ me ‘fit in’ but when ‘fitting in’ wasn’t necessarily going to happen anyway, all that did was make things worse. Still I am more firm in my belief that being myself is by far the better thing to be. It’s worth all the ridicule, teasing, bullying, mockery, etc. Trust me. No need to be bitter, though. Let that part of learning the lesson go and revel in the breath of fresh air that it is to be YOU.
8. Marriage. Ah! What an interesting thing it has become these days. Do any marriages last anymore? Do people even go into marriage with the idea, no, conviction that this is a lifetime deal? I did. And I learned that from my parents and grandparents. ‘Well, I’m just not happy.’ Or ‘We just don’t get along.’ (sigh) Try looking at things from your partner’s perspective. I remember my mom saying, “It takes two to tango.” It means there are two sides to every story and taking the time to hear both sides is usually worth it. Just because the grass might /look/ greener on the other side, doesn’t mean it really is. Consider that you might be seeing only part of the picture of that green good-looking grass. My mom talked to me before I got married and right after I got engaged. She said this, “Don’t ask yourself whether you can live with him but rather ask yourself whether you can live without him.” I knew. I was convinced my husband was the man for me. And we are still together. Through sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, until death parts us? Yeah, I meant every word I boldly spoke that day before God and my family and friends. I made a VOW. I’m holding to it.
9. Never break a promise. If you do break a promise, you better have an awfully good reason for doing so. I learned that from my mom.
10. Life is short. Live it well. Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Self-control. Do you see anything bad in this list? People who live by this list are few and far between. Some of you will recognize it. You should, and probably are, thanking God for the person who taught it to you. So far as I know, it is still not against any law to use any of these actions. I do not always measure up to this list. It’s a tough one. But it’s worth my time and effort, especially if it means someone gets a bit of help along the way. I learned this from my mom her parents.
This concludes my random list of ten things I learned from my family. Maybe I’ll share some more things later. I have 35 years of experiences to draw from. Maybe next time, I’ll share ten things I learned from going to school or maybe from church social life. I really do hope this list will help someone. It helps me to write things down. This way, I’m less likely to forget. Thanks for taking time to read it. Feel free to share your thoughts but please be courteous. Also keep in mind that these are my perceptions of the lessons taught in my home. They are my firm beliefs. I do my best to respect the beliefs of others and I expect the same respect in return. Thanks!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Time For A Change
I can't keep the same things in the same places for very long unless they are strictly functional. Every now and again, I need a change of scenery. The only room in our house that stays pretty much the same is our music/reading room. I know it sounds grand but it's a pretty humble 12' x 12' room. It doesn't change much because it's the only room that I have been able to decorate exactly like I planned. I said all that to say this: I decided it was time to change the background on my blog.
Have any of you ever gone through the myriad pages of blogger backgrounds at a place like www.pimp-my-profile.com ? It's a time consuming process. Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, plan to spend a couple of hours looking for just the right background. (And if you have dial-up, don't even bother.) I finally figured out it was best to keep a pen and some paper handy to write down the titles I liked and the pages I found them on. Today I listed a total of 11 and went through "I don't know how many" pages to find them. The elements won because it's a simple layout in colors I like and you can see the words. I realized my old background was just too difficult to decipher.
We did have a pretty good weekend. We shared supper with friends on Friday night and had some more friends over to share supper with us on Saturday night. It was nice to be able to do that. Anything that you already enjoy is better if it's shared with a friend, don't you think? I think I might try to do some more scrapbooking today. I have a nasty headache and the weather is chilly and I just want to crash. But if I do that, I won't be able to sleep well tonight. And we have school tomorrow. Hmmm, speaking of school...I need to get lesson plans done and graded work needs to be listed in the book. I guess a woman's work really isn't ever done. :) Talk to you guys later.
Laugh a lot!
Have any of you ever gone through the myriad pages of blogger backgrounds at a place like www.pimp-my-profile.com ? It's a time consuming process. Unless you know exactly what you're looking for, plan to spend a couple of hours looking for just the right background. (And if you have dial-up, don't even bother.) I finally figured out it was best to keep a pen and some paper handy to write down the titles I liked and the pages I found them on. Today I listed a total of 11 and went through "I don't know how many" pages to find them. The elements won because it's a simple layout in colors I like and you can see the words. I realized my old background was just too difficult to decipher.
We did have a pretty good weekend. We shared supper with friends on Friday night and had some more friends over to share supper with us on Saturday night. It was nice to be able to do that. Anything that you already enjoy is better if it's shared with a friend, don't you think? I think I might try to do some more scrapbooking today. I have a nasty headache and the weather is chilly and I just want to crash. But if I do that, I won't be able to sleep well tonight. And we have school tomorrow. Hmmm, speaking of school...I need to get lesson plans done and graded work needs to be listed in the book. I guess a woman's work really isn't ever done. :) Talk to you guys later.
Laugh a lot!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Cloudy Days = Intermittent Internet
Hello, again! I'm hoping I can get thru this without an internet break down. There's a lot to talk about so here goes...
I joined a cause on facebook. The title of the cause is "People Against Poor Grammar." If that's not it exactly, it's pretty close to the actual name. I'm glad this cause exists somewhere. I was beginning to think people just didn't care anymore. I was beginning to think we were headed back to the Middle Ages and people could start spelling anything in any way they chose. Have we forgotten how confusing that was?? Sometimes there was no spacing between words, which caused even more confusion. I wonder if people got paid a couple bags of gold to decipher "code" back then.
I was playing around with my media player yesterday and put together a huge ecclectic play list. Included are artists like Van Morrison, 12 Stones, Rhianna, Jacob's Trouble, Flo Rida, My Chemical Romance and sooooo many more! I added all the songs I wanted and then had the player arrange them alphabetically. Now I have a variety of artists performing a variety of songs in various locations on my playlist! LOL I know. I'm goofy. :-b
I cooked at home for just my family yesterday. It's been a long time since I have done so. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I do not have a working stove yet. We are slowly getting the parts we need and we only need a couple of things for the breaker box. Almost there...unh....r.e.a.c.h... Anyway, I cooked on "the eye" (our little plug in double burner thingy). Every time I get it out, I say "the eye" as if I was in the movie LOTR. Makes a mediocre job more fun...
We had cheesy veggie casserole. Here's how I did it. Take your fave mac and cheese and prep according to directions. While the noodles are cooking, take your three favorite veggies and prep them in steam bags in the microwave. Next cook one strip of bacon or turkey bacon per person. You can do this in the microwave as well. When the noodles are done and all prep for mac and cheese is finished (butter, milk, sauce added in) then add the veggies one at a time and stir them in. Chop up the bacon and add that in. C'est voila! You have a one pot meal that only dirtied one pot, one spoon and one ceramic plate (cook bacon on that). Easy clean-up is a must here at our house.
I spent a considerable amount of time on blogthings yesterday. Their quizzes are so fun! I think I must have taken at least 15 over the course of the day. One might even say that I have no life to speak of. And one would be mostly right, if they didn't realize how much multi-tasking I do. I managed to get a load of clothes out on the line, cook supper, teach my son his lessons (while doing that...NO multi-tasking!), cook supper for us, talk to friends on social sites, practice piano pieces for Sunday's worship service and spend some time watching a movie and reading a book before bed. I also washed a sink full of dishes. All in all, a pretty productive day was yesterday.
I really want to get my hair colored some funky way. The only hang ups with it are the initial cost for someone to do it professionally (b/c I don't trust myself to get it right) and the ruination of my hair. I really have pretty nice hair, though it doesn't look it quite a lot of the time. I also happen to like my original hair color now, after many years in school hating the fact that I was a brunette with green eyes. I will probably do it eventually...
The school thing brought something else to mind. I used to hate my hair color and my eye color b/c I thought they were drab. Drab! Then I hit a certain point and I really took a good look at myself. Instead of looking for all the negative points, I started looking for positive ones. I starting seeing random strands of gold, silver and copper in my hair! And I also started seeing my eyes change in certain lighting and with certain colors of make-up. Wow! This could be fun, right? So then I decided being me on all points was not a bad thing at all. I started embracing my weirdness (some people might say "uniqueness" but I'm all about truth!) and trying to focus on the people who loved me for being me. Not that I turned away from those who didn't (and still don't) understand me, but I just spent less time with them. One of my friends in San Angelo told me something right before we moved from there. She said, "Don't let them stop you from being you!" She knew we were coming to my hometown and she knew my complaints from a previous stay here. I am hoping when I see her again I'll be able to tell her I'm still me. But I guess they already know that...
I found someone from my grade school days not too long ago. This was someone I worried about and prayed for anytime I thought about her. It was a relief to finally find out she was on MySpace. It was great to know she was alive and well and that we might be able to meet for a visit sometime. If there's someone you are looking for, don't give up hope. It had been at least 8 years or more since I last saw my friend. She has never met my two girls. It'll be interesting.
Well, I guess I better get started on my day. Lots to do. Remember to breathe! Laugh a lot!
I joined a cause on facebook. The title of the cause is "People Against Poor Grammar." If that's not it exactly, it's pretty close to the actual name. I'm glad this cause exists somewhere. I was beginning to think people just didn't care anymore. I was beginning to think we were headed back to the Middle Ages and people could start spelling anything in any way they chose. Have we forgotten how confusing that was?? Sometimes there was no spacing between words, which caused even more confusion. I wonder if people got paid a couple bags of gold to decipher "code" back then.
I was playing around with my media player yesterday and put together a huge ecclectic play list. Included are artists like Van Morrison, 12 Stones, Rhianna, Jacob's Trouble, Flo Rida, My Chemical Romance and sooooo many more! I added all the songs I wanted and then had the player arrange them alphabetically. Now I have a variety of artists performing a variety of songs in various locations on my playlist! LOL I know. I'm goofy. :-b
I cooked at home for just my family yesterday. It's been a long time since I have done so. I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I do not have a working stove yet. We are slowly getting the parts we need and we only need a couple of things for the breaker box. Almost there...unh....r.e.a.c.h... Anyway, I cooked on "the eye" (our little plug in double burner thingy). Every time I get it out, I say "the eye" as if I was in the movie LOTR. Makes a mediocre job more fun...
We had cheesy veggie casserole. Here's how I did it. Take your fave mac and cheese and prep according to directions. While the noodles are cooking, take your three favorite veggies and prep them in steam bags in the microwave. Next cook one strip of bacon or turkey bacon per person. You can do this in the microwave as well. When the noodles are done and all prep for mac and cheese is finished (butter, milk, sauce added in) then add the veggies one at a time and stir them in. Chop up the bacon and add that in. C'est voila! You have a one pot meal that only dirtied one pot, one spoon and one ceramic plate (cook bacon on that). Easy clean-up is a must here at our house.
I spent a considerable amount of time on blogthings yesterday. Their quizzes are so fun! I think I must have taken at least 15 over the course of the day. One might even say that I have no life to speak of. And one would be mostly right, if they didn't realize how much multi-tasking I do. I managed to get a load of clothes out on the line, cook supper, teach my son his lessons (while doing that...NO multi-tasking!), cook supper for us, talk to friends on social sites, practice piano pieces for Sunday's worship service and spend some time watching a movie and reading a book before bed. I also washed a sink full of dishes. All in all, a pretty productive day was yesterday.
I really want to get my hair colored some funky way. The only hang ups with it are the initial cost for someone to do it professionally (b/c I don't trust myself to get it right) and the ruination of my hair. I really have pretty nice hair, though it doesn't look it quite a lot of the time. I also happen to like my original hair color now, after many years in school hating the fact that I was a brunette with green eyes. I will probably do it eventually...
The school thing brought something else to mind. I used to hate my hair color and my eye color b/c I thought they were drab. Drab! Then I hit a certain point and I really took a good look at myself. Instead of looking for all the negative points, I started looking for positive ones. I starting seeing random strands of gold, silver and copper in my hair! And I also started seeing my eyes change in certain lighting and with certain colors of make-up. Wow! This could be fun, right? So then I decided being me on all points was not a bad thing at all. I started embracing my weirdness (some people might say "uniqueness" but I'm all about truth!) and trying to focus on the people who loved me for being me. Not that I turned away from those who didn't (and still don't) understand me, but I just spent less time with them. One of my friends in San Angelo told me something right before we moved from there. She said, "Don't let them stop you from being you!" She knew we were coming to my hometown and she knew my complaints from a previous stay here. I am hoping when I see her again I'll be able to tell her I'm still me. But I guess they already know that...
I found someone from my grade school days not too long ago. This was someone I worried about and prayed for anytime I thought about her. It was a relief to finally find out she was on MySpace. It was great to know she was alive and well and that we might be able to meet for a visit sometime. If there's someone you are looking for, don't give up hope. It had been at least 8 years or more since I last saw my friend. She has never met my two girls. It'll be interesting.
Well, I guess I better get started on my day. Lots to do. Remember to breathe! Laugh a lot!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)