I'm becoming a little lop-sided. Cute if you are a rabbit. But I'm not a rabbit: I'm a wife, quilter, reader, cook, dreamer......more than just a foster-adoptive mom. I need to reflect that same balance, not just in my writing, but in how I spend my time.
Take quilting for example. I say I love it, I used to love doing it, but have not consistently carved out time to actually sit down and quilt regularly in the past year. Under my sewing table, is a large laundry basked filled with completed quilt tops that need finishing. I have an embarassing amount of lovely fabric just waiting to be used. Mid-September is the bi-annual quilt show that I have previously entered and quilt guild membership renewal. Quilt magazines are stacked in baskets and coffee tables with sticky tabs marking projects I'd like to try.
My amazing spouse gave me a fancy new sewing machine for my birthday this year for inspiration. It took me almost a week just to read the manual! I'm still a little intimidated by all the bells and whistles, but I am also excited about the fancy tricks this new rig is capable of.
This weekend, plans have been made for kayaking the pond with the boys and our dear friends. Sleeping late on Saturday. Spend sometime with our eldest son. Do a little house hunting. Sunday morning is Church and our family will share in the preparation, serving and clean-up of coffe hour after church services. With any luck, there will be time at the lake, a nap in the afternoon and something grilled for dinner, maybe head downtown for ice cream and a walk along the bike path by lake for sunset. Nice.
No matter what we do this weekend, or what crazy stuff life, and my kids and their social workers throw at us, I think balance, the idea of Balance, the actuality of BALANCE, must be a priority. Lop sides are cute on a rabbit and all....
This weekend I will remind myself about to live my life with BALANCE:
Coffee hour.....I'm thinking something blueberry-ish since we picked 20 pounds two weekends ago and 6 pounds last weekend. When I don't feel like baking I need to remind myself how good those berries are going to taste.
Quilting...I have this cute fabric with trout and bass and a fishing theme that would be fun to work with. I need to make myself sit down and sew. Just pick up the pieces and sew.
Reading...Our library has an ongoing book sale in the book-nook under the stairs and yesterday I picked up 5 books in a knitting/murder mystery series that might be just the ticket....I need to remind my self to sit in the recliner and take some time to read.
My spouse. She is just amazing. After twenty years, my heart still skips a beat when I see her when she comes through the door at the end of the day. Being with her is like putting on eye-glasses: everything is crisp and clear and focused. She is my anchor. My best friend. This weekend when we walk along the bike path or hold hands in prayer at church or fold laundry together I won't need to remind her. She already knows.
There's a blog site http://www.15minutesplay.com/ that I've just started following. It looks like she encourages you to find 15 minutes a day to quilt. I'm not really sure what can be done in that amount of time but for busy people it's a start. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI just stopped by to tell you that although I tend to HATE when blogs play music when you load them, I have been visiting your blog more than I need to JUST TO SEE WHAT YOUR MUSIC PLAYER IS PLAYING! I'm not kidding. I absolutely love your taste in music.
ReplyDeleteAs far as this post, thanks for sharing what helps you feel balanced. We are all out of whack 'round here, and the only solace I'm getting out of Big Guy being hospitalized right now is that there is time to do the other things a person needs in their life besides managing a 9 year old's violent tantrums. I really don't know how parents do it. I guess over the months/years we'll start to figure it out, but in the meantime I can't imagine EVER having time to scrapbook again, make time to pray, sleep in, etc. So I'm trying to do that stuff as much as I can while he's gone.
I hear you on the striving for balance. I have just decided that for now, my free time is mostly with the kids. My "grown up" hobby of martial arts takes waaaay too much time away from the family. 3 hour dojo sessions are not the ticket for a youngish family. But luckily a youngish family likes lots of activity and if I can just be active I am happy! K is the quilter or was; she has trouble with time for that too. And our house is COLD in the winter; we use a lot of quilts. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hear ya! I have to limit myself to short activities that don't require a lot of focus because I am constantly interrupted. I used to have 3-4 knitting projects going at a time but now I have 1 super easy one going. That seems to help though, keeping it simple.
ReplyDeleteI need balance too! Hope you are finding yours....
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