I am a "Pollyanna"

November 24, 2014

     Or perhaps it's more that I WANT to be a Pollyanna.  For those who don't know, years and years ago, Disney came out with a movie of that name based on a 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter.  A little girl named Pollyanna came to live with her grumpy aunt when she was orphaned.  Pollyanna was a perennial optimist, always looking for and seeing the good in everything.  She played the "glad game" where she would look for things for which she was glad.  

     But it's very hard to fight the negative beasties!  My goodness there is a SOOOOO much negative out there. Everywhere.I.Turn. Commercials are even rife (which may also mean I have the TV on too much, but that's another story). 

     I work very hard to not listen; no news, no newspaper, no online news sources, nothing, zero, zilch, nada.  There is absolutely nothing I can do about it (or 99.9999% of it anyway), so putting it into my brain is so wrong.

     And that works to a point.  But a few of the people I hang with (kinda can't not hang with them) live on that stuff.  And want to share it.  Every juicy, ugly, depressing bit of it.  It doesn't affect them like it does me (it totally crushes my soul).   Even though I've told them how I feel.  But they forget.  And sometimes gleefully share.  

     Someone shared that psychologically we need to hear three positives for every negative.  I told that to one person and they looked at me like I had three heads!  

modernmarried.com

     I really do believe we need to "see the good in the world" as much as we can.  Yes, fix the problems when we can, but all the negative diatribe does nothing but chase the Spirit out.  And I really don't want to do anything that will cause that to happen.  Gratitude and faith are powerful, and very positive, tools to overcome the world.  Make your mind a "no negative zone."

Cheers

     

Recycle/Up-cycle - Please stop and think before you cut into that t-shirt (sweater, jeans)...

November 22, 2014

     I am a huge {HUGE} proponent of the tome "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."  I am also huge fan of hand crafted items.  So recycling items that are no longer of use in their present form is super and I love the opportunity to save money and not contribute to the landfill when possible.  I love taking raw materials and making something beautiful and/or useful.

     What I have an inner conflict with is when we take perfectly good items that either no longer fit us, or are no longer our style, and cut them up or tear them apart to make something we may use once or twice, or more likely, we may never use.  And frankly make things we don't really need.

     All over the craft sites, blogs, and Pinterest there are tutorials on how to take a sweater and make a purse or pillow cover; how to cut a t-shirt into a yarn and make a necklace or scarf, how to make (yet another) bag out of legs of jeans or trousers. {Although, IMHO, I can never have enough bags!}

      And for full disclosure, I have taken Mr H's worn out trousers and a shirt and made little pants and a shirt for our grandson when he was born.  I think they turned out super cute.  So I do understand and again, am a proponent of recycling and up-cycling items.  I have taken old computer parts and made items, and am even working on making a lamp base out of old CDs (it's going to be a very cool addition to Mr H's office).  Recycling and up-cycling are fantastic ways to "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."     

But please, before you cut into anything that is otherwise in usable/wearable shape… know that there is someone who has a whole lot less than you do and would LOVE to have that item to wear.  

     Here in North America we have been hit like a runaway bulldozer with fall/early winter storms and extreme cold.  It's to be a particularly cold winter this year throughout our continent.  Sweaters, sweatshirts, flannel shirts, trousers, jeans, all these things would be so welcomed by those who struggle to just get by.  Even in places that are typically warm and mild, the night temps are dipping down into the 30's, 20's and even teens.  Here in Georgia we have had overnight temps into the high teens already.  WHAT?

     If you don't know where to take your still-wearable-but-no-longer-what-you-wear clothes, call the local woman's shelter, call a church, check with your friends to see what they know.  I have a local acquaintance who does awesome work with an organization in Appalachia that takes donated clothes and other household items and immediately makes sure they get to families in need - all volunteers, no middle man, no over-paid executive staff.  Although I don't get the tax write-off for donating, it is so very worth it.

   So please do continue your handcrafted goodness and share those items with people who will love and cherish the time and effort put into them.  Do recycle and up-cycle those items that can no longer be used otherwise. But please, before you do, DO think about how that perfectly good sweater, sweatshirt, pair of jeans, or T-shirt may be worn by someone who doesn't have means.  Your heart will thank you for it.

Cheers!

Timing is Everything

November 16, 2014

Have there ever been times in your life when you can't understand the timing of everything going on?  

I have seen things work out incredibly well.  Cases in point: a few years ago I was supposed to start work on a contract, but they had to postpone the start date.  Our daughter's wedding happened during that time, so I was "given" the gift of time to help with that.  When that contract ended and I didn't have follow-on work immediately, I was able to take a needed trip to see my (at the time) 93 yr old father for his birthday.  

When work again was not forthcoming, I was able to work on updating/renovating our rental house (which took me a long time as I had to learn along the way). Just as I finished up and it was ready to rent, I received a call from a former colleague who had a job for me.

My last job ended the beginning of September, and it looked like another job wouldn't open for a time.  Yes, it was frustrating (I can't tell you how much I worry about not being able to find a job!).  Three days later, I had to fly out to be with my father who was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.  I was able to stay with him for two weeks.  If I had been working, I would not have been able to do that.

Now the "not-so-fun" timing…  When I was helping my dad during that time, I got a call for a potential job and had to cut my stay short. I flew back here, and got the contract, but I felt so bad not being able to stay with my dad (he was by then in rehab and having a tough go adjusting).  Since then the contract has been in a "temporary stop work" status until some legalese could be straightened out so I told my brother I would go with him out to dad's to clear out his condo (we moved my dad to Tennessee, which is another story) and get it ready to sell.  The same day I contacted my brother I got the call that I can restart the work here, and because of delays, I have to get going on it, which means I can't go help my brother. All of which really bothers me as I don't want him to have to do all of it on his own.

Timing is everything. I can see sometimes how blessed I have been with the timing of things.  Gaps have been opened that allowed me to help my family, be there for them, do needed things for Mr H and myself.  But doors have also closed on my being able to do other things that I feel are important and worthy (helping my dad and brother).

I am trying to learn and accept that I have to really put things in the Lord's hands and it's His timing. Did He really provide me the time "off" of regular work to accomplish service for my family?  Because I believe all good comes from Him, I do believe that.  Is there a reason I'm not able to go out and help my brother?  I want to believe there is good reason, not the least of which is that I have such strong ties to San Diego and selling my dad's condo will essentially cut those ties forever.  Yep, I do tear up thinking about it (wimp that I am).

So does anyone else have those questions about timing?  Or am I just (yet again) over-thinking?

Cheers…  

Veteran's Day (aka Armistice Day)

November 11, 2014

I get an email every weekday from "Bell Bennett's American Almanac."  If you want to have a snippet of American history in your inbox each day, this is an awesome find.

Today he wrote, of course, about Veteran's Day.  You can read this wonderful bit of history here.  

In part he wrote

"In the early morning hours of November 11, 1918, representatives of France, Britain, and Germany met in a railroad car near Compiègne, France, to sign an armistice ending World War I, or the Great War, as it was known at that time. The cease-fire took effect at 11:00 a.m. that day—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Up and down the trenches, after four long years of the most horrific fighting the world had yet known, the guns fell silent. “The roar stopped like a motor car hitting a wall,” one U.S. soldier wrote to his family. Soldiers on both sides slowly climbed out of the earthworks. Some danced; some cheered; some cried for joy; some stood numbed. The Great War had left some 9 million soldiers dead and another 21 million wounded. No one knows how many millions of civilians died. Much of Europe lay in ruins. But finally, with the armistice, it was “all quiet on the Western Front.”"

As a child and into my 20's I recall Vets selling little red paper poppies on November 11 to raise money and awareness of the needs of veterans all over the world.  I see that in England and parts of Europe they still use that sweet little symbol of the "Great War" to honor those who have stepped up and gave their all to fight against tyrants and dictators, evil and hate.  

Researching my family, I found my grandfather's WWI draft registration card. My father served in WWII, as did all my uncles, my father-in-law, and my husband's uncles.  My father went on to serve in the military reserves for decades.  My brother served during the Viet Nam era; my nephew now serves in uniform as does my cousin's son.  Because of my career path, I have worked with men and women who served in every conflict that has occurred during my lifetime and then some.  Many in harm's way.

Without fail, they all say they just did what they had to do. They do not feel they are heroes, or anything more than you or I.  The Vets I know felt a need to "give back," or to do something to help combat evil wherever it was.  To do their small part.  

(I also know some who long to be able to serve in such capacities, but for health or other reasons have not been able to do so.  I have seen their disappointment and even heartache.  I cannot help but also be grateful to them for their desire.)

I so hope one day we may all catch that vision; that we may all come to a realization that to keep the freedoms we have, to keep the world safe from tyranny and all other forms of hate and oppression, we must stand against it, whether it be in uniform, or in our daily lives.  

May God bless all those who have served, who now serve, and God bless the families who support them.

(What) To Do...

November 5, 2014

A good friend texted today - "Are you doing ok?  What are you doing to keep busy?"

I have a project list that consists of more than 100 projects, large and small.  I could add more, too.  So there is always plenty to do, if I can plan my days well and keep from having to put out fires instead.  And therein lies the rub…  If I don't take care to plan my days and do all I can to stick to the plan, my time will be sucked up by many little things that don't get me where I want to go. 

So what am I doing to keep myself busy? 

Unfortunately not getting to my ever-growing list because there are so many other things I'd rather do.

Hostess Gifts

November 4, 2014

In Western culture, at least where I am and how I grew up, it was appropriate to bring a hostess gift when invited somewhere for whatever reason.  Many times I'll ask if I can bring something to add to the meal, and thankfully sometimes the hosts will give me the assignment provide a part of the meal.  It really does make it easier!  

But that's really not the norm for most of our friends.  In fact, most of them are so talented and creative and organized and all, that they insist that we just "bring" ourselves.  And hence the conundrum.  I can't go anywhere without some kind of little thank you gift.  But so many of my friends are worlds ahead of me in talent and creativity.

As I've said before, we're Mormon and as such, we don't drink alcohol.  Which shoots down one of the easiest things in the world to take to someone, and that's a bottle of wine.  In the past, I have taken non-alcoholic sparkling cider, and it's worked great in some instances.  It's on my go-to list of hostess gifts.

Tonight we have been invited for dinner at the home of Mr H's doctor/friend.  They are good people, but I really don't know them very well. And the things I would take to others (handmade gifts) just wouldn't fit their home or lifestyle.  So what to take?  I have settled on fresh flowers this time.  I bought a bunch of fall flowers from the local market and will see what I can do to dress it up a little. Another good gift would be potted fall flowers, but most of the really pretty ones are already gone.

stonegableblog.com

Thursday we are going to the home of good friends who are the epitome of have everything/can do everything. Oh my!  She never fails to bring fresh homemade muffins or bread, fresh eggs (they keep chickens), fresh vegetables from their garden, or something else homemade.  She sews, knits, crochets, makes greeting cards - truly endless list of talents for them both.  They are an awesome couple (they are ones who worked so hard on our rental home I wrote about in a previous post).  So what to do for them?  I decided that I would make one of the burlap wreaths that are so popular right now.  I will put a bit of fall decor on it, but will also see about putting together a little bit for Christmas, too.  (Get the full tutorial for the wreath pictured at Stone Gable blog here.)

But what other hostess gifts are there?  From other websites and lists I've read of some really awesome host/hostess gifts, but all are so expensive!  I guess I need to hit the Pinterest boards again and start pinning...  And remember to check there when I need ideas.  

Cheers!

A Holy Woman

November 3, 2014

"Women Washing Clothes by the Stream" by Daniel Ridgway Knight

Yesterday in our Relief Society meeting (you can read more about Relief Society here), our teacher told us about how four years ago she, and 60 other women in her area who are members of our church, were challenged to pick one thing they do each and every day, and for three days do that thing as they believed a "Holy Woman" would do it.  

She picked laundry.  Laundry, she said, is one of those things that drives her crazy as it's never done (unless you do it laundry naked, which is so not the mental picture we want here).

So that's what she did. She thought about how laundry could possibly fit into being a "Holy Woman."  What she came up with was; being of service, taking care of the gifts we're given, keeping a clean and welcoming home, and many others. And the way she has looked at everything has changed since.  That experience changed every part of her life.

We all discussed what being a "Holy Woman" would entail, and in our way of thinking, it means living and incorporating the Gospel of Jesus Christ into every part of our lives, no matter how menial the task we think it is.

That has been on my mind since.  Yesterday afternoon as I went to the kitchen to get supper ready I thought how I normally don't like to be in the kitchen (another topic for another time), but the lesson on being a "Holy Woman" was echoing in my mind.  That changed my whole thought process as I was emptying (and refilling) the dishwasher, hand washing other things, prepping the potatoes, and generally straightening up the kitchen.  It made the experience very different - no minor frustration for what I sometimes perceive as "drudgery," no "how can I do just the minimum."  I actually WANTED to do these tasks well, and to be sure I could make my husband and our guests as comfortable as I possibly could.  

Now I've never been much on homekeeping (although I'm a homebody and love being at home) - I'm the one that was out working for money to support my horse habit when I was 10.  Yes, my sainted Mom did everything she could to train us all up right by having us share in the KP duty, cleaning the house, keeping our rooms clean, and all.  Of course she made it look easy as our house was always spotless (in spite of her six "little chicks'" attempts at cleaning).  But it never sunk in for me.  I would rather muck out horse stalls and care for sweaty, drooling, hyper polo ponies.

So I really need to find that paradigm change when it comes to keeping a home.  A home is supposed to be an extension of heaven - that safe, clean, warm place we can come to be sheltered from the world.  I want that.  I want my husband and family to feel that.  I want to be able to invite people to visit without dreading it.  We are incredibly blessed to have what we do, and I want to show my appreciation.

Maybe this is it.  Maybe remembering I am a Daughter of Heavenly Parents, and trying to do everything as a "Holy Woman" will help me. 

There is plenty to do around here so I'd better get to it.

#lds  #reliefsociety #mormon #holywoman

"I don't need any stinkin' backups!"

November 2, 2014

Of course that is not at all true, I totally believe in backing up important computer files. But I thought I had it.  

I love pictures and I had thousands.  From way back even before my time. In fact, I have photos taken before the turn of the LAST century.  Of course those are not digitized so I had scanned them in, and many, many others. And I had countless digital that I collected from friends and family, not to mention all those I have taken since getting married.

I was using a laptop, which was filling up not only because of all the pictures, but because of all the software piled on.  So I did what I thought the smart thing - I had already been backing up to an external drive (and a few I had off-loaded to DVDs), but I knew I needed to really take the photos off my laptop to allow me the RAM and hard drive space to do other things I wanted to do.  

(no reflection on Toshiba; it is terrific)

So I bought a second external hard drive, off-loaded all my pictures, knowing I had a second hard drive with backups of everything so I was safe.

At this same time, I was working with Mr H.  He is an IT consultant (one man show) and supports business clients in the area.  One of the services he provides to a few of his clients is off-site backup and monitoring.  Because they don't want their financial, and other sensitive, data saved out to the cloud somewhere, we go each month and take a copy of all their files and keep it off-site and out of harms way. So this became one of the things I did when I was between full-time jobs.  And I used my personal external hard drive to pick up the files.

And something happened and it buggered up.  I don't know a better word for it.  These drives were meant to be portable, and I'm not hard on the equipment, so it wasn't that it was physically abused.  But it started acting awful and then died.  It died.  Ok, well, I had the second drive and Mr H was going to try to recover my first one.  By then I really couldn't save things back to my laptop because it only had 240G of memory to start with and I had probably 700G of photos.  

So I needed to use something to capture the backups of our clients… and I started using my second external drive to do it. Immediately it went south.  

IT.WENT.SOUTH  

CRASHED  

BURNED

DEAD

And I am crushed.  All my photos were on those two (now dead) external hard drives.  When I lived in San Diego and we were in the midst of spreading wildfires, the police knocked on my door and said I had an hour to get out of my house and out of the area, my first thought was to gather as many photos as I can.

There is no way the depth of the loss I feel, either.  You see, I have pictures hanging in my hall spanning my family for the last 100+ years.  Growing up, the very large upstairs hallway of our house was filled with family pictures from one of my grandfather when he was about 2 yr old in a skirt (yes, they did that in the 1890's), both my grandparents' wedding photos, my great-grandparents, and some I don't even know but I recognized family facial features so I know I have their blood going through my veins. They are family.  They are the visual of who I am and where I came from.

Besides all of that, photos take me right back to the event.  I love that!  I have spent hours looking through pictures, and we do that as a family, too.  I also love putting these photos into stories using digital scrapbooking.  

So I am still reeling from this loss even after all these months.  And I still don't know what I'm going to do about it.  I've actually been avoiding dealing with it because the ache in my heart.  But I know I must get back to it and try to gather back what I can.  Wish me luck.  And please, make sure you have multiple backups of precious photos.

Saturdays are BUSY.BUSY.BUSY! Especially in November...

November 1, 2014

First of all - Happy November!  

Impending Sugar Shock

1.  Halloween is over and now we can all ramp up our sugar intake on the left-over candy (or candy our kids collected) so when Christmas comes around we won't go into sugar shock.  Add to that, we have to work on the requisite average 6-8# weight gain that happens between now and the New Year.  #firstworldproblems

Christmas movies?!?

2. Hallmark Channel started their made-for-TV Christmas  movies marathon, which will run through Christmas.  I've also heard several radio stations are now exclusively Christmas music. 

3.  Ten weeks of college football is nearly behind us.  I love my football Saturdays and hate to think that we only have a few more weeks...

     Which leads me to…  Saturdays are killer busy.  When I work full-time, Saturday is my "only" day to get a lot of housework done.  It's my "P-day" (preparation day - it's a carry-over term from my church mission) - it's the day I do most of the laundry, cleaning, straightening, and whatever else I can fit in.  Some may ask why I can't parse out the homemaking tasks so I do a little each night.  Well, I do try to do that, and sometimes it works. But after spending a full 12 hours taking care of things directly related to my job, and sometimes more if I'm studying for something (that includes everything from getting ready in the morning to commute times), I'm beat.  Plus we are very involved in our church and our faith, and I'm the one that does all the office work/business administration for Mr H's business, and that takes a couple hours a week.  All of that zaps this ol' girl. I'm also not one who can work like crazy, then fall into bed and go right to sleep.  It takes me a couple hours of quiet time for me to be able to sleep. So Saturdays have always borne the brunt of housework.  The same goes for Mr H; his home to-do list is concentrated on Saturday.

(photo from saturdaydownsouth.com)

     Additionally, I love college football.  Actually, I love fall, and I think college ball is inextricably linked.  It's part of the whole season.  College ball is also played on Saturdays and not Sundays (it's a "keep the Sabbath holy" thing), AND my favorite part is College Game Day (the football version) on ESPN for three hours each Saturday morning.  Yep, I'm into it that much.  (But don't ask a lot about the technical parts of the games, players, teams, etc. - I'm into it for different reasons.)  So in the fall, this all adds to the equation.  The upside is that I can have the games on and still be able to do stuff around the house, for the most part.

     But in November we have an added {yippee!} "bonus" on Saturdays.  It's our turn to be a part of the small team to clean our church building.  A number of years ago, our church decided it could save (a lot) of money by not hiring cleaning crews to come in each week to clean our many chapels.  We are a volunteer church - nearly all those who do anything for our church are not paid.  (Of course we do have some paid positions for such as area building management, full-time employees in the church office buildings, at the schools, etc.)  Our local leadership, including the bishop, those who provide music, the office staff, seminary teachers, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders - all are unpaid volunteers.  So when the main church leadership decided the buildings would be cleaned by the church members, we did what we always do.  Set up a calendar and assigned about four or five families to each month to weekly clean the building.  We have November.  

google maps street view ©2014

     And so for the month of November we have been at the church building for three-four hours each Saturday morning.  Mr H is awesome as he takes on the four (sometimes nasty) bathrooms.  And there is vacuuming, dusting, emptying trash, setting up chairs, cleaning glass doors and windows (little hands make TONS of handprints on the glass doors!) and otherwise getting the building cleaned and ready for Sunday services.  It is the Lord's house and we want it to be as clean as it can be just in case He shows up!  

     So as much as the "natural man" in me wants to pout and say "if I have to do this, why does it have to be the month of November so I miss my College Game Day, and how in the world am I supposed to get everything else done…?" I do believe it's the right thing to do. I do believe by "sacrificing" this time on my precious Saturdays I'm more blessed than ever, and I know I'm very blessed already.  Most of the time, most team members can't/don't make it for one reason or another, and I'll admit that's frustrating.  But it really doesn't matter what they do; what matters is what *I* do and how *I* answer this assignment.  Can Mr H and I clean the whole building by ourselves?  Not if we also intend to take care of our own home and responsibilities, too {and come out alive}.  So we do what we can and try to make sure the "big stuff" is done.  Each Saturday in November.

Which makes Saturdays BUSY.BUSY.BUSY!!  

Especially in November!