I've been busy in the craft room, making a box for my Christmas CDs and painting/decorating a crate for the Christmas movies. Pictures are coming, I promise.
I can attest to the brilliance of an idea I saw on Pinterest.....using pushpins to hold up an item you're painting. It worked fantastically on the crate, raising it just high enough for me to paint the lower edges without worrying about it sticking to the newspaper.
I'm thinking of starting a separate blog for some of my craft pictures/posts since I'd like to "pin" them, but this blog is really more personal than that and I don't want it pinned for the world to see and comment on, kwim? I'll keep you posted about that too.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Looking Back
It's easy, I think, to look back and lament the setbacks, frustrations, and disappointments of the past. I don't know why we're wired that way, or at least, why *I'm* wired that way, but there it is. I certainly do that when talking about myself, while, at the same time, building others up.
And I'm already rambling....
Anyway, I'm looking back at 2011 in a bit of a different light, wanting to celebrate what I've accomplished, rather than lament what I haven't gotten to yet.
As a family, we've switched to an all-cash economy, so to speak. As a result, we're spending more on what matters and less on what doesn't. When the cash is gone, we stop spending, at least until payday! We've paid cash for all of our trips--camping trips, a trip to northern Idaho, and my sister's entire visit in June. No lingering credit card bills to pay off. That feels good!
(Funny aside.....When we bought my new laptop, I paid for the second half of it using the CC because I wasn't sure where the money was--I knew we had it but I didn't know which debit card to use so I used the CC because it buys time to move money around if necessary. About the same time, Bruce was paying for wreaths for our church fundraiser with the same credit card. So we went from no balance for several months, to nearly $3K charged in 30 minutes. Not 30 minutes later, we had a message from our credit union, wanting to verify that the charges were legit!).
We paid cash for a new set of hearing aids for Tristan. Cash for all car repairs, cash for home repairs, cash for the deductible when I crashed the van, cash for all of the kids' activities, cash for my new laptop, and cash for Christmas.
I've struggled with this, honestly. Right now, we're focused on paying off debt and we're making progress. We paid off the bills from our Disney World adventures and we now own the our camping trailer. It's ours! But, the hard part for me is that it's not tangible. We're not buying anything or saving up for a big fancy trip or anything. We're just watching numbers on the computer screen get smaller. Big whoop.
But, today, as Bruce was doing the bills, he looked at the totals. We've paid off nearly $35,000 in debt! That includes car loans, the trailer, student loans, and the mortgages (we have a second). By the end of 2012, we should own both vehicles, and have the second paid off as well.
We've also got more money in savings than ever before. We've got a cushion against life, really. And that feels good.
Even when I'm being a whiny, petulant child who wants to go to the beach. NOW! LOL!
One of my goals, personally, was to use my reusable grocery bags more often than not. And I did it. I probably saved 100s of bags. And it had a trickle-down effect. The kids and Bruce all used the bags too, or they just didn't take one. I feel pretty good about that. And we'll continue that into the new year.
Because of the cash-only thing, I stopped buying certain things at the grocery store. Food prices are going up, but my budget is not. And gluten-free products/cooking can be expensive. So, over the course of the year, I stopped looking at things like soda, crackers, and granola bars as a "need," and saw them as more of a "want." I've done more baking, more couponing, and more sale-shopping/stocking-up, in order to keep the family fed with healthy food. Soda is a treat and we're all healthier for it.
Over Lent, I gave up ALL junk food and ALL computer games. Now, I do eat junk and I do play games, but neither holds quite the appeal they did in the past. Another score for me! :-)
While I always feel like I've got a loooong way to go, even my perfectionistic-self has to admit that the house is more organized and running more smoothly than it was a year ago. We've all gotten better about not keeping things we don't need. And I know I've gotten better about not buying something just because it's on sale, it's cool-looking but I have no idea what I'll do with it, or I think I "need" it. I've gotten better at seeing something and realizing that I've got something at home that will work just as well. I've got more work to do, but I'm beginning to accept that it's always going to be a work in progress and that's okay.
I've been more spontaneous this year, which for this "planner" personality, is a BIG deal. I'd like to continue that trend into the new year too.
So, what about you? If you're like me, you focus on what you need to fix, looking at how far you have to go, without seeing just how far you've come. So, how far have you come?
And I'm already rambling....
Anyway, I'm looking back at 2011 in a bit of a different light, wanting to celebrate what I've accomplished, rather than lament what I haven't gotten to yet.
As a family, we've switched to an all-cash economy, so to speak. As a result, we're spending more on what matters and less on what doesn't. When the cash is gone, we stop spending, at least until payday! We've paid cash for all of our trips--camping trips, a trip to northern Idaho, and my sister's entire visit in June. No lingering credit card bills to pay off. That feels good!
(Funny aside.....When we bought my new laptop, I paid for the second half of it using the CC because I wasn't sure where the money was--I knew we had it but I didn't know which debit card to use so I used the CC because it buys time to move money around if necessary. About the same time, Bruce was paying for wreaths for our church fundraiser with the same credit card. So we went from no balance for several months, to nearly $3K charged in 30 minutes. Not 30 minutes later, we had a message from our credit union, wanting to verify that the charges were legit!).
We paid cash for a new set of hearing aids for Tristan. Cash for all car repairs, cash for home repairs, cash for the deductible when I crashed the van, cash for all of the kids' activities, cash for my new laptop, and cash for Christmas.
I've struggled with this, honestly. Right now, we're focused on paying off debt and we're making progress. We paid off the bills from our Disney World adventures and we now own the our camping trailer. It's ours! But, the hard part for me is that it's not tangible. We're not buying anything or saving up for a big fancy trip or anything. We're just watching numbers on the computer screen get smaller. Big whoop.
But, today, as Bruce was doing the bills, he looked at the totals. We've paid off nearly $35,000 in debt! That includes car loans, the trailer, student loans, and the mortgages (we have a second). By the end of 2012, we should own both vehicles, and have the second paid off as well.
We've also got more money in savings than ever before. We've got a cushion against life, really. And that feels good.
Even when I'm being a whiny, petulant child who wants to go to the beach. NOW! LOL!
One of my goals, personally, was to use my reusable grocery bags more often than not. And I did it. I probably saved 100s of bags. And it had a trickle-down effect. The kids and Bruce all used the bags too, or they just didn't take one. I feel pretty good about that. And we'll continue that into the new year.
Because of the cash-only thing, I stopped buying certain things at the grocery store. Food prices are going up, but my budget is not. And gluten-free products/cooking can be expensive. So, over the course of the year, I stopped looking at things like soda, crackers, and granola bars as a "need," and saw them as more of a "want." I've done more baking, more couponing, and more sale-shopping/stocking-up, in order to keep the family fed with healthy food. Soda is a treat and we're all healthier for it.
Over Lent, I gave up ALL junk food and ALL computer games. Now, I do eat junk and I do play games, but neither holds quite the appeal they did in the past. Another score for me! :-)
While I always feel like I've got a loooong way to go, even my perfectionistic-self has to admit that the house is more organized and running more smoothly than it was a year ago. We've all gotten better about not keeping things we don't need. And I know I've gotten better about not buying something just because it's on sale, it's cool-looking but I have no idea what I'll do with it, or I think I "need" it. I've gotten better at seeing something and realizing that I've got something at home that will work just as well. I've got more work to do, but I'm beginning to accept that it's always going to be a work in progress and that's okay.
I've been more spontaneous this year, which for this "planner" personality, is a BIG deal. I'd like to continue that trend into the new year too.
So, what about you? If you're like me, you focus on what you need to fix, looking at how far you have to go, without seeing just how far you've come. So, how far have you come?
Saturday, December 31, 2011
A bit of catching up....
It's been a while, hasn't it? Seems I'm saying that often on this blog....but oh well.
Since I last posted, let's see.....
*Thanksgiving: My parents came. The visit was tolerable. I don't really remember anything that stands out as obnoxious or otherwise a problem, though I'm sure my mom managed to annoy me a time or two. It is, after all, one of the things she does.
That weekend, my laptop imploded. So we bought me a new one, that's probably too big for my britches, but there it is, and I'm really enjoying it. However, we got it home and I tried to load things from my external hard drive. And it had imploded as well. Including all of my scrapbooking projects. With less than 3 weeks to go before I needed to have the Grandma books uploaded for Christmas.
Yeah. Exactly.
The technical geeks at PC Laptops were able to recover all my data from the old laptop, but the external was another matter. They tried, but they were only able to recover about 2/3 of the pages, and nothing after that in that folder, so I lost several years worth of work and a number of projects. On the upside, I was able to get those recovered pages into another book and I did eventually finish them and get them uploaded.....3 days late. So they won't arrive until next week. *sigh*
And MIL has been bleating about wanting pictures of the kids, but that's a rather amusing story I'll have to post later. This is supposed to be a brief catch-up.
*Then there was the car accident.
On the freeway.
During rush hour.
Yeah. That.
See, I was trying to change lanes, so I was looking over my shoulder at traffic in the next lane when traffic in my lane slowed waaaaay down. I hit the brakes and swerved, but it wasn't enough and I rear-ended the car in front of me.
Oops.
Yes, we were wearing our seat belts. And yes, we're fine. I had a bruise from the seat belt for about a week, but it's all good. Really, it is.
So, the van had to be towed and I got a ticket (my birthday money from my parents nearly covered that....thanks mom!) and it cost over $6000 and two weeks to fix the van. In the end, I'm grateful for insurance and that the van wasn't totaled. We don't own it yet, and the payment from the insurance wouldn't have been enough to buy something else outright. But as it turned out, I was worried for nothing and it all worked out in the end.
*The next day, one of my children came to me with some difficult news. Said child is really struggling, and while normally I'd say more than that, in the interest of maintaining that child's privacy, I'm not going to say much more. The child is now in counseling and seems to be making some progress. Prayers are appreciated, as always.
*The day after that, I got a call from Murray Police. At first, I wondered what Murray had to do with my accident, which was handled by the Highway Patrol with a ticket issued from South Salt Lake.
But it wasn't that. It seems my camera, the one that was stolen back in March, had turned up. In Taylorsville.
In a homicide investigation.
I couldn't make this up if I tried!
I got my camera back, after visiting the Unified Police Department's evidence storage building. See, Taylorsville PD contracts with them (they're essentially the sheriff's office). The detective needed my permission to look at the photos on the camera, just dotting i's and all of that, so that the "search" of the camera was legal. Apparently there were photos on the camera that pertained to his case, so he kept the SD card. He did tell me he'd give it back after he copied the pictures to his computer, but so far, I haven't heard anything and I don't care.
With my camera, there were dozens of other electronics, including several GPSs. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't Bruce's, but it still might turn up. We'll see. The sad thing is that none of the serial numbers on any of the multitude of electronics came up in the system except my camera. There were iPods, GPSs, cameras, and more, and NONE of them came up. So, my friends, record your serial numbers, and REPORT them if they're stolen. You never know what might happen.
(And, in case you're not paying attention, that's *5* law enforcement agencies in just 4 days).
And we're not even to the 10th of December!
Since I last posted, let's see.....
*Thanksgiving: My parents came. The visit was tolerable. I don't really remember anything that stands out as obnoxious or otherwise a problem, though I'm sure my mom managed to annoy me a time or two. It is, after all, one of the things she does.
That weekend, my laptop imploded. So we bought me a new one, that's probably too big for my britches, but there it is, and I'm really enjoying it. However, we got it home and I tried to load things from my external hard drive. And it had imploded as well. Including all of my scrapbooking projects. With less than 3 weeks to go before I needed to have the Grandma books uploaded for Christmas.
Yeah. Exactly.
The technical geeks at PC Laptops were able to recover all my data from the old laptop, but the external was another matter. They tried, but they were only able to recover about 2/3 of the pages, and nothing after that in that folder, so I lost several years worth of work and a number of projects. On the upside, I was able to get those recovered pages into another book and I did eventually finish them and get them uploaded.....3 days late. So they won't arrive until next week. *sigh*
And MIL has been bleating about wanting pictures of the kids, but that's a rather amusing story I'll have to post later. This is supposed to be a brief catch-up.
*Then there was the car accident.
On the freeway.
During rush hour.
Yeah. That.
See, I was trying to change lanes, so I was looking over my shoulder at traffic in the next lane when traffic in my lane slowed waaaaay down. I hit the brakes and swerved, but it wasn't enough and I rear-ended the car in front of me.
Oops.
Yes, we were wearing our seat belts. And yes, we're fine. I had a bruise from the seat belt for about a week, but it's all good. Really, it is.
So, the van had to be towed and I got a ticket (my birthday money from my parents nearly covered that....thanks mom!) and it cost over $6000 and two weeks to fix the van. In the end, I'm grateful for insurance and that the van wasn't totaled. We don't own it yet, and the payment from the insurance wouldn't have been enough to buy something else outright. But as it turned out, I was worried for nothing and it all worked out in the end.
*The next day, one of my children came to me with some difficult news. Said child is really struggling, and while normally I'd say more than that, in the interest of maintaining that child's privacy, I'm not going to say much more. The child is now in counseling and seems to be making some progress. Prayers are appreciated, as always.
*The day after that, I got a call from Murray Police. At first, I wondered what Murray had to do with my accident, which was handled by the Highway Patrol with a ticket issued from South Salt Lake.
But it wasn't that. It seems my camera, the one that was stolen back in March, had turned up. In Taylorsville.
In a homicide investigation.
I couldn't make this up if I tried!
I got my camera back, after visiting the Unified Police Department's evidence storage building. See, Taylorsville PD contracts with them (they're essentially the sheriff's office). The detective needed my permission to look at the photos on the camera, just dotting i's and all of that, so that the "search" of the camera was legal. Apparently there were photos on the camera that pertained to his case, so he kept the SD card. He did tell me he'd give it back after he copied the pictures to his computer, but so far, I haven't heard anything and I don't care.
With my camera, there were dozens of other electronics, including several GPSs. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't Bruce's, but it still might turn up. We'll see. The sad thing is that none of the serial numbers on any of the multitude of electronics came up in the system except my camera. There were iPods, GPSs, cameras, and more, and NONE of them came up. So, my friends, record your serial numbers, and REPORT them if they're stolen. You never know what might happen.
(And, in case you're not paying attention, that's *5* law enforcement agencies in just 4 days).
And we're not even to the 10th of December!
Friday, November 4, 2011
30 Days of Thankfulness
1. For my husband, who heard my “I have no idea what to have for dinner tonight” and solved the problem.
2. For my boss, who paid for a chair massage for me last night at work.
3. For my husband, who has always made sure I can park my car in the garage.
4. Today was a day off for Alana. Bruce took Shannon to school so I didn’t have to get up and Alana let me sleep in until nearly 10:00 am.
5. For friends who buzzed at the last minute to let me know they were in the area and did I want to go for a treat? Yep, I sure did, and it was fabulous. I had such fun laughing and chatting with my friends!
Okay, so the daily thing didn't work out so well. But I can say that the thought of it changed me some. I found myself actively seeking out things, often very ordinary things, things that I wouldn't have paid any attention to, I sought them out, paid attention and was grateful for them. I remember one afternoon, sitting in the drive thru at McDonald's (don't judge me!). I was in a bit of a hurry, going from one volunteer engagement to another, and grabbing lunch on the go. Up in the foothills, I spotted a pair of hawks circling, circling, circling. It was so peaceful to watch them and I was thrilled to see them.
So, while I couldn't keep up with the daily tracking, I DID keep up with being thankful and I'm glad I did.
2. For my boss, who paid for a chair massage for me last night at work.
3. For my husband, who has always made sure I can park my car in the garage.
4. Today was a day off for Alana. Bruce took Shannon to school so I didn’t have to get up and Alana let me sleep in until nearly 10:00 am.
5. For friends who buzzed at the last minute to let me know they were in the area and did I want to go for a treat? Yep, I sure did, and it was fabulous. I had such fun laughing and chatting with my friends!
Okay, so the daily thing didn't work out so well. But I can say that the thought of it changed me some. I found myself actively seeking out things, often very ordinary things, things that I wouldn't have paid any attention to, I sought them out, paid attention and was grateful for them. I remember one afternoon, sitting in the drive thru at McDonald's (don't judge me!). I was in a bit of a hurry, going from one volunteer engagement to another, and grabbing lunch on the go. Up in the foothills, I spotted a pair of hawks circling, circling, circling. It was so peaceful to watch them and I was thrilled to see them.
So, while I couldn't keep up with the daily tracking, I DID keep up with being thankful and I'm glad I did.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
It's a God thing!
This past weekend was my annual Croptoberfest. It's one of two big crops I do every year--National Scrapbook Day in the spring and Croptoberfest in the fall. After a long and sometimes dry summer, Croptoberfest often jumpstarts my fall selling season and helps keep my business going.
This year, I was worried. I was still in the hole after having my purse stolen, and at the last minute, one of my regulars had to cancel. She usually brings a friend or two, so that left me down at least two attendees. I was worried. I had only three paying guests, plus one more who won a basket I donated to a church fundraiser.
So, I figured I'd do my best. I could still put on the event and make that profitable, though whether or not I could climb out of my hole was another matter all together.
Saturday morning, I lay awake fussing about all of this. I prayed for God to either bless my business or slam the door in my face, wondering if it was time to hang it up. I don't want to. I love being a consultant! But, I also know that I've sometimes held on to things longer than I should have, so I was asking for a sign or something to let me know which way I needed to go.
As I was preparing for the day, I got a phone call. I'd donated another basket to another fundraiser at a local elementary school. There were some tools in there that a former-consultant-friend (Thanks Allie!) had given me, plus two tickets to Croptoberfest. At the time I'd figured that people were more likely to come if they could bring a friend. I mean, really.....it's an invite to an event in a stranger's home.
Anyway....Caller's mother had bought the basket and she and her sister had just found out about it Saturday morning. Could they still come for a bit? Um SURE!
They were only able to come for a few hours, but they really enjoyed themselves and they plan to be back. Seems they used to scrap together once a month at a local scrapbooking store that has since gone out of business and they really miss it. I have to give a shout-out to my wonderful clients/friends, too, who included these new people into the group and really encouraged them to come again, mentioning my open house and what I do there, plus the fun we have at my monthly crops. The wine glasses put our new friends at ease as well....I guess they were worried that we'd be uptight Mormons who'd object to their coffee! ROFL!
And, I am now completely in the black! That feels SO good!
Thanks, Big Guy, for that sign. I sure needed that boost of confidence!
This year, I was worried. I was still in the hole after having my purse stolen, and at the last minute, one of my regulars had to cancel. She usually brings a friend or two, so that left me down at least two attendees. I was worried. I had only three paying guests, plus one more who won a basket I donated to a church fundraiser.
So, I figured I'd do my best. I could still put on the event and make that profitable, though whether or not I could climb out of my hole was another matter all together.
Saturday morning, I lay awake fussing about all of this. I prayed for God to either bless my business or slam the door in my face, wondering if it was time to hang it up. I don't want to. I love being a consultant! But, I also know that I've sometimes held on to things longer than I should have, so I was asking for a sign or something to let me know which way I needed to go.
As I was preparing for the day, I got a phone call. I'd donated another basket to another fundraiser at a local elementary school. There were some tools in there that a former-consultant-friend (Thanks Allie!) had given me, plus two tickets to Croptoberfest. At the time I'd figured that people were more likely to come if they could bring a friend. I mean, really.....it's an invite to an event in a stranger's home.
Anyway....Caller's mother had bought the basket and she and her sister had just found out about it Saturday morning. Could they still come for a bit? Um SURE!
They were only able to come for a few hours, but they really enjoyed themselves and they plan to be back. Seems they used to scrap together once a month at a local scrapbooking store that has since gone out of business and they really miss it. I have to give a shout-out to my wonderful clients/friends, too, who included these new people into the group and really encouraged them to come again, mentioning my open house and what I do there, plus the fun we have at my monthly crops. The wine glasses put our new friends at ease as well....I guess they were worried that we'd be uptight Mormons who'd object to their coffee! ROFL!
And, I am now completely in the black! That feels SO good!
Thanks, Big Guy, for that sign. I sure needed that boost of confidence!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The Whys and Wherefores
Okay, so some of you are wondering why I've clamped down my privacy a bit.
See, it's really weird and a bit creepy.
A friend of mine in CA was dealing with someone in real life who was creating all sorts of havoc in her world. My friend and this person (I'll call her SC) were both involved in an organization out there, and their children go to school together, etc, etc, etc. I don't even remember how the whole mess started, but SC went rather nuts and started accusing Friend of all sorts of strange (and mostly unfounded) things. SC went out of her way, looking for trouble, going so far as to stalking Friend's personal blog, and generally making cr@p up. It got weirder and weirder, and really made Friend's life difficult for a time, reporting to the school that SC's kids were being bullied by Friend's kids, that Friend's husband was behaving inappropriately (Friend's DH's job could've been affected by this), and so forth.
For the most part, the real world knows that SC is nuts. The more she talks, the more people know she's lost her marbles.
During the whole mess way back when, I posted a comment on one of Friend's blog entries, just generally trying to be supportive of Friend and telling SC (who was, at the time, still stalking the blog like a nut) to get a life. I barely remember what the blog entry and my comment were about and I certainly don't remember specifics.
Fast-forward several YEARS.....SC found that comment. She linked from Friend's blog over to my old blog, the one I essentially abandoned nearly 3 years ago, and commented there. In her comment to me, SC wants me to tell her just what I was referring to, what Friend was saying about her, etc, etc, etc. She left me her full name and address and kept referring to my friend as "this person, Name/Email handle." She asked me to give her the same honesty and benefit of the doubt I'd given Friend.
Um, what?!
Who the hell do you think you are lady?! And why in the world do you think I would help you continue a smear campaign against my friend? Seriously?!
I wanted to respond and tell her to get a life and never contact me again.
However, I know from what Friend has told me, that responding to her would just fuel the fire. So, I've filed that comment/email and I'm being a "black-hole." Hopefully, as far as SC knows, I never got that email.
But, see, the last entry in my old blog contains a link to this one. And that's when I started to get a bit weirded out. I know what SC has put my friend through and I have no plans to engage with her at all. I don't want to deal with random comments from her or further emails, etc, etc, etc.
So, I made this an invite-only blog. And, ironically, many of you probably never knew or had forgotten I even had a blog so now I've got more traffic here than I ever would've had otherwise.
Some people lead such small lives.
See, it's really weird and a bit creepy.
A friend of mine in CA was dealing with someone in real life who was creating all sorts of havoc in her world. My friend and this person (I'll call her SC) were both involved in an organization out there, and their children go to school together, etc, etc, etc. I don't even remember how the whole mess started, but SC went rather nuts and started accusing Friend of all sorts of strange (and mostly unfounded) things. SC went out of her way, looking for trouble, going so far as to stalking Friend's personal blog, and generally making cr@p up. It got weirder and weirder, and really made Friend's life difficult for a time, reporting to the school that SC's kids were being bullied by Friend's kids, that Friend's husband was behaving inappropriately (Friend's DH's job could've been affected by this), and so forth.
For the most part, the real world knows that SC is nuts. The more she talks, the more people know she's lost her marbles.
During the whole mess way back when, I posted a comment on one of Friend's blog entries, just generally trying to be supportive of Friend and telling SC (who was, at the time, still stalking the blog like a nut) to get a life. I barely remember what the blog entry and my comment were about and I certainly don't remember specifics.
Fast-forward several YEARS.....SC found that comment. She linked from Friend's blog over to my old blog, the one I essentially abandoned nearly 3 years ago, and commented there. In her comment to me, SC wants me to tell her just what I was referring to, what Friend was saying about her, etc, etc, etc. She left me her full name and address and kept referring to my friend as "this person, Name/Email handle." She asked me to give her the same honesty and benefit of the doubt I'd given Friend.
Um, what?!
Who the hell do you think you are lady?! And why in the world do you think I would help you continue a smear campaign against my friend? Seriously?!
I wanted to respond and tell her to get a life and never contact me again.
However, I know from what Friend has told me, that responding to her would just fuel the fire. So, I've filed that comment/email and I'm being a "black-hole." Hopefully, as far as SC knows, I never got that email.
But, see, the last entry in my old blog contains a link to this one. And that's when I started to get a bit weirded out. I know what SC has put my friend through and I have no plans to engage with her at all. I don't want to deal with random comments from her or further emails, etc, etc, etc.
So, I made this an invite-only blog. And, ironically, many of you probably never knew or had forgotten I even had a blog so now I've got more traffic here than I ever would've had otherwise.
Some people lead such small lives.
Friday, October 7, 2011
The Astonishing Power of Cup of Tea
We went camping over the weekend, down to Capitol Reef National Park. It was likely our last camping trip of the season, though I'm hoping to go one more time (That's another post, however). With us were 6 other families loosely (or not) associated with our church.
One woman, a dear friend, has had a rough time lately. Her mother is older and struggling with health issues. She's recently moved into a retirement center, and my friend is trying to handle her doctor appointments, financial situation, etc, etc. Friend's siblings are, shall we say, less than helpful. Friend also has an elementary-aged child and a college child who's recently moved home. Friend could be the poster child for the "sandwich generation," bless her heart, and it's taking it's toll.
Saturday night is traditionally potluck night. Everyone brings meat for their family, plus a side dish to share. There's usually a bottle of wine (or two) and beer to go around, plus chips, salsa, guacamole and other equally fancy appetizers. After the potluck comes the kids' favorite moment--S'more time! All across the campground you hear parents telling their children that, if they want a s'more later, they MUST eat their dinner. My children are often reminded that dinner needs to include more than chips.....
So, after dinner and a couple of beers, it started to get chilly, so I headed into the trailer to make some tea (mate, actually, which is a South American brewed leafy thing....they put it in "tea" bags for us white folks). Friend mentioned that tea sounded good, and after smelling the mate, asked me for some. I dropped in a few sugar cubes, the mate bag, and poured the hot water and off we went for more catching up.
However. My friend cradled that tea cup.....a Disney insulated mug.....and said "I'm blessed to have you." When I went on with my business, stirring, and squeezing, she took my chin in her hand. She looked me square in they eye and said again "I'm blessed to have you."
It was a powerful moment. Simple, really. All I did was share my tea; brewing a cup for each of us to ward off the fall chill. And yet. For her, it was so much more than that. And she made sure I knew it.
But that's the thing about those every day kindnesses. We never truly know when someone needs that. We don't often know how much those little things are appreciated. But those things can be so very powerful in the life of someone else.
One woman, a dear friend, has had a rough time lately. Her mother is older and struggling with health issues. She's recently moved into a retirement center, and my friend is trying to handle her doctor appointments, financial situation, etc, etc. Friend's siblings are, shall we say, less than helpful. Friend also has an elementary-aged child and a college child who's recently moved home. Friend could be the poster child for the "sandwich generation," bless her heart, and it's taking it's toll.
Saturday night is traditionally potluck night. Everyone brings meat for their family, plus a side dish to share. There's usually a bottle of wine (or two) and beer to go around, plus chips, salsa, guacamole and other equally fancy appetizers. After the potluck comes the kids' favorite moment--S'more time! All across the campground you hear parents telling their children that, if they want a s'more later, they MUST eat their dinner. My children are often reminded that dinner needs to include more than chips.....
So, after dinner and a couple of beers, it started to get chilly, so I headed into the trailer to make some tea (mate, actually, which is a South American brewed leafy thing....they put it in "tea" bags for us white folks). Friend mentioned that tea sounded good, and after smelling the mate, asked me for some. I dropped in a few sugar cubes, the mate bag, and poured the hot water and off we went for more catching up.
However. My friend cradled that tea cup.....a Disney insulated mug.....and said "I'm blessed to have you." When I went on with my business, stirring, and squeezing, she took my chin in her hand. She looked me square in they eye and said again "I'm blessed to have you."
It was a powerful moment. Simple, really. All I did was share my tea; brewing a cup for each of us to ward off the fall chill. And yet. For her, it was so much more than that. And she made sure I knew it.
But that's the thing about those every day kindnesses. We never truly know when someone needs that. We don't often know how much those little things are appreciated. But those things can be so very powerful in the life of someone else.
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