Today I am Thankful

Sunday

It was a beautiful day today. The first cup of coffee this morning - made for me by hubby - tasted just right. The line at the grocery store wasn't too long, so we have a turkey and many goodies to go with it in the fridge ready for later in the week. Hubby's friend from out of town who came for the funeral stopped by on his way out of town for one more visit. And hubby and his baby brother spent the rest of the day at Mom's house replacing toilets, putting up shelves, putting up blinds, and just general handy man things that good sons do for their Moms.

I got to talk to one of my bestest friends who lives in Texas. I received mail from a new friend in Canada. The laundry got done, the birds got fed, I got to play a bunch, and we had ice cream for dessert. All in all, it was a day to be thankful for.

Postcard I received from Canada - titles of songs from the 1920's

Mail Art I made that will go in the mailbox tomorrow.

an envelope I made from a page from a seed catalog:

a stamped envelope:

a collaged postcard:

Have a wonder-full week,

Observations on a Weekend

Little dirty feet always seem to be wet, thereby leaving little dirty footprints/smudges on every inch of tile floor.

Coffee really does taste the best on Sunday mornings when it can be drunk slowly (with no three-year-olds around!).

It is possible to do four things at once: boil potatoes for salad (and beets for lunch), run a load of laundry, water the backyard, and vacuum.

If you feed them, they will come. (In this case, the birds; but I’m sure it applies to other areas as well.) ;)

Tuna salad is good for breakfast.

Three-year-olds are easy to please when it comes to buying birthday presents. (I asked my granddaughter what she wanted for her birthday next Saturday. She said, “avocado.” I asked her how many and she said, “two.” Then I asked her how old she was going to be and she said, “July.” )

When my daughter was young, she jabbered ALL THE TIME!! (She even got a sweatshirt for Christmas one year that said, “Help! I’m talking and I can’t shut up.”) Granddaughter is turning out to be exactly like her mother. ;)

The little 3 ounce single serve cups of ice cream that you can buy by the dozen from the supermarket are really, really good!

Naps are wonderful.

Trying to get motivated and accomplish anything after a nap of more than an hour is next to impossible.

Inspiration In Your Bag

I recently ran across the Wish Studio, and a post called "inspiration in your bag." Mindy, the Creative Editor and Hostess, created a collage from things found in her bag/purse. It's very small scale (aka easy and doable!), quickly satisfies your creative itch, and helps to clean out your purse at the same time!

Mindy challenged other bloggers to give it a try. And Laurel posted a couple on her blog, Laurel's Art Journal. She also incorporated bits and pieces of stuff from her desk.

I had so much fun last weekend creating my garden collages. And I go through periods where I save all kinds of snippets of this and tidbits of that for just such projects. (for example, I've been walking around the house for hours with a little produce sticker off of a lemon stuck to the back of my hand cause it has a cute little bee on it.)

I decided my medium, at least for one collage, was going to be the little subscription postcards that are tucked into magazines (and fall all over the floor as soon as you pick one up). (I tried origami with them once, but they're really too thick for folding that small.)

Here's the reverse side of the card:


and my finished collage on the front.


For the second one, I used a photo that didn't print correctly on my printer as the base.

The little zen monk in the bottom corner is attached with a brad so that he spins. Don't know why he needs to spin, but . . . he does. :)

Most of the materials I used came from my desk, and a few things were even pulled out of the trash can. This was great fun. I'm thinking I might just have to start spending every Sunday afternoon this way.

Happy collecting!

The "Weekbetween"

Another weekend is winding down. And a pretty good one it was, with a fair balance of productivity and pleasantness. There was the feeling of satisfaction from chores accomplished. There was good food and time spent with family. There were naps. There was time outdoors.

And although I’d prefer that tomorrow would be just another Sunday and did not necessitate the return to work, I want to reflect for a moment on this concept of the “weekend.”

We say we’re “working for the weekend,” we “can’t wait for the weekend,” “only three more days until the weekend!” But what about the time in between? Isn’t every other day of the week worth as much as Friday? Shouldn’t we wake up every day with the same enthusiasm as we do on Saturday?

I’m just as guilty as anyone else - I mark the days off my calendar to hurry to get to Friday. But lately I’ve become more aware that this is my life going by. I rush through the week to get to Saturday, but that’s a week of my life that’s now behind me. There aren’t any do overs and I don’t get it back. It’s just gone. Period. And that’s starting to bother me.

I’m going to try to shift my focus to the “weekbetween.” I really must try to do something meaningful each day, to experience something memorable at every opportunity, to notice the beauty that can be found pretty much anywhere I look for it. It doesn’t have to be anything big. I saw a single yellow butterfly in the backyard a couple days ago. And it’s late in the year already for butterflies here in the desert. It was beautiful in a simple way, and it made that moment special.

I know there are probably a lot of special moments that I’m missing. But I’m going to pay more attention. It won’t be easy. But it’ll be worth it.

Have a good weekbetween!