Who/What Do I Really Love?

Monday afternoon April 20th 2020

Who/what do I really love?  In what ways is this good for me/not good for me? 

Last week was the week I made some cloth masks.

I hauled down plastic crates of fabrics gathered from projects and stored.

Short-sleeved shirts bought from the shop for Glenn are too short in the sleeves.

What I’ve done is buy long sleeved shirts and cut them to ‘longer short’ sleeves.

So – I had a bunch of sleeve cut-offs as well as loads of other fabrics.

The sleeves did for the outer layers of three masks, the other fabrics for the other layers.

I felt like using the striped cut off of one of my T shirts for the fourth mask.

I fiddled around with a pattern from the internet.

And in the end I made it my own to make it more comfortable.

So – here are my four masks.

I might make some more – I learnt from mine, and seeing the ones Dianne made…

And then it was on to thinking about our 71^st and 75^th birthday and also 50^th wedding anniversary - all on the same day…

Doug came and asked what we’d like to mark the occasion.

He offered for his family to make dinner for us.

That felt lovely!  I gratefully accepted.

Later I thought… I know what would be meaningful to me!

If his children (more technologically adept than I) would digitize my photograph albums…

He discussed it with them and they agreed.

Sigh of relief…

We enjoyed a lovely evening with them – roast dinner at Glenn’s request,

and vanilla cake with chocolate icing for me and melktert for Glenn for desert!

At a later time we’ll take off for a weekend somewhere…

And now to the question for the week:

Who/What do I really love? 

In what ways is this good for me/not good for me?

Well – I really love living my life. 

Isn’t this little lizard just exquisite?

And I paused a couple of times this week to enjoy a beautifully marked large moth and another time a smaller but still magnificent little moth.

I am amazed at the gorgeous detail in a flower.

Yesterday I sat and watched a couple of birds bouncing on the stems of the geranium outside the spare room window.

I love the sound of the wind swishing through the pine needles in the park opposite us.

I love the taste and texture of my breakfast fruit and vegetable smoothie each morning.

I love the feel of the cotton sheets on our bed.

I love living and learning.

A long time ago – it seems – I decided on ten priorities for me to concentrate on each day.  I wrote them out and stuck them in the lid of the plastic box that contains my makeup I apply every day.

 Each day I remind myself of what is important to me.  If/When I want to I will change my list.

“Do my best – most of the time” is really, really honest.  Sometimes I just do not want to do my best. I am ornery.  That signals to me that it’s time for me to take some “Time Out.”  Sometimes ‘sufficient’ is good enough, my ‘best’ is not necessary.  I try for enough for each “thing” I need to participate in, not too little and not too much.  I like the phrase “sufficient for my (these) needs.”

And – I have long wanted to become a woman of faith and commitment, wisdom and courage.

When I go to bed at night I want to have few regrets.

And, when I depart this life, I want to be glad to go and report rather than look back with regrets.

In what ways is this list and my daily life good for me?

It keeps me from being too distracted by all the fascinating and interesting things and people that happen upon my daily path.

Concentrating on my list of ten helps me have time to meander, wander and wonder, read something uplifting and learn something every day.  I enjoy my days because they don’t get too crowded.

In what ways might my priorities and my daily life not be good for me?

I might miss someone or something critically important for me to attend to… 

I hope not too blinkered to miss who or what is vital for me to see, hear, be a part of…

To each of us our own priorities…

Who/What do you really love?  In what ways is this good for you/not good for you?

Love

Mom / Judy / Gran Judy etc