Sometimes I really feel like things are getting away from me. Trying to fit all I need to do and all I want to do in a day is a challenge.
It always surprises me when I come back to post and find it's been a month since the last one. I would like to change that, I suppose it needs to be a line item in my planner each week.
I also feel boring. My life is unremarkable, there is little drama or excitement by others' standards so I think I feel like I can't post unless there is a bunch new to say.
Still, there is something satisfying about putting words on a page and seeing bits of one's life in some semblance of order.
Not that things feel orderly at the moment. On the surface, I suppose it would certainly look like we have things well in hand and are sailing along a ripple-less sea. We know any moment, though, that the ripples are coming, we hope they are made by a pebble and not a boulder. What are we waiting on? The Big Move. It still has not happened. Brian and Rebekah are in it for the long haul, they want the house and are jumping through the hoops set before them. They are in no hurry and can ride it out until they move, or for some reason the deal falls through.
While they wait, so do we. Joshua is ready to move out, but the planned move is into their old apartment. If it goes much longer, he'll go somewhere else and has a promising plan B already in mind.
Jonathan is looking forward to making their shared room his own and has paint colors picked out and new furniture placement in mind.
Also floating along is my quilting business. I've got several patterns well under way, but am lacking the program I need. Very soon I will have enough for that and hopefully that will give me a needed jump start. I'm enjoying this process immensely and it's a win/win. If I can help my family budget, that will be great. If it doesn't really go anywhere, I haven't lost anything and have tapped into a part of me I didn't know existed. As I play with, and get lost in, patterns and colors, this all seems possible. When I look at the work of putting it all together and getting "out there" it seems decidedly less possible.
Through it all, Ruthie is like a little anchor. For her, all of this doesn't really exist. We all may feel on pins and needles waiting for things to happen, but her days are pretty consistent. Even on the most scattered feeling of days, her smile can calm us all. Here she is getting a haircut from big sister, Rebekah.
She loves grocery day. Putting away groceries takes twice as long when she decides she wants to help, but it sure is fun. She pulls everything out of the bags, one by one, and
names the item. If she doesn't know, she asks "wha' zis?" and I say what it is and she repeats it. It's good exercise for me, too, I normally pick the bags up and put them on the counter, but when Ruthie empties them I have to bend down to the floor to pick up each item. We're taking advantage of her desire to help and let her do so wheneve
r we can.
names the item. If she doesn't know, she asks "wha' zis?" and I say what it is and she repeats it. It's good exercise for me, too, I normally pick the bags up and put them on the counter, but when Ruthie empties them I have to bend down to the floor to pick up each item. We're taking advantage of her desire to help and let her do so wheneve
r we can. Her sense of pretend is ramping up which is really fun to see. She combines all her different toys to play and it's quite amusing. We have to pretend we aren't listening/watching or she'll stop. She also loves anything remotely like a cell phone and will have long conversations on them complete with pauses to "listen" to the person on the other end and laughter at their "responses."
Joshua's girlfriend is an art major and wants to be a photographer. Ruthie tends to stay shy with people for a long time, but Kayla figured out how to tap into Ruthie's love of being photographed and can get her to pose and follow directions to get the picture she wants. She was in the middle of taking pictures of her when Ruthie pulled her foot up to her chin, and she was able to capture it. The coloring was part of an art project for school.
So, generally, we're sailing along pretty smoothly right now, waiting for waves we hope are only ripples as we settle into a new normal with one more of our kids moved out of the house.
And through it all, I quilt. Sometimes it helps me think, sometimes it helps me NOT think, and always at the end I have something made with my own hands and heart.
Life is good.
Sue
