I've spent my time doing a lot of thinking, making some changes, making some lists, enjoying my family, and quilting!
Probably the most profound thing I thought was that
Life Should Be Full of Quality Time. Go about your daily lives, but make sure the time you spend with family is quality time, the time you spend with friends is quality time, the time you spend quilting is quality time. I was wasting so much time on the computer in the mornings that the rest of the day got wasted too. So, I've gone "special notices only" on a couple of chat lists, unsubbed from a lot of ads, reduced my inbox to quality emails that I want to receive. It has freed up quite a bit of time for me to be more productive in other areas.
These thoughts weren't just because of Jean's death, of course, but I am inspired by her. She lived a long and happy life and I will always remember that she was the hardest working person I ever met -- she never just sat around on the computer -- she would come to our house to visit and go out and pull weeds in the flower beds! And she still spent quality time with friends and family.
So, I'm driving up to see the grandkids about once a week; I'm making those phone calls to family I always put off (because I hate talking on the phone) -- my late sister's husband told me he and his sister trade off calls about every two weeks -- just five minutes to say Hi and we're doing okay, how 'bout you? -- I thought that was a great idea, just to keep in touch with those that don't live in the area; I contacted an old college friend whose friendship had been reduced to Christmas cards -- we all have busy lives, but here's where the computer can be an asset, I think.
I've made a Loose Ends list. This is not something morbid, not things I want to do before I die --(well, actually, I do need to get them finished by then!) - it's a list of all those things I need to finish. I've already crossed a couple of things off the list. I finally finished putting the stack of photos I had sitting around into the albums; I spent a couple of hours piecing leftover batting scraps into larger pieces and measured and marked the larger pieces to make it easier to use them; it has been my habit for years to grab a large piece of Warm & Natural batting to pin to a quilt hanging in the clutter room to use as a design wall -- I now have a large piece of batting that is pieced from many smaller pieces and it will be my go-to design wall instead of wasting a good piece; I bought a picture hanger kit yesterday at Wal Mart and last night Bill and I hung the poster sized collage our dear son-in-law designed and made for him for Father's Day - and that explains the photo! Bill was a belly-gunner and mechanic in the US Navy during WWII -- he flew in the Liberator planes in the Pacific. He was 17 when he joined the Navy, right out of high school - he came back at the age of 20 and went to college on the GI bill
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Gratitudes:
Time - either to waste or be productive, it's my choice.
Bloggers -- I consider reading my favorite blogs quality time!
AJ - even when he's being a bit of a devil.
Briana - she babysat Will yesterday so Mom could get a shower in.
Will -- poor baby now has Thrush, probably because he falls asleep when he's nursing, with milk in his mouth!
Bill -- I am proud to be his wife.
At my dear sister-in-law's funeral, her kids asked me if I would like to have her treadle sewing machine. Of course, I said yes! (I thought her daughter would keep it, but she didn't want it). Turns out that it was actually Bill's mother's sewing machine (Bill and his siblings are in their 80's). We went down today and picked it up, had lunch with Jean's son, Ken, and his other sister, Anne. Ken has the dubious pleasure of being the executor of her estate, so they are in the process of cleaning out her condo, etc. He would have been extremely happy if Bill and I had backed up the truck and loaded it up with a whole bunch of other "stuff", but sorry, that didn't happen! LOL He did stick a wooden pump to put in my flower bed on the truck, though!
