Today is Tuesday, March 9, 2010. The sun is shining. I am so happy.
I picked up my journal this morning to write about yesterday's experiences. I also picked up the beautiful silver pen I bought at Christmas time. It was supposed to be a present for my husband. He needs a nice pen to have at the Temple. I thought this one would be just what he needed.
He opened the box on Christmas Day and we both were quite happy. However, when he tried to write with it, it didn't work out so well. This beautiful silver pen is too fat to hold firm. And he needs to be able to hold a pen firm. With his shaky hand he must have a firm grip.
I was disappointed. And he was disappointed. "Oh, well," I thought, "I can use this beautiful pen."
I took it in my hand and tried to grasp it - Guess what? It is too fat for me to hold firm, too. I wrote with it anyway and I am all over the lines. It is hard to control it and write neatly.
"I will conquer this pen," I said. "I will learn to hold it correctly and write neatly."
Each day I tried to use it to write in my journal. And each day, after writing a few lines, I would set it aside, take up a less beautiful pen and finish the entry in my journal. And feel a bit sad.
Just this morning I took up the beautiful pen to try again. Same thing happened as before. And added today is that I have ink all over my fingers. Where did that come from? I can't see any ink on the pen but I have it all over my fingers. Darn!!
Why does this pen, more expensive than a BIC, cause such a problem with writing? Oh well, give me a cheap-o pen that writes neatly and is not too fat. Live and learn. But why does it have to be expensive to live and learn?
I guess that is a fact of life.
That's all for today.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Time
Today is Monday, March 8, 2010. It looks like it might be sunny today. I can just see the beginning of sunlight on the tip of the roof of the house next door. I hope the sun shines today.
It's about time I wrote something in my blog.
Where has the time gone since the New Year started? Here we are into the third month of 2010 and I have written nothing. Oh, my! So much has happened in these first two months. I have accomplished a few things (are they of any worth? that is the next question.)
For Christmas one of my granddaughters gave me a plastic canvas kit of a darling snowman, a wall hanging. I started right away on it and once it was completed, I decided I wanted to do some more canvas stitchery. I went to the fabric/craft store to find some patterns. I bought a book about a plastic canvas village. Let's see, I made three of those cute little houses. The roofs make a lid and you can fill them with candy, jewelry, or whatever else you might want. Oh, sure! I need three plastic canvas houses to fill with candy, jewelry, or whatever. I had fun making them, though. And I could use them as gifts. (Who wants a cute little house filled with candy or whatever?)
Then I decided I should try to do something more useful. I read an article about knitting hats for newborns. That might be a useful project. For years I have wanted to try those circular looms. I went back to the fabric/craft store to check out the looms. I decided to buy the whole kit and kaboodle - a blue (small), a red (just a little larger), a green (larger yet), and a yellow (large). Now, who do I know that wears a knitted hat? I could think of no one. Oh, well! My whole purpose was to knit a hat for a newborn.
I went right to work. It wasn't as quick and fast as I thought it would be. The crazy tool they supplied to move the yarn off the pegs - well, I won't talk about it. I found that the plastic needle they supplied to close the top of the cap was way more effective than the crazy tool. (Stick this out, Barbara, you WILL complete a cap!) (These projects also give me time to watch my favorite shows on TV - In The Heat of the Night and Bonanza. I also like to watch old movies - the ones I like, that is.)
Anyway, I finally completed one cute little cap. It took me a long time. Well, at least several hours. I thought I could knit a little cap faster on needles. I searched out my knitting needles and started a little cap that way. Guess what? It wasn't as fast as I thought. And then when I finished knitting I had to close up the top PLUS sew the side seam. I went back to the little blue round loom.
Just a side note about the cute little loom. In my grandmother's day, they would place little nails around the hole of a spool of thread and use the same process to "knit" a necklace - tiny little beads strung on a thread, twisted around the little nails and pulled over - just like this little loom idea for a hat. Amazing to think about! I have bits of one of those necklaces that she made so long ago.
Back to the knitted hats - As of today I have made 4 little caps for newborn babies and am working on the fifth one. Just so you know, I have done a few other things during these two months of the new year. I have indexed over a thousand names, been to my Temple assignment at least 18 times, been a docent at the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse at least 4 times, totally emptied and cleaned out the pantry, made a trip to Seattle to visit our youngest daughter and her family, spent a day in the hospital with another daughter while she had surgery, plus a whole bunch of other things, like go to Church, practice the piano, cook meals, wash dishes, wash clothes. You know, regular routine stuff. Looking back over the days, maybe I have used my time to be of some value.
How many times have I said in my life, "I don't have time." My mother used to say to me "You have as much time as the President." What does that have to do with anything? Did she mean the President accomplished a lot of good things or what? I would think, "Well, the President has many helpers to accomplish his goals."
My grandmother used to say "You can make time for what you really want to do." I think that is a fairly true statement. Granted, you can't make time for EVERYTHING you really want to do, but somehow, each of us do a bunch of rearranging our time to do some of the things we most want to do.
Right now, I need to use this month to get ready to go to Nauvoo, Illinois, for 6 months. Most of you already know that we have been called on a mission to serve there in the Temple during the busy season. And we are very excited to have that privilege. Nauvoo, the beautiful! That is how the early members of the Church spoke of it. It is beautiful. I know that our time there will be a special part of our lives. As we reflect on this new mission assignment we also reflect on our previous missions. Those were the "best of times."
Speaking of time - it is time to move away from the computer and go get some breakfast. I hope all of you have a good time today and take time to do something for someone else and then some time to do something just for yourself.
That's all for today!
It's about time I wrote something in my blog.
Where has the time gone since the New Year started? Here we are into the third month of 2010 and I have written nothing. Oh, my! So much has happened in these first two months. I have accomplished a few things (are they of any worth? that is the next question.)
For Christmas one of my granddaughters gave me a plastic canvas kit of a darling snowman, a wall hanging. I started right away on it and once it was completed, I decided I wanted to do some more canvas stitchery. I went to the fabric/craft store to find some patterns. I bought a book about a plastic canvas village. Let's see, I made three of those cute little houses. The roofs make a lid and you can fill them with candy, jewelry, or whatever else you might want. Oh, sure! I need three plastic canvas houses to fill with candy, jewelry, or whatever. I had fun making them, though. And I could use them as gifts. (Who wants a cute little house filled with candy or whatever?)
Then I decided I should try to do something more useful. I read an article about knitting hats for newborns. That might be a useful project. For years I have wanted to try those circular looms. I went back to the fabric/craft store to check out the looms. I decided to buy the whole kit and kaboodle - a blue (small), a red (just a little larger), a green (larger yet), and a yellow (large). Now, who do I know that wears a knitted hat? I could think of no one. Oh, well! My whole purpose was to knit a hat for a newborn.
I went right to work. It wasn't as quick and fast as I thought it would be. The crazy tool they supplied to move the yarn off the pegs - well, I won't talk about it. I found that the plastic needle they supplied to close the top of the cap was way more effective than the crazy tool. (Stick this out, Barbara, you WILL complete a cap!) (These projects also give me time to watch my favorite shows on TV - In The Heat of the Night and Bonanza. I also like to watch old movies - the ones I like, that is.)
Anyway, I finally completed one cute little cap. It took me a long time. Well, at least several hours. I thought I could knit a little cap faster on needles. I searched out my knitting needles and started a little cap that way. Guess what? It wasn't as fast as I thought. And then when I finished knitting I had to close up the top PLUS sew the side seam. I went back to the little blue round loom.
Just a side note about the cute little loom. In my grandmother's day, they would place little nails around the hole of a spool of thread and use the same process to "knit" a necklace - tiny little beads strung on a thread, twisted around the little nails and pulled over - just like this little loom idea for a hat. Amazing to think about! I have bits of one of those necklaces that she made so long ago.
Back to the knitted hats - As of today I have made 4 little caps for newborn babies and am working on the fifth one. Just so you know, I have done a few other things during these two months of the new year. I have indexed over a thousand names, been to my Temple assignment at least 18 times, been a docent at the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse at least 4 times, totally emptied and cleaned out the pantry, made a trip to Seattle to visit our youngest daughter and her family, spent a day in the hospital with another daughter while she had surgery, plus a whole bunch of other things, like go to Church, practice the piano, cook meals, wash dishes, wash clothes. You know, regular routine stuff. Looking back over the days, maybe I have used my time to be of some value.
How many times have I said in my life, "I don't have time." My mother used to say to me "You have as much time as the President." What does that have to do with anything? Did she mean the President accomplished a lot of good things or what? I would think, "Well, the President has many helpers to accomplish his goals."
My grandmother used to say "You can make time for what you really want to do." I think that is a fairly true statement. Granted, you can't make time for EVERYTHING you really want to do, but somehow, each of us do a bunch of rearranging our time to do some of the things we most want to do.
Right now, I need to use this month to get ready to go to Nauvoo, Illinois, for 6 months. Most of you already know that we have been called on a mission to serve there in the Temple during the busy season. And we are very excited to have that privilege. Nauvoo, the beautiful! That is how the early members of the Church spoke of it. It is beautiful. I know that our time there will be a special part of our lives. As we reflect on this new mission assignment we also reflect on our previous missions. Those were the "best of times."
Speaking of time - it is time to move away from the computer and go get some breakfast. I hope all of you have a good time today and take time to do something for someone else and then some time to do something just for yourself.
That's all for today!
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