Same Time Last Year

Sunny Sunday at last! It’s a reason to cheer. I’m feeling a little more optimistic. I have my blue sweater, earrings and eyebrows on. I’m not moving any faster but breakfast and dishes are done. The kitchen floor swept. I have plans of picking up my knitting needles and starting another logcabin quilt. My sister said she would love one. It’s easier when you are making it for someone. Having projects is good for the heart and soul. And it is good to follow through and finish. So I shall work on following through to finish this Ultimate Blog Challenge.

I am feeling grateful on this Sunday remembering how far I’ve come from the same time last year. This time last year was the 3rd month after my mother had passed. I had tubes in my ears. I was still without much hearing but had alot of choral music and singing in my head. It drove me a bit batty. I felt cognitively impaired and exhausted. The good thing was I was able to sleep. It was in January that I started a daily journal, charting how I was hearing and the noise in my head. I stopped sometimes in June because I was too focused on my maladies. It wasn’t good for my mental or physical health.

This time last year I was stressed and distressed. I was surprisingly not depressed. I knew I had to be careful and not sink into those blues. I had to keep my spirits up to heal. I read Caroline Myss’s and Herbert Benson’s books on healing. I meditated on the word joy. I painted it. I walked to the mall, the Dollar Store, the Asian Market. I walked somewhere every day. Today I am surprised by how much I did this time last year.

I am rejoicing at this recollection of my warrior self. I still have it in me to ‘joy’ on. February is on the horizon. My 2026 100dayproject will be doing another 100 logcabin quilt squares. I better sharpen my rotary cutter, clean and oil my Bernina 790 sewing machine.

Books Not Read; quilt not finished

I’m in danger of a no show on this 23rd day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I thought I best sit my butt down and get to work. My mind is scattered, neither here nor there. Today I’ve been out for lunch with my retired cronies from work. We don’t see each other frequently so it can get lively and lengthy. Then an hour later, I’m out for coffee with my father and some of our Chinese friends. It’s no wonder I’m all talked out and not much left in my head.

This is the year of short attention span. The only thing that can hold my attention is serious murder mysteries on Britbox. I want to do better than that. I’m working on reading but I haven’t been able to finish one book in a very, very long time. I still take out books that catches my eye from the library and on Libby. They’re free. The library no longer fine overdue books. The books online disappears on their own when the time is up. So why not, even if I manage to read a few pages here and there. I can still gleen nuggets of wisdom and I can enjoy short snippets of a story. I don’t have to have the whole enchilada.

I discovered the word acedia from Kathleen Norris’s Acedia & Me. At present I’m working on her The Cloister Walk because I am interested in monastic life. I don’t know how far I will read. I need just tidbits. I was reading Angela’s Ashes. It was quite interesting but I’ve left it behind. I’ve also left behind The Swedish Art of Aging Exuberantly. Am I not already doing that already? I don’t think I need instructions. I haven’t cracked open Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America yet. I will soon. I am on page 39 of Caroline Myss’ Anatomy of the Spirit.

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I did not have enough gas to finish my post yesterday. I’ve covered only a few of the books I did not finish reading this year. I am working on getting my head together. I went to Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild Show and Sale this morning and was blown away by all the creative quilters in our midst. I was especially impressed and inspired by Debora Barlow. She was the 2024 National Juried Show Best of Show winner with the quilt Weir Fishing.

Possibly now I am inspired enough to finish my log cabin quilt that’s been waiting for years for me to put it together.