I’ve been very busy the past few weeks and have neglected to
blog for a while now. What have I been
doing with all of my time? I have very
little idea or recollection. I’m sure it
was “important” at the time, but not important enough to remember now. Or I am just unable to recall…
Let’s see… We helped my sister-in-law inventory my
mother-in-law’s estate. We have been
helping a sick friend – Dear hubby does most of it, I just help out by taking
care of his mail and making sure his bills are paid on time while he’s not able
to keep up with it. I have also began
indexing for FamilySearch.org and have become an arbitrator for them as
well. I’ve spent a good bit of time on
this I suppose since I have the physical limitations that I do and it keeps my
mind occupied and focused, and of course it is a great way for me to perform
service in the Lord’s kingdom without being on my feet.
I’ve been doing some
organizing and re-organizing of little things around the house like my recipe
box and craft supplies, and I have started planning a 60th birthday
party for dear husband… so far all I’ve accomplished is getting invitations in
the mail. I have NO idea what else I
need to be doing at the moment for it other than some planning. I’ve been looking on Pinterest for some ideas
for a birthday cake but so far haven’t found anything that fits him or the occasion.
I have found a few
crafts to do but I find I really have to pace myself due to the arthritis in my
hands and of course if I whip right through them (as I’d like to – I love
things in mass) I run out of financial resources to have anything more to
do. I have returned to making cakes for
family occasions but this too is somewhat difficult with the arthritis in my
hands, but at least I can sit down and don’t have someone over my shoulder and
a time clock ticking keeping me stressed out and sucking the enjoyment out of
it. My skills have certainly faded over
the years and I think it will take more time than I originally thought it would
to get them back. It just isn’t coming
to me as natural as it once did. I’m a
bit disappointed in the results so far but I suppose people who have never done
a cake have an appreciation for my attempts anyway. I do have a bit of a ways to go for
certain. I also have had to re-acquire equipment
and supplies since I let them go years ago.
I’m also having sticker shock. It
will take a while to rebuild my supply of pans, tips, and a host of other
necessities.
I attempted to return to crocheting. I used to do a fair amount of it but it has
been years and years ago. I have found
that 15-20 minutes every other day is my limit as it is extremely difficult with
my arthritis so I’ve been looking for other things to occupy me.
I’ve have just about
run out of beads for other projects.
Dear husband took me to Hobby Lobby a little while back to acquire some
beads and OH MY! The prices have
increased tremendously over the last few years.
This too will limit my ability to pursue jewelry making much more than I
would like. I was just getting started
with jewelry with old beads I already had but have pretty much used them all
up. I’ve considered card making but am somewhat
discouraged at the quality of homemade cards and my inability to gather the
necessary equipment and supplies to make high quality cards. Who knew you needed “equipment“ to make a
card? This also seems to be the standard
for scrap-booking now. Looking at the
scrapbook I had put together over 10 years ago before all these new gadgets, techniques
and supplies I am discouraged enough to not even bother because the level of
quality with what I do have available to me is so below par that it is just
better left alone because I’d never be happy with the results. It seems the bar has been raised in all the
areas I’d most like to get my hands in to but the purse is empty and I seem to
have found myself at a roadblock. Wow
have I ever been out of the crafting world for a while!
It seems like I won’t be making as much progress as I'd like in any one of
these pursuits any time soon. This is
discouraging because I finally feel like doing something for a change. Between feeling so poorly physically and the
dark cloud of depression that covers me for long periods of time I just haven’t
felt like doing ANYTHING. Now I have
some desire to do some things and find the resources much more limited than I
ever imagined they’d be. Patience in NOT
one of my virtues, but discouragement is.
I’m trying very hard not to give up a glimmer of hope that I might eventually
acquire the necessary supplies to progress in these activities. After all physical limitations really limit
the types of things I’m able to indulge in (other than chocolate). It is easier to sit here and come up with a
list of things I can’t do than it is to find the motivation to DO much of
anything.
I am so grateful for
the opportunity to do some indexing to keep my mind off the things that limit
me so much. I suppose that indexing and
arbitration are my calling for now, and it IS an important thing to do. That brings satisfaction to it too. This is apparently the ‘season’ of my life to
focus on things of this nature, The rest I suppose the good Lord will supply in
due time.
I suppose these are
some of the places that I can’t recall where my time has went. Of course there is much more that seemed
important when it was in front of me but not important enough to remember
afterwards. Maybe my memory is just
fading as I find myself getting older?
Sounds like a good excuse anyway.
I can attest to the truth that an idle mind (or hands) is
the devils workshop. And I have felt the sky a little brighter when I have
something I enjoy doing in front of me. Depression, physical limitations, chronic pain
and especially a fairly fresh empty nest has taken it’s toll and I hope brighter
days are ahead. I know staying distracted
from these things does help and Lord knows the devil doesn’t need any more
workers in his workshop!
