This past weekend was exceptionally full. I had grand plans of quilting (I did get some time to quilt on Saturday), but life clearly had other plans for me.
Saturday Quilting
Earlier tonight (Sunday) at the end of yet another full day, I found myself at home alone for a few minutes unexpectedly. I turned on my sewing machine and gave reverse applique a try. I’ve never done it before. I didn’t look up any tutorials (if I had, I would not have had time to sew); I just grabbed two fabric scraps and sewed them together in a way that made sense to me. My husband promptly returned home, declared that the method should be called “amoeba making”, and helped figure out what we would have for dinner.
Those 15 minutes of reverse applique sewing play were an essential way for me to wind down from the nonstop weekend. I feel like I was in constant motion all weekend moving from one drip to another with my “bucket” trying to keep everything contained. Everything is complete, delivered, phone calls made, lunar eclipse seen, and in the end we had a meal to eat. My load felt lighter, and once again I am deeply grateful for this creative outlet.
Most of the events of my weekend are rather inconsequential, but I did learn from my mother that a family friend unexpectedly passed away on Thursday. The older I am fortunate to get, the more news like this make me want to hug my loved ones tight and check in to make sure I am really LIVING. You know, really filling my day with the things I want in it. Phone calls with parents? Absolutely. Walks late at night to watch a lunar eclipse? You bet. Paying bills? Ah, well, I appreciate that I can and have a roof over my head.
My husband and I have been trying to go for a bike ride every morning since he has been on his sabbatical. I am learning the layers I need for the weather conditions: wind makes me much crankier than just cold, and I’m glad to have a fantastic rain jacket/wind blocker for those super windy days. On Saturday we got a much later start than normal (re: nothing went to plan this weekend). We happened to see our friends walking their son in a stroller around the park in our neighborhood, so we all stopped to chat for a few minutes. Apparently baby boy was pretty cranky this past week, and no one got much sleep. His mom described him as going through a “cognitive development phase” which sounds so much better than cranky. I was thinking I might tell my husband I’m having a cognitive development day the next time I’m feeling cranky. Joking aside, upon reflection, a recent cranky day was definitely followed by insights. It can be tough to process everything I go through in a day; sometimes it just all gets jammed up.
One final random thought for this post: I had these thoughts and wanted to get them out of my head and into this blog post to help me sleep tonight and wake up fresh tomorrow morning. It took me so much longer to get the words out of my head than it did to think them. I’m amazed by the amount of processing that happens in our heads!
I hope you had some time to scratch a creative itch this weekend or do something that helps drain your bucket in a healthy and supportive way, and if not, I hope you will soon.
I enjoy reading these kind of posts Yvonne…they’re a reminder to me that everyone has ‘those days’ now and again. Even though your weekend didn’t go as planned, it sounds like you still accomplished a lot. I didn’t scratch any creative itches over the weekend, but plan to remedy that today. 🙂 Have a great week!
I like your quote, Yvonne! And thoroughly agree.
I enjoy how thoughtfully you approach things in your life, Yvonne, and I’m grateful you share some of those thoughts with us. I’m going to be smiling over the “cognitive development phase” thing for the rest of the day. I might even use it next time I’m going through one of those cranky moments.
Thank you for your blog posts. So thankful that you share your insights with us…it certainly makes me stop and think. I love your quote!
I often tell myself that Future Louise will be much happier if Present Louise does XYZ, so your quote really resonated with me today!
Thanks for this reflective post! It’s so easy to get bogged down and forget to be creative, even if for a few minutes. I’m so grateful we all have that outlet, we just need to remember to use it!
these are such good thoughts, and to take time to phone, look, sit and ponder, all are important every day. I was a little creative, and the next one in Dione’s projects, the Purple Poodle ,aka balloon doggie is done.I could not resist getting it done, even to taking a pic late at night. Satisfaction galore.
Saw the moon a lot but missed the eclipse. I know exactly what you mean about the getting older and feeling more appreciative and cognizant of all we have to be thankful for. And yep totally on the supreme gratefulness for having this creative outlet. Glad you were able to recharge.
A few minutes to sew each day can turn a very bad day right around. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and I’m glad you got to watch the lunar eclipse. It was awesome .
Yep, so true! My weekend quilting plans also didn’t happen, plus it was too gloomy to take good photos of the progress I did make last week. But today I saw the sun peek out and ran to take some photos before the gloom returned. Made my day! Just a few minutes of creativity and I feel like I accomplished something great today!
Glad you were able to fit in some sewing along with “life”. Sorry to hear about the passing of your friend. I was able to do quite a bit of sewing/quilting this weekend…and tonight. It felt good. Have a great week.
One of your loveliest posts, and I mean that in the best possible way. I enjoyed following your meadering through your weekend, the events, the accomplishments, and to hear your brain clicking as you went. Such great writing–thank you!
Putting thread into fabric is therapeutic, even when it is just experimenting. We had a death in the family over the holidays, and I know what you mean about being in the moment, taking gratitude in the simple joys of life, appreciating the friends and family still here.
A little bit each day – a great practice! Glad you found some time in your hectic weekend.
I love this post, Yvonne, both because I shall from now on be using the “cognitive development” excuse as often as I can but also for the reminder to stop and play occasionally.
I love the process of writing and how it can affect my mood and outlook, and I can relate to the need to get something out of my head and down in words. Thank you for this post. I’m glad it gave you the peace of mind to settle down for a good sleep.
I agree… even 15 minutes really does help sometimes. Hope things calm down just a bit for you…
I love that “cognitive development” – totally going to spring that one on the hubz 😉 Happy you snuck in some creative time – I too find it does wonders for my stress and general well being to sneak that time in, even if only for 5 minutes.
Great post, Yvonne. I’ve been having more than my usual share of “cognitive development phase” days lately and that phrase is definitely nicer than saying I’ve been feeling like a witch. I’ll have to keep that in mind for future use 🙂