Nothing to Write About

Most bloggers, when they have nothing to write about, just skip it altogether and don't bother. Life gets in the way, people get busy or, who knows, family emergencies or personal things take over and there's no time to keep up. I know how that goes. But don't you hate it when your favorite bloggers all of a sudden stop writing and seem to disappear for a few months? What happened? How can they do that to us?? Like characters on a favorite TV show, will they ever be back for another season? (Don't get me started on Mad Men and whoever produces THAT show . . . I'm usually fuming when I take time to think about it, wondering:  What will happen to the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad agency and will Don finally find happiness with his new, young wife??)

You have to admit - reading blogs has become such a pleasurable pastime for so many of us. Even if our own lives become busy we still manage to reach out to others online for that little bit of entertainment and connection. The blogs I love to read myself and keep going back to are those that reveal something about the writer, her life, often through quilts, but sometimes not. A little peek inside the window if you will.

I'm not always necessarily interested in the personal stuff alone, but I like to know, what makes this quilter tick? How does she juggle everything and still find the time to be inspirational? Sure, we all want to see pretty quilts or fabric, but when you begin to follow others' blogs and become involved in their quilting passion don't you also wonder what their life is like on an ordinary day? They become friends and you miss them when they're gone. What do they do when they're not quilting? Do they have the same routines and problems as the rest of us or are they always perfect, the way their quilts are or as we imagine them to be? It's like walking into the restroom at the mall with your mother when you were 9 and running into a teacher. Shocking! Yes, they actually shop and have to use the restroom just like the rest of us!

This blog has become so therapeutic for me lately I can't tell you. I think some of you understand that and I'm sure just click away when you don't want to read personal stuff, and are only looking for pictures of quilts. That's okay and I hope you're not too disappointed and come back. There will be more quilts - someday! Quilting is only a part of my life though. I feel like I've made so many friends from all over the world through your comments and good wishes and I hope at times I've been able to impart a bit of creative inspiration, humor, hope. Or maybe insight into just what makes this quilter tick, or perhaps what makes ALL of us tick, working things out through my ramblings as I go about my daily life.

So, never fear, Dear Readers, I won't disappear off the face of the earth. At least not quite yet. I will always try to be there for you, to entertain and inspire with tales of my dogs' antics, my adorable kids, mundane chores and often boring life . . .

So, if I'm not quilting, what's going on here? I am trying hard to get healthy and resume my exercise regimen. The doctor says I can walk, nothing else, so I've been walking a bit and trying to go a little farther every day. I get very discouraged sometimes but my husband reminded me last night that only 3 weeks ago I still had a difficult time getting up off the couch so walking 6 - 7  blocks (with puppy, at puppy pace!) is actually quite an accomplishment. I guess I need to stop looking at the glass half-empty and get out my gratitude journal again. I will be eating better soon too, less ice cream, more healthy fiber I hope, after I see the doctor on Thurs for my last post-op checkup.

I'm very behind on doing things around the house and other errands. Amazing what a bad year can do to your attempts at organization. I decided, however, not to think about all that and that it was time for some inspiration to keep me moving instead - I need to go shopping for some new shoes today.

These are looking pretty pathetic and I try to walk fast so no one sees the holes in the toes. But they are SO comfortable and broken in and I hate to give them up. Time for some pretty new shoes - That's number one on my Mundane list for later today.

I've also been catching up on reading and my daughter and I are going to the library after the shoe store. She's a little bummed because my son already has a summer job and, although she's applied for a few, there have not been any call backs for her in that department. Getting lost in a book helps.

I've been an Anna Quindlen fan since her NY Times column. I really, really enjoyed this book and want to get one of her earlier books I haven't read yet.

More Mundane

Cleaning up - Why does this take up so much of my time every day? Morning till night. Since my son graduated and has been home I feel like all I ever do is clean up. Never mind the nagging and yelling, I've learned to pick my battles and just do it so it gets done because I can't stand seeing dishes in the sink all the time. He's going to grad school in the Fall and hopes to get an apartment in the city after his summer job is over so I know our time together is limited and I don't complain too much. I'm just happy he's here. Even if he leaves dishes in the sink. And he'll be doing his own dishes soon enough.

We have a dishwasher, how hard can it be??

Making Snacks - This morning I spent time cutting up fruit and placing them into bowls  (LOL) so my kids can grab a healthy snack when they feel like snacking. Yes, I know, they're not pre-schoolers anymore - one is 22 and the other 18! They can cut up their own fruit, but I know they won't, and in the summer I can't help it, I always revert to Mom Mode, taking care of my cubs, enjoying the casual time spent with them at home, trying not to be the kind of mom who gripes too much. I know they can easily do these things themselves but I baby them nonetheless. My own mom used to do this for me and, I'm embarrassed to admit, also ironed my clothes until I was in my early twenties and moved out. Everything in its own time I always say . . . I eventually learned to iron and greatly appreciated everything she did for me when the time came to do it myself. Guess I'm passing on those bad habits.

I'm also back to preparing dinner most days - one regular and one vegetarian for my daughter. Takes time to shop and plan but I enjoy it and my husband is very appreciative after a long day at work. Plus, he does the evening clean up so I don't mind.

We're having pork chops, rice and apricots tonight because I turned to this page and, what luck! That's what's available in our freezer and pantry. The vegetarian meal?  Anybody's guess, LOL. Brown rice, vegetables and apricots perhaps?? Makes it easy on me.

Okay, so maybe I did have something to write about after all. You can't deny that my day is full - even if I'm taking it easy, puttering around, playing with the dogs, not quilting perhaps, but musing on the blog to keep my creative writing juices flowing at least. Has to count for something. But now I have to go shoe shopping and stick to the rest of the day's boring plans. No, not making time for quilting yet. If I get a few minutes later this afternoon, before starting dinner, I'll rest a bit on the sofa with my new Scrabble App to try to regenerate some of those brain cells I think I lost during my recent bout with anesthesia. So far, I'm beating the computer by more than 12 games. Not bad.