Sunday, October 27, 2013

Owls

I'm not sure when my fascination with owls began.  I remember my Mom and Grandma making oil paintings that had owls on them.  The detail was spot on.  They would paint on pieces of wood and the end result was gorgeous.  I also love the fact that these creatures are nocturnal and can turn their heads up to 270 degrees around.  Phenomenal.  Maybe that's when it started.

Fast forward to now.  I have a few owl items dispersed throughout the house.  There is kind of an artsy one made of metal, wire and stones.  It's up high on a book shelf and surveys all of the happenings in the kitchen/dining room.  I have a picture of an owl in our bedroom.  I love the colors in this picture.  It matches our mossy greens, reds and blues. Perfectly.There are a few other owls in the house, but not many.

Then the catalog came.  Pottery Barn.  My favorite.  I found an owl in the catalog that is ceramic. The price was more than I was willing to spend.  Trying to be patient, I waited. And I waited some more.  Then I just happened to be at the mall.  The home of Pottery Barn.  I walked into the store and there it was.  My owl.  It was still regular price, so I pulled myself away.  Just then a sales clerk walked up to me.  Let me check on the price was what she said.  No discount.

The sales clerk then got very close to me and whispered, are you my friend?  Without hesitation I answered yes.  I'll be right back she said.  Within seconds she was back with a 40 percent off coupon.  For friends and family.  She said, I'm Sharon by the way.  I'm Ann, I said.

At the checkout she greeted me by name.  Hi Ann, did you find what you were looking for? Indeed I did, Sharon.  I handed over my 40 percent off card and smiled.  This owl was coming home with me.

This owl now sits in the middle of the dining room table.  It was made for this spot.  I really enjoy this ceramic owl.  I enjoy the journey I took in buying the owl more.  I met someone who has a great sense of humor and is spontaneous just like me.  Life can be a hoot.  I know that you get that.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

60 Minutes

No.  Not the show.  Although I have to say I enjoy the news program.  I'm talking about an hour or sixty minutes of time.  What about it?  Well, I found myself a few weeks ago thinking that I had too much to do.  I had too many places to be.  And I felt overwhelmed by tasks I wanted to complete.

I decided to take one day at a time.  I would make my lists and take them slowly.  But even this was too much.  The defeat would set in before the day was done.  No, I didn't get my list finished.  And worse, my leftovers from the day before would be added to the next day making things feel out of reach.  And then a funny thing happened.  I broke my toes.  You know this already.  Some may think it was an inconvenience.  I choose to see this as a blessing.

If I hadn't fallen, I would have never been forced to take a break.  Literally.  I had to let others get things and do things.  I had to accept and be grateful for this.  I'm very independent and used to doing a lot for myself.  And for others.  Now it was my time to accept help.  Scott did more than his share around the house, with Gracie and to help me.  I love how we know each other so well that he can actually pick up on what I need and want.  Sometimes I found I didn't even have to ask.

I found that from the moment I fell, my girl could be there for me, too.  In fact the day I fell she was the first to respond.  Here she was, fresh out of shoulder surgery herself, hooked up to an ice cuff and rendering me aid. When I fell she unhooked herself  from her ice machine and brought me ice packs.
With her good arm she could carry a light basket of laundry to me and I could fold clothes.  Later, Scott would carry the basket upstairs.  Team effort.  We got things done and felt accomplished.

I scaled my lists back.  It wasn't reasonable to keep going at the lightning pace I had before. Then about a week into my injury I scrapped the lists altogether.  Who needs them anyway?  What needed to be done and addressed was attended to.  Others did these things just as well as I did.  In some cases even better.  It was a time when I became very grounded in the fact that my team works like a well oiled machine.

I have shed the walking boot I needed to wear.  I'm still taking things slow.  I come home from work and soak my foot and elevate.  And I'm still taking one hour at a time.  I do this not to avoid being overwhelmed.  I take 60 minutes at a time now to enjoy and to embrace my team and the time we have together.