Other Sunday Stuff

I've just posted a Sunday Scribblings post, but realise that I have the time and the inclination to keep going here and fill you in on some of the other stuff in my life, but it's seperate from what I had to say in Sunday Scribblings, so that's why this is another post. (Having said that, suddenly I'm sitting here, stopped, wondering "What was it I meant to say?")

Without having a decent picture to show you, I will say here that last week (was it Monday? it may have been Monday!) two wonderful gifts arrived from Liz Elayne. Way back, I won her birthday button-counting (or guessing) competition, and the exchange of addresses took a while, but was the prize worth waiting for? Oh, yes indeed. A beautiful tote-bag in shades of orange. Oh... what am I saying? No picture! I can link to her Etsy shop, where you will see, not the exact bag I received, but others like it! I've found a special use for it - holding my copy of Organising for the Spirit, my journal and vital "bits and pieces" for my ongoing project of making my home and my life places where the real me wants to live. It was such a thrill to have the notice of a package arrive! Hurrah! ... And not just one, but two packages from the same Liz, because, as a 9/11 memorial, she very generously gave away some posters of 'Awakening', a Brian Andreas Storypeople print. I wasn't familiar with them, but this resonates deeply with me, and I feel very grateful to have received one. I will be framing it to hang in my therapy room (the "where" just came to me right now... of course!)

She (Liz) asks in her latest post that we name "Five Really Good Things". Well, there's

1) Couscous. Good with almost everything, I'm realising. Fantastic when I need to prepare a meal in a hurry. quicker than defrosting. Add salad... Dinner!

2) Finding music I'd forgotten I had. Searching for a tape for a friend, I rediscovered Mary Chapin Carpenter, Janis Ian, Leonard Cohen, Guy Clark... Hurrah.

3) Memories of my sister's wedding. My attempt to post after the 14th September wedding was frustrated by computer problems, and a few days later, my attention was focused on the loss of my little dog, Trixie, so I never got to tell any of you about it (and I'm not sure she'd appreciate having her photos up here in public), but I will tell you she was a beautiful, elegant, radiant bride. More than one of us noticed her resemblance to Grace Kelly. It was a happy, happy, day - filled with emotion, laughter, poignant memories and moments, and some tears. She and her new husband make a beautiful couple. His tender care for her is a joy to witness. Her total love for him is open and profound. His family's embrace of my sister is full and open and reassuring to see. Their words of that day echo in my heart. Their happiness is a Really Good Thing.

4) My Autumn/Winter wardrobe. I never did this before. I usually buy budget clothes far too often, running into a shop, buying somthing, finding after a couple of wears that it really doesn't suit, (or fit, or wear well...), and running into a shop again... a neverending wheel. Well, not this year, because when I was shopping for the wedding (see 3 above), I consulted a personal shopper (another one of my "If I could do anything I wanted..." items from the Artsits's Way), who outfitted me for the wedding, and for work-wear to take me through the coming months. I have trousers, blouses, sweaters, jackets and shoes that co-ordinate and match, are easily-laundered and pose me no dilemmas when I wake up in the morning! Hurrah!

5) Baraka, the movie without words, that is soul-filling, soul-lifting. It makes me feel my real relative size in the world, and the size of the world around me. It stretches me and connects me. This is a good thing.

Hmm.... there were other things I meant to speak of, but that little list took me in so many directions, I'm a bit scattered. I've decided that, as the balance of my life has shifted, in terms of time devoted to (employed) work, it's really important for me to make sure to schedule in friends time, Baha'i community time, me-time. (This counts as friends time, I guess!) A few days ago, one friend and her son came to dinner. Yesterday, I went to visit a friend - just an hour, but good, good, good to see her. Today, I'm heading out to enjoy some October in the countryside, going to one of my favourite places. I'll be going soon, in fact, so it's time to wind up this post.

Oh... and because my 50th birthday is coming up, my sister and I have been planning, and decided that, instead of celebrating it all at once on a single day, we're stretching the celebrations, and are going here (oh... can't get any pictures to post! OK... It's Paris!) in May. We'll be visiting Monet's garden at Giverny, and May is the best time. I'm so excited!

I know I won't get to visit and read up on everyone's posts from the past few days, and if I do, I may not comment, but I hope all my BlogLand pals have a really good weekend, and a great week ahead too. Au revoir!