Enjoy the "process" - "the journey"....of Life.

Good morning...afternoon...evening. Every day, while exercising on the stationary bike, I put the laptop on the dashboard and catch up on my emails, blogs and just inspirational reading. It is "my time" of the day. Typically this time is in the wee hours of the morning, when there are no kids arguing, no husband to deal with...just me. Me and sometime the many of you out there whose blogs I read, to catch up on your activities. Bottomline, it is a special time for me.

In my inbox, I usually receive some inspirational writings - today is no different. I came across the following, which I felt like posting as a reminder to me and maybe others out there to life in the now...to enjoy the journey of life. The writing below can be applied to needlework projects - for it is the creation of the end product to take time and enjoy...the choice of the right pattern, finding the perfect linen, the choice of the colored thread...to enjoy the threading of the needle and the working of the stitches: needle goes in the hole and out the other side (like inhale...exhale...relax).

Invest in the "process" rather than the product. Process
living neutralizes the depleting and impoverishing effects of chronically living
in anticipation. Even when impossible goals occasionally are reached, satisfactions derived from them are invariable disappointing unless the process
has given ample satisfaction along the way. ~ Theodore Rubin

Enjoy the moment...the process of today...stitch on...Lisa

Why Blog?

Sharon B asks the question "Why do you Blog?" and also answers it in a very eloquent style on her blog: www.pintangle.com. Much of the answers in her essay ring true for me. Blogging and reading blogs, has provided me a community where I can go for support, for ideas, for motivation, for inspiration...it is someplace I can reach out to where I can also give back - support, ideas, motivation, inspiration...

I started blogging just a couple of months ago. A frequent visitor to several on-line needlework/shop websites, I began following some of the links to specific designers blogs and eventually found yahoo needlework groups...which lead me to a community of bloggers where had an interest in needlework as well as opened up their lives on-line. Living in a household of boys/men, who don't understand either my desire to be creative or relax by doing needlework...and just don't understand "mother's female" point of view on life - I thought it would be fun to start blogging. Not only journaling my needlework - finished pieces and wips - but to also use it as a sounding board for problems, thoughts and just everyday activities.

Having this outlet to show my work - helps me to feel good about my accomplishments, as well as allowing me to show distant friends and relatives what I am working on. Having an outlet to write, is very theuraputic no matter what I am feeling. And, in the last few weeks, there have been visitors to my blog who have left wonderful comments, giving me a sense that "I am not alone!". Which is a gift that I am very grateful for!

Thank you all very much.
Lisa

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Every One! I will much health, happiness and love for all in 2009!

To ring in the New Year, or should I say "pop" in the New Year, the boys laid out lots of bubble wrap on the floor. After the count down ended (3...2....1...), they jumped and danced on the bubble wrapping; thus, we "popped" in the New Year here at the Durst house.

Leading up to the "popping", we enjoyed a nice quiet New Year's Eve. While Robert had hockey practice from 10:30-1:30, Matthew and I went to watch the movie, Bedtime Stories (pretty good movie, but better to watch via DVD). On our way home, we grabbed some take out Chinese food and had a late lunch as we watched the San Jose Sharks vs. Minnesota Wild hockey game on TV. We decided the boys could stay up and bring in the new year as a family, so we had a late dinner, enjoying bowls of cereal and pancakes at 9pm and then we watched the movie, Narnia: Prince Caspian. The ball dropped at 12 and the boys "popped".

Some thougts on the first day of 2009....

To be upset over what you don't have it to waste what you do have ~ Ken
Keyes, Jr.

We cannot choose the things that will happen to us. But we can coose the attitude we will take toward anything that happens. Success or failure depends on your attitude. ~ Alfred A. Montapert

In Memory of Grandpa

This morning I woke up to a phone call...the one that everyone worries about getting and the second one I have received in a month an a half. This morning my grandfather - Dan Wolf - passed away. He was 93 years old. The last year, or so, was not very kind to him - yet he did live a very full filled life. We are blessed to have my grandmother still with us. Maybe I am a romantic, as I have kind of twisted the last few hours of his life...my uncle from North Carolina came down to South Carolina to pick up my grandmother and bring her back to his house to spend Christmas (with my Aunt and cousins). Grandpa, who was in a memory care facitilty, wasn't doing so well, so my uncle and grandmother went there on their way out of town to say "good-bye," "I love you" and happy holiday. Grandma asked him to wait until she got back. But as soon as she said good bye, he must of taken that as permission to go, for his heart slowed and he drifted off peacefully. Being in separate residences for the last 8 months wasn't easy for either - he in the assisted care and Grandma at home. Passing away on Christmas Eve, I believe, was a gift of peace for both.

Dear Grandpa - I love you very much. You were a very important person in my life. You taught me to dream: I remember my first Featherbed Ball, although I want not very happy about it at first, but I continue to dream of attending it with you...dressed in a Cinderella ball gown and glass slippers and you in formal attire. You help make my Christmases magical - waking up to a Christmas tree full of ornaments and a base buried in presents, giving me the chance to believe as long as I could and providing the foundation for my family during this holiday. Your dislike of peas and carrots, routine of Friday radish sandwich breakfasts, mowing the lawn in shorts and black knee socks, allowing me to beat you in a game of Old Maid (even though I did cheat, using the reflection in your glasses to alert me the location of the Old Maid Card) and made up words like Chick-a-boom-ba. You were a surrogate father while I was at college and an inspiration for a long married life. Grandpa, thank you, my life has been blessed with your presents - your love and knowledge. So on the eve of this magical holiday, I want you to know that I love you! You will forever be in my heart and thoughts!

On that note...may those who read my blog have a very Merry and Magical Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Happiness of the Past

When I think of my past, I try to dwell on the good times, the happy moments, and not to be haunted by the bad. To me the gift of life is contained in the command, whatever happens:

"Don't let it get to you. Just keep on going."

Thus, I try to think of the good that I have already experienced and what will still be coming.

~Rose Kennedy

A Limitless Life by Joseph J. Mazzella

I am always amazed at how much good a single, ordinary person can do in their life. I think that few people actually realize how much goodness, love, joy, peace, and happiness that they create and share in their lifetimes. I know that no one ever realizes just how many lives they touch or how much better they make the world just by being in it.

I want to thank each and everyone of you, then, for the many loving hugs you have given to others, for the countless smiles you have flashed, and for the thousands of kind words and "I love you's" you have shared. I want to thank each of you for the trees and flowers you have planted, for the trash you have picked up, and for the pets you have adopted.

I want to thank all of you for the laughter you have spread, gentleness you have shown, and forgiveness you have given to others. I want to thank you fo rthe help you have given, concern you have shown, and caring you have bestowed. I want to thank you again and again for giving so much fo your love, spreading so much of your joy, and sharing so much of your goodness with your family, friends, community, and world.

You may just be an ordinary person but you have lived an extraordinary life. You may have made your share of mistakes, but you have also made this world a better place. You may have only seen your faults, but God loves you and has seen all the goodness, love, and joy that is within you.

Remember, there is no limit to the goodness a single, ordinary life can do. There is no limit to the love and joy a single person can choose and share. There is no limit to the beauty a single soul can bring to this world. Let us all live a limitless life then and rejoice always in a limitless love!