your favorite things

The way to love life is to love many things.
~Van Gogh

I started Unwritten Travels today. For the first time since our book was cut and pasted into a binder, I am filling in the blanks of my very own copy.

Even though I am overcommitted (spell check doesn't recognize that word, but I looked it up in the dictionary and that is the correct spelling. Maybe my computer is using the red pen on my life, underlining that word to remind me that it is unhealthy and unproductive to be overcommitted.), my house has a protective layer of dust and soap scum on all surfaces, and I am headed to a bridal luncheon in just a few minutes (for the stunning Elizabeth Mc Knight, doodler extrodinare of all things Unwritten), I actually sat on my back porch and filled out the list of my favorite things.
(Yes, that was one sentence. I need a blog editor.)

It almost felt obsene.
What buisness do I have thinking about my favorite things on a day like today, in a month like this month, where there is too much to do and not near enough time or energy to do it?
But I did it anyway, because if I weren't me, I would be lecturing you on taking time for yourself ESPECIALLY in the hardest times. So I listened to me telling you that this is good for you
~healthy actually, like eating vegetables, wholegrains and drinking lots of water.

And it was.
I felt this tired part of myself stretch her little arms out, look up for the first time in a while, and remember that she matters.

My favorite color: this yummy blue (the little sticks).

My favortie article of clothing: pink polka dot skirt that I am wearing tonight.

My favorite sport: zumba (according to my definition of sport, anyway)

My favorite book: I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
and anything by Marisa de los Santos. I wrote her last year on National Author's Day and she wrote me back the kindest letter.

My favorite shoes: I am wearing them right now. Strapy floral wedge sandals. They make me smile every time I peek at my feet :)

My favorite gift(s) received: my camera, my engagement ring, my grandmother's ring.

Thankfulness overwhems me as I reflect on the many things I love about my life.
Well, my timer went off to alert me that I must get on with the day.

What have you learned about yourself from filling out Your Favorite Things?

below E

There is this gauge in my car, right above the steering wheel.  It has a little red bar that points somewhere between an F and an E, letting me know how much gas is in my car.  

Well, it attempts to let me know.  It tries.

It just doesn't get my life.  

What if I did live that kind of life? Where each morning, I peacefully walked to my car (alone),  slipped my travel mug into my cup holder (that still knew how to hold cups), turned on music (that I loved) and paused to check my gas level. What if I had the kind of life that made room for thoughts like, Hey, I've got some extra time and I'm almost below a 1/4 tank, I'll stop and get some gas on my way to wherever?

This morning, my son was calling me out the front door (giving me a minute by minute countdown), while I was prodding my slow and steady daughter to move her lovely little self out the door.  I thought I gave them their lunch money, but just as we are pulling out of the driveway, we discover the checks never made it to the van.  Back into the house to get the checkbook.  Once again, almost late to school.

  

Stop and check how much gas I have?  

Whatever.

Until the morning my car doesn't start.  Genius.  

I'm out of gas.  So, I call a friend who picks my kids up and takes them to school.  They are tardy, of course. Good friends help when you are in a pinch.  They also don't laugh (okay, they don't laugh too long) when you tell them you forgot to fill up your tank (again).

My life has been c r a z y. 

But there is a point when life's circumstances start to seep into my mind, heart and soul and, pretty soon, it is not just life that's crazy, but me.  Crazy, exhausted, angry, impatient, and sick.  Without a little red bar, and absolutely no warning light to alert me, I suddenly realize my tank is empty.

I wonder, how long I have been running on fumes.  The difference between my van and me, is that I can keep going even on empty. I can go for quite awhile. Until I can't anymore.  

Yesterday was that day for me.  The day that I dropped my kids off at school, and (after filling up my car), came home and took a morning nap.  There were a thousand things I needed to do yesterday (and I eventually got to most of my list) but nothing good or productive could come from me until I got some rest.

The world is not going to stop and wait for us to fill up. 

Check in with your tank. What do you need right now?

Some of my favorite things to do when I am weary: sit for an hour with my coffee, soak in a lavender bath, get in bed an hour (or two) early, and watch an old movie instead of cleaning one afternoon.  

You think we could be as kind to ourselves as we are to our cars? No car can run on empty and neither can we.  Good-bye, guilt and unrealistic expectations.  Hello, Sanity! It's good to see you again.

Jenny Ann Blogs (for the 1st time)

All of my acquaintances would describe me as a “real people person” someone who has “never met a stranger.” One would think that a person with this personality would be all over blogging, sharing life with others via the internet. The majority of my friends and family have blogs. I have been encouraged by many to join the world of blogging. Yet, I am a virgin blogger.

What only those closest to me know is that as much as I am social, I value my time alone more. I really like thinking and listening to my inner voice and truthfully don’t always want to share myself with anyone else. Jenny Ellen’s daughter says that everyone is her best friend; my daughters state the same thing about me. Why are we able to have many sincerely wonderful relationships? Partly it is because we spend time with and like ourselves first. Sound like a narcissist? I hope not, because part of the motivation for writing Unwritten Travels is to encourage others to be their own best friends.

Thinking recently about the process of turning our pages into a physical thing, I realized why people love their blogs. Elizabeth gave our book art. Don & Chris made it a thing of beauty. Ann helped make it understandable. Kevin worked on getting it printed and Mandy is at the plant making sure that the books get delivered. Charlie is working on the website. Another Don is getting us hooked up so people can buy the book online safely. Yes, Jenny and I wrote the book, but how many people worked together to turn it into a reality? How many people have their fingerprints all over it?

I have started to read blogs and think I am beginning to get it. As I try to turn the thoughts and dreams that I think about in solitude into realities, blogs give me the potential to have many fingerprints on my own life. I can learn from the experiences and lessons others share, the interconnectedness. So, thank you to all of you bloggers. I hope you can be encouraged in your own life by the fact that Jenny and I set out to do something we knew very little about but had a passion for, and we are delightfully seeing it through to completion. Thank you also for sharing this first day of my blogging honeymoon. – Jenny Ann

one winter weekend

3 years ago, almost to the day, the other Jenny and I went off on a little adventure to a tiny lake house for 48 hours.  This is where our first chapter started to take form.  

Who knew that our little get-away would begin a new way of life for us?  We had no idea what we were getting into.

It all started with a plan to meet once or twice a week to work on one of the many ideas we had talked about doing over the years.  We met at bagel shops and bookstores learning the ins and outs of our new mac laptops, brainstorming and eventually creating an outline for what has become Unwritten Travels.  This was a four month process that led up to our winter weekend at the lake.

We came home with a cut and pasted Chapter One titled,

  The Honeymoon: discover your heart's desires. 

(You can see the glue and scissors in the picture above.)  

Every time I have looked over those first pages (it has to be millions of times by now), I still feel the thrill and joy of that chilly weekend with one of my dearest friends.  It many ways it is even more exciting now~the anticipation of getting to share all we have learned from this journey with you.