We have a brand new year ahead of us. Tabula Rasa. What should we do with it?
I've recently discovered that my normally glass half full perspective has grown a little...dryer.
To re-hydrate it, it helps me to focus on my vision for what I want. Upon reading that sentence, I hear a lot of I, me, mine. But if my life sucks, how can I help anyone else in theirs? Can't feed anyone out of a barren garden.
A long time ago, I learned to ride a motorcycle. I'm not very good at it, as I'm a little too abstract a thinker, and two fast wheels requires concentration. But one key thing stuck with me that our instructor said.
You will go where you look. So don't look down.
Now he was talking about our physical vision, and he was right. We learned to drive over railroad ties before we were done. No spills, so long as you look where you INTEND to go. That right there is a nugget I have carried a long time.
We need to intend. Intention can motivate, focus, and grow us, if we feed it.
Today I intend to get groceries, tend to the dog's nails, and pay bills. While I'm at it, the fertile soil of a new year warms in the back of my mind.
What will I do with it?
Jan 1, 2021
What will you do?
Dec 3, 2020
Progress!

Bathroom floors! I did this. It was scary, and I had a couple Lucille Ball moments in there (crawling around in Patch & Smooth on my hands and knees, scooping handfuls of cement muck into the bucket, because I didn't know how to mix or use it.) But it's Vinyl Composite Tile--that old grade-school linoleum--so it'll last forever. Once I figured out the process, it went pretty fast. I love it. Bonus; you can ease the cutting of this stuff with a heat gun. Hubby bought me a good one, and I am embarrassed by how much I like using the thing! Call me Pyro Jan--I had soooo much fun.
There's a county thing called the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy that we must get, and in order to get it, we have to have; a functional kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom, as well as all electrical fixtures in place, and the finished decks with railings. We're getting there, and it gets more fun every day. Once we're in, we'll work on baseboards and window trim, built-ins and shelving. Every day I discover how right this floor plan is for us, and that the rooms are really going to "live" bigger than I thought when we designed it.
Looking to be by Christmas. What a great present!
Nov 17, 2020
I did it. And it is wonderful.
I just deleted my Facebook account. Feels like a hundred pounds has rolled off my chest. The MeWe thing will take a while to get off the ground, but it'll be worth it in the end, and quite a few folk have already switched, so there are friends there I know.
It will also take a while to get any kind of presence established there regarding the folk art, but that's okay, too. I hope to do more locally, as this town is very touristy, with fairs and carnivals throughout the summer. Well, once the diaper-face hysterics let up. At any rate, it's been amazing how much of a time-suck it was, how often I checked it, and how much I depended on online communications (even if they made me mad) as opposed to real people who matter, in person. What did we do before Facebook? We had phone calls, we wrote letters, we sent photos to the kids and got them in return. We lived a real life instead of a virtual one. I'm looking forward to that.
The house is coming along, though we still won't be in til almost Christmas. We get interior doors delivered tomorrow, along with decking materials. Flooring guy will be there Monday, and we're hoping to have at least the lower cabinets installed before then--I've been painting cabinets for a week! But it's already beginning to feel like home. Yesterday morning when I went out there to start the day painting, I saw elk along one edge of the acre, and turkeys roosting in the trees behind the house. Moving in will be a wonderful Christmas present.
Happy Thanksgiving if I don't hear from y'all in the meantime.

