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Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Happy HOLLYdays Newsletter 12-19
My other big news is the work on our barn (my future studio) is plugging along! We finally have doors on the front!
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Patience—Word of the Year
I don't like resolutions. If you break them then you feel like a loser. Goals are better. Something you're working toward, but still if you don't achieve the goal, there's an element of failure to it. A Word of the Year is better yet. They're goal-esque. But they're also a foundation to build a year around. They're something to weave into the fabric of your year. Something for everything else to spring from.
I know I'm early, but I've already picked my Word of the Year for 2020...Patience.
Being laid up with crutches means I'm relying on others more than I am accustomed to. Himself has been amazing. He's been trying to take care of me. Trying is the big word. I am not easy to take care of. LOL But I'm working on my patience. (Maybe it's not just patience but a certain humbleness I require. It takes a humbleness to ask for help. I'm going to mull that over now that I've thought of it.) I have figured out how to get my own drinks (travel mugs shoved in sweatpants pocket) and even a bowl of lunch (office chair used as a rolling table) but I didn't do either this weekend...I've asked Himself for help. He's been infinitely patient with this less than patient patient. LOL He's picked up the slack for me.
So I'm working on my patience with myself.
I have always been the caretaker. When I was young, I took care of my brothers, including a baby brother twelve years younger than me. I've taken care of my kids, my extended family, neighbors. That's the role I'm used to. Caregiver. Care-ie...not so much.
In that last blog post I said every obstacle comes with a gift in its hand. And it does. I'm hoping one of the gifts these crutches have brought me is patience. So there's a gift.
Sometimes my word of the year isn't difficult. One of my favorite words of a year was Glee...I tend to have a lock on that. And come to think about it, I've found glee even in the midst of all this. But patience...yeah, I've got some work to do this year! And maybe that's not such a bad thing. Sometimes it's good to have some work to do.
Every obstacle comes with a gift. I suspect that learning to be more patient isn't going to be this particular obstacle's only gift.
How about you? Are you thinking about a word for 2020?
Holly
PS The first two Hometown Hearts books are available for preorder!! Yes, A Special Kind of Different is up too!! Crib Notes is out in January, A Special Kind of Different in March!!Crib Notes:
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iBooks
A Special Kind of Different:
Amazon
Nook
Kobo
iBooks
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Obstacles
I know many things about myself.
I love my family and Himself.
I treasure my friends.
I have Medusa hair.
I do not truly wake up until I have hot, strong black coffee in my hand.
I love to read, play with ceramics, learn new things...
I feel most at home out in the middle of the woods at the cottage.
I am a busy sort of person.
I am not a patient patient...
Oh, that last one.
I've been having some ongoing issues since summer with my bad leg. It has put a bit of a hitch in my giddiup this summer and fall. Well, last week, they took out my decades-old hardware and we're hoping this last surgery is the LAST surgery. Yes, my bionic leg is screw and plateless. It's a regular old leg. And I'm on crutches for a bit while those screw holes in the femur heal.Uh, remember that not patient patient Holly fact? It's coming into play. But I'm being very well behaved even if I'm not patient. I'm resting a lot and slowly rebuilding my strength. All my wood-splitting means my arms aren't doing too bad with the crutches. So I'm moving more slowly than usual, but I'm moving.
I'm setting small goals for myself. For instance, yesterday I made the bed and made the morning coffee. Poor Himself did pretty much of the rest of my daily routine, but darn that bed looked nice and the coffee was just the way I like it, hot, strong black coffee. Today, I've already made the coffee, I'm making that darn bed, and I'm going to find one more new thing to throw in the mix. Maybe unload a dishwasher. Anyway, that's how I'm going to measure my recovery...one new (regular) thing at a time.
My ultimate goal is to be back in the studio by the end of January. I've always been someone who likes to work with goals. I try to have realistic goals. It's almost time to pick my word for 2020. And I'm not going to wait until the new year to pick it. I'm going to pick it now. Patience.
I've always found it easier to be patient with others than patient with myself. There's so much in the world I want to learn and do. So many new things to explore. That hitch in my giddiup is slowing it all up. But slow doesn't mean stopped. So I'm being patient. Or at least trying to.
Here's the thing, goals are great. They give us something to move towards. But I think we have to be kind to ourselves and be patient with ourselves. Sometimes life happens. And our goals have to change. I might not be hosting my big Christmas Eve bash this year (thanks to my marvelous sister-in-law for taking that on), but darn the bed is made. LOL And I've read 600 pages in that 1,000 page book my son has been telling me to read (Brandon Sanderson is an amazing author) and I truly binge-watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's new season. Yeah, most of the time I don't have the time to binge watch. My leg has derailed my plans, but it's also given me time to do things I wouldn't normally have time to do. Every obstacle comes with gifts in its hands!
So Ella and I are going to sit on this couch under my buffalo plaid blanket and read the paper today. (Well, she doesn't do much of the reading.) Then I'm going to make that darned bed and find a way to do one more thing from my normal routine today.
And by the end of January, I'm going back to the studio. In the meantime, I'm going to look for all the gifts this particular obstacle has in its hands! And I'm going to patiently celebrate and embrace each of those gifts!
Holly
PS. I have two Christmas books on sale, and the first two Hometown Hearts books are available for preorder!! I hope you'll check them both out. And check our the Dear Reader Letter on A Special Kind of Different's Amazon page. Celebrating our differences gives me glee!!
Crib Notes HH #1
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