Keep Being Brave

Facing a big week, and knowing that I need to find ways to prepare and look after myself, today I: * Sent an email at 5:50 a.m. to get something off my mind. * Filled my little pill organizer for the week #thisis43 and took today’s requirements before going back to bed. * Read for awhile and then slept awhile longer. * Took a long shower. * Went to church, appreciated that community, enjoyed the music and talking to a few friends. * Texted my niece. * Visited Westminster Books and picked up a few things, including a book about Mary Pratt and Christopher Pratt.  My MIL and I saw one of Mary Pratt’s extraordinary pieces yesterday and realized I’ve been in the very room it depicts.  Her work is on my mind. I’m also excited to read Samra Habib and Joan Thomas’ books. * Visited a small local grocery store and saw the niece I’d texted earlier. It was lovely to see her and say hi even if we didn’t get to chat because she was working and then on break. * Bought ...

Photo credit: Westminster Books Kerry Clare  recommended Amy Rhoda Brown ’s newsletter and I signed up after reading an article about how why talented people don’t use their strengths .   Since then,  I’ve been thinking about how we often undervalue things that we inherently do well.  I see it a lot. I overlook it a lot.  Personally, I often push myself, measure myself against things that are difficult for me and focus on shortfalls, frankly, rather than acknowledging what I am naturally drawn to or good at. I was thinking a lot about this while I was dissecting cloth bags from the dollar store and making the costume my niece is wearing above.     The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Michael Marchenko celebrated 40 years of publication yesterday and my local bookstore celebrated with the book and cake.     My niece was excited to go to a party with me and asked if she was going to wear a costume....

Monday was a long day.    I was wiped out and the running chatter at the back of my mind was, “I can’t wait to go to bed tonight.” I was going to sleep and sleep and sleep.    I pushed through the urge to have a quick nap when I got home from work and finally, finally dropped into bed just before 10:30.    I wrote in my book, read part of Washington Black  (the gun, the aerostat, the storm, the ship) and turned off the light.   Dave fell asleep immediately.    I cued up a sleep story about Easter Island and soon started to drift.    The sound of the waves and talk of the climate dovetailed with what I’d been reading. Things were getting confusing but the sleep story was working until the neighbours’ late night shenanigans broke through and I bolted awake. This kept happening. After awhile, I gave in and moved to the kitchen. I was too tired to problem solve (e.g. sleep in the other bedroom; sleep on the couch)...

I cast on a new shawl today. I’ve been knitting for more than twenty years but almost daily again since the winter of 2017. My stamina and skills have grown by leaps and bounds and my interests have changed, too; more and more, I’m interested in which colours sing together and which ones go flat.  Today’s shawl is a new pattern by Stephen West called Fantastitch .  I was trying to figure out how to knit a version that I could get excited about and a knitting friend reminded me that I probably have enough full balls at home, wound, that I could just start without adding anything new.     She was almost right.     Five out of seven yarns are from my stash and three were already wound.   So far, so good. The first few sections really work and the current section is working hard. At a glance, the burgundy on grey is a bit drab but then you can see the    burgundy growing out from the centre. I suspect it will sing a little louder on...