I CAN get on top of this!

Well, this message has hit very close to home! 

I'm listening to an audiobook by Oliver Burkeman called "Meditations for Mortals." Oh boy -- it's about trying to do everything in life and not always succeeding. It talks about our busyness, which is me! 

It also mentions how we feel we must read everything that comes into our house—that's me. We must listen to audiobooks/podcasts at double speed (NOT me) and millions of UFOs (OK—that's me). He wasn't talking about quilting but unfinished projects—like painting the living room, fixing the bathroom door, etc. He mentions working shorter but smarter hours. 

Yikes—there is a lot I can learn from this book. But what I love the most is this: "You'll NEVER get on top of it!" Oh my!!! He says we must put down the to-do lists and start making lists of things we've done!

It's a quick listen—four hours, and I'm halfway through. I was going to say that it's the kind of book you could take notes from, but why would I? I would never go back and refer to those notes! Nope, this would be a good book to reread once a year or every couple of months. 

Why are we like this? Primarily because of our upbringing, whether our parents or church or whatever. Remember when they said, "idle hands!" and "stop daydreaming." And the guilt that is inflicted on us if we are idle will kill us, so we work like mad. But are we enjoying everything we do?

I'm learning to let go and am happy to sit in the gazebo and do nothing for as long as I dare! I also walk without listening to anything except nature, so I'm trying hard to back off the quantity of things I do. But to read everything that comes into the house? Oh boy -- I could eliminate a few more things in my decluttering journey by taking that to heart. Perhaps that is the message I will take from this reading -- and see where that takes me. 

OH --- should you choose to read some of his philosophies, check out his website. Many of his blog post topics appear the same as in this book. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, here it is: "STOP -- what are you doing right now? How important is that to where you want to be? What will happen if you don't do that?"  OK - that was more than one sentence, but you get the idea. 

So, to reflect on what I've already accomplished this morning, I fixed the project I made a mess of on the weekend. It didn't take long, but the thought of fixing it wasn't fun. I should never have had to fix it, but it happened. Get over it and move on! 

The mitered corners are beautiful

It's fixed, so I can add the embellishments and get it out of the house! It needs to be gone ASAP. 

Then, I needed to put together a quilt backing. I hate it when I do this. Can you tell me why I would cut the corner out of a piece of fabric? I grabbed two pieces of fabric to make the backing, and both had a big square cut out. I would never do this now. Cut a strip of fabric off, leave the yardage intact, and go from there. I inserted a square into the hole. 

Good grief - who did this? 

Now, take a look at this. 

A very uneven cut

Seriously? That is how the fabric was HACKED off the bolt. I made the backing, but I don't think it's as square as it should be. So help me! What is happening in my Studio these days? Everything I touch seems to get screwed up! But I'll take it upstairs and lay it out properly on the bedroom floor and see what the issue is. I'll be able to see if I can work around the problem, or perhaps I'll have to trim some and then add another piece. 

But all is good. 

Then I also trimmed ONE of the five placemats, which worked out perfectly! YEAH!!!!

One placemat trimmed

When I fold it in half lengthwise and widthwise, it's perfect! There are only four more to go, and then I need to find something to bind them with. At first, I thought black, but I might have a dark green. I'll check later today. This is NOT on my radar screen, but the big piece of those quilted placemats was taking up space, and I needed it cleared up! I'm so far from trying to get that mess cleaned up. It will happen, but when?

I used the 60-degree line on my regular ruler to ensure those lines were at the correct angle. 

Trimming using a regular ruler

It amazes me how people would need a specialty ruler or tool to trim, but we have the most common angles on our regular rulers. We just need to learn how to use them!

And how did the new harness work? Well, look at Murphy. Once that harness goes on and she is waiting by the door, you would think we were trying to kill her! She hates this part, but the second the door opens, all thoughts of the harness disappear. Don't feel sorry for her -- she's a drama queen! 

MOM -- I don't need a harness - it's  uncomfortable

A drama queen who insists on being close! Yes, she is happy to stick her head into the arm of the chair just to get a pat on the head. Do not feel sorry for her - she gets lots of attention during the day, but it's never enough! 

Mom - I need to get closer!

Oh gosh -- this EXIT Game is going to be our death! I had figured out the answer to the next clue, although the storyline wasn't quite where I thought it should go. Then DH did the puzzle and got a similar answer, but he wasn't convinced we were in the right spot. He made me look at the answers, and we were on the money with the first two clues, but how we used the clues was INCORRECT. Oh god --- so I was wrong, and he was right! 

I think the big thing with this particular puzzle is that it's hard to do together because of the nature of the book. We must take time to each read the story and then solve the puzzle together, something that we have not been doing! And we're a good team if we work together!

So I read the following story and figured out what we needed to do—well, I figured out the clues. Now, I'll wait for DH to do the same, and then we'll try to solve the puzzle together. 

Well, I must now figure out what to do in my three most productive hours of the day! I'm back writing and have a lot of prep work to do. That is pretty mindless, so I should be OK. Hopefully, I won't have to go back and redo something! I have several car errands, so I'm unsure how much sewing will get done. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!