Absolute Bliss!

My husband is out of state visiting our oldest son and his wife. Six days on my own!!! Now that is ABSOLUTE BLISS!

I love my husband very much (yesterday was our anniversary and he sent me a dozen long-stemmed red roses --- he'd even ordered them before he left and wrote out the card himself), but once in a while it is so nice to be selfish and just do exactly what I want to do. I even get to hold the remote control!!!

This photo is the inspiration for my craft room (I found the photo on the internet). I've painted half of my room --- it's greener than this but similarly bright and cheery. Our old (1922) house has 5" plank floor throughout the upstairs. When I pulled up the old carpet and a thin fiber board someone put down 40-50 years ago, the floors in this room had significant termite and water damage.

I've painted two coats of high-hide white primer and am going to use white floor paint for the final finish. Hopefully it won't show dirt too bad. I'll have a throw rug just inside the door to help keep it clean. I am SOOOO excited about this room. This has been a dream of mine for many years. There's just the two of us left in this five bedroom house and this will put an empty room to good use.

We'll be grandparents in two months and I'm making one of the other rooms into a nursery. This photo shows a look I like. I picked up a similar changing table off CraigsList; a crib too, but from a different seller. Our grand baby is a boy so I'll make his room more boyish than this photo. I love the polka dots.

It's a bit of a dreary, rainy day -- perfect for getting things done around the house. By the end of the day I'll have finished painting my craft room and started setting things up. Bliss!

Finding Me

I found the real me.

We've all heard of people "trying to find themselves." I think I've actually done it by simply letting go of who others either wanted me to be or mistakenly thought I was. I embraced the freedom to be myself.

It was there all the time -- or rather, I was.

Practicing yoga at a beautiful studio has allowed me to really open up to who I really am. And by beautiful, I don't mean physically beautiful, though it is very nice. I mean spiritually beautiful. People who practice yoga seem to be non-judgmental, friendly, loving and kind. The beauty of their souls engulf me when I walk in the door. And if I'm a little gassy, I just ask someone to light a stick of incense. Where else can you do that?

Then there are two groups of women I meet with at church. The Sunday morning group is mostly women in their 30s who have young children or teens and a few of us empty-nesters. The Wednesday evening group is much more diverse, with women of all ages. Between these two groups I have been able to open myself up be accepted. No pretending, no holding back -- what they see is what they get. AND, I'm allowing myself to SING during church (when everyone else is singing, of course; not at inappropriate times). I do feel a bit sorry for anyone within hearing distance b/c I cannot sing on key. "A Joyful Noise" is what you get when you sit near me. It's in the Bible!