Bits and pieces

I mentioned the bluegrass program at Manton School -- here's the link to that story. Their concert is tonight, and after several days of cloudy, unsettled, and blessedly cool weather, it's blue sky with puffy white clouds right now. Hopefully they'll be able to have the concert outdoors so that even the birds will sing the melody!

Three-day weekends throw me off -- bet they do you, too. Even though I work in a home studio, I still pretty much work regular hours Monday-Friday, since that's when I'm likely to reach the people I need to interview. So I do chores on weekends too -- gardening, washing, etc. Mondays are often a catch-up day, and usually not too hectic. This week I had to plunge fully into the week -- although I am writing here instead of writing a story -- but not for long. Too many deadlines.

And the weather! Oh, how I love what we've been having: temps in the cool 70s, if that -- many days in the 60s! Clouds! About half an inch total of rainfall! After spending most of Sunday a week ago cleaning out the winter sweaters and sweats from my closet, I've had to grab long pants and sweatshirts -- and I'm happy to do so. My guest bedroom has clothing stacked on the bed, bedding on the floor (comforters and blankets), and shoes in a big box. It'll get put away eventually.

I've had occasion again to remind myself that I am not my emotions, and to contemplate the inner critic, not so much for me this time, but for my daughter. Throw the little SOB off the bench, I told her! Out the window! He lies~! What we do for a living is not who we are either, although sometimes we get bound up in our work to the point that we become all about work and not about taking care of ourselves, and we lose (temporarily anyway) who we are to what we do. Those few who actually have managed to make a living doing what they love to do are fortunate indeed -- while I do love what I do, there are drawbacks to it, and I've found that so no matter what I've done to earn a paycheck and benefits.

Remember who you are. If you don't know, find out. There are many books and Web sites to help you do just that. Talking to friends and family helps too.

We have new porch covers that shelter two of our sliding doors from the rain and sun, and it's like finding new space! Somehow they define the space better than it was. I'm hoping the hummingbirds will find their feeders -- I've hung them from the beams where we can see them much better than before. I know it'll drive the cats crazy.

Remember to take time every day to say thank you for your blessings...without gratitude, you have very little.