Understanding tea

I just posted a draft I wrote earlier in the week, and I must confess, I am still having those doubts.  I don't feel as if I'm getting very into it yet, but I write posts in my head a fair amount - like when I'm driving, or when I'm showering and I obviously can't post.  Maybe other bloggers have those moments too.

Needless to say, I have thought about this blog a lot this week, about getting back to it.  Confession: For a week I've been looking for my camera cord to add photos to the first post, to no avail.  I have a new camera from Christmas but it's no good because the card doesn't fit my printer and without a cord there's no way I can upload images. Argh.  I'm frustrated with myself and have almost exhausted the places where I can look for it.  And the obvious...yes, I've tried my old Olympus cord, but it's not compatible with my Canon.  There's one more thing I should mention....when I do find the cord, or buy a new one, I still have to figure out how to add photos to a blog, ahem!

Did I sew every day?  Hmm - no.  After my first post, I kept it up for two days and made 3 more blossoms for my project that I've named, Just for Japan {a spin-off from Hearts for Haiti.}  I didn't set any real goals, but I did contact a friend who teaches apparel in a high school to see if her students might be able to make some pins and supplement what I can make. She came over to see the pins and took one with her to mull it over and perhaps show it to her students. I don't know where we're going with that, but if her students do make 2 or 3...or 5 each, it could mean 50 to 100 blossoms that will supplement what I can make and that can be sold.

Meantime, daily, the news out of Japan becomes more and more dire and I feel real urgency to do more than I've done so far.

I am disappointed that I didn't set a goal, but I have to "forgive" myself because I had a lot going on this week.  Things like: Work each day. Meeting with my painter to see about progress on his projects at my house. Two trips to Home Depot to buy hardware for the house {for painter.} Boxed up items for Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity/Restore and for a guy at work to sell at a flea market, making somewhat of a dent in the things in the garage, but it's still a mess out there. Battled with a sore knee for a few days - pre-patellar bursitis, but it's better, thank you Father. Met with a designer to walk through my house to discuss what  inexpensive upgrades I can do to the house. Baked cheese crackers two nights. Baked and iced a chocolate birthday cake over two nights. Had pottery friends over last night and then we all went to a gallery opening.  Oh, and did I mention that I cleaned house, the downstairs anyway?  And that I painted the closet under the stairs because the painter never got to it and I needed to put the things that were strewn all over the diningroom back into it?  There was not much extra time for sewing and I can see why I only got 3 more blossoms made!

There were daily phone calls to my mom and my sister-in-law about my mom's health.  All week my mom was ailing with a stomach bug, that over there they call "gastro" {as in "Mom's got gastro".} I'm concerned about my mom and praying for her. I'm terrified that she's giving up because she doesn't think she has anything left to live for.  If only I could live down the street from her and shower her with love and respect.  It's incredibly tough to be a daughter 8,000 miles away.

The highlight of my week was having my pottery friends over for appetisers last night.  We were once "The Wednesday Night Class" {infamous, maybe!}  We all got along so well, that here a few years later, we still enjoy each others' company.  I'd heard our teacher was having a gallery showing and thought how fun to go as a group to cheer him on. One of the gang had a birthday last week so for something desserty I made him the chocolate birthday cake.  Don't get me wrong, I loved having my friends over {we had a fabulous time catching up} but it did spur me into action to clean up some messes and complete some things downstairs that I was working on in tandem with my painter.

I am like that, you know.  At times {more often than I do it} I need self induced prodding, and there's nothing like company to light a fire under my tail.

And bless Irene's heart....she remembered my fetish for Typhoo Decaf tea. Having seen some at Earth Fare, she brought me a box, complete with a bow.  She lived in England for a while.  She truly understands the need for tea.