The Best Ordinary Days
Only two more weeks left of my summer break, this season is whizzing by in certain ways and yet when the heat and humidity are abundant, this season is taking forever for me to get through. I'm trying my best not to grumble about the humidity, in fact - I am defiantly wearing jeans daily.
I've been chipping away on some tasks around the house partly in preparation of the next few weekends of a full house with family and partly because I've procrastinated enough already. I recycled earlier this week (driving my recyclables to a center) and today I am donating four bags of clothing. These bags have been around since May when my son came home with them. For weeks they've been in his room with the door closed and forgotten.
This past weekend I put them in the laundry room so I would trip over them and remember to do this task.
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| chocolate from my daughter and son in law from their trip to Switzerland |
My husband has a few weeks off this month and we are staying home to enjoy our backyard. Maybe we will do some day trips. Next week, he is driving up to Boston all in one day to bring our son back to PA. I will stay home and knit. I don't think a 12 hour drive in total would be good for my back health. And I would probably be a crabby person and not be fun.
Since I finished the hat, I'm itching to start a shawl for holiday gift knitting. However, I need to finish up some other projects first. I know and you know, if I start something new, I'll never get the current projects done and off the needles. These are sad knitting facts.
I just need to finish ONE more project.
Because the new school year is starting, I tend to start a new schedule for myself. This habit goes way back to when I started high school. New pens, notebooks, book bag and a fresh positive attitude. Each year, I would vow to keep my notebooks tidy, write legibly and not doodle. I would fail every single year within the first nine weeks of school.
I filled out my new calendar planner with dates, appointments and various repeating tasks. This planner is fresh, tidy and legible. Just like my younger self, I will be writing illegibly wondering what I was writing about and it will get messy.
Life is messy though. I was flipping through my old planner and I stumbled across the BEAR incidents. Documented in block letters - quite legibly and with frustration. I have the name and phone number of the game commission office. I'm sure the bear will be back in the winter. Now it's funny to me, back then it was not funny at all.
When I read blogs, I sometimes run across a post that says their life is 'boring'. Or they have nothing to write about. While some of you are writing about nothing, you are unique in your life experiences and are giving food for thought to someone else who might be inspired by how you tackled a situation. Or maybe you gave someone a much needed chuckle.
I read sewing posts and wish I sewed. I read about new recipes tried and wish I was baking or cooking more. I read about someone enjoying their local area and I think I need to do more day trips. I'll see a knitting pattern and want to knit that project. Your posts are exciting to me and inspiring.
Our lives are not boring. Our lives are rich with ordinary days - that is exciting and thrilling. How blessed am I to be living this life - enjoying each day - for me the boring days are the best days.
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| I'm going to finish this one |
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| or I'm going to finish this one |
Karen, wise words and I say a resounding YES! Ordinary is rich, full, and yes - overflowing. And, when I look at the alternative, I will take ordinary every single time. Have an amazing weekend!
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely thoughts expressed so well! I often struggle, looking for something interesting to write about, but after reading your praises for the ordinary I won't be so afraid to write about my ordinary. I think my favorite part of an ordinary day is sitting with my knitting in the evening, looking back over the day and counting my blessings.
ReplyDeleteordinary days are my favorite. dark early time alone with coffee. reading blogs (about other's ordinary days ;-) knitting, a few chores around the house, catching up with Marc, walking Holly ... it's all good!
ReplyDelete"Rich with ordinary days" - such wise and comforting words! Thank you. Loving the pics of Holly too.
ReplyDeleteThat's so true! Right now I long for ordinary days... Actually, I alway do, but I hardly ever have them. My favorite parts would be taking plenty of time to knit and sew and do household and garden chores with peace of mind, not thinking about everything else I need to do.
ReplyDeleteEveryday moments all add up to a rich life. I would love a few days of, "boring!" Have a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of an ordinary day is watching the sun come up...and set...taking walks with my husband..seeing a housekeeping job that needs done and doing it! :) I always enjoy your photos, Karen. I love the one of Frodo outside on the patio looking in through the door. :) Have a GREAT weekend, my friend. xx
ReplyDeleteYou write the best posts, Karen! We all lead lives filled with quotidian tasks, but each one of our lives have hidden gems we can share. You do this SO well. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteYep - I’m another one who prefers blogs that let us in to real life - knitting, sewing, animals, children, house renovation ( the best of all because I get all the vicarious pleasure with no dust, dirt or expense!) - rather than glamour. I find blogs with constant overseas travel as boring as having to look at 550 photos of the Taj Mahal because my friend has just visited!
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you. I ♥ the ordinary days. My favorite part of an ordinary day ...... knitting, of course.
ReplyDeleteOrdinary is fantastic. You have proven that point. But I, like you, love reading blogs about things I do not do and am inspired by them. I love to see blogs about people and their everyday lives. There is nothing wrong with being 'normal'.
ReplyDeleteAre those red things mushrooms? I know there is a place in PA that is know as the mushroom capital of the world. Are you near there?
Does Frodo ever go into your pool? My 2 dogs want nothing to do with my pool Could be because when we got each one, we threw them in the pool (with a leash on) and showed them how to get to the steps so they could get out. They have steered clear of it ever since which is fine with me.
Yes those are red mushrooms growing in our yard, I'm assuming they are not safe to eat. Frodo does not go into the pool unless he falls in by accident (he gets excited when people are in the pool swimming). He does the doggie paddle and we scoop him up and out. It happens rarely!
DeleteKaren, such wise words. Each day is different and brings its own beauty. My favourite part of a ordinary day are the simple things in life, the sun rising/setting, a bud opening, the sheep I could go on and on and for that I am truly grateful.
ReplyDeleteHere's to ordinary days!
ReplyDeleteI love your calendar tradition. Mine has always been to update the calendar on Christmas Day or the 26th. Growing up, Mom gave me a wall calendar every year and while the grownups cleaned up the Christmas morning mess & prepped for Christmas night dinner, I'd lay on the living room floor & fill out the new calendar. As an adult with my own Christmas Day responsibilities, I've had to push the tradition to the 26th. My friends think I'm nuts when I turn down sale shopping trips with them to stay home and 'calendar' but.... It's tradition!
Great post, Karen! Time certainly does fly past, and it looks like you have a great system for staying accountable. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI do love the fact that you can read back on older notes and laugh at times (bear) when things were not so funny. Every year, I too promise myself I am going to be more organized with documenting things, appointments and such. I am still failing at it, but it is one of those things I will continue to attempt.
ReplyDeleteI agree- our lives are not boring. They may seem ordinary or "just" an everyday thing, but if we change our prospective, they can seem rather magical. :) Silly enough one of my favorite things is when I wake in the morning and look forward to all the new things that can be discovered.
Very wise words. I am never bored but sometimes I think I am boring. Great to hear that affirmation that even if I think I am boring someone else may be able to take something from my day to day. Thank you. Can't believe that fall is almost here my favorite season of all!!!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait for fall either!
DeleteI love the ordinary days best. My favorite parts are my morning stretching routine, the first cup of tea with my journal, and watching the evening sky. Oh and Face Time with my children and families - not every day but almost.
ReplyDeleteI love being immersed in a craft on an ordinary day when it's quiet in the house and when I got my Jams playlist blasting away on Google Home.
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