IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!

Well, just let me tell you that I was in the third grade before I knew that my birthday did NOT come on Labor Day each year.  My mom always said that I was born on Labor Day, so I thought that meant that was when my birthday happened.  In the third grade, this Miss Smarty-Pants girl informed me in front of all my classmates that my birthday had to come on a different day each year.  I went home and asked my mother what day was my birthday and she said "You were born on Labor Day".  "But", I said, "Miss Smarty-Pants so-in-so said that Labor Day cannot be my birthday every year."  So my mom explained to me that my birthday is September 6th.  Now that I am older and can celebrate my birthday whenever I want, I choose to celebrate my birthday for the entire week of Labor Day.  So there!!!

This is the Labor Day Week!!!

Over the weekend my daughter, Heather, and one of my grandsons, Nick, came for a visit and brought me a birthday present.

Another flamingo for my "flock".  This one is wearing a tin "grass" skirt.  I just love her 'tude.

Yesterday a friend of mine rang the door bell and arrived with something for me.

Balloons . . .

A cute card with something "special" inside.

and cupcakes!!!  She told me this gift was from my Piecemakers Bee group, whom I lovingly refer to as the Pbees.  These wonderful gals meet with me monthly and we have such a fun time!  Thank you Pbees!!!!

This is a special year!  I am on the verge of entering the seventh decade of my life.  This amazes me.  I have always thought I would live a long life, but little did I know that the years past 50 would be my absolute best!  It does not seem like I am one of those "old ladies". 

I feel that I am in the prime of my life and am so happy living my life to the fullest.  Each day I choose what I want to do and follow through with lots of activities.  I enjoy walking and doing Yoga and weight lifting and cooking and quilting and painting.  I try to incorporate all of this physical exercise into every day.  It is a great feeling to know that I can still bend over to touch my toes and that I can do squats and get back up.  LOL

A few years ago my sister gave me this card and I framed it to hang in my Studio.

"Your work is to discover your work and then, with all your heart, give yourself to it." 

I have chosen my work and I am diligent in pursuing my journey.  I love to quilt and I love to teach.  Two things I do almost daily!
It is critical for me to produce and to use every minute of my time.  Sometimes I sit and meditate and other times I make something.  I learned the importance of meditation several years ago.  It is such a rejuvenating exercise.  I used to think that meditation required me to sit in a dark room with special music.  Now I know that any time I spend with myself and listen to my inner soul is meditation.

In the next five years my work plan includes finishing as many WIPs as I possibly can in my Studio.  I have many of these incomplete projects that I am still interested in doing. 

I have devised a plan to do this and each month I have my hubby choose a WIP number from my jar and that is the one I work on that month. Sometimes the project takes more than one month. I am okay with that.  I do not wear a watch because I want to live the moment not watch the moment.  So I simply work on a project until it is completed - whether it takes a week or more than a month.  Taking the pressure off of "should" and "have to" has made me a stronger and happier woman.

 There are other unfinished projects that I have decided I am no longer excited about.  I have already passed on a few of these to a friend of mine who rescues "orphan" blocks and re-purposes them and donates them to charity.  I will start another box for her.

An immediate high priority task is to clean up my studio and organize all the leftover fabrics and patterns that I have used in the last 3 months.  I could tell myself that I will be more organized in the years to come and will always keep my studio orderly and tidy.  However, I have lived with me long enough to know that I am not a neatnik by nature.  I just have to tackle the Studio when it gets so messy I cannot stand it anymore. In the meantime, I will also be creating something. 

It is important to me to live life to the fullest and include my friends in my daily journey.  Over the years I have begun to cherish my friends who make me smile, challenge me to think, and who just brighten my day when I am with them.  These are the gals that I share my quilting passion with; they are those who engage in conversations that require me to try a new idea on before I discard it; and there are others who are my total opposite and I love listening to their passions.  I have a diverse group of friends --  some are artists, some are musicians, some are geeks, and some have such a super sense of humor that they keep me laughing until I have tears.  A few of my friends live a very structured life and they challenge me to appreciate their need to have that lifestyle.

My family brings me the self confidence to stand on my own two feet.  They have been the structure that I have needed to keep my feet on the ground when I tend to run off on tangents. I will give my all to my family when they need me and I strive to always accept them where they are in their journey. 

Coming to the end of my sixties has taught me that the majority of life is not about me.  Making others feel special gives me greater satisfaction than being the center of attention myself.

I know my strengths as well as my shortcomings.  I choose to focus on the strengths.  Shortcomings make a statement on their own and I find it unnecessary to emphasize them.  If I continually tell myself positive things, then I will hear more good than bad.

All of these ruminations must come to a close!  I am going to celebrate my birthday for the rest of the week and then I am going to live each day of the upcoming years as if it is the only day I have.  Would you like to join me?


                                       -sandi