coffee

Too Many

Posted by

0

I am late writing this evening.  My day was a little busy and then I got home late and Rock had to remind me I hadn’t written.  I’ve had several topics floating around in my head for a couple of weeks. Nothing has settled with them yet, though.

Except maybe this thing. Too many.  Too many choices.  Too many opportunities.  Too many decisions.  When there were only a few choices of ice cream flavors, I could easily decide on chocolate.  Nowadays, it is hard to find the chocolate among all the many flavors available.  Interestingly, I now prefer vanilla or strawberry.  Blue Bell vanilla is easy to find. Strawberry is not.

When there were only three channels to watch, it was easy to just turn off the television and go do something else.  Maybe not so much more interesting than a favorite show, but better than what happened to be on at the time.  Now, there are so many “may be interesting” things to watch on so many different channels, plus the options to record many shows at one time for later viewing, I get caught up in too many from which to choose.

Coffee has become complicated.  I used to buy one kind of coffee and make in a plain old coffee maker.  I have an electric percolator now that I like to use, but I also have several blends of coffee to brew. I have flavored instants and a French press, too.  And several “favorite” coffee cups.

So many different recipes and foods to choose. Restaurants on every corner with all different types of cuisine.  Bottled beverages of such profusion, the cooler section takes up large walls in convenience stores.  Chips are even coming in limited edition varieties.  As if there weren’t enough flavors to figure out. 

Bookstores look like supermarkets.  Supermarkets look like malls.  And I am even lost and confused in garden centers sometimes. 

All this pondering has a recent trigger.  I would like to paint the bathroom.  That means the daunting task of selecting a paint color.  Just the right shade.  Not too light. Not too dark.  Not too green. Not too blue.  That leaves a few dozen to consider.  I really not that tired enough of the pale blue on the walls to go through all that effort.

I have never been one of those people who could say I like this and only this and that over there isn’t this, so I am not interested.  I don’t know if I am too curious or too uncertain of my own choices.  It took me forty-five years to decide on my favorite color.  Nearly that long to choose a favorite flower. 

I can barely work my way through the complicated process of a coffee shop.  I usually just get a café au lait or vanilla latte.  Though my pal and I got pumpkin spice lattes just for fun last week.  One time I ordered a Marilyn Monroe.  Though I am pretty certain, cream and sugar were her only options when she was around, this one had white chocolate in it, I think.

I came across a line someplace that basically advised to pick something and stick with it. I am trying to apply it to my thoughts.   Just figure out once and for all what is preferred by me and stop jumping around trying to not miss the latest flavor or flower or candle scent or color or style trend. 

Poor Rock. I will still be rearranging the furniture and swapping where I keep things.  But maybe he won’t be subject to so many other topsy turvy situations where I am concerned.  Maybe, I said.

He is pretty tolerant of my rearranging everything, though he makes fun of it and acts like it drives him crazy.  He is actually very tolerant and very supportive of most of my hare brained schemes.  He does help me not fall off cliffs, too.  I can never say too many times how blessed I am being his wife.  Never too many hugs.  Never too many kisses.  Never too many “I love you” whispers between us.

Eating the Elephant

Posted by

2

Apparently, I sounded down in last week’s post.  It wasn’t intended that way. I was actually feeling optimistic.  I did make a run to the fabric store and craft store.  Came away with a few things.  I even found some of the items on my list at the local Walmart. 

I have been making progress on the less than pleasant projects.  Little bites consume the elephant. 

A couple of dear friends are eyeball deep in the restoration of a cabin while inhabiting it.  She mentioned having an opportunity to go through her recipe collection that has been in storage and it giving her renewed inspiration and enthusiasm to keep on with the less than pleasant portions of the project.

It models the method I have used for years to get things done.  I will make my list of tasks and then set a timer for twenty or thirty minutes and work on the first one till the timer goes off.  If I am really going great, I will keep on till I stall.  I move on to the next item on the list and do the same thing with the timer.  It is sometimes best to stop exactly with the timer.  If the project is going well and the stopping place won’t cause a problem for proper execution, stop on the high point.  When the project comes back around, it will be easier to pick up and move forward. 

For the less than pleasant tasks, I have interspersed the happier ones to work on as well.  For example, I am trying to sort out a box of his papers and get them filed.  An elephant.  I also picked up a fish bowl and some aquatic plants to make a water garden.  A happy project.  I am moving back and forth on chores and projects to keep from getting bogged down.  I don’t always use a timer.  After so many years of doing so, I can “feel” the time. 

We had a good trip this past weekend to the longhorn sale.  He came home with his pick of the lots.  We got to visit with people we care about and only see once or twice a year usually.  The sale has been going on for twenty-four years and some of us have been there since the first one.  The trip for me was like my friend’s perusal of her recipes.  It has given me renewed enthusiasm to push through the less than pleasant things. 

I have been productive yesterday and today.  I read a book, watched a movie, washed clothes. As mentioned earlier, I have worked on his filing. I have taken pleasure in drinking my own coffee on the porch and watching the hummingbirds battle it out for a few drops of sugar water.  Even the elephant projects have been good. 

Reading back over the above paragraph, I should clarify that reading a book and watching a movie count as productive for me since those items are on my lists of things to achieve for personal satisfaction.  The book was one from the 1960’s by a favorite writer, Rosamunde Pilcher.  The movie was one of Margaret Rutherford’s portrayals of Agatha Christie’s Jane Marple.  As an aspiring writer, soaking in the art and craft of storytelling through books and movies is important.  As for the comment about the coffee, one of the only things I struggle with when traveling is missing my morning coffee on the back porch.  Traveling makes me appreciate it more when I do return home. 

Here’s to a good week of creative expression and loving actions, good books and good coffee.  May we have time to play and time to love.  And time to stop and see the beautiful world He has made.