Monthly Archives: June 2013

A letter to myself

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For page three of the “Live a Creative Life” book, I needed to write a letter to myself. To add whimsy and a different dimension we were asked to write the letter on plain notebook paper. I chose a steno pad. It felt more relevant.

A letter to myself.

For those who can’t read my writing:

A letter to myself.

Quit feeling guilty for creating! When you feel guilty for creating, just get over it! Creating and creativity are such an integral part of who your are and who you want to be. If you neglect creativity then you are neglecting yourself. You don’t feel guilty if you take a shower or take time to eat. Taking time to create shouldn’t be any different. Laundry can wait. Dishes can wait. Your health and growing who you are as a person can’t wait any longer. Quit putting creativity on the back burner. Quit apologizing to yourself and others for taking time to create.

It’s not the best thing I’ve ever written. Let’s face it, these blog posts are showing just how rusty my writing is in general. I’m still pleased with my letter. It says everything I needed to remind myself.

Quit feeling guilty.

Quit apologizing.

The need to create is too important.

Artsy Fartsy

PS How do you like the centering effect? Is it me? Does it need to go back to the left? Inquiring blogger needs to know.

Page 2

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Without further ado, page 2. (I just couldn’t help a little rhyme.)

Page 2

This is my Creative Creed. What I am telling myself to live by going forward. “I give myself permission to create. I will value my need to create. I will not wait until chores are finished to create. I will not wait until I have more time to create. I will not wait until it is convenient for others. I will live live creatively.” It doesn’t matter that what I wrote isn’t poetry or possibly even grammatically correct. What is important is the meaning of the words and how I will live my life going forward.

I again used materials that I had one hand. Except for the stripey letter d, I bought that set at Target.

The picture is from a photo of me standing next to Mary Poppins at Disney World. She obviously wasn’t necessary for this. It’s all about me.

Accepted!

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It’s official. I’ve been accepted to Columbus State. Now I just have to figure out next steps. How do you do this whole school thing again?

I need to find an advisor, figure out if I need any testing or transcripts (I think that was part of the application but I’m confused already), decide what class to take fall semester, decide if I want financial aid… I’m tired already and I’ve just read the emails.

And most importantly, I need to make sure that no one confuses me with the Husband. It’s awkward having same first initial and last name sometimes.

Page 1

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This is the first page of Permission to Live a Creative Life.

I decided to change the title because 1) I couldn’t remember the title AND 2) I didn’t have enough letters.

Page 1

The stickers were particularly annoying but hand sewing buttons onto paper was actually fun. Weird, but fun.

All the materials were ones that I had on hand already except for the gold sparkly letters. I bought those at TJ Maxx.

Wahoo!

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I’ve been thinking about going back to school for some time now. Today I took that most important step forward and applied to college! I hope to start classes fall semester at Columbus State Community College. I’m going to start with Microsoft certification classes and move on from there. I feel so accomplished right now. I will be sure to post updates as the process moves forward.

Cast Iron Skillet Steaks

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I made my first steaks in the cast iron skillet that Husband bought for me this past Christmas. Cast iron can be a pain to use because it takes more care than a pan you just use and throw into the dishwasher, but the rewards are worth it.

To make my steaks I started by melting two tablespoons of butter on high heat. Once I had a good sizzle going, I plopped in both steaks. You can make as many steaks as your skillet will allow but it’s important to not crowd the meat. Two bone out ribeyes fit perfectly in my skillet. Meanwhile I preheated my oven at 400 degrees.

I seared the first side of each steak for a full minute just to get a lovely carmelization and pretty brown color. Then I cooked the next side for another minute. I placed a tablespoon of butter on each steak, added salt & pepper liberally and then put the whole skillet into the oven. I baked the steaks for ten minutes to get them medium-well.

The steaks were seared to perfection, fork tender and buttery good. I’ll be making many more steaks just like this in the future. (Next time I promise pictures.)

 

I Slept in the Laundry Room

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This storm came through last Wednesday night. At 9:00 pm, Delaware County had its first tornado warning. I’m pretty terrified of storms. I think that they are a beautiful show of Mother Nature’s power but that doesn’t prevent me from turning into a quivering puddle of goo. During this first warning, I sat frozen on the couch watching the TV with bated breath and probably a few tears. (Husband says I was shaking and rocking too.)

Being the paranoid and ultra preparatory man that he is, Husband began gathering emergency supplies into our laundry room. It is a centrally located room, far from any windows or outside walls and it has the bonus of having a door. He carried in bottled water, a can opener, bowls & utensils (We store some canned goods in the laundry room as well as detergent. It’s a multipurpose room.) shoes, flashlight, candles, spare batteries, blankets, my Perry the Platypus Pillow Pet, his favorite pillow and last but not least, the twin mattress. There was exactly enough room to put the mattress on the floor between the wall and the washer/dryer. It went from one end of the room to the other with no space to spare. By the time all this was in place, the tornado warning was over. I felt so much better about being prepared that I was able to go to bed with no problems.

At about 1:45 a particularly nasty storm was rampaging outside. I listened for a bit until I thought it was getting out of hand. I checked my phone and sure enough, Delaware County had its second tornado warning. I got Husband up and we went to the laundry room. The tornado warning was over shortly but the severe thunderstorm warning would last at least another hour. Husband joined me on the little mattress and we fell asleep. He got up around 4:00 am to a silent world. The worst of the storms were over. He informed that he was going back to bed and asked if I wanted to join him. My response? “No. Because I’m sleeping.” After which I apparently snuggled deeper into my blankets, hugged Perry and began snoring.

I woke up at 6:30, having spent the majority of the evening in the laundry room. I couldn’t keep myself from giggling as we put the mattress back in its rightful place. While I’m thrilled that none of the storms or warnings amounted to anything more than minor damage in the county, I’m pleased to know that we have a safe place to go that is apparently so comfy that I spent the night in the laundry room.

Chores

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All plucky housewives have them. All non-housewives have them. Chores are a fact of life. But there are times when they seem to consume life. Every where you look there is another chore. Waiting. It can be so overwhelming that you just want to shut down. Where you will go crazy if you look at another chore. Where you get so hysterical that your husband throws crap into a closet just so you don’t have to look at the chore until you want to. (I’m not speaking from experience or anything. Nope, purely speculative comment.)

One of the best solutions when chores start to take over your life is to write them down. Break the chores into small pieces. You don’t just write laundry. You write “gather clothes,” “sort clothes” and “do one load on Sunday night.” By breaking these chores down you are making the overwhelming seem whelming. Every time you cross a chore off you’ll feel a little more accomplished. Trust me. The experts recommend this. My mother recommends this. And she’s rarely wrong.

So here is my list of chores:

  • Put dishes into dishwasher
  • Do dishes – dishwasher & handwash
  • Put dishes away
  • Gather clothes
  • Sort clothes into keep, give away and trash
  • Hang clothes up instead of keeping them in the basket
  • Empty the closet
  • Put luggage away
  • Go through boxes and sort contents into keep, giveaway and trash
  • Stack & combine scrapbooking/ journaling supplies
  • Determine what is left over
  • Organize leftovers into containers/piles if necessary
  • Find storage shelf for closet
  • Organize containers/piles into closet
  • Clean craft table in the living room
  • Put table away or move it back to the office
  • Setup sewing table
  • Setup sewing machine
  • Put pillows into shams
  • Change direct deposit info on accounts
  • Arrange pins onto corkboard
  • Hang corkboards
  • Write a letter
  • Vacuum
  • Feed the plant

Look at that list! A lot of those are completely doable right now and some will have to wait until this weekend (or longer – closet I’m looking at you!). Plus, there’s two I’ve already crossed off. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel.

So what chores are on your list? Tell me in the comments section. I love comments 🙂

The Importance of Creativity

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I’ve realized for several years now that I have an overwhelming urge to create and be creative. Whether I’m embroidering a pillowcase, scrapbooking my latest adventure, making dinner or just doodling; I need to create. I feel more energized and most importantly happier when I’m creating. Sadly, I got out of the habit for the past 2 years. I’ve only created in little spurts here and there thinking there was something more important that had to be done. But what is more important than taking care of myself and making sure I’m happy?

With these thoughts in mind, I signed up for a class over at Big Picture Classes. It’s called Permission to Live a Creative Life. The teacher, Courtney Walsh, believes the same thing I do; creativity is a must. The class walks you through making a journal (which is creative in and of itself) that in the end will be a testament to yourself of why it’s okay to live a creative life. I’ve only just begun but already I’m so impressed. I will share my progress as I complete each page.