For the past 2 years, we've taken the kid/kids to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. We always go with SK's brother & his 2 kids. I love this trip so much. I like how excited Gus gets when he finds an apple. I like how he points out the "dead" apples on the ground. This year, his class took a trip a week earlier to the same orchard. During that trip, he learned the proper way to pick an apple. This year he took great care to twist the apple off its branch. We picked a bunch of Suncrisp & Melrose apples. SK enjoys a tart apple & I'm happy with any kind that makes a good sauce. I also love the trip because we get the best pictures. We're really trying to display more pictures around our house. I need to learn how to adjust my Color Balance so the orange doesn't blow up my camera, but overall I'm happy with our pictures. This year the trip also helped with my sanity.
Early last week, our company had to cut more positions. Within my department, we lost about 8 people. A year ago, my company did the same thing. Right now, I feel like a sitting duck. Well, this duck needs to get up & do something. This news & all of the current economy woes is starting to get to me. I don't watch the news any longer. I try really hard not to click on CNN.com, but I seem to click a couple times a day just to punish myself. Not to sound really Crunchy, but I can no longer live in what my Future might be. It ruins my Present. This is really easy for me to type, but much harder to actually do. When you grow up, people are always telling you to think about your future. Join clubs in high school & it will be easier to get into college. Get a good internship so you can land a great job out of college. Work hard now so your boss will recognize it & promote you. But in the end, did any of that work for me? I'm pretty sure I would have gotten into college without being part of the Yearbook club. My internship had nothing to do with my current job. There's no room for growth with my job & they still cut people.
I'm not saying to live fully in the moment. The kids' Well Checks would never happen because I'd forget to schedule them. I wouldn't finish one project because I'd start the next one that inspired me. Forget saving! But I really need to stop worrying about something that may never happen. And if it does, worrying about it now will have no effect on the outcome. I've had to change my reading habits because they help my Worry grow at a rate that I can't control or sustain. I've picked up a few books that I'm hoping will keep me sane & productive. (side note: Why doesn't everyone buy used books on Amazon? I got a hard copy of Everyday Blessings for $0.46!)
I'm going to stop watching as much tv (Beside the Mentalist, there isn't a new show that I love. How hot is Simon Baker?) & get back to reading, sewing, & knitting. I've got an apron & quilt to finish. Why did I but material for B's quilt? Another reason to live in the moment, there's always better fabric around the corner! I finished Tuck's Runaround & have the yoke finished on Gus'. I may have to rip out some of the length on Tuck's. It's a little more tunic than pullover.
Sorry for the doom-and-gloom post, but I don't think I'm alone in this. Even just typing the post out has helped, but don't worry. I won't use the blog as my therapy.
What a wonderful perspective - I'm right there with you! I find myself being negative because everything and everyone else is! I think we need a Nnational No-TV day! Let's all get back to knitting and sewing and playing with our kids!
Posted by: kelly jo | October 22, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Great pictures and post!
Posted by: Lecia | October 23, 2008 at 01:27 AM
i'd like to think that keeping the hot simon guy in mind might help settle the mind a bit. it is a crazy time; embrace the pumpkins, the babies and the time we have now. and go used amazon. so much better that someone has already had something from it.
Posted by: mamie | October 26, 2008 at 03:00 AM
Oh you're certainly not alone! Last February/March I remember being in the car, listening to NPR and saying to my husband "my GOD, whatever you do, don't lose your job because things are becoming seriously horrid out there!" and then June 16th he's let go from his job via a TEXT MESSAGE. (I hate lawyers!) Fast-forwarding past the 2 months of unemployment that followed (that's why we saved in the first place, right? Not for replacement windows or insulation or a fancy winter jacket for our kid, but to pay the electricity bill when it came due!) and now he's a teacher's aide and LOVING life for the first time ever in his working career, taking graduate classes towards his Master's in Special Education.
It's always quite the ride, isn't it? I'd start to freak about the house, the luxury items, etc. and then I'd catch sight of my son and get very quiet and still and realize that there is one thing that nobody will ever be able to take away from me. No bank will foreclose on him, he'll never be repossessed - he'll never be shut off by a utility company. So I'd reach out and grab him and give him a ton of kisses - and then suddenly things seemed pretty much okay again.
Posted by: Susan B | October 29, 2008 at 03:38 PM