Today’s Homemaker

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how I seem to be “losing momentum”. Not with anything in particular…just an all around slowing down and losing steam. Perhaps it was because I was so incredibly productive last week–I don’t know. All I know is I was in my pajamas until 12 noon yesterday and I did not want to do anything (which is unlike me lately). I was glued to my computer for the better part of the day and could not pull myself away.

The computer is like junk food for me. I have to set limits for myself or it becomes an unhealthy sinkhole of time and energy. And when I get too much, I start to feel guilty and lazy (no matter how many “good” things I get done while I’m on it.)

So today, I was excited to find this post on “Getting Rid of Yesterday”. Sometimes I need the reminder to “close the door” on yesterday and just forget about it. It was a bum day, sure. But maybe I needed it so I wouldn’t burn out. Maybe it was important so that TODAY could be what today is.

And today, I have dubbed “Sewing Machine Day”. I am so excited! For so long, I have wanted to learn to sew, but I didn’t have a machine and couldn’t afford one. Plus, there’s that nagging voice that reminds me of all of my past crafty acquisitions and the loss of interest I had after the very first or second project.

There are the knitting needles and the expensive yarn and the half finished baby sweater that is packed away in a box somewhere. There is my half drawn portrait of my son that I started drawing a year ago. There are the 5 pages of scrapbooking that are completed (versus the thousands of pictures I’ve taken).

But you know what? That’s okay. Because I can close the door on all of that, too. I can slam it, actually, and I will. I can give myself permission to just not finish things, because it’s the process of doing them that I enjoy the most. And one day I will get back to those old projects–they will still be there. But right now, I want to sew! And it was my birthday! And I have some money!

So in the spirit of trying to be greener (and in the spirit of trying to get a better machine for my money), I went on Craigslist to see what I could find. And what do you know…a sewing machine (metal, not plastic) built into a maple hardwood (heavy) table for the low, low price of $65.

I love it! Now I just have to figure out how to thread the thing…wish me luck as there is no manual to be found.