Praiseworthy: All Things Old are New Again

Welcome to 2010. I don't know about you, but I was ready to put 2009 to bed and look forward to a better year ahead of us. Of course, not all was bad over the last 364 1/4 days, like welcoming our sweet kiddo #2 and getting layed off from my job - a blessing in disguise. Hopefully things will hedge toward the positive over this coming year...good health for family and friends, jobs for the jobless, children for the childless, homes for the homeless, and joy for the joyless.

This will have to be a "to be continued" post since my inspiration is inside a box on a UPS truck somewhere between here and Utah. But since I spaced doing a post last week, I'll combine it with this week's.

As I get older I'm finding the importance, and sometimes the necessity, to review the everyday and ordinary and experience them with new eyes, hence the title of my post. Spending Christmas with my parents this year meant sub-zero temperatures every morning, feeling lightheaded at 7500 feet elevation, crystal clear blue skies, and the most amazingly brilliant showing of stars every night. It's a bit Brigadoon-esque in that I'm convinced it doesn't exist until we drive up over the hill and look down into the valley. And then when we leave, it disappears and waits in the land of make believe until we return. There are no city lights to detract from Mother Nature's holiday lights because, well, there's no city. Seeing this spectacular display with new eyes was an epiphany...why not see everything with new eyes now and again - a renewal of passion and understanding of why we're here.

Amongst driving in the car, playing games, and fixing meals, I found out new things I never knew before, like:

My parents got engaged on Christmas Eve (1961). They were high school sweethearts, but say they didn't know for sure they would marry each other until they moved away from home.
The school counselor approached my parents about me skipping the first grade, but they declined. Thanks, Mom and Dad for knowing what's best for me...that was the right decision for sure.

As a kid, you don't see "behind-the-scenes" of decisions that have to be made, budgets that need to be followed or schedules that must be managed. A kid's job is to be a kid, and a parent's job is to make sure the kids are able to do their job. I would encourage you to ask more questions this year, dig a little deeper into your own history. And try again something you historically haven't liked...you might be pleasantly surprised. Maybe there's a food you've never liked, a household chore that sends chills up your neck, or an activity that's on your personal "undesired" list. That's how I decided I liked tomatoes, mushrooms and clam chowder. Heck, I'll even commit to trying cilantro again, and I promise to show more enthusiasm when it's time to dust the furniture. I'll let you know how it goes, and I'd love to hear how it worked for you.

Finally, here's something old I'm seeing with new eyes...a project in dire need of finishing. I've always loved stars, and especially quilts with stars. After sewing a star block and turning it over to look at the right side, I do a little happy dance when I see that those cheerful points haven't been chopped off by my stitches. This is a block of the month I started in 1999 when my mom had her quilt shop. Obviously I didn't quite make a block every month, but I'm determined to finish it!!