Taking Stock #3

Making: time. To read. To do laundry. To take walks. To think.
Cooking: lots of summer squash, trying to find ways to cook it so as not to taste it.
Drinking: plain, iced green tea. Lots.
Reading: Jurassic Park by Michael Crighton.
Wanting: time to finish puttying the gaps in my floor and to put up the new baseboard.
Looking: at trees. Trees are beautiful.
Playing: Uno with my littlest (and cutest) siblings.
Deciding: What I want to focus on during the two months this winter when my work will be slower than slow.
Wishing: I got up earlier today and got more done.
Enjoying: a cd someone gave me from a cruise they went on.♬ "Wonderful world, beautiful people!"♬ :)
Waiting: for winter!!! I'm so ready for a little time to do something un-work-related.
Liking: summer produce. Fresh tomatoes. Fresh peppers. Fresh lettuce and spinach.
Wondering: how to better heat/conserve heat in my bus when the snow flies.
Loving: the color blue.
Pondering: painting my crazy orange walls a nice, muted ocean blue for a change.
Considering: taking a weekend off for a vacation. Two days at least. Three?
Watching: hair braiding tutorials on YouTube.
Hoping: that today will be a good and productive day and I will not mess up the zucchini bread this time.
Marveling: over graceful people. TELL ME YOUR SECRETS! HOW DO YOU DO THAT??!
Needing: new jeans. I hate shopping for jeans. Nothing fits the way I want it to!
Smelling: lemon seeds growing in a mug on my counter. YUM!
Wearing: work clothes all the time. Nothing pretty. :(
Following: the school bus on my way to work! Grrr! I need to plan in time to leave earlier in the mornings.
Noticing: how hot it is and that I need to stay more hydrated at work.
Knowing: that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is dependable and He cares and He is good.
Thinking: about what to do with my plants this fall when I'm at work, the bus will be too cold for them.
Feeling: sick a lot. Not sure what's up with that.
Admiring: people my age who are customers at my job; how put together they seem. (Again: How?????)
Sorting: all the things I want to do and finding times to do them.
Buying: 50 cent books from a boxcar-turned-secondhand-bookstore in a town near me.
Getting: Tired. Inspired. Coffee.
Bookmarking: healthy recipes to hopefully streamline this winter, practice for next summer.
Disliking: the minimum wage raise, the general idea that my productivity should increase correspondingly.
Opening: my bullet journal! I love bullet journaling. Google it. :)
Giggling: over a funny calendar at work.
Feeling: tired, kind of melancholy, but ok. I know this is life and life, overall, is good.

Guest Post By My Houseplant : 4 Ways My Owner Sucks

1. She often forgets to water me in the morning and then dumps ice water on me after midnight.

How would you like to be awakened from your slumber with a splash of ice cold water down your spine? Don't like it? Maybe you should think about that next time you decide to sit up all night working on some dumb craft with a dim lamp on and then decide to dump the remainder of your water bottle on your poor, defenseless, sleeping houseplant.

I mean, I'm a plant. What am I supposed to do? Scream?

2. She gives me firm pats on my head as she walks past.

Again, I'm a plant. What the heck does she want me to do? Give her a high five?

3. She moves me around to places that don't have the proper amount of light.

Now, I've honestly tried to tell her where I want to sit. When I get enough light, I perk up. But only after she has decided that it's the wrong spot and has just moved me. Then, of course, I start to wilt. What else does she expect? I don't know. There's only so much a plant can do.

4. She talks to me and asks questions, does she expect me to talk like some kind of cyborg plant?

Honestly, this one is ridiculous. I'm a plant. I have leaves. I sit. It's what I do. I don't talk. And, just for the record-No, I don't think it's going to be a wonderful morning and if you ask me one more question I will wilt while sitting directly in the sunshine out of pure, deep-rooted revenge. I DON'T TALK.

Although, on occasion, I do blog.

5 Practical Ways To Encourage Your Creativity

The 1 before the 1. Find What Works For You

Einstein worked with a cluttered desk and did a bunch of awesome, creative stuff in his field. Martha Stewart is a self-proclaimed master of organization, and has also done a bunch of creative, awesome stuff in her field.
All the ideas here are just that: ideas! You've gotta find what works best for you and implement it. :)

1. Creative Space

If I am writing, I love a cozy corner with a blanket and a bottle of water. Weird, I know, but it works. If I'm doing some kind of craft, I like an open countertop, desk, or table with a wide array of organized supplies handy. I have also noticed that having a candle burning or rain outside the window or just a desk fan running can provide that calming presence in the room so conducive to creativity. Whatever it is that you find best, just put a little thought into finding/making a space that will be easy for you to be creative in.

2. Music

Music is the universal language and everyone has some kind of music that will just put them in the mood! Maybe for you it's jazz or country or show tunes or some recordings of french-tropical-instrumental-with-tubas. Whatever it is, grab your headphones or turn on your radio for some music. If you find it too distracting to work with, try listening to a song before you work, closing your eyes and enjoying it and then turning off the sound and getting down to business. You might be surprised how effective it is! :)

3. Inspiration

Don't come empty handed! Collect things that inspire you. Pictures, magazines, music, video, sound recordings-whatever you run across and feel inspired by, make a note or find some way to reference it later when you are sitting down to create. Pinterest is a great way to do this, but good old notebooks and binders and post it notes are just as effective. Go to museums, look at art. Read books that you enjoy. Talk to people in your niche about creative things that you admire.

4. Time

Make some space in your schedule for creative time. If you sit down to write your book and there's a list about ten miles long in the back of your brain full of little things like putting away your shoes and writing out the grocery list and watering your plant, you're not going to be very focused. Take ten minutes and take care of all those little things before you begin. If it's not something you want to do now, write down a time that you will plan on doing it later. For example, just make a note to call your friend back at five thirty this evening instead of letting it float in your brain as something you need to do. Clear your mind of clutter.

5. Just do it!

This one is-hands down-the most important. So many wannabe artists wander around waiting for the clouds to part and some mythical lightning bolt of inspiration to strike them on the noggin and force them to create incredible art. That's not gonna happen, and that's not you! You're not going to write a bestseller if you don't break out the notepad and write some words. You're not going to paint anything at all if you don't wet the canvas. Give yourself permission to make bad art. It's part of the process. If the first try doesn't turn out, ditch it and start over. In the words of Maya Angelou:

“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’.... And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.”
― Maya Angelou

And lastly: You Do You!

Thought of The Day :)