Spring has sprung - Hodgepodge Wednesday

Read other Hodgepodgers here at Joyce's blog.

1. Has spring sprung in your little corner of the world? Other than the calendar how would I know? What's your favorite thing about spring?

Spring is in the process of springing.  It is not yet fully sprung.  The cherry blossoms are out, but the many rainy days has detracted from their beauty.  The daffodils are blooming in droves and my apple trees are just beginning to show new growth.  The russet-backed chickadees have returned to my feeder from wherever it is they spend their winter, and the flickers are drumming on anything they can find in their annual mating rituals.  My favourite thing about spring is that it reminds me of the spring my husband and I courted - lying under the cherry trees and looking up through the pink blossoms to the blue blue sky.

 2. Besides the weather, what's put a spring in your step recently?

My spring is returning as I finally feel I am shaking off this virus I have had for well over a month.  I am back in the pool, back at yoga, at making any excuse to walk and walk and walk.

 3. How does Easter impact you?

As an esoteric Christian Easter is an important time of year for me.  I don't necessarily spend it in church, but I do spend it reading about and pondering the impact of Christ's life and death on me and the world. 

 4. I saw this somewhere on Facebook and thought it would make a fun Hodgepodge question. Which of the following would you find most disappointing...
a just stuffed taco shell breaking open and spilling out before you take the first bite? dropping a just-purchased Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts coffee? opening the peanut butter jar and finding it empty? upending onto the sidewalk a just-purchased ice cream cone? a burnt bagel popping up in your toaster when you're rushing breakfast? or cutting into an avocado and finding out it's rotten? 

Well, the taco thing happens every time I have tacos, so that is a given and doesn't bother me at all.  I think of the list, the avocado thing is the most disappointing.  I love them and they are expensive and when I want one I want it to be firm and just ripe so finding it rotten is annoying, plus then I have to think of something else to eat when my heart is set on an avocado and tomato sandwich.

 5. What's something held together with tape at your house? Or a paper clip? Or a wing and a prayer?

That is an easy answer because I am determined to go to the hardware store to get a proper fix for my cupboard that won't stay closed because the magnets have lost their oomph.  I have been kludging it together for two years now with earth magnets, and last night fiddling with the magnets caused me to burn the popcorn I was making.  (That should have been a possible answer in the previous question, lol).

6. Do you feel underappreciated? In what way?

Actually, I don't feel underappreciated at the moment.  I know there was times when I was teaching that I did - sometimes by parents, sometimes by colleagues, but not now. 

 7. What's something you'd build if you knew how?

I would like to start designing my own knitting patterns - socks, or a shawl, or even a sweater. 

 8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today
another step
taking time
being patient
trusting.

Thanking God

Meditating on

All I have

and knowing

it is enough.

For today

It is enough.



Making progress by half

It has been a year since I have been on a double dose of my anti-depressant medication.

I had once thought that when I retired I could slowly wean myself from having to take the medication at all.

Not so much.

I am feeling stronger, and thinking I could at the very least get back to the dosage I had been on for years.

I started halving my dose three days ago. 

So far so good, except - if I nap in the afternoon I wake up nauseous.

I don't know if it is related or not, and I will try not napping for a while to see if it makes a difference.

I am still getting over this lingering cold virus, but I am back in the pool, I went to yoga today, and I am meditating, or trying to, once a day, which is a totally new thing for me.

Despite the clouds and rain outside today, it is the first day of Spring. I have been cleaning out drawers and recycling papers that do not serve me anymore.  And I filed my taxes. So there is that.

Things can only get better as the daffodils herald the coming season. 

Right?

Right.

Cleaning up, clearing out

I don't like how I have been spending my time lately.  Too much facebook, too many Wheel of Fortune games on my phone, too many crossword puzzles.

I have a stack of books beside my bed that I want to read and mindless apps kept luring me, sucking me in.

And don't get me started on mindless TV.

So last Monday, at my prayer group, I asked for patience and strength to make some changes.

On Tuesday I deleted all the game apps from my phone. Step One. (Always the hardest).

On Wednesday I sorted out the books beside my bed and found one I really really wanted to get into.

Yesterday, I started to read a book about inner development called Christ Consciousness, and spent time out in the sun sweeping off the porch, sorting clothes, and shopping for a few odds and ends.

It was a good start.

I got all my work finished for the contract I had, and put it to bed (this meant I could invoice for the work - yay!).

I started a new journal with the following words:

Patience
Meditation
Swimming
Yoga
Simplify
Knitting
Writing
Reading
Music

It is auspicious that there are nine words. 

The nine hierarchies of the Spiritual World.

The nine worlds in Lord of the Rings.

Yes. 

Nine is an auspicious number.

I have done a little of everything on the list this week except get to the piano.

After swimming I will pull out my Grade Nine Conservatory book, or my Bach Inventions.

I have a feeling that today is going to be a good day.

And don't think I have totally lost my senses - I did watch Survivor on Wednesday night, and Shades of Blue last night.  Because?

Because that's how I roll.