No Accounting

One year, I saved all my shipping receipts to see just how much I spent at the PO and for FedEx. Shaking my head and how much it actually was, I decided that it 'was what it was' and what I could do was to budget in a few hundred dollars and let it go. Its not that I was denying reality of the cost, its just the real reality is I live here and they live there.

I spent my entire day gathering items for the swap packages, getting them bubble wrapped when they needed it, & holiday wrapped for the gifties. Every item going out of the country needs a Customs Declaration Form CN22 filled out with contents/value, my name and their name.

Even though Mr. Tse in Hong Kong doesn't see snow, and I have no idea if he wants to spend time cutting these out, I thought they were brilliant and included instructions for 4 of my favorites in his gift box.

Some of these packages hold the mini quilt projects I've done, some hold things I bought and wrapped, some hold things (like Star Wars Snowflakes) copied and cut to serve as gifts. 

In my travels to the various small stores in town, I stopped at the German deli and found ONE small Advent Calendar card that I want to send to my Sister who celebrates her birthday on the 5th. I LOVE these calendars and know that its very hard to open them one at a time, one day at a time because a person either forgets to do it daily or if there are goodies in the calendar, a child will open them all at once.

Waiting is a skill. And why is that?

One of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho said, "I've learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you're with me, even when you're not by my side."

There are endless forms of waiting that we experience in our lives. We wait for the perfect day, for the perfect love, perfect grades, perfect job, perfect family gatherings, and other perfect things we long for. Do they come or do we get up off our chair and go get them?

Like the money it takes to go to the post office...if I waited until I was sure of it or anything else, I might stop what I am doing all together...stop giving, stop creating...and stop living.

I have been waiting to start work on the 2015 projects until finishing up the last few projects for this year, and getting everything wrapped and shipped. 

Thing is, as I do this part, its like all the members of my family are with me even though they are not by my side. I cannot stop thinking about them and loving them and missing them. It is the whole focus of what waiting means.

I want to complete these few projects so that when I do start on the 2015 quilts, they will have my full attention. There is something to be said about undivided attention to those we love and projects we work on.