My "New" Jean Jacket

In the seemingly never ending quest for determining what is enough, I've come to realize that I...am...a...consumer. Yuck. It's hard for me to say those word and admit that, but when I look around there is evidence all over the place. I've even tried to make very concerted efforts in my life to "go green", but I still end up "consuming" quite a bit. I already have so much; surely there are more and better ways to use the things that are already here.

While window shopping one day, I came across a jean jacket and I'm telling you, it was love at first sight! (At least as far as jean jackets are concerned!) I'd never seen a "cooler" denim jacket. It was embellished with ribbon and beads and beautiful buttons in such a unique and creative way that I was drawn to the rack on which it was hanging and found myself slipping my arms into and looking for a mirror. Yup, it looked pretty darn good! As I put it back on it's hanger, I did something I should have done before I tried it on...I looked at the price tag. What?? $785???? I didn't have my glasses on, so maybe I wasn't seeing correctly. Maybe it said $78.50, but they just forgot to put the decimal point between the eight and the five. But upon further investigation, I found that the price was indeed $785. Hmm. Well, the decision was actually pretty easy because I didn't have $785 in my bank account to spend on a jean jacket....even a really cool, unique and creative jean jacket.

I embarrassed to say that for quite a few days I thought about that silly jacket. Wondered if there were some way I could somehow afford it. Wondered if it would ever go on sale enough for me to be able to purchase it.

One day, while I was pulling a sweater out of my closet, I noticed a jean jacket. My jean jacket. I had purchased it at a Goodwill store at one time and hadn't worn it in quite some time. It didn't look anything like the one I had seen at the store several days before. As I turned to leave the bedroom, my eyes rested on an antique Ball canning jar that is filled with old buttons and sits on my dresser. An idea began to take shape.

I did some cutting of seams and removing of buttons on my jacket. I tossed it in the washer and dryer to get a bit of a "frayed" look where the cutting had been done. Ribbon and beads were scrounged from various shelves and drawers in the house. All of these things...the ribbon, the beads, the antique jar with the buttons, even the jacket itself were purchased at one time or another and were deemed to be somehow necessary to me...I guess. When I looked at the beads, I couldn't even remember WHY I had bought them in the first place. But, I was pleased with the results of my "new" jean jacket.

Using the things that I already own and putting them together in different ways to create something new is fun and rewarding. Figuring out what is enough and being content with that....that's a path I am continuing to pursue.

Peace out,
Lyn

Here's where the rubber meets the road

I had a much different plan for this week's blog post and it will likely turn up at a later date. But given what happened in San Bruno, CA last evening, (about a 40 minute drive from where we live) I've been doing a lot of thinking and I decided to switch gears just a little bit.

For those of you who may not know what happened...last evening, somewhere around 6:00, a natural gas line exploded in a neighborhood in San Bruno. I imagined people were getting home from their jobs, kids were starting their homework and dinners were being prepared. One family was watching the Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints NFL game. The next thing they knew, they were, literally, running for their lives! That was the part that was really difficult for me to imagine.

I saw and heard interviews in which people were saying they didn't have time to do anything except to grab kids and pets and run. Some people were not even able to use their cars because the intense heat had caused their cars to burst into flame. One lady didn't even have shoes on her feet. In story after story and interview after interview, people were saying the same thing, which was some variation of "I grabbed my three kids and ran" or "I grabbed the dogs and my cat and ran" or "I ran out of my house, helped my neighbor get out of their house and we ran"!!

Not one time did I hear anyone say "I ran back in and grabbed my jewelry" or "I ran back in and grabbed some clothes" or, not even "I ran back in and grabbed a bunch of photos". In every case it was life...whether it was kids, other family members, neighbors or pets.

In the hours since this horrific incident, I have thought alot (again!) about "stuff" and what is enough. There are a lot of things that surly make our lives easier and more comfortable, but in the end, there is nothing...just nothing...that is worth more than life.

I found this prayer and really felt that it spoke to this incident in a beautiful and profound way.

"Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgment and guarded in your speech. Be a lamp to those who walk in darkness, and a home to the stranger. Be eyes to the blind and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility."

If you are able, please donate to the Red Cross. www.redcrossbayarea.org. They are providing emergency services for those impacted by this tragedy. And be generous to those you come into contact with in your own life...not just with things, but with your time, love and attention. THEY are the things that are truly important.

Peace out,
Lyn

Mismatched?

Have you ever come across things in your life that just don't seem to "go" together? Sometimes it's people. I've known of couples who have gotten married. Lots of people said, "It will never last. They're two completely different people." And yet, 30 years later, they're still together!

 I myself have a friend that I met while in college. I can clearly remember the first time I saw her. We were taking 'Intro to Elementary Education' at the same time. (BTW, it was this class that caused me to realize I was NOT cut out to be a teacher. :) I have enormous amounts of respect and gratitude towards those people who have made teaching their life. They are over-worked and under-paid...and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for being there for my kids!!) This gal made some comments on the very first day of class that really shook things up! Wouldn't know, we were randomly put together in a study group. We found out we differ in our thoughts about a lot of things and in some other ways, as well, but yet, many years later, (I won't say just HOW many years;)) I count her among my dearest friends. Even though we are two very different people, somehow we "go" together. :)

We can all think of all sorts of things that don't seem to belong together. One of my favorite appetizers is a piece of cantaloupe wrapped in a thin slice of prosciutto.Fruit and salty meat?? Whoever looked thought of putting those two things together was genius!

In this quest of rethinking what is enough I've realized that I need to start looking at things and thinking about things in new ways. Not just seeing them for what they are on the surface, but looking a little deeper and realizing that there might be more there... or at least another use for them besides their original intended purpose.

I was thinking about this a few weeks ago as I was going through closets and clearing things out. (Crazy, crazy, crazy how things just seem to accumulate over time, isn't it??!) I found some partial skeins of yarn that I had put away. I like to knit. Only simple things: scarves, dish cloths, hats, baby sweaters. That's my repertoire when it comes to knitting. Normally, when I finish a project, there is a little bit of yarn left over. Can't throw it away, right? That would be wasteful...it's perfectly good yarn!

I've never really crocheted much of anything, so thought it might be fun to to crochet myself a scarf. I could use a scarf for this winter. I started with the light green and crocheted a very LONG chain. For my next row, I used some bright red that was left over from a knitted dish cloth. (Side note here...I will never be able to use a regular dish cloth again. The cotton, knitted ones are so much better!) Light green and red don't really "go" together, but it was next in line. I went from one color to the next, and continued to crochet until all of my scraps of yarn were used up.

This will be very warm during the winter! :)

Now, instead of scraps of yarn taking up space in my closet, I have a fun (funky, perhaps?!) and warm scarf to wear this winter. And all of the rows of yarn remind me of people that are part of my life. I think it's important to look at the things (and people and relationships, too) in our lives with new eyes. There may be potential there that you never even imagined!

Peace out,
Lyn