Sept. 16: Things to strive for

The blogging challenge for today: What do you wish you were better at?

This was not a hard list for me to come up with, not because I am hard on myself, but because I like to improve and have goals, and know that I'm not good at everything I put my mind to.

In no particular order of importance:

Singing. I have often said that if I were a gifted singer I would be hard to be around--I would always singing some song or other. Which is humorous, because I sing a lot as it is. My poor family.

Calligraphy. This is one where I know I would get better and better, if I just put the time in. Someday...

example1

example2

example3

Being graceful. Not sure there's enough time in the world to turn me from this:


Into this:


But a girl can dream, can't she?! I have often referred to my awkward stage as one that began at 14 and hasn't ended. That's not quite true, but I do know that I'm built more for energetic movement rather than graceful movement. (So now I sound like a sprinter, and that's not at all the case.)

Sticking with an exercise regimen long term. This relates to the fundamental disconnect between me and my motives for exercising. Is it health (hmmm, sure, if you say so) or is it to stop the jiggling of the thighs (closer to the truth). A few weeks/months in, the jiggle stops and so do I. Not a big mystery, but a repeated trend I'd like to shake up a bit. Surely by my mid-forties, I should be able to exercise for the health of it?

Sewing. Much like calligraphy, a little time (and some increased patience, which I feel I am acquiring in my old age) would do wonders toward turning me into a quilter.

Then I would turn out pieces like this:

applique

colorful

Yes, I want to get better at things such as being flexible/spontaneous more quickly (I need a few minutes to adjust to changes, any changes) and being a better listener. I would also very much like to end my life as someone who has mastered the fine art of forgiveness and unconditional love. Again, a girl can dream, right?!

Onward to continual improvement, whether sewing a straight line or singing on key!

What would you like to get better at? Taking any steps to do so?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.

NYC Day Four: More walking and eating

This morning Corinne had a class from a flower guru that she wanted to attend over by the UN/Tudor Place, and I certainly know how to entertain myself in the city, so we parted ways at Starbucks and agreed to meet up for lunch... I headed down to Chelsea to a quilt shop I found somewhere online, probably a quilt blog... I was curious to see how the city folk would present fabric and such.

I arrived at the store just before it opened and was amused to see a clump of ladies gathered and waiting. I was the youngest person on the block, I'm pretty sure of that! I like hanging with the older ladies, it is true... I wandered the fabric, looked at the finished quilts and of course indulged in a bit of fabric for my stash at home. But I was definitely reminded that we have an excellent quilt shop in Walla Walla, and there's not much lacking from the selection I have every day. That was a nice reminder.










There's a quilt museum on one side of the quilt shop, with some beautiful pieces. This is where the husbands hang while the women wander the fabric aisles...

After a quick lunch at 'wichcraft in Midtown, we found ourselves some bikes to ride around Central Park and set off. It was a bit of an experiment in going against the grain--I think for most of the ride we were going the wrong way in the bike path, and thankfully no one yelled at us. That actually surprised me. But the signage was so completely lacking, we really had very little idea of how to get to where we wanted, and most of the time we accidentally arrived at a scenic spot. A little frustrating...

Regardless, though, it was a lovely outing, and more peaceful and quiet than Midtown, where Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were arriving at the Waldorf Astoria for some dinner or other, and the NYPD were out in full force.








Our final dinner in NYC was a doozy, in the best sense of the word. Corinne did the hard work of getting a reservation at Per Se, Thomas Keller's restaurant at Columbus Circle. I am still processing the experience, but it was definitely one for the memory books. It deserves its own blog post, once I've had a chance to mull it over. Alas, the lighting was such that no pictures were possible, so we just had to dive into each course and try to commit it to memory. Yeah, like that's going to happen.


Tomorrow morning it's back to JFF > AWK (ha, I wish that was the way the flight went!). Regardless, home is on the agenda, and I'm looking forward it! It's been a truly lovely outing, but home is always where my heart is. (That's you, husband.)