Gifts And Goals for the Week

I am so ready for spring.

We were teased last Monday by a beautiful spring day...warm weather...spent all day outdoors….letsbreakouttheflipflops type weather. Only not quite because it was still too cold for flip flops. Anyhoo. The rest of the week was rainy/windy/snowy/cold again. Like sub-zero temps again. Boo. Things got warmer over the weekend, and this week is supposed to reach 18 degrees. (about 65 for you Fahrenheit people)

All that being said, (I am going somewhere with this, promise) it is hard to know how to dress. I’m so ready to break out spring clothes and get rid of winter’s drab. But then there is the small problem of that whole no-white-shoes-or-linen-before-Easter rule. So, yesterday before church, while trying to come up with something to wear, I decided to compromise, and this is what I came up with:

I don’t normally take pictures of my wardrobe since I’m not out to make any fashion statements, but I thought I’d show you one way I welcome spring. (Why is it that it is easier to take a self-portrait when you cover your face? And no, I don't have some tribal disease that makes my elbow glow fluorescently, either.) I paired a light, pastel-colored skirt with a darker sweater to ground it a little bit. Then I could wear brown shoes instead of white ones so I didn’t break “The Rule.” It was a nice compromise, I felt sort of “springy” and out of the cabin fever mood!

My sisters, however, had gotten new dresses from a lady in our church, and they didn’t care about “The Rule.” They were determined to wear their new dresses, which meant white shoes. Gasp, I know. But they looked pretty cute, so we’ll let ‘em. :)

Random way to start my Monday, since I don’t normally post wardrobe pictures, but now you know the thoughts swirling in my head as I welcome a new week. Picture me with pom-poms shouting, “Let’s go spri-ing, let go!” *clap, clap*

Perhaps my randomness is fuled by the fact that it was a big “cabin fever” week. We just couldn’t seem to shake the mood that comes when it feels like winter will never end. That made it more of a choice on my part to notice the ways that God continues to bless, and boy, were those blessings in abundance this week! Here is what I added to my 1,000 Gifts:

250. Beautiful spring day
251. Sleeping with my window open
252. Peaceful quiet
253. Fun day with kids
254. Watching the ABC Ensemble live
255. Watching a pair of Mallard ducks that landed in our front yard
256. Shamrock Shake!!! (I live to get this once-a-year treat!)
257. Playing some backyard basketball

I started a huge new project this week that will probably take me all of the spring, summer, and most of fall to finish. What is it you ask? Its that pesky little detail that is often a “feature” when you move into a different home. When we moved in here a year and a half ago, we somehow inherited a whole bunch of junk and garbage sitting in the woods around the house. Aren’t we lucky? Added to that was a bunch of stuff in the very small garage (more of a workshop really), to which we piled on all of our junk. We all have this bad habit of laying things just inside the door when we “take care of it.” Anyone else do that?

So I’ve given myself the challenge of cleaning it all up and organizing the garage. It really is not as easy as it may sound, because Canada is so picky with their garbage pick-up and disposal. It’s not like I can just take the trash to the curb or drop it at the town dump. Instead, it has to be sorted, recyclables have to be washed (!!!) and put in their own bag, large items...well, I still have to find out how to get rid of the large items! It will be a big task, but I am already looking forward to getting it done!

While I started on that project this week, I also got these goals accomplished:

The mending and the quilt both got worked on, but neither got completely done. I am anxious to get the quilt done and share the pictures with you all! In the meantime, here are my goals for this week:

Ok, just kidding. :) Here are the real ones:

I’d love to see what you are working on this week! Anyone else doing some spring cleaning, outside or in? How about anyone else working on a sewing or craft project?