Quirk #6 - Oil Painting

6. I am relearning how to oil paint and am having a grand time smearing paint on canvas, good shirts, shiny new easel and everything nearby--such fun! Maybe I need to revisit my finger painting days also!

I am really having a wonderful time relearning to oil paint. It has been a LONG time since I painted with oils--probably about 30 years and it has taken several months to be comfortable with the process once more. I have finished three paintings and messed up a couple more. On the easel is a poppy that I am beginning and a bluebonnet that is finished and ready to be varnished and framed. I have two more paintings in process.

My husband caught another picture of me painting out on our deck. I love to be out there in the fresh air and amongst all that green of the outdoors. However, it is becoming a bit warm some afternoons to paint out there.


Tomorrow is my class and I have to go load up my car with my painting supplies.


Write about the creative things that you do. Do you have creative urges? How do you honor those creative urges?

Quirk #5 - Being a Pack Rat

5. I am a pack rat and hate throwing things away because "someday I might need it!"

I do tend to hang on to things way too long and cleaning out HAS to happen at regular intervals. However, it has long been my experience that the moment I decide to throw things out, take them to Goodwill, or give them away, then I need them. I even remember giving a whole bundle of clothes to Goodwill only to discover that I had given away a pair of red pants that I decided I still needed. I rushed over to Goodwill and bought them back for $6! And there was the time I gave away all my sewing notions, lace, yarn, etc. Then I began teaching first grade and yearned for that box of notions for the art projects that we did.

I guess that is Murphy's Law for me: the minute I decide to throw something away, the wheels are set into motion for me to need it again--sooner or later!

Write about your notions on being a pack rat. Do you save things that you no longer use? Or do you clean out things on a regular basis--and never look back?

Quirk #3 - Journaling and Exercise

3. I get up early (5:30 a.m.) at least 5 mornings a week to journal first and then exercise--even though I am retired. It just starts my day off right!

My husband took the picture on the left yesterday. The lady in blue is a personal trainer but also a good friend named Rebecca. Rebecca is a wonderful help when I have questions about strengthening specific muscle groups. She was a marvelous help through both of my hip surgeries and I was back to the gym in record time because she even came to my house and helped me with exercises at home--terrific massages also!

Talking about Rebecca as a friend reminds me of how many other friends I have made at the gym over the 12 years that I have been going there. Max often precedes me on those machines you can see in the picture, and he can push or pull double the weight that I can. I often tell him that he is a tough man to follow!

Helen has long been my inspiration in exercise. I first met her when I began going to this gym and figured she was about my age although she could run circles around me and was as limber as a pretzel. One day, as I was admiring her flexibility during our stretches, our talk drifted to our age. We compared years and I discovered that she was about 15 years older than I am. My mouth fell open and I decided then and there that I wanted to "grow up" to be like Helen! She is still 15 years older than me and we still meet on the side-by-side treadmills where we catch up on family news and exercise progress.

The dressing room at the gym is also a place where I have found good friendships. Our little 8:00 a.m. group has decided that there are few problems that we cannot put our collective heads together and solve. And those women continue to amaze me! One is a very talented artist. Another woman is just five years younger than I am and still participates in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii each year! Another surprised us recently by telling us that her book had just been published. We did not even know she had written a book! Her book is Journeys of Heartache and Grace: Conversations and Life Lessons from Young People with Serious Illnesses. Here is a picture of my very own copy--autographed by the author!

Going to the gym is a wonderful way to start my day, boost my metabolism, keep my body in good working order and catch up with friends I have made there.



Now it is your turn to write. Journal about your attitude toward rising early in the morning, exercise and friendships you have made along the way.

Quirk #2 - Time Schedules

2. I am a stickler for time schedules. I make up my daily schedule each morning and getting off schedule sometimes rattles me. I think I passed this quirk on to at least one of my sons!


I keep a calendar on my kitchen table where I can consult it each morning and prepare myself mentally for the day ahead. See attached picture--although only I can decipher the lines, the arrows, the small print, color codes, and notes that often adorn the margins. I also use the smallest Post-It notes to insert temporary notes or changes in the schedule.

The calendar is small and someone recently mentioned to me that I needed a larger Day Planner with numerous lines for each day. My reply was a distinct 'NO' because this almost-checkbook-sized calendar is easy to slip into my purse without adding weight, carry in my pocket if necessary, and pack into a carry-on bag when I am traveling. In other words, it works for me.

I am a stickler for knowing what my schedule is each day. If I have to change, I am okay with that, but I do like to know what is going on each day. I am not a very good "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of person. One of my sons called the other day and complained that he was on a trip with people who made up their schedule as they went along and it was really bothering him. He said that he liked to know early in the morning what the plan was for the day. I could relate to that comment myself, and I could also remember hearing him (even as a young boy) wake up on weekends and want to know what the plan was for the weekend. Guess he inherited that trait from me. Sorry about that!

Write about your way of dealing with time and with schedules. Do you need a plan for each day or are you a "go with the flow" kind of person? What meaning does the word "time" have for you?

Quirk #1 - Hanging Clothes Outside to Dry

1. I LOVE to hang my clothes outdoors to dry even though my husband claims that his underwear is "crunchy" when it comes in all fresh smelling off the clothesline.

A long time ago when two of our boys were babies my husband was in graduate school and we rented a house with a Maytag washer (that we bought for $5 dollars from the owners) but no dryer, so I hung the clothes and the endless cloth diapers out on the line. This was in Illinois and it worked well until the first freeze and the diapers and other clothes froze on the line. At that point I strung a clothes line all over our wash room that also contained the heater for our house and dried the clothes that way. Finally, we picked up a used dryer for $10 and that ended my winter problem. However, I still enjoyed hanging the clothes out to dry in the summer.

When we moved back to Texas I had a clothes line and used it during the summer. By that time we had added two more boys to the family so we still had numerous diapers to dry. It always seemed easier to be outside with the boys in the back yard and hang up the clothes at the same time.

Once the boys were out of diapers I still hung my clothes outside because I had established over-the-fence friendships with the neighbor behind us and the neighbor next door. Both women were older and had great words of wisdom to pass on to me as they watched our family grow up in the back yard.

Nowadays I can hardly wait until the spring pollens are gone (that yellow oak pollen RUINS whites!) and then I begin my summer ritual of hanging clothes outside. There are four reasons I still hang clothes outside: 1) I hope I am saving energy and dollars by doing this, 2) the dryer is not blowing more hot air into the already intense Texas heat, 3) the dryer is not killing my plants by blowing heat onto my garden through the vent in the backyard, and 4) I LOVE to be outside in my little retreat spot where the clothesline is--where I can look up into the opening between the trees and watch the intense blue of the sky or the clouds scudding across the opening or the sunset turning the sky delicious colors in the evening.

Write about something that you LOVE to do!