Pleasant moments.

Since the beginning of the year I have been writing down a pleasant moment from the day on a little piece of paper and then putting the paper in a tall glass canister I have on a chest of drawers in my room. Generally it is a very simple task and only takes a few moments before bed, most of which are deciding which particular thing I am going to write down. Sometimes I "cheat" and write down a few. Sometimes I forget for a couple of days and have a surprisingly hard time coming up with something to write on the slips of paper with older dates. So strange that the days are so pleasant can seem so bland and forgettable so quickly. As a general rule (some are completely crappy of course) I find that there is very rarely a day without at least a handful of nice things if you're looking for them, how is it that I forget the little things that make a day feel rich so quickly? The phenomenon itself is exactly why I've started writing a highlight or two down, time seems to be moving incredibly quickly of late and I don't want to have rushed through things so fast that I forget the things that give the days depth. Enjoying the richness of life isn't something to be squeezed in when random and rare free moments happen or something that can be put on a to-do list.

Pondering things...

I knew when I decided to give up movies/tv & social media for Lent that it would open up a whooooooole lot of time in my day-to-day life. Surprisingly, with the exception of a few days here and there, it hasn't really felt that much different. I mean, I obviously can tell the difference between having a movie playing while I'm cleaning and NOT having one going, but I think I thought that I would spend a lot more time thinking about deep things and exploring my beliefs and whatnot. Instead I've just learned how to let things be a little quieter, a little less chaotic, and a little less dependent on constant input from the outside world. It feels fantastic. Except when I just really want to have a Harry Potter marathon on a snowy Saturday. Just kidding. Mostly.

Having more free time on my hands has also been good for my non-school reading. Since I haven't been filling my head with random fluff from various shows or movies I have had a much stronger urge to make time to read some good fiction and thanks to a sweet friend who loaned me a nice stack of books I was able to sate the desire in a very pleasant manner. I am now determined to read through all of the books that I own and haven't read yet. Which is actually a shamefully large pile. Literally. I pulled them all from the various bookcases they were sitting in and put them on my headboard as a constant reminder. Hopefully having two free days this week will enable me to put a few of them back on their shelves. Spring break partying introvert style: reading and tea! But really. So much better than massive partying on every level, but especially the level where people expect you to talk with them and stuff when you'd rather do just about anything than socialize in a massive group. *shudder* Yes, a nice quiet spring break at home with some books is just what this too-old-to-be-where-I-am-in-college-seriously-I'm-almost-30-people girl needs.

Speaking of spending my time in a hermit-esque manner, I spend my Saturday at home baking, cooking, sewing, and reading. It was heaven. Today was highly similar (with the exception of church where I interacted with other actual humans) but not quite so productive. Though I did manage to start and finish crocheting a darling little baby cardigan for a friend who will be having a little girl in a month and a half. Baby things are terribly intimidating to me for some reason, but I've discovered that the trick is all in finding a decent pattern. Thanks random strangers on the internet for sharing your brilliance and enabling me to make ridiculously tiny clothes and shoes without cussing! Heh. But really. The first few times I tried to make baby booties definitely involved language I'd rather not admit to using. Oops.

Now I must ponder which projects I shall tackle on my first "official" day of break tomorrow.

Oh yeah.

This blog exists. I completely forgot about it until I stumbled across it a few moments ago. Perhaps I shall try writing a bit more often. For now I shall post a completely ridiculous list about the random things that I did today:

*Slept until 8:30 because I was up until after midnight trying to finish a book. A goal I did not accomplish.
*Made delicious potato soup. (Seriously, not bragging. It is delicious. It also wasn't my recipe so I think I'm allowed to say it is fantastic soup. ) I mixed The Pioneer Woman's potato soup recipe with some random tweaks here and there and it. is. SO. good. Perfect for the rotten weather today.
*Sewed an apron using material from an old men's shirt and sheet I found at Goodwill recently, both of which are paisley.
*Made banana bread muffins. (Should that just be banana muffins?) They are my best GF adaptation yet. Yay for slowly figuring out how to do gluten free...years after I (mostly) stopped eating gluten. Not cheating anymore really helps motivate learning. As does having extra time on my hands with my Lent choices. Sacrifices? Giving-ups? Hm.
*Ran several errands in-spite of the stupid, nasty, wretched, horrible, awful snow storm. I have resentment issues with storms that dump almost a foot of snow right after SPRING starts. It is just cruel. Couldn't you have held off a week or so evil storm??
*Made a fancy salad with baked goat cheese a la America's Test Kitchen.
*Finished the book I tried to finish last night, The Calling of Dan Matthews. I adore the the book that Harold Bell Wright wrote this as a sequel to, but this one didn't capture my heart in the same way. But it was still a pleasant read. Next on the list: The Gates by John Connely.
*Baked molasses cookies with lavender vanilla glaze. Technically this process is still happening since the last batch of cookies is in the oven. The first half of the cookies are too hard, but with some fiddling with the temperature and time I think the second half of the cookies will be better. Which is good since I'm going to mail some to a friend in NY per a discussion we had earlier this week.

That is all. Not a bad list. I meant to make a version of this goulash for dinner, but something about eating two banana muffins and a bunch of the chocolate chip cookie dough I made last night slowed my appetite and I ended up eating the salad for supper instead of lunch. Oops. Tomorrow will be goulash day. Afer I freeze my butt of for Palm Sunday at church.