Treasures

I was looking at one of my work tables last night. I'm up to four pen/marker containers on it. Two of them always make me smile. My daughter made them a few years ago. She worked with polymer clay and was very productive. I still have at least twenty of the bottles and jars she covered during that time. Relatives have her one of a kind Christmas ornaments. She has since moved on to other interests but I pulled out some of my favorite containers. One of the things that made many of them so interesting was that she added other materials to the clay such as flower petals and homemade papers. She would test hundreds of pieces of clay to perfect a color or effect. Anyway they are just beautiful and something I treasure.

Nothing is Lost

I have a phrase that I say to myself whenever I have misplaced something. "Nothing is lost in the eyes of God." It gives me the perspective that while I may not know where something is, it IS somewhere. I've found also, that given time, just about everything does reappear.

Way back during the early years of making my girls, I created a Garska Girl at the request of my Mom. She wanted to make an invitation for a party she was hosting. I made a special girl for her and she scanned it and made her invitations. The girl came back home and was a part of the collection for a long time.

Then a couple of years ago, I realized that she was missing. We had been through two moves by then. I'm organized as far as pictures, memorabilia, and of course the girls. I know where all my "stuff" is. I searched all over and checked with Mom. I even checked our old scanner to see if I had left it in there before we upgraded. I couldn't find her anywhere. It was puzzling but I knew that she really must be somewhere in the house. I also would say my special phrase whenever I thought of her, Nothing is lost in the eyes of God to myself.

I am happy to report that she did resurface. I must also admit that now, just a mere month later I can't exactly remember where I did find her. I do remember the feeling of awe when I saw her though. Confirmation again, that nothing is lost.

Letting Go

Letting Go is the title of one of my favorite girls. I have her in my livingroom. Just a sec, I'm going to go take a picture. I picked her for her colors but really the theme of Letting Go has been a prominent one this summer. Okay, here she is:
That's a little blurry but you can get the general idea for now. I forgot to set the camera to have it work better for the web. So many of my favorite things also are in this picture.

This summer there was so much change. Both my parents and Dan's mom moved from the family homes into homes that better fit their current needs. Their timing was perfect. They had wonderful buyers and easy transactions. It WAS all good. Yet, it's still sad to say goodbye to the homes where you've celebrated the last twenty or so Christmases, birthdays, and other holidays and family gatherings. Every time I did something, I was also saying to myself, "This is the last time I'll..."

I did feel good that I had so many good memories of the time our families spent in these places. My children spent so much time with their grandparents there. I'm such a homebody, I was at both homes every week while I still lived in West Virginia. Even after I moved to Michigan, I still managed once a month. Texas has been more of a challenge. I like this picture of the farm. It's always beautiful but in this picture I can see my Dad's truck reflected in the pool room window.

I also sent both girls to college this summer. This has not been the most drastic letting go situation since I've seen at least one of them every week since they moved. Still, they are gone most of the time and that's been a big change. I'm sure I miss them more than they miss me at this point.

The older I get the more convinced I become that accepting change and letting go gracefully are among the secrets of happiness.