Busy Week and Balance

Wow what a week this has been. I managed to get my morning pages written each day, but other than that, this was a lost week for writing. I did find time to read some blogs but didn't stop to comment much or squeeze in time to write my own. Sigh! Just plain ran out of time I did. Someone would think that Christmas is just around the corner!

AC and I spent the whole day in the big city on Monday, Christmas shopping. It was fun and we got a lot done, but we were knackered when we got home. Because Monday was spent gadding about in the big city, Tuesday was eaten up with housework and other tasks that are usually done on Monday. We also had to take a chunk of the afternoon on Tuesday to practise some new line dances to get ready for class that night. We are having so much fun kicking up our heals at that class. It is great exercise but the music and dancing just make it seem like fun instead of work.

Wednesday I was up to my ears in Advent Calendars. I make them for Butterfly and Bug each year and they require a fair bit of work. You can see a sample of last year's starting here. It took me all day to put this year's together, so the laptop gathered dust for another day.

I was going to make a big pot of coffee on Thursday morning and sip it luxuriously while I caught up on blogs, email and writing. Those plans went out the window on Wednesday night though. We were out for an evening of fun with the neighbours – AC wrote about it here – and my neighbour, Ivy, and I were chatting about AC's violin lessons and how one day he would be joining the circle to jam with the rest of the musicians. I mentioned that I would like to learn how to play the Bodhran and maybe join the circle too. She looked at me and asked me what I was doing the next day. I told her I would be home waiting for the furnace repairman and puttering around the house doing this and that. She said she had a Bodhran and an instruction CD that she would loan me just for the day if I wanted to give it a whirl. I did, and she did, so Thursday was spent playing. I loved it. The technique is a lot harder than it looks, but I think with a lot of practise I might be able to pick it up and join the jam circle some day. What fun! I reluctantly took the Bodhran back to her house at supper time on Thursday and thanked her for letting me get my hands on it. I made a copy of the training CD and thought I could at least listen to it and practise the rhythms using a pencil and a piece of cardboard or something like that even if I didn't have the Bodhran and stick. That night when AC went down to the basement to practise the fiddle, I headed up to the bedroom to drum. I used an Atlas and a magic marker that was about the size of the Bodhran stick and I had a blast. I was hooked for sure.

Friday morning I went out for coffee with the girls and I told Ivy that I had made a copy of her CD, and was practising on an Atlas with a magic marker. She thought that was a hoot. The Atlas didn't exactly have the same tone as the Bodhran, ha, ha, but I was learning the stick rhythms and maybe by the time I got my hands on a real Bodhran again I would know what I was doing.

I came home at lunch time and found AC busy working in the den. We talked for a bit and then I headed into the bedroom to change my clothes before heading down to the kitchen to rustle up some lunch. What a surprise greeted me there. A Bodhran of my very own was perched on the corner of the bed. A Christmas card on top said “Why play with a pen and an atlas when you can have the real thing? Merry Christmas” I could hardly believe my eyes. AC and Butterfly had gone Christmas shopping in the big city a couple of weeks ago and had purchased this for me. AC couldn’t stand the fact that it was in a closet at Butterfly’s house waiting for me, and here I was playing with a pen and atlas. So, while I was out for coffee with friends, he retrieved it and gave me an early Christmas gift. What fun!

Yesterday Butterfly and I set off early in the morning to run a few errands, and then head back to her house to wallpaper the nursery. The Boy spent the afternoon putting up the outside lights, AC and I wallpapered the nursery and Butterfly puttered around the house keeping busy with this and that. It was an enjoyable day and we got lots done, but nothing on the laptop - again.

So, here I am on a lazy Sunday morning and I am bound and determined to write something, even if it is just an account of my busy week. Yes, Christmas is just around the corner and life is picking up speed. I hope to find more of a balance this week though and post a few more blogs.

Ah balance is the key isn’t it? Hope we can all find it and keep it during this busy, busy season to come.

Talk to you all later.