1.15.2011

good intentions

my boys are gone for the long week-end, ice fishing in minnesota.  i suspect they do actually fish part of the time - when they're not busy with all the electronics they haul along. but never mind.  i am home alone!!!  alone in my own house!  what a wonderful thing that is:) 

what am i doing? well. first i took a chunk of time to ponder all the things i possibly could do.  this was followed by a time of deep meditation otherwise called napping, just because i could. 

next, i turned on all the lights in my studio as a precursor to actually working in there.  the plan:  to purge and organize.  however, i then recalled that i had bought some storage containers at target last week and that they were still in the back of my suv.

on my way to the garage, i took a phone call from my sister.  as i talked, i sat down in front of the computer and noticed that my brother had sent photos of himself and his new wife, married just last night!  yay! so my sister and i discussed this and other things in some detail.  when i hung up the phone, i then had to call my other sister and review things with her.  then i emailed my brother and new sil.

all of the above consumed most of the morning and part of the early afternoon. 

so. in reality, i haven't done anything that i planned.  i've done quite a lot of nothing, and a tiny bit of something.  in the late afternoon, i was seized with nostalgia (along with a chocolate craving) and went to the cupboard to find my vintage betty crocker kids' cookbook.
                  


i proceeded to make the brownies; but now that they're baked i don't feel like frosting them.  and i don't usually eat brownies without frosting.  can you say "exercise in futility"?!?


i wasted spent a while paging through the cookbook, recalling how entranced i was with this photo, as a child.  pure magic, i tell you.  no - i never made it. not then and not today.


i chuckled out loud when i turned the page and found this brilliant piece of baking advice, written in my 9 year-old scrawl!  oh, for the days when the trickiest thing i had to figure out was how to double a batch of chocolate chip cookies...


so now.  it's early evening and i have successfully returned to my studio.  so far, i have taken 'before' pictures so that i can celebrate my progress (at some future, unspecified date).           
                 


posting these photos...


has reminded me...



that i desperately want to learn how to edit photos...



which led me back to my computer...



where i am now sitting.



maybe i'll frost the brownies now.

7 comments:

Angela said...

Good plan...I'm sitting in a mess in my craft room...with my Christmas decorations in a mess in the other rooms...did I lift a finger today...NO!!

trash talk said...

Sounds like a productive time spent to me. You enjoyed yourself...right? Then it was the perfect day.
Debbie

Lynn said...

My girls spent the night with Grandma last night, and I couldn't believe how QUIET the house is when they're gone :) And sometimes I think doing nothing is the most productive thing you can do - you're recharging your batteries!

pbrenner said...

OMG - I can't believe you showed the picture of the castle cake! I made that cake when I was in 3rd grade for the cake walk at our school carnival (back during the 1960's). I have tried to remember which cookbook it was in for YEARS, and now it just pops up while I'm cruising blogs!!! It was so much fun (for me, not so much for my mom, lol) to make - using the 9x13 pan, loaf pans, and vegetable cans (for the towers). Thanks so much for the wonderful memories! And you can always crumble the brownies into some ice cream to enjoy them without frosting :-)

dawnaclark said...

hi mary-i'm donna and i saw you over on the SC message board and clicked over to see your blog. Love it! This post in particular warms me to the core. I thought i was the only one who does this......how is it that as women we are "so called" multitaskers, but can't seem to stay on one task for long!! LOL! I feel you girl and it sounds like you accomplished some important stuff- even if it wasn't particularly "productive". Talking with family and browsing through your chilhood cookbook sounds like heaven to me!

Unknown said...

I so love your 'creative' room, even with the little piles here and there. It just so happens I was in my craft room all day going through boxes and attempting to get organized. I had bought so much stuff after the holidays and finally got more storage bins to put everything in its place. Now the table is up in the middle of the room and I am ready to create!
Great blog; I'm glad I stopped by.

Unknown said...

My craft room has spilled out into the guest bedroom next door and upstairs to the dining room table!
Help!!

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