Finishing Things

I am great at starting things. I love to brainstorm wild ideas, fun gifts to make, craft projects, new recipes, then charge ahead and begin. And the best time to start something is just before it's time to go to bed. I just can't help myself!! (Jason's classic answer, "Yes you can, you just don't want to.") Jason rolls his eyes, but truthfully, my best thinking is at night.

Unfortunately, I'm not so great at finishing things. Ahem...

Lately I have felt the call from God to finish things. Things as simple as folding laundry and putting it away and not leaving the supper dishes until the next....evening.

So I've been working on that. And it's coming. I'm being pretty strict with myself right now because I have to be--I have lots and lots of tried and true excuses to overcome.

But interestingly enough, I'm finding that it takes less stress to finish household tasks than it does to let them slide. Too many nasty consequences--like setting the baby down in squished banana (or worse) that I never cleaned out of the highchair.

So this attitude of completion is now permeating other areas. Saturday, I decided it was time to start cleaning my laundry/sewing room. I found lots of stuff that needed to be done. By that evening, I had ironed 2 shirts and a pair of pants for Jason, mended two pairs of jeans and one shirt, finished two doll blankets that I had started over a year ago, embellished two towels to make into baby bibs for gifts (I had bought the towels several years ago), and put elastic into two pairs of baby booties that I had crocheted several years ago for Sav-A-Life. I was especially proud of my resourcefulness with the blankets. All they needed were backs. I cut one from an old shirt of mine. The other was made from an old curtain that had been hanging in the basement.

And then I found a snowflake that I had crocheted last winter, just waiting to be starched, so I soaked it in glue mixture and pinned it onto cardboard to let dry overnight. A little embarrassing to have those projects hog space in my cupboards for such a long time, when it only took a few minutes to complete them!

And today I mended a pair of tights for Helen. Her toe kept poking out the hole. It looked cute, but also terribly uncomfortable.

So now I think I might be ready to start something new. Although--dread--now I'm remembering Owen's baby book that I haven't finished. And Helen's that I haven't even bought. And all the pictures that need frames. Groan.

So what did my kids do while I was so busy on Saturday? Owen took a nice, long nap. Helen found something else to occupy her.

I knew I should have taken a break from my sewing machine when she smilingly brought me the toilet plunger, stamping it on the floor as she walked. But I kept going until I heard the toilet lid. That fresh roll of tp was just too enticing.