"Do you ever sleep?"

As I type this, I am comfortably tucked in to my favorite deck chair. It's a cushy wicker chair in the corner of my covered deck and provides the best view of trees that live behind us. My dog Charlie is staring at me, as usual, which is both sweet and unnerving. As this is my first blog post (yeehee) I feel a great deal of pressure to make it super gripping and juicy. So far, I fear I will ramble my way through. And truth be told, that may be how this buzzy blog shall be forever. 

Anyhoo, I'm here to answer the question I am tossed more than any other. "Do you ever sleep, " to which I giggle and sigh. I sleep very well, and the thing is my curiosity and my thoughts and often my hands and my feet are in motion from the moment I rise to the moment I slide myself under my favorite old quilt. I do not take long to succumb to sleep and when I wake, I rise. No snoozing, no lollygagging, and other than the mindless moments between waking to the first sip of coffee, I am in action. Physical action, mental action. Whatever action. 

From sips of coffee until my feet are cozily tucked up inside my old quilt, my day is filled with things to do. Things I want to do and things for which my family depends on me - dishes, laundry, meals and an occasional wiping of dust. But with my 3 children being older, I firmly utilize the idea that encouraging them to take part in house maintenance is not only helping me but helping them. My youngest is 15 and she is a baker and a cook. My 19 year old son has chronic and complex health issues and is a wheelchair user. My husband and I share taking care of whatever needs he has throughout the day. And my oldest is a nurse and a gem and she helps out when she can, and so there are plenty of minutes and moments for me to call my own. 

I begin the day checking my perpetual list of "to-dos", and may add a thing or two. I take care of any business for The Maker Beehive and then decide what I might create this day, and I'll start. I likely won't finish, and I'll get distracted and my list will twist and reorder and get bigger or get smaller, but I keep moving forward. And the TV hasn't been on, mind you. I don't watch much TV. Most days it's never even powered on. And I suppose this may be the not-so-secretive secret to where I find what is perceived as more time in my day. I rarely, if ever, engage in anything from which I will not learn something new. Even if I am craving a sit in the sun with a glass of sweet tea, I will be accompanied by a great new magazine or book, or listen to a podcast. Oh, yes of course, there are times that I just stare off into the trees, because it is also important to just sit and let a mind wander; to notice the birds, to observe the clouds, to recollect something. 

And then the sound of a bird will make me curious again. And I'll call for my son and we will listen together and guess what type of bird is singing a certain song. One day we spent about an hour using a bird identifying app that played every bird song you can imagine and trying to match them to what we were hearing. Curiosity.

At some point I may return to my creative space and continue working on a project or an idea. Oh and hey to any scrollers out there - I will not let myself scroll on any online thingy for long. For scrolling is the thief of time and creativity. Check a source for ideas and then go sketch, doodle, or write down your own thoughts. I refuse to fall in to the black hole of scroll. I've been there before and I know what it feels like to start perusing things at 10am and then what seems like a half hour later, look at the clock to see that it's 2pm. 

Very little TV. No scroll. 

And then the evening is for walking. I will either walk with a kid or two, my husband, or the family, or by myself. But most evenings I will walk. Charlie will trot along too most times. Once home, there is usually still enough time left to play. I've done all that must be done and the rest of the day is truly my own. Some nights I'm very engrossed and will stay at my creative space until the wee hours...perhaps 2am, though I don't let that happen too often. Most nights I'm under the quilt by midnight and then up to do it all again by 8am.  Gosh, suddenly I sound awfully boring.

So there you go. Exciting stuff? I suspect not. My life is rather ordinary. But as often as I get asked that "Do you sleep" question, I thought a little glimpse into my ordinary would be appropriate. 

I guess you could sum it up with a cliche such as that I don't waste time. Even at rest and even if I'm just at home, I like my moments on this earth to be meaningful and memorable and lovely.  Just like the moment at the end of each day when my favorite old quilt hugs my tired feet. Savored.