Friday

 Thanks to Unknown Mami for taking over 

Fragmented Fridays this summer.  

(I tried 20 times to add the FF logo but for some reason Blogger kept spitting it out.) 

A very glamorous and successful lawyer friend of mine called me this morning to chat while she drove (hands free, of course) to work.  We both had a good laugh when we compared schedules.  Hers included a big client meeting, two depositions, lunch at Spago and another important meeting.  Mine included important meetings too... With the exterminator (ants!), plumber, painting contractor, and the guy who cleans our house gutters.  She said I was lucky not to be wearing a suit, panty hose and high heels on a 90 degree day.  I said she was lucky to have a meal she didn't have to cook herself.  It was one of those "the grass is greener on the other side" kind of moments even though we both knew we wouldn't want to change places.
 

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 I spotted this church sign the other day and it made me smile.

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I got "buzzed" and finished this quilt top yesterday.   (Get it?)  Quilting is a newer hobby for me that's cutting into my blogging time!  But, summer and warmer weather is coming so the sewing machine will be packed up soon until the Fall and I'll be online a lot more.

 (All fabric from my fave fabric store Sew Modern in Los Angeles.)

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And, you can still enter my GIVEAWAY for the Wizard of Otin's terrific book, In Blog We Trust.  Otin is one of the good guys in Blogland and getting his first novel published was a big deal.  YOU can win an autographed copy by Following me via Bloglovin'.  The button is on the top right of my page.  (Please Follow and leave a comment below that you did.)  Full Giveaway details are HERE.

And check out Otin's latest super scary novel 12:19 HERE.  It's a supernatural horror thrill that will have you sleeping with the lights on!  I'm in the middle of reading it now and loving it!  It's available on e-Reader.

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For more Fragmented Fridays, stop by and see Unknown Mami.

Have a great weekend!
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins 
Photo Credit: © peshkova - Fotolia.com and Michael Infinito

Circles

Did you ever feel like you were running around in circles?  I ask because, well, I'm hoping I'm not the only one.

At a recent dinner party, I was seated next to a late 40-something mother of three--  A newly divorced and happily dating woman overflowing with energy and a sense of wonder, who asked me a simple question--  What's your passion? 

*Blink*

My blank stare caused her to continue firing more probing questions faster than I could say "Margarita on the rocks, please!". (And, I don't even drink.)  Her high octane wonder was all about "reinventing" herself and she wanted a little "how to" advice from me.

"What excites you-- makes you jump out of bed every morning ready to meet the world?  What are you just itching to do?  Are you traveling, where's your next adventure, what's new and exciting that's coming up for you???"

Her questions instantly depressed me because I couldn't think of One. Single. Thing. that would even remotely sound "exciting or passionate" to this woman who was only 6 years younger than me.

Had I lost my fire?  Was I really as boring and underachieving as I felt at that moment?

It reminded me how little I've managed to accomplished lately despite feeling like I've been in overdrive for months-- chasing important paperwork, coordinating appointments, arranging get togethers, looking for all the stuff I can't seem to locate when I need it... You get the picture.... running in never ending circles with no sense of accomplishment and definitely not an ounce of passion.

A sense of accomplishment is one of the things I miss most since I stopped working nearly four years ago.  Even saying it's been FOUR years puts a lump in my throat...  What the heck have I been doing all this time and when was the last time I felt that joyous rush my dinner partner was gushing about?

Let me back up by saying I stopped working for what I thought at the time were very good reasons-- not the least of which was that I had accomplished enough to have earned the right to "retire".  And, at the time, I thought I had prepared myself for retirement with countless interesting and meaningful things that I looked forward to doing with my new found spare time.

Leisure time worked really well for me-- for about a week and a half.  Seriously, how much sleeping in and lunching with friends can a Type A personality girl do?

In short, I have not learned to fully embrace life in the slow lane-- A new life without fast-paced deadlines, business meetings that made my blood boil, globe trotting to film festivals, or creative sessions that made me sit straight up in my chair with joy.

Yes, I now do meaningful work with two important charities-- arts education and lupus-- and yes, I spend far more quality time with family and close friends, but it's that sense of accomplishment-- the excitement of a successful project you can see or touch, that's left me feeling like I'm a bit lost and running in circles.

So after that dinner party I took a long hard look at "retirement" (gawd I hate that word) and grabbed the bull by the horns, so to speak.  My first step was to embrace and enjoy running in circles... By way of my sewing machine.  I've spent hours going round and round and round and the sense of accomplishment with every turn has been refreshing and even exciting as I watched the project come together.

No, this might not sound glamorous or exciting to some, and definitely not to my dinner companion, but I'm coming to understand that "following your passion" can also be finely disguised as being content with your life.   

How's life treating you?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com  -  Joanna Jenkins
Photo Credit: Joanna Jenkins

The Ugly Quilt & Last Chance For Giveaway!

I didn't plan it and I sure didn't think it would turn out this way, but I just finished a quilt that is U.G.L.Y.

How ugly you ask?

Very!

It started out simple enough. A lap size quilt to have in our bedroom for afternoon naps. Twelve inch long strips of fabric, in four different widths, and EIGHTEEN different colors.

A nice idea but not for the color challenged, which in this case would be moi.

To make matters worse, I realised the 12 inch strips turned into 12 inch blocks. That was disappointing because I thought this was a more "challenging" quilt with more intricate piecing.

Call me guilty as charged because mistakes like that are what happens when you don't read the directions-- A detail I definitely failed to do.

Once I got started I soon realized how color challenged I really am. I sewed and sewed and sewed but all the colors became muddy and unattractive together. So I ripped and ripped and ripped it all out and bought more fabric in brighter colors to add in.

I sewed miles of strips, piecing it all together into a much, much bigger than I ever planned quilt.... Which didn't make it any more attractive. Oh no, no, no it did not. It was just a bigger, uglier, more expensive quilt that would definitely not be going in our bedroom.

I decided to finish the quilt anyway and donate it a charity-- There are lots out there that ask for new quilts. Maybe there is someone that's as color challenged as I am who might like it. Or maybe I can find a charity for color-blind people. *Ahem*

After it was all said and done, I laid the quilt out on the floor to decide how I would bind the edges.

That's when I realized the quilt was now so big that I could actually cut the "Ugly Quilt" in half and make not one, but TWO lap size "Ugly Quilts" out of it thereby allowing two people to each have "Ugly Quilts".

I some how thought if I took the time to make two quilts out of the one they would be half as ugly.

Sadly, that was not the case. Ugly is as Ugly does.

The quilt will stay in the closet and not be donated to a charity. There's something about knowingly donating "ugly" to charity that just doesn't feel right.

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This may be an odd question, but have you ever thought about the Hepatitis C virus and how easily the disease can be transmitted? I asked Dr. Douglas Dieterich, M.D. and blogged about it over HERE. Please check it out if you have a minute.

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And don't forget my GIVEAWAY ends at Midnight, January 20th. Did you enter? $25 Visa Gift Card and two copies of the book Enjoy Every Sandwich. Click HERE.

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Sundays In My City #64 - & LAST CHANCE TO ENTER Giveaway!

Stop by and say hello to new Mom,

Unknown Mami

and check out more

Sundays In My City participants.

This week's Sundays In My City is a short one. I've been on the run lately and since it's Oscar Sunday, I'll be parked in front of the television for the better part of the day checking out the stars and the awards show.

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It's been a busy couple of weeks as I zipped through making this baby quilt for a wonderful family friend. A bouncing baby boy is on the way and this "I Spy" quilt will hopefully keep him occupied and happy while he's playing and learning new things. The baby shower is next weekend and I'm hoping the mom-to-be loves it.

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And this is the LAST CHANCE to enter my $100 CSNStores.com Gift Certificate Giveaway. All you have to do is leave a COMMENT BELOW. And for extra chances, leave a comment HERE and HERE too! (that's where you'll see full details too) Giveaway ends at Midnight, February 28th Pacific Time.

Will you be watching the Academy Awards?

Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins