Fall Joy List 2018:
1. Celebrate my official retirement (in October) - not quite sure how, though! I didn't go anything special, just enjoyed staying up till the wee hours of the mornings and sleeping in the next day, because I didn't have to get up early to go to work!
2. Spend more time sewing - I combined this with item #12, below, and sewed some holiday gifts!
3. Bake a cake - DONE! Baked a couple of cakes, actually, a yellow bundt cake (back in September) and a peach dump cake (for the October prayer gathering). I will be baking another dump cake to take to the November prayer gathering, this weekend, too.
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| Yellow Bundt Cake |
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| Raspberry Pastries |
5. Decorate for fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving - Didn't decorate as it felt more like work than fun when it was time to decorate!
6. Celebrate my birthday (might wait until daughter comes home for Thanksgiving) - DONE! My daughter and I went out to lunch by ourselves, one day, with my cousin and her daughter, another day, and went for a massage; plus, daughter took me shopping and bought me some clothes as her birthday gift to me!
7. Bake pumpkin bread with daughter when she comes home - This weekend.
8. Host the October prayer gathering - DONE! There was a certain amount of work involved, but, it was a joyful occasion.
9. Celebrate Thanksgiving - DONE! Celebrated twice over, since we attended two Thanksgiving meals with friends and family!
10. Do some gardening - DONE! I planted some chrysanthemums and had a leaky sprinkler valve replaced.
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| Newly planted chrysanthemums |
11. Knit - DONE! I have been knitting red hats for newborns for the American Heart Association. Will be mailing the completed hats to them at the end of the year.
12. Make holiday gifts - DID SOME, in combination with item #2, above.
All in all, not too shabby! I didn't do some items for one reason or another, but, on the whole, did some activities that brought me joy. I will continue to do do a couple more items from the Fall list at least until the end of this week (bake the pumpkin bread, another dump cake, etc.). I am also considering doing a Winter Joy List, as well.
Did you have a list of joyful things to do this fall? If so, were you able to do some of them? Will you be making a Winter Joy List?
Very nice list! Happy Thanksgiving! I like how you said you didn't decorate because it felt more like work...lol...so true! plus taking down is the part I don't' like! Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. I used to love decorating for the season, but increasingly, I feel like I can't be bothered! I love to see other people's decorated homes, but the effort involved in doing up my own home seems too much!
DeleteI love the flowers! They look very cheerful:)
ReplyDeleteWe had a lovely Thanksgiving, as well. I did not do a thing today, except make some soup, and eat that and leftovers. I just sat around and even took a nap. I should be up and running like usual tomorrow--I'm getting a little antsy, but promised myself a true day off today, so honored my own decision:)
It looks like you did truly celebrate your birthday. That's awesome! I'm glad you had a good time.
Thank you, Becky. I'm glad you had a lovely Thanksgiving and you took the day off to rest, today. I, too, had a nap, today! :D
DeleteYou've done really well, Bless and managed to achieve most of what is on your list. I'm looking forward to seeing a photograph of your pumpkin bread. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules. I'm glad I was able to fit in some fun activities among all the cleaning type things on my regular to do lists! :)
DeleteA purposeful life like you are trying to live will bring you joy no matter what you put on your list. An example for all of us to follow.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Live and Learn. That's a lovely thing to say! :)
DeleteYou did really well, Bless.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of making a joy list. I might do one, because I will have more time for joyful things during my winter break. 😀
Thank you, Nil. It's good to take some time out of our busy schedules to do some fun things. I hope you'll consider a winter joy list. :)
DeleteI love that you do things for a purpose that bless others and also give you joy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim. :)
DeleteI did not write a Joy list, but I can almost guarantee that these days I don't do anything unless it gives me joy, even if only the joy of accomplishment. Some things don't get done until the eleventh hour but I will do it because it gives me joy. I am thinking of my decorating for Fall/Halloween. I didn't do that until just hours before the kids arrived, but I know they love to see decorations up and I love to see their excitement. Of course, the decorations all came down early the next morning.
ReplyDeleteI "complain" about making all those Christmas cards, but I wouldn't do it unless I LOVED it. It would be so much easier to just buy cards, or give nothing at all. But that would not be fun. I wish I had more money to gift others for their birthday or Christmas, but I don't; hence, I craft things to give and I enjoy working on them.
I liked your Joy list and recognized the days when you did something that I remembered was on that list. Well done on the baking aspect, and I think you celebrated your retirement in a most meaningful way. Ha.
You have the right attitude, Susan. "Don't do anything unless it gives you joy!" Those are wise words. I need to remember them. I still do a lot of things because I feel I should, or ought to do, out of a sense of duty or obligation, because I've been trained to do so, etc.
DeleteIt's actually rather sad to think that I need to make a specific list of joyful things to do and take time out to do them, rather than as a matter of course! There's a lot to ponder!
Hi Bless, that sounds like a whole lot of nice things to do. One question - what is a dump cake? I'm sure I'll like it as I love peaches.
ReplyDeleteThank you. :) A dump cake is made by dumping the ingredients - a couple of cans of fruit pie filling and a box of cake mix - into a baking pan and topping it with butter and baking it! I made an apple dump cake, today, and I will post the photos I took, so you can see.
DeleteWell that sounds easy enough! It looks very nice
ReplyDeleteIt's a very easy dessert, Eloise. The cutting and dotting with butter is the only time consuming task!
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