Shiny Shiny

Often I get frustrated when things don’t get done. It drives me nuts when a student has a week to do 20 concepts and comes in with 10, or when I ask if we’ve completed a task in the office and I’m met with whistling. It’s been pointed out to me that I’m a little manic. I don’t do well sitting still. I think sleep is remarkably unproductive. If something needs to be done, there’s no time like the present. I get this from my grandmother (of MJB peacock fame). I never saw her rest. Even weeks before she passed away, she would try to get up and make me soup. It’s from her that I think relaxing is lazy, lazy, lazy.

Over the years, my grandmother made things. Some of the objects like the birdhouses from 7-Up bottles were questionable. Most, however, are works of art. She made hundreds of Christmas items to be sold at the church bizarre, or Shriner’s craft sale. We forbid her from selling her ornaments. They took hours to create, and she designed each one from scratch. Most families begin the arguing after a death when it’s time to divide funds or real estate. That came easily. The ornament division, though, was tense and took all of our patience. Some may discount the ornaments as “bored house-wife crafts.” To me, they are beautiful and intricate artifacts made with love.