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Tis the Season

As we approach fall and winter, I ponder all the beauty of these seasons. The fall foliage paints a colorful image in my mind’s eye as I drive along the highways and through parks commuting through the city. Change is coming. It mirrors all that is happening and all that will happen in the world. There is beauty in change. Though the leaves are dying and falling to the ground, they fertilize the soil as mulch that will give strength and new life to the roots of the tree as it blooms next spring.

What are you doing as the seasons change? Are you enjoying the view as you travel on your journey through life? If not, take a moment to stop and breathe in all the sights and sounds surrounding you. It might inspire you to create something beautiful. Or it may just relieve your stress a little bit. I know it has inspired me to always have hope for the future. It has also inspired me to get back to creating some beautiful seasonal things.

For the past two weeks, my mom and I have been making fall and Christmas wreaths—one for her door and one for mine. We collected an assortment of fake florals from inexpensive stores. These autumn colored array of flowers were placed at the bottom of wooden craft wreath rings and hot glued onto the beaded wreath to form a symmetrical bouquet. At the top, we placed an autumn colored ribbon to finish our first projects off. These took only a few minutes to create and dry off. This idea came from my research on YouTube. What a great idea it was, too. Each time we enter the house we feel the joy of the season when seeing the wreaths we made on our doors.

Later, I gathered the materials to make our Christmas wreaths. Again, I shopped at an inexpensive store to buy these round Christmas tree balls in various colors. However, I used some old metal coat hangers to create the round base of the wreath. Here’s a tip: If you use the coat hangers for this craft, make sure to use hangers that bend easily. I had a tough time bending our hangers into a circular shape. It was also difficult to twist the ends back together after placing the ornaments on the hangers. I had to use a plier to finish both or wreaths off. Yet, our Christmas wreaths turned out to be beautiful as well. We won’t display them until December, though.

Little things like creating crafts together can lead to wonderful conversations as you beautify your home or even make something unique to give away as gifts. My mom and I talked about quilts she helped her grandmother make when she was a little girl as we worked on making our wreaths. Here’s to hoping you get to enjoy the season with someone you love. Until next time, take some time to enjoy life.

tee125 adventures, autobiography, retiree

The Main Event

Photo by Ibrahim Asad on Pexels.com


I decided to throw my mother an 80th birthday celebration at an exclusive venue in the spring of 2018. It was indeed a labor of love and the icing on the cake, pun intended, was I could integrate all of my talents and creativity into planning the event. The site was available on her actual birth date, so everything was just coming together perfectly. I designed and printed the invitations on card stock paper and mailed them all way in advance to be sure each guest had an extra long time to RSVP. I ordered some of the favors in advance and created the rest on my own. The color scheme for everything was a bright pink and white. I also designed and printed the programs for the event. All of my creative juices were flowing. I secretly downloaded a music track in order to rehearse my surprise singing performance, too. My son and I rehearsed a dance to My Girl by the Temptations religiously every day. I could imagine him saying, ” I don’t know what I’ll do if I hear mom sing The Best Thing That Ever Happened by Gladys Knight one more time.”

I also created a video montage set to music to be played during her birthday celebration. The video contained pictures of my mom throughout her lifetime. It also included pictures of her with my dad who passed away some years ago, and other pictures with my siblings, the grandchildren, other family members, myself, and close friends. I spent days selecting these pictures and I spent days deciding which music would play in the background of the video. Everything had to be just perfect for my mom. Could I really pull this off? What do you think? Were there any bumps in the road?

tee125 adventures, autobiography

After the Adjustment Period

Photo by Terricks Noah on Pexels.com

About three months into my first year of retirement I noticed I was a little too relaxed and discovered I now had time to do some really creative things in my free time. I’d always been a creative spirit: the type of person who thinks outside the box. In fact, I’d always tried to integrate all of my talents into doing my job as a teacher. I used my artistic ability to do bulletin boards, brochures for programs, and art projects with my students. I’d use my flair at sewing to make clothing for my students when it was our turn to do assembly programs. I’d use my singing ability to teach students songs to sing for assembly programs, my knack at dancing to choreograph dance steps for students, and I’d use my writing skills to write scripts for our stage presentations as well.

In addition, I’d previously used my talents to assist various family members with events. Many years ago I made my sister’s maternity clothes when she was pregnant with her first child. I even created the invitations for my sister’s wedding anniversary years later. I made photograph montage videos for my nephew’s birthday celebrations, numerous family celebration videos, a wedding photograph video as a present for my nephew and his new wife, and I’d also cut, braid, and crochet hair for family members. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I also crocheted baby blankets on two occasions.

So as you can see, I just love to create and produce things. This innate desire to use my talents even more so since I’ve retired lead me to organize the event that I am most proud of to date. Can you guess what it was?

  1. Janice Reid's avatar
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  4. Unknown's avatar

    Yes indeed! We have to successfully navigate those “Bumps In The Road.” They are merely distractions to keep us from…

  5. skygirl65's avatar

    I absolutely love birds! This experience you squared made me feel as if I was there! I can see that…