Ahhh, a sense of accomplishment!!

Do you have one of those jobs? You know... with projects that seem to drag on FOREVER. With no end in sight? That's my job. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my job. But some days, sometimes... Its just so hard to feel a sense of accomplishment. That I DID something... and did it well. That I actually finished something - something tangible in this online world of ours...

Long ago, in another life... I had horses. Well, ponies.. but why discriminate against height... And people frequently asked - Don't you hate all that work? The feeding, the stall cleaning??? The answer always was: Nope. I loved it... I lived for it. A dirty stall was my "Zen Place". Seriously... a dirty, disorderly space. 12ft X 12ft. A defined space... It started off stinky, dirty... but after 15 minutes of physical labor... it was clean. I started the task and finished it. I accomplished something!  It smelled of fresh pine shavings and sweet hay...

But, that was years ago... nice memories... but not so helpful now...

So, time for a new hobby... time to do something with my hands. Time to turn off the brain and let it rest. And, frankly, something to get me out of the house! Since I work from home, there are days when I don't travel more than 50 ft from the house. Yikes! I need out! I need a change of scenery! I need people to talk to!

I'm not quite sure how I stumbled across the local Tech College's site... probably the by-product of a cold night, some extra time on my hands, and my love for surfing the web. One class sounded intriguing.. Stained Glass. Hmm... that appeals to my artistic side.. and to my need for accomplishment...

So, off I go... I've surprised myself. I've really enjoyed this art...

Copper-foiled stained glass panels..





A pair of lamp shades...




Even the kids have gotten into making things.

A Mickey suncatcher by Dillon...




A Bamboo flower by Dakota...




There are no boundaries... if we can imagine it.. we can make it... And feel good. Accomplished. We've done something we can see, that we can touch, that we can finish!

Yet, there's more too... a payback I never expected. I've glimpsed a new side of the kids. I'm touched by their caring hearts and their generosity. Everything they've made, they've given as gifts: to a teacher, a friend, a cousin... tokens to brighten a day, to say "I love you" for no reason at all... And, to me, that's the greatest gift of all.

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