I can do that

Self-portrait taken at Target

DO you ever notice the many tasks that we do each week?  I'm not just talking about cooking and cleaning or your desk job.  I'm talking about plumbing, gardening, fixing a handrail, installing a light fixture, knowing how to unstick the door that always seems to stick this time of year and treating scrapes and cuts that the kids get.

How did we get so smart?!!

I remember when I was about 10 years old I helped my mother can tomatoes.  I had spent a month with my grandmother in Nebraska and we had canned apricots, tomatoes and made jam.  When I got back home I was able to help my mom by sharing with her the secrets that I learned in my grandmother's kitchen just a few weeks earlier.  That was truly the first time I remember being taught something and then passing it along.



I first learned how to paint (walls) when I was 21.  I was living back at home again and my mom was painting her back porch and she handed me a brush.  I remember telling her that she'd never let me paint before so she'd need to tell me how to do it!  Now I feel like I'm sort of an expert!

gardening pots at Target

The first house that I lived in as an adult, I was the major caretaker of the yard, so I immediately threw myself into learning about the plants in my yard.  I had never had a desire to grow flowers ever before, but having over 100 tea roses in the yard when we purchased the house was a big incentive!


A boyfriend of mine taught me how to drive a stick shift car and a few years later, I taught my sister.

I remember learning how to drive a scooter - I will choose never to do that again :)  I don't like it, but I did it.

I have installed flooring, put together IKEA furniture, recovered furniture and learned a little bit about photography. I could do all of these things better, that's for sure, but I've done it!  I've learned how to do it. 

I have learned how to be a good servant to my cat along the way, too.

This is only a tiny list of things that I can do, but have you ever stepped back and actually noticed all of the things that you do in a week or a month or even in a year?  I think that list would be staggering.

I may have to make a permanent list - it might be fun!

Kristin