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Jar! And thank you for all you share about the gratitude projects Amy, it encouraged me to start it a couple years ago. It’s something I slotted into a time of year when I often find myself down, and now I look forward to that time, knowing I will be doing my gratitude project.

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I love knowing this and am so happy you have cultivated a gratitude project that works for you!

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Oct 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Jar. Flat gray, no breaks in an endless, colorless sky. High point was all those grandbabies together. Making my children’s Halloween costumes when they were young is a favorite memory. Didn’t have much money, but they always had a costume designed to match their ideas.

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That is a wonderful high point. I imagine you helped bring their ideas to fruition with wonderful and creative costumes! Sounds like an unusual sky!

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Oct 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Pocket watch…. Always have been waiting. Waiting for someone else to tell me it was time again to relocate most of my life. Waiting for cataract surgery these past weeks. Waiting makes me worry more.

Sky is white bits behind the dark trees from my windows. But soft blue and clear if I step outside a look up.

A high from October was all the gorgeous fall leaves and meeting the new pup my daughter chose. And spending precious time with this daughter. A low is today’s temperature 0 degrees (32 Fahrenheit) Ha!Ha! . Brrrr I worry about the hummingbirds who continue to hang around despite plunging temperatures.

I also loved making the kids costumes. A favorite was a clown costume with a big extra ruffled collar. When the kids were done with it the collar was fun to put on the fox terrier. She would run to greet the trick or treaters. Making lots of people laugh.

I made myself a few long capes one red and one black for the devil and Dracula. They were used for years afterwards. I sewed like I cook and create art. I don't really follow instructions.

I guess this was before the costumes were sold in stores for dogs and people. Seems everything I used to do is bought now,

Muffins! You made me laugh! sounds like something I would make. I never follow a recipe. Of course I can never repeat the things I make…always tastes different. Baking is creative! My last mini muffins tasted good but I ate them all! That is not so good.

Love your oven illustration. As well as all the rest! Sorry the oven doesn’t work. Everyone says an airfryer is great. I stick to my oven. Don’t want anything else on my counters. Also don't want to spend the money.

Another high point was FaceTiming my sisters, one in Taiwan and another 5 hours away through the mountains. We don’t connect often enough.

Sorry I missed the P words. I thought about and then got busy and forgot about it.

Thank you for this morning’s post. I enjoy reading them all.

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I am glad you understand the muffins! Sounds like you take a similar approach. Too funny. Really glad you met the dog and had the time with your daughter, Gail. The clown costume memory is very special, and I bet the capes were fantastic! I hope things go well with the eye surgery. Thank you for commenting on the panels!

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My jam jar is on the highest shelf, I don’t think I can reach it.

When people are watching, I surreptitiously glance at my watch. Always waiting for a change, an improvement over the now. How did I get so old? Do I even have time? I frequently lie in bed, worrying about the worst case scenarios. This is something I am not proud of, and rationally I know better. Maybe this week’s affirmation needs to be about staying in the present moment.

Right now the sky is pearly gray. A front is moving through and the temperature is expected to drop 40°. We are already down 20°!

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I want you to pull down that jar, Laura. I really do. And I know you can.

Now I’m going to notice you checking the time in our group. LOL. That was a dramatic temperature drop. I hope you enjoyed the chill!

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Oct 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Pocket Jar. This waiting theme resonated deeply. It has been three years since my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This three years has been nothing but waiting. Waiting for appointments, waiting for surgery, waiting for healing so chemo could begin, waitng for hours at a time on infusion days, waiting for chemo to end, waiting for CT scans results every three months, waiting to see if bad things seen on scans progress, waiting to start another round of chemo, waiting for big life changes, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like I’ve been suspended in a weird time warp. And at the same time I have my own aging issues and physical maladies to involving waiting. I detest waiting. Like another commenter said, “waiting makes me worry more.”

Well, I must consider gratitude, go out of my way to find it. I always ask myself, can I still find things to be thankful for, even in the midst of adverse circumstances?

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I am so sorry, Adah. There is so much to this and all the waiting you’ve described. So very much. Waiting for the other shoe to drop….. I hear that. I hope there is some support in there for you, both in helping your husband and in being there for you as you also navigate things for yourself. Gratitude… yes. I do think it can help bring us some kind of calm and peace. It doesn’t make everything else go away. But I think it’s worth it. I hope you have a calm week and that you are in a period in-between right now….even though it is still waiting.

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Thank you so much for your kind comment. I read these words that spoken to me recently.

“ In difficult times you move forward in small steps. Do what you have to do, but little by little. Don’t think about the future or what may happen tomorrow. Wash the dishes, remove the dust. Write a letter. Make a soup. You see? You are advancing step by step. Take a step and stop. Rest a little. Praise yourself. Take another step, then another. You won’t notice, but your steps will grow more and more. And time will come when you can think about the future without crying.” —Elena Mikhalkova

Sending wishes to you also for restoration and peace 🥰

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Thank you for sharing that. ❤️

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Oct 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

The weight of waiting can be crushing. Know that I am lifting you up from afar.

I’ll be missing sketching with your lovely group these two Sundays. I really enjoy that hour.

Gratitude. I should have more some days. That will be a good thing to add to my daily journal practice.

As always, thank you for Sunday mornings when your words make me ponder and muse.

Now I have to go get that smear of blue jam off my pocket watch.

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Thank you for that lovely last line, Julia. You were missed today, indeed, and we’ll be glad to have you join again when it works. Thank you for your words. I do hope you work gratitude into your journal practice. I hope you have a good week - and thank you for reading and for making me feel heard.

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Oct 29, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

One of my favorite sets of kids’ costumes we did with my own children was when they were 6 and 3. My mother sewed a Dorothy dress for my daughter and I made a Tin Man costume for my son. Target sold red “shiny shoes” (as my daughter referred to them) and we got a black stuffed dog for her to put in a basket. The Tin Man was made of silver posterboard and a spray painted kitchen funnel for his hat. My son’s birthday is the 30th, so we always had costume parties when he was little. Another favorite of his in high school was Sweeney Todd, and of my daughter’s costumes, I loved making her into Pippi Longstocking with a bent coat hanger in her hair! I could not pick just one. We had so many good ones, all homemade.

Pocket watch (for the other shoe to fall? For my own children’s situations to get better?)

Beaker (I often have students list gratitudes, but I have Facebook memories in November of a year I posted one each day-- but I’m not consistent)

Bright White like a blanket overhead (and I too had a 20 degree drop since 10am this morning!)

I spent a lot of my Creative time this week making a giant pair of scissors. We had our Fall Party Friday, so I dressed up with my coworkers as a Rock Paper Scissors trio.✂️

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What wonderful costume memories with your kids! And your scissors this week…. That’s very cool. Sounds like a fun set of coworkers! The dramatic temperature swings some of you had are crazy! I appreciate the candor of the beaker response. I sense you have a strong grounding in this, but maybe it will be a good November for a nudge, too. Thank you for commenting.

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

A pocket watch and a beaker and midnight blue. A highlight from October was going to THREE wonderful cultural events: a house concert, a spoken word performance, and a poetry reading, all three of which left me with my jar on the floor. I am lucky to be where I am, and starting to make friends who bring me to these incredible events. Halloween: one of my favorite costumes when I was little was Casper the Friendly Ghost costume. I loved it so much. I hope your waiting gets easier and that all will be well at the end of the waiting.

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I am glad you dabble…. And glad that jar is there. It sounds like you are coming into your own in your space, and that’s so wonderful. Those sound like great events over the month. Casper! What a fun memory that costume must be!

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Oct 30, 2023Liked by Amy Cowen

Pocket watch...dabble. Le ciel est bleu.

I remember a costume my eldest wore at 8. It was a gypsy one and I lent my Celtic shall broach. We lost the broach and I haven’t replaced it 20 years later.

As always, I love your words and images, though I don’t always have the momentum to express it. The community and mulling that you inspire is heartily appreciated.

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Thank you so much for this comment. I can imagine the sad loss of the sentimental brooch. But it’s nice it is tied to another memory that might be good.

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Great post, as always. Love the drawings.

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Thank you.

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Jam. I often think them, but haven’t put it on paper. I can imagine the power in that, but I just haven’t done it. Quiet grey sky, but no rain today. Two of the knives in my set broke in the past couple weeks, the handles finally just fell apart. Maybe I will try scissors instead! I really enjoyed your drawing panels, Amy. The dock of the bay especially.

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So funny about the knives! Timing, right? Thank you for your comments and for mentioning the panels.

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