Accomplishment.....

I have been feeling very productive the past few weeks.....I got to thinking about all the different reasons that we are driven to "accomplish" the things we do.  Some examples of my happy productivity are below, and what drove me to do them.

The first shot below is of our Super Sweet Garage (so joking).  A few months back Kev was complaining incessantly about how we have a $30,000 van that sits outside rotting so that we can have tons of crap saved and protected in the garage.  I listened to this, and even though I knew and still know that most of that so called garbage and crap is the big guys,  I decided to take the bull by the horns and just dig in .  I felt very happy w/ my accomplishment.  The car now fits.  I can now do the wash w/ out wading over piles of debris.  To be truthful:  this is the second time I have done this to the garage in the past few months.  Without coming down on anyone in particular, some people cannot seem to fathom cleaning up after themselves.  Putting away a big project that they have started is a foreign notion.  I had actually determined to leave the garage a huge mess this go round, (for the sake of principle) and just let the car rot outside, and be humiliated any time the door stayed open for any amount of time, but luckily I was kind of forced into reconsidering about 45 minutes after Kevin left to go on his trip this week.  

I had gone out to change the wash over and noticed what seemed like gallons of water cascading down the driveway after passing through the rubble piled in the garage.  Hmmmmmmm.  I was able to jerry rig the pipe again, and prop it up w/ the board and continued to do several batches of uninterrupted wash....but I could not bear to leave the wet mess.  SOOOOOOOO, my point is, sometimes we are forced to accomplish and change our plans for the day.  The benefits are the same....I still felt so good after I was done, even though it was not my idea to begin with. 

Here is Kevin's side.  I won't add any commentary..... I think some people think I give K a hard time.  So I will just leave it at the photo.  I just want to say to him:    I would love for you to have the same wonderful feelings that I have.  I am at your disposal if you ever want help on your side.

 I finally accomplished the goal of potting a few flowers for the front yard.  Not a big deal, but what a difference they make.

 Some accomplishment, the reward is not so much the finished product, but the doing.  For Relief Society we had a craft night a few weeks back.  Shelly and Nicole were in charge of these cute brooch/hair clips.  (V was over a very sweet Nativity....we still need to get together to make them....pics will come later)  Colleen did gift bag stamping,  plus there were several others....It was a really great night.  A bunch of us ended up staying until 10pm...I think!!  Poor Jeanette!  We were laughing and goofing off trying to bang out loads of these clips.....whoa...Shelly I still owe you $5!  I am good for it..... it does not get better than ACCOMPLISHING with friends!

These are sooooo much more adorable in person......

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PREP - TIME YOU PUT INTO SHARING YOUR CRAFT!

 I hope you can see the difference in these two photos....  every day I look out my kitchen window at this pretty little wooden patio set.  Unfortunately, the weather, salt, and time had taken a toll so badly on the table and chairs that is was pathetic to see.  An eye sore if you will.  I have been "meaning" to stain the eight pieces for a very long time.  I finally DID IT!!!!  It took a week of having the tarp out there and just fitting in a piece here and there.  But it is done!  This was, and is a very rewarding accomplishment!  I love to look out the window and see the clean freshly stained set.  Now we just need to have a barbecue and head out to actually use it.

 OK....there was no way not to make this picture look truly disgusting.  (believe me I tried many angles....my feet/nails really are that sickly right now, black for Halloween!)  Sorry, but the fact is some accomplishment is down right hard and sometimes painful!  I have had this bad boy for no less than a week now.  I keep wondering if I am supposed to pop blisters or leave them.  Well, I finally got online and found that no, indeed you are supposed to leave them intact.  That fluid is plasma and it is helping to protect the damaged skin below, as well as assist in the growth of new skin underneath.  Ha!  So it will remain.  Our latest running accomplishment was 10 miles on Saturday.  I am not going to say that Shelly and I were/are w/out any discomfort of any kind....FALSE INDEED.  However, I will say it WAS THRILLING AND WELL WORTH THE HARD WORK AND SUSTAINED EFFORT THAT IT TOOK TO ACCOMPLISH. It felt very satisfying.

Lastly....yes, this logo is backwards....but I think you can figure it out.  I bought this motivatingly bright orange (you can't tell in the photo) shirt for myself yesterday to wear to my 3rd CLASS WARM UP TODAY @ 8:20am.  I actually had fun today.  I left my cheat sheet at home (on purpose).  I felt loads more confident.  I planned the warm up  in a sensible sequence.....first a moderate, but high energy active portion (marching, skipping, grapevine, jacks.....and so forth), then a short squat/lunge series, then the static stretching.  Whooohoooo!  I did feel the DMS coming on, so when I got them started on a repeating lunge, I asked them to keep on lunging while I got a quick drink, which I spilled down my front.....didn't matter.  I was right back with them.  Major Accomplishment!  I felt so happy after.  I received some great feed back.  I am anticipating the next class.....not with fear and trembling.....but with excitement this time!

TRUE REWARDS

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:

but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

There is nothing in all the world so satisfying as a task well done.  There is no reward so pleasing as that which comes from the mastery of a difficult problem or challenge.

Quote by : President Hinckley 

What is one of your most satisfying accomplishments?