Journey to 1000 Paper Cranes

  After a break on 12/17/20 came Days 42 to 44:  Thursday was rough.  The morning started with unpacking the car insurance deemed totaled.  Then there was the unexpected call that Ming's ashes had arrived.  Oh the tears fell; it felt like losing him all over again.  On Friday my friend Leslie brought over some other needles that I tried however the eyes of both needles were still too large to fit through the smallest beads.  Thankfully Saturday I got a bead kit with several tools including the right needles; the day was spent running errands and catching up on work so I didn't get to stringing any paper cranes. However I've been writing in preparation for another blog post for my private practice which morphed into a second writing that was polished to share with a group today.  All of this during this journey to 1000 paper cranes and so I've decided this one, will go here.   ******************* Through the Woods Over the hill & thro...

Day 37:  This day I ran errands including shipping a package to Australia through UPS, getting a new car battery (the guy at Knecht's was nice enough to switch them out for me so I didn't have to go back to return the old battery which would have been an additional charge, a coffee run to the Human Bean where the cashier and I were sharing our holiday decorating goals, and the grocery store for our weekly food where one of the workers told me he ate all the large containers of sour cream with his taco fest LOL.  Generally I enjoy errands, today they were especially sweet as employees seemed especially conversational and kind.  In the afternoon I worked for about four hours trying to catch up on my charting for work; there's more.  But just after 5pm I remembered I was going to put up the lights on the house before dark!  It is dark here before 5 now so the flashlight & I went out.  I haven't done lights on the roof in a year or so but we have two rotati...

  My favorite pandemic birthday wish I like to send to a few of my favorites Day 33:  I never imagined that Friday in November that I would be this close to being done with folding 1000 paper cranes.  One thought was maybe I could be done by my birthday, January 12th.  I'll be done within the week, unless something major throws that off.  So excited to start the next part which will be stringing them with blue beads.  It was a long day at work, not a bad day just a long day and I had a couple errands after work so wasn't home until almost 7:30pm.  So appreciated my friend Kendra checking in on me, making sure I was doing okay regarding the grief of losing our dog Ming.  Several clients have been asking as well.  When I got home I had quite a bit of pain in my upper back, neck, shoulders, and that darn wrist so I decided an Epsom salt bath was overdue.  Felt really really good.  On this day I had folded some paper cranes in the early...

5 gallon tank with live vegetation Day 30: How about that? Thirty days since I started this project. Something I fell into in an evening of just looking up what I could do with the origami paper I had purchased. This has brought a lot of joy into my life. Has allowed for some present moment awareness that gets documented with the blog updated daily. The blog was also an in the moment idea I think on day three or four on a drive into work. It has been a way to focus when I am stressed, sad, grieving, grateful, determined, and more. On this day I had a list of errands I wanted to run, not really thinking they would be the better part of the day I still had fun and some unexpected surprises! I had a gift for one of my close friends (early Christmas) that I didn't want to mail because it has glass. Decided today would be a good day to see if I could drop it off at her house. She let me know she would be home and then offered to go on a walk with me. This was a blast because...

Day 26:  My nine client day turned in to eight, which I was thankful for because I got the much needed break and a little more time to get myself focused and organized.  After a long weekend, I really wanted one of my daily naps by late morning.  I had brought my origami paper hoping somewhere I might fold a crane.  That didn't happen.  I got home later than I had planned and found the rest of my fish tank supplies here.  So much of my evening was spent cleaning the decorations that were to go in the tank and then slowly filling the tank up with two 32 oz cups at a time.  Doesn't it look nice?  I really like the LED light and it has a blue tint and then regular lighting.  I'm so excited about getting my fish.  Also hoping the driftwood I have in there eventually sinks to the bottom but I guess fish can swim around it!  Did some more reading and they recommend one gallon per fish so I am only going to be able to fit five in here....

Day 22: I had not realized until the previous day that my husband to work on Friday.  He's a game reviewer and has three deadlines on Monday, so it makes sense.  Not that I had had any plans in particular. So I spent from just before 9am until 1pm running errands. Returning bottles for my friend whose battling cancer, dropping off a package and picking up mail from my USPS mailbox, going to the bank, returning items at the UPS Store, as well as picking up a prescription at the pharmacy.  Came home briefly to put air in two of the tires, picked up the new crate that was delivered for our pup that we just put down so I could return it, and then started the second half of my errands which included returning the crate, getting an oil change, picking up a few groceries, and getting gas.  I knew it was Black Friday but totally forgot the grocery store I go to (which also has apparel, furniture, a garden department, and more) would also be slammed with people.  I reall...

Day 18:  This day started tough as we decided to put our 12 year old rescue down, scheduled for this Wednesday.  Reached out to my supports for comfort, had some tears and gave him some extra love.  Not much crane folding happened today but 7 done by evening.  I'm thankful to have this project to focus on. (640/1000)