Things I have learned ...

These days I'm spending quite a lot of time thinking. Three times a week I walk in the deep water of a local public pool for an hour and a half. An hour and a half is a long time to walk up and down one lane of a 25 metre long pool. There's not a lot to focus on - though I do enjoy following the progress of the toddlers learning to swim in the next pool, and there are usually 15-20 other people in my pool to keep an eye on, and from 9am to 9.45am there's a water aerobics class that is interesting to watch. But it still leaves me plenty of thinking time. In September and October I thought about my Christmas market stalls - how I would arrange the tables, how I would display the stock, what things I needed to make etc. In November I thought about how I would go about putting up my Christmas decorations and pack away the non-Christmas things. In December I focused on how I would pack away Christmas, and return the house to normal. January came, and I found I had nothing needing considering or planning. So I started thinking about the things I have learned about myself over the last year or so. Here are some of the things I have learned (in no particular order):

• Whereas I always thought I liked cross stitching, in fact the thing I like is finishing each cross stitch project. I discovered this when I started my first HAED design and stitched madly for 5 months solidly without finishing any projects, including the HAED design.
• I don't really understand the concept of moderation. I discovered this when I began buying on eBay, and found that in a short time I had more fabric than any one person could use in several lifetimes. Of course, the fact that I've hardly been able to get any cupboard door in the craft room closed for the past 5 years or so should have given me a hint about the no moderation thing, as should the fact that my weight would be in the acceptable range only if my height was about 4 metres (13 feet). I'd never considered myself a slow learner, but - maybe that's something I should ponder on my walks.
• I am much better at cleaning out cupboards than I am at actually keeping them neat and ordered. Sometimes I feel that I should place an "Open with Caution" tag on my wardrobe, linen press and pantry. My wardrobe and linen press are nice and tidy right now, as I traditionally clean them out on New Years Day, and they just haven't had time to get messed up yet. It's a good thing that I have house-guests from time to time, because that is what prompts me to 'do' the pantry. It's also nice and clean tonight, having been cleaned yesterday for my houseguests who arrived this evening.
• I am able to appear in public in my swimming outfit (I call it that as it is composed of lycra bike shorts that come almost to my knees. a bra, and a lycra short-sleeved T-shirt I bought in 1980). Some day, hopefully soon, I shall summon up the courage to go shopping for swimmers. Maybe.

That's enough thinking for now.