Oh My gosh! this is post 301!

I picked the entire crop off the washcloth bush yesterday. Today, I will run them through the washer and dryer, then hit the dollar store for some nice soap and body wash, tie it together with ribbons, and donate it to the local women's shelter. And that will be a bit of the cotton stash reduced. Maybe I'll try linen washchloths, too. Use up some of the linen weaving yarn stash.

I really want to reduce the satsh, because Black Sheep Fiber show is coming to Eugene soon, and I won't go if I have too big a stash. Anyone want to drive to Eugene with me?

Right now, there are two scrub Jays pulling the coconut fiber out of my hanging baskets to use for nesting material. Those baskets will look pretty ratty in a few weeks if this keeps up. Oh well, everyone needs to live somewhere. And if I don't water those fuschias, the baskets will look pretty ratty regardless of the jay's depredations.

DH has just been diagnosed with diabetes. He bought the book, Diabetes for Dummies. I'm going to sit and read it over for the first time today. I imagine we'll be going over it several times in the next few years. Thank God for modern medicine!!

I know lots of folks are living healthy, happy lives in spite of their diabetes. Anyone want to chime in with words of wisdom and advice? This is going to mean a lifestyle change for us. Fewer slug-like weekend mornings lolling in our warm comfy bed, more dragging our lazy, dead-possum carcasses out for walks and healthy breakfasts. Fewer margaritas, rumballs, and glasses of wine. Has anyone tried cooking with Splenda or the other sugar substitutes?

OK, all you young people! Your strong, healthy, energentic body is just a loaner. Enjoy it while you can because Father Time and Mother Nature are gonna re-posess it before you know it. Dance before your knees get creaky. Try new food while you can still digest it. Hug your loved ones while they are still handy. The longer you live, the more you lose.

Of course, living longer brings certain benefits as well. You learn to quit worrying what other people think. You start to learn which things are changable and which aren't. You get a sense of when you should cut and run and when you should stick it out regardless. You have friendships that have lasted years. You quit spending all day in three-inch heels and your back thanks you. When you have introduced some young man to some young woman, attended their wedding, baby-sat their kids, gone to the kids' weddings, and are now knitting tiny garments for the children of your friend's children, you get a certain mellow perspective on life.

By living through hard times in your life, you learn that you are much stronger than you ever thought you were, and that the worst that could possibly happen rarely does, so don't waste time getting all wrouoght up about it. Even if the worst does happen, you can take it.

When was the last time I wept my heart out over something? I remember a ninety solid minute sobbing spell when some caddish guy broke my heart, but that was decades ago. My heart is much bigger and far more resiliant now.

I may have lost my tight, strong, limber body, but I have gained some kick-ass memories. I'm gonna be a decrepit, story-filled, opinionated crone in about thirty years. Think I'm free with my suggestions now? Just you wait! By the time I'm ready to die, I may have figured out this whole thing about how one should live.