THREE Things Are Mine...All Mine

No, I'm not talking about my children.

We get so busy.  I'm not saying anything new.  We put our best efforts out for everyone...our children, our church, our sisters, our friends our families.  BUT, if we're not spending time refueling, then we'll be sharing fumes instead of the overflow of our hearts.

Three things I love: feeling healthy, singing and Spanish.  

Feeling Healthy:  I'm one of those people you hate who can eat whatever she wants and still wear a size (I'm not telling).  HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I'm healthy.  Just ask the jiggle in my belly!  Or, more seriously, ask the surgeon who did my lumpectomy a few months ago. I took the Real Age test and found that my biological age is much older than my calendar age.  I was disturbed.  (I won't tell what it is, so don't bother asking.)  SO, this week, I started setting the alarm for 6:15. (I am NOT a morning person.) I've rolled out of bed, into sneakers and out the door for a walk.  Not a run nor an hour-long workout at the Y. That's just not me.  Only a walk.  I'm shooting for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.  I CAN do this!

Singing:  I love singing.  I love music.  I've belted out show tunes since I had LPs in my little blue-flowered bedroom in Kentucky.  I'm a belter...I love loud and sassy songs.  However, I was raised in the Catholic church.  Very buttoned-up, beautiful music.  And, was classically trained in college.  Again, beautiful.  But not my favorite music.  (I remember singing Patsy Cline in the hallway and one of the music profs came out of her studio and said, "Who is doing that? Stop it, right now.  You'll ruin your voice!" What's a country girl to do?

I feel like I fell into a vacuum somewhere between college and now.  Contemporary music -- pop or christian -- is so different than what I ever used to sing.  I simply don't know HOW they do that!  You are either a belter or a songbird, right?  Not so.

I went to a Vocal Artistry workshop about a month ago.  I was so jazzed about what I'd learned. I CAN learn to blend the styles and "workout" my vocal muscles to sing the music I love now, not just the stuff I used to love.  So, I've blocked out 15 minutes a day for these vocal exercises that will strengthen all the right stuff.  (Don't call between 9:30 and 10:00.  I won't answer.) 

Spanish:  Easy enough.  I took two years in high school and a semester in college.  I've always loved the language, but always had something else pulling in another direction.  My sweet Grandaddy has the same love of the language.  (Did I tell you he only reads Western fiction?  He likes the Texas cowboy stories.  They tend to run into a lot of Mexicans.)  He got us the Rosetta Stone software to learn the language (buy it once, use it forever to teach everyone in your house!)  We've had it for about 9 months.  Even Sammie (5) likes it, but our sessions are sporadic to say the least.  So, we've blocked out 1:30 - 2:30 every day for Spanish.  (Don't call then either.) Sammie gets 30 minutes and I get 30 minutes.  Once school starts in the Fall, I'll supplement her study with workbooks and children's books.  I know we CAN do this.  We can!

The reason I've had such trouble with these things before, I think, is because you can't do them in just one hour or just one day, or even a semester.  So, I'm going to use that old saying "inch by inch, everything's a cinch." (So old it's hard to remember it's from Proverbs...something about precept upon precept.)

I leave you with a question and a favor:

Question: What are your three things?

Favor:  Will you please check with me every month or so and make sure I'm still sticking with it? Por favor?