Love what you do and do what you love

                    Love What you Do and Do What You Love

                                                                                   By

Annette Bergman

 

 I just saw this statement in a quilting magazine, Love what you do and do what you love, and I had to wonder when it is time to let go of the things you love to do.  Time has taken care of my two favorite things to do. Sell real estate and being a beautician.

The real estate was a surprise for me.  I absolutely love it because I met so many nice people and they were so happy when I found what they were looking for in a home.  I did that for thirty years.  Being a beautician was my life’s dream.  There again, I met a lot of people and it made me feel good to make them look their best.  As a child I would brush my mother’s hair for what seemed like hours.  I was licensed for over forty years.

One thing I love to do as a child was roller skate.  I remember having skates that clamped to my shoes and then there were the skates I wore at the skating rink when I was a teenager.  I love to skate so much that a few years ago I purchased a pair of skates like I use to have when I went to the skating rink.  I could hardly wait to lace them up and see if I could still skate backwards and make turns seem effortless.  I immediately was reminded that I wasn’t young anymore and my balance wasn’t what it used to be.  Maybe if I had skated every few days or weeks all my life I could still skate.  So there went one thing I love to do.

I use to sew like there was a reward for the person who went through the most fabric. I started sewing at the age of twelve and amazed people at the level that I started.  I made my younger sister’s dresses…with some custom design work on them.  I made a slip cover for a big wooden box; mother kept extra linens in, and even put a box pleat around the bottom.  Soon I was making my own clothes and in school I made mine and my best friends sewing project.  We both got an A on our sewing project and at the end of school year my teacher gave me the projects that looked hopeless and I revived them.  

 I had visited my high school friend in Atlanta and on my drive back home I designed a shirt that I sold to Simplicity.  I ended up making nine designs in all for a pattern book called Casual Cut-ups. I was doing what I loved.

Once I made four quilts for my four children for Christmas.  Then I teamed up with a friend and we made over a dozen quilts for our church’s annual auction that helped support the missions.  Our last quilt was a reversible king size quilt made from John Deere fabric, antique tractors on one side and modern John Deere tractors on the other. That was the largest project to pass under the needle of my machine.  However, it did bring a whopping $1350.00 at the auction.

My granddaughter called when she was in high school to ask if I could help her with her Home Economics project and of course I said I would.  She showed up, with three other girls she failed to mention, that afternoon almost done me in.  We made dresses for four different countries…without patterns.  I heard later that they all received an A. Now I find I have to be in the mood to sew.

I always like having the prettiest yard in the neighborhood and after creating a beautiful yard at our last home I have found no humor in the yard signs that say, “Free weeds-pull your own.”  I have to wear rubber covered gloves just to get a grip on a weed.  My hands are about worn out from doing hair and garden work.

Last year we bought another home I had some weeds that were over six feet tall.  I’ve tried to keep them down this year.  I had big plans for this yard and with the help of my son and a friend I did get some things started, one being a flowerbed in front of the picket fence in front of the house.  I haven’t done a very good job of keeping the weeds out of that flower bed and the other one is thriving on neglect, weeds and all.  I think I have transplanted two huge weeds from the former yard.  The reason I’m almost sure they are weeds is because they never wilt. 

 The daisy I planted to remind me of a day I bought my first Shasta daisy for the old house needs water all the time.  Another thing I loved to do has bit the dust.

I have flipped houses before flipping houses was called flipping houses.  I love to paint and paper, make drapes and decorate. Now I have a house that I may or may not flip. I can only work for a few hours a day and I come home hot, tired and sometimes needing minor first aid. I’m waiting for the sun to go down as I write this so I can clean out the back of the truck and make way for tomorrows debris.

 I loved working on houses, but I have promised my husband I would not buy anymore home to work on.  You notice I said, to work on, I pray my next home will be finished and I can relax in my retirement…if there is such a thing. So one more thing that I loved to do is gone by the wayside.

I’m still a foodie and yesterday I baked an oatmeal cake that had chocolate in it.  That was the first recipe I had tried with chocolate and it has a coconut and pecan icing on top.  Talk about delicious, Paula Deen would be envious.  Today I helped myself to a small piece of the cake and added Blue Bells new Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream. Its right up there with one of the best desert I have ever tasted.

Looks to me like time has narrowed my choices for Love what you do and do what you love.  I can only pray that I will always have someone to cook for while I’m waiting on a mood to sew.