Thinking about making the most out of life in this crazy world and looking at new things that I want to learn how to do. Well, at least things that are new to me LOL I want to find some things that can occupy my time and give me some zen moments. And some things that are productive but fun. I don't know if I will ever get around to learning any of them, but hey, at least I can give it a try!
1. Gardening
I don't know the first thing about gardening and that is something that I regret not picking up from my parents. Both Mom and Dad loved gardening. Dad had an amazing vegetable garden that he did each year, and he was self-taught. He grew up on a tobacco farm but did not learn much about vegetable gardening, so he figured it out on his own and it was so beneficial to our household. Mom loved her flower beds. She would get a stool and spend hours over the weekend planting and weeding. Our backyard had several flower beds out there and she loved it. I just do not know much about planting and tending to plants. I want to learn because I think I would enjoy it.
2. Make a Roux
I cannot make a good roux to save my life. And believe me, I have tried. Part of me blames my stove top because it uses coil heat and it's hard to get a temperature going that's not blazingly hot. But I have watched videos and read articles, and I still cannot master this technique. I need to have someone show me in real time how to do this. Any takers?
3. Refinish furniture
This is a skill I would love to learn. And this can be combined with restore furniture and repurpose furniture. At work, I see so many pieces get tossed in our dumpster that, with a little love and elbow grease, could be brought back to life and put to use. It's one of the downsides of today's society. I see pieces on Market Place all the time that just need a little love, but I have never attempted this before. Does anyone teach these skills, or would this be a watch YouTube videos kind of project? Hmmmm.
4. Arrange Flowers
This goes beyond sticking flowers in a vase. That I can do. I would love to learn the art of flower arranging. Of course, not to be a professional or anything because those people are so amazing, I just want to be able to create beautiful and simple arrangements for the house. Grandmother was very good at that. It would be nice to know how to make a beautiful centerpiece for my dining room table.
5. Swim
I do not know how to swim. I'm not even good at holding my breath under water. When I was a child, it scared me so badly. That was one of the reasons that I was never baptized. There were other reasons but I will save those for another time. I don't really know where this fear of going under water came from. I have my theory on that, and it does not stem from anything that happened in this lifetime. Yet again, fodder for another blog. But now I am finally to a point where I want to learn how to swim. It would help me so much physically with my health goals. I remember when I was applying to colleges, the first time, Dad asked me if they still had the swimming requirement. Back when he and Mom were at ECU, you could not graduate from the UNC system unless you could swim. Sometimes I wish they did have that when I was at UNCG years ago. Anyway, it is time for me to learn. Anyone have a pool? And patience?
6. Bridge
I would love to learn how to play bridge. Most of my family played when I was growing up. I never learned. I think they tried to teach me once but at that time it was way too complicated. Mom and Dad belonged to a bridge club. Grandmother belonged to a bridge club. I don't have to be in a club but it might be fun. Many Saturday nights at our house held bridge games with Goodsons from the across the street. Or Grandmother and Isabel would come over to play with Mom and Dad. I just think it would be something fun to learn how to play. As an old soul, it seems appropriate LOL I have inquired to several local teachers but nothing has worked out yet.
7. Mah Jong
Here is another game that I believe would be interesting to learn how to play. I do not know much about it at all other than it involves tiles. I had never heard of this game until I saw Driving Miss Daisy in the movie theater! It has lingered in the back of my mind ever since. And working in a retirement community, I have heard several of my residents talk about playing over the years. I think it would be fun to play!
8. Weight lifting
Here is another exercise that I want to learn how to do correctly. I have a membership to a gym which I rarely use yet still pay for, like so many people. And one of the reasons I don't go is because I don't know what I'm doing. And lifting weights is a very precise exercise with so many different things to factor into it like number of weights, reps, how to correctly do the lifts. These are just basic things that I have no idea about and, again, want to have someone in real time teach me and not watch videos about it. Using exercise videos as teachers is kind of difficult because I have to continuously stop what I'm doing and go back and rewatch. That is a motivation killer right there!
9. Learn another language
When I was in high school, I did not have a good ear for foreign language. Part of the problem that my first Spanish Teacher, Mr. Tyner who was one of the best teachers I ever had, passed away over Christmas break and I ended up having 4 different teachers over the next year and a half. So, I would love to take a language course. I'm not sure which one, but who knows. I think it would be not only a fun skill to have but beneficial in the work place someday.
10. Autoharp
I want to learn how to play the autoharp. My memories of the autoharp go all the way back to children's choir at FBC in Monroe. One was often used to accompany us. We all loved to play with it and press the different buttons and strum. We didn't know what we were doing and were more making noise than music, but it was still fun. Years, decades later, after seeing the film A Mighty Wind and watching Catherine O'Hara play the autoharp, my interest was renewed. Michael went as far as to get me one for Christmas but I have yet to learn how to play it. I think it needs to be restrung or something. Anyway, I need to look into get that fixed so I can start taking some lessons somewhere!
So, these are a few of the things I would like to learn how to do. What are some of the things on your list?
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