Hobbies - Who needs em anyway!

When I was around 8 years old, it seemed EVERYONE around me had a "hobby" except ME!

Thus the story has gone for the rest of my life. Now, is there any truth to this feeling? Well, not exactly because I've had hobbies. They just haven't been consistent so then I get in this "I need a hobby" state of mind. When in reality, I have hobbies I CAN do, just doing them is another story.

At the age of 9 I finally taught myself how to crochet. There was a loner crocheted slipper in my mom's drawer that my DAD crocheted... yeah, I never knew the story behind that one but I had friends who crocheted and it looked fun so I did it! AND... it wasn't sewing. My sister sewed so I could never do that of course :) I finally learned something other than the chain stitch so potholders and THICK doilies were crocheted by the hundreds! It wasn't until I was an adult (ish - I was married anyway...) and an elderly lady in our church taught me how to read patterns. Oh man, a whole new world opened up. Jeff's aunt gave me a ton of old pattern books from a subscription she had (I still have them, so fun to look at the way things have changed over the decades). I quickly found that selling these items did not make me any money. Making gifts was fun but handmade things tend to only be special to the one who made them - there's a song in there somewhere.

Through the years, I learned that I'm a creative. I've never taken the time to get past the amateur stage of any of my short lived hobbies. Sketching, painting, singing, crafting, decorating, refinishing, musical instruments, writing, hiking, running... they've all had their famous 15 minutes of fame in my life! Crocheting has been the one thing that I will pick up every so often and do a few projects. I have a Pinterest board FULL of inspiration that will more than likely never get done. As I type, there is an unfinished pumpkin hat for our newest little pumpkin staring at me. Now, it's Christmas time... so...

Hobbies can be a great breather OR they can be a great stresser. The actual definition is a regular activity that is done for enjoyment during ones leisure time. That would summize that if it's a stresser, it's not a hobby, it's a job haha

To answer the question in the title - Me! I need hobbies, I think it allows my brain to recharge and get rid of some of the cobwebs. Who knows... maybe you need one too! If you have one, what is it and how does it fit into your life?

They Call You What???

What's in a name? Have you ever given much thought to your name or your parent's names? I've always loved my name but I've had friends who not only hate their name, they change it. They say it doesn't fit. Very rarely do I meet someone and say "you just don't look like a Bob". Seems like somehow, we miraculously end up fitting our name. My full name is Rebekah Joy. My mom wanted to call me Joy. There was one period of time right before I got married, I decided to go by Rebekah. I started a new job and they asked me "what do you want to be called?" I thought "ooohhh a chance for a different name, new start... I'll change my FULL name!" Most people at that time knew me as Joy Corbin. While working there, I became Rebekah Thomas. My sister at one point called (no cell phones then haha) and asked for Joy Corbin, they told her no one by that name worked there. I learned something very important - somehow, there is part of your identity wrapped up in your name. This may be old news to many of you but for me I really didn't think it mattered what I was called. After that, I've always told people up front "I go by Joy". It's part of who I am... literally haha Recently this topic came up in conversation with a friend. I mentioned my aunt Bonnie was actually named Nellie Ruth and my aunt Nell was actually named Bonnie Nell. My dad had 12 siblings so we always joked that my Mawmaw just ran out of names and started using initials. My uncle JL was call Bo and my Uncle F.B. was called Buck. To this day we don't know if there were actually names with the initials. My dad only had a first name. Why is all of this coming up??? Well, I'm a new grandma and the first thing people say here in the south is "what is your grandmother name?"
Say What?
I've always been "Joy", I've never had to PICK a name... who makes these things up??? So, how hard can it be right??? I mean, just pick a name. Ha, are you kidding??? Most people have this cute lil name that just FITS them. We've called My sister Cindy Lou all her life so her Grandma name is "Lou Lou". Another friend is Kristie so she's "KK".
Me???
No one could pick one. Not me, not the kids... just couldn't find one that fit. One day Micah tells Lily "go to your Grand... person... Lady...
And there it was "GrandLady"
GrandLady stuck. There was something about it that made me feel unique, different, elegant even. I've had some funny responses for sure! One friend said "It sounds so elegant... and you're not" HAHA I totally get that but maybe that's why I like it. It's like this call to royalty. My kids have been calling me GrandLady, knowing our sweet Lily would probably not be able to say GrandLady. What is she calling me???
YeYe
Ya know what... I'm here for it!

We had a sweet precious lil grand number 3 born last week!!! She is AMAZING of course!!!!! What is her name???
Jubilee Ada!!!!
What a sweet declaration of God's love!!!
This sweet little one is "adorned" with "celebration of Joy"!!!!!
She is so loved!!!!

What is in a name??? To me, it is so much more than what you are called. It holds a piece of who you are. SO MANY Biblical accounts of God changing a persons name because they were no longer who they once were. Look at all of the names associated with GOD!!!! So powerful!!!!
Years ago we had a pastor who would greet me with this question every time he would see me "are you living up to your name?"
It really made me think...

What about you? What does your name mean and are you living up to it? Ya know, it's ok to change it... if God did it then I think you're ok :)

I Challenge... Me!

Years ago I did a daily blog challenge for the month of October. It was hard, way harder than I thought it would be but I enjoyed it. Lately, I've found myself with blog topics popping up in my mind. Just like Halloween candy, POOF they're gone. So I'm challenging myself. "Self" I said "you need to log these topics in your phone with bullet points so when you have time to sit, you'll actually remember them". "What a good idea" I replied. We had a longer conversation but both of us didn't think it was wise to put that out there :)

Right now at this point in life a daily blog would just make me pull my hair out and would NOT be a FUN challenge at all. Once a week though I feel is attainable. Possibly. I'm not sure how long I want to make this challenge??? Let's start with to the end of the year and just see how that goes. Maybe on Sundays??? I dont' know, we'll see.

P.S.
Still no BT3 (Baby Thomas 3)

Rain? Yep.

Who goes and washes their car in the rain? That would be me!

That makes me sound like the type of person who actually washes her car on a regular basis. No, that is not me but... I know a guy :) Ya see, we have a baby due. I mean, WE as in my son and daughter-in-law have a baby due. Past due actually. She is proving to be stubborn like her sister and not hurry out to meet us. We are nice people huny I promise, just a lil crazy but you'll find a lil crazy will help you survive in this world.

Focus.

Secretly, I was hoping the act of washing my car in the rain would bring some kind of juju that made this baby pop out and join us. It had NOTHING to do with the fact I was driving friends to have coffee and my car looked like a storage unit for infants and elderly. My friends would not care that my car was filthy but I cared. That had been on my list of "ta-dos" for quite some time. My GrandLady life has been full lately and

I'm. Here. For. It.

While I was on my little car washing adventure I sent a couple of Marco Polos to some friends. It was then I realized, I may have had too much coffee. It happens occasionally, sometimes, maybe...

That caffeine was put to GREAT use! The car is washed, vacuumed and lopsely wiped down. We had a great trip to Piper & Leaf in a clean-ish car.

And... no baby.

The moral of this Seinfeld episode of my blog - absolutely nothing. I have no moral here. Just a GrandLady desperately waiting to meet her newest grandchild...

Carry on! (stock pic from the interwebs BUT coulda been me haha)