Idle hands? Not so much...

These are my hands, as they look on a typical....any day I feel like painting? Larger projects are usually saved for around 7am on the weekend; but after an especially hard day at work, sometimes you just have to come home and get dirty.

Awhile back, a friend said something about my hands looking old, which I really took to heart.  The next day I spent, probably entirely too much money, on some great hand repair cream, and got a manicure.  Aaaaahahahahahahahaha. That lasted a red hot minute, because stain and rustoleum and sanding and digging and planting really do a number on a manicure.  I did buy a few pair of gloves, which look really cute in my kitchen drawer.

But then one day, as I was scrubbing the top 12 layers of the most beautiful mission oak stain off of my hands, I thought... no, my hands don't look old.  They're hard-working, capable hands.

They have diapered and soothes crying babies (children and grandchildren!) They've held a lover, and comforted loved ones. These two hands of mine have done more than their fair share of work over the years. And while I might have a little arthritis in my right hand... they still have alot of work and life left in them.

So I put them to good use. Daily.  I haven't always put them to great use. There were too many years when I spent more than enough time wiping away my own tears, and feeling miserable.  One day, that seems like a lifetime ago, I was left alone to raise three children. Hindsight has shown me that day, was the hardest and best blessing I could have ever received.  Not only did I have the privilege of raising my, now adult, children. I was being given the opportunity to learn things, and grow a sense of inner strength and "sticktuitiveness" that I might not have otherwise found. The mommy became the man of the house.... and so began a chapter of learning in  my life that has still not found an ending.

Two of the best pieces of advice I ever received..... " learn to use what you have got, and you won't need what you have not;" and, "Katie Marie, there is always more than one way to skin a cat."

While I've neither actually skinned a cat, nor even remotely felt the need to do so.... I have become obsessively adept at achieving my desired end results, on my budget; with only these two hands of mine, and a boatload of determination.