Finding Things to Do or Puritan Rule No 1

I had such a Puritan upbringing that the lessons learned live in my bones. I simply can't disregard them. The Puritan outlook believes that idleness is the work of the devil, that we should all be independent beings only relying on ourselves, and that fun is a waste of time.

This week I have been battling item no 1. Idleness. Perhaps buoyed by my Panera sandwich or by a long nap, last night I dove into a project that has been sitting in the guest room waiting for me.

But first another Puritan lesson. Sloth. Puritans don't like sloth. Puritans shouldn't be overweight, they should look like models in the LL Bean catalogs [which means NO hips.] However, even at my thinnest, which was very thin, my top and bottom half were not the same size. There is something wrong when a young person who is 115 thinks she is huge because they can't find a dress that fits both halves, but that is another blog.

So over the years, when I have found dresses that I liked that also fit and make me feel good about me, it has been like finding a pot of gold. If you found a designer that cuts their clothes to fit your body type, you have found heaven. And about 10 years ago, I found such a designer. Gayle River was a female owned textile firm that tried to design and produce their clothing in northern New Hampshire. They made the nightgowns that appear in the fancy Garnet Hill catalogs, and operated an outlet store in Littleton NH. That store became a destination.

One year, I hit the bonanza! Three dresses in one trip and on sale for [I kid you not] $8 a piece. Two years ago, I headed my car to Littleton only to find the store front was now selling creches, plastic jesus statues and rosarie beads. Gayle River had gone out of business.

So I started taking better care of my favorite dresses. Yet, one by one, the dresses fell apart until at the beginning of this summer, there was one dress remaining. I curled up in a chair and heard the rrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip. The last dress was gone.

The weeks leading up to surgery, I had a lot of nervous energy. I laboriously deconstructed the dress, stitch by stitch. I bought fabric, making a wild guess as to how much I would need.

And so this project was waiting for me. Last night Leslie helped me move around a table and I cut the fabric. Today I am sewing it all together. At last, I have found something to do which doesn't involve lifting or sweating or otherwise breaking one of Dr. Maryjane's many rules while not breaking the Puritan rules either.

Balance has returned.