I have a blanket on the back of my desk chair in the basement, where I generally do schoolwork and other time-intensive computer things. My basement is mostly finished, but the walls are concrete and only some of them are covered in insulation. This makes it cold down there, especially in the spring and summer. So I wrap up in this comfy blanket when I’m on the computer. This morning, it felt so nice and warm. When I got finished with devotional, I was already sleepy again, even though I’d only gotten up a couple hours ago. So I left the blanket on my shoulders, went upstairs to the living room, and laid down on the couch to nap until the kids woke up, wrapped up in my +5 Blanket of Warm Cuddliness. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make an impact on the day.
I’m wearing a skirt today. I like wearing skirts, especially skirts that are full and flowing. This skirt happens to be pleated instead of gathering, but it was only $1 and it’s super-comfortable. My mother pointed out when I got it that it was exactly the same kind of skirt my grandmother used to wear. And when I think about it, I’m pretty much dressed like she might have, given allowances for several decades and a different religion causing some fashion difference.
My grandmother used to wear a pleated skirt, a blouse, ankle socks, and comfortable flats. She didn’t vary this formula much. For more formal occasions, the blouse would be a button-down, and the shoes might change from lace-ups to short pumps. If it was chilly outside, she had a sweater she wore. Today, I am wearing a pleated skirt, a blouse, ankle socks, and my everyday lace-ups.
Twenty years ago, this discovery of dressing like my grandmother might have bothered me. Today, it just makes me sad that she’s no longer where I can talk with her easily, that she began to fade away before I really finished growing up, that I never got to talk to her about religion and her Betty Boop dolls and what she really thought of my life and path. And it makes me feel just a little closer to my ancestor who I seem to resemble in personality and spirit more than I ever knew.
In the spirit of Playing the Game as asked by Loki, and in fulfillment of Hecate’s demand that I exercise more, I started playing Ingress this week. I’ve known about the game for over a year, but never got around to playing with it, much as I haven’t played many games at all. Now that I’m up and running, I feel like it would be incredibly easy to let the game intrude too far into my daily life. I am having fun using it for my daily walks, though. I love being able to gamify different aspects of my life like that. I don’t always care about winning the game per se, but I do enjoy playing, and I enjoy quantifying and measuring things via game format.