To Dye or To Write?

So most days when I get up, my first thoughts are about what colors I am going to dye today, not what am I going to write about in my blog.  And that is pretty obvious by the state of the blog.  Here are some of the other things I try to fit into the start of my day:

 

1. Drinking Coffee

 

2. Exercise

 

3. Meditation and Prayer

 

4. Walking the dogs

 

5. Spending time with my cat who lives upstairs because she is afraid of the dogs (probably rightfully so.)

 

6. Drinking coffee

 

7. Showering

 

8. Computer - emails, news, responding to queries, bookkeeping, ravelry, facebook, twitter.

 

Is it any wonder that the start to my day takes 3 or more hours before I am ready to start dyeing in the studio?  Often I start this daily set of activities at 4:30 in order to be in the studio by 8:30.  But the worst part is that I often don't get all of these fitted into that 3-4 hours.  And the one piece I have been trying to make sure is absolutely done every day is exercise as I was letting that go.  As physical as the work is that we do, I cannot let exercise go by the board.  I have to maintain my overall strength and stamina!

 

The priority of things in this list are not determined by their number on the list.  I'd like to say that I always take time to pray and meditate, but I would be lying...what does happen every day is the drinking coffee and the computer thing where I check twitter, facebook, emails, the news and so on.  Other things make it onto the list depending on the weather, how much I have to dye, how close we are to a show, and so on.  Also, when we are on the road, I usually only do the coffee and computer thing as well....we get so focused on what absolutely needs to happen in the booth that it is hard to take care of yourself too.

 

At the other end of the day, after I have finished dyeing in the studio, there is still plenty to do.  Again, I am back at the computer checking emails, facebook, twitter and ravelry, but I often place orders now, and talk to folks who are doing samples, etc.  Then there is the 30 minutes when I just have to be off my feet after all day on them!  This is when I knit or fluff fiber or put stitchmarkers on cards as giveaways for shows and in orders.

 

So all of this "busyness" is why I/we don't get to the blog, and that makes me sad as I would love to be much more connected to you.  I'll try, I promise. Here's what I just finished knitting!