Help Wanted

Do you ever look at decorating magazines, find a picture of a wonderful bedroom and think “I can do that and my house will look perfectly put together and I can call Cottage Home magazine to come take a picture and put me on the cover?” I don’t. But I want to think that! Here’s my dilemma (see pictures). In my bedroom the walls are yellow, which I love, and the trim is white, which I love, and the bedspread is yellow chenille, which I love. So what’s the problem? Pillows, that’s the problem. Look in all the magazines and the beds look perfect….the bedspread can be over the pillows or folded back, it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s the pillows that make the look. I have this great red and yellow quilt on the foot of the bed so I want pillows to coordinate with it and the walls and the trim and the spread. Should be easy, right? Not! I have white pillowcases with white lace trim. I have white pillowcases with redwork “Faith” and “Hope” on the ends. I have a white throw pillow with redwork “Monday’s child, etc.” I have a wonderful teddy bear pillow and a bear named Jed and a perfect little throw pillow that I gave to my mother years before she died that says “thanks Mom for teaching me to sew.” I have a red and yellow paisley throw pillow and a small yellow pillow roll and I even have two pillow shams that match the spread. Soon I’ll have a white throw pillow with Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary on it. You name it I got it. I just can’t get it together and have it look right – heck it just looks stupid! Somebody please tell me how to fix this!!!! And if your question is, aren't you looking for some free interior decorating advice, the answer is yes, of course I am. I'm retired. We always look for free stuff, or at least a senior discount!

On another note, at church today our pastor had a wonderful sermon called, "The Great Adventure." He talked about Abraham who, at the age of 75, was called by God to move to a different land. And Abraham did it! And Sarah, who was 65, laughed when God said she would be the mother to many nations. But she got pregnant, which in my mind means she at least was willing to cooperate in the process. :) I think retirement is The Great Adventure of life. When I was younger (30ish) I thought retirement was when you went home, sat in the rocking chair and watched the cars go by. And you can if you want to. But you don't have to - you can actually do any darn thing you want to. Well maybe except get pregnant. You can go on mission trips, you can learn to quilt or knit or fly a plane (now honey, don't panic - I don't want to fly a plane), you can plant a garden or grow an orchid, you can listen to a child read a book or sit in the park and play a game of chess with friends or you could start a blog. You could even do nothing, but why would you? One of my favorite Bible verses is this: "For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven."Ecclesiastes 3:1 Retirement is the time to experience the pure joy of being alive - if you're there embrace it! And if you're not there, be jealous. It's awesome!