Dec to Clover - 2nd to last ofrenda rambling

 

My Dec and Jan exchange envelopes will be the ultimate hodge podge as I launch the this-time-it's-going-to-get-done purge and consolidation of the stacks. It has begun. It might be boring, but it is going to be the topic of discussion until it's done.

I found this envelope with the panel of marker testing. There will be more marker testing. Clover sent me a very interesting article from a very old magazine. To mix variety with the ultimate purge project I will insert rants about people who have unrealistic expectations of the USPS.

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The past four days covered the 24 nichos. There is a ridiculous amount of detail about each nicho and the inspiration behind the designs on the Page where I put additional photos and information. There is also more about the one thousand flowers and the large skull at the top of the ofrenda. Ignore this as well as the links if you were understandably exhausted by the topic way back in October. While the topic might have become wearisome I do have some final thoughts about what is to be gained by slogging through a huge nine-month project. 

While I was in the midst of the project, there were quite a few people expressing thoughts like:

Boy, I bet you'll be glad when this is over.

And... Boy, I'll bet you'll never get involved in something like this again.

And the popular... Is this your swan song? 

That last comment implies that I had come out of retirement to do one last event and that it was certain to be my last event.

To be honest, there were moments of frustration, but my response to frustration is to ask: What can we change to alleviate or resolve the frustration? There's always something that can be done. Identifying that *something* is the issue. 

On Sept 1st, telling MrW that I was not going to cook for the next 2 months was an easy fix for me and freed up a ton of time. He simply said, OK. The normally quiet house was a beehive of activity with people coming and going and piles of stuff in the three rooms that he avoids. He saw a lot of things going on but it did not involve him and at 74 he knows how to find food on his own. He did not lose any weight during those two months -- while I lost 5 pounds.

Tomorrow will be the final-final post on the ofrenda project.