Fighting off the Weepies

I am fighting the weepies today.  It’s officially been 3 months and 8 days since I took off from McCarran Airport to LAX, and then on to Abu Dhabi.  I felt a little anxious for the first couple of weeks or so, and daily questioned, “What have I done???”, but I managed to ride that out and settle into a new normal.  I kept busy with my schoolwork, started making some new acquaintances in some of the women’s groups, started a quilt, started transitioning from working girl to expat wife and I thought I was doing ok.  The past several  days I have just had “that feeling”… that feeling where you feel yourself slipping into a funk, not entirely sure why.  Knowing I need to snap out of it soon before it gets away from me.

So I sat down to my sewing table this morning, and thought I’d listen to some Christian music to soothe my heart a bit, and put on a playlist that I haven’t listened to in a year or two… this is the first song… and then the floodgates opened. 

My Nest   (by Janice Kapp Perry)

The day has come for you to go
I've watched you closely so I know
I recognize your restlessness
It's time for you to leave the nest

I've taught you much of what you know
It's been a joy to see you grow
You fluttered first, then learned to fly
While I was flying by your side

A part of me
will fly away
As you leave my nest today
But part of you
will stay with me
You will always be a welcome guest
Within my nest

You've had brief chances to explore 
That left you eager to see more
You've taken tiny solo flights
but always close within my sight
Enjoy the rhythm of your wings
the freedom soaring always brings
But in that endless span of sky
be careful where you choose to fly

A part of me
will fly away
As you leave my nest today
But part of you
will stay with me
You will always be a welcome guest
Within my nest

I'm trusting you now
to the Father's care
for when any sparrow falls
He is aware
Aware

A part of me
will fly away
As you leave my nest today
But part of you
will stay with me
You will always be a welcome guest
Within my nest

I am grateful to have been so blessed
To have sheltered you
in my nest

So is this what is bothering me?  That I am over 8,000 miles from 4 precious, responsible, independent young adults and am I mourning the loss of a nestful of kids?  It hasn’t been that long ago that I was a hands-on mom.  It’s been almost 4 years… Or is it that I miss mountains and pine trees?  Or being able to be a 4 hour drive from my parents?  Or maybe because I’m not gainfully employed anymore and the hard work I expended on the job is not going to account for much the farther away my last day at work gets from today… maybe it’s a combination of all of it.  Maybe it’s just been a long, long time since I had a good long cry and my tear ducts needed to know if they’re still operating properly.  And yes, I miss my family something fierce and my heart hurts not being there.

Rather than wallow, I thought I’d feel better if I wrote this down.  Get it out of my system.  Deep breaths and shoulder rolls.  Now I’ll pick up that quilt and get back to work on it – if a tear or two drops on it it’s just a way to physically infuse it with a little more love. 

There’s a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants, that says, “…Wherefore, lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.” (D&C 25:13)

Gordon B. Hinckley said this about that scripture: “I believe he is saying to each of us, be happy.  The gospel is a thing of joy.  It provides us with a reason for gladness.  Of course there are times of sorrow.  Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety.  We all worry.  But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice.  I see so many people, including many women, who seem never to see the sunshine, but who constantly walk with storms under cloudy skies.  Cultivate an attitude of happiness.  Cultivate a spirit of optimism.  Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.”

The sense of calm I feel as I focus on these words is almost palpable.  Where’s my pincushion?

Gettin' my crafty on...

Finding arts and crafts supplies, materials and finding other people who like to do it is a challenge here in Abu Dhabi.  Quilting fabric is also challenging to find.  I'm starting to make little discoveries however and I thought I'd share what I find when I find it.  Here is a link to some classes from a blog that I saw posted on Facebook:

Creative spots in Abu Dhabi from Abu Dhabi Confidential

A small craft shop I discovered in Abu Dhabi is Craft Corner.  It is located next to the Marriott Hotel, which is next to the WTC Mall.  Craft Corner is on the first floor, in the Lulu Refreshments Building.  It is tiny, but they have a fair supply of scrapbooking papers and I think pretty reasonably priced.  Also some scrapbooking embellishments.  They have some acrylic paints as well.  The woman behind the counter was extremely kind and helpful and I will definitely go back there.

Thanks to my intrepid husband, we tracked down two quilt shops and a scrapbook shop in Dubai (Jumeirah Beach area).  They are all very close to each other.  The first stop was Classic Quilts, located in the smallish shopping mall, Jumeirah Plaza.  I have to remind myself that this is not the US and to be grateful that I found anything!  A lot of their fabric seems so expensive to me.  They did have some beautiful Indonesian batiks that run about 20 dh/meter(approximately $5.45) which I think is a good price, just not a huge selection.  I stocked up on sewing machine needles, got some batting (that was really expensive - gasp) and several fabrics.  They sell Bernina machines and accessories.

Our next stop, I'm guessing approximately 3-4 km away from Classic Quilts in the Town Centre Shopping Mall was Craftland on the first floor upstairs (note:  Ground floor=first floor, first floor=second floor and so on in the UAE).  Very cute store with mostly sewing/needlework supplies.  They also sell Brother machines and accessories - good to know as that's the kind of machine I have.  Lots more fat quarter bundles, jelly rolls, charm packs, etc at this store.  They also have a good selection of ribbon embroidery kits and supplies.

A wonderfully unexpected surprise was Paper Lane, a good-sized scrapbooking store which was right around the corner from Craftland.  After years of scrapbooking and card-making, I've kind of hung up my scrapbooking hat and switched to digital, but I had to have a look at the lovely papers and could have gone crazy, but I controlled myself.

I hope to find more places to "get my crafty on" as I get to know Abu Dhabi better.