Back in the saddle AND Name that towel contest

Back in the saddle, behind my sewing machine that is.

It was time to dust it off, and climb behind the flywheel of my machine. Sewing a few items for my etsy shop, it felt good, though the old hand and index finger are still a bit tender. Physical therapy has been helping. I still am working through a treasure trove of bits and pieces of lace and embroidery, I so enjoy finding new uses for them. I hope to design a few new pieces, for my shop, in the coming days. The weather is still so dark and damp, there is no excuse not to create. Does anyone in blogland have a name for a hanging towel? ... I have a few new ones, and I never know what to call them, they defy description. Go to my shop, and view the hanging towels I have posted, I will let hubby pick a winning name. Winner gets to choose their colors, and I will make them one of their own. Post your entry, contest ends Saturday at 6:00 pm March 7th. Enter as many times as you want. Creativity and clarity count. Some of my towels combine a pot-holder with a kitchen towel, others are just using vintage pieces to create something unique. Any other towel creators out there, comment and leave ideas. Thanks, I so enjoy hearing from you all.

The Gift of Friends

The Gift of Friends who really know you is one that keeps on giving! I got the chance to visit the haunts of my youth, Oxford Ohio, Miami University and to revisit memories with my two high school and college pals this past weekend. We shared so many good times in high school, in particular we were in drill team together, took alot of the same classes and even had parallel experiences with guys we dated. Freshmen year we all started out in the same dorm, and had group dates centered around lots of outdoor activities and events. Driving around town, and seeing how gentle time has been to the campus and to places we lived in, and hung out at. Can't say time has been as good to us, we are all a bit more rounded and faded. And wow, there are so many great new buildings and activity centers that the students get to enjoy. We enjoyed a "toasted roll" a Miami U delicacey at the "Res". I wish I was a young college student again, or at least it would be fun to be one for a day! And this visit included a surprise visit by two more high school chums who happened to be getting together, in Columbus, and my hostess, Karen persuaded them to join us for dinner, adding 2 more hours to their trip. What fun to reminisce and discuss our lives as they are now, not what they could have been. I know I felt as if I had to embrace my life again, when I returned, and be grateful for all that I have.

Everyone should leave their every day life, and reconnect with friends. It is a refreshing pause in a life that for this winter seemed at a standstill. God has been busy in the backdrop of my life, giving me opportunities to be renewed. Almost custom designed moments that remind me of how wonderful life has been thus far. And the best is still coming, exciting and unpredictable, but delicious. Friends supply the foot notes of this life, and give it the context in which it is played. Thanks Karen and Donna, and so great to see Bonnie and Marlys again. Making this an annual event sounds like fun. Especially in the dark of winter, the light friends bring into your existence, is so warm, so necessary, so right!

Remembering Mom

Tomorrow, I will remember my mom for the amazing person she was. 20 years ago, Feb 9th, she left this earth for her heavenly home, after a 4 year battle with breast cancer.

She was famous for doing something nice for someone without them knowing, reading her bible and weaving her wisdom with God's Word; a fabulous cook, she would note on her hand typed recipes, when and who she made the dish for and whether they liked it. Pages that are stained with food and cooking oil, but carefully arranged by alphabet and type, a legacy for me who now cooks with confidence and remembrance for the moments in time captured on those pages. A mom who wrote that thank you note, as soon as the gift was opened, and always got up at 5:00 a.m. to see everyone off to their jobs and school. I can still feel the gift of a warm hug, conferences at the kitchen table, over chocolate chip cookies and milk, pep talks to cheer me on as I went off to job interviews, or tears of joy over my engagement and the long road of infertility and the adoption of my first child, the loyalty of an employee who knew her employer before she could give any orders as I leaned heavily on her when I ran a craft shop; the mom who was always there when you needed her, who wrote long letters of encouragement that traveled short and long distances. And who I now talk to across the divide that separates us. For now, whenever I see a rainbow, or hear a birds song, or see my children the way she saw us, I get it. I feel the connectiveness, walking now in her shoes, as one child becomes an adult, and another heads for teens, I call upon my memories of her to give me the strength to go on, to be that mom that was so instrumental in helping me to know God. I say a prayer of thanks for the blessing of having a mom who was really someone who inspired me to be who I am, and who I hope in turn, I can honor with raising children who love God.

Well, I had to take some moments here, to pause as I remember and write, she always reminded me that we are all here for a purpose, God's purpose. She was way ahead of "The Purpose Driven Life", books and sermons. She defined it for me. I am making a commitment to learn more what it means. I will be seeking answers, stay tuned.

A few more prayers answers, in the last 2 weeks, we have new tenants for our rental, sold furniture and tv for cash and late last week, job interview for me. Not sure if it will lead to a new career, but it is encouraging. And I have been showing homes to a pastoral candidate for a local Baptist church. I am hoping to make them neighbors, soon. God is good!