A Special Gift ~ To Be Wrapped in Love

I received the most amazing gift about a month ago, and I haven't been able to think of a way to tell her just exactly what it meant to me, so I thought, "Hey, you're a writer! Write her a post!"  So M. ~ this is for you.  Thank you.

M. and I met when I was her daughter's teacher my very first year of teaching.  1988.  We've been friends ever since.  Our friendship extended beyond just teacher/mother of daughter for many private reasons.  She is very special to me.  She is a quilter.  I know lots of quilters.  I know what it takes to make one, the mathematical (um, yeah...) precision it takes, the long hours, and the money invested.  I'm in awe of the skills that quilters have.  

No one has ever made me quilt before, but M. surprised me with a queen-sized "crazy quilt" in all my favorite colors.  Out of the blue.  She'd called and said she'd like to stop by because she was in town. She brought me this.

Isn't it gorgeous?

I've tried to figure out the pattern. It's, um, crazy ;-)  I asked to explain, "How in the world..." and she tried, but even my highly-trained-in-geometry brain glazed over.

The back shows the machine quilting.

Then we discussed the Big Question.  When given an heirloom like this, do you use it like a normal blanket, or do you hang it on the wall to preserve it? Or do you reach some sort of reasonable compromise so that it's used, enjoyed, yet still preserved for future generations?

Here's what I decided.  It's my bedspread, in other words, I take it off at night, fold it up neatly, and put it back on in the morning.  I do cheat though.  If I need a nap, I'll crawl under it (carefully) and snuggle up.  It makes me feel so loved and happy to be under all that wonder.  Sometimes late at night when I'm curled up with my favorite cooking show, I'll again crawl under it before I put it away for the night.

During the day, when I'm sitting on my bed writing (my favorite place to do so, great back pillow, newly remodeled, tranquil CLUTTER FREE room) (only part of the house really) (and now has my window A/C), I fold back enough of it that I'm not going to cause damage.  Then I have that splendor laid out before me as I work.

What do you do when given a keepsake gift?  Use it?  Keep it safe?  Has anyone ever made you a quilt?  Are you a quilter?

~Tina, wrapped in love, and oh so grateful

©2014 All Rights Reserved

Photos by me

Send an Unexpected Valentine: Join DL Hammon's Blog Blitz Team

Getting Blitz-ed by DL Hammons Blitz Crew is like getting an unexpected Valentine, on any given day.

DL started the Blog Blitz last year.  Here are his words:

What would it be like if the support, encouraging nature, and community spirit of the blogosphere were ever focused on a single blogger? A few of us have experienced that sort of attention via book launches or other publishing announcements, and still others have achieved that level of awareness through the popular blogfests we host.  In most cases there is a lot of work that goes into generating that amount of interest.  What I'm talking about is being suddenly thrust into the spotlight, without even lifting a finger. What would it feel like to be the recipient of that kind of exposure? Could something like that even be possible? Can the power of the blogosphere be harnessed and directed?

You can read his whole post about it here.

I’ve been a blitzer since almost the beginning, and I gotta say, this is a neat gig he’s got going.  Sometimes I feel like I’m Santa sneaking into someone’s house and leaving a little note for someone to find.  Or truthfully, on the average blitz day, like a tired-just-got-off-work-and-almost-forgot last minute arrival at a party that’s been going on all day.  Either way, I’ve gotten to meet some really interesting, deserving, special, struggling, overcoming, surviving, and completely surprised bloggers.

Can you imagine a blog post all of a sudden getting HUNDREDS of comments, out of the blue?  Wanna play?

The rules are simple.  DL picks the bloggers.  He sends out the link to the team a few days ahead of time, and sometimes the reason for the Blitz Victim.  Other times it’s a random number generator recipient.  We go read and comment on the post.  He’s even kind (and smart…) enough to send out a mid-day reminder on Blitz Day in case our calendars are malfunctioning or our day is.

The only way you can GET BLITZED is if you’re on the team out there also doing the work of surprising the bloggers.  He’s currently working on a goal of 500 participants.  At last peek, the list was at 392 participants.

I think a wonderful Valentine for DL would be a lot of people signing up TODAY.  It would be like HE’S getting blitzed.  Of course, for that I need your help.  I’ve never asked this before, but would you tweet about this?  Here’s the bare link:

http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-blitz-wanna-join.html

Here’s a sample tweet for you to copy:

Join @DL_H Blog Blitz team: http://dlcruisingaltitude.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-blitz-wanna-join.html

I’d love for him to hit his goal soon.  He’s currently on a blogging break to finish one of his novels, so it would be a great surprise.

Spread the love.  Join the team.  Spread even more love: invite others to join the team.  You just might be the next recipient of a whole load of bloggy love some unexpected day.

~Tina

P.S If you join, grab the badge and link it the same link I provided because it has the sign-up list.  THANKS.  Just like the A-Z Challenge, this is about community and supporting one another and holding each other up and encouraging one another...in other words, TWUE WUV!  Happy Valentine's Day.

M ~ Many Adjustments

These are the continuing adventures of a Swedish immigrant during her first year as an American. She boldly went where she'd never gone before...please come along on Adventures in America.

Tired of hip stories yet? If you're just arriving, maybe reading H~Hit by a Car and I ~ I Can't BELIEVE I Broke My Hip might help. I left you with me about to leave the hospital.

Accommodating someone who can't bend takes some ingenuity. If I was going to be a part of family meals, a bed needed to be placed in the dining room.

It's hard to eat lying down, but I could only “stand-up” for a little while because it hurt SO much, made me dizzy, and also a bit scared, but I was required a minute or two of vertical time each day. Yes, it reminds me of modern mommying and “tummy time”.

(left to right: Farmor holding Databoy, Farfar, Grandma Vivian, me, that would the body-cast clad girl, Aunt Risky, Swissie, The Swede)

Eating lying down was no fun, but there are some fun things you can do lying down:

doing puzzles with Farfar, using my usual mode of transport, a mechanics creeper, to hold the puzzle not me

goofing around with your sister 

continuing your musical education, though blowing enough air without sitting up is not as easy as you'd think (says the now asthma girl...) 

but sometimes, it was just plain homework...

One of the best was experiences of my four months of cast living was getting to go to The Ice Capades! I was in the handicap section, but they let one parent (taking turns) sit with me, and I could see everything. We were treated like royalty at the event.

I grew up skating on ponds all over our neighborhood, and watching The Swede play hockey at his best friend's house where they'd actually made a make-shift arena and had goals and went hard-core. I was glued. (This is foreshadowing – don't want you to miss it).  Watching the skaters awoke a lot of "I guess I can't do that anymore" in me.

Another favorite memory of cast confinement was taking Farmor and Farfar to the airport after their long visit. Of course this was a sad time, and I couldn't stop crying, but my Dad invented this really distracting game where I held on to the curved end of an umbrella and he RAN down the (mostly deserted international concourse) and would fish-tail me. So I'm lying on that creeper thing I told you about, and moving at light speed all over this stone-covered-in-veneer floor. It was like flying!  Apparently tiring for the puller, all the adults (except Farmor, who couldn't stop crying) took turns pulling me.

I counted the days in my cast. I lived one day at a time. My favorite part of each day was when my big, strong Daddy would pick me up and carry me to my bed, whispering love in my ear, and hugging me tight.

SkinnyBoy: You Is Kind, You is smart. You is important.

Feeling blue. SkinnyBoy has moved to Florida. As in our chances of crossing paths again are as slim as he is.

He used to be our neighbor, lived four houses away. He spent as much time at our house as he was allowed, which was pretty much 24/7 in the summers, and during the school year, he'd show up for our carpool almost an hour early to “hang out, I was ready for school.” I fed him breakfast. Made sure he had lunch money or packed him a lunch. His Dad had lost his job even before the Great Recession hit. I know things were tough at his house for a multitude of reasons, so we did what we could to help, though direct help was completely refused. Out of respect for him, let's just leave all that there.

After I dropped him at his house on school days, with his over-stuffed back-pack and french horn, he'd shut the door with a, “See you in a minute!” and would be back at our house almost before I could turn the car around and hit our driveway. He stayed for dinner a lot. Eventually of course he had to go home to do his homework, but so did my boys. Worked out great. Just for reference, my boys are 2 ½ years apart, he's right between them age-wise. He and I share a birthday. With Obama. And Best :-)

I love this boy. A boy of integrity, great work ethic, always cleaned up his dishes and offered to do chores. We pay for chores around here, don't believe in “allowance”. There are of course some “because you live here” chores which don't pay (dishes, laundry, trash, recycling, vacuuming, sweeping) but others do. He did a lot of those. Loving video games as much as my boys, he did those to make any spending “frivolously” possible, I'm sure.

Two years ago they lost their house and moved across town to a rental duplex. That didn't stop our boys who have bikes, he'd just ride over here and knock, just as if he'd run down the hill. Friendship continued almost interrupted.

A month ago he began preparing us all. “My Dad is maybe getting a job in Florida.” Wow. Job great. Florida not so much. Dad got job. He came over to say goodbye while I was in Texas. I didn't get to give that skinny little body one more hug. I didn't get to tell him, one more time, my version of this quote from The Help as Aibileen did Mae Mobley, “You is kind, you is smart. You is important.”

I asked him once why he liked being over here so much. “You're always happy to see me, I know you love me, and it feels really nice to be here.” Hold on to that thought dear boy as your life is about to change. May you find another family that makes you feel that way. Good bye, SkinnyBoy. Good bye.