Open Thank You Note: Marie & the Sewing Lesson

Dear Marie,

It's been over a decade since you informed me that I needed to learn to sew, and I needed to start NOW and that you were going to show me how. I remember all those fun hours at your house when I would have otherwise been at home by myself feeling pregnant and needy. At the time, I didn't realize how many of your own projects and responsibilities you were putting aside to help me, and how much patience it must have taken. You did everything with so much humor and cheer, it masked the effort perfectly.

Now I know.

Thank you for showing me how to sew, and how to read a pattern, and how to knuckle down and get a project done. I took a semester of sewing in 8th grade, but it didn't stick (except the part where I sewed my finger).

The Marie lessons have definitely stuck.

And I think of you and your home and your children and your smile every time I supervise my girls making a doll pillow or sit down to "whip something together". Every Halloween costume and Easter dress and coordinating wedding vest that I have sewn over the last thirteen years stands as a monument to you and your talent and our friendship.

So you know, I am up to my eyeballs in coordinating wedding clothing right now, and coming up fast on the deadline. In my head, I am cracking jokes with you about all of it.

Thank you, Marie. Thank you for pushing me, for teaching me, and for laughing off all of my anxieties about failure and incompetence. Thank you for giving me confidence and friendship, and a skill I can give to my daughters and anyone else I can rook into it.

Love,
   Amber

Rainy Night

Last night was our first major storm of the season. It was a spectacular lightning show, crazy wind + pouring rain, and even some hail thrown in for good measure.

We drove home in it.

I really love stormy weather. It's so wild and raw and beautiful. Funny, I didn't once feel unsafe during the hour-and-a-half it took us to get home. I enjoyed the show, to be sure. We had to slow down a few times because the wipers couldn't keep up with the rain. But my husband is a very competent driver. I felt very confident in his ability and in the protection of my Father in Heaven. So as my children snoozed (or read) in the back, I watched the display put on by Nature.

I am grateful for rainy nights. I am grateful for safety. I am grateful when it's not me driving, so I can look out the window at the world around me, and enjoy the view. And I was really grateful to get home and crawl in to bed. It had been a long (but wonderful!) weekend, and sleep and I were long overdue for a get-together.

A Prophet's Voice

This is the weekend of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you need me, this is where you will find me.

I am grateful for the opportunity to listen to a prophet's voice. I am a child of God, and I am grateful that my God loves His children now as much as He did in Bible times, enough to send us His prophets to help guide us in the paths that lead back to Him.

Come listen with me. I promise it will bless your life.

Dress Up

Tonight, my husband took me clothes shopping. Yup, you read that right. Apparently I have a genetic deficiency, I lack that crucial feminine shop-for-cute-clothes-for-myself gene. I don't seem to struggle with buying clothes for my children, but if it's for me? Uhm, yeah.

My husband, on the other hand, is quite good at the shopping/dressing thing. And last night he dragged me out of the house (not kicking and screaming, but definitely with a healthy dose of apprehension) and took me shopping for our date night.

To my surprise, we found several things that A) I liked B) were my size C) were modest and D) were in our price range. So he sent me to try them ALL on while he let the shop girls goo and coo at our baby and exclaim over her supreme cuteness.

Can I tell you how much it transforms the shopping experience to have your honey along appraising and being rewarding whilst giving honest opinions? Why haven't I tried it sooner? Goodness.

When we were done, I said, "OK, now it's time to whittle it down." "To what?" he asked. "To the ones we're going to get." "No," he replied, "We're getting all of it."

And he went over and plopped the whole pile on the counter and had the lady ring it ALL up. And paid for it. And took me home.

I am grateful for a husband who cares how I feel about myself, who goes to great (and somewhat pricey!) lengths to help me feel beautiful. I am grateful that he knows how to dress me up, because I seem to be broken that way. I am grateful that he doesn't recoil at the idea of clothes shopping, because that would be two of us too many.

What are you blessed with today?

Light Heart

On a recent sunny afternoon, I grabbed my four girls and we ran some errands together. Nothing major, just tooling around town to get a couple things checked off my list. 

First, the bank: we went in - at the behest of the girls, because it's so pretty on the inside, and it's more fun than the drive-up teller window. I deposited and withdrew, they ogled the interior. The teller exclaimed over how sweet they were (were they all mine? oh my!), and the girls were thrilled by the obligatory suckers handed around.

Next, city hall: we parked, and they did the conga line all the way in, except the youngest who just wanted to hold my hand. Once inside, I paid a bill while they looked at pictures of dogs ("so!stinking!cute!") available for adoption at the local animal shelter. As we left, they meandered through the hall, looking at vintage photographs from bygone eras of our town.

Then, the movie rental store: I promised them a rental of "Tangled" as none of us had seen it yet (we approve). More conga line. More playfulness. More people watching them with amusement and possibly wistful looks. 

Home again, home again, jiggity-jog.

I am grateful for my daughters. I rediscover so many things through them. It's true I (often!) feel like tearing out my hair on their behalf. But I am just as often enchanted by their innocence and thoughtfulness. I am grateful for their light hearts. They help to make my heart light as well. It certainly took longer with them in tow, but it was decidedly more enjoyable.

What are you blessed with today?

Reconcile

Tonight, for the first time in a really long time, my husband and I had one of those very tense, very delicate conversations that is scarily close to a fight. The details are irrelevant, the circumstances personal. I post about it here only because of how it played out: we didn't fight.

We talked, openly, in turn. We listened carefully, to be sure we understood where the other was coming from. There was no name-calling, no unfair references to anyone's heritage, no use of inaccurate superlatives like "never" and "always". I didn't shut down at the first sign of conflict, he didn't refuse to open up and share his side.

It was the most awesome not-an-argument we've ever had.

I am grateful for all of the years behind us where we have learned about each other and how to approach these tricky sorts of moments. I am grateful for the amazing strides we have made in how we talk to each other when emotions are high. I am grateful for the tenderness with which he treats my feelings even when anger is palpable. I am grateful that we can reconcile our differences without either one of us feeling like we got the short end of the deal. I am grateful for the realization that I am finally growing up.

What are you blessed with today?

Wavelength

Our Lizzy friend-in-the-hospital has been moved up to the therapy floor. She will be there for some weeks to come

I have grand visions of doing whatever we can to make her stay less hospitalish. The main thing is to go down to visit once a week as long as she is there. We made it the first week, but missed out on the second week through a series of unfortunate events. It really is a big deal to commit the time and fuel to go visit. But if it were me (or my child), I would hope people cared enough to go anyway.

This morning, I was mulling over in my mind how to get down to Lizzy (with her gal pals in tow) this week. I came up with a wild idea, but then rejected it as way to complicated. So I called my husband at work and asked him if he had any bright solutions. Yes, he did, he always does! And like all of his ideas, it was solid but and workable. I was tempted to give my wild version to him as a counter offer, but decided to just go with his.

Less than an hour later, he called me back with a new idea to pitch.  It was precisely the idea I had cooked up and then abandoned as too rash. Ha! We do think alike!

When I got off the phone with him, I called Gina - the mom of Miriam, another of Lizzy's friends - hoping to snag her and take her along. Lo and behold, our mutual friend, Amber, was standing in Gina's living room at that very moment, ready to leave with Miriam and head down to visit Lizzy.

So, that was four of us all on the same wavelength this morning. In the end, Amber went with my daughter and Miriam. And they had a grand time. The did their nails, and played card games, and giggled a whole bunch and got home way late. And I am sure Lizzy loved every minute of it.

I am grateful for a husband and friends who think like I do on so many things. That good ol' synergy is hard to beat! And I am grateful for the other Amber who was willing to make the drive this time. It is cool-like-goosebumps that we were all on the same wavelength at the same time. Call me naive and idealistic, but I would say that was inspiration. So, thank you, God, for putting us all on the same page!

What are you blessed with today?