Singin' in the Rain

Saturday is always busy for us. Chris works all week and has one day for his yard chores. I wish I could say that I am organized enough to have all my shopping done so that I could stay home and be helpful. However, for some reason I have been programed to do my shopping on Saturday. I usually leave the kids with Chris so I can go myself but this time I took Kennedy with me and left only Tristan.
When we left the house the rain had subsided. I thought we would be ok without our umbrellas. I'm still getting used to a new grocery store so it took me a little longer than I expected. I was in a hurry though because our babysitter was going to be at our house at 5:00. I knew that time was approaching.
I rushed through the checkout and turned toward the door to leave. Sheets of rain were pouring down from the sky! We had no umbrellas, no jackets with hoods (not that they would have helped in this kind of rain storm!), nothing. I stood there with everyone else and waited. After awhile Kennedy looked up at me, tugged on the grocery cart and said, "Come on, Mommy. Let's GO!" I explained that it was raining and we would have to wait a little bit. A few minutes later she became impatient. She tugged on the cart again, "Come on Mommy! We're going to miss it!" I waited a minute more thinking of how I actually liked how my hair turned out that day and thinking I wanted to look nice for my date with Chris later that night. I looked at Kennedy again with her cute little eyes looking longingly out at the rain. I told her to jump on the cart and we made a run for it. We ran out into the river of rain, unprotected from the elements. When we got to the car I unlocked it and told her to get into her car seat while I put the groceries in the trunk. Expecting her to do so I hurriedly removed the bags from the cart. I looked up a moment later to find Kennedy splashing in puddles and twirling in the rain.
I couldn't help but think about how I look at life's storms. Do I hide from the rain or dance and sing and make the most of it? When it comes down to it, life's not all rainstorms anyway, we do have those sunny days to look forward to!

Quilting Comfort

When my mom was younger she associated with a group of girls who called themselves "The Ten Old Maids". Throughout the years they have remained friends although they all married and went their ways. A few weeks ago one of the "Old Maids" passed away. One of the other old maids asked my mom to make a quilt in her honor. My mom cranked out a beautiful quilt in about two days. I didn't see it but she told me that in the quilting she had quilted an angel and the words, "Friends are Forever". Knowing my mom and the artistic talent she has I'm sure the quilt was beautiful. The old maids who were able to come to the funeral took part in the services and placed the quilt in the coffin before she was buried.
On Wednesday I had a phone call from a gal I go to church with. She called asking for my help with a quilt. Another gal in our ward recently lost a baby that was only about 18 weeks along. It was conceived by IVF and was the couple's first child. My friend wanted to present her with a quilt that she and those who came to visit could tie. That sounded like something I could do. The only problem was that she wanted it the following day. I looked around my sewing room and found some beautiful fabric and said "yes", thinking I could get some of my quilting friends to help me put it together.
I already had a busy morning ahead. I had agreed to babysit my friend's two kids all morning and they would arrive soon. I took my fabric and cutting supplies downstairs and called my first quilting friend. She offered to send out an e-mail to the rest. I thought that would save some time and agreed. I cut as many squares as I could while watching the kids play. By mid-afternoon there were no replies and I worried that my quilting friends would not be able to come on such short notice so I started piecing the quilt. By early evening it was evident that I would be putting this quilt together myself.
I worked on the quilt until about 10 p.m. and picked it back up the next morning. By 11 a.m. it was finished! I just had to run to JoAnn's to buy fabric for the back and also the batting and yarn.
I was amazed at how much I liked the quilt. When I first started laying out the blocks I wasn't sure if it was a good combination. I had just enough fabric for the border. In fact, I miscalculated and didn't have enough strips. I looked back through my stash and found another strip that was already cut to the size I needed! It was a miracle. This quilt was surely meant for this wonderful lady.
This is one of the reasons I love quilting so much. It is a service than not everyone can give and it shows love in a unique way. When I get the quilt back to bind I will take a picture and post it.