Lucky me

Yesterday, we went to visit an old friend we hadn't seen in years.  She's 4 days younger than me, but looks much older.  She moved to San Antonio a dozen years ago and we lost track of one another.  She's had some physical injuries and I don't think she's received adequate medical care and is using a wheel chair for mobility.  She made some life choices that prioritized others over herself and seems to be paying a heavy price for that.  Now she's alone, home bound, in an apartment where animals outnumber people 4 to 1 and reeks of smoke, relying on her married son as a caretaker.  She has plans to turn things around and we'll have to see if they work.  I sat and counted my blessings, and in my head I named them one by one, starting with the good man that was sitting next to me.  I have been lucky.  But, I have also made some good decisions.  

She showed us this quilt that I made a very long time ago for her and had forgotten.  I knew it was my work because I still have scraps of some of these fabrics in my stash.  If I re-made it today, I'd use a little darker fabric in the centers of some of those blocks, but everybody starts somewhere and learns from there.  The places I looked closely at were well pieced.  The quilting was even, but I couldn't figure out a pattern to it.  

I put the last stitches in the baby quilt yesterday afternoon.  I thought I'd be able to finish on Saturday, but it was late yesterday afternoon.  I kept finding places to tweak and I kept getting distracted.  Anyway, I'm declaring it done now and not looking at it too close anymore.  Today, I'll launder and pack it and tomorrow, it will go in the mail.  Hopefully.  You'll probably be forced to look at it one more time after it's laundered.  I don't think a quilt is finished until it has been, and all the puffy bits can stand up and show the real finished product.  

As I was trying to figure out how to play a song on Saturday, I stumbled on a teacher that was offering Christmas carol tutorials.  I spent some time re-creating her chord charts for a dozen carols that I immediately started learning to play.  I don't see us sitting around the ukulele singing carols by candle light on Christmas Eve, but who knows, right?  This new teacher is a little more fun than the one I originally took classes from.  His classes get harder and harder and in about 6 months, I've progressed to the point that I'm ready for lesson 7 of 10.  I'm an advanced and well-practiced 6, ready to move forward.  The new teacher seems to have an easier curriculum, built around learning to play songs that include new, simple chords.  But, my favorite part is that she includes a lot of new strumming patterns.  I was getting pretty tired of using the same pattern on every song.  She also has lessons on picking the uke like a banjo.  I'd really like to learn to do that.  

Everybody have a great week!  Remember the good old days, but also remember why they're the past and not the present.  Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.  And, maybe learn something new to enjoy.  Learning is fun (words my 13 year old self never thought I'd say).  

Lane