A good reason for some downtime...

l-r: Meghan, Shawn, Lucero, Robert, Sam, Jess

For those who don't know me very well, I come from a large, extended family. My Dad had 9 brothers and sisters, so there was usually some kind of celebration to attend. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or just Friday Night. My entire life, before my enlistment, I knew if there was nothing else going on, we would go "Up Home" and gather with all the other family members who had nothing else to do on a Friday Night. The women would gather in the kitchen, while Grandma would fix something to eat: homemade pizza, hot tuna bread, Tom's Tacos were regular offerings. Grandpa and all the guys would either circle up at the dining table to play poker or euchre, or they would congregate in the garage, usually looking at someone's new vehicle. The kids would be all over the place (I had 20 first cousins on Dad's side), running around outside if the weather was good, or the older ones would be hanging out in the living room, while the younger ones would be in the back room watching TV (especially The Dukes of Hazzard). 

 When I was little, those were my family get-togethers. Now, they look a little different, but feel just as special. 

We were home in early August to go to the in-service class so we can be eligible to drive bus for the school. We went back on the road 3 days before my son, Robert's, birthday, so we arranged to go to dinner at a place of his choosing (Buffalo Wild Wings) on Saturday. Cake at the house for anyone who wasn't too stuffed with Bdubs! (Thanks, Sam.) 

The time at home wasn't all Norman Rockwell...

We got home Tuesday, went to the class Wednesday, but before Thursday even had a chance to start, one of our neighbors called the cops because the APU (generator) on our truck was running and it was too loud. The cop came out at midnight, apologized, but said commercial vehicles were only supposed to be parked on the street for less than 4 hours. He said I could park it at Walmart or somewhere, but it couldn't stay there. So off to Wally World I went. Then Thursday we went to the fairgrounds in Plain City, to see if we could camp. Fortunately, someone had just cancelled, so he had ONE spot for the weekend. And they have an RV dump! (When you have to haul a toilet with you, finding decent places to empty it is REALLY important!) 

And, weirdly enough, I was REALLY missing being able to make a quilt. I love touching the fabrics and putting the colors together in whatever shapes. Making them with a specific little human in mind, it just gives me joy. I got some fabric before I found out that BOTH of my Oncoming Storms are going to be boys, beautiful fairy fabric with  pink, blue, yellow, & orange butterflies. Ideal for a little girl (and anyone else who likes butterflies or fairies) so I held onto it until I found out that my BEAUTIFUL friend's daughter just had a LOVELY little girl. So I cut fabrics apart, so I could stitch it back together for her. It felt wonderful getting back to the sewing machine!

So, we found out we still have at least one grumpy neighbor left who would rather talk to the cops than us, did our laundry, had a wonderful time with the kids, and did some work other than the truck. Then Monday came and we hit the ground running... and that's the next blog!

The Fairy Quilt