I know it has been a while
since I last posted. I am at a creative musing point as to which direction I
should go with the background of the Tree quilt. It’s just not flowing in the direction I have in my mind.
The blocks don’t flow and the colors seem chunky. Fabric is expensive these
days, and I don’t want to keep slicing and dicing until I get it right. I’m
going to examine nature a little harder to see which direction God chose for
these colors and work a little harder to emulate the same.
Everything is expensive
these days. Everything. Yesterday morning, before taking my daughter out to her
favorite thrift shops to get her “new” clothes to enter high school for the
first time, I decided to take my Jeep to the mechanic to get it checked out. It
turns out I need a new transmission. How much, you ask? $4,000. Yes,
$4,000. And, I now hear my car is
unsafe to drive. How do I feel
about that? Like Merle Travis felt when he wrote "16 Tons", another day older
and deeper in debt. So for the next few weeks, my son and I will use the buses
for everything while we pull our resources, cut back on our indulgences and set
aside what we can.
When I first heard the news
yesterday afternoon, I immediately retreated into my worst self-destructive
behavior when things get to be ‘too much’. I walked to the grocery store and
bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, then ate it. That was stupid.
When I was done hurting myself, I realized I still didn’t feel better, and my
problem wasn’t solved. Time for more self induced therapy and a different type
of avoidance behavior. Instead of sitting down with bills and a spreadsheet to
work through this setback, I went to my sewing room and worked on the block
swap for August.
I made not one, but three.
I only needed one, but I
didn’t want to work on that spreadsheet. Not yet. Working on three used up the
rest of my day until it was time to go to bed. So now here it is, a new day, a
sugar hangover, and here I am sitting in my sewing room staring at this tree
quilt, and wanting to solve that problem instead. When will I grow up?
How about today? I am a granddaughter of a coal miner. It's time I dig deep into my DNA, and face this challenge head on. Living frugally. I've done it before. I can do it again. Not sure why I stopped.
