Tuesday, March 30, 1999
It's been a long day. I crawled into bed with my notebook, with the intention of writing a journal entry, but something inside whispered that it had been such a good day, maybe I should write in my gratitude journal first, so I wouldn't be too tired to do it after I wrote this journal entry. So I picked up my pen and my little journal, and as I started writing... and kept writing.... I realized that my gratitude journal made the perfect entry for this journal. So here you have it:
Lisana's Gratitude Journal
Today I am grateful for...
Jev getting up early so we could talk before I left for Iowa at 6:30.
A bright sunny day, lots of horses to see, and a pleasant drive.
Not having any disagreements with Mom on the whole trip.
A smoke-free apartment, when we visited Mom's uncle.
My mom's aunt and uncle used to smoke like chimneys... between the two of them, the haze of smoke in their house made my eyes burn and it was hard to breathe at times. I always dreaded the visits, and was anxious to get away as soon as possible.
But while we were eating lunch yesterday, Mom commented that Walter hadn't smoked once since we arrived, and he said he'd quit, about four months or so ago. One night he went to get a cigarette and lit it up, and started coughing... something inside clicked, he put it out and threw the pack itself across the room, and didn't touch it for a couple weeks. Once he realized he didn't need it anymore, he gave the rest of his stash away to friends who still smoked.
A nice lunch out.
Thinking of looking for cross stitch shops in the phone book.
As soon as we got into Iowa, I started watching the names of the shops as we traveled through the little towns, wondering if I'd recognize a craft shop when I saw one. Once we got up into Burlington itself, I thought... maybe I could look in the phone book when we stopped for lunch, and see if anything was listed...
Actually doing it.
I think it was just meant to be... I'd been petting Walt's dog when we visited him, and I wanted to wash my hands before we ate. I almost forgot it, but on the way back out of the restroom, I looked around and spotted the phone. I had a notepad and pen in my purse, and I looked in the needlework section (just one shop listed), and then the craft section... a handful of listings, and then an actual ad for the one that had been listed under needlework. Wrote down that address, and one other that sounded like it might be promising, and headed back to the table.
Picking what was probably the best store in Burlington!
After lunch, Walt headed back to his apartment, and Mom and I were going to go shopping. I asked if she knew where Jefferson street was, and she said it was right downtown. She grew up in Burlington, so she had no problem finding it, and the shop was big and very easy to spot. There was even a parking space open right across the street.
We walked in, and I immediately spotted the craft section, by the wall full of various cuts and colors of needlework fabric. I walked over, and on closer inspection, I realized that the tables they had out in front of the fabric section, were filled with the kind of boxes they sell reams of copier paper in. They were lined three deep on the table, and there were about twelve rows of them, all categorized!
I started out by looking under T for Teresa, but didn't find anything (obviously my brain left at the moment I realized what those boxes were full of). So I looked under F for Fantasy, and found a couple TWs, which I didn't really want, and a note on the divider card that said "See Teresa Wentzler File." It took me a few minutes of looking around for somebody to ask, and then I realized, "Gee, maybe it's filed under W..." Sure enough....
Finding TWO Teresa Wentzler patterns:
I found the English Garden Sampler, which I'd never even seen before, and the Fantasy Sampler, which I started working on with a friend, when we both lived in California, and could work off the same leaflet. [links point to pages on Teresa's website]
I fell in love with the Garden Sampler; picked it up without hesitation. I'd seen the English Cottage Sampler before, and I liked the borderwork and all on that one, but I really didn't care for the image of the cottage itself. I think I'd like it better if it were a wishing well and a pond, or something similar.
I'd originally started the Fantasy Sampler on aida fabric, but I didn't have much done (just one color of the band below the alphabet), so I started it again on an evenweave this summer when I was visiting my friend. She hadn't wanted to part with the book, and I didn't really feel right about using the photocopy she made, so I picked that pattern up too.
Finding the exact fabric the Garden Sampler called for, and having the plastic to charge it on!
Getting to watch the sun set in the last half hour of our drive home...
It was wonderful.... At first, I just noticed that the sun was a huge orange ball, just slightly above the horizon. It was a little too bright to look at then, except when there would be the bare branches of the trees in the way. I really wished I'd remembered my camera today.
As it got later and the sun sank lower, it turned a deeper red, and I watched the sky as it slowly faded from shades of rose and gold to soft blues and dusty violets. So pretty... I was so wrapped up in watching, I hardly noticed the last forty mile stretch to town.
Coming home
Having dinner and getting comfy.
A pleasant evening talking with Jev about future plans...
Listening to Jev getting sleepier and sleepier, and that in turn making me nice and sleepy (which I really needed).
Checking mail one last time so I could send a message to a friend and let her know we got back safely, and finding a nice reply to a message I wrote to another journaler yesterday, and another compliment on my new layout and design.
Thank you for all of you who have said kind things about the new look... I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I was a little hesitant about making such drastic changes to the site, but the new look seems to embrace my new outlook on life. There are still days when I have my doubts about the future, but right now it's looking pretty bright. *smile*