The Lost Is Found

How long do you search for a lost item before you give up? It most likely depends on how crucial to your daily routine the lost item might be. I lost this set of keys, two years ago. Car key, house keys (ours and a few select family members) and the usual plethora of shopper reward cards and a library card.  I searched high and low, as you might imagine. Knowing that the car key was on there narrowed the search field; I knew the keys were on the premises. Is there any single act that causes more frustration, or self-recrimination, than losing something important? I don't think that there is. Over time things can be replaced, one learns to adapt. And yet... do you ever give up hope? I don't. I held on to the belief that one day I might reach into a long forgotten pocket, or reach high onto an out-of-the-way shelf and my fingers would touch the misplaced prize. I never expected my husband to stroll into the sewing room with a clenched fist and a broad smile, deposit the key bundle onto a table and ask "are these what you've been looking for?" The relief I experienced was overwhelming. "Where?" was my only response. "In the glove compartment of my pick up truck!". Oh. I can't even piece that puzzle back together, but it's all okay; I have the keys once again! The car key and electronic key fob belong to the car we traded in to the dealership back in September (the car is still there and the dealership was happy to receive a spare key!). The reward cards I learned to live without (the stores have your phone number anyway!). My library card has been replaced, house keys have been remade. So, what I needed so desperately at one time I have learned to live without. Does that mean that my joy over the 'find' was at all diminished? Not. One. Bit. Think about the parable of the widow and the lost coin in Luke15: 8-10. There was much rejoicing at Chez Goodneedle over my found keys and yet God's joy over the return of a lost soul is so much more than we can ever even begin to fathom! Thank you, God, for your patience with me and the lessons that you teach me each and every day; if I only watch, wait and, indeed, learn from them. 

Life is Good!

On this, the fifth day of November, I am grateful 

for a spirit of perseverance; don't ever, ever, ever give up!

It Figures!

"No sewing room should be without a calculator,"  that's what Quiltkeemosabe told me one day as she handed this one to me. Up until that time I had muddled through somehow, probably scribbling down simple math problems on scraps of paper; I don't remember. Ever since then I have quickly and effectively used this calculator to figure out every sort of meaasurement a quiltmaker could possibly dream up. I have thanked her, in my mind, each and every time I reached for it. And then, suddenly, it went missing. I was lost without it. For some reason I kept returning, over and over, to the same place where it should have been; only to find that it was still missing! What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results; if that's the case I must be insane. Finally I decided it must have been pitched out with a pile of scraps that had been mounded up on the cutting table. I made plans to replace it. Mr. Goodneedle kept reminding me that the misplaced one would, eventually, turn up; however, I was determined to find a replacement. I had a feeling that if I actually bought one the lost calculator might just magically reappear. Why does that always seem to be the case? That same calculator-giving friend once reminded me that the universe releases lost objects on its own time; obviously it wasn't time yet.

Here it is: my new sewing room calculator. I removed it from the shopping bag yesterday afternoon and set it down on the counter; as I did so I had immediate recall as to where my original calculator was! I walked straight to the tote bag, hanging in a closet, and retrieved it; that calculator had accompanied me to a recent church committee meeting! Somehow the physical action of holding the newly purchased item freed up my memory. You probably knew where this story was going all along... didn't you? 

"No sewing room should be without a calculator", Quiltkeemosabe's words still ring in my ears. But, really, does any sewing room need two? She tells me "yes"! Looks like I now have a back-up; or, keeping in mind the way the universe works, it's inexpensive insurance that I will never misplace the original calculator again!

Life is Good!

Keep Looking!

This dongle that is attached to my laptop is, quite literally, the key to my Bernina software program for machine embroidery. Through this software program I create every bit of the lettering, monograms, and numerous other combinations of designs that I choose to stitch out for personalizing or embellishing quilts, T-shirts and other objects and gifts; without the "key" I cannot access the program, period. I had stitched out a sweet little Easter T-shirt for Lucy Ann on Monday night and planned to do the same for Lynnleigh on Wednesday, that's when I discovered that my dongle had gone missing. I was frantic, mainly because the trash had already been picked up for the week, only hours earlier! I literally tore the house apart; searching, and continued to come up empty. I knew a replacement would be costly but little did I know how much that would be until my friends, those who work at my local Bernina store, urged me enthusiatically: "keep looking!." I thought and thought, there were only two places that I normally had it: either plugged into the laptop or in the desk drawer, it wasn't there. I retraced my steps from the clean-up that ocurred after a recent sewing session; nothing. I felt sick and worried... the reality of the situation was beginning to set-in. The resolution to this loss was going to be expensive, I would likely have to buy the software all over again. "Keep looking" continued to ring in my ears, I made one more trip up to the top shelf , on my step-stool, to look underneath the stabilizer that I had folded and put away the day before. There it was, sitting on top of a box. I have no idea why I hadn't seen it the first, or second, time I stood atop that same step, in the same spot, but that didn't matter at all anymore; I had found it! Relief doesn't even begin to explain what washed over me, I was consumed with gratitude for the encouragement spoken by my friends: "keep looking"; even when I thought for sure all hope was lost, or more specifically, was in a trash truck on its way to the landfill!

I've learned my lesson.
The dongle has been put on a leash, and tethered to the inside of my desk drawer!
Peace of mind is a comforting thing.
Life is Good!

Where, Oh Where?

I grocery shopped last Thursday, I had vanilla extract on my shopping list and bought a bottle, I know I did. Where in the world did I put it when I got home? It's one of life's great mysteries! I had all the ingredients assembled to bake a pound cake yesterday. The butter was softened and the five eggs had reached room temperature; I looked for the vanilla, the space where I keep it in on the carousel was empty. Huh? I turned the kitchen upside down. I rummaged through the pantry, not once, but twice. OK, I'll admit it, I even looked in the refrigerator! No vanilla. Strange. I found my grocery receipt. It was on there... as odd as this may sound I was relieved to see the proof of purchase even though it still didn't help in the cake baking process. My husband came to the rescue and stopped at the store for me on his way home from work. He brought me TWO bottles! In case I misplace another one? Maybe, he knows me. He asked me if I'd searched my car. I hadn't done that, but it was a good idea; even though I didn't find the vanilla there I did locate my umbrella and discovered an extension cord that I'd taken with me to church a while ago. During all of this searching I was reminded of the time I found a brick of cheese in the trunk of my car that had escaped from a slippery grocery bag weeks earlier, but that's another story for another day! While I was entertaining my Bee last evening I happened upon a long-lost spool of blue thread on the floor of my stash closet! The cat had been chasing it, well over a month ago, and after she'd tired of that game I never could find that thread again. I had finally stopped hunting for it and replaced the spool when I was out shopping one day. Perhaps that's the best policy to adopt with the vanilla, now that I have two bottles. Let it turn up on its own; clearly, it's not ready to reveal itself just yet.

Life is Good!

17. Eat right.