I’m 60, OMG I’m 60!

I’m starting to think it’s now or never for me becoming who I really want to be.  I turned 60 on December 22, 2017.

Well who do I want to be?  I want to be the grandma that every little girl could hope for.  I want to be spontaneous and able to pull out art/craft  projects at a moment’s notice.  I want to enjoy sitting in the backyard watching the girls, realizing these days may be long, but the years are very short.  I want to enjoy being silly and cooking and gardening and reading with them.

I want to be a wife who patiently listens (I really need to work on that one), and I want to be able to cook a decent  meal when my husband is too tired to do it (he is the family chef).  I want to be able to enjoy things my husband enjoys just for the sake of making him happy (watching marathon Food Network….ugh).  I want to not worry and allow my husband to take care of me.

I want to be a mom that my daughters can talk to about anything, (well except maybe sex).  I want to not give advice and realize that sometimes the girls may just want me to listen.  I want to be able to help them when they need help and I want them to know they can always depend on me.

Also I want to stop driving myself crazy not being able to find things, or wait until the last minute to do things.  I want to be more relaxed.  I want to exercise and maintain a healthy weight.  I want to keep my house clean enough to never cringe if someone stops by.  I want to make a difference.

Which brings me to quilting.  Before Ally was born (I cannot believe she is 9!) I went with my daughter to a financial class that was put on by the Navy wives at Camp LeJeune.  After the class, the moms were all given care packages that included a hand crocheted blanket.  The first though I had was, “wow someone or a group made all these different blankets”.   I knew right then someday I wanted to do the same thing, only quilts.

This year I finally started.  A little girl who is an Army brat was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma not long after I met her in the little quilt shop I work in occasionally.  She was visiting her grandmother who brought her in along with her aunt (who is a regular customer).  I quickly bonded with her and when I heard about her cancer I offered to make a quilt for her.  The aunt is a pretty new quilter and gratefully picked out the fabric.  I made an easy quilt for her, a local long arm quilter quilted it for me for free, and I sent it off.

I met a quilter this year at the shop who makes quilts for military babies in Southern California.  I knew God orchestrated that visit to the shop since I only work one day a week generally.  I told her my story and she gave me her name, address, email address and told me they would make sure anything I sent would get to the right place.  I am so excited to get started on making a few this year.

My other quilting goals…..oh my I have so many, right now it stands at 12 for family.  But first I am reorganizing my fabric and sewing room and giving it a good cleaning.  I  have two quilts cut out and cannot wait to get started!