My PERFECT Wednesday

So, thanks to some good planning and determination -- my weeks always get off to a rip-roaring good start!!

Monday is ALWAYS about cleaning...Tuesday is ALWAYS about TMBC....

Wednesday and Thursday are my "flex" days. But, on one of those days, you can be pretty sure I will be spending some one-on-one time with a friend...

Two of my favorites...Marion and Sue.

Often, this involves a little day-tripping....Deanna and I hook up a couple of times a year. Always IN WISCONSIN...

My college roommate Becky and I hook up somewhere in ILLINOIS.

My nieces, Nicole and Amy. I love spending time with them...when their busy schedule permits!

It's great when the friends come to MY HOUSE!!

All the way from Washington State!!

One of my favorite traveling buddies...Rhonda and I have been to the BEST cities...!!

Minneapolis...

Rooftop dining...

Ya Ya trips galore

I love a good selfie!

Getting together with multiple friends at one time?  Bliss...

Becky and I discovered LaSalle!!

Spending time with a friend who's known you for 30 years is a wonderful thing.

The only thing that is BETTER?  Spending time with you sisters!  All that shared history...

My YOUNG FRIEND Anne -- we usually meet halfway.  Which is Iowa City.  A great little college town...with interesting restaurants and tons of thrift stores...

My brother Calvin, and his wife Jeanne.

My friend Sandy --

Her daughters were visiting, so we did a Popover Demonstration...

Here's what I believe. Friendships are like gardens. You can't just plant a seed -- you must care for it. That means being mindful. PAY ATTENTION. If you're lucky, it will grow into something worthwhile, beautiful and delicious. But you must TEND to it.

My PERFECT Tuesday

So, okay -- Tuesdays are all about my girls...my team, my crew -- the fabulous, wonderful, always-there-for-me-every-Tuesday-come-rain-or-shine -- TMBC...

Many years ago, we started off as a ONCE A MONTH book club.  Most often, we'd meet at Jackie's house...(the skinny one in the middle)

We used to take turns going to each other's homes...once a month...to discuss the book we were reading.

But, because we had SUCH A GOOD TIME when we got together, our monthly book club morphed into a weekly breakfast club. At some point, we set up a private Facebook page, and started to call ourselves the "TMBC".  And, since we all loved to sew, the SEWING became just as interesting as the READING...

Going to ONCE A WEEK was a major change.... 

At first, we went to different restaurants...but that required too much thought and planning.

We made the VERY SMART decision to go with the KISS rule.  (Keep It Simple,Sweetie).  So, we go to the same place, every Tuesday morning.  HyVee has a casual pour your own coffee cafe...

TMBC usually involves a "Sew and Tell"...We all participated in Pat Sloan's Splendid Sampler quilt.

I have shared lots of my Frankensewing.

The TMBC previewed my fat camp fashion show.

When Mary comes to visit, it's always a major TMBC special event...

We also love an occasional ROAD TRIP!!

How about TO MISSOURI STAR QUILT COMPANY in Hamilton, Missouri..??

We might visit the Figge Art Museum...

Once a month, we have a TMBC/LSD; (Library Sewing Day).  For $5 we rent a large sunny room...and set up our Featherweights. We SEW ALL DAY...it is glorious.

Really. It's so wonderful...that time with friends, SEWING...we decided to set up our own Sewing Retreat. FOUR DAYS with nothing to do but SEW. No cooking, no cleaning, no taking care of other people or jobs...just SEWING...

Even though the Retreat Center can accommodate 20 people -- the four of us had the place all to ourselves.

We all have Featherweights....and we all brought our own projects.

They COOKED EVERY MEAL for us..!!

OH, YEAH -- THE TMBC ROCKS..!!

My Tuesdays are the BEST DAYS of the week...(NEXT week, I'll have pictures of what we were doing this week...)

My PERFECT Monday

SHE'S ALIVE...SHE'S ALIVE...

My life is modeled after those old fashioned 7-Days-a-week dishtowel sets.  I do certain things on certain days.  It brings a sweet order to my life.  I've seen dozens of those dishtowel sets, and every single time -- Monday is "WASH DAY".

For me, Monday has long been my "cleaning day"...and, because I am really, really bad at doing housework....I decided a long time ago to hire help.

MONDAY:

This will not be news to anybody -- but I LOVE MY MONDAYS..!! I am so, so grateful for my cleaning lady.

Carrie comes to my house every Monday. She is more reliable than the mail man (who I do not care about even one little bit). 

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds

Here's the best thing....she's been taking care of me and my house since she was 14 years old (she is cousin Kim's daughter).  And she'll be 42 this year..!! 

Years ago, I had a fake leopard coat for her daughter Elizabeth.

This year, Elizabeth will be 13...

She sometimes has to be my model.

She HATES spiders...one year, I gave her these special Spider Boots (she loved the pointed toe)

On my birthday -- she brings homemade cake!!

My favorite picture of Carrie, helping me. This time -- painting the ceiling in the kitchen!!

It would be impossible for me to list all the things Carrie helps me with. (Last week, I found her cleaning the refrigerator.)...

She is WAY MORE than a cleaning lady.  When I was doing a lot of traveling, she helped me pack my suitcases, put them in the car, and then UNpacked them when I came home.  She organizes my closet -- bringing my summer clothes up from the basement tubs, and taking down my winter clothes. 

She changes out the porch furniture with the seasons -- stowing the cushions under the stairs, and covering them with plastic for the winter. When spring comes, she'll scrub the porch, and bring those cushions back to where they belong.

This year, she put up most of my Christmas decorations.

Carrie is a major player in my happy life.  She's my cleaning lady, my house manager, my young friend...one of my main links to the YOUNGER generation. 

She is also a major player in my SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING....she carries giant bags of STUFF out to her car -- to be delivered to the Goodwill store (where most of it came from).

I cannot tell you how wonderful my Mondays are....and I KNOW HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE Carrie in my life.
Thanks to Carrie, my Mondays are the BEST DAY OF THE WEEK...
So -- what is my Tuesday about??

Rita Writes...

I DID NOT DIE. I repeat. I DID NOT DIE...

But, several things have been banging around in my head lately. First of all -- putting together the Art of Homemaking Exhibit -- and the wonderful FRIENDSHIP Quilt.

My friend Anne did a LOT OF RESEARCH about the names on that quilt...I mean -- SHE'S LEARNED SO MUCH...but, part of that research involved many, many dreadful obituaries.

Rhonda and I, right after hanging the Art of Homemaking Exhibit...

At some point, Rhonda said to me, "so many of those obituaries sound the same. Maybe people should write their own obituary..."

Frankly -- to me -- that sounded like a WONDERFUL WRITING PROMPT....

If I was writing my own obituary -- it would include pictures!!

I was born in 1949 and grew up on a farm near McCausland, Iowa. I had one brother and four sisters. Glenn Little (Dad) was a WWII veteran who NEVER talked about the war. Mom (Joyce) was a full time homemaker when that was really all she was allowed to do.

I came of age during the tumultuous 60’s, and I believed we would change the world. But, just in case that plan didn’t work out -- Dad insisted I take secretarial classes (so I would have a skill to fall back on). Being able to type 100 wpm meant I was always able to find a good job. That, coupled with my Midwestern work ethic prevented me from becoming a full-fledged hippie.

Although I can’t remember why I dropped out of Wartburg College -- I was hired by the CIA and moved to Washington, D.C. Even though I answered NO to the very important “did you ever smoke pot” lie detector question, they fired me when I said YES to "did you ever attend a peace rally".  But they gave me a cover story and continued to pay me until I found another job. (I took my time...)

John and I met in D.C. -- he was just getting out of the Navy. We married in October 1970. Ross was born in 1977...Elliott was born in 1981. I loved living in Iowa and raising my boys. I hope they remember Little League baseball games, making cardboard castles, building sky-beds -- and growing up in a house with a wild paint job.

Despite our very different outlooks on life -- John and I were married for over (TBD) years. I don’t know who was more amazed by that...me or John. He always told me, “when you meet somebody for the first time, you assume they are your friend. And you are often disappointed. When I meet somebody, I assume they are an asshole, and I let them work their way up.”

John was an electrician at Deere Co for 30 years, and because he went to work every single day to a job he pretty much hated -- I was able to work at jobs I mostly loved.

I opened a fabric store. As it turned out, I was better at writing than I was at running a retail store. I wrote two books and, thanks to my friend Mary Mulari, became a speaker on the “sewing circuit”.

Mary introduced me to Joanne Ross, and the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington became my second home. Joanne suggested Mary and I do something together, so we became “The Midwest Ya Ya Sisters” and we were freaking hilarious!! (if not humble).

Looking back at my life, the thing I am most proud of is Grandma Camp. I was an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. grandmother to Lilly and Warren. We ate bacon every Saturday morning, and went on adventures in planes, trains and automobiles. I took them to Chicago and New York City. We were regulars at four different libraries; we went swimming, we talked, we cooked, laughed, crafted, made snow angels, watched movies and ate popcorn every Friday night. I loved those kids to the Moon and Back...and I want them to know that every minute I spent doing Grandma Camp added an extra hour of good health to my happy long life.

To my people. John, Ross, Elliott, Emily, Lilly, Warren, Calvin, Ronda, Debbie, Deena, my cousins, TMBC and all my wonderful friends (you know who you are)...Loving you made my life worthwhile. And I know you loved me back. Every single thing we did together brought me great joy. The trips we took -- the books we read, the quilts we made, the meals we ate, the laughter, the tears.

Thanks to you -- and some amazing Ritaluck -- my life was a terrific ride... I was, indeed, a lucky, lucky girl. And I would not change a thing. Not a single thing.

****************

 I AM ALIVE AND WELL. But I'm telling you -- it was kinda fun to write my own obituary. I highly recommend it.  Great idea, Rhonda!!