Christmas Excitement

Well I have been diligently working on Christmas presents lately. I finally finished the last of the quilts for my family - the one for my brother. I went with the "hard pattern" that turned out to mostly be flying geese. I finished it in the wee hours of Friday morning in order to take it to the quilt meeting Friday night. After show N tell, I dropped it off at the quilters - okay tied it to her door and prayed that it didn't get stolen at 10pm in an itty bitty rural town. Do you believe I never even took a picture?? I always take a picture! I'm slipping.

The quilt meeting was a great deal of fun. It was a Christmas party night and we exchanged gifts by drawing a number and picking a sack. I got a couple of cool FQ's.

The group had been challenged earlier in the year to make a quilt and a "just like magic" pillow case for the clients of the Domestic Violence Shelter that I work for. They made the pillow cases last year and donated them with the pillows! It was a fantastic gift to several of the families that we try to get adopted out for Christmas. So last night I hauled home about 10 small quilts and Patty our fearless leader will be bringing me the pillows on Monday - I think there were 15 to 20 of those. The group wants to get them documented this year to go towards that million pillowcases for charity count.

I'm hoping the snow doesn't come just yet. Tuesday is our Annual BINGO party for the clients that I serve. Each year I wrap up a bunch of stuff I've collected throughout the year and try to have a "big item" like a quilt that's been donated to give to each of them. They have to play BINGO and win their turn at selecting from the pile. The past two years, I've had about 10 people show up to play. The shelter program takes down names and needs from families we have served throughout the year who call and request help at Christmas or who are currently in our Shelter. They then match them up with business, groups and individuals who call wanting to give. Somehow it all works out but in the first few weeks of December, there are always more in need than those wanting to donate. I think it's universal among the non-profits that donations are down. I'd asked about giving away the fixing for a Christmas dinner - we had a BUNCH of turkey's donated. Then learned that the program is low on canned goods. How odd as we always have an abundance of those that we receive through a food bank program. They must not be receiving as many canned goods to pass out this year. Or maybe it's just that with the lay-offs and job losses that more people have just been in need and have depleted the usual supply. I have days were the sadness of such need touches me and I wish I could provide for the world, or at least my local community. I usually settle doing what I can for the clients I see (all by anonymous donation of course). It can get sticky though - they can't know it's me and I have to let go ANY expectations. One year after taking a client to the grocery store, I questioned why she was spending so much on quick fix/microwave items. Turns out she didn't have ANY pans to cook with. So I talked Greg into buying a cheap set and I left them in front of her door. When I met with her again - I learned that she'd returned them. She'd known that other pans would be arriving and needed the money to buy other supplies now. Just because I thought she needed it doesn't mean that she did - her survival depends on her ability and priorities, not mine. Well you'd think I'd had learned to butt out by then right? Nope, not me. I had on my crusader cape and I was going to FIX IT! I had an elderly client and we'd just had a terrible ice storm. I was going to have to go pick her up in the morning and didn't trust that I'd be able to get her to the car w/o one or both of us falling. The town was out of kitty litter and ice melter. I once again convinced my dear Greg to go over with me to clear the woman's walk under the cover of darkness. Wouldn't it be sweet to wake up to a completely cleared walk? Greg took a stone hammer to the ice and broke it up and used a bucket full of our supply of ice melter. When I picked the woman up the next day- she told me how her stalker had been by in the night beating on her house. She was terrified and hadn't slept much. Damn. She'd never looked out the window to know it was me and husband. And my "good deed" had scared the crap out of her. So I told her it had been me. I don't think she ever believed me. but I've learned not to single the individual needs anymore and have settled down with the BINGO party idea. I know everyone who wants to participate gets something for Christmas and if they don't want it or like it, I encourage them to regift it. And nobody gets scared.