Inanna's Best of Blogger - Part Uno (And More)

*LONG ASS POST!* Definitely gonna get your money’s worth tonight. Settle back. Its gonna be fun. First, the book. Esther has “Boys Life” by Robert McCammon listed on her wish list and since I have the book and have read it half a million...errr dozen times, I offered to send it to her. I asked her though, if she would, to agree to send it to another blogger once she was finished. Which she did and she also agreed to send me a book as well, which I will also pass on. Now, I will write my blog name and URL and a short message inside the book and I asked her to do the same before she sends it on. Hopefully, at the end of this year, the last person will e-mail me and tell me they have the book and find out where to send it. I would also like if they pinged my blog each time the book changed hands, just so I could keep up with it... but may be asking too much. Once she finishes the book and I finish hers, we’ll post on our sites and give peeps the opportunity to say... ME! Me! Me! I want it!!! And then I’ll draw your names out of a hat and send it on. Corny, cheesy? Yeah, so what? Next, the quilt(s). Long story... sorta. Without getting full on into everything that Angi and I have discussed... I will share part of the story with you and how it fits into this deal. I was attempting to explain what it is I do when I ‘connect’.. (Thanks to Julie for that word) to people... here and, sometimes, beyond. Here is what I wrote: ...Regardless, it was time to pull out the heavy artillery and take a deeper journey, one I don’t take very often. The last time I took this journey is when T-Bird’s great-aunt was in hospice. She was barely clinging to life and it was one of those situations where it was just a matter of time, yet she kept hanging on and hanging on. Finally, T-Bird’s mom asked that I go to the hospice with her and see if I could determine why she wouldn’t cross over. Again, it is difficult to describe what I do when I do it. Its the same when I read cards. Its a zone. I’m here but I’m not here. Its like I’m lighter, for lack of a better explanation. And even though I may see them in my mind’s eye, I know its not really their body, its only a representation. I saw their Aunt standing by a lighted door. As in, THE lighted door. A representation of the Other Side. I asked her why she wouldn’t cross. She told me it was because she couldn’t find her son. He had died six months earlier and she had always taken care of him and she wasn’t leaving without him, if she could help it. Again, she didn’t actually “say” anything, it was a feeling that I interpreted. I spent a lot of time trying to talk her across. I reminded her of the rest of her family waiting there for her. She would look through the door and kept telling me, “he’s not there, he’s not there.” I had no desire to find him at all. I didn’t need a spirit such as his attaching itself to me for any reason. No thank you. I wished her well. She died over a week later and I know its because the body finally pushed the spirit out. The most terrible thing about it was that later, T-Bird’s sister, who is also a medium, found him. He was still in his bedroom at his mom's house. They immediately called me to ask how to get rid of him. I just told them to tell him that his mom was gone, she had crossed over and he needed to do the same. They, like me, had no desire to communicate with him and simply didn’t move into the house. Needless to say, he wasn’t a very nice person while a walking, talking, breathing individual and none of us were willing to tangle with his spirit either. So... I have wobbled back and forth on this for the past day or so. I have always wanted to make a quilt. My grandmother did it, her mother did it etc. And my mom has and my aunts have. For one thing, I want to continue this family tradition. Its inherently Appalachian to make quilts and I hate to see the old ways die. Since I learned the basics of my sewing machine this would definitely keep me from having to hand sew all of the pieces. (Like my great-grandma did.) And... here’s the wobbly part... I want to make one for Savannah (that’s where it started) and then I decided that I wanted to make one for her brother as well. If two children have been through it, its those two. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to post about it and then I figured if anyone wanted to contribute fabric that it would be nice to give you the opportunity. Then I thought about just saying I was making a quilt and if you wanted to participate, fine, and not say why. I know, I’m strange... I have my reasons. I wasn’t so much worried about the material. Frankly, I have enough clothes in my attic that don’t fit me and in the bag to go to Goodwill that I probably would have enough material to make at least the individual blocks... I would just need a border which would tie it together. What I was worried about was... the other materials. Thread, pins, needles, etc. Given that I may have a multitude of colors in the quilt, that could mean a lot of thread. May not seem like much, but when you live on a crappy budget, sometimes, in reality, there isn’t money for a $1.00 spool of thread. (Don’t feel sorry for me. I have a lot of wealth, just not money and I ALWAYS FIND A WAY.) So, I came home and in keeping with trying to turn over a new leaf to restore order to my home, I moved a box of stuff, emptying it and got that monstrosity out of my doorway. I needed to find my black notebook too, which I knew was buried under the rubble somewhere. I did find it and when I did, my toe hit something on the floor. I looked down and saw a Danish Butter Cookie tin. I picked it up and shook it. It sounded like the cookies were petrified (which would not be out of the ordinary around here.) That’s what I expected to see when I popped the top of the cookie tin. But instead, I found spools and spools of thread, and pins, and not just any needles, but quilting needles, and an old-fashioned-made-from-iron-no-needle-piercing thimble. And they belonged to T-Bird’s aunt. That’s where she fits in this whole thing. So, I tell Angi about T-Bird’s aunt, and about the quilts, and then I worry about finding the stuff and having the materials and it is provided. Now, is that a damn sign or what? So, I’m making quilts. If you would like to contribute that would be fantastic. If not, stand over there --------> and yell encouragement. Thanks. Now, on to YOU!! I will be breaking my Best of Blogger posts up into several. I have other things on my mind so there will be interruptions. Additionally, I have not put links to the posts. I’m sorry. Sorry!!! The first four come from bloggers who have, for one reason or another, decided to stop blogging or take extended breaks. No, I have not included Kevin. Without further delay, here’s Part Uno of Inanna’s Best of Blogger. Slow Adventures in Slothville: Posts of distinction: Sloth’s pet peeve list (Grumpy Sloth - June 22) and her encounter with high school students on her trip to Australia (Bouncing Around Down Under... The Covers... I Wish - July 1), Warning: Serious and Personal Post (July 15), Clean Dirty Clean (August 17), and Moving Day (September 1). MakeMineMike: Posts of distinction: Pinch Me (March 17) - heh, he forgot to wear green *giggle* , Bathroom Etiquette (June 10), The Feline Dealbreaker (August 19) *stupid girl*, ER Visit (September 23), Bathroom Etiquette 2 aka Mike’s Peculiarities aka the NannerPeach Post (October 26), Mike and Mike and the Stairs (November 1), and Mike’s Ginormous Anatomy (November 22). Mike doesn’t title his posts so I got to make up my own!! Phoebe Moons: Posts of Distinction: Sugar High (June 21), The Littlest Birds (July 29), Dirty and India (July 14), and More Pregnancy News (October 18). Aliens, Guns & Boobs: The Dastard: Posts of Distinction: Three Things, then a Declaration, an Announcement, a Wish, and an Admonition (July 2), Little Homo (October 29), and Charla, Midterm, Porn :( and NO Politics (November 12). (Photo below of my discovery today and if you didn't read Jeanette's comment on *Drumming Fingers*, do so... its funnier than the post!)