Friends

As I mentioned previously I wanted to tribute two very special friends of mine.  My daughter was my first, and now is my other very best friend of all.  We have been friends ever since we first met 38 years ago.  I was recently asked by someone how I am able to keep such a friendship going especially with the distance we have between us.  I live on the West Coast, she is literally on the other side on the East Coast. 

Our success is based on complete respect and value of each other for who we are on the inside.  We keep in touch constantly by email, texting and phone calls.  She comes out to the West Coast almost twice a year to see her aging Mother, and we are able to connect visibly.  And what reunions they are.  We are inseparable if not even together physically, and by that I mean mentally just knowing we are on the same coast together, both our spirits are lifted.

We are friends that never question each other's intentions nor expecting anything from each other.  I admire her for the skills she has despite not acheiving higher education.  She is not afraid of trying new challenges, making them seem effortless even tho on the inside I know she may be falling apart.  All her achievements are from a sheer desire to make her self grow, without having to prove anything to other's. 

She raised her daughter for 8 years on her own before meeting her husband, now being married for 25 years this year.  I could not imagine in my wildest dreams raising a child on my own, so I admire her for not only being successful doing it but never ever made her child feel neglected for it.  Once she got married, I even admired her again since she gave up all her friends here on the West Coast  to move and make a new life on the East Coast. 

She always makes the best of whatever situation confronts her, and always always looks at things in a positive way, even when her world appears to be falling apart.  She never gives up without a fight.  We both have conquered so much together just being there for each other.  I could not be who I am without her as a friend.

Here is a picture of us together meeting again for the first time after almost a year, and we both came dressed similar even in color.  Everyone thinks we are sister's and that just makes me glow, as I never had a sister growing up.  But I have a soul sister for life. 

Tribute

We all have special persons in our lives that either inspire or just plain make us proud having them a part of our life.  I never thought I could have more than one Best Friend, as sometimes we are made to believe that is just not possible.  But as I get older my nucleous of friends that are special have become vital for my true inner contentment.

There are two such people in my life that merit tribute to the bond we have.  Most important tho is the special place they hold in my heart that transcends distance, time and pain.

  First I have to proudly honor my daughter who not only is my Best Friend but someone I could not imagine life without.  She is just an amazingly strong young woman who is 27, but has survived bacterial Meningitis, learning disabilities, discrimination, and weight control.  At 57, I thought I have seen it all, but what she has had to overcome and accomplish is truly inspirational.  For the first time in her life, she is sharing clothes with me, and teaching me more about style than I ever thought I knew.  She is vivacious and full of life.  Her personality makes others see who she is on the inside, which is truly beautiful.  She enjoys telling people I am her mother because they comment when seeing me with her they never knew she had a sister.  She is a sister I never had, but most of all we enjoy being best friends.  You may wonder if that is possible and separate the mother/daughter relationship to be bonded friends.  It is, let me tell you, I actually never believed I could have such a friendship bond like I do with her. 

I think the most compelling reason for that bond to have acheived it's level that it has is the intense struggle and effort she had to be accepted and successful in whatever her challenge were.  Her struggles began at the tender age of 2 when she was stricken with bacterial meningitis up until now.  She has become so strong and gained the insight to conquer whatever obstacles she had to hurdle.  I learned more from her tenacity than any other person I know.  To make my point, with learning disabilities, she has even succeeded in learning 3 languages.  Thru it all, we have become so close to the point that my husband teases me as to who I am married to.  Really, is he jealous?  Does he not understand the female bonding issue? 

Anyways, I could ramble on and on, but most of all, I just want everyone to know how special she is and ask all of you, "Who inpires you as a friend?"  Next I will share another friendship I have that also is very important to me but in a different way.  So check back for that.

By the way here is one of my special pictures of my daughter that I look at many times that just takes away all the woes of the day when I need it to.  And did I mention the gorgeous grandson I have from her, who by the way also has the same infectious little personality.

A bit of this and a bit of that

I may not have a clear cut focus yet but my goals for the future are to share my experiences of sewing, crafting, jewelry design and just life with friends and those that are looking for inspiration.

I had begun this venture with keeping you updated of my dream come true, a new updated and professional sewing room.  This dream come true is taking a bit longer than we expected, but will come true, so be patient with us.  I am going to have the dream sewing room, not that we are getting the high end sewing furniture.  My son the Carpenter that he is, owns his own business, previously framing custom homes.  Now he is expanding his career learning heating & air conditioning for very large buildings, like hospitals and malls.  So in his spare time, if any of us have that, he is going to build for me custom furniture for my sewing room that my husband outlined for him.  My husband, with my input of all the challenges I have for my small space, made drawings of what I needed.

It will be awesome to say the least, in that I finally will have in my small 10 X 11 room two workstations.  One that will be an L shape to accomodate both my sewing/embroidery machine and my new Babylock Serger.  The other workstation will be for cutting that goes beyond just a table, it will have tons of drawers and shelves on two sides for storage.  It will only have two sides of storage since it will be up against a wall, as the room has to allow for the most benefits possible, organization.

My closet is extremely small, so that took some very creative thinking to get the best of what I needed.  So once you see it you will agree it was the best design for my challenges.  It not only will have hanging storage ability, but also lots of drawers and shelves.  My goal was to make this room shine for organization and functionality.

I know I will inspire other's to make their dreams come true as well, so thank you for being patient.  In the next few weeks you will be able to see the process grow into my dream.

Tomorrow the baseboards will be installed by my son, which will make such a striking impact on the room compared to before. So please come back this weekend for the picture update.

By the way, let me know what you think of my new banner, I am still working hard on changing things to reflect myself and my site.  The pictures are of my mother in-law and her best friend, my son, my daughter and her best friend, along with my new grandson.  Isn't he gorgeous, I just love his adorable smile and his very contagious happy personality.