Happiness is...

Happiness is...

... a clean machine. I taught myself to sew when I was about 12 years old. I started out with a machine left over from a defunct sewing school. That baby had seen some hard use. My mom took it to a local sewing machine repair shop that I have since been loyal to. Last spring I went to give my machine a little love by getting "bathed" and cleaned at this shop, but I could not. I had closed. I was sad and hoped that the old couple had decided to travel or do something fun. It seemed that sewing machines and vacuums were their life. They loved when they got to clean a machine that was actually actively used. I had to mourn the loss of a great mechanic. I could not get my brain around finding another repair guy. I felt like I was cheating or something like that. Then when I could not longer do a good satin stitch I had to relook at those feelings. Then I was trying to finish my wall quilt and busted 5 needles in one hour. I knew I had to search and find a new repair shop. Luckily I found a pair of funny guys who offer fair prices and do a great job. Now my machine sings along at a new tune since it is not clogged with lint and broken threads.

... A nice family bike ride to Whole Foods for Lunch and Sunshine

Colorado is a wondrous place to live. Where else could you get to go on a gloveless, sunny bike ride on one day and get to go sledding on fresh snow a few days later? Sunday was the glorious day. We rode our bikes on the Platte trail to Whole Foods, a really fun organic grocery store in Cherry Creek. We took turns sitting with the bikes and going in for food. Ethan came out with a chunk of his favorite cheese (aged Parmesan Regianno) and dried pineapple rings. Ellie got cheese pizza. Larr had pizza, too, but his was a bit fancier with olive oil instead of tomato sauce topped with basil, fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella (am I makin' you hungry, yet?) I was not so hungry so I feasted on honey roasted almonds. We chatted, we basked in the sun and we rode back home. Ethan says, "Mom, this is a nearly perfect day for me." It is always wonderful to hear him say that kind of thing. He certainly has enough of the angst filled teenager days, too.