To Thine Own Self Be True

 I learned a valuable lesson this past weekend.
Stay true to yourself

 I have been told that one of my greatest gifts is that I am me.
No matter where I am, no matter whom I’m with, what you see is what you get. I do not don masks.  And I love that about me.
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Let’s play “Find all the mistakes!” How many can you spot?

This is the project I worked on for 18 hours this weekend. ​It measures approximately 12 1/2 inches wide and 11 inches tall.

I was invited to a sewing weekend with a group of ladies, most of whom I know from church. Our goal was to complete a wall hanging, that was supposed to be 12x12 inches square, a tote bag and contribute to a quilt that would sold to benefit a local charity.

I never did get started on the tote bag.

For me, it seemed like Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday until noon were a great way to make a mess. It was a lesson in futility. Some of the time my sewing machine worked just fine. But there were long stretches where I wanted to pull my hair out because it stopped working well and I couldn’t figure out why.

The fact of the matter is, I'm not a quilter. I do, on occasion use my sewing machine but I've never enjoyed quilting and even though I've tried several times in the past to enjoy it I just haven't.

But I did have good times. I knew almost all of the women there. And now I know the women that I didn't know when I got there. There was a lot of love In the room.
On Sunday morning we had worship music from Ann, Valerie danced her worship and Chrissy sang a song. 

What really attracted me to the weekend, beside the fellowship of likeminded, loving  women, was the redwood sauna. America's Keswick has a recreation building that houses gym space for sports and a swimming pool with a redwood sauna next to it. 

Now, having my own redwood sauna is 2nd to the top of the list of my aspirations in life!

There is nothing more soothing and relaxing to me that a long lay down in dry room heated to 105*+ and a dip in tepid water afterwards. And I got to enjoy that pleasure two evenings in a row.

I hope I get to go to the sewing weekend next year. When I do, I'll bring a special knitting project to work on while the other ladies sew. That's being true to myself and it's also being true and loving to those around me. I'll be much more comfortable as I include myself into a wonderful weekend of creating.