You know it’s very rare in life we get along with all your family and ever rarer when you find friends that touch your life just family.  What amazes me is how people can act like friends, say you’re like family to them then you discover you were nothing but a source of revenue.  I ask myself all the time how people use and take advantage of others and sleep at night?  What troubles me is how easily people do it.  Especially so called Christians.

I would never judge anyone’s walk with God as mine is not perfect and never will be. But I wonder, how do you pray over every meal, claim you pray over every decision, study your bible daily, read you devotionals then use people, manipulate them, take advantage of their giving hearts and act like a complete ass when they cut off the money?  Did you pray over the decision to toss them out of your life when the money ended?   Did you seek God’s guidance on how to take advantage of them, run up bills you can’t pay and leave them responsible for paying them?  Doesn’t God lay some unease on your heart when once the gravy train is gone you can suddenly afford to rent a house, eat out nightly, etc?    Once you take a step back from these types of people and start thinking about the comments they have made and others have made about them, you begin to realize what a complete fool you were.  You start to see they have not only lived their lives behaving this way but they have taught their children the same lifestyle.  I guess the old adage the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, is true.

How do you move into someone’s home agreeing to split expenses, live there 5 months and pay almost nothing claiming you just have no money when the bills come in then be hurt when they say they can’t afford to pay your share anymore?  How do you turn that around and blame that person, tell them you need to separate yourself from them, they ripped apart your friendship, etc. because they couldn’t pay your share anymore and you left them in debt?

I want to not be bitter, not wish bad things on them as that’s not how God tells us to live but you have to work hard at that. My mind says call the next person they conned and tell them what they’ve done but I guess that’s none of my business.   It’s one more relationship they will ruin and blame the one helping them.  I guess you have to accept an apology that was never given.   The good thing is it brings out the people that really are your family to support you.

The last couple of years I’ve donated quilts to different groups to raise funds for someone struggling with large medical bills, expenses, etc.  I realized this year, why can’t I do that myself?  So I picked a family I know is having a lot of medical bills and I made this quilt to raffle.  So far we’ve sold 87 tickets and they are available until April 5.  I’ll post the finished quilt once it’s quilted and bound and the name of the winner here on April 6.  It is much prettier in person.

I finished the top of this quilt back in November but it was so big I just kept putting off basting and quilting it.   and I can finally say, IT’S FINISHED.   Took about 4 or 5 hours to quilt and another 4 or 5 to hand baste it but I think it came out beautiful.  Merlin of course had to photobomb it but it’s going to his grand mama so she won’t mind.   I enjoyed making this quilt but it just wasn’t what I wanted when done.  I’m not going to miss it.  Eventually I’ll make one that I like enough to put on my bed.

Well my pups are 7 months old now and I still love em to death.  While we’re still working on behaviors, they are making progress.   It’s funny, I hardly notice how much bigger they’ve gotten till someone sees them after a month or so and reminds me.  Ms Jamie came and bathed them Sunday and they look amazing.   She noticed their adult coats are coming in.  Argus will look just like a mini Azeroth but Merlin’s cost is much finer.

This past week we started a new group of quilt classes.   Linda, Kathy, Debbie and I will be making a french braid.  I love having people make the same quilt so you can see how differently they look just by changing the colors.   Linda chose some fun, bright oranges and greens and Debbie went with fall maroons and golds.   Mine will be these reds and blacks.   Waiting to see what Kathy decided on.

Happen to find this in my desk today and made me remember a wonderful man.

Here is an excerpt from the newspaper.

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2002

I found this on pintrest and would love to find one for my bike and the pups.

Hate to say it but the jeep upgrades will be slow coming after all the repairs.  I bought this thing to take some of the miles off my Honda that I drive daily but it turned out to be the worse decision of my life.    What was sold as in excellent condition turned out to be a jeep with a lot of problems hidden by the previous owner.  But your choice is repair them or have a $7000 paperweight.  So after thousands of dollars in repairs she runs great.   Here are her decals Robert put on for me this weekend.  I don’t need a reminder of her age but I liked the look of them so I added.

Here is the top finally pieced together and the border added.   Came out ok for my first experience sewing hexagons and I feel like I accomplished something.   I learned a new quilting skill and made a top I’ve wanted to try for a long time.   If anyone wants the measurements or picture on cutting the side triangles just post a comment and I’ll add them.

I will post the remainder of the steps by the weekend.