Crafting Weekend....

This post is ALMOST a month late. But, at the end, if should close out our 2009. Then, I'll move this blog into 2010....

Anyways, about a month ago, I spent a weekend with 11 other ladies at Maple Memories -- a craft house not too far from where we live (30 minutes or so).



All of us had different things to work on....And, I'm sorry in advance that I didn't get everybody's picture. I wasn't pursuing a popularity contest -- I just wasn't quick enough with the camera :)

Jess worked on scrapbooking as well as some Christmas presents....Alyssa sewed and also did some Christmas presents.



Meg had several projects -- one of which was getting all her Christmas presents wrapped. Yes, I'm very impressed that she packed up all of her gifts and wrapped them.



Here's a photo of Lindsay, Lori, Jill, and Julie -- they all had different projects going at a time.



And, Amanda -- our fearless organizer of the weekend -- sewing a present for her nephew.



We ate yummy food -- Jess organized the meals, and we all contributed to them....

We had good fellowship....Thanks Jana and Meg for your "been married longer than us" insight. The conversation was encouraging and God-honoring!

And, we stayed up too late....This photo is of Lindsay, saying she's going to bed, but then, I think we stayed up another two hours after that or so :)



Have you ever read the book, "The Outliers: The Story of Success?" We received the book for Christmas from our friends Tammy and Reynold -- up in Manitoba. It talks about individuals or groups who are successful in "outlying" ways. I actually just started reading it. It's kind of interesting so far.

Anyways, I was what I would describe as an outlier on this trip. I don't all mean to put myself down by that description....Read on, please.

For those of you who know me well or have known me for awhile, you know that I'm not a real crafty type person. Heck -- I have a business degree, and I've worked as an accountant. Then, after that, I spent 10 years -- working to improve profitability of restaurants. No where in those positions was the job description of crafty. And, that's O.K....God made me the way I am.

But, despite my lack of craftiness, I'm glad I was invited on this trip. It was fun, nonetheless.

You might be asking, however, "Sarah, what did you do for the weekend?"

Well, way back on November 11, 1996, my grandfather (on his 80th birthday) started a book about his life. He wrote one entry about his life each day for one year. So, by the time he turned 81 on November 11, 1997, he had 365 entries about his life. He asked me to type it up and distribute copies throughout the family. I told him I would.

My grandfather passed away on June 21, 2002. Until this "crafting" weekend, I hadn't yet started it. I most definitely want to keep my word to him.

So, I used the weekend to be in front of my laptop, typing up my grandfather's book. And, you know what? I finished 1/2 of it.

It was all hand-written. My grandfather wasn't a real educated man. Sometimes, the grammar took me a minute or two to decipher. My grandfather wrote quite a bit about World War II. Sometimes, I had to look up the geographics of Europe to determine what he meant in his book. So, it took time.



This is what I saw most of the weekend -- you guessed it -- a laptop screen.



Here's what I learned from rereading his book -- at least the first 1/2 of it...

1) Though Marc and I do try to thank service men and women frequently for what they do for our country -- I CLEARLY do not thank them enough. Reading my Grandpa's trials in World War II gave me a new perspective.

2) We do have it easy here in the 21st century. Just reading about my grandfather's childhood during the depression gave me a new perspective. I hope I don't whine again about something I want or don't have -- or my lack of comfort.

3) He LOVED my grandmother so very much. Though Marc never got to meet my grandfather because my grandfather passed away before Marc and I met, my grandfather was a great example of a Godly husband.

4) He did his best at whatever he did -- something I could definitely take a lesson from.

5) Prayer is most definitely important. I do know that, but it never hurts to read things like that again.

I could go on and on about what I learned from his book. So, even though I wasn't a crafty type person that weekend, I most definitely did accomplish something. I had a great time. I'd love to do it again some year!

Thanks Ladies!