To most people, they would just roll with the punches. I. AM. NOT. MOST. PEOPLE. Thankfully, one in the inner circle was able to talk me off the ledge. Here is a sample of\u00a0our conversation:<\/p>\n
Friend: Hey Kan! How is graduation planning coming? What can I do to help you?<\/p>\n
Me: (forlorn, but not so forlorn as to vow never to go hungry again while simultaneously planning my next ball gown out of the drapery) Not so well.<\/p>\n
Friend: Oh? What happened? The last time we talked things were going great.<\/p>\n
Me: I can say this to you and you won\u2019t judge me. . . (long pause for dramatic effect and just good form in Southern story-telling) . . . why can\u2019t I just be average<\/strong>?<\/em><\/p>\n Friend: (absolutely in stitches as evidenced by the fit of laughter on the other end of the phone)\u00a0That ship sailed away a LONG TIME AGO<\/em>.<\/p>\n Instead of suggesting I was thinking a little too highly of myself, she knew my heart. She knew that the Boy Wonder never (and I mean NEVER) asks for anything for himself, and here I was left pretty much feeling like a failure because I wasn\u2019t producing the two things that he most wanted for his party \u2013 mini-cheesecakes and navy as an accent color. I just wanted to give him the desires of his heart because . . . Well, that\u2019s obvious.<\/p>\n He\u2019s my son, and I LOVE HIM.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Even with all the graduation planning and end of the school year ta-das for a busy houseful of children, I have been trying to spend time doing some things just for me. Exercising, reading, and crafting have been my escapes. Ironically, one of those big lessons learned about myself occurred at the same time as my disappointment with table runners and cheesecakes. With all the remodeling we have done in the last few years, I have allowed a few odds-n-ends to stack up. One of those undone items was to sew new hand towels for our new kitchen. I had purchased the linen toweling last fall, but there it sat, still in the\u00a0sack on my crafting table.<\/p>\n I took one afternoon to cut, iron, and hem the ends of my future towels. Let\u2019s just say what I envisioned in the quaint little fabric store in St. Paul is not what occurred in my basement. For some reason, my machine was sticking at the folded layers of linen and created what could best be described as a jumbled mess.<\/p>\n For several years, the Boy Wonder (who has since outgrown the severity) attended a camp just for children diagnosed with asthma. The weekend camp was\u00a0in the heart of Amish country in Minnesota. While he and the other no-wheezers (seriously that was the name of the camp: We No Wheeze<\/strong>) were having the time of their lives, we were camping and enjoying the local farmer\u2019s market where Amish families had their wares on display. The quilts were absolutely stunning. I\u2019ve been told that the seamstress will purposely make a mistake because only God is perfect. I could say I was channeling my inner Amish, but even I know that would be more than a Mark Twain embellishment.<\/p>\n
![\"towel1\"](\"https:\/\/kandynolesstevens.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/04\/towel1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n