a common thread

Lauren and I popped into the yarn store the other day, to see what was on sale. The owner of the shop is a lovely, happy 73-year-old woman who twinkles and laughs and tells stories non-stop. It's hard to browse in her shop. Best to ask for a general "something nice" and let her point you to just what you want. We bought some gorgeous green bamboo yarn, along with some of that confetti-ribbon-ladder stuff, to make a scarf for Lauren. I'm not much of a knitter, but I just like to make stuff. I have a sweater to put together somewhere, but that's not the fun part, so I might wait until next fall when I start to think of wearing it. I also ordered a book of patterns for dog sweaters. Heidi gets chilly...

Anyway, I finished the scarf in a day, and went back the next day to get more of the bamboo. The shop owner was there, and chatty as ever. We discovered some common ground. Nevada. She grew up there, and spent a lot of time working at Harold's Club in Reno, where there were family connections. I spent years - too many years - working at Harrah's in Tahoe, and living in Gardnerville, and I knew I recognized something in her that wasn't New Mexico. Nevada Girls are.... fiesty. We have to be.

At some point she asked me my birthdate, and told me my "card" is the six of diamonds. She said that means that I will always have more. More than before. More than last year or yesterday. It means I will never have less. I took comfort in that, bought more yarn, and went home to knit... some... more.

That was Monday. Yesterday was Tuesday, and interestingly, it was a day full of gifts. I went to Wolfgang's Spa Works to get some chemicals for the hot tub. As I turned to leave with my MPS, Wolfgang said to his employee, "Give this young lady a water bottle!" Aha! A gift, and a compliment all rolled into one!

Next stop, the dreaded gas station. I had the mail in the car, and opened a little puffy envelope from Jean Yates while I waited for the pump to suck my wallet dry. I can't remember exactly why I deserved these awesome earrings, but here they were, Gift #2, and I immediately put them on, right there at the Conoco. They helped a lot. I drove away happy, and who does that these days? I like them so much I even made a little video Thank-You to email to her. The wonders of the Flip Camera... These are truly fabulous earrings. Definitely Flip-worthy.



The rest of the mail waited until I got home. There was another puffy envelope that I wasn't sure about. I'd forgotten that one of my customers, Linda Lickenbrock, had emailed last week, asking for my address so she could send me a little something for Lauren's graduation. How sweet, I thought. But when I opened the package, I was just blown away. Look what she made for us. These are amazing and personal and just too darn wonderful for words. Her Etsy Shop is CupCakeGirl, and she tells me she likes making these for people. Maybe, if you're very lucky, she'll do one just for you.




About this time, I started to recall what the Yarn Lady had told me. "You will always have more." Trust a Nevada Girl when she tells you what's what. And go to the yarn store when you don't know what you need. You're likely to find it there.