The Art of Writing Thank-You's

I am first to admit that I have become very lax in written correspondence.  There was, once upon a time, that I wrote letters to aunts, Grandma's, and even my sister when she was off to college in another state. I even had a pen-pal, who was my age, all through high school. Even more fun was to receive a reply in the mail.

In addition to letter writing, for every gift received, we would hand write a thank-you note to the giver, exclaiming our joy over their thoughtfulness. Our mom instilled this practice in my sister and me at a very young age.

Then the internet happened...and email. It was too"easy" to dash off a quick word of thanks without a second thought. Instant gratification, and nearly instant replies. After that, Facebook and text messaging came into being, and even more impersonal was a quick text or instant message of gratitude, if given at all. Handwriting correspondence sadly went by the wayside along with rotary phones and land lines.

That was until a couple weeks ago, when I received not one, but three gifts, two of which contained letters. I knew I needed to reinstate the art of letter writing and more importantly, that of thank-you writing. 

Before I could even send off my first thank you, one sender- my former Art teacher from high school, who had sent me some teaching materials and a lovely letter- texted me to see if I had gotten it. I assured her that I had and that I would be sending a thank you off forthwith. I chose a pretty card with a Monet painting to respond.

One down, two to go. 

The second unexpected gift was a letter and a cute top from my aunt Bea, which she said I could used for work. She always writes letters and cards, which I tend to save, and so I wrote her a card letter of thanks in return. I have a large cardboard box filled with various blank cards, so I did not use any fancy stationary. Just a heart-felt response.

Last, but not least, my sister and her family gave me a bag of Trader Joe's coffee and olive oil for my birthday. Not only that, but Nicole said she picked up a couple of LuLaRoe shirts for me as well. My sister is amazing and is always doing such nice things for me. I know I do not tell her that enough, but I appreciate how we have grown closer as we have gotten older. So my last thank-you card went off to her. Just a quick note of thanks to let her know how I appreciated the gifts. 

Though this is not New Years, I have started a resolution to write more letters, send more cards, and definitely hand write out all thank-yous. The best part is receiving mail that is not bills!  Consider sending a hand written thank you, if you do not already, for the next gift you receive. I know I enjoy getting those as well. 

Small Towns

"A small town is a place where there's no place to go where you shouldn't."
~ Burt Bacharach

In the small town of Hitterdal, MN, my Grandma Mamie lived on the main street at the edge.

Whenever we would stay over, Grandma would make these amazing meals from scratch, and as a treat we would walk down to "Ma's Store" and buy a bag of penny and nickle candy.
Sometimes we would go to "Jigg's cafe" for a slice of white cake, with lemon filling and seven-minute-frosting while the elders sat around sipping coffee and talking.








Now Grandma, along with Ma's and Jigg's are long gone, but the memories are still there. If you were fortunate to grow up in a small town, you were lucky indeed.


~Rustic Froggie

Cloth Feminine Hygeine Pads

Women, I know that talking about our monthly is something we were told to keep to ourselves and to never discuss with "men" but really, it is a fact of life and can be an expensive endeavor for people on a tight budget to cover.

Several years ago, I learned how to make eco-friendly sanitary pads for "that time of the month." I found a tutorial and pattern online and made several, and they work surprisingly well. Now that I have gone through the "Big M," I no longer need them, thankfully.

Once I had read somewhere that girls in developing countries oftentimes miss school because there is a lack of available supplies (too expensive or just not able to purchase) so I wanted to make a bunch to send to the school our church sponsors in Haiti. Several ladies from church helped cut out some parts, but I lacked the absorbent core (old towels or cotton cloth) so I never got them done.

A few weeks back, one of my senior girls mentioned the very same thing to me- "Did you know there are girls who can't go to school when they have their periods?" she asked, indignantly. And I explained that yes I did and that I had started to make some for that reason. So for her senior project she has decided to pick up where I left off, and we are making the pads with the help of staff (donating supplies) and her friends (who are learning to sew with my help). My church has agreed to send the finished products to Haiti, so I am happy that this project, once tucked into my closet, has been reborn. Here is a link to the original pattern I use from a fellow blogspot blogger

http://sewinpeace.blogspot.com/2013/08/feminine-cloth-pad-tutorial.html