Bag Lady Triumphant

You know, birthdays have been super hard for me the last couple of years, because some of the people I’d most like to celebrate with are no longer part of my life, and that is very painful. Last year was pretty grim, so I had no expectations that today would be any better—but in some ways, it was.

I woke up to several birthday greetings on Facebook, and they streamed in all day. I heard from friends in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Africa, and of course the US!

There were no plans for any kind of celebration (the two other occupants of this household are not “celebrators”) so I planned a day of working and fasting, although I did allow myself real tea today. I got some sewing done on bag #8 while waiting for the sewing place to open, then took my machine up there to the mechanic.

I am becoming fonder and fonder of that mechanic. Every interaction I’ve had with him has been positive. I showed him what the problem was, he looked at it, and discovered that a tiny piece had broken off the bobbin assembly, leaving a rough edge that kept catching the thread. So he sanded it smooth, tested it (it ran like a champ) and handed it back to me while refusing payment.

Do you have any idea what a relief this is? I have been so grateful for my loaner machine, but I really wanted my own back. If I had had to leave it there to be serviced, it would have been a wait of at least a week, instead of five minutes. So even though that had nothing to do with my birthday, it was a pretty big win!

I did get two birthday cards in the mail, one of which was from my sweet Aunt Ruthie. And the mail carrier also delivered a shirt I ordered:

My first Sakeji merch for next month’s reunion! (And please note I managed to get flame lilies in the photo too!) I have more on order that I’ll pick up in Zambia, but now I’ve got something to wear on the day we arrive at the school. I actually still have a couple of things from the reunion I went to twenty-five years ago, but will probably leave them here.

Meanwhile, Walter spent much of the morning up on the roof trimming tree branches and blowing off pine needles. That was a very hot and sweaty job, and then the branches had to be cut up and hauled out of the yard.

Once I set up my own machine again, I finished bag #8 and started on the final one. Here’s the final four for Zambia:

I’m so thrilled to have them done, even if it’s later than I planned. I was victorious! There is plenty more sewing to keep me going for the next few days. Not to mention packing. I finished #9 this evening, so I’m all done with the bags for now. I have several more cut out, but I can make those at my leisure after we return from our trip.

I also hosted my monthly Zoom critique and writers’ group meetings this evening. We talked about artificial intelligence and how it can help or hinder us as writers. As an experiment, I tried to get an A.I. to summarize one of my novels, but so far it hasn’t complied. I’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe.

For those of you who have been praying for my daughter, I received word that she has been released from the hospital and is back home. I have to assume that is good news. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Thank you to everyone who wished me well online today—over 70 of you, last time I checked. I only heard from two of my seven children, and that was painful. But I also heard from two of my brothers and will be talking to one of them on the phone later this week. Taking a deep breath now. I made it through another birthday. And Zambia is soon!