Quilting in West Yell

Last summer, I asked my peep and colleague Dr. D if he knew if any of the ladies at his Church were quilters.  He's a member of the LDS Ward~~Morman Church to you eastern folks~~which is the biggest Church in West Yell.  Some other time I'll delve into the mysteries of Churches and the stories that go around about most of them, but for now it's quiltin' time.

So anywho, Dr. D called his lovely bride and she said Mrs. L is the go-to gal for the quilters.  And I gotta tell ya, I love Mrs. L..  She's been hand quilting for something like 60 of her 80+ years.  Never in a gazillion years would I have tagged her at over 72ish.  Seriously, what a sweetie!  When she and her hubby built their house, I think in the 60s, he told her that he'd be sure there was quilting space.  And there is.  The basement is finished so she can set up 2 king sized quilts down there. Her quilting frame is the darn simplest thing ever--soooo wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't want to invade her world.  She doesn't own a computer and doesn't want to, but her daughter does have an etsy shop called Sweaterheads--ya gotta check it out!

After I finally got around to making the calls she said she'd be more than happy to get some of the girls together and work on FTD's log cabin quilt. And did they ever.  DH and I went over and helped her put the quilt on the frame, since it involves shoving thumb tacks into pine boards, which is something my arthritic thumbs can't do.  Now mind you, I totally understand the hows and whys of quilting, but I've only just started machine quilting.  I've pieced a lot of tops, have tied-off comforters, and sent stuff to the long arm quilter, but real hand quilting is a whole new ballgame for me. 

The sheer simplicity of it is my favorite thing about it.  Mrs. L would just pick up 5 or 6 stitches and pull them through.  Since FTD's quilt is the log cabin quilt, Mrs. L said the best way to quilt it was to just stitch in the ditches. Said she, "It's quick and easy.  Anyone can do it."  Anyone but me.....

Corner details on FTD's Log Cabin Quilt.Yeah, I know you're sick of looking at these pictures.

Mrs. L suggested I start by quilting along an edge of the quilt.  I realize now that the stuff I did likely won't show after I bind it (or in my case, screw up the binding).  I watched and watched how Mrs. L picked up the stitches, itty bitty stitches I must say, and just keep right on going.  I tried it.  I gave up.  I could get maybe 2 stitches on the needle to her 5 or even 6.  I tried the up-with-one-hand, down-with the-other-hand system.  Also sucked at that.  But Mrs. L kept chuckling and saying over and over, "But remember, I've been doing this for a long time--you'll get it after you keep at it."  Such a beautiful optimist.  One of the reasons I'm crazy about her.

I managed to get over to her house a couple of times while she and the girls were working on it.  It's really nice when you work seasonally to get away from work.  Seasonal NPS work is very, very intense so any chance to get my head 'out' of the park was refreshing.  And being in a real home of a real person was super nice. Having friends in the community where you work who are not fellow employees gives the summer gig a more permanent feel somehow.  Hard to explain, too.

After maybe 10 days or so, Mrs. L called and said it was done. She had been worried that it would take a long time and that she'd have to mail it to me when they finished.  Holy cow!! Done!  Just like that!  It takes months to get something back from the LAQ and here she's done in just over a week!

I had discussed with Dr. D the fact that I was worried that she wouldn't take any money so we worked out a game plan.  But alas, there's already a plan in place for this group of quilters.  They keep track of the hours, then charge what amounts to about $3/hour and then say, "But that's so much.  So how about this much amount instead, if that's okay"~~which ends up being about $2/hour.  The money though goes to a charity, usually one of the Ward's interests.  I knew the BS Troop in town is chartered by the Ward, so I was going to suggest that they take a bunch of my money and give it to them.  But Mrs. L beat me to the punch, because a young man from the congregation had just been diagnosed with cancer and was beginning treatments, and would it be okay if they gave my money to that cause....?  Would it be okay?!?  Of course it's okay!!!!!  I also gave them what amounted to just under $4/hour, which is way cheaper than the LAQ.  I think they were also going to give a bit of it to the Troop.  Win win win, win win win.  In case you're wondering, they spent a total of 78 woman hours on it.

That's a lot of woman power.

Too Early to Pack?

Yes, Ranger Anna, mid-February is too early to pack for YNP. I had to stop myself from buying food staples the other day. I did pick up a shelf thingie for the bathroom in the apartment and put it in our cargo trailer for safekeeping.

We sort of have a plan for this summer. Being a seasonal ranger with kids who are still in school is on the unusual side, especially when school and park are 1700 miles apart. If our kids were typically developing, it might maybe be easier. But not by much. In the past, when we went to TR and Acadia, we just pulled the kids from school early and went back late. We figured if the truant officer wanted us, they knew exactly where to find us. Because of the kids' disabilities, they don't attend 'regular' classes per se. Our philosophy is that the kids can learn more tooling around the country than sitting in a boring classroom. Yet dragging kids with autism all over the place runs the risk of messing with their need for routine. Fortunately, very fortunately, for us, this type of disruption to schedules is well tolerated by the boys. I don't know if it's because we resisted tight schedules and rituals, or if they just don't have a propensity for it. School districts, however, want everyone and everything to be on one schedule--theirs. Tough tookies for them.

This year, FTD will 'graduate' from HS. He has more than enough credits to actually graduate, but if he isn't a full-time student, he looses DH's insurance. Medicaid will cover him (as long as he doesn't have more than $1500 in his bank account on the first of every month) and for that we are thankful, but we would still rather he be on our insurance. He'll attend the local vocational HS for hopefully two years. He'll age out then. They have a program for kids with special needs, helping them to acquire skills needed in the world of work.

Since it involves changing schools and learning new routines, we're fairly sure he should be there in the fall. Make that, in the summer. School starts on August 15, which should be criminal for a district that purports not to be a year round school.

DH and FTD will stay in Ohio, while DD and I drive out to work. DD will only miss three, maybe four weeks of school. His teacher sends packets along for him to work on. And I make him take care of the budget, miles traveled, etc.. It looks like he and I will fly back to Ohio a couple of days before graduation.

Then a couple of days after graduation, FTD and I will fly back out. DH will either drive out or fly out with us. We're still working out the issue of one or two cars. We've always taken two before, so the boys could go play while I go to work. I've never had access to a company car to get me to and from the office. At YNP, I can walk to the Madison Station and a car is theoretically available to drive to West. But if we don't get 3 cars for the crew, there might not be one available--maybe. One of the other rangers and his volunteer wife work with only one car, also. Last summer, he usually had dibs. But if DH and FTD need to make a run for something, and two of us rangers need to get to West at different times. . . well, it could get dicey. I'd love to get a scooter instead! We'll see.

But wait there's more! In order for this to work, we have to find someone to stay with DD here in Ohio. He can attend the day program at Bittersweet Farms, a nationally renown community for folks with autism. Best news is that it's just a couple of miles from us. We've got interviews with a couple of fellows, so that's looking promising. The apartment out west is just too small for two boys with such different needs. DD is the center of the universe (just ask him) and having to share a tiny bedroom, which was designed for one person, is tough. He also has issues dealing with both DH and I at the same time. We send subtle and different signals, being, well you know, parents~~ and he has trouble reading reading them. That makes him confused and angry. He takes that frustration out on FTD usually. And as DD would say, that no good.

And he'll go to the vocational HS next year also. Hopefully, he'll be there for four years. Keeping him interested for that long will be a good trick. If he stays home he can start at the new HS with no problems--except for the fact that sometime this summer, I also need to become his legal guardian. I might need to fly home for two trips this summer. I so wish the boys could just both come out and spend the entire time with DH and I. Makes me go back to thinking we either need to look to buy/rent/lease a place in West or just haul them out of school and not worry about full time jobs for them. Or I have to get a real job. Not. I did apply at CUVA, since our YNP jobs weren't posted for so long. I suppose if I got a GS-7 over there, we could make it work. Or a GS-5 or 7 at Perry's Victory. But that is unlikely to happen, since the tower will be closed this summer for repairs. Drat.

All this makes my head hurt. Too much thinking! Way too much worrying. Tomorrow, I'm going back to thinking about silly things.

Sons and New Technology

My older son, FTD, purchased a new laptop computer this afternoon with money he earned from his summer job. What a step in growth--sort of. His primary use for it is to watch pokemon shows and upload game cheats. Okay, so he's not going off to college to earn his way in the world. But he did use good consumer skills to pick this thing out. That's an achievement right there. I'll take this as one of life's bigger successes for him--even though right now he's sitting next to me watching an incredibly dumb and inane show called Dragonball.

The boys are re-registered for school. What a gigantic pain in the seat. After the gracious and thoughtful welcome we received at West Yellowstone, the beating we took at AW was ridiculous. We had to prove we actually live in the district--where we've owned a home and/or other property for 30 years. We were told we had to produce 2 utility bills to prove we live here. Not our IDs, not our pay stubs showing where our money is sent (including the one the school district sends to DH to work for them), not even the public online records showing what we own and how much we pay in SCHOOL TAXES, but 2 utility bills. I said (very loudly and adamantly, I must say) no way. What a load of crap. At West and in Medora I just had to say, I work here. "Okay, when can the kids start and how long can you stay with us?" was the reply. Upon reaching the HS today (after last week's scene at the Board Office--they won't forget me anytime soon--we had to go through the whole rigmarole to pick classes again. FTD actually perked up at one science class that is offered. When his special ed teacher came in, she threw every wet blanket she could think of at him. No wonder he pretty much hates school. I'm really surprised that he chose to go back to AW instead of the vocational HS. He'll go there next year.

And the final upshot regarding his schedule is that he'll exercise his Senior option which is to skip 2 class periods a day. He'll skip 1st and 2nd. Except for the fact that I'll have to drive him in every day, this will work better around here. DD will get up and go, and FTD can get up in his super-slo-mo fashion. DD will be getting on the bus at 6:35, and I'll leave home with FTD at 9. That will give me a reason to get up and moving, too.

Nobody ever said life would be easy, but it shouldn't be spent on inane things like we did for the past several days. And yep, this this boondoggle won't stop me from moving back west next summer. . . I hope.