Packing, memories and teaching

NOTE: No blog or newsletter next week as I will be traveling and teaching.

This will be a short post as I am getting ready for my 10-day trip to Montana. This is trickier than I thought to pack for 2 different teaching venues – one south and one north, 4 different places to stay, fabulous hiking in Glacier Nat’l Park (“Crown of the Continent”), a train ride and of course, plane rides. Here’s the packing pile so far:

That is 90% hiking, 10% teaching. I weighed it and just my tech cords weigh 6 lbs. As I pack, I know to weigh items separately so I know what to remove if I exceed my 50 lbs. I always bring extra and some long cords because you never know the teaching situation you might be in. And those cords weigh a lot!

The ratio of hiking/recovery shoes to teaching/traveling shoes will be 3: 1, maybe 2. My Cute Shoe Pile may be sulking while I’m gone. Shoes – such a huge deal when traveling. I have issues and have to have multiple shoes to get through a long day, so I hope I can do well with what I’ve got.

After I finish in Bozeman (2 full classes!), my friend will pick me up and we’ll spend 4 days in Glacier. Lynn and I met 45 years ago when we both worked at IHOP in College Station, Tx, home of Texas A&M which I attended…on and off as money ebbed and flowed.

I think my stint there was 4 or 5 years. I started as a waitress and eventually became a cook and get this – I was the first female cook in the region at that time. It was a very physically demanding job. Funny, I left IHOP to work landscape construction on campus, again, the first female. There was no feminist agenda there, I simply made more money working “men’s” jobs.

Here we are – Lynn is the blue arrow and I am the red:

After Bozeman I’ll catch Amtrak in Whitefish to Havre where I’ll teach another 2 full classes at Bearly Square, then home. I taught there in 2015 and had a blast! I am so looking forward to my trip. But, not looking forward to schlepping my 50 lb bag + carry-on + heavy tech bag + “purse” which will be as big as I can handle. There is no way to travel light when either hiking or teaching.

I did complete the smallest of projects. Kimberly Einmo is moving to Australia (see blog post here) and wants her friends to contribute a Shoo Fly block to create a friendship quilt. Here’s my block:

And my story is partially written here:

Yes, I wrote “way” instead of “was”. I’m pretending I didn’t see that. It’s off and sent.

Quick story: I received my 2020 teaching contract from Houston during a particularly busy time. I scanned it – yup, 6 classes and a lecture. Done. Purely by chance, about a month later I noticed that my “lecture” was not just a lecture, but The Keynote Speech! Yeah, like the one at the luncheon lecture! Whoahhhh. This was the first time I even proposed a lecture and I’m the Keynote? What were they thinking? Previous Keynotes were the likes of Hollis Chatelain, Kimberly Eimno, Nancy Prince, etc. Seriously, I am not in that league.

I was totally panicked. I got out my previous programs (thank God I kept them) and scanned for someone I knew that I could write. I came upon Kimberly’s name and our connection at the time was…none. I just knew her reputation was kind and giving. So I DM her on FaceBook and she responds right away. And, includes her phone number and says “call me”!

It was the sweetest call. She was so calm, supportive, generous, informative – everything that I needed at the time. I am forever grateful and took mental notes on how a little gesture to someone “coming up” can be so enormously helpful to that person.

I also lectured to the Galveston, Tx guild, the Island Quilters Guild,  a robust and gregarious group:

And a real treat – I lectured and taught at my home guild, the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild! I love my guild.

I revamped my “Quilting is a Contact Sport!” lecture to include my photos and meaningful memories of the guild. FQFG taught me all about quilting as a contact sport.

Fills ‘n Frills was packed (in a huge room!) and it was so fun to teach to people I know. It was such a wonderful experience to have with my guild.

See ya on the other side!