Please, Don't Ask Me To Buy You An AC Adapter!

Ever been given a wish list that bores you to tears? 

I have a few of those on my shopping list and I just cannot bring myself to "add to cart". OMG! I am so bad. I know, I know...the whole idea behind the wish list concept is to help the gift giver score BIG with the recipient but I just cannot see anyone jumping for joy over an ac adapter, if you know what I mean. I mean, really? Seriously? C'mon!

Since you already know about the best present I've ever received (my first cordless screwdriver; new visitors please refer to previous post), I'll tell you about the second best gift I've ever received and this should shed some light on why the wish list items are just not doing it for me. 

My sister gifted me, many,many years ago, a GC for a painting class at a local craft store.  I thought this was a super fun idea, something I would have never done for myself, something that led me on a path of healing and changed my life forever...

After a day of struggling to catch up with the ladies in the class I thought I would never paint again but I took a few more classes after that, and discovered it was all about practicing. Then, just when I was getting the hang of it, GP was diagnosed with Autism and my life stopped; and our battle began.

Painting helped soothe my soul when I couldn't read one more sentence about autism. It helped me loose myself without leaving my house. It was peace amidst the chaos. For years I painted in the wee hours of the night when sleep wouldn't come. I practiced, practiced, practiced... and while I taught my son to write during the day I taught myself to do scroll work at night. Painting has been a blessing in my life, and it came to me as a gift. A gift that forever changed my life. "Give the girl a painting and she will hang it on her wall, teach her how to paint and she will learn to soothe her troubled soul".

My husband's gift taught me that I could fix anything, and my sister's gift taught me I could survive anything. Now those are the kinds of gifts I want to give. 

Somehow the ac adapter cable just doesn't measure up.

 

This is a dining room chair that I painted way before I could quilt, and the desk was also among the first pieces of furniture I painted.  Now GP uses them as his gaming station in my office.