Today I am thankful for… blankets

i live in the midwest where no two parts of the house are ever the same temperature. so presently i sit comfortably under the warmth of one, in the midst of Snopocablizzortex ’14 (trademark pending)

and as such, today I am thankful for… blankets.

• the quilt Linda made me for my wedding, and still the only quilt i own to this day. it is keeping me warm during  Snopocablizzortex. it helped fight the chills and was wrapped around me constantly when i was sick last week. it represents a lifetime of friendship with my mother. i know when i look at it that despite her crazy travel schedule for her job, she took what little time she did have to sew this together just for me. that years of love and friendship between her and my mother, led her to create a labor of love for her friend’s only child and daughter… me.
• the red “shedder” we threw away. seriously i washed that things 10 times and all it wanted to do was shed like a Chartreux cat, and turn everything it touched red. it was a reminder that while some things look nice, they don’t play nice. and sometimes you just have to admit it was a bad decision, and walk away.
• the green and white afghan Grandma made us. it is the primary warmth provider when we’re cuddled together under our IWU colors watching DVR marathons, but it brings back memories of Florida. being a little girl, visiting Grandma in Ft. Lauderdale, and each morning she would sit on the lanai, drinking her coffee, smoking a cigarette, and crocheting an afghan for someone in the family. my dad treasured the orange black and brown one that was reserved for his recliner. while mom and i would share the purple one on the big corner couch. to get one for my wedding was a gift that meant more than she likely realized.
• the pink Snuggie® from Josh. because everyone needed a snuggie when they came out. and because i had a pink laptop, pink mouse, and a pink laptop bag, so you know it had to be a pink snuggie. lame name but brilliant really. when paired with my fingerless gloves i am shielded from cold arms and “mouse hand” when typing away at my pink laptop.
• the baby blanket, my baby blanket crocheted of the softest thread, you’d swear it’s what blankets in heaven will feel like. i still have it folded neatly in a drawer, but it was there for every fear, triumph and sickness as a child. it went on every vacation, participated as a “roof” in living room fort building, and was even the unfortunate victim of a battery acid accident courtesy of those massive C batteries from my musical keyboard.

blankets are not just blankets. they are the artwork of tired hands showing love stitch after stitch. they are reminders of happiness, hurts, bad choices, and good choices. they are warmth during Hoth like blizzard conditions, a shield during scary movies, and canopies for living room forts.

i am so thankful for blankets.

(but if they made a little blanket for my nose, i’d wear it. seriously. it would look like one of those surgical masks but it would be a mini-crocheted blanket over your nose. can you picture it? now go kickstart that for me. #PolishGirlProblems)