Where's Sinbad?

Are you sitting down? Are you comfortable? Do you have a cup of coffee? This story could take a while.

*So, where's Sinbad?

Wait, wait. Not yet. We have to talk about the retreat first.

As I mentioned last week, I had a quilt retreat scheduled for the weekend. I hadn't been to a retreat in about two years and was having serious withdrawals. This particular event used to be the Quilters Loose in the Woods retreat, but last year we lost both John and Martha, the co-founders. The Eureka! guild took over the retreat, so we met again this year in a new location. All good so far. I loved seeing my friends again after such a long time.

We laughed, we ate chocolate, we sewed, we ironed...we blew a fuse. It seems our new location was formerly a church retreat building - built in 1924. Guess when the wiring was done? Apparently in 1924 church retreat attendees didn't bring 25 full-sized irons with them. Go figure.

After a brief visit from the maintenance man, we had our power back. Oh, did I mention that Mom and I were at one of the only two tables to lose power? That was Friday night. I put my iron up in my room and shared an iron with about eight others on a more secure electrical line after that.

*So does Sinbad feature in this story anywhere?

Hold on, hold on. His time is coming.

I spent most of Saturday morning working a sewing themed jigsaw puzzle (getting very little sewing done). Then came Saturday afternoon. This time we didn't knock out the outlets to two tables; we knocked out the outlet to Mom's and my table and the lights for the ENTIRE main floor of the building. My iron was still in my room, I swear! So there we sat in the dark; the three of us at my table were the only ones without a viable outlet. Everyone else, being TRUE quilters, continued sewing in the dark. There is very little that can slow a quilter down if she's truly determined. The maintenance man set up a flood light in a spare room, and I sat in there and worked on the second of my two binding projects that I had taken with me.

When we left Sunday morning, we still didn't have lighting on the main floor. Nor did we have hot water (electric water heaters). Nor had I gotten much sleep over night. (I won't get into details, but the situation involved a jet powered vacuum cleaner and a tone deaf pianist who couldn't tell time. But that's another story all together.) The only project I had finished was the remaining 24" of binding on one project. I had about the same amount of binding done on another quilt, but very little machine sewing to show for my efforts.

*Sinbad?

Okay, here's where Sinbad comes in.

I got home Sunday afternoon with very little to show for my time away. I did enjoy visiting with friends and working a jigsaw puzzle, but neither of those pastimes contributed to finishing my UFOs. I was so sleep deprived, though, that I went to bed at 8 p.m. I left Sinbad, Maxie, and Callie sleeping in the sewing room.

So it's the middle of the night. I wake up. Where's Sinbad? He never joined me in bed. Hmmm...I've been away all weekend, and he doesn't even miss me? Fine. I nurse my hurt feelings and go back to sleep. I wake up again. I hear Sinbad yowling his "OUT" cry. I assume he's in the sunroom. That's not unusual, but at least now I know where he is. He's at the front door wanting out to chase night critters. I go back to sleep. I wake up again. This time I hear Maxie meowing loudly for attention. Again, not too unusual. She seems to be with Sinbad in the sunroom. I go back to sleep.

BOOM! BOOM! Thunder and rain. A storm has rolled in. I wait for Sinbad to rush in and duck under the covers. Where's Sinbad? He ALWAYS comes to me for comfort in a storm. But, he never shows up. Fine. Nursing more hurt feelings at being abandoned, I turn over and sulk myself back to sleep.

Next thing I knew, the alarm was sounding and it was time to get up. Still no Sinbad. I looked in the hall. I looked in the sun room. I looked in the dining room and the kitchen. No one around but Tessie (who did sleep with me last night). Then I noticed the closed utility room door. The door that leads eventually to my sewing room (the former garage). My poor babies were closed behind that door! My husband had gotten overly helpful and decided to close chubby little Callie into the sewing room to keep her from grazing everyone's food dish (Callie is used to this and cherishes the alone time). Unfortunately, he didn't check first for sleepers. Poor Sinbad, who is terrified of storms, got locked away from all of his hidey holes all night. All of his "Out!" cries and those of his sister Maxie went unheeded by an uncaring Mama, snug in her bed. (Guilt, Guilt, Guilt, Guilt, Guilt)

Ever have one of those days that just keeps on going - forever?

Tomorrow I sew. Tonight I will be snuggling with my kitties to make up for everything.

Debbi