Beading in Iowa

My Aunt Barb's house is only second to Mom and Dad's house. She always has a clean bed or four beds to offer for the night, eggs and bacon in the morning, hot coffee all day long (as is the tradition to drink coffee all day when we girls spend any time together), fresh cookies and candy in jars waiting for the taking--and of course the general air of relaxation and comfort. She is always ready to offer us a beverage or run out to an antique shop.
And Marv is there, too, working on any number of projects in his Man Cave. He asks me, "You are pretty smart, right?" when he wants help with his email. He worries that Leah , his only daughter, is mistakenly signing up to go to Brazil, and she will end up being sold into sexual slavery. And he's making a doll house for one of his grandchildren.
So when Aunt Barb invited us for a weekend of beading, the only question was, "When?"
Kate and James drove the whole way there since I was stressing about all the random work that I need to complete in the next two months and really want done now. Funny, I don't think I have realized how much I look at my hands while I type until I was trying to type on my laptop in the backseat of a darkened car going along a black highway.
Then, yesterday, Meg and Aunt Barb and I unpacked her treasure trove of beads. I have only seen this variety and this quantity of beads in specialty shops. We made all sorts of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and accessories. And Aunt Barb loved all of them--even the odd designs that I am prone to come up with.
And we drank lots of coffee. And we had some great conversations. And we ordered pizza. It could only have been better if Adam and Luke made a surprise visit.
Everybody should have an Aunt Barb. When I was leaving this morning, they packed up cookies for me to take on the road. They stood in the door talking to me, even though they were probably starting to run late for church, but in the process making me feel like they would have me stay longer.