Bartering With Beckie And Boba Fett

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Mountlake Terrace), I took my baby daughters with me to my exercise class. See? I told you it was a long time ago.

I did not like leaving my kids with babysitters. Honestly, mothers are not supposed to admit this, but I enjoyed their company a lot and very rarely felt the need to take breaks from them, other than at my class.

Also, I was a tough judge of babysitters. 

Over the years, there were only two women who truly stood up to my standards. One was named Lori, and she protected my one-year-old second-born from a boy who liked to hug my daughter will all the conviction of a boa constrictor. My daughter did not like those hugs, and she was scared to death of that squeezy little boy, but she loved Lori. Happy times.

The other woman was named Beckie. She was young and sweet and very calm, even when surrounded by a dozen rambunctious toddlers. This is a special kind of person. She cared for my fourth daughter as a newborn, and soon had a daughter of her own, and we bonded, as experienced mothers and new mothers often do. 

Kind of like a Jedi master and young apprentice.

Fast forward a bunch of years, and guess what. Her family of four now attends my school; in fact, she teaches sewing classes in the room right next to mine. Isn't that great?!

So last fall, I approached my old and trusted seamstress of a friend with a deal: if she would kindly sew me some throw pillow covers, I would do her whatever favor she asked of me.

Yep. I bartered with her.

I'm happy to say that she readily agreed, and by the end of November, she had transformed my bundles of fabric into these darling covers:

She even went the extra mile, and added some cute color-coordinated snaps to the backs of some of them. Nice touch, Beckie.

The pillows have long since made their way back to me, and they have been cheerfully brightening my home for about six months now. You may have even seen them:

Home Tour: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Home Tour: Living The High Life

Now here comes the really shameful and embarrassing part. Six months later, I still have not held up my end of the bargain. 

Isn't that horrible?

In exchange for sewing my pillow covers, Beckie asked me to help her organize her classroom, and make some signs for the different areas of her work space. I promised to get them done in January. I finally made them today.

I've already apologized to Beckie for being such a flake, and of course, she graciously forgave me. And I'm planning to put up the signs for her, and generally do anything I can to help her ready her room for the fall. 

But I still feel bad. Probably I deserve to be frozen in carbonite, handed off to Boba Fett, and sold to Jabba the Hutt.

{source}

It would serve me right.