September 9th has been a beautifully special day for me for 26 years in 2025. I pray that it brings you many amazing blessings too.

Slainte!
(Gaelic for "Health!")

         I've shopped in Joann stores in two or three locations and loved them for the same reason you did. No matter how precise of colour thread or yarn I needed, it was there. So were every sewing item I could think of and a few that left me goggling, "Wow! That's cool! How did they come up with that one?

         I reached junior high school too soon. I've always loved to cook, and I wanted to learn to sew and do housecrafts, but I was not allowed to take Home Ec because I was a boy. Dumb reason! I was told that the class was to "teach girls how to cook and sew and basically run a home." I tried to explain that boys also eat and need clothing, but no one seemed able to follow my reasoning. I won't even mention the blank looks I got for suggesting that maybe some of the girls would rather grow up to run a Fortune 500 company than a hubby's cozy home. (Or follow in the footsteps of Mary Ann Evans and write an intricately woven novel.)

         I'm sorry I digressed. I just meant to say that I've shopped at Joann stores and thought they were amazing. As for 'things girls need to know', phooey. They need to know about things that interest them. The same is true for boys. I ended up in woodshop, where I learned to break tools and to turn long, straight boards into small, unrecognizable shapes.

         Luckily, I later learned to macrame, latch-hook, embroider, sew simple projects, and I became a pretty fair cook. I still think it's sad that I had to quit school to get an education.

         I'm sorry I keep running on about nothing. It's a character flaw.