We are currently living in a small town, granted it’s only for 3 weeks, but it only takes a day to become ingrained.  It doesn’t matter if we are in the grocery store, the post office or most often, the lumberyard, people treat you like their neighbors.  We have conversations with perfect strangers that last for 20 minutes or more, it is completely different than visiting a city.

Our last “home” was a small town too, albeit, larger than this one.  I was part of that community, from the theater to the high school and everywhere in between, I knew someone.  One of the many things I participated in was card class at my local scrapbooking store.  For those of you unfamiliar, I have two great friends, Vi and Dawn, who design five cards, create kits and then host a workshop for their students to make the cards they have designed.  They take the hard part out of it by cutting the papers to size, providing the embellishments. Many of us leave with cards exactly the same, others of us found ways to embellish.  I have always been a big fan of sending cards, a way to say thank you, to remind someone you are thinking of them, it is far more personal than any electronic means.

At Christmas I sent over 200 holiday cards to the people who make us successful, our competitors.  For years, I have sent New Year’s cards to those who had an impact on my life in the previous year, and what better way than to send handmade cards.

Dawn at Stinkin’ Cute has held on to my card kits for the last four months until I could get there to pick them up.  I did that before we headed to Montana and finished making them all last night.  On the back I will write “handmade by Shelley.”  But that really is cheating, sure I put them together, but the credit belongs to my friends who inspire me, who bring me joy, who are always there.  This is the familiar I crave, they say you can’t go home again, but you can find solace and joy in those who help you find your home on the road, those who bring the familiar.  Thanks.