Friends are Like a Favorite Pair of Jeans

"Friends" at work are very important to us.
 During this past year, many people have asked me what the most difficult thing has been to replace now that I'm no longer working for a large company. My answer has consistently been, "The people."
You spend most of your awake hours with co-workers, so you would naturally think of them as friends.
But sooner or later we learn they were not.
They were merely acquaintances, friends of convenience, and people who helped you make sense of the confusing reality of organizational life. You shared a common experience and provided each other with emotional support. When you met at the coffee pot or in the lunch room you talked about what you had in common - the work, your boss, the organization. Once you left, you learned that was pretty much all you had in common.
It's a very sobering experience.
The exception is the woman and colleague who was my assistant editor.
The joy of working with her was one of the great experiences of my journalism career. We were always on the same page when it came to wanting to right the wrongs pertaining to the social inequities of our community, she provided leadership on our annual Season Preview edition, and she helped develop our public relations expertise into an excellent extension of our publication.
The two of us live very busy and separate lives now, but - thankfully for Facebook - we keep in touch through social media and texting. Last night, though, with spouses in tow, we met for dinner.
And, we picked up exactly where we left off! I'm grateful for our conversation, grateful for her support and grateful to know that it's real and will always be there - as comfortable as a favorite pair of jeans.

And speaking of jeans, I have an easy project using just that - an old pair of jeans and some ribbon.

I have a habit of taking my old jeans and turning them into a pair of shorts before I completely get rid of them, but I've always thrown out the part I cut off. Not any more. Now, with minimal effort, you can turn the legs of the jeans into cute wine or liquor bottle gift bags.

Supplies:
An old pair of jeans
Sewing machine and thread
Scissors
Ribbon

Cut the cut-off pant leg to about a 11.5-inch length.
Turn the cut off legs inside out and stitch up the end that is not the hem of the pants. It's best to use a sewing machine, but hand stitching is fine as long as it's a tight stitch.

Turn right side out and cut a hole or slit through the outside layer of the hem. This will form the casing for the ribbon.

Attach a safety pin to the end of your ribbon and run it through that hole and then all the way around the casing that has been formed by the hem, and then back out.
Put a wine bottle inside and tie it up with a pretty bow.

Viola!  Done!
Cute, right?

Of course, you could always make bags out of left over fabrics or from the legs of other pants.
Have fun with it.

I should have done this to take to my friend last night!

Thanks, Mom, for teaching me to sew.