Catch Up

Sorry for the lack of posts. I had a writing deadline this week and so I've been pounding away at the keyboard doing work instead of blogging. My knitting remains untouched--I haven't had a free evening in eons (begin sound of violin wailing now).

Thing 1 and I drove to Santa Clara on Saturday for Stitches West. The market was, as always, overwhelming in a totally good way. I didn't buy a ton of things, but I'm awfully happy with what I did get, including skeins of hand-dyed tencel and cashmere from Just Our Yarn, some really pretty variegated laceweight merino from Jojoland (I've never heard of them before), and a beaded scarf kit. I also came away with some cool buttons (one of which has a Saint Bernard on it!) and a gorgeous glass shawl closure thingy from Moving Mud. I'm wearing that this very minute.

Much to my surprise and delight, Thing 1 loved Stitches. There was some initial confusion because when I told her we were going to a yarn show, she was picturing a show--you know, a performance of some kind. Dancing yarn, maybe? Anyway, once we got that straightened out she was happy. In fact, she immediately announced she wants to learn to knit now. Then she wanted yarn. Turns out the kid has great taste in yarn. I bought her some Blue Sky cotton and some hand-dyed superwash merino, and had to steer her away from cashmere and the skein of beaded yarn that cost $135. So she already has a yarn stash! She also got a cat button (for her child, someday, she said) and she used her own money to buy a basket. As we stood in line at one point, she thanked me for taking her and made me promise I would bring her next year. The women behind us practically broke into applause. Clearly, I've been training her right.

Here she is at the Hyatt afterward, enjoying room service:

On Sunday we went to the Tech Museum in San Jose. I had to pick for her because she couldn't make up her mind which of her 3 options to choose. I've been to the Winchester Mystery House before, and I thought she'd really enjoy the Tech, so that's where we went. It's a fabulous place! Lots of fun stuff, even for grownups. Here's Thing 1 on a jet pack simulator:

When we returned home Sunday, there was a package waiting for me from Jody in Singapore. The Things started snatching goodies away so quickly I didn't get a picture, so here's Thing 1 posing with only a few of the wonderful things Jody sent:

The Pocky got a bit crunched in the mail, but I'm sure it'll taste just as good. :-) Thanks, Jody!

I can resist anything but temptation

I've been trying to work from my existing (and quite large) yarn stash and not add it to it. But Stitches West is this weekend in Santa Clara, and I can't be expected to resist all temptation, now, can I? So I've planned a girls' getaway this weekend with Thing 1. The plan is to head to Stitches on Saturday and check into one of the hotels there. We can spend Saturday shopping for yarn and lolling around the hotel (Thing 1 loves hotels), and then Sunday we can go do something around there that she will really enjoy. We're trying to decide now between the Tech Museum of Innovation, the Rosicrucian Museum (mummies!), and the Winchester Mystery House. That's a tough choice!

Phizzle

I've been too sick and too busy to knit, alas. So lieu of knitting content, here's something I saw on someone else's blog.

1. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (First 3 letters of first name plus izzle)
Phizzle (hey--that's good!)

2. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Blue Dog

3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Kim Destiny

4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Gerphfe

5. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Red Smoothie (I like this one, too!)

6. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's middle name)
Ann

7. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
Black Furgie

Zippidy Doo Dah

After I was all grouchy and everything yesterday, look what arrived in the mail for me today:

It's my final package from my talented and generous Secret Pal, Kate! I've spent the day petting that lovely purple Alchemy yarn and as for the Reeses, well, let's just say they went to a good cause. And if you admired that sock yarn Kate dyed for me last time, she has an Etsy store. :-)

Well, that package definitely set today on a better course. Then I decided not to go into the office--always a happy choice. I did go see the orthopedist, who announced that I've been healing extremely well--just a bit of tenderness left--and I don't have to visit him again. And that's the last you'll hear about my hand, I promise!

Here for your amusement is another Disney picture.

This was taken on our very first day at the parks, when Thing 1 ignored the zillionth command not to run, and she fell and skinned both knees. I love her expression, which clearly says, "I want pity but I can't whine because I know it was my own darn fault so I'll just look pained." She survived. And remembered not to run--for about an hour.

It's a World of Laughter, a World of Tears

This is Thing 2 about to ride It's a Small World for the second time. It's one of her favorite rides. Hubby demonstrated what a great parent he is when he was the only one willing to get on that boat again.

We still have colds. Hubby has spent the whole week home from work, feeling sorry for himself. But the spring semester just began this week, so I've been dragging myself to classes and dealing with all the usual chaos and crises. One of my classes has 50 students but is in a room that seats 40. The other class was supposed to be capped at 40, but now enrolls 60 (at least there are 60 chairs in that room). And today a student came to me, asking why I gave him an F in a class. I said it had something to do with the fact that his entire paper was plagiarized off the internet. He said, "Really? I must have done it unconsciously." Yeah, that convinced me to change his grade. Another student's father called the department secretary and left a message that I must call right away--it was urgent! So I dropped everything and called. Turns out he was worried over whether his daughter could get into a class (the daughter had made a mistake about when classes started and missed the first day). I asked whether she'd contacted the instructor yet. Father said yes, she left him a message. I suggested that they wait to see what the instructor said before getting hysterical. Meanwhile, Extremely Annoying Colleague #1 kept having loud conversations about nothing directly outside my door, while EAC #2 kept popping in every 5 minutes to share his thoughts, and 14 thousand students stuck their head inside my door and asked, "Are you busy?"

Both Things had tantrums this evening. Thing 1's had something to do with a fork, and Thing 2, well, I'm not sure she even knew what it was about. I was glad to get them both tucked in tonight.

Okay, time for a nice big swig of Nyquil.

Valentine's Day

Due to the plague that Typhoid Mary Thing 2 spread to us, nobody is feeling very romantic here today. I did, however, manage to score a box of Recchiuti's Valentine's chocolates. It's one of those boxes where the chocolates are almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

The flavors are interesting, too. I just ate the rose caramel one. Mmm.

Home again home again

We've survived another cross-country plane trip with the Things and are now back home. I was going to post some Disney pix, but Thing 2 generously shared a cold with us all, and I'm pretty wiped. Disney will wait. I had to post these pix today, though.

A package was waiting for me from Ruthie in Bulgaria. Everything was beautifully wrapped, but of course I excitedly tore the wrapping right off. Ruthie sent 3 beautiful bags she made, 2 of felt and 1 in a cute cute animal print. As you can see, she sent a bunch of other lovely things, too, including the Bulgarian dog cookies of which my Ruthie is so fond. What a wonderful package! Thank you, Ruthie!



Today is Thing 2's fourth birthday. Due to the Disney trip, we skipped a fancy party and just had a small family celebration. Chocolate cake was included.

Thoroughly Disneyfied

Today's our last day in Florida; we leave at an unreasonably early hour tomorrow. We've hit all 4 parks--Epcot andAnimal Kingdom twice--and we've been fully moused and princessed. My favorite ride is definitely Tower of Terror at Disney/MGM studios. Thing 2 has been such a trouper--when we got off that ride, she announced,"I like that elevator!" Both Things have been very, very good, and the weather has been quite nice, too. Tomorrow we return to reality.

Epcot

Disney is having a"Magical Moments"promotion this year, which involves granting a variety of "wishes" to random visitors. This morning when we arrived at Epcot, Hubby and Thing 1 boarded a ride that Thing 2 is too short for. T2 and I went to wait in the gift shop, where the ride unloads. A "cast member" (what Disney calls its employees) invited T2 to play a game, then gave her a certificate. Very cute.

Around 6pm, our group was deciding whether to wait an hour in line for the Test Track ride. Some of us had ridden it in the morning, and it's a favorite. A cast member came up and told us we were the Family of the Hour. She took us in the back way, directly to the head of the line. Which was great enough, but then when the ride was over, we got to stay on again for a second go-round. How cool is that?

Here

We survived the plane trip, and our timeshare has internet.

It was 10 degrees when we landed in Chicago at 4:30 pm. It was good to remind myself of one of the reasons I left the midwest. This time of year is always particularly bad. It feels like it's been winter forever and everything is bleak-looking, and you know spring is still a long time away.

We missed the tornados and arrived just fine in Orlando. We spent the last day and a half at Animal Kingdom, which we all enjoyed a lot. We got to spend just last night at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, in a suite on the concierge level no less, and it was just wonderful. Knat, you could see Watusi cattle (and giraffes, ostriches, birds, and antelopes) right outside our balcony.

I went on Expedition Everest with Hubby and Thing 1. I'm not a coaster person, but this is a very cool coaster. And it didn't make me want to puke.

This morning we got up before dawn for the Sunrise Safari, which is a 2 1/2 hour safari through the Animal Kingdom. There were only about 20 people in our group, plus one of the animal keepers (Susan, if you're reading this, her name is Courtney and she knows your boss). It was very cool. All the critters were up and active (except the crocs), and we got really close to a rhino and some kudu.

Now we're all resting up for tomorrow at Epcot. The Things have been great so far--wish us luck!

Going going gone

We're off in the morning for 9 days at Disneyworld. I am not bringing my knitting because 1. I won't have time to work on it anyway, and 2. when traveling 3000 miles with 2 young children, one might be tempted to poke them with the knitting needles. I may have internet access, however, and I'll try to blog from there.