Catching Up

I've been thinking of you, Blog - I just couldn't seem to find a spare breath to tell you all about the latest events in our lives.

First of all, Tasha and I explored Cinderella's Closet in Fond du Lac. What a cool place! Big fluffy gowns everywhere, and we found a perfect dress for Tasha that fit beautifully and reflected the theme colors of her prom, all for under $100! She looks beautiful in it - Theresa said it looked like something a Disney princess would wear. Betty N. has volunteered to hem it, and then we need to get it to the cleaners to be cleaned and pressed. But the prom isn't until the 10th, so I think we'll make it in plenty of time.

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Meanwhile, my Baby Girl turned 17 on Wednesday, which gave me the impetus to look back on her life and how much she's matured in these last few years. It will be interesting to see how we all handle her being off at the camp all summer - her first chance to really stretch her wings without us, and our first chance to see what life as empty nesters will be like - at least on the days when Luc is off at work and Rick is not off on a work trip.

So Saturday was "prom dress shopping day." Oh, and we worked in a visit to the Fondy mall, which we really didn't need, and walked out with several bags of towels and other supplies for Tasha's summer on her own, which we managed to convince ourselves that she sort of needed, and a new pair of earrings for me, which I definitely didn't need. (But I feel pretty wearing them today.) Oh, and Tasha drove, which meant I got a LOT of work done on the anniversary shawl.

Sunday was the first prep day for Dad's visit (part of his spring migration from Arizona to Michigan), and I spent most of my after-church time either supervising Luc's cleaning efforts, saying encouraging things about Rick's and Tasha's cleaning efforts, or dreading my own cleaning efforts. I'm repressing the details.

On Monday, I took off from work like I was being chased by the hounds of Hades, and made it to the Borders Bookstore in Madison in time to get second row seating for The Yarn Harlot. Look how close I was!!
I'm even in her blog - really. If you look close, I'm in the fifth photo down, in my oatmeal cotton sweater, right behind the cute girl in the maroon hoodie. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2008/04/29/marvellous_madison.html I know, I'm unrecognizable - but some would say that's a good thing. And I was sitting right next to this lady by the name of Dale-Harriet, who was a "living history" buff and was knitting traditional voyageur hats and told great stories about her aspirations to be a cat lady. (I'm sending her Dan's sock pattern, so she can branch out a little.) I brought the anniversary shawl with me and worked on it conscientiously all evening, and even got some compliments on it from some of the gathered masses!

Stephanie, by the way, was a hoot. She seemed a little nervous at first, which surprised me, and her voice was horse from all the traveling and public speaking; but I would love to run into her at a party. I'll bet she can tell some really good stories, especially if she isn't restrained by propriety and her press agent. She retold the story of hiking 7 km on St. Patty's Day in Northern Ontario for beer and toilet paper, and had us all rolling on the floor. And she had prepared remarks about the link between theta waves and knitting, and how those scientists at Cambridge University just couldn't see how it would be practical to carry around "emergency knitting" for stress relief. Obviously, those Cambridge guys need to meet more knitters.

Lessee - got back from Madison about Midnight on Monday - I got a little lost making the transition from 151 back to 23, and wished once more for a Garmin of my very own. Then spent most of Tuesday either working or cleaning until very late. Wednesday was a very busy and productive day at work, with a last minute panic that almost made me late getting home for Dad's visit. But Rick and Tasha were there to keep him company, then we went out and had a dinner in Kohler that couldn't be beat, sang Happy Birthday to Tasha in a low tone that did nothing to mask our off-key start (and finish), then came back to the house and drank a rather fine whiskey with Dad until later than I should have been up on a weeknight.

Today, Dad is on his way again and both the kids are working tonight, so I plan to sit in front of the TV, work hard on the anniversary shawl while watching the first Dr. Who episode for the season, and plan my trip this weekend to Chicago with the cousins. Oh, and laundry . . . we're getting a little critical on laundry again . . .

Tomorrow, I promise: pictures of the status of the anniversary shawl, along with a full report.