Last Sunday I Ran Away From Home

I ran away from home. For real.

Sunday morning, bright and early, I hopped into SarahLou's car with Mary and DaleAnn, and we drove to Chicago! We went to meet up with some knitter friends, and to swap a skein of yarn for Sarah so that she could make matching knee socks. (Her skeins were from different dye lots.)

Our destination was Dearborn Station, home of Loopy Yarns.

Once we found parking, we found our Friends of P and went to breakfast. Mary, DaleAnn, Erika and Becca.Erika, Becca, Kristy (way in back) and SarahLou.
I also made plans to meet my blogger friend Karen while I was in the Windy City. Thanks for joining us at Loopy!

Jen, Becca and Erika. Look how energized Jen is. She's always that way. Seriously. That blue striped sweater? That's Beth. Sorry Beth, for cutting you out of the photo.

FoP* Feet! Of course we all had our beautiful handknit socks.

*Friends of P

After an afternoon of knitting, cupcakes, side-splitting laughter, dinner at Bar Louie and a loooooong drive home, the Toledo bunch arrived back home at nearly midnight.

WOOF!

Happy

My friend Eva recently tagged me on her blog to write about Six Things That Make Me Happy. What better time than right now, when I feel like the whole world is falling in on me? (It will pass, don't worry.)

1. Love. Love makes me happy. I am fortunate to have found the love of my life, my soul mate, my other half, the Yin to my Yang, the person who completes me. I know how rare that is, especially since this is not the person I spent 19 years married to already!

2. My kids, and their intelligence and their resilience and humor. (Is that one thing?) Really. My kids amaze me, even when I threaten to find out how much it would cost to ship them to Tibet in a refrigerator box with no air holes.

3. Knitting makes me happy. No matter how crappy my day has been, I can pick up needles and yarn and the soothing motion lulls me into a better mood. At the end, the symphony of sticks and string produce a beautiful fabric; durable, warm and useful. I have made the best friends through knitting, and found the best yarn shop too, Yarn Cravin'.

4. Technology makes me happy. The internet and sites like Ravelry for knitters and other fiber addicts, allow for sharing info and ideas, and make the world smaller.

5. Having a new President makes me happy! I'm so excited to be a part of this historic change in our country. In June I'm taking the 7th graders to Washington, D.C. again, and I'm more excited about this trip than any other.

6. Coffee. Seriously. Good coffee makes me happy. Strong, black, very hot coffee makes me delirously happy, particularly if it is delivered to me before I even have to get out of bed in the morning.

So, having read this, you're it. I won't tag specific people. Just go forth and blog about what makes you happy. Six things. And let the person you got it from know you have completed the mission.

Here was the original task:
Some suggestions:
Link to the person who gave you the award. If you want.
Post these suggestions on your blog.
List six things that make you happy.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the person who awarded you know when your entry is up.

Where Did That Come From?!

I woke up this week from a cookie-induced hangover and found out New Year's Eve had passed and the New Year 2009 had arrived. While I don't mind the old year being gone, I at least would have liked to have had the opportunity to give it a nice firm kick on the arse as it was on it's way out. Instead of grousing about the missed opportunity (my son and I were both sound asleep well before midnight being the pansies that we are...), I will instead share with you some of the holiday highlights.

This is the favorite ornament on my tree; this angel made of pipecleaner and glitter and coffee filters. My son made it in pre-school, and I know it was made before he turned four. He got glasses when he was four. He looks so darned angelic, and everyone who knew him then, and now, knows he's not. He's kind and sensitive, but not so angelic. This ornament is one of my treasures.

There's the 12 year old, "angel" who is so dear to my heart. He waited patiently for his sister to sort all the presents on Christmas because she wanted it to have a "system" for opening.


They were ecstatic when they opened iPod shuffles from their dad.


We had to pack up and drive to Oma and Opa's to celebrate with aunts,uncles and cousins, and Navi Dog. Miss Mayhem looks happy about that gift.

Absent Minded Professor is hoping to not get caught wearing Rudi-Clause's hat! No toucha da hat!

Oma was so busy knitting socks for all the little guys that she didn't expect anything to be knitted for her. Enjoy that alpaca scarf, Oma.

One more trip for me yet, after all of that. I had to drive back to T-Town to celebrate with Bill and the College Boys. Bill gave me a gorgeous and thoughtful gift. Back in the fall Ibought a sterling silver bracelet that was hand made. I had wished for a matching necklace. Bill, all on his own, contacted the jewelry maker and arranged to have a necklace for me to match the chain maille bracelet. It even looks gorgeous with my p.j.'s!!

I was stunned by the gift; not just by the beauty of it, but by the thought that went into finding something meaningful and special. Bill found a creative gift, a gift that shows he pays attention. That's a gift of love.

Here's to lots of love and happiness in 2009.