I Was Gina's First!!!

Miss Gina started a new job at Yarn and Fiber, and a bunch of us (Donna, Heather, Jackie, and Sarah) joined her Friday night to keep her company.

Guess who was her VERY first customer!

Doesn't she look proud?

Here's some of what I picked out...the yarn and pattern are for a Christmas present for my favorite izzer...

• a pattern from Cherry Tree Hill - the Making Tracks shawl. Looks easy, maybe I can't screw it up. But then again, I frogged it completely three times before I understood the freaking directions. Sigh.


• a bar of Mow the Lawn!! soap from Down to Hearth Soaps - it smells so good - cleavage worthy!!!


• an Addi Turbo circular 10 / 32" needle for the shawl


• two skeins of Mountain Colors Mountain Goat Alpine, 55% Mohair and 45% Wool. Really nice to work with.


• a bag of pink needle protectors

Gina's worried (and rightfully so) about how much of her paycheck she will actually bring home. After last night, I am more worried about mine! Being able to wander the store every Friday night is going to test my willpower. Damn!

It was such a nice evening. Sometimes knitting at Barnes can be tough - the group grows to as many as 20 people, you can barely hear yourself think. But Y&F is comfy, quiet, the walls are soundproofed with yarn. What more could you want?

On This Day, Seven Years Ago...

Made it - our 7th anniversary. Both Heather and Lora also celebrated anniversaries recently, and posted some wedding pics to celebrate, so who am I to break with tradition, huh? Are you ready?

Date: September 2, 2000
Location: Back Yard, Kingston, NH
Guests: Oh yeah, 200+ of them.

Caterer: Muddy River Smokehouse

We wanted a very informal wedding, just a few of our bestest friends, so we rented a tent and a dance floor, brought in Muddy River, and planned a day full of music, good food, and a very brief ceremony. Really - it was ten minutes tops.

Bridesmaids were my two sisters Lisa (matron of honor) and Kristin, my best friend-might-as-well-be-sister Lisa, and her bodacious daughter Jesse, who in a few more years would become a slamming roller derby goddess - more about her in another posting.

Mark asked his buddies Paul and Terry and his brothers Chet and Keith to stand up for him. He has already done the penguin tuxedo thing for his first wedding, so we had the guys buy new gray suites, and the girls all found dress / sweater sets in a catalog that were the perfect color. Done. Simple. Comfortable.

But not as comfie as bare feet!! It had rained until just about a half hour before the ceremony - people were walking into the backyard under umbrellas. It was clearing a bit, and we could mop up the dancefloor, but I didn't want to risk slipping in my dress shoes, so it was a perfect excuse to ditch them. It was worth the look on my mother's face when she realized I was going to go barefoot. And the guests seemed to be amused as well. After the ceremony, all the girls ditched their sandals too. Had to get a piggies picture.

And, the blissful couple. Awwwwwww.

Honeymoon: Paradise Stream, Caesars Pocono Resorts. Plunge pool in our room, jacuzzi, fireplace, perfection.

Scattergories

SCATTERGORIES ... and it's harder than it looks!

Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
* They MUST be real places, names, things ... NOTHING made up!
* If you can't think of anything, skip it.
* You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can't use my answers!

My name: Laurin
1. Famous Singer/Band: Lisa Loeb
2. Four letter word: Lust
3. Street: Lonely Street
4. Color: Lilac
5. Gifts/Presents: Lipstick
6. Vehicle: Lincoln Continental
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Lighters
8. Boy Name: Lance
9. Girl Name: Lisa
10. Movie Title: Lost in Space
11. Drink: LaLa's Dirty Martini (all ya have to do is ask....)
12. Occupation: Lawyer
13. Celebrity: Lauren Tewes (oh, I am OLD...)
14. Magazine: Lowrider Magazine
15. U.S. City: Lowell
16. Pro Sports Teams: LA Lakers
17. Fruit: Ligonberry
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Lazy Ass
19. Something You Throw Away: Lint
20. Things You Shout: Later, Dude!!
21. Cartoon Character: Lisa Simpson

If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged to add this to your blog. Let me know you did!

First Pair of Socks - DONE

Finally.

Harlot Simple Socks, in Trekking XXL.

Frogged at least 8 times, but finally finished.

Was going to give them to Gina, but oranges reds and blacks just don't seem Gina-ish, ya know? So I started another pair.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in Hawaii colorway. Beautiful colors, although I am not thrilled with how it pools. But Gina likes the way they are knitting up, so on they go. Jaywalkers, this time.

Ravelry - the great and mighty time-suck

I got into Ravelry a few weeks ago, and have mostly been lurking, checking out other Manch-Vegas knitters project queues and stuff. I have a feeling that the very minute I start to use this thing in earnest, I'll have to quit my job. It is a fantastic site, with the compelling lure of organizing your knitting life and joining a community of folks all trying to do the same thing.

But man - I spent two hours on it today. Without a whole hell of a lot to show for it. But it is soooooo cool.

I'm in trouble.

The Next Day at the daSilva Spa and Resort

The story starts the night before. After all the ManchVegas chicks (and Chris) left, Mark thought the pool has lost some water, and decided to bring the level up. So, he put a hose in the pool, came in, and made his first mistake.

Rule #1: Don't ask your tired wife to remind you to shut off the water, and then expect she will stay awake longer than you do.

I fell asleep sitting up in the living room by 8:30 - and he went to bed. No, I did not remind him. Can you see where this is going? Hmmm?

He got up to pee about 3:00, and he was confused to hear what sounded like rain outside - but it wasn't raining. Except pool water through the skimmer opening, of course. Eroding the stone fill around the base of the pool. So he went out in the dark with a flashlight, probably blaming me - still comfortably snoring in my chair - to shut off the water.

Rule #2: If you are going to backflush the pool to drain off some water, make sure you rehouse the pump valve back to normal when you are done.

He didn't. When he checked the pool the next morning, it had continued to drain off water until the level was below the skimmer. Bad.

The hose went back in. Ice cold water from the well. So now he is convinced that we are never going to be able to swim in the pool again - we might as well drag out the ice skates. And man was he UGLY about it.

So here is where the daSilva Spa and Resort came in. I was telling Lisa this story and she invited me over. Done deal. She has a pool. And a spare bedroom. What's not to love?

Went over for a day of relaxing drinkies, knitting, swimming. Lisa runs a three star establishment complete with crazy puppies and an even nuttier husband. He thought Mark's pool mishaps were so funny that he called him and said "at least MY woman doesn't have to go to another man's pool to go swimming.." This would have really cheesed my husband's shorts except that Chris is Brazilian, and was so excited about his little joke that his accent got in the way and Mark didn't understand a word. I had to translate for him the next day.

Lisa and I thought it was hysterical, though!

Poolin', Knittin', Drinkin' and Foldin' - OH YEAH

August 4th - OK, so only a few weeks behind here. Invited the Manch-Vegas gang to my house for a very long day - at least for some of us. From about 9:30 to noon, whoever showed up put their heads down to the task of folding as many origami cranes as we possibly could, to decorate Gina's house for Ericka's shower. She loves bright red, so most of the cranes were red, but we also used white, gold, and a few very pretty printed papers.

I have to admit this is not a strength - I find it really hard to follow origami instructions. So I devoted myself to the first few folds - the others grabbed my starters and finished them up. Luckily Gina's husband Ian was there - he was a whiz at it. He helped the others get going, then took Ben out to the pool so we could get to work. Sarah, Heather, Caroline, Marion, Gina, Lora, Melissa - they all kicked butt cranking out the cranes.

Then, at about 1:00ish, we broke out the drinkies, started getting lunch out, and drifted to the pool. The whole day was a blast - perfect weather, perfectly crazy and funny guests. And perfect frozen margaritas. What else could you possibly ask for? Except for my frog back, maybe. But he is in a good place. His wife misses him, though. Maybe she will meet a nice newt and forget all about him.

Ericka and Chris finally dragged their asses over about 3:00 - I remember the good old days when I could lounge around in bed till noon with no one to nag me about it - days long gone when married to a morning person. (Should have run when I had a chance.) They brought chicken wings that would grow hair on a rock. The minute they lifted the lid on those suckers, it went right to my throat - like gargling on hot, vinegary razors. But damn were they good!

Catching Up, PART THREE

July 1st Update: Forgot to mention that we also celebrated Rob's 21st birthday - Lisa brought all kinds of Hostess cakes and stuck a candle in them. Kiddie crack - gotta love it!

He did.

Dude - happy birthday.

Catching Up, PART TWO

Ok, so I am cheating a bit, and skipping several weeks.

So, instead of having 4th of July on the 4th, we had it on the 1st. Invited Cris and Lisa, and my sister Lisa, and brother in law Keith over for drinkies, charred animal flesh, and assorted nummies. Pretty much like the Knitting Pool Party coming up on August 4th. So if you are coming, here is a little of what you are in for....

I put a dozen turkey legs in the smoker at 5:30 that morning. They were almost done by 2:00ish - had to put them in the oven for a hour or so to finish them off. Low and slow, but come on!!! But they were faboo.

I just wish that it had been warmer. I was the only one brave enough to go in the pool, and that was because the half pitcher of Caipirinhas that I had managed to kill off. Oooof - that's an awesome little drink.

More from NH Sheep and Wool 2007

Some more sights from the Sheep and Wool.

So what else did I pick up? Well, I got a kit to make some winter boot socks for Mark - as usual, I find that if I buy something for him, he is much more agreeable about anything else I buy. Men.

Also picked up Jackie Fee's Sweater Workshop. Meant to get it at SPA, but wasn't able to get back to her table. Luckily, she was at Sheep and Wool. Very nice lady. Have I looked at it yet? Nope. I need to clone myself to send one of us to work, and then the other one can do what is really important.

So Little Time, So Much to Blog PART ONE

My bad. Between house sitting, total lack of ambition, and assorted other excuses it has been too long since the last post.

So much to catch up on.

So let's go back to early May - I have several installments about our vacation up at Weirs, but nothing much about our trip to the 2007 NH Sheep and Wool.

What a fantastic day, huh? Perfect weather. No rain - after the past several years of rain, including the Mother's Day floods last year. But this year, warm and sunny.

Of course, ManchVegas Knitters showed up en masse, including Gigi, Gina and Jackie doing their best Charlie's Angels imitation. Alpaca bandits, beware! And Chris and Ericka, Heather, Lora, Vicki, Melissa, and Spunky Eclectic (an honorary MVK, I spose) joined us for lunch (and to compare treasures).

I didn't have any purchasing goals - wandered through all the vendor displays and drooled. Mark was fascinated by the ancient drop spindles and insisted on buying me one. We picked an interesting one from Peru, and some Icelandic sheep's wool to spin. I warned him - I was perfectly happy NOT picking up yet another craft - was perfectly happy to buy yarn all nice and neatly wrapped in an informative paper band. Had no desire to learn to spin. But if he was going to enable, he better be prepared for the day to come when a real spinning wheel comes into the house. You know it's going to happen...

So someday, I'll have a monster spinning wheel, and spin my own wool sheared from a sheep living in my backyard, and then weave the yarn into something on my loom. No, before you ask, the Kromski hasn't come out of the box yet. Shut up.

Sock n' Roll

I GET SOCKS, PEOPLE!!!!!

Did you hear the light bulb go one with a "bink"???

That was me figuring out the freaking mystery about socks. I almost finished the watermelon sock, as you already saw, but check this sucker out! This is the first of two socks for my sister, done in Trekking.


She has huge feet, so I have a ways to go, but I turned the heel, did the decreases (CORRECTLY this time!!) and am close t0 a finish.



Next, I will take up the Jaywalker pattern again and re-read it with an air of "been there, done that..."


What did pride goeth before? I forget....

Gina Guessed!

Isn't it adorable? Sorry Ericka - you won't be getting this yarn. (She thought if I frogged the sock one more flipping time I would pitch the yarn to get rid of the bad juju...)

It isn't quite perfect, besides not being quite done. I have to have someone show me how to graft the toesies.

Also, on the decreases after picking up all the stitches, I only realized about halfway through the decreases that I should have been knitting a round plain between each decrease row. But, I pressed on. I'm framing this sucker anyway. It's going on my wall, so who cares if it wouldn't fit anyone!

The yarn is superwash merino, hand painted by the voluptuous Gina herself.

The pattern is from the Yarn Harlot, her plain vanilla sock recipe. You can get this pattern at the Knitty Gritty website.

You'll Never Guess

In a million bajillion years, you will NEVER guess what I finished. Well, to be honest, almost finished - I only have 8 stitches left to deal with. Will just need a few minutes instruction to learn how to wrap this project up.

Here's the deal. I will post a picture of this work of art when someone correctly guesses what it is. Type of project, and the yarn used. If you know me, you can figure this out.

Wanna guess?

Doncha?

Come on, I know you do.....

I Be Tagged

I've been tagged by Gina. Oh, goodie.

Here's the deal: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Here's my 7 facts.

1. When I was a kid, I had an inch+ overbite. Spent two years in braces, nightgear, retainer, the whole works. Think little girl in Little Shop of Horrors.
2. My B.A. is from the American University, in Soviet Studies from the School of International Service, which gives me the unique education and perspective I need to be a technical writer and trainer for accounting software. Sigh.
3. My #1 not-so-secret-TV-vice is /was Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. OK, now you all know. And if you don't harass me about it you can borrow the entire DVD box sets.
4. I am a Mary Kay consultant, but not the kind that bleeds pink and gets in your face. I'm the kind that has a few loyal customers, and wants to take advantage of the discount. And ladies, my skin has been near FLAWLESS lately. Nuf' said.
5. I hate to talk on the telephone. Face to face is best, then email - but too many years of inbound call center sales and software technical support killed any urge in me to live on the phone. I don't leave my cell phone on. Leave a message and I'll get back to you.
6. All the cats I have had in my life have been my babies, and every single one has been special - Cleo, Daisy, Rosie, Boris, Puddy, and Abby. One of these days I will dig out pics of all of them and do a kitty blog.
7. I snore. A lot. Loudly. With enthusiasm and concern for a job well done.

Now, I am not sure if I know 7 more people to tag who haven't been already. I can tag Jess, but she's too busy right now to blog. No one in my family blogs. As far as I know. No one else at work blogs. As far as I know. And is it polite to tag strangers, just cuz you read their blog? Probably not. Let me think about it and add more names if / when I come up with them. If you are reading this and want to volunteer to be tagged, speak up!!!

Vacation 2007 - Weirs Beach PART FOUR

Eating and Shopping and Knitting - Oh My! (Or, What I Did on My Spring Vacation)

And yes, we went to many of our favorite places, and tried a few new ones.

George's Diner in Meredith is a favorite for breakfast. Big omelettes, nice waitresses, good coffee. And the regulars are funny to listen to as they harass the staff. There was a table of State Police in there when we went, but that didn't seem to slow down the bickering back and forth.

We drive by Christmas Island Steak House on the way to the condo, and for a few years have been meaning to try it out, and never did until this year. It's OK, but we probably won't go back. The prices are a little steep for the quality - it's like they are trying to be too gourmet for the area and their food doesn't quite make it, even though the prices do. And it's silly to put on airs when half your clientele wears leathers and straps on a Harley. Just my humble opinion.

Our absolutely favorite-est place is JT's Ribs (up the street from the condo, across from the Fun Spot), followed by Patrick's Pub (Gilford) in a close second. JT's BBQ is pretty good - worth the gastric distress caused by all the beans and sauce and garlic a few hours later. You HAVE to have the Texas Toast.

Patrick's knows how to pour a cold beer, and their food is really good, with a wide variety.

Almost forgot - we started our vacation with a fantastic meal at Fratello's in Laconia. EXCELLENT Italian food. Mark was in Alfredo heaven. We both had haddock specials - his with alfredo, mine with spinach and a fantastic light cheese sauce. My tumbly is rumbly just thinking about it. Even the cappucino was perfect.

Vacation 2007 - Weirs Beach PART THREE

Eating and Shopping and Knitting - Oh My! (Or, What I Did on My Spring Vacation)

What a freakin bargain! Donna, don't hate me! Went to Patternworks first thing last Monday, and they had KOIGU in the sale bin! HALF OFF!! I grabbed all of it. Starting my Koigu stash - will never hit Donna's 200+ stashyness, but I am on my way.

My favorite place to shop at while up at the Lake is the Long View Country Store on Rte. 3, Meredith. The place is full to the rafters with yummies, games, consignment antiques, retro repros and just plain fun stuff. They even have a sour pickle barrel. Every time we visit there is something new, and the owner is very sweet. Check it out - don't just drive by.

This time, I got some Stonewall Kitchen Blueberry Syrup and some blueberry pancake mix, a few pickles, a fighting froggie pen for Gina, some Kettle Korn, a surprise for Chet and Anita's campsite (can't tell you until we give it to them..), and a surprise for my sister (can't tell you that either).

Vacation 2007 - Weirs Beach PART TWO

Eating and Shopping and Knitting - Oh My! (Or, What I Did on My Spring Vacation)

Didn't have many ambitious plans - stocked up on magazines, brought a few almost done projects - this one is yet another Booga bag to go into the stack for a felting frenzy. I found this yarn on EBay - a gorgeous butterscotch with some dark green for the bottom and base.

Vacation 2007 - Weirs Beach PART ONE

We're back, back to the daily grind, after a week of doing nothing. Really, nothing. We slept, we made tough decisions like where to go out to eat, or whether to nap now or later. I made a feeble attempt of doing some work for the office, got a few hours in - but that was the most strenuous thing I did, at least mentally.






How can you exert yourself with a view like this?

Where I Knit

Monkey See, Monkey Do.
Lora
Jackie

Me - Pending.

Vacation!

For the next week I will be up at Lake Winnie-pee-sock-ee, soaking up the not-having-to-drive-two-hours-a-day-and doing-whatever-the-bloody-hell-I-wanna-do vibe.

We will be meeting ManchVegas knitters at the 2007 NH Sheep and Wool Festival on Saturday, the 12th.

Until then, or until I can find decent WiFi coverage up they-uh, have a lovely week and try not to miss me even a little bit!

Nothing that Takes a D Battery???

WARNING: This post may contain some material only suitable for adults with a sense of humor. If you are not an adult, or you are easily offended, move on, please.

The Lovely Gina invited us all over this past Saturday for an afternoon of knitting - but to kick off the day, she had a naughty toys party. I have to be careful about the pics I post here, but rest assured that there are more lascivious shots just waiting for any one of the guests or Gina to run for President. BOY could I rake in some blackmail green.

Between the drinkin',



















and the eatin'
















and the fondlin',





we actually did get some knittin' done.







But before that, we got to play with TOYS. This is probably the safest picture - but even this little bugger is well, let's say, really FRIENDLY. I'm looking forward to making friends with it myself - it's going to be here this week. You know, for my sore neck. I type all day. It's a thing.











What Happens in ManchVegas, Stays in ManchVegas.

To finish this one off, here is a great shot of our soon to be married knitbuds. Let's hope they never stop finding each other really amusing.

Bloggie, Bloggie!

Bloggie bloggie??? - I think this is Gina's way of saying that I haven't blogged for awhile. So G, this one's for you.

Memoranza
April 14, 2007

By the way, I had an excuse. Lost my camera. Found it tonight.

So a few posts back I mentioned I was going scrappadoodling. It was a very productive day.

Got to the First Cong. Church in Kingston about 8:30, and Melissa had everything under control. Gotta give her her props - she has this business down to an art. Settled right in with my large-caramel-latte-with-skim-milk and got to work. Well, grabbed a warm toffee/pecan/walnut brownie from the pan I baked to bring over. Brownies. For breakfast. Did I say this was a good day?

Lisa showed up a little later, only getting a little lost along the way.

Melissa demonstrated Creative Memories' Memory Manager software, and I liked the looks of it so much I actually unwrapped and installed it (the copy I got last October) when I got home. Very cool software for seeking out and organizing all the pictures on your hard drive. I had 23,000 pictures when I ran the search feature. Holy CRAP. But with the help of this program you can weed out the duplicates, get rid of the stinky shots, and organize the rest into folders to print for albums, or to create a StoryBook.

Just about finished Aunt Joyce's album. All it really needs is a once-over by cousin Sue, who just became a grandmother, by the way. Does that fact make me look old?!?!?!?

This is the cover page - traced the heart shaped CM Custom Cutting System pattern, and used ivy and flower and birthday stickers to fill it in.

At the cookout back in August I put out journaling boxes and had all the guests write birthday greetings to put in the album. The kids definitely got more into it than the adults, but everyone left a note to scrap.

Note to Husband

A sump pump works a WHOLE lot BETTER if the hose isn't crimped shut by the garage door.

Just thought I'd share.

Your Loving Wife.

Goin' Scrappin Tomorrow - Uh Huh.

Yup. Tomorrow is Memoranza 2007. <>

Tomorrow I pick up scrapping projects I haven't looked at since the last Memoranza. And take them to the First Congregational Church in Kingston, to join my buddy Lisa and about 25 other women in 10 HOURS of scrapping.

No mens wanting to be fed.
No catseses wanting to be fed.
No choreseses.

Life is sweet.

Sleep. I remember sleep.

12:45 am, Tuesday morning.

I remember when sleep was a given.
I remember when naps were an annoyance. Who could possibly think it was sane to sleep in broad daylight?
I remember when I could pull all nighters studying and / or partying, go to classes the next day and make it to the next evening before it became crucial to hit the pillow.

What is it about getting older that turns this free and easy relationship with sleep on its ass?

Gonna go back to bed now - see what's on cable.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

NO MAS!!!

That's it. I have had ENOUGH.

• No more fiber in my nose so much that I sneeze technicolor.
• No more yarn ends sticking to my cat's butt from the static.
• No more husband eyebrows going up at the thought of buying yarn for more than a buck a skein.
• No more taking time off from work to travel to the cold-as-heck mountains to knit.
• No more stash giving me the guilts everytime I walk into my so-called-craftroom-more-like-dumping-grounds-for-stuff-I-don't-know-what-else-to-do-with room.
• No more running to the LYS for yet another one-last-skein because I can never buy enough.
• No more Cheetos Sweater from Hell patterns to kick my butt.

I'm giving away all my yarn and supplies to Goodwill.










NOT! April Fools! Bwahahahahahahahah!!!

ManchVegas goes InterState!

Last Saturday, a large contingent of the ManchVegas Knitting group crossed over the line - we headed to York, ME to join the new owners of the Yarn Sellar for a day of knitting. If the world wasn't a really funny place, I wouldn't be able to say "We" here. I had absolutely no intention of meeting the girls anywhere - never mind Maine. But like I say, the world is a funny place.

Pretty much the first words out of my DH's mouth really pissed me off that morning. You know how it is. Sometimes it isn't their fault, sometimes it is, but that doesn't matter. He cheesed me off and then went out to do a few errands. I decided, in my abundant maturity, that I wasn't going to be home when he got back, so I hit the road.

It was already turning into a great day - the weather was fantastic, I had a full tank of gas, I just got paid - know what I mean? When anything feels possible?

So I took my butt out to breakfast at one of my favorite places - Betty's Kitchen on Route 1 in Hampton. Yum - O. If you leave this place hungry, it's because you are stupid. Plain and simple. Had the crepes with ham, asparagus and Hollandaise, some great coffee, and juice. Sat in a little corner at a tiny table, watched people (a favorite hobby), and knit.

Then had to do a little shopping, so went to WalMart in Portsmouth - see, moving north, stars falling into alignment - and in the lot on the way out, called my lovely sister in law, Anita. Told her I was annoyed with her brother in law, and asked if she wanted to come out and do girly things. We agreed to meet at Stonewall Kitchen for lunch.

See? York? It's kismet!

We spent way too much money at Stonewall and had a really nice light lunch in their cafe, and as we were leaving, she said the magic words.

"Hey - there's a new yarn store opened just up in the next plaza - want to check it out?"

"Uh, OK," I replied - like she had to twist my arm.

And there it was - the Yarn Sellar.

The place is gorgeous. Full of all the luxury yarns and tools you could need. But it was made Nirvana by the long wooden tables down the center of the store, and by the people sitting there.
My peeps! Gina was actually standing with her back to me near the door, so I snuck up and planted a wet one on her cheek. Can't help it. She's kissable.

This really was a coincidence. I knew the girls were traveling, but I knew I wasn't joining them, so I didn't pay attention to the emails full of plans about the trip. I thought they were heading further north, like to Halcyon or somewhere up there.

And even as we were walking into the store, I was telling Anita that this would be a nice day trip for the group. DUH.

Turns out some reporters had just left, after interviewing the new owners and our group, as well as a Chicks with Sticks group that meets there too.

Here's the article link.

I also missed lunch with them, but joined them to knit until about 5:30, then headed home. My DH sulked a bit, but cheered up when he saw the stuff I got for him. Boys. Chocolate covered Peeps will do it every time. Anita didn't hang around long, but I am hoping to be able to convince her to join me there soon for an afternoon of knitting.

Plus, like he always says, "Forgiveness is easier to get than permission."