Someone slap me awake

I totally forgot I had really fun pictures from TWO weekends ago. One of my oldest friends - no - she's not my oldest friend in that she's old - she's my oldest friend in that I've known her longest - now behave yourself - came to visit me before deploying to Afghanistan/Kuwait/Iraq for a year. And seeing as how I didn't think it likely for her to get a whole lot of pampering while over there, it only made sense that we go do it before she left.

So, we went to Yvonne's Day spa and splurged.

She had the Dr. Fish Pedicure.

I had the Jello Pedicure.

Then we both had the spa Manicure and pedicure. It was a very nice, relaxing day.

As a point of interest, I'm knitting the top I was going to wear for New Year's Eve, until I changed my mind and decided I was going to wear a halter top and skirt - so I started knitting a beaded silk shrug for that. Until the SigO changed my mind because he's stuck on a red dress I modeled for him that doesn't require any knitted items at all. None. How weird is that? So, the gorgeous lace top, and the luscious silk shrug are both hibernating while I work on a cashmere beret - that feels awesome - can't wait for that to finish. The only thing that's interuppted that is the traveling scarf - which I almost completely forgot about until the last minute, and just got that knit up and ready to send today.

So, that's it. That's the excitement in my life - for now - stay tuned - New Years Eve is less than 2 weeks away. Woo Hoo!!!

Gobble *shiver* Gobble

Happy Belated T-day to everyone. Boy do I have some fun stories.

First, let me catch you up on my knitting retreat. As usual, I spent a weekend in Nov with my buds at Clara Parke's knitting retreat. Still being dedicated to the whole P90X gig, I ran and hid every time we had a meal, which meant I ended up spending a lot less time with everyone than I would have liked. Not that mealtimes are all that long, but since I ran and hid, I ended up driving to other locations (OK, OK - yes! Yarn shops!!!), which reduced the amount of time I had at the retreat. Seriously, it wasn't nearly enough time, so next year, I plan on meeting a couple of buds in Boston a few days before the retreat so I can get my fix. I did have a good time though. Spent too much on yarn (what a shocker, huh?), and on one of my escapes, I got to check out a Rowan exhibit that was on display at the Lenox Library. Personally, I liked the quilts the best, but I loved this jacket. Very nice. And I had to take a shot of this dress, as I actually know someone who made it. The end of the retreat came all too soon and I had to wish my gals farewell, but I'm looking forward to next year already. Also looking forward to spending a weekend with them down in Georgia in summer 2010, and, spending a week doing BRAG in June. I need something to keep me going after New Years Eve, and I figure this is the ticket.

So, on to this past weekend. The SigO and I went to Garrett County, MD, which is the far west part of Maryland - almost to WV. It's a very scenic area, with lots to do, all of which we got skunked out of. But, before I get to that, let me tell you about Art's Market. Oh yeah, SigO - I'm going there! And I'm taking my readers with me!! So, here's the deal. Tuesday, 24 Nov, we still don't have plans for the weekend. All the ideas I'd come up with had fallen through and I was plumb out of ideas. So, I called the SigO and dropped it in his lap. He googled Mid Atlantic Resorts, and came up with Yellowstone Village Cabin rentals in Maryland. I checked it out on line and thought it looked pretty great, so he called their office and reserved a cabin for us for the weekend. Yay SigO, right? Showing great initiative, and all that. Now, had he only shown enough initiative to get an address...that would have really been something - but then, how humdrum would our thanksgiving have been if he'd been so normal, right? See, the rental agency informed him they would be closed on thanksgiving, and he would need to pick up the keys at a location near the cabin. He listened very carefully to the instructions and wrote down "Art's Market" as the place to get the keys. No address. No intersection. Nope. Just Art's Market. But how hard can that be, right? I mean, we're talking a small little town here - surely all we need to do is ask a local where Art's Market is...and so we did. Many, many, many times. We even stopped at the Maryland State Police - nobody had ever heard of Art's Market. We even stopped at Arrowhead Market and asked them. No dice. Three hours later, after driving all over Garrett County, with the turkey sitting in the ice chest in the back seat, we're still trying to find who might have our key - and, oh yeah - where our cabin might be. Finally, we find a sign that says Yellowstone Village Cabins (I'll give him the props - he saw the sign), and hooray - that's where we're supposed to be staying - now which cabin - oh, and yeah - still no key. So, the SigO started knocking on doors. One by one. Undeterred by the fact that everyone would be sitting down to Thanksgiving meals, he was not to be defeated (no surprise there - he was imagining the weekend back home, had he failed - not a pretty picture). Finally, he found someone who knew where to go. You guessed it. Arrowhead Market (sound's just like Art's, right?), back where we'd looked almost three hours prior.

I literally jumped for joy when we finally got to the cabin, and I saw how nice it was. Cathedral ceilings, with nice big windows. A fireplace in the living room, and another on the deck, next to the jacuzzi. A big den downstairs (where I would do my workouts), and a nice big kitchen. The turkey came out great - I'm sure it had plenty of time to get all nice and tenderized rolling around in the back of the car for all those hours, and that's why it turned out so great. The stuffing was yummy (I think so anyway - the SigO wouldn't even try it. I made it with Quinoa, so it wouldn't be so unhealthy, and upon hearing the stuffing would be healthy, he promptly jumped in the car and drove back to Arrowhead Market to get some cornbread stuffing - never even tasted mine!), the gravy was quite tasty, and so were the green beans. The only disappointment was the pumpkin pie. Some things shouldn't even be attempted to be healthy. That night it started to snow, and we got about 3-4" total for the next day. So, we scampered off to go X-Country skiing, only the rental lodge wasn't open, and we still don't have our own equipment. So, we went up to Wisp, hoping for some snow boarding, or air boarding. Skunked again - they don't open til Dec 4th. So, we went and saw 2012. Good CG affects. While driving around, we stopped at this little corner market that also had a corner dedicated to a U.S. Post Office. I still had my traveling scarf to mail, and this was the first post office I'd seen. This, without a doubt, is the coolest market (no - it wasn't called Art's by the way) I'd ever seen. They used an old coal-heater to warm the place, and it had been in the family for generations. I just loved this place. Anyway, we didn't do much Friday, so, we hoped for enough snow to go skiing Saturday.

Saturday, we woke up to the bulk of the snow being melted. All that was left was muddy, nasty trails. So we headed home.

Sounds like a bad weekend, but let me tell you, that was my favorite Thanksgiving ever.

Don't You Wish Your Boyfriend Was Hot

Like Mine. Sing it now - you know he is!!!

But, this isn't just a gratuitous "look at my hot boyfriend" post - believe it or not, I took this picture, at least in part, for you to see the scarf I knit for him. When it was done, I told him I thought it would look good with a pea coat, and so he bought one. And now he's mega-hot. Just sayin.

And on the note of scarves, this is the latest in the traveling scarf saga.

I think it's the nicest one so far, although this is undoubtedly the worst picture I've taken. I put this off til the last minute (I know - whoa! shocker!!), and barely got it mailed out by the deadline - and then when I got to the post office, I realized I hadn't taken a picture yet, so I took a shot on the hood of my car, with the sun beaming down behind me, so yes - that's my shadow on the scarf. So, it may be difficult to tell, but you'll just have to take my word for it - it's definitely the best of the lot so far.

Otherwise, I've put all my other projects aside for now so I can get some chemo-caps knit up in time for Clara's retreat, which is now less than 2 weeks away. For those of you new to the blog, Clara Parkes is a knitter extraordinaire, who has published a few knitting books, and who has a "Knitters Review" newsletter she publishes monthly. And once a year, she has a retreat in Massachussets, and this will be my third year. I go, primarily, to hook up with friends that are also faithful to come every year. Anyway, we normally have some sort of charity we knit for, and this year (and last), it's hats for patients who have undergone chemotherapy. So, I knit one last night (in alpaca - i understand that the most important thing about the hats is that they be seamless, and in a nice, soft yarn), and I'd like to get 3 more knit up before I leave next Friday. Hats are such a nice, quickie project, it's not really a challenge to knit 4 in two weeks.
Actually, the challenge this year, will be staying on my diet at this retreat. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Oh, and this last shot is for my family - cuz by now I'm sure they're missing all the fall color they got to see while they were here.

I survived

For anyone who has ever been to Germany, you can buy a t-shirt that says "I survived the Autobahn", which is the German highway system - the infamous one without the speed limit -well, of course, there is a speed limit, but we're drifting off subject - quit distracting me!


Anyway, I think I need a "I survived my lunatic family's visit" t-shirt. I don't get how it is that I work out every single day of my life, and yet, when they come to visit, I'm exhausted at the end of every day. I mean, yeah - my brother is a marathoner,

and uber-fit, but still - I'm not a complete couch potato, so what's the deal? I want to know. Not to mention my Mom is practically a fossil, (Can you believe she's 74?! And still adorable. I hope I'm that well preserved at her age) and she keeps up! Someone please explain this to me.

In the meantime, here's the story. My uber-fit brother, my sister-in-law, and my fossilized mom all came to visit this week. They came down in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon.

The day before the race, to keep him off his feet as much as possible, all we did was go to Ford's Theater.

And, there may have been a trip to a yarn shop in there somewhere. What can I say - he wanted to preview the course, and while we were trying to drive around, finding all the hills he'd have to run, we came close to Bethesda, MD - home of Knit and Stitch = Bliss - a shop I rarely get to visit since it's so far out of my way. I bought Rowan's Felted Tweed to make this wonderful Fair Isle vest - now all I have to do is learn how to knit fair isle - i figure I'll start with a hat and go from there. So, that was Saturday (they got in Friday night).

Sunday was the race.

And seriously, I think I was more tired than my brother - we raced around trying to get to places to cheer him on. We did get to see lots of gorgeous sites while running around - and with virtually no crowds around (since we were there at the crack-o-dawn - oh yeah - i left that little jewel out, didn't i?).

But, unfortunately, at one point, Doms (Mom's nickname - make sure you remember, not gonna tell you again!) and I got separated from my sister-in-law, and since she was the only one with a race map, that meant we were lost. Well, that and the fact that I'm directionally dsyfunctional. So, Doms and I wandered around lost for - like - ever, before we finally found a metro station, and went to Rossyln, along with the other million people wanting to get to the race finish line. We never got to see him finish, but I did make sure he knew how exhausted I was when I did see him. Silly boy - he didn't think any of this was about him, did he? Truth of it is, yeah - i was tired, but that ended up being a lot more fun than I would have expected.

So, that was Sunday.

Monday, I took a half day off work so I could meet them at the new Smithsonian American History museum. I enjoyed the exhibits - especially the new exhibit for the flag, the one about American's in War, American Presidents, and the transportation exhibit - but there is an awful lot of wasted space in that new set up. Still, I learned a lot - I even learned things the SigO didn't know - impressive, huh?

Tuesday, we all trooped down to Monticello - which is in Charlottesville, VA. And do you know what else is in Charlottesville, VA? The Needle Lady! A really great yarn shop, with a terrific selection. It's possible I bought some yarn there too. I also found a great pattern for a top for my New Year's end of P90X celebration - all I need now is to find some yarn that won't break the bank - the yarn called for in the pattern definitely will. Anyway - back to Monticello - it's a lovely home, but even nicer than the building are the grounds.

The gardens were incredible. The whole day was just one giant watercolor painting - we got really lucky with the fall foliage.

we stopped at this one church on the way there,

and took a zillion pictures

- tons of color, lots of nice photo ops.

Wednesday I had to work all day. The gall. Expecting me to earn my income. But, considering my yarn habit, that income is pretty crucial.

And speaking of yarn...The Doms and I spent Thursday visiting some of my favorite haunts. That, of course, means Wegmans. Not that I love going to Wegmans so much - but, I do have to go a lot - especially on P90X - dieting is such hard work. Then we went to Burke Lake -just so she could see how gorgeous it is in color. Then Merrifield. Then REI - a true favorite. Then Nature's Yarn, and finally, Uniquities. We didn't have time for all my favorite spots, but we did have a stellar day. And now, it's Friday, and they're leaving, and even though I'm exhausted, I already miss them.

Sigh. Texas is so far away!!

Knitting Update

This blog is 100% about knitting.

If you feel yourself dozing off already - probably want to go ahead and move on.

I finished my section of MisJaq's traveling scarf last night. To catch everyone up, this is a group in Ravelry (an online knitting community), that knits a section of a scarf, and then sends it to the next knitter. You start off with your own scarf. You knit 5", and then send it to the next lady in line. This is the lady you always send to, for the entire exchange. She then knits 5" and sends it to the lady under her, who knits 5", and so on, until the scarf comes back around to you. So, the first scarf you receive in the mail is from the lady above you, and it's only her 5". Then, the next scarf you get has 5" knit from the lady above you, and 5" from the lady above her, for a total of 10". The next will have 15" knit. And so on, and so on, until you're the one knitting the last 5" of a 50" scarf. Get it?

Anyway, I had to take MisJaq's scarf to Tiffany at Nature's Yarn (my favorite LYS) and have her rip it back to Jannit's section. I don't know how, but I somehow lost some stitches and couldn't find them again. I kept frogging and tinking and got down to where if I went much further, I'd be messing up Jannit's section - and it's a bit pointless to have a traveling scarf, where the object is to have many women knitting up your scarf for you, when you end up messing with the previous knitter's section. So, needless to say, I didn't want to push my luck any further - especially since it was going south, quickly. Luckily, Tiffany set me straight and I was able to knit my section without any more drama. I did use a lifeline though after Tiffany set me straight, and intend to do that from now on with future traveling scarves.

I used Kaffe Fassett's sock yarn, and I think it is a nice continuation of the colors MisJaq originally chose.

My araucania hoodie is still coming along well. One more sleeve, then on to the hood and the button band. No pics of that yet.

Finally, I'm working on a scarf for the SigO. It seemed only fair that he should get something more than one pair of knitted socks. Although, he'd better use this scarf more than he wears those socks, or else!! I found the yarn in NYC, and found the pattern in Ravlery (of course). It's a multidirectional diagonal scarf. I think it looks very manly, and want him to buy a peacoat to wear with it.

See, there are all sorts of hidden expenses with knitting!

Gettysburg

So, we were desperate to get out of town. What's new, right? And the SigO chose Gettysburg. I had this great camping location all picked out in MD. And no, I didn't make reservations. It was supposed to rain and drop into the low 40's. How many maniacs could there be like us, out on this particular weekend.

Apparently, a lot. So, that campground was full - "We're full every weekend" said the registration lady - rather snottily. Then why do you close 3/4 of your effin' campground in Oct, I'd like to know!?!

Anyway, I did a quick search on SigO's iphone and found Codorus State Park, which is only 18miles out of Gettysburg. Not the most private camp sites, but we got a pretty good one, without anyone immediately next to us on any side. So, after setting up camp, we headed down to the battlefields and did some riding.

Encounted a few problems there too. The map we were using was out of date, and the Visitor Center isn't where it used to be. And they've changed the direction of the traffic, so following our map had us riding against traffic the whole time. Which got real un-fun, real fast. So, we turned around and simply tried to follow some signs. Which was OK, but still, not the best ride ever. The SigO was a tad grumpy when I tried to take this shot, but I put on a pouty face until he smiled at me.

We got a nice shot from the top of Little Round Top,

and a nice one from close to where the visitor's center used to be.

Then, we headed on out, to continue the ride, but it tried to drop us onto another busy road without much of a shoulder. By this time, my fun meter was pegged, so we loaded the bikes and wandered around thru town on foot instead. Lots of folks wandering around in period clothing. Nice.

It was quite dark by the time we got back to our campsite, and with temps dropping fast, the highlight of the evening was to see how big a fire we could build.

Too bad I couldn't take it into the tent with me, because it was seriously cold that night, even with two heavy blankets and us huddling together for warmth. I cursed at him every time he got up to pee - which, quite frankly, was one too many times - but then, once would have been one too many times. And yes. I know. If you think I was cursing...

I'm sure he wasn't loving life out there either. The one time I had to get up to pee I thought my bum was going to freeze off. Can you believe I still want to go camping in the snow one day?

News from the knitting front is good, but since I have no pics to share, you'll have to wait on that one. I'll try to remember to take some shots tonight, and post again tomorrow.

Until then...

Crazy Busy

I know - I'm late in posting, but I have been crazy busy lately. Crazy busy getting ready for a business trip next week. Crazy busy doing P90x. Don't even try giving me that deer in the headlights look. I don't even watch commercials and I've heard Tony's obnoxious promo's on the product.

Ab Ripper!! I hate it. But I love it.

Blech.

Needless to say, I curse at the TV a lot while doing these routines, but I can't argue with the results so far.

So, but, I have a few minutes now, so thought I'd tell you about my weekend.

We went and looked at RV's.

You all probably know by now that the 5-year dream/fantasy/plan - call it what you want - is to sell everything, buy an RV and spend our golden years traveling around. The RV will be home. As such, that means it needs to be a monster RV. Which is why we're looking at a 42 footer. The one we liked the best (where we were looking - and yes, it was the only 42' model on the lot) was the Timmons Phaeton. We looked at some smaller ones, and as soon as we walked in, I thought "there's not even enough room for all my yarn in here!!!" But, I think we could fit into this one. It's got a bath and a half. It's got a king size bed. It's got a full sized fridge.A washer/dryer. And a bigger kitchen than the one I have now - I'm just sayin.

Let me tell you though - as you're driving down the road, and one of these beasts passes by you (and if so - you're driving too damn slowly - again - just sayin'), you see all these compartments along the side. I've always thought those were storage compartments. And some of them are. But most are just places for the sewage, or the propane tank, etc. Not nearly as much storage space as you'd think. We'll have to get one of those roof luggage things, put that on top of our tow vehicle, and stow all my yarn in there. Cuz you know, it's all about the yarn.

Anyway, that night, we went to Cavalia. This is a show out of Canada that mixes Cirque du Soleil and horses. We had a very nice time, and the show was quite spectacular. My favorite part was right at the beginning - this girl was on a trampoline, flipping her legs over her perfectly straight, horizontal body - over, and over, and over again. Quite the sight. Also, there was this one scene where it looked very much Lord of the Rings.

That was very pretty. Another scene had a group of rather gorgeous men standing on the backs of two horses and galloping around, jumping, doing tricks, etc.

H and I lamented over the fact that undoubtedly none of them are interested in women. So many gorgeous men. So few straight.

The show effectively ended with several stunt riders, one after the other, while also featuring several acrobats and aerialists doing their thing.

A nice show, all the way around.

As far as knitting goes, after the RV lot, we went to Old Town Needlecrafts in Manassas, VA. Like In Stitches, she sells knitting, needlepoint and cross stitch. She also sells some quilting supplies. I was only into the knitting. I got the yarn and pattern for a Filatura Di Crosa cardigan that I intend to start just as soon as I'm done with the Araucania Hoodie. I know - amazing - I'm finishing a project before starting another. That's just because I really want to wear the hoodie this fall, and time's a ticking. So far, I have the back and left front knit up. The sleeves are short, so those won't take long, but I just finished the ribbing on the right front, so I have a lot to go on that, plus the hood. Damned P90X. It's interfering with my knitting!!

Just to demonstrate my love for my readers, I'm posting today's blog, despite having one foot in the coffin. I may have overdosed on Airborne and Echinacea-Goldenseal, and yet, I still think there's an invisible giant with his foot on my head - and he keeps pressing down, harder, and harder.

I figure this is either the crud that's been making its way thru our office, or it's the effects of P90X - one or t'other.

But...I'm not here to moan and groan, I'm here to tell you about the horseback trip with WWO.

I took the two girls with me on this trip, seeing as how they both love horses. H has some experience with horses, having taken lessons when she was young, but I had practically none, and I don't think W has a whole lot either. Because H and W were my guests, the guide put the three of us together, so H had to suffer our slowness - although, I'd like to point out it wasn't mine or W's fault we were so slow - it was the four women in front of us who had no control whatsoever over their animals, and another woman who was afraid to go fast. Typical adult thinking - they think they need to protect the poor little children, but of course, who do you figure would like to gallop their horse - the frail little 70 year old, or the vibrant 17 year old? And yet, they stuck us behind the frail little 70 year old - who, I admire for being out there (she's probably really only 50, but hey - she looks about 65 - 70), but I wish they had put her in the back, not us.

But, I make this sound like we had no fun at all. In fact, we did have a nice time. I didn't get a whole lot of shots of all of us, and those of you who know me, know I won't post any of them with the girls faces clearly visible. To explain this - I don't believe in putting someone on my blog until they give me permission. And I don't believe in putting a minor on the blog until his or her parents (both) have given their permission - and since I don't have H's or W's parents permission...you don't get to see their lovely faces. Such is life. Get past it.

Still, here is one nice view we saw along the ride.

And here are all of us lined up, for a picture. Odd place to take the picture. We were all baking in the sun, and you can tell we were all pretty tired of sitting there, waiting for the guide to snap pics from each and every camera brought on the trip. The blue dot, third from the back is me - trying to shade my face.

For the most part, we were in nice shady/cool areas. Either shaded by trees, like you see here, or nice and breezy as we trotted through an open meadow.

Also, this is Rambo - my trusty mount. I had very little problems getting Rambo to heed my wishes, until the end when he was tired, but I still wanted to go fast - then he was a tad stubborn. But trust me, considering the girl in front of me kept walking through tree branches, compliments of her horse, Pearl, and the one in front of her liked to walk over bendable shrubs in order to scratch his belly, I'm not about to complain about Rambo being a bit lazy in the end. And besides - he matched me perfectly- look at those colors!

OK, I'm going to bed now.

Later.

Acadia '09 - Day Six - Last Day

For those of you who are fans of the movie Logans Run, you'll understand when I tell you "Last Day" in Acadia felt a little like "Last Day" in Logans Run. You hope you'll get to renew and come back really, really soon.

As last day's go, this one couldn't have been nicer. The SigO and I spent the morning biking the Carriage Trail. We started out at Witches Hole, went around Eagle Lake, then Jordan Pond, past the Jordan Pond House, around the Carriage House, and back up the around the other side.

I would highly recommend this ride to anyone. There are a few climbs, but nothing the average rider couldn't handle, easily....so long as your chain doesn't pop and you don't lose momentum, like the poor SigO - he had to push through some pretty tough times on account of this. Also, he tricked me into stopping halfway up one hill - the things he'll do to get ahead - and I lost momentum on that hill - still, if you keep a steady pace, this is a great ride. About 17 miles long, with incredible views all along the way.

Here is one of my all time favorite scenes - marshy grasses on the border, then the lake, then the mountains - hard to beat.

Needless to say - I tend to take several variations on this shot.

Then there's the shot from on high -

and one from the trees

We rode past waterfalls, bluffs, and many other beautiful sites, but stopping to take pictures when you're on a bike is much harder than when you're hiking. Not to mention, you just can't do justice to some of them - like the waterfall. We sat and enjoyed that for a while, but none of the pictures we took really came close to displaying its beauty.

After the ride, we went back to Bar Harbor and had a small lunch on the pier - one of the places we always eat - we almost missed it this time - isn't it funny how important those little traditions become. We've eaten at this place every time we've come to Bar Harbor, and even though this is only my third time, it would feel like we'd missed something if we had forgotten to stop here this trip.

Having satiated ourselves, we rounded up the girls and managed to find the only boring path in Acadia. Mind you, set anywhere else, this would be a great trail. But compared to the rest of the trails in Acadia - yawn. We followed the directions given us by our proprietess in the B&B, but she obviously is on this trail for her dog's sake, not the views. Living in the area, she probably focuses more on what's away from the crowds than what vistas are offered.

We did find a fern gully for H (SigO's daughter - you know I don't like to put names in my blog, but I'm tired of referring to her as the SigO's daughter, and I'm tired of referring to her friend, as ...well, her friend...so we'll call that one "W" - and yes - I fully expect you to remember these designations from now on!). I'm not 100% certain of the story behind this, but apparently, ever since she was a wee one, H called this type trail "fern gully".

Also, the birch trees were pretty great. And the SigO almost knocked one over on H. That was exciting. We were noticing how many of them were dead or dying, and he looked at one and said: "Maybe there's a disease - look at this one ", and H did - from directly under it - as he proceeded to completely knock it over - barely missing her. So, for those of you keeping score, first he marches her 5 miles fed by false hopes and lies, then he makes her vomit, then he nearly brains her with a birch. Ah...parental love. The true reason we make kids so resilient!

That night we ate at a lobster bake type place down on the ocean. H was, ironically, the only one who ordered Lobster, although the SigO did have some in his "cobb salad" - if you can call a salad with lobster a cobb salad - but that's what they called it. We didn't get to sit outside as we would have preferred, but we did get to witness the best sunset we'd seen all week.

As if the island was reminding us that it was our last day - the sun was setting on our vacation - and wishing us a good year between this night, and next year, when we return.