Random Meanderings at Middle Age

Winter Break.

As always, the December break ends up being a little on the hectic side as we try to catch up with all the stuff we put off dealing with this fall.  The broken garbage disposal, garage doors, aging mini-van, eye appointments, Bat Mitzvah invitations (and a host of other Bat Mitzvah related activity and planning), cleaning and organizing at home and so on.  There have been plenty of fun social events as well-dinner at friend's on Saturday (I would say that getting stuck in a snow bank on their long driveway was part of the fun, but as I stayed in the car and manned the controls while others dug us out it's probably not a universal feeling!), Christmas Eve dinner (and my Mom's Birthday celebration) at my SIL I(and brother of course), the kids slept over and got to see what Christmas is like for their cousins (and my SIL was sweet and hung stockings for my guys so they wouldn't feel left out) and later on the 25th the traditional movie (National Treasure 2) and Chinese food!

John is home until after the New Year, so I've promised the kids that they don't have to accompany us on any more errands during their vacation.  They've been great but really want some time to hang out and veg (or some value of vegging that includes DDR and other games of an electronic nature, though to be fair Em has been reading a great deal and Noah has been reading and building his new Lego sets). 

Still no real crafting news.  I did make a fleece quillow for Akiko (my niece and nephews former nanny who was visiting from Japan) and some fleece outerwear for my youngest nephew, but have not had any time to knit or spin in several days.  I have a lot to do today, but my plan is to relax and get some crafting , reading and the like done on the week end.

And what are you reading, you ask? Well, Uncle Denny presented me with my holiday gift on Sunday!  Yes, it was a Kindle from Amazon. Initially however it appeared that I had received a gift set of 28 whisks in many sizes.  I did that thing where you smile and say thank you

you while wondering what the heck you will do with a gift that is underwhelming (the box was reused to fool my Mom when giving her her Birthday present.)

The Kindle is wonderful and while there are some things that I am sure could be and will be improved upon it is already a much loved part of my routine.  It's lightweight, the liquid ink (or whatever it's called) screen is awesome and I love how I can change the font sizes easily as needed.  I don't have a lot on it right now, but do have a series I have wanted to read, a couple of novels and Bill Bryson's new book on Shakespeare, as well as some a couple of magazines and my favorite, The New York Times. 

The wireless technology it uses is effortless and worked as I imagined it would.  I read an article about a book in the Times and within seconds had downloaded a sample to see if I wanted to purchase it.  Will it replace books for me entirely?  No.  For one thing I won't be taking the Kindle into the tub (!).  Also, not everything I want to read is available yet .  I really hope that more magazines (especially The New Yorker ) become available.

Yesterday, while waiting for John to finish his eye appointment, I was reading the Times and had a gentleman notice and come over to express some Kindle envy (they're hard to get right now). After seeing mine for a few minutes he decided to order one.  I felt very "early adopter" a first for me, given I didn't own a cd player until the 90s and my Ipod is a classic but was also a gift from Uncle Denny (and is another indispensable part of my life now. ).

Here's hoping I have some knitting and spinning to show you next time.  I do plan to ply some singles I spun up recently and I hope to finish the last nephew sweater before the end of the year.

(Just thinking about the Cape on a cold winter morning)

"Love is like racing across the frozen tundra...

...on a snowmobile which tips over, trapping you underneath. At night, the ice-weasels come."*

I just love that quote.  It speaks so eloquently about the nature of love and relationships and is a nice little segue to some pictures I took at work yesterday.  I work, most of the time, at a synagogue.  However, in winters with much "weather", it really seems as though I work at an icicle factory.  They are enormous and can be seen from all windows, especially in the courtyard.
Every year this poor holly tree is engulfed, entombed, en-whatever in ice and yet it seems to thrive on it.  It never dies off, continues to grow and is quite robust.

I am often struck by the beauty of all this ice.  I think the folks who work with me must find it odd that I creep about taking pictures of the stuff.

Noah tried to hang onto a particulary long icicle hanging near the entrance the other day and it broke off and plummeted within inches of his foot.  This was a 5 foot har poon!  I suggested he not stand beneath them or engage them in the future.

I am going to get ready for Shabbat.  I hope you all have a week end of peace and tranquilty (and if you have ice in your neck of the woods spend some time looking at it!)

 




 

There and back again...

...or Things I have learned about travel, conferences and myself.

San Diego was lovely.  The weather was pleasant, although I am not sure it counted as actual weather.  I mean 65-70 degrees and sunny is hardly weather.  I realized once again, that while it is fun to spend a few days away from winter (and especially fun when you manage to do this and avoid two major storms) I actually like weather. 

I don't like air travel.  Not even a little.  Airports are, as many have noted, modern day purgatories, made even more so because of current security measures and the continued decline in actual customer service or comfort on flights.  I was lucky with both of the long legs of my flights coming and going in that the seat next to me was empty and I was in an exit row and so had leg room to spare.  Still, I remember when flying was truly enjoyable, comfortable and part of the travel experience to be savored.  Now I endure it at best.

I attended the National Biennial for the Union for Reform Judaism.  It was wonderful, informative and fun.  It was also a conference which meant long hours, lots of walking (a convention with over 5000 attendees means you need a convention center and none of these are small) and erratic meals and sleep.  I was fairly smart in that I have long ago learned to incorporate rest, food and fluids into such excursions, but given that there is so much I wanted to do things get a little hectic.  I knit a little but inevitably was so interested in the content of most of the talks and panels I attended that I only did a few rows at a time.  Shabbat services and song sessions were the highlight and the energy and spirituality possible in a cavernous room of so many people is pretty impressive.  The smaller services in the mornings and evenings before Shabbat were especially lovely.

I had two meals worth mentioning, both in the "gaslight district" near the hotel.  The first was on our first night there at The Red Pearl Kitchen.  This was one of those happy accidents that can occur when you travel.  My friends and I wandered past a number of venues dismissing them for whatever reasons (One of us didn't feel like steak, I didn't want Italian etc) and went into this place with absolutely no idea of what to expect.  The food was out of this world.  We chose: Black Noodles w/ Drunken Beef Gai Lan, Duck Banana Lettuce Wraps and Shao Hsing Cashew Chicken and shared it all.  Every dish was superb.   A larger group of us went to dinner in the same area on Thursday evening and somehow found ourselves in The Gaslamp Strip Club . Not to worry, it's subtitle is "a steak place" and it nicely fulfilled the convention going convention of eating in at least one gimmick restaurant.  The gimmick here, in additional to the obvious play on words (further exemplified by the fishnet stockings and miniskirts on the waitresses), is that you are given raw steak, fish or whatever you ordered and you grill it yourself on large gas grills set around the perimeter of the place. I managed to snap a (blurry, but I'm saying arty) picture (I only had my camera phone on this trip) of Gordon and Arnold (fellow congregants) putting in hard work at the grill.  The food was actually quite good and it was a lot of fun. I had steak seasoned with garlic and other spices-I think everyone else had tuna.

I didn't do much sightseeing.  I didn't really do any, but I did have a quick run through the zoo.  My goal was to at least see the pandas.  The baby born this past summer is not allowed on view yet, but the adults were out and were wonderful . I have always loved pandas and have not seen any in person since  a trip to the National Zoo in the 80s.  I wish I had had a little more time to really see all of the zoo, bu t I wanted time for a nap before I checked out of the hotel Sunday and made my way to the airport and my red eye home.  The red eye was a delirium of sleeplessness, mild dozing and the music of my 'pod (a sanity saver).  I was smart and lucky in that I booked the exit row seat and had plenty of legroom and no one next to me.  However, the flight left late, arrived late to Newark and by the time I made it to the gate for the the flight to Boston-I literally ran on as the doors closed.  My luggage was not as fortunate and didn't make it home until this evening (the airline delivered it and was gracious about it all, but again, it says a lot about airline travel that it is a given that your luggage will not travel with you).

And so, I am home.  I am jet lagged and trying to stay awake long enough to sleep all night.  I have a long day of work tomorrow and work again on Thursday but then a week off for winter break.  This is good because I really need to get the invitations done for my daughter's Bat Mitzva.  Oh and speaking of that, I found the perfect Tallit for Em, by Reeva and Em is thrilled with it.  I won't be posting a picture before the Bat Mitzva (don't worry Mom, you get to see it!) but it is stunning and perfect and I was a little emotional when she tried it on to see if it hung properly. I've put it safely away now until the big day!

Happy Winter all.

The festival of lights continues.

We had our family party this past week-end which was a lot of fun.  The kids had a blast and the food was good.  It was pretty relaxed (thanks to Roche Bros!) and everyone liked their gifts.  The twins were very happy with their sweaters and everyone liked their slippers.  It always makes me happy to see the stuff I knit actually appreciated and used.  The slippers went on right away and my niece wore her sweater home.

I'm still planning to make one more Drive-Thru sweater for my younger nephew by the end of the month and a pair of slippers for my brother, myself and John.  However, I am taking a break from gift knitting and will be starting a pair of socks for my trip to San Diego.

Just in time!

Yay!  I finished another Drive-thur Sweater, this one for my niece.  Our family Channukah party is tomorrow so I not only finished in time-but it took less than a week (I started it on Sunday).  once again I knit it using  Plymouth Encore Worsted.  I also had time to make her a fun pair of slippers, from one of my current favorite, gift knitting books, Knit Noel.

I used Encore Mega and here's a quick pic:

So, two sweaters, two pairs of slippers and a hat.  That was the sum total of my holiday knitting this year.  I think I knit 13 or 14 items last year.  I do want to finish John's sweater, another Drive-Thru for my youngest nephew and slippers for the nephews and my own kids (and me!!) by the end of the month.

The darkness of the whole world...

...cannot swallow the glowing of a candle.  robert altinger


Happy Chanukah.  Tonight was a little hectic, but ultimately it came together.  Yay for crockpots (and Pot Roast!).  The theme tonight was reading and the kids were happy with the books we gave them.  Em was thrilled to get a copy of The Daring Book for Girls, as well as a copy of the new novel by Gregory Maguire, What the Dickens:A Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy (I enjoy Maguire's writing very much, however, I also have a soft spot for him anyway because he and his husband have adopted 2 sons in Cambodia, as well as a daughter in Guatamela).  Noah received a few cool books as well, but the one I was really thilled to have thought to order from Amazon.UK was the latest in a series by Chris D'Lacey that he adores.  The new book, The Fire Eternal.  Noah is deeply engrossed in it even as I write.  One of my biggest joys, as a parent, is that my kids seem to have inherited my own (and their father's) obsession with reading.

Let's talk about my knitting though.  I am zipping through a second Drive-Thru sweater, this one for my niece.  It's mostly burgundy and will have pink, variegated pinks and cream stripes at the yoke.  If I can get 2-4 more slippers made as well (all before Saturday evening) then I will be done with the bulk of my holiday knitting.  I want to add that my  resurgence of knitting mojo owes a great debt to one man, and one man only, Dr. Gregory House.  I have been zipping through Seasons 1-3 as I knit and am so entranced that the knitting flies!  Of course, a side effect is that I am often awake past midnight and fall asleep dreaming of obscure diseases and cures.

Crabs, Flower and such.

Next Saturday evening is our family Channukah party so I allowed my kids to receive an early gift (because they'll be opening gifts from their extended family that night and these gifts were alive and not really easily hidden).  I introduce you to Flower (named by my children in memory of the valiant Flower of Meerkat Manor).  Flower really is a bright and brilliant turquoise with a yellow face.  And in an odd way she is a gift for Cloudy Blue who lost his neighbor, Cassie (another 'keet) to old age this past summer.  We put Flower in with Cloudy and were prepared to do an immediate extraction if need be, but all was well for the most part.
You can't really see the crabs, even if you click on the pic, but there are 5.  They are a very social species and we already had the habitat (complete with heated floor.)  We added new sand and they were good to go.  Noah and Em watched them race around the floor for a bit and then introduced them to the tank and they are happy it seems.

Pippin also had a trip to the bird groomer for a wing and nail clip and was somewhat bemused by the new additions. She was quick to let them know she's the only avian in the house who is out of her cage for most of the time.  Quaker Parrots can be little clowns and somewhat bossy.

Oh and I finished another holiday gift-slippers from Knit Noel.  The pattern calls for Encore Mega, so they knit up in less than an hour and are very soft.  They are essentially socks, but thick and will be nice on cold nights here in New England. I'm 1/4 of the way into my second Drive-Through Sweater, thsi one for my niece and it's possible that if I am very,v ery diligent and lucky I may finish it for Saturday.  If I get two more slippers done I will be all set.

Every year, Every single year I swear I will not trap myself into the knitting holiday gift drama and every year I do it.  I have only myself to blame.

Gnorm cuts his visit short...

I think Gnorm is a little upset with me after his visit. It started well. He visited work with me, met the kids, hung out with me at lunch and did a bunch of errands with me. It was the last errand that upset him. A trip to the dentist, I figured he should get a cleaning as long as he was there. After that he insisted we were through and that I send him back to Michigan..he should be there by Monday, if not sooner.