Where is that woman?

It's been a whirlwind here...we took a trip east to visit family in Virginia, went to see long time grad school friends and colleagues in North Carolina and more.  We visited a friend's farm and went to the NC Museum of Life & Science.  Our twins particularly enjoyed checking out the bug exhibits, and it turns out that the Professor's grad school advisor and his longtime technician actually raise some of the tobacco horn worms for that exhibit.

The dead silence from the blog has been largely because I am the person who packs the suitcases for three of us, remembers the bathing suits and the sun hats and the very important loveys, toys and school homework.  The dogs came home from the kennel alive and well...and while I was glad to see so many friends and family, I am also glad to be home.

On the knitting front, I have a quick bit of news:

If you'd like to buy one of my Ravelry Patterns ON SALE!...quick, act now!  Time is limited!

I am supporting the Canada KAL, which supports Canadian design and designers.
 Save 20% off all my Ravelry patterns through June 1st. (Ends midnight, CT, US& Canada)  Use this coupon code to save 20%:
Cankal2018  

The other bit of knitting news...while I visited Virginia, some lovely linen yarn arrived in the mail for me, as well as a gift from a friend.  We visited A great Arts Centre in Alexandria, Virginia.  It has lots of programs that allow kids and adults to donate, reuse and recycle their art supplies.  Our friends and their kid took us for a kids' program, and our boys made lots of art to take home.  I visited their store rooms, and scored this:
3 skeins of Quince & Co Puffin (dark brown)
1 skein of Rowan Kidsilk Haze (dark blue)
3 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (dark blue, rose, and dark brown)
AND two pairs of ebony and rosewood knitting needles.
(No photos yet, it's in the freezer, ensuring no moths got brought home from Virginia.
--I paid $5 US per skein of yarn, and $3 for each pair of knitting needles.  What a great find!

Last, but not least....this week has continued to be crazy.  It's been time to make cupcakes for all of grade 1, clean up the house, and make party plans for two boys who are about to turn SEVEN.
If you don't remember back too far on the blog, read about June 2011 here.

Here's the short version in words.

or, there's this:

Happy Birthday, boys!
Here's to a whole weekend of partying ahead...and hoping for many more years of perfectly ordinary, nice days, with health and well-being every day, for many years to come.

On the way

This doesn't have much to do with knitting. Well, a little, but there won't be photos...you'll see why. You may find this amusing anyhow...

My nephew's b-day was a big hit. Lots and lots of people came and everyone had a ball. It was fun although I was pretty dehydrated and over tired from my flight. Nephew himself is doing very well. He's still got serious delays (wow, a lot of delays) but he is smiling at people, grasping at noses and waving a little. He can stand (with help) and seems to be doing a lot of neat baby behaviors, even if they are happening a bit later than usual. Not normal by any stretch of the imagination, but good. For the most part, I'm avoiding the details, as he and his family deserve their privacy. Still and all, even including the stomach feeding tube, compared to last year, things are good.

My first flight, from Winnipeg to Ottawa, was great--lots of room to stretch out and knit and enjoy myself.

I had a very peculiar experience on my second flight from Ottawa to DC. A large older gentleman, sort of olive skinned, with a beard and a nicely cut gray pinstripe suit, was sitting in the wrong seat. He was redirected to the seat next to mine and he made peremptory humphing noises in frustration. He settled in, stretched out, and proceeded to take up 1and 1/2 seats. (half of mine.) He stretched his legs out, fell asleep with his hands cradling his crotch, and started to snore. He had a bit of food in his beard. I figured out after a while that he had little or no English at all.

I was wearing Doc Martens and sort of fought back when he started nudging my leg over even further. He was touching me (not sexually, just inappropriately) and oozing over in my seat! I finally lost my temper entirely when I lifted up my cup of water and he was touching the side of my body under my arm right around my bust. I whipped out my best "sharp elbow" and gave him a good shove. He looked very surprised but gave me a bit more room after that. Needless to say, there was no room to knit. I could barely read without having to guard my personal space.

I was thrilled with relief when the 1.5 hour flight was over and got off the plane---but then shocked to find a guy in army fatigues, a secret service guy and several other armed gentlemen received this man cordially right as he stepped off the plane.

I walked away with a brisk hustle but then discovered that unfortunately, I was keeping pace with this entourage. The guy had at least 2 or three interpreters as well as the military men and a couple of onlookers. I kept pace so well that the secret security police looked worried....entirely coincidental. I got my luggage off the baggage claim. As I left, I asked a guy with a gun who was standing guard who this "important" guy was.

He was a General. From Afghanistan. I explained that I'd not known that and elbowed the heck out of him when he kept getting into my seat space. The guy with the gun grinned, he thought that was hilarious. I told the guy to keep the general safe and went out to meet my dad's car.

Just another ordinary flight to Washington, D.C., I guess!

Later, I did a little searching. Here's the guy who sat next to me. Here's what he looks like when he's not snoring, in uniform, and doing his job. Something like the equivalent of Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff General. He was flying from meetings with the Canadian military and government folks to meetings with the U.S. military and government folks. Oh.

My dad and I wondered why he was flying without an entourage right beside him, but mostly, I commented about the most important thing I'd learned. Growing up in D.C., I learned that even very important folks put on their pants one leg at a time. I don't feel bad about the sharp elbow...all polite indicators of discomfort had failed. Only the professor and a very few others (like my nephews or my dogs...) get to be that snuggly with me on trips!

Travelling provides for lots of adventures, doesn't it!?