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I’ve been away for a few months, busy knitting.  I started a sideways sweater with Helen (Sit N Knit Too) and was progressing nicely, abet not as nicely as my friend, Martine.  She finished her sweater in April.  I only got to the  left front when we decided to take the Kousa Shawl class at SNK.  Since it started I’ve been knitting like a piece work knitter in a third world country.   I’m keeping up with the goals of the class even though we went on vacation.  (That’s Jan and Greg in the foreground)  I am 3/4 finished with the fringe, below, and the next class is saturday morning.

 The color of the whole shawl isn’t good, but you can see how it looks.  The actual color is the picture above.

This is the center square, which the rest of the shawl was built on.

In April we went to California to visit relatives and a quick trip to Vegas.  We started visiting Pasadina, CA to see Uncle Ed, who will be 90 this May.  We didn’t get the invitation until we got home or we would have rescheduled the trip to see him to coincide with his birthday party. 

We were only there for one day and then flew to Vegas to wait for Jan and Greg.  Of course, John paid a little Texas-Hold-em.

 Jan got tickets for us all to see the Terry Fator show.  I’d never heard of him, but now a fan.  His opening he welcomed the audience and said if we wanted to take pictures it was OK and even a video, but not all the show.  He is the ultimate entertainment.  He even has his own theatre at the Mirage.

From there we were lucky enough to fly in Greg’s plane.  John got to sit up front.  Jan and I sat and read books for the hour ride.  Owning your own plane is nice!  No lines, no baggage check.   It was hassle free until I left my pocket book in the Taxi when we were dropped off at the hanger. 

Luckily taxi drivers in Vegas are nice.  I got it back, after John called my cell phone a jillion times. 

Then back to Alamo, CA to spend a couple days with Jan and Greg and my nephews. 

Jack is taller than I am now.  eek.  A.J. still has the best smile, and is going to be a teenager. Where did the time go?  I don’t know what happened to the pictures of Jack and A.J., but here is Cooper:

This my new Grand-Cat, Cleo.   Isn’t she sweet?

 This is Beckett, last night, waiting for me to finish brushing my teeth.  I didn’t know that dogs could sit like that.

I am finished with the 8.5″ of the back of the sideways sweater.   Now to cast on 72 stitches for the right side.  I hope to have this done before tomorrow morning when I go back to Sit N Knit Too to start a shawl with Audry.   I seem to do so much better with goals.

I have a weakness - that’s buying some yarn every-time I go to Sit N Knit.  I also see a new project I want to start.  I need restraint.

I updated my reading list.  I can’ t remember two or three books.  I should do this more often.  Next Tuesday is the Berlin Peck-Memorial Library Book Club to discuss “The Last Lecture”.  Two of my neighbors are coming with me, Maryann and Sheila. 

 We, the some of the ladies of Beckley Farms, have started a Monday Night Card Club.  It’s lots of fun.  I lost $3 last week!!!

 I also spent $700 on repairs for my 3 year old Subaru.  The dealer said that it was spark plug coils were corroded.  This is in a garaged car.  WTF?

Paradise Island, that is.  I took some of the Webs yarn I bought with Martine in December and packed it for the trip to Paradise Island.  This is the second time my husband won an all expense paid trip there.  He won the trip on 12/28 and we were off on 1/4/09.  Of course the weather was beautiful, lots of sun and spa and pina coladas.  We had a great room this time and a great flight on Jet Blue.  This is the view from our window:

 Two days into the tri p I used a drink glass to keep my knitting chart from blowing away and of course the ink ran smearing the leaf main chart.  I was saved by Karen squared.  She sent me the pdf so I could keep knitting.

Christmas was the best time I’ve had for a while, all my children,  grandchildren,  brother and grand-dog, Murphy, were together.  If you know me then you know that I could wish for no more than that! 

When I went to starbucks  in Newington, I saw this wreath:    It’s yarn and Glass balls, pretty cool.

 The day after Christmas I went furniture shopping with my daughter’s boyfriend.  He bought a leather sectional and I bought some glass topped coffee and end tables.  I also applied for some more reasonably priced health insurance, and hope I’m accepted.

 My hubby and I went and saw Doubt,   and boy, MS and PHS are great actors.  My hubby said it was just like being back in middle school.  That night my hubby who has officially listed himself as a professional poker player (to the naive it means he’s made more than he’s lost!) and was playing on  www.pokerstarz.com and won a seat to play in a Poker Tour event at Paradise Island.  The package includes one week at the Atlantis and some spending money.  We’re taking Jet Blue 1/4/09!  Good by snow.

Had a big scare with my daughter, who has been out of work - hence no health insurance - even after I harped all those years on the importance of it — and she thought she’d have to have surgery on her L5 disk.  Wedding / Surgery?  It turned out to be a flase alarm after a second opinion.  The best news is that she starts her new job on 1/6/09.

 On Monday my friend from Canada, Martine, and I went to the blow out sale at Webs.  Since I’m on a yarn diet I only bought some baby yarn for a sweater and couldn’t resist 20 skeins for $60.00, that could be a nice sweater for hubby.

 Then on Tuesday, Martine and I went to Sit N Knit Too hoping that Helen would be there and we’d be able to start on the custom sideways sweater.  Unfortunately Helen was taking some time off.

While I’m sitting here writing I can see  our bird feeder and I wish I’d taken out the  screens so I could see them better.  

I’ve got my shopping done, but have to wrap and send out the Christmas cards.  I always wish I had thought ahead at Thanksgiving when everyone was here to take a Christmas picture.  Then I waste time looking through the years pictures to see if I have one, but I never do.

My grandchildren helped me get out all the Christmas Decorations and decorate the tree last weekend.  Then I got sick.  My first sinus infection of 2008.  Feeling better but tired.  I finished a book about WWII and the internment of Japanese Americans entitled When The Emperor Was Divine.  Now I’m reading a John Connelly book, White Road, about the character Charlie Parker. It’s a sad commentary on the early (or as late at the 60’s) southern folks inhumanity to man.  I also finished the Truman Capote book Summer Crossings.  I think the material was Capote all the way. 

Today I am on the Tyra Banks show and if my son-in-law has recorded it I hope to embed it here!  My loot is starting to come in.  I went back to New York on 12/9 and took Ryan with me.  My daughter, Kate, got tickets to see “Shrek the Musical” and it was wonderful.  We got into the city via Metro North (using Stationstops, my son-in-law’s blog) to navigate the schedule and had time to visit the top of the Empire State Building and American Girl to check out the Doll stuff before the show.  One of the fun things was take a train, pedi-cab, taxi and ferry, all things that you don’t find in Farmington, CT.

I finished the February Lady’s sweater class but not the sweater.  Arms are in order..  I also snuck a class in a Celtic cable neck warmer and am fascinated by it.  I have startitis with 4 projects going.

I am going to do one thing on my to-do list and then go to Radio shack to see of I can get some printer to USB converters.

It very very cold and the wind sounds like a freight train as it whips by the side of the building.  Our room is near the end of the hallway and you can hear it make the turn, if you can imagine that.  The wind is blurring vision and the evergreens are bending.  It even looks cold out the window.

 I’m glad I did my exploring yesterday.  The area is so rural that I thought I drove 100 miles but it was only 40.  I had to find a CVS and then I found Diana’s Yarn and Craft store.  As you can imagine, I’ve added to my stash by purchasing some cascade 220 for the next project - an ear flap had and some more sock yarn.  I left them in the car and haven’t put them on Ravelry yet.

I’ve all but finished the Australian wool sweater.  Here it is handing on the shower curtain  at the Hotel.  It still needs some weaving in and the i-cord and buttons.  98.9%  finished and guess what, IT FITS! 

I’ve made some project with the February Lady’s Sweater.  I think each section of the pattern is 2″.  I’m planning to do some more tonight.

I’m reading Kidnapped again and find it as exciting as it was the first time.