Same Time Next Year

One week ago today I was limping my way back into town after a drawn-out return drive from Clinton County, PA. Despite pandemic concerns, I packed up the new ride (did I mention I have a new ride?) and headed to the middle of PA for my annual camping trip. I haven’t missed this event weekend for 18 years, and I needed it more than ever this year.

Unfortunately, I overindulged on Thursday night in an overzealous reaction to seeing my family-of-choice for the first time in ages and put myself on the bench for the rest of the weekend. Maybe not on the bench so much as the practice squad. I’ll do better next year guys, I promise.

My big concern about going camping this year was – of course – COVID. There were over 100 people at the campsite and social distancing wasn’t always possible, so I spent the last week worried that I was infected and – potentially worse – would be a danger to my grandmother. I felt like crap the first couple of days, be it psychosomatic or just regular event crud. The rapid test I took Tuesday came back negative so I’m calling it a win and counting myself fortunate.

New ‘ru! Meet Scarlett. Chloe was getting up there in age and her next repairs were likely to be pricy ones so I went ahead and got the all-wheel drive I’ve been longing for. She’s expensive but so far she’s worth it.

Happy 2021

Today limped into being with freezing rain and a ball dropping on an empty Times Square. I barely kept my eyes open through midnight and the entirely-unnecessary neighborhood fireworks before zonking out. Good thing, too, since I forgot to turn off my weekday alarms on not just one but ALL of my devices.

I thought briefly about crawling out of bed once I was awake. You know, get up, bundle up, go for a walk in the woods to ring in the new year – begin as I mean to go on! But it was raining at 7:00 am and it’s still raining now, 5 hours later. So instead, I’m drinking coffee and knitting. Beginning as I mean to go on, indeed.

I’m not even considering making any resolutions. Last year proved that trying to make anything vaguely resembling a plan is rubbish so my lone resolution is to survive.

Crafturday

Aside from waking up way too early, I did nothing today but craft. I worked in a cross stitch housewarming present (which I can’t share just yet) and I just cast on this flashy beauty.

A few weeks ago, I got a bee in my bonnet re: Christmas socks. Meet Bondi socks in the Holly Jolly Christmas colourway. I can’t remember the dyer off the top of my head; I’ll try to look it up tomorrow.

Start The Clock

From the “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” files, on my way home from taking my car in for service, I decided to be nice and snag some of my grandmother’s favorite doughnuts as a treat.

Unfortunately, I just saw an article in the Dayton Daily News that announced that the donut shop is closing for the next two weeks because one of the employees tested positive for Coronavirus. There’s no other information – like whether or not they’ve been quarantined or were in the shop this morning – but now I’m hyper paranoid and may schedule a test in a couple of weeks.

Bah humbug.

Sock It To Me

Not the clearest photo, but I’m turning the heel for my first Sunday Swing sock. Knitty & company kicked off the Emotional Life Jacket knit along in time for the 2020 elections and this was my chosen project. As usual, I have 28 other projects that I’m working on but so many aspects of the election are still up in the air that I felt the need to work on it for a bit this evening. For the most part, I’m using my flexiflips to work this sock, but I had to break out backup dpns to turn the heel.

Nothing To See Here

Today was just a day.

Overslept, went to work, went for a walk at lunch, went back to work, and made icky face-inducing dinner (the enchiladas were fab; I don’t care what she says). There were more crappy Lifetime holiday movies and slow knitting progress.

This is effectively going to be my weekday routine for the next several week, though the icky face-inducing meal will change. Oh, and the likelihood of lunchtime walks will decrease, along with the midday temperatures.

…but I need to go left!

Wishful Thinking

I’m a firm believer in the Christmas season not kicking off until after Thanksgiving. My only exemption to this rule is cheesy movies. I will watch horrible Hallmark Christmas movies all year long with no shame or remorse. This year, I have branched out to include Lifetime movies as well, at my friend Elizabeth’s encouragement.

This year, not one but two different holiday movies feature travel bloggers as their heroines. When I first moved to Dayton, I picked up every book I could find at used bookstores and library sales on writing. Looking back, I’m not sure if I did this with an idea that I would do a better job of maintaining this blog or if I did it with an idea of doing a different type of writing.

In a lot of ways, travel blogging would be my dream job. Well, either that or travel photography. Basically, I love to travel, but I’m not sure what different perspective I could possibly bring to a place or an experience. To me, there’s a certain amount of extroversion, of putting yourself out there, that I’m not certain I possess. Correction: I KNOW I possess little to no extroversion. That’s probably why photography is slightly more appealing to me, but that’s another muscle which I need to exercise more often.

Weekend Wanderings

Despite having to bank some overtime hours yesterday morning, I had a pretty good weekend.  I got to send off happy birthday wishes to a couple of friends, enjoy the gorgeous weather by exploring both familiar and strange parks and met up with friends for lunch and a couple of drinks. 

This is probably the last warm weekend before the descent into fall and winter so I’m glad I took advantage. 

Of course, now I’m feeling a little anxious about socializing. The clothes immediately went into the wash the second I walked in the door and someone was a less than thrilled that I was gone all day, but my spirit needed the boost.

Bleary Eyed

Went for my long-overdue eye doctor appointment today. As usual in the time of COVID, the procedure was a little different but I don’t know that I waited any longer in my car than I would have in the waiting room. I knit until my dilated pupils said enough was enough. No real change to my vision but I really do need to get bifocals this time around.

Ugh.

Maybe I Should Stick to Yarn

My friend Elizabeth forwarded a crossstitch pattern to me that will be perfect as a gift for a friend.

…if only I knew how to spell.