Back from a trip and still alive

We're back from visiting family for Thanksgiving. This trips stresses me out because of the balancing act of having E and D spend time with my family and my husband's family. Most of them live within an hour of each other. Besides the stress, we did have fun on the trip. My Mom cooked all sorts of yummy foods and took us to great soup restaurants. I definitely can't get soup like that up here. Watching tv is so addicting that I'm glad that we don't have cable or a dish. I did get to watch season 2 of Heroes and the first season of Big Bang Theory(so funny!). That's the way to watch tv shows. You get to see one right after another, no commercials, and you can skip the credits. We had a yummy Thanksgiving meal and the leftovers too. We also got to put up the Christmas decorations at my parents house. E and D enjoy that every year.

I did pack less knitting projects this year and still didn't finish anything. I took my Queen Silvia shawl along and managed to get only two repeats done on the center. I took some self striping yarn to start socks. They did get started and I didn't get much farther than the toes. For the airplane, I took along a self striping sock on a short 9 inch circular. The needles are so cute! It's a bit awkward to hold at first, but it is a nice way to knit when you get used to the short needles. These needles made it through security with no problems. I also had a set of wooden dpns in case I got to the heel. I didn't get there yet, but I have thought about it. I think that I might be able to do a short row heel without having to use any other needle.

Now that I'm home, knitting hasn't really resumed yet. I caught the flu. Argh! I feel like I was on one of those movies where someone on a plane coughs and everyone gets sick and spreads it all over the world. LOL. I must have caught it on the plane because I didn't get sick until a few days after we got home. I'm about 50% better now. I didn't feel like knitting while I was sick, so I read books instead.

I finished Diana Gabaldon's A Breath of Snow and Ashes. Great book! I can't wait for the next one in the series to come out, but I read online that it's not until Oct 09. Well, that gives me time to re-read the whole series. I also read Grisham's Playing for Pizza. That was an okay book, but definitely one that I will not be reading again. It had far too much descriptive football sections. I like football, but I really have no desire to read about pass plays, run plays, etc.

Today is a beautiful day. It snowed last night right after it rained. Every tree branch has a layer of snow on it. The wood stove is going and the kids are playing nice. I think we'll take a "snow day" today with lessons and just enjoy the snow.