Abandonment Issues

Hi Everyone - I am posting this message but I am not a happy camper. Blogger is not being friendly, it is deleting pictures and not letting me upload them again. I've spent over 2 1/2 hours on this post and just need to let it fly. Maybe Blogger and I will be able to work together in the morning, but for now, crappy formatting, missing pictures and all, I have to be done. Trust me, this blog will be migrating in the not-so-distant future. I am so done.

It's been 41 days since my last post. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Am I okay? Have I abandoned the blog and all of you who read? The answers are "here", "so much I cannot keep it all straight", "yes, I am fine, tired, but fine" and "no, I have not abandoned the blog or you in any way".

I know I last left you with a frenetic post that worried many of you. Thank you for caring and I'm sorry to have caused worried. I've been a bit bogged down with work/life. With each passing day, the blog became a bigger, more insurmountable mountain. How would I ever catch up? I had so many pictures on my camera it was like slogging through quicksand to download them all. There has been so much I've wanted to share that I know I will forget some things and people and acts of kindness, so I hope you will forgive me.

This post will bring us up-to-date and from here, I'll be back on track. A picture is worth a thousand words and since I've spent the better part of 3 hours over the course of two sessions, organizing and arranging my photos, lets let the shots of the past few weeks speak for themselves.

So, I last left you on my way to Stitches East. What.A.Show. We had a blast.

We arrived to the daunting task of set-up:

We were tourists at the Harbor:

We found this sentiment, so appropos:

We finished and were ready to go when the show opened:

Which made these lovely, "First In Line At Stitches East" shoppers VERY happy:

We met fellow Ravelers, which was awesome! Meliabella gave out pink and green ribbons and we had so much fun meeting everyone:

We had an appearance from Kaffe:

And Teva Durham, too, but I never got to take a picture!

We had young shoppers:

And many adult beverages while cheering on our beloved Red Sox:

We had a marathon outside our hotel window on Saturday morning:

And marathoners shopping with us later that afternoon!

As we all stood in awe, they explained that they had "ONLY' run the "HALF" marathon. Yeah, whatever ladies, you rock way more than you give yourselves credit for.

We made new BFF's - meet Kaci and Debbie of Blue Moon:

(I have totally forgotten your friend's name - I am so, so, sorry. . . . .) Debbie and Kaci are the type of people you want as your neighbors - they are fun, they make you laugh, they say nice things about your children, I mean, our yarn and they sit and knit in a bar, cheering for our Red Sox and ordering wine by the bottle. Yeah, we're going to be spending some serious time with Deb & Kaci at future shows (see you in Santa Clara - let's plan dinner!).

So, we are now a whole 4 days after my last post. Yeah, that's all. I haven't even thanked the most fabulous lady (again, another name lost) who stopped by the booth on Saturday morning with these, these. . .cookies - vanilla wafers - BIG ones, dunked in chocolate - thick, rich chocolate. She read the last post and was worried about me and figured I needed chocolate. The cookies are a Baltimore specialty, they were a lifesaver!

Then there was the lovely lady who brought me a dollar bill folded into the shape of a dinosaur. I carry it with me every day. Thank you.

I left East early to fly home on Sunday morning for Kim Werker's book launch. The timeline was incredibly tight. The event started at 2pm and I landed about 1pm, with a 45 minute drive, luggage to get, shuttle to the parking area, etc. I made it to WEBS at just minutes past 2 - they all waited for me and I was so grateful. (And yes, I probably stretched the boundaries of the speed limit on the way) I was beyond excited and honored to be hosting this event.

Kim's husband Greg was able to be there, along with a dear friend and many family members. It was an awesome afternoon:

I learned some great things and just simply enjoyed Kim and her energy.

And Babette was there too!!!

It was utopia for this crochet-lover. If you haven't checked out her book yet, Crochet Revolution, make sure it is on your holiday list. It's a must have!

Okay, we're now a full 5 days past my last post. We're cookin' now!

So, the next day Steve & I dragged ourselves into work to start buying for Spring '08! Our lovely Rowan rep Jess was quite accomodating given how tired we were. She brought her adorable pug who hung out with us:

Too cute!

Then, it was off to Berroco to see their Spring collection. It was our first visit there and so much fun to be able to see all of the new garments that Norah and Margery designed. It was a great day and very inspiring - it's going to be a fun spring for all of the knitters and crocheters!

Here is the office that Norah and Margery share with their assistant Deana. Yes, this is where the magic happens:

As the mayhem continued, it was refreshing to get a reality check from none other than our 6 year old (almost 7) Jonathan. We were home alone, I was working and he was playing outside. Suddenly, he comes screaming in the house "MOM, IT'S THE HARVEST MOON. YOU HAVE TO COME SEE IT RIGHT NOW. OUTSIDE!" Here is what I saw:

The picture doesn't even do it justice. I was so thrilled that he was so thrilled by it and that he made me stop and appreciate the simple beauty of it. I know I am biased but he's a pretty magical kid. It was an awesome moment.

Next up, our annual "Knit for Hope" event. We partner each year with a local non-profit that provides services, support and hope for folks dealing with cancer. We ran it on a Friday night this year and although we had a smaller turnout than usual, it was still an extremely moving evening. I think the smaller gathering actually made it more personal and intimate. We knit scarves for patients going through chemo/radiation and attendees shared their stories of survival. Gail Callahan, our Kangaroo Dyer, created a custom color of Franklin (our sock yarn) which we sold throughout the month and donated all of the profits to Cancer Connection.

Next up was Halloween. Since I have shared pictures of Steve here that he has, at times, not been thrilled about, I have to share one of me. I give you, my really bad channeling of Chrissy Hynde:

And our very handsome trick or treaters in their respective hockey and Red Sox attire:

As you know, Jackson is playing hockey and Jonathan is now very motivated to keep up. Here we are at the first practice, at O-WAY-TOO-EARLY-FOR-ME-TO-BE-UP-MUCH-LESS-AT-A-RINK:

He started this session off using a "bucket" and after about 30 mins, pushed it away and made up his mind to just figure this skating thing out. He's coming along. . . .

There was another "don't go so fast and let life pass you by moments". Behold, what I saw off of my deck one Saturday evening when Steve and the boys were off to a UMass hockey game.

I have seen some incredible sunrises and sunsets in my life, but this was, well, beyond words.

Finally, we are nearly current. I leave you with scenes from last week - the last days before Thanksgiving break for the boys. We had plays, back to back. First up, Jonathan in The Judge:

Featuring Jackson as the monster:

Then, it was Jackson in "Compost Happens - The Sequel" (they've been studying the environment):

It's great when you have a captivated audience:

That's it folks. The last 6 weeks in a nutshell. You can't say I wasn't thinking of you - I did all of the photo-documentation, it's just been the sitting and blogging itself.

Thanks again for sticking with me.

Kathy

(Note #2: Came back today and Blogger let me upload the pictures it refused to upload last night. I will look into Flickr to see if that works better for me. I am seriously still considering migrating. . . .but I've been around long enough to know the grass is not always greener with a different platform).