The Oregon Trail

A long weekend being pampered in Oregon is just the ticket for a tired 32-week pregnant lady.

I have to say I owe the Cap'n and our friends, Dos Doctores, for the wonderful time. El Doctor demolished one of the bathrooms in their beach house 3 months ago, and after (shall we say) "limited" progress, La Doctora called the Cap'n for his dormant but formidable contracting skills. I formed a substantial part of the cheerleading squad.

So while the Cap'n and El Doctor shored up framing, drywalled and spackled, La Doctora and I got a babysitter for the 4 kids and had a facial at the spa and got our toes painted. (It's a hard life, I know.) Then we took the kids to the indoor wave pool and out for pizza. I also finally got to see "Cars" and loved it. You can't tell Slim is having a good time from this picture, can you?

The time in Florence couldn't have been more relaxing. There's something wild and beautiful about the Oregon coast, and the kids loved digging in the sand and climbing on the huge driftwood logs. We had a delicious dinner out sans kids and had the best time catching up with our friends. El Doctor and the Cap'n went to high school together, but I feel like I've known them both forever.

And it was priceless seeing Slim playing with their 3 kids. Their youngest is one month younger than Slim, and while sharing was a foreign concept, they played well next to each other. The bubble machine was a big hit.

We even got to see a friend from that other Portland (Maine) in Portland before we flew out. He was visiting his West Coast girlfriend, and we all got to have dinner together before our red-eye flight back.

The red-eye was one of those good in theory, not in practice ideas. I thought all three of us would get some sleep, but it didn't happen. We're still adjusting back to East Coast time and catching up on sleep, but Slim is finally back on his schedule.

I saw two KIP-ers, one going out and one coming back, on the plane. And one woman on her way to the bathroom saw me working on Slim's mitten and asked if I had any trouble getting needles on the plane. I only brought three pairs of wooden DPNs, so I didn't even get flagged.

Again though, No. Souvenir. Yarn. And not that much knitting time, but it was worth it. I'm still working on my second Child's First Sock in Shell pattern, and I hope to have it done by the end of the month to meet my SAM challenge.

The next Sock-a-Month starts in February, but I'm not sure about joining again. I had fun this time and am really proud that I made a pair almost every month (2 in September but none in October). I'm just worried that I won't be able to keep up with it while entertaining an infant and toddler.

I am tempted to re-join a Stashalong or Knit From Your Stash challenge. Just because so far I've gone without a yarn purchase since before Christmas. In fact, I can't remember my last purchase...though I'm sure the Cap'n will be happy to remind me.

I'm actually psyched to play Home Yarn Store (HYS). I've got so many cool projects stashed away in there, including some baby sweaters planned that I must get to before they grow out of them.

RULE 1: It is NOT OKAY to knit for your grandkids when your children are under 5.

That's a keeper.