Arrivals and Departures

Departure first:
My dear uncle Richard was escorted home on Sunday morning. I will miss him, I wish he could have stayed longer. But he was so miserable at the last that I am glad for him now that he has gone. The services are Friday and Saturday, so we will go down to SLC Friday after school.

And now the trip:
I hate air travel. But so far I've never missed a flight or really had a tough time while flying. I got to Newark Friday night, where my dear VIP was waiting for me with two dozen red roses! My bags were offloaded quickly and we waded through the thick air to the car and onto the route into NYC. We wound up on the wrong tunnel, but we eventually found our way to 42nd St, and a parking garage. But then the real *fun* began. We didn't realise that Chez Josephine was literally across the street and up just a couple of doors from the parking garage, so we walked clear up to 7th, never finding what we were looking for. I called my brother who was waiting for us, and we got even more lost. Finally we decided to go back where we started from and start again. But my brother had already decided to come looking for us, and we were found! We were greeted warmly by Jean-Claude himself, and he took my roses and put them in the "refrigerateur" while we ate. We sat and ate and drank for 2 hours, and then since we still had driving to do, we parted. It was a wonderful experience, and I'd like to recommend the seafood sausage.

Saturday morning we went to Mt Holly and Woolbearers. I met Suzie, Beth, Kelly, Meghan, and Val. We stayed for probably two hours, enjoying the company, knitting, talking, eating, winding hanks of yarn into center-pull balls. I love this group already, and I feel really fortunate that I'll have a ready-made coterie once I move to PA. Suzie took our picture and blogged about us. We bought some of their lovely hand-dyed sock yarn in Midnite Sea, and I started the sock already. It is striping up wonderfully, and DD expressed interest in a pair out of this colourway as well.

After Woolbearers we went to Trader Joe's and bought a whole lot of food and goodies. I picked out some things to take back to DD, including sour Jelly Bellys, some fun tortellini and tiny ravioli, and Joe-Joes, which are like Oreos. I love this store, it is so awesome!

Sunday was church. We got there and had quite a time finding a parking space. It turned out that they were having Stake Conference, hence the parking issues. Since I haven't attended Stake Conference in years, it was interesting. There were eight speakers, four of which were recent converts. It was nice to get their perspectives and views, as well as a bit of Baptist spirit. The congregation had a few folks in it who haven't quite gotten all the "amens" out of their systems. It was really enjoyable to hear, because sometimes I think Mormons are too quiet. After church we went back to Mt Holly where we went to the farmer's market and bought some lovely German smoked meats and cheese. I cannot remember the names of them, but the cheese is incredibly wonderful. It would make awesome grilled-cheese sandwiches. (~~ETA~~ It's Cooper Sharp, and only available on the east coast.) After there, we went back to Woolbearers, because the VIP had bought me some sock yarn before I got there, but he had neglected to get it wound into center-pull ballls. I stopped in another shop quickly, and he went on ahead to get started. When I walked in, he was in the back, busy with the swift and ball-winder. We talked with Suzie for a few minutes, and then got on the road to get to IKEA before they closed.

Of course, you must eat when you're there, so we did. And then we wandered around for a long time, gathering up various and sundry necessary items. As we were exiting, my mom called me, telling me about my uncle. It was a quiet ride back home. We unloaded the car, and went for a snack at Cracker Barrel. I wasn't really hungry, but I had a salad. When we got back to the house, we started building a CD tower. We got almost finished, but were at a point where we needed to use a hammer, and it was too late at night to do that. It got finished the next morning.

Monday I had to leave. It was quite the adventure, getting all my chocolate souvenirs packed up safely. We got to the airport in plenty of time, and the security line was the shortest I've ever been in. The plane was a bit delayed but not too seriously. It was one of those new Song Airlines planes, with satellite tv. Movies and games cost money, but tv and radio were free. A cool feature was the map that showed your exact location, and minutes elasped and remaining. It also showed altitude and outside air temp. I knitted on my new sock, and I ate chocolate, and I napped a bit, and listened to podcasts.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I had so much fun. Obviously I have skipped over some stuff, but that is stuff I think I want to keep to myself for awhile.