Several posts in one

I've been busy since the KR Retreat ...

Our Girl Scout troop had our Annual Ceremony Friday evening. We do one big ceremony each fall. This is when we do Investiture, Rededication, bridging/flying up and awards. This can all take a little while as our troop currently has three age levels ... Daisies, Brownies and Juniors. My youngest is a Daisy and DD#2 and Niece#1 just bridged to Juniors. I think the girls had a good time.

Saturday I spent the day at the parentals' since my aunt was in town from St Louis and my cousin was coming to pick her up to take her to his house for Thanksgiving. I hadn't seen him in quite a while and totally enjoyed hanging out with him. He's one of my fave cousins ... and a GREAT storyteller. After they left, I ended up taking a nap on the loveseat while my mom was napping upstairs and my dad napped on the couch. I woke up ready for dinner. After dinner I headed home.

Today I spent the day going through boxes and PURGING stuff. Those of you that know me, understand what a major feat this truly is. I emptied a closet. See:

And hopefully tomorrow there will be coats hanging in there - what a concept - coats hanging in a closet!

I've also been busy working on SSCPs (SuperSecretChrissiePressies). I finished two on Saturday, including weaving in the ends. I've got a 3rd that is so close to finished I can taste it. A 4th and 5th just need to be seamed and the ends woven in, then they'll be ready to wrap. It's hard to believe Christmas is only 30-something days away - PLEASE don't tell me exactly how many. I really don't wanna know!

Okay, back to the Retreat last weekend. The entire weekend was phenomenal. I'm sure you've read lots about it here in blogland already so I won't bore you with details. Rather, I'll provide highlights.

It started very early on Friday morning because I couldn't sleep and wanted to be at the airport by 8:30 a.m. Mary, Lou and I flew in together and had no trouble. It was incredible to see the Statue of Liberty as we approached LaGuardia - I'd never seen it before.



We rented a car and headed for the Catskills. Lou drove and I navigated. We made an adventure of it - afterall, anyone can follow directions. We drove up Palisades Parkway, which was really beautiful. Driving along reviewing the map, I realized we'd be in Orange County. Yes THAT Orange County! After some Googling, I discovered the OCC Showroom & Retail Store was only 30 minutes from where we were ... we made plans to stop on Sunday on our way back to the airport.

Upon arriving at Jeronimo's, the fun really started. It was wonderful to rekindle many friendships that were made last year, and make new friendships this year. Even though Jane and I didn't share a room this year, we had the chance to catch up and share hugs and laughs.

As I said the other day, the retreat really helped re-energize and rejuvenate me for knitting, as well as my seeming eternal quest for inner peace. Everything about this venue was wonderful for our retreat. We had the place to ourselves, the food was excellent and plentiful.

The other knitters were open, warm and sharing. It's always amazing to me how you can gather 70+ knitters who are virtually strangers and we immediately click and feel comfortable with one another.

Once again I felt relaxed and gained new insight into myself. I learned more about why I knit and what leads me to take on the projects I choose. I also learned I have a strong desire to support a good cause ... even though I already own a set of Denise Needles, I bought a 2nd set.

I know, I know ... why do I need a 2nd set of Denise's? Well, I ask you this ... why not? A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the pink ones will go to breast cancer research, so how could I say no?

The rest of my time at Jeronimo's was full of good knitting, good friends and great food. We really had a ton of fun. BTW, Lou, Rho, Mary and Jane ... the hat is FINISHED!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! Here, see for yourself (Don't ask me why the photo is sideways. I tried to turn it the right way. It's 3:30a.m. ... whatever):

While typing that I realized what time it is - doh! So, I'll leave you with one last picture for tonight ... it's truly worth 1,000 words - here's Lou at the Spirit Trail trailer for the "after sale" Sunday after lunch doing some stash enhancement: