Restful weekend

Since the entire month of August was too busy for me with very little time to rest, we went out of our way to have a very laid-back Labor Day weekend. We started our Saturday with a trip to Half Price Books (a used books store) for their 20% off sale. I didn't find any good knitting books, but we did find some fun stuff for the kids and Himself, so it was a good trip. The girls found some computer games (Candy Land, I Spy, etc.) that kept them rather occupied for the rest of the weekend. I was happy that we kept the TV off, though I suppose if we spent time on the computer playing games it might count as the same sort of thing. Hmmm. Well, the games were interactive and we all participated, so it was family time, right?

We did have one sad note this weekend. The goldfish my daughter won at the fair last week died yesterday, so we had a fish funeral. We buried him in the back yard, not a water burial. I'm very glad I bought him a friend. She seemed okay with it, overall, but is quite concerned about "what" killed him specifically. I keep explaining that these fish don't live very long, but that isn't good enough for her. Well, it is an opportunity for continuing dialog I guess, and a trip to the library for fish books.



Sunday night I got to go hear the Yarn Harlot and that was awesome. She is just as funny in person as she is in print. She was wearing Icarus and it looked lovely! She did not have the ends woven in yet, but it really was nice. Sadly, I was unable to get my book signed. For some reason, this was a family trip & by the time we had dinner & then the family waited through her talk, the kids were DONE. There was no way I was going to be able to sqeeze the extra time out of them so that I could wait in a huge line to get my books signed. I was very disappointed, but I really should have considered that before allowing the whole family to tag along. My bad. The venue is this nice book shop with a food court and a small stage. It is a great place to see authors, although a pub might be nicer (ha!). I saw Terry Pratchett here last year & that was a great talk as well, but I digress. There were tons of people here knitting away, I did not get pics of the crowd, although others did, but it was a great time. I never get the chance to hang out with other knitters, so it was fun just knitting with a huge crowd of folks. I've made great progress on my sock and I'm just about ready to turn the heel! I'm actually pretty excited about it, is that too geeky?



I was devastated to get in the car for work today and hear the terrible news about Steve Irwin. I'm hoping my oldest daughter isn't too upset by it, although to be honest, I am. I spent many hours with my girls watching him wrestle gators and find beauty in things that all too often elicit "ick" or "ewww" from the rest of us. He was a special person who had a great gift & I'm so glad he was able to share it with the world and my children. He will be missed by so many people around the world, he was an inspiration to children and adults and that is a great legacy to leave behind. May his memory be eternal.