Monday Meanderings

The "Trapped In Kansas City" edition.

Last week my parents had to put to sleep my Dad's beloved boxer, Jill. On an errand of mercy and grandchild cheer, the girls and I decided to come for a weekend visit. The plan was to be back home by noon yesterday.

The plan failed.

Due to an unusually large layer of snow on the ground, the temperature and a lack of any other weather to speak of, a rather impressive fog has settled over this part of the country. We drove into it on the way to my grandmother's house Friday night, and after a rather tense (and extremely surreal) drive from there to my parents' home we decided we weren't going anywhere until the fog lifted.

The problem is that it hasn't yet lifted. I've never in my life seen such fog...especially surrounding Mom and Dad's home, which is literally on one of the highest points in the county. It's downright eerie. We've not been able to see the road at all...and in fact can barely see across the drive in front of the house. When you go out in this mess, you quickly get dancing spots of light in your vision as your brain tries to wrap itself around the incredible brightness and inability to see anything. Honestly, it was interesting for the first day....but now I'm just ready for it to burn off or blow away so that I can go home!

I do have some pictures to share when I get home...but until then we'll just settle for some words. Wait until you see the frozen fog, though. It's fascinating!

Today's meander:

• The daily spinning plan is going really well thanks to my drop spindle. I've spent anywhere from ten minutes to an hour on it every day for the last week, spinning whenever and wherever I have the time. It's making me incredibly happy, and I'm starting to understand why drop spindlers are so convinced that their tools are better than wheels...and more productive.
• Much as I love my wheel, I've NEVER been able to do a daily spinning thing with it because I just can't spin with it in the type of small increments that make a daily spinning habit possible. When I sit at my wheel, I'm committing myself to a fairly long process (I'm guessing 30 min. is my minimum with the wheel.)....but I find that I can spin with my spindle for just 5 minutes and be happy.
• I am going to have to call the Golding people, though. I've been working with my first spindle as it was perfect for the type of yarn I wanted to make, and I've found that it has indeed taken some damage from my early days with it. In fact, the whorl came loose on me the other day. It deserves better, and I am hoping they will fix it for me.
• Also, I need a better method for transporting my spinning. The Ziploc in my knitting bag is not only ugly, but has the potential for damaging the fiber and/or the spindle. I'm thinking of something with hard sides. Ideas?
• My knitting is taking a rather relaxed, meandering sort of path right now. I work on whatever strikes the mood...which means I'm not getting a whole lot done right now. That's ok.
• I packed the perfect amount of stuff to keep me busy for my extended trip home. What would have been too much had the plan worked as it was supposed to is now just right.
• The big fail of our trip is actually in my exercise plan. I wanted to go running outdoors on Saturday, but the combo of bad fog and snow-filled ditches/snow-covered shoulders made the roads too dangerous. SO, I didn't do anything all weekend.
• Feeling gross about the weekend, and not knowing when we'd be able to leave, I did ride my dad's exercise bike for about an hour this morning. I got a great workout, and enjoyed the program he suggested.
• It was funny, though, that Dad kept checking on me. As much as he's seen the results of my efforts over the last six months, it was like he didn't quite believe I could do it.....
• By the way...three days w/o exercise makes for one grumpy Kristin.
• Also, I'm still annoyed that I missed the hula class yesterday.
• On another health-related topic, I have to call my acupuncturist this week. For the first time in well over a year, I've had some very serious PMS issues over the last week - at times making things almost unbearable. Fortunately, the symptoms I'm having are all physical. I am relieved that the emotional symptoms haven't arisen at all.
• I started a new journal two days ago, and am VERY happy with it. As it's been a big topic around here, I'll tell you more about it later this week.
• I miss my husband!

I think that's enough for now. I need to go pack so that we can be ready to go as soon as the fog clears. (I'm being optimistic...we have school and training tomorrow!)

Have a great week everyone!

PS. After a somewhat-hairy drive, we did make it home this afternoon.