travel plans

Our travel plans for Christmas have been moved up a day due to inclement weather. Predictions of snow, sleet and ice pellets for the first part of our driving route have prompted Stuart to request an extra vacation day so we can travel tonight instead of tomorrow. He also tends to say, upon looking outside at the newly fallen snow covering the deck and the cars, "*&%!ing winter weather can LICK MY BALLS!" - only when the kids are out of range of hearing, of course.

So the plan is to leave when Stuart is done with work and try to get as far as Bloomington, IL to avoid the bulk of the winter storm that is supposed to hit southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois overnight. We'll drive the rest of the way to Kentucky tomorrow. This means that, as usual, I and I alone am responsible for doing all the laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, making sure there is nothing left in the fridge that will fester and rot and then come alive and attack when we get home next week, returning books to the library, putting gas in the car, getting some cash from the credit union, finding snacks for the road and packing up our stuff with a hastily uttered prayer that all of our crap including Christmas presents will fit in the back of the Prius. Were I to do this while alone in the house, it would only take a couple of hours, maybe the whole morning. No big deal. But of course I have a 2yo and nearly 4yo at home, so even though I supposedly have all day, it's going to take that long to get this all done. If I get it all done. The kids are tolerating my higher stress level fairly well, but they have still chosen today to dump out every single toy in our possession right in the middle of the living room floor.

High stress of this nature often prompts me to spend time in the middle of the day engaged in activities that should not be such high priority. Like blogging, obviously. And simultaneously packing clothes and sorting through all the yarn and knitting supplies I have dumped on the floor of our bedroom over the last few months. This is what my bed looks like right now:



On top of the unmade covers is a large suitcase full of Stuart's clothes, about a dozen balls of leftover yarn from various projects, every knitting needle I have used for the past 6 months, plus a lot of yarn destined for projects that I thought I would start right away...in September. I need to sort through all this, organize it, put away what I'm not ready to use yet, and most importantly, decide what knitting to take along with me! Last night I found myself in the unusual position of being in between projects. Yes, I could pick up some UFOs I've had for far too long, including a sweater I began in August that I could finish in two evenings. But something new sounds more appealing. Something I can finish up fast because I'm all about the quick and easy these days. Something for me, since all of my knitting since October has been gifts for other people (except a pair of mittens, but I really needed those).

So last night I started a new sweater. It's with bulky yarn, so it will go quickly. I'm in too much of a hurry to take a picture and anyway I'm only a couple inches done, but so far I like it. I will take a small project like socks or a scarf. And heck, I might throw in that nearly-finished sweater from August, too, because when I'm on vacation, I always think I'm going to knit way more than I actually do.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Comments

Rosemary said…
Happy holidays! Have a safe trip.

I always pack way too much knitting, too. For my trip to Milwaukee next week, I'm only packing 1 pair of socks and B's Christmas/Birthday sweater.
Jessi said…
I do that thing, too. That thing where you have so much to do that suddenly everything seems to be of the utmost importance. The other day, while frantically cleaning house for guests, I decided that 5 junk drawers was about 4 junk drawers too many and they all needed to be sorted. Right then. On my kitchen table. Bob got so frustrated he had to leave for a while.
Anonymous said…
Our bed has looked like that a few times in the last couple of weeks. I hope your travel goes smoothly, and have a Merry Christmas!

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