June 29, 2015

Back from three days in Wisconsin. We flew out on Friday afternoon and arrived in Milwaukee at about 7pm to meet Zig's cousins on the Ziarnik side. Went to a restaurant called The Final Approach to eat our very first Wisconsin Fish Fry - quite the Friday night tradition in Cheeseland. It was fun, and VERY filling. Then we drove on to Madison to crash at the hotel.

Saturday was spent milling about the Farmer's Market at the Capitol (where I picked up 3 skeins of plain old Wisconsin sport weight wool, AND 5 different varieties of unpopped popcorn to give to Jackie Hennessey), drinking Spotted Cow beers on Monona Terrace, driving out to Dalton to bury Arleen's ashes, hosting a delicious and fun dinner party at L'Etoile back in Madison, and watching a 40 minute fireworks show over Lake Monona. I finished the Pimpelliese scarf on the way back from Dalton:

On Sunday, the whole group (about 30 of us) met again for breakfast at a pancake place. After that, Zig and I hung out at the Union Memorial Terrace at U. of W. on Lake Mendota. Pretty peaceful. Then we dropped by Mike Brunner's house for a bit, then over to Annette and Larry's house for supper and a slide show of their recent trip to Europe. Drove back to Milwaukee to crash in a hotel before waking up at 3:30 AM this morning to catch a 6:15 flight to Baltimore and finally, Bradley. Good to be home, albeit for only 2 1/2 days!

June 26, 2015

Early posting today, as Zig and I are traveling to Wisconsin for the weekend.

• 4 mile walk; total of 20 miles between Monday and Friday
• packing
• knitting
• re-assembling deck after painters 
• laundry
• reading
• airplane
• Fish Fry in Milwaukee!!!

June 25, 2015

Maybe this should be a bullet journal.

• 3 mile walk
• cleared deck for painters
• knitting and podcasts
• laundry
• pay builder, painter, and cottage owner
• spin merino and finish listening to "Americanah"
• help Zig locate property markers up by road

June 24, 2015

It's been gritty so far today. I rose at 5:50 and was out the door at 6:00 for a 5 mile walk. Mowed the lawn after that. Finished up my Shetland 2-ply fingering for a total of 314 yards. It's been soaked and thwacked and is now drying in the sun.

Ordered two new Niddy Noddies, in two sizes (1 yard and 2 yard) because mine is failing - the screw that tightens the 3 pieces has stripped the hole in which it belongs, rendering it useless.

Yesterday I cleaned out the refrigerator. I didn't find any mold, but there were some severely out-of-date "Sell By" items. Yuck.

Simple things make me happy. A goldfinch on the feeder. A pair of cardinals flitting about in bushes by the river. An empty laundry basket. A new episode of a favorite podcast.

Stupid people make me unhappy. Yesterday a Facebook friend shared a post that stated (something like) "Sorry our flag offends you. Your saggy pants offend me."  That same friend shared a photo this morning of the twin tower attacks with the words "How did we get from this [photo] to worrying whether we are offending Muslims?" Another lovely share (yes, by the same friend) showed a billboard that states "Cain killed Abel with a rock. Guns don't kill people, people kill people." I am dumbfounded and astonished and angry and brokenhearted when I realize that there really are people who hate, and people who truly believe that American gun laws are too strict already.

Oh, yeah - that same person (a woman in my town whose three kids I taught at Hartland School) also posted a photo of a father beating a child with the words "What America needs is child control, not gun control". What possible good can come of believing in and promoting these hate-filled, paranoia-driven opinions? Is the world going to be a better place if parents are allowed to beat their children? If we let the racist South Carolina flag continue to fly on government property? If people continue to insist that gun ownership is "a God-given right in these United States"?

I could go on. And on. But ranting on this page isn't what this page is for.

Guess I'll go grocery shopping now.

June 23, 2015

Today, I walked for three miles, then headed up to Springfield to "IdentoGo" to get fingerprinted for a TSA precheck pass. It was a bit confusing getting there, particularly since a huge thunderstorm hit Forest Park as I was driving through, but all went well, and I hope to use the fast lane in domestic airports soon.

Working away on my third Pimpelliese - this one is for myself. Using Voolenvine's Blitzed base in the Faerie Hair colorway. It is a lovely yarn, and I'm glad that I'm actually keeping this one rather than giving it away.

Finished this sweet baby hat (Earflap Hat by Jane Richmond) this afternoon, while watching "Gone Girl" on Netflix.

It's thundering in the distance, and the sun has been swallowed up by clouds. A mid-afternoon in June. I love the quiet that drifts in as a storm nears - the birds are silent as they seek shelter, the wind stills, and there is such a sense of expectation in the air.

Fresh native strawberries with a bit of blackberry ginger vinegar are divine.

First Day

It's Monday, June 22, 2015, and I am officially living my first day (weekends don't count, of course) of retirement. After 31 years as a school media specialist, I've closed the book on my career, and am starting a new and different life.  I'm eager to make some changes (most minor, some major) in the way that I live each day. This blog is going to be part of that - I have NO interest in whether anyone reads this, or not. The blog's purpose is to be, at this point in time, a daily record of what I do, every day. A journal, a diary, a list. Ideally, as time passes, my daily entries will provide evidence that no day is wasted. That's not to say that I plan to move mountains, change the world, or drastically change my persona. I simply want to be able to say, at the end of each day, that something got done. A book was read, a walk was taken, a closet was cleaned out, time was spent with those I love.

I had a talk with my daughter-in-law, Jess, the other day, and the term "grit" came up. We talked about the fact that grit is a hot topic in education these days - kids need to have "grit" in school in order to succeed. Jess pointed out that educators (actually, education administrators) aren't really embracing the entire idea - they only focus on the perseverance part, when actually true grit (I'm sorry, John Wayne) is composed of three elements: perseverance, yes, but also passion, and self-empathy. You have to keep trying, but you also have to have an abiding love for what it is you're trying to do, and you have to be able to forgive yourself when you come up short.

I want my days to be gritty. I want to get something done every day, I want to love what I'm doing, and I want to forgive myself and move on when I don't quite get there.

So what have I done on this, first, day? I got up and walked for 5 miles, down to Riverton and onto East River Road, turning around at the 2.5 mile tree, and back. Came home and cleaned out the coffee/tea drawer. Made coffee.  Emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen. Cleaned up my closet, which was quite the mess. Stripped beds in guest room and vacuumed cellar and cellar stairs. Did laundry.Went for a pedicure and out to lunch at Dish N' Dat with sister Becky. Mailed a birthday card. Bought thank you notes and a Wisconsin map at BN. Stopped to pick up 2 quarts of fresh native strawberries from Bristol Farm. Brought in trash and recycling bins and got mail, helped a lost taxicab find Hogback Road. Took this photo of my current handspinning project - Spunky Eclectic's February 2015 shipment of 4 ounces of Shetland wool in the "Gerbera" colorway AND posted it on Instagram to a June photo-a-day challenge (the June 22nd idea is "yellow").

Knitted. Spun. Posted this at 3:46 pm.