Things I Learned On My Christmas Vacation

1. Flying on Christmas Eve has it's pros and cons. Plus - I had empty seats next to me on both legs so I could really spread out the yarn. Minus - the parking lot where I had a reservation was full and turning people away at 5 am leaving me to find an alternate place to park. Plus - I got the opportunity to write a bitchy letter to the online reservation place and got my money back. Bastards.

2. Oddly enough - flying thru Denver to DC, while geographically illogical, worked to my advantage because if I had gone thru O'Hare I probably wouldn't have made it home at all due to mass quantities of middle America snow.

3. Mom had spaghetti and clam sauce waiting for Patty and I when we walked in the door 12+ hours after leaving my house. This was just the beginning of a week of gluttony.

4. The immediate family gifts, while not completed (actually, while not even started) appeared to be appreciated in advance.

5. One of the two cousin hats fit. The other made Rod look like Mushmouth from Fat Albert, but it's wool and should shrink.

6. Fashion scarves are considered really nifty by people who don't knit or crochet.

7. Except for my sister who thinks my scarves are too skinny. But she wanted one anyway.

8. Planning on getting a lot of crochet work done around my family is close to impossible. There is too much eating to do, as well as planning the next meal, discussing the previous meal and ripping on the relative for extended periods of time.

9. The yarn shops in Lancaster County PA are either heavy on the Lion Brand or very, very, very small.

10. When you continually pick up skeins of Noro, drawn to it for some reason beyond your comprehension and finally decide to buy one...your family will think you are odd if you talk about it too much. (For this example, too much is defined as anything over 30 seconds.)

11. Boarding a dog from Dec 23 to Jan 2 does not constitute 22 days of occupancy.

12. When Lucy's haircut is growing in and she is freshly washed, she vaguely resembles a bear. A small, white sleeping bear.

13. Lucy is not mad at me for boarding her or making her get a bath. She shows this by trying to crawl into my lap while I am driving home and sticking to me like furry glue all today.

14. It was actually warmer in DC on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day then it was in Phoenix.

15. If you are shopping at the Eastern Market for jewelry the first necklace that you pick up, fall in love with, try on and get the clasp stuck necessitating the booth owner to come out from behind to rescue you, will cost $250. But you will find some beautiful jade beads for much less.

16. Straw purses made by artisans in Kenya are significantly cheaper than jade, and will probably get more use, being as it is much more practical.

17. There are a lot of Democrats in DC and some of them will have Bush pinatas at their New Year's festivities. Many people will take great pleasure in beating the crap out of said pinata.

18. My mother is as crafty as I am. I got a plethora of handmade Christmas gifts, including - but not limited to - coasters, pillowcases and a rockin' two-handed potholder.

19. The only household chore my mother will allow my father to perform without supervision is vacuuming.

20. My relatives, the Clampetts, still smoke a lot. Really, really a lot. Asthma attack a lot and I don't even have asthma.

21. A do-it-yourself Quonset hut is not made of metal, but rather of silvery canvas, making it all the more special for the neighbors.

22. When you put me on the sofa and my parents on an air mattress in my sister's new living room, you do not have much open floor space.

23. I am completely unused to stairs. In Arizona I can literally go weeks without attempting to mount more then 3 stairs at a time. On the east coast, things are a lot more vertical. And my sister's basement stairs suck big, rotten, stinky eggs.

24. The best restaurant in York County, PA is the Left Bank. I could conceivably eat there every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it. I would, however, weigh approximately 836 lbs and would need assistance with all the damn stairs out there.

25. I love my family and wish I could see them more often. I've told them about this blog and they may actually read it. I miss them. A lot.

There will be more about this trip later, including pictures, but that's enough for right now I think. Future plans include a "100 things about me" list, the much delayed "why these people rock" segment related to that long ago post, finished objects and future projects.

See many of you tomorrow night for the SnB meeting at Changing Hands.