My Own Boss

Now that summer break is over, and I find that I'm my own boss once again, it's amazing how much I can accomplish in a day. One of the first things on my list was to get to some of the housekeeping chores that tend to slide over the summer months. Disorder is not my friend. After all, I have to keep up my OCD reputation. (I don't think I'm that bad, but then crazy people don't know that they're crazy, do they?)

I've also been anxious to get my Cable Band Cardigan project blocked and put together. Not because it was such a high priority, but I was dying to see what it was going to look like. And whoo-hoo, I think it turned out great--if I do say so myself--and it fits perfectly.

There aren't many sweater patterns that I can knit without making some modifications. Being somewhat height challenged, I usually have to adjust both the body and sleeve length, but this one was right on. There is also just enough shaping around the waist to give it a pretty, feminine fit.

After knitting cables with DK for the last several weeks, I wanted my next project to be something thick and chunky, so I cast on a fall cardigan--almost jacket--in some apple red Lopi on size 101/2 needles. It miraculously grows right before my eyes! I can imagine that by the time I get to posting the details, I could be done.

All right! The boss says it's time to quit loafing and get back to work.

I Love You Son, But Could You Get Your Crap Out Of Our Living Room?

As summer comes to its unofficial end, I'm getting the same overwhelming feeling I get every September to get back to a normal routine and spend some time getting my life and my house back into shape. By the end of August, I have usually surrendered myself to the fact that some things have to be compromised. However, I can only take disorder for so long. It's been great having our son home from college for the summer, but I have to admit that I am looking forward to, among other things, picking up the kitchen and having it stay clean for at least a few hours.

Now we have a growing mountain of apartment furnishings taking over our living room that will all have to be hauled off this weekend. Another moving day. Part of me envies his going back to college. Those are great years. Most of me is glad that I'm past living in an overpriced closet and eating boxed macaroni and cheese.

So, the summer in review. We got to Lake Vermillion for some fishing, Chicago for the Twins, went to the PGA, and made it to sunny CA. We squeezed in visits to aunts, uncles, and cousins. There were lots of hours in the garden, and I think I have perfected the art of making my own yogurt. I knit three sweaters and a baby blanket. We celebrated twenty-five years of marriage. We ate lots of great food, drank a few wonderful summer adult beverages, saw some great movies--and a few that weren't so great. And we must have gone to at least a dozen different golf courses. Whew!

It was a terrific summer, and I love you son and will miss you, but could you please get your crap out of our living room?

Monterey

For our last gasp at summer vacation, we scheduled one final trip and spent a few days out in Monterey, CA. This was a destination we had tried once before and had to cancel at the last minute, but this time the stars aligned, and we made it.

Not unlike San Francisco, this area can be quite cool in the summer. (Didn't Mark Twain say that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco?) Even though we got a little taste of that, most of the time we were there it was sunny and gorgeous with record highs. Good for us; bad for the fires.

Like most of our vacations, this one revolved around food and some kind of sport. Ahh, the food. What's better than fresh seafood, pastas, salads, and wine? Lots of good wine. What's better is that you get to look out at all this beautiful scenery while you're enjoying it!

Besides the food, this area is known as golf heaven. The guys got in a few rounds, but I think they got the biggest kick out of walking around the Pebble Beach course. To our surprise, this gorgeous course is very accessible, and we were welcomed to walk around to our heart's content.

After having seen this course for so many years through tournament television coverage, these signature holes were familiar, but like everything else, were so much more fun to experience in person. We could have sat by this par three along the coastline all day.

Between golf days, we took a drive down to Big Sur. It was a warm, sunny day and the traffic was light, so we were able to take our time and pull off the road a few times to admire the view.

This was the perfect way to end our summer--a great summer. So, now we're home and getting ready to take our son back to college for the year.