In other news, I am very close to being able to run all the way around Greenlake, which is good because I paid $25 for the privilege of doing so on the 7th.  Actually, what I really paid for was the t-shirt.  And the ducky.

I am now up to running 15 minutes at a stretch!  Hey!  That’s a big deal!

Kyna was in town so we had dinner (Thai food outside in perfect weather) with her and Caitlin last night.  It was delightful and almost like no time had passed since college.  Since she had to be at UW tomorrow morning and we live close, Kyna stayed at our house.  I’m glad we can do that for people.

I’ve been watching our church’s series on the book of Ruth.  It’s interesting, fun, and helpful.
Tomorrow night we’re going to a Mariner’s game.  Whee!

Life is good!

The yarn is beautiful shades of light purple and yellow and reminds me of a book I had as a child called The Sky Jumps into your Shoes at Night.  It looks like the illustrator’s version of what the personified sunset would look like.  As I knit it reminds me of hearing the story as a little kid snug in my little bed.  Apart from the beautiful color, it’s a fantastically soft blend of wool and bamboo (really, it’s soft!).

With such beautiful yarn, I needed a beautiful pattern.  I searched online and found a pattern for a lacy sock where the lace continues on the top of the foot so you can see the pattern without being a weirdo and lifting up your pant leg to show off your socks.  I was so excited and spent the last two days making the cuff of the sock (down to the heel).  I was a very happy knitter and felt very cleaver at the lavender and yellow lace (requiring keeping track of 8 rows which are knit differently thus using the stitch counter made with love for me by Liz) flowing from my needles in a nifty braid-like pattern.  Ah, bliss.

Then there was a problem.  I got to the heel.  I’ve made five sock heels before (well, six or seven if you count ones I’ve ripped out) but that experience does not help me at all with the heel on this pattern.  It references places in the pattern that DO NOT EXIST!  Now I have a sock-tube and I’m not sure what to do with it.  Sigh.  I have two conclusions.

1. Always read a pattern and understand it before you start.
2. Leg warmers should come back into fashion  Maybe I’ll go to the yarn store and ask an expert to help me interpret the pattern.

1. Is very common
2. Follows the rules of standard English phonetics (no silent Qs in the middle or anything)
3. Contains a word very common to the English vocabulary.

The person was a native speaker of English and still had troubles.  Odd.

She also asked if I was James.  Now, it was first thing in the morning, but I like to think I don’t sound mannish, even then.

EDIT:  and now the long post magically reappears as if from nowhere.  Weird.

We also enjoyed the sights on Highway 2, including the Iron Goat Monument (we didn’t stop) and the sign for custom knives and lodging (valuing our lives, we didn’t stop their either).  Good times.

When we returned to Seattle Sunday afternoon, Jamie had to go to a work conference, so I went to church by myself.  I don’t normally like to do that, and had to really convince myself to go.  I was really glad I did.  Look!  You can watch the sermon, too!  We could have a theological discussion on our blog comments!  Or we could have a discussion about my ridiculous affinity for cheese blintzes.  We’ll see which way it goes.
Other than that, I’ve been relaxing to a degree that would make those of you with year-round jobs dislike me severly.  I’ll leave it at that.

• Organize the bathroom closet
• Clean bathroom
• Alphabetize CDs (yes, I’m that nerdy)
• Weed out closet and dresser
• Take stuff to Goodwill
• Clean out and wash refrigerator
• Mop
• Find new bedroom curtains
• The big kahuna:  organize the office!  Now I can go in there without having a panic attack!  It was an uphill battle of organizing, recycling copious amounts of paper, vacuuming up an obscene quantity of cat hair, and rearranging.  Now it is beautiful!

Left to do:

• Make the yard look nice (let’s be honest, that will mostly be Jamie, but I’ll help)
• Organize basement bedroom (we’ll see if that gets done before we move)

I’m also working on becoming a runner.  I’d really like to do Bloomsday next year.  I’ve walked it twice, but felt phony for walking it then parading around in the shirt like a real athlete.

Next week should be a relaxing one–meeting with some teachers, quilting, and celebrating anniversary #2!

Now that it’s been forever, it seems weird to write a long missive about Mary’s wedding and the end of school.  Mary’s wedding was wonderful and I’m glad Jamie encouraged me to tough it out when I had the stomach flu.  It was so beautiful to see two people so in love and to be reminded of the meaning/sacredness of marriage.

Before the wedding we went up to Whitworth to see how things had changed.  Other than a few missing buildings, a few new buildings, and rocking chairs by the campanile (is that how you spell that?), it was just like I left it.  I got all nostalgic seeing the campus again. 

The last days of school went okay.  I sent home 4 (!) behavior contracts on the 2nd to last day!  I could barely believe it–just hold it together, kids!  By some miracle I got all my assessments done before the kids left, then was VERY busy on our grading day (and two days after that) writing report cards and preparing the room for the summer.  This year was one of the most difficult I can remember, so it’s strange that it’s over.  I’m not sure how to feel about it.  There are definitely things I would do differently, so I kind of want another try with these kids, but at the same time I’m very excited for a clean slate.

Last weekend was spent in New York for Mitch’s (who would have been the best man in our wedding had he not been in Afghanistan) wedding.  Jamie was a groomsman and was busy with his duties as such.  I was his faithful sidekick.  Good times.  The wedding was beautiful, and there was a saber guard!  Weddings are more fun when weapons are involved.  Jamie even came to find me to dance at the reception–he’s learned fast how to make his wife swoon!  It will be fun for Mitch and Meg (new bride) to come visit so we can get some more relaxed time to get to know Meg better.

We returned Sunday, took a nap for 6 hours (we’d been up since 1:30 Washington time), then I cleaned the house and did laundry for an hour and a half in preparation for my trip to Yakima on Monday.  Now here I am.  I should probably go make myself useful.

P.S.  My hubby is the bestest.  Just so you know.

I’m choosing not to focus on the report cards I have to write.  I don’t want to talk about that right now.

When I’m done with the grading, perhaps I can tell you about our trip to Spokane, an epic tale which includes a ticket, getting lost, seeing friends, rocking chairs, stomach flu, chicken soup, Manito Park, a beautiful wedding, a substitute teacher, and more flu.

Off to sign kids’ yearbooks–hopefully I can come up with something better than “Have a great summer”!