We got to have a bit of a heat wave after Thanksgiving Day-it went up to 30.7*F one night, yes, that was up from 19*F! For Thanksgiving weekend, that's definitely a bit cooler than I've been used to over the past 30 years.
The day we all arrived, Dad took his Number One Granddaughter (by virtue of her birth order) to the Bay with her boyfriend. Some day I'll get my chance to get out there. I moved there in 1969, and still haven't been where they are in this picture. Can you tell how much he's loving having us there? We all wished the rest of my kids would have been able to make the trip. Some parts of getting older just stink, I tell you. Work, homework, finalys. Those, kinds of things. But my parents just love their grandchildren, and that's a very good thing!
Here is Mom and Dad the morning I left Michigan. This time I made sure to snap a picture of them with the camera rather than just with the cell phone. Despite the fact that he's lost about 50 pounds since his chemo, he's looking pretty dapper-eh? Mom will be 80 years old this Saturday! I'm hoping I'll be doing so well at that age!
Grandma in her 'element'...packing lunches for us to take on the plane. And her famous Blueberry Buckle. I'll have to post the recipe here, soon. I'm thinking...
We offered to help set up Christmas decorations while there, but Mom thought it was a bit too early. I found these in her china cabinet, and just couldn't resist. Therefore, I've added the first out of their hiding places all year. I just had to do it.
Didn't quite get as much knitting and baby blanket making done as I'd hoped, but the end is getting closer here. The Feather and Fan blanket has been ripped-when I went to pack for the trip, I realized I didn't have enough of the dye lot in Navy to finish the blanket, so I had to start over with another dye lot. That's alright. Ripping and frogging are a big part of my knitting. I'm used to it.
Flying into DTW, my suitcase came off the baggage claim belt with a busted wheel. Actually, that's not quite true. The wheel and it's 'bracket' for that corner was completely missing! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......so the 2 days after Thanksgiving found me searching for a suitcase to replace the 'broken one.' Now, being in Michigan where I know many of us travel back and forth quite often, I found it frustrating that the selection was so small to pick from. I did stumble into Kohl's and found a great sale. Happily I was able to get back and begin packing. However, you know how Mothers are...She was sending home some 'extras'. Of course, I wasn't going to say No, Thanks! Nope, the more I thought about it, the more I decided to head on back to Kohl's and pick up a 2nd suitcase. The sale was really good, and I'd be a fool to pass it up. After all, I was able to get everything into both suitcases to bring home, and not have to mail things back. So, imagine my reaction when I went to baggage claim on Sunday night...and found this on my brand-spanking-new-2nd purchased suitcase!
Yep. two suitcases in one week...wheels busted...and you know what? The airlines don't guarantee wheels. But...a suitcase that is less than 24 hours old to me? I wasn't thrilled I'll tell you. I watched the baggage guys on Tuesday last week pulling suitcases off the cart to load the planes. I watched a couple of them get pulled by long handles and let drop at nearly shoulder height. At the time I was thinking to myself, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I'm glad that wasn't my suitcase. I can see why things get busted like that. Another time I watched 3 baggage guys taking the luggage off of a plane. The belt wasn't stopped when it was too full. They were busy talking and I watched at least 4 bags and boxes drop directly onto the floor. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
However, I think Kohl's might have a new customer. Without hesitation, they exchanged the broken suitcase without a single blink. And I'm thinking that 15 year guarantee might get a bit of a workout though. Now, I'm thinking...it's too bad that Kohl's doesn't sell yarn. EH?
I'm heading back to the Rainbow Baby Blanket, I've got to get this one finished asap. There are more babies on the way, and a few that are already here, that are without their baby blankets. TISK TISK TISK....I know, I'm knitting as fast as I can! I promise.
