Pre-vacation Freakout

It seems like after about 35, I started getting a little bored with myself.  At this point, even I don't take myself seriously about some of this stuff.  I've learned enough about my peculiar personality to know that the week before I have a vacation coming up, I will, without fail, freak the living hell out for about 80% of that week.

And this past week was no exception.  I admit that life conspired to make me even more insanely busy, including double-booking meetings on two different sides of campus and generally freaking out.  On the upside, I was alarmingly productive, and while there is still a hellacious to-do list in my wake, it's a good sight smaller than it was last week.  It was also nice to have a good reason to put off people who wanted me to do something right away.  Sorry kids, not going to be here.  Toodles.

Work remains crazy.  I know this is an exciting topic.  Blogging actually came up in one of those double-scheduled meetings last week--something about the personal being political and how that message from the second wave of feminism has or has not been translated into young womens' views of their own expression, and it reminded me of a post that's been moldering in my drafts folder for a good couple of months and maybe I'll actually post it now.  So on the upside some of the work is really interesting, though on the downside some of it is tragically boring so there you go.

I've also been getting a bit involved in church politics, which is kind of ridiculous because my church, a UU, is a lot like a smaller version of the college where I work, and really, I have enough memos to write and meetings to go to at the place where they actually pay me.  Yet I go to meetings that last until 10 pm.  I don't know.  Again, bored of myself, yes.

So again, all this conspires to cause me to knit things that go around in a circle.  I did take some pictures of some of these things, though they were mostly taken three weeks ago.  Figure a little more on the trekking socks and a fair amount more on the red sweater you saw here, and you're up to date.  I might take lace on vacation, but I'm not sure I'll actually knit it.

Anyway, socks I finished a while back.  These are those ones with Aloe and Jojoba in the yarn.  Love em.  I gather they have better colors now--I'll definitely be making more of these.

Next, a lovely gift of Rocktoberfest STR from Kristen when she was staying here.  It turned into these:

Even though the striping sequence totally didn't stay the same on the foot (why, I ask you, why!?), I still love my afterthought heels on the socks that rock.  And rock they do, I might add.

I would also like to tell you that the Fred Flinstone STR socks are extremely sneaky, and apparently came downstairs in the dark of night and deleted their picture from my hard drive because that is the ONLY explanation for the fact that I finished a pair of socks in January and it's April and I haven't taken a picture of them.

Some of my friend Gail's truly fabulous sock yarn is on the needles now, though I'm trying to restrain myself from abandoning the almost-done trekking socks in favor of their yummy goodness.  The base yarn is a great wool-nylon blend that's softer than most German wool-nylon sock yarns, but has the beautiful hand-dyed thing going on.  Gail sells her sock yarn at Webs, which is a dangerous proposition, the store being two miles from my house and all.  I've just been trying to stay away from the place, because it's just never a good idea to be in there with a warm credit card.

Anyway, it's not like I've taken out my camera in the last three weeks, but here's the yarn wound up.  I've got an inch or two of a--wait for it--picot-edged sock!--on its way.

So that's the yarn in a nutshell.  You can wake up now.  Coffee?

So, other than that, there was a birthday party.  Wicked cute, people.

We had a magician come, ergo, balloon aliens.  You know, the usual.

That brings you about up to date around here.  Next stop, Orlando. (I have been obsessively researching Disney.  Go ahead, ask me anything.)  Ever since we announced our trip, my dad has been sending me pictures of me at Disney in the 70s (he worked for them in a non-park-related job at the time).

Here's me meeting Mickey.

And here's me and my mom a few years later.

Onward, here comes the next generation...

Comments

[Mel]

Oh my, that last one was rather Wonder Twins, only with greater flair. Have a great time on the vacation!

[Ruth]

Have a fabulous vacation! (I do exactly the same freak-out thing the week before a holiday - it increases exponentially in intensity as the departure approaches, reaching a fever pitch just before we step out the door. Once we leave the driveway, sanity returns.)

[Laurie]

Oh yo, I love the high fiving kids. Have a wonderful vacation. I've been thinking about you, and hoping you are surviving, albeit blogless, well, not blogless, just postless.

[Rachel H]

Love the Wonder Twins photo.

There's a birthday at our house today. Someone just turned 6 and has a party with his friends at Chuck E Cheese's this afternoon. I pray I have enough advil to get through it...

[Carole]

I'm glad to hear from you and I'm never bored by your stuff. Pre-vacation freak outs are allowed although I usually save mine for the re-entry. Have a fabulous time!

[BethC]

Have great vacation! I love Disney, by the way they sell Dale of Norway kits at EPCOT, but nothing I was interested in...

[Marcia]

Fellow Freaker Outer piping in. If my vacation were preceded by a week where people at work were scheduling meetings for me in opposite ends of the universe, someone might get hurt. This time of year for me, I pretty much have no say in how my day goes, with meetings being scheduled hither on yon, leaving me to figure out how I'm to do the rest of my job done in between.

Have fun at Disney. I laid a Cakers' egg two weeks after I was there last. I was 41. I think it was magic. I hope you're staying in the kingdom, it takes out lots of stress and fuss. It's truly a little world onto itself.

P.S. Cakers was not happy when she found out we went to Disney "without her."

[Kathy]

My pre-vacation freakouts as so predictable that my husband has become adept at anticipating them -- usually they start about two weeks before and get progessively worse until I utter the lines, "I'm not going!" and then get recalibrated.

Have a wonderful vacation!!

[Teresa C]

Isn't it great to read that you (we) aren't the only pre-vacation freaker outers? Even when I am organized and ready. I think there is just a fair amount of stress to disrupting the routine, even for a fun vacation. A couple of tips for Disney with little ones: Listen to them. If they want to spend the day in the pool (and for some reason all the little ones want to) you are better off doing it then trying to get to a park and think they are going to be happy when they get there. They always know themselves better that way. We usually tried to get to parks early and plan on 3-5 hours. Head back for lunch and swimming, naps, whatever and then maybe try an evening thing. It is really easy to push meals out of schedule-be really conscious of getting food and drinks into their little bellies. The excitement will keep them from telling you they are hungry until they are so hungry they are melting down. There is the temptation to think that you are only going to get the chance to do this vacation a couple of times and try to cram everything in that you can. It is much better to choose a few things each day that are important and if you can fit a little more in, great, but if not-let it go. Hold tight to little hands (especially in bus lines) and relax. Have a wonderful time. You will leave Disney with a lot of fun memories and some new ideas about what it has become, I suspect. Just listen to and try to read the kids. Anticipating that melt down is key and giving up the feeling that you have spent the money so you don't want to spend it at the pool-trust me, when mine were little that is what they wanted to do the most. The parks can be overwhelming and they know their limits.

Have a great vacation!

[melissaknits]

LOUD SCREECHING CHEERS, unusual for me. Disney is awesome. We go as often as we can, got married there, going in Jan for land and sea trip with grown kids. Awesomeness.

Is not that yarn edible? I love it. I got some yesterday, browns and oranges and pinks which I think has been rejected from the line (sadly) but adored my store staff.

Coming by for "Sock Boot Camp"? 12-4, Sunday April 15th (today). Food, and free yarn and lots of people.

[melissaknits]

BY store staff I mean.

[Sara]

cool - can't wait for Disney!

[maryse]

i love the disney pics. have a great vacation. sounds like you need it.

[Amanda]

Do you belong to the UU church by the city hall in the town where you work? I always liked the quotations on their marquee-thing our front. And I think their minister presided at my friend's wedding (at the college).....I'm trying to remember....

BTW, Disney-for-adults tips:
1) if it starts raining in the late afternoon, everyone leaves and you can go on all the rides like 10 times, over and over!!! I have done so. Best. Visit. EVAR.
2) If you feel the need for some adult refreshment, the World Showcase in Epcot is the repository of almost all the booze in the park system. Good beer in England, and wine in France.

[Kristen]

funny how I seem to be able to leave you comments but can't seem to get my butt in gear to compose an actual email. (le sigh)

I hope you have a great time in the fun, sun and slime. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been looking for a plane ticket this week - but still no luck. The next time you take this trip I'll be along, even if it's in someone's luggage.

God I miss the wonder(ful) twins.

[Lucia]

I like your freak-out better than mine. Have a great vacation in your lovely socks, if it's cold enough to wear 'em. If not, chuckle evilly as you think of us here on the tundra.

[Bethany]

Have a great trip! I have been bugging my mom to get out our Disney pics from the 70's-- so I can match up the poses with the trip we took last year!

[JoVE]

That picture of you and your mom is scary, in a all-american family kind of way.

I completely understand the pre-departure panic (as I like to call it). Hope it all goes well. I guess we are all in the air on Tuesday though us for lots longer (with a layover in Toronto just to make a long day with a 3 hour time difference even more unbearable)

[Juno]

May I say that you and Mickey are the cutest - well, you are. Mickey's actually a tad creepy. But that's just me.

Have fun. Maybe think about relaxing? Safe journey.

[Martha]

You should definitely post that second-wave-of-feminism entry. I think that would generate a really interesting discussion, seeing as how we have a broad range of generations here on the internets.

Have a great time at Disney!! I think everyone freaks out before vacations, just par for the course.

[Elinor]

Have a great vacation! I hope it will be a good break from work!

[--Deb]

Have a wonderful time!!!! I remember when Mickey was that tall, too . . .

[Lee Ann]

Have a blast, babe. Those kids are adorable, and balloon aliens, or aliens of some kind, are kind of de rigeur around here, too :-)

[julia fc]

So much you've tweaked for me today:
Happy birthday to E&H. You'll have a blast at Disney if you take it slow. There's the burnout after noon, as you may have heard. But even my patrician husband digs the place. And I love the idea of blogs belonging to some kind of feminist wave. Someone should dissertate that baby.
My uu meetings go to 10 too. What are you going to do? It's community, and it requires work.

[JessaLu]

I totally understand the freak-out - only I've been doing it since my mid-20's ;o)

Have a great vacation! When we went last year we bought the 'Hidden Mickey's' book which helped keep the kids focused (we went with RR's sister and her two kids). If you aren't leaving for a few days I can send you our copy if you're interested.