Blithering Knitiot

Saturday Sky

Hi there!  Since I haven't done one of these in forever, this was the sky Tuesday morning here in Oregon.  Enjoy.

Good Morning

Just a quick post before the weekend.  The trip to Oregon was just terrific.  Once we got into Canada, we made a stop to visit one of our favorite knitters, Ted.  Ted made us a lovely dinner and brought it to our hotel, where we ate on the balcony and got caught up with everything that's been going on.  The next morning we took the ferry across one of the lakes, drove north around the remaining lakes, across the flat lands of central Canada and then through the Canadian Rockies (which are absolutely stunning to see!).  Since my camera was packed away, David got some beautiful pictures, which I hope to get soon to show you.

I'm in my apartment, the truck got here on Tuesday, and David's family came out in force to help unload the truck.  They were absolutely amazing - it was like worker ants attacking prey.  The truck was unloaded in two hours and the apartment is full, and now the next round of cleaning out begins as I start to unpack (beacuse lots of things came to Oregon that were't intended to come to Oregon.  About 35 people arrived at the old apartment in NY to help me move, and to be quite honest, I really don't remember too much about that day - it was constant questions and rooms full of people packing the things I hadn't packed yet, and it really was insane!  And they're wonderful people, and I will miss them.)

More to come when I get pictures to share.  And today David and I are off to another men's knitting retreat, so the unpacking will need to wait for a couple of days.  See ya!

Moving...

Because my good friend Ted has been insisting that I tell this story, and since I just got another reminder about it from him on ravelry, here goes:

Yes, you read that right.  I'm moving.  For many reasons, the most important one being that I met the love of my life and I need to be near him.  Secondly, I'm VERY tired of teaching.  Burned out.  And have been for the past couple of years.  So, it's time for a change.  I won't get into the work related stuff, it's not important.  I can say that I'm leaving while I still have a little self respect in what I've done with the kids.  I've seen many teachers just hang on till retirement - not happy, not excited about what they're doing, not enjoying the kids, not enjoying their colleagues, and pretty much miserable over all.  And instead of becoming one of them (which is probably my biggest fear), I decided to let teaching go.  Try other things with my life.  Be with someone who just loves me and all my faults.  And start over.

David and I met online (I know what you're thinking - match.com, but NO!!!) on a knitting site, menwhoknit.com.  Yep, he's an amazing knitter.  I had e-mailed him just to tell him how much I liked something he wrote in response to a very scathing post on "decorum".  He wrote back to thank me for writing to him.  Then the next day I got another e-mail from him:

"I was looking at your knitiot blog and see that you are a musician and like opera. Are you busy on Sept 22? It’s a Monday but can you maybe get away? I have 2 tickets to opening night of the Metropolitan Opera. Would you like to have dinner with me and go to opening night? I know you live a ways from NYC, but… opening night? Renee Fleming? Dinner with a tall, fair, and balding man?

Hope you can say yes, David"

I read this over and over for about 15 minutes, and decided, "What the hell, why not make a new friend and go to the opera?"  After I said yes, the e-mails and phone calls back and forth were rampant.  Several each day, and we pretty much laid the groundwork on what I thought would be a lovely friendship, if nothing else.  So, September 22 came, and we met, and there were sparks and fireworks and all that good stuff - even flowers at Penn Station where we met for the first time.  So, it was a great first date (well, it actually lasted three days...).  The opera was amazing, the places we ate were wonderful, and of course, the company was just easy and comfortable, and even better than I expected.  Besides the Opera, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the Van Goghs, and various other sites of NY.  At the end of the trip, being a wise guy as I sometimes tend to be, I said "This was a great first date.  What do you have planned for the second?"  And with out a beat he says "Madama Butterfly".  I said "What, here in NY?"  He said, "I already have the tickets!"  Needless to say, I was speechless for about 15 minutes (yes, it can happen!!), and as we were walking down the street, he starting to pinch my arm and say over and over again "Do you believe it now?  Do you believe it now???"

So, we met again in New York before Thanksgiving, then again over the Christmas holidays, and once more later in the winter.  In all, we saw 10 production at the Met (and even if your not a big opera buff, you MUST go!  It's magical!), and visited many museums.  And keep in mind, he was flying in from Oregon!  So, it wasn't just the opera that kept him travelling!  Tee Hee!

At Easter, I flew out to see him and meet the family (and they're just a wonderful bunch of people!), and we spent a week in Hawaii, which was really just amazing!  Then in May he flew out to NY for the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat, and I flew out to see him in his first concert with the Portland Gay Men's Chorus in June.  He was awesome, and SO proud!  And I was so proud of him!  After the school year had ended, I decided that it was indeed time to make a change, so I got an apartment, and I'm off to the other side of the country. 

So, the summer has been filled with purging the apartment, throwing things out left and right, a very successful garage sale, and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as packing is concerned.  

And I feel that it IS the right time for a new beginning.  Especially with David.

*There.  That should make Ted a happy boy...  LOL!*

So...

I really need to continue my story of my Easter vacation, even though it's been a while since the last post.  I've become such a bad blogger....

Anyway, the Easter weekend was spent meeting family and God Parents and children of God Parents and an incredible sister-in-law and friends from church.  It was a whirl wind of meeting people, and Easter dinner included about 35 people, family and extended family, and it was just awesome!  I was welcomed to the family by several people, and I did feel like family, and like I've known them forever.

Monday morning started very early with a short flight to Seattle, then a long flight to the Big Island of Hawaii.  In First Class!  How awesome was that!  Large, comfortable seats, Flight Attendants at our beck and call, a breakfast of Eggs Benedict with Salmon, and drinks in our hands at 8:30am.  It really IS the way to fly.  And we got a VERY good deal, which is why we did it. 

After a very nice flight, we picked up the rental car, and made out way to the Aloha Guest House, a lovely little B&B on the side of a mountain, and our room looked out over the west coast of the island:

The week was spent exploring the local attractions, kayaking and snorkelling, lots of eating (the breakfasts at the B&B were just incredible, as was the company of the other people staying there, and the local restaurants were superb!!!), and time in the hot tub.  (At one of the little shops we stopped at, we were told that we were "full of Aloha", because obviously we looked like the tourists that we were!  LOL!)  We also took a little trip to the Volcano National Park, which was fascinating!  It was actually a very relaxing vacation, and it was difficult coming back to work the following week.  but isn't that the way it always is after time away?

Because I still need to write a post about the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat that the BF and I went to, I'll keep this post short.  The pictures of our Hawaii trip actually gets into much more detail of where we went and what we saw, so you can go here!

And there has been a little knitting going on, mostly swatching for a sock pattern that was written especially for the Men's Knitting Retreat.  More on that later!  Have a great night!

The beginning...

So, the Spring vacation started immediately on Good Friday, with a departure time of 6:30am.  Well, what should have been 6:30am, but a delay because they wanted to examine the wings for ice, which they did, and there was none, so we took off about a half hour late, which was enough for me to be late getting my connection flight in Detroit.  So, I was rerouted, and ended up getting to Portland, Or only about an hour late, which I thought wasn't too bad, actually.  As I was being rerouted by Vincent at the ticket kiosk, a group of 20-something kids, maybe five of them, showed up a little bit after me, pissing and moaning becasue they had missed the same flight.  Amd by moaning, I really mean being very fowl mouthed and belligerent.  And as Voncent was trying to get me re-routed, they continues to harrass him to the point where he told them that if they did not stop, he would call the airport police.  They were just belligerent to this man who was trying to do his job.  And then they started to interrogate me:

Them: And where are you going?  Where did you fly from?  When were you supposed to land?
Me: I'll be going where Vincent re-directs me and I'll be on my way.  My destination is none of your business, and like you, I've missed the flight as well.  There's NOTHING we can do to get on that plane.  At the moment he's helping me, so I guess you'lll need to wait your turn.  And if I were you, I'd get in line and be very nice to this man, because right now he's the only on that can help you, and if I were him, I'd make sure you didn't get to your destination till tomorrow afternoon due to all your harrassment.  Now maybe you should just suck it up and wait your turn.
Them:  Absolutely mothing to say.  All conversation stopped.

Then I turned away from them and gave my attention to Vincent, who looked at me and winked.  I thanked him for his help and shook his hand.  Big smiles!  He got me new tickets and I went on my way.  (Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I NEVER speak up in situations like this, but I thought, this is just bullshit, and I opened my mouth)  And I giggled all the way to the new gate, got on a new plane and was in the air in no time.

The BF picked me up in Portland.  It was SO good to see him.  10 weeks is a long time to not see someone you care about, and we've vowed to not be away from each other that long if we can help it.  He said he had a surprise, and when we got to the car said "Put your bags in the back, the tent is in the trunk."  Time stood still for a moment.  "Tent??"  "Yeah, it'll be fun!".  I got the bags in the car and we were on our way.  Chatting, getting caught up, being very happy and giggly to be together again.  And then little questions about where we were going.  "A great little place I found to camp.  I think you'll like it."  So, I'm thinking, it's only one night, I can do this, although I've never camped in a tent in my life.  But he knows what he's doing, so I guess I'll just trust him and we'll see how this works.

So, we're driving through the roads of Oragon, which is absolutely GORGEOUS!  The mountains are just stunning, and it was so GREEN!!!!  And moss everywhere!  Everywhere, I tell you!  We climb up and up, high elevations, and all of a sudden there's snow on the ground.  Snow!  I'm coming from upstate NY after a long winter, and I really don't want to see snow.  Higher and high, and the amount of snow is also getting higher and high.  We're talking 15 to 20 feet!!!!  I'm thinking, "How the hell are we going to camp in this?"  I ask, and he says, "I'm pondering digging a snow cave, they're warmer than just a tent."  At which point I'm thinking, "FUCK!  What the hell have I done!!!" 

We finally reach our destination - I see lots of skiers and a HUGE lodge.  We park and he says, we have to go in and register for the camping site:

We go in, and the lodge is absolutely beautiful (Go to their site and read about it's history!  Very cool!):

He goes to the front desk and I stand there taking in the site of the lobby, thinking "Why can't we be here instead??"  He returns and hands me a key with a HUGE grin on his face and says "Room 110!"  He was so proud of himself!  I start to laugh and give him a big hug, and we giggle all the way to the room.  I'm sure I was blushing 10 shades of red, and kicking myself for being sucked in to his little story!  But, he was very convincing (although he was  trying so hard during the drive not to laugh out loud, and he succeeded!).

And yes, that was a working fireplace!  And the view from the room:

So, he played a nice little surprise, which I'm sure neither on of us will ever forget.  And this was just the beginning of the vacation!  More to come at a later date!

Trivia...

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Paul!

1. Paul became extinct in England in 1486!
2. A rhinoceros horn is made from compacted Paul.
3. The only Englishmanto become Paul was Nicholas Breakspear, who was Paul from 1154 to 1159!
4. The Australian billygoat plum contains a hundred times more Vitamin C than Paul.
5. Paul has often been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean.
6. While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes dressed up as Paul.
7. Paul can't drink - he absorbs water from his surroundings by osmosis.
8. It's bad luck to put Paul on a bed.
9. A bride should wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and Paul.
10. Only one person in two billion will live to be Paul!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Find out more about yourself than you ever knew here.

Hello!

It's been a while since my last post.  I've been busy getting all of Cinderella put away, and just recently got back from a little trip.  I'm still trying to get pictures and events put in the right order.  The trip started here:

And then wound up here:

More details when I get over my jet lag...  I hope you all are having a wonderful Spring!

So it's Spring...

But yet we're having lows in the teens for the next couple of nights, and it's 36º at the moment.  The winter was pretty busy - I directed a production of Cinderella, and just for giggles, decided to set the whole story in Japan, add some elements from kabuki theatre, and added a HUGE fan as the backdrop for the ballroom scenes (these pics were taken by the yearbook advisor at the final dress rehearsal):

All the kimonos were made by several mothers, and when they got done, all the kids looked fabulous!  Cinderella and the Step Mother and Step Sisters after the ball:

 The little white globes in the background of the ballroom were lanterns (manipulated by students all in black) that not only became part of the set, but also did their own choreography around Cinderella and the prince while they sang:

All the set pieces were moved and held by people all in black.  Ninja costumes were just the thing (even their faces were covered, so they really blended into the background:

We're very lucky to have an art department in the high school that is willing to build and paint the sets.  The base for the carriage is a rolling cart borrowed from the custodial staff, which was also manipulated by a "ninja".  All in all, it was a success artistically, and the parents and community were very happy, the kids are walking away with another positive theatre experience and memories, and now that it's over, I can get back to some knitting - directing plays is such a time comsuming project.

What little knitting that has been going on has been the start of a sweater (the bottom cuff of the body is completed), and a scarf that I started on the train to New York to see the BF and Operas at the Met is not even half finished, but I have been  working on it a little bit this past week - neither is picture worthy yet.  So, that's been my life the past couple of months.

I hope everything in your world has been terrific!  Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy the day...

Season's Greetings!

The best of holidays to you and your families, however you may celebrate!

What sweeter music can we bring
than a carol for to sing the birth
of this our heavnly king.
Awake the voice awake the string.

Dark and dull nights fly hence away
and give the honor to this day
that sees December turned to May.
That sees December turned to May.

Why does the chilling winters morn
smile like a field beset with corn
or smell like a meadow newly shorn.
Thus on the sudden come and see.
The cause why things such fragrant be.

Tis' he is born who's quickening birth
gives life and luster public mirth
to heaven and the under earth.

We see him come and know him ours
who with his sunshine and his showers
turns all the patient ground to flowers.
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.

The darling of the world is come
and fit it is we find a room to welcome him.
To welcome him.

The noble part of all the house here is the heart
Which we receive him and bequeath, this holly and this ivy wreath.
To do him honor who's our king and lord of all this reveling.