On and on

I spent a lot of time analyzing what went wrong between me and the dude I recently had two dates with. In the end, I decided it was all in my head. I still don't like him very much and I probably won't go out with him again, but it fascinates me how hard I worked to put him in the wrong and how sure I was that I'd been unpleasant and unreasonable. Now I think he wasn't so bad and neither was I, it just wasn't a good match. Then again, he did get in touch with me yesterday and who knows what that means.

Next up—travel plans. I took a leap and bought my tickets to Israel. I booked the trip with layovers of several days in Paris on both ends. At first I thought I'd go to Slovakia or somewhere East, then back to Paris and on to Tel Aviv. But the more I thought about those days in Paris, the more I wanted to stay there. I kept thinking about returning to all my old haunts and going on that day trip to Amiens that I never managed to do. Or maybe Versailles. Can't you believe I never went to Versailles? I mean, you don't need to go there on a two-day trip, but seven months? You'd have thought I could've fit it in…but I didn't. So, I will go to Amiens, home of the largest Gothic Cathedral in Europe and maybe I will also go to Versailles (let's not get too crazy). I will stay in the little hotel in my neighborhood half a block from my old apartment. I will go to the bar where I used to get coffee and the bakery where I got my croissant. I will venture to the sites I was too shy to enter alone and enter boldly. I will have a great time.

On the way back from Israel, I stop in Paris again but my plan was to go straight to London to see my friend Alicia and her family. Still, I have almost five full days…maybe I can take a day or two and go somewhere else. Dublin? Edinburgh? Barcelona? Venice? I don't know. I am feeling adventurous! If you had a day and a half to go somewhere within striking distance of Paris, where would you go?

Finally, would any blog post of mine be complete without knitting? No! I know my list seemed long and perhaps it was, but I've already made tremendous progress. I started the mitts for my nephew and the first one is nearly done—just two fingers and a thumb left. I still have to make the "flip top" but I think I'll wait on that until I finish the second one. Knitting for five-year-olds using worsted weight yarn (that is, yarn significantly thicker than what I'm using for any other project) makes a HUGE difference—it's so much faster! Having made all that progress, I was encouraged to cast on for my sister-in-law's mitts. They will take longer, seeing as how I'm using sock weight yarn and making them adult size. I got started and was having a hard time finding the right size needle to use. I realized that I needed to free up a pair of the needles I'm using for one of the pairs of black socks. Turns out, the black cotton/elastic ones had the needles I wanted—I pulled out the socks, took a good look and thought, "These look finished. What's the hold up?" I tried them on, and except for the cuff, they are done. How did that happen? I think I was going to make them really long, or I had that notion, but why? I could actually do one more inch of knitting and get use of them before the warm weather is over. So, I got started on finishing then and after another half hour of knitting, they will be done and I can cross something off my list. I still have that itchy feeling, though, that I'm not quite where I want to be with all these projects. Yet, things are constantly taking my attention—laundry, making breakfast, looking for batteries, putting things away, researching travel options. So, even when I stay home to knit, I don't knit steadily.

I had a really hard time getting myself out of the house today even though the weather is PERFECT. The call of the wild knitting. Sigh. But I forced myself. Who knows how long I would have stayed in the house yesterday if I hadn't promised to help Nancy build a tree house for her kids? (I did make it out the farmer's market first thing—that is a must on Saturday.) The tree house business was pretty fun, actually, though I didn't do very much work. The kids were running around and wanted to get into my van (the VW camper) and that ended up taking a lot of time. They LOVED the camper. All kids do, it seems, given that it's perfectly kid-sized. The younger kid, who is about 4, said, "I love van. When I get car, this is my car. This is my first car!" I said, "It's for sale, if you're really interested." He just looked at me and smiled.

We also played a game. The older kid, about 5, sat in the driver's seat and said, "I am the mommy and you [meaning me] are the teenager."

I said, "Ok."

She said, "Say something!"

I said, "Are we there yet? I'm bored. This is no fun. I wish I were home. I want to be with my friends. I hate this."

She said, "Why are you saying that?"

I said, "You said I was the teenager!"

Ok, so maybe I wasn't such a big help with the tree house, but I may have provided some amusement to the kids.

Today, I am on my own, which is great and it's even better that I've left the house. I've got a book and my computer and I left all the knitting at home (even I know when it's time to curb my obsession). I rode my bike and I will wander freely today. Who knows what's next?

Grateful for: the opportunity to travel.