Comfort and Joy

Scott's sourdough bread turned out wonderful. He's into www.allrecipes.com and may never own another cook book. And he cleans up the kitchen, too. I think one year of residence at university may be enough for him. I could see him getting an apartment with some of his other cooking buddies. Applications for his future school are in the works. I'm invited to help decorate the grad dinner, so it's starting to feel real.
And my trip to Mexico, starting tomorrow, is starting to feel real, too. I painted my toenails which makes me so very pleased. I slathered on the fake tan lotion, made my lists, and packed my bathing suits and straw hat.

D and I are leaving the progeny to themselves. There is lots of food in the house, but I won't promise they won't eat each other. My MIL wants custody. I had to fight hard to point out that they are 18 and 16 and can cook and clean, walk and drive.

I feel strongly (about so many things, you know) that as a parent, my job is to help them become good adults and give them lots of opportunities to make mistakes in a safe setting. The needy, whiny, princess thing needs no encouragement. It's a lot harder to ask them how they are going to solve their own problems.

I am taking the biggest, oldest UFO with me. And no emergency knitting. Nothing to turn to instead. This project has travelled everywhere with me and just been neglected. The frequent flyer miles alone could buy more wool. Maybe I'll finish it this time to wear to Scotland in August. That was the plan for Glasgow 2003. Isn't that pathetic? How many shawls have I knit since then? Nine? At least. Poor thing is blue. I'll try to cheer it up this week in Ixtapa.

Obama's Playlist

CBC Radio is running great programming right now. They are having a contest to choose the 49 songs to put on an ipod to give to Obama on his inaugeration.

They started with 100 songs- pop, classical, Quebecois and had the listeners vote on line. It is so much fun. These are the songs that have lodged themselves in the corners of my memories. The soundtrack of my life. We have lots of these pieces in our very ecclectic CD collection. Surprisingly, some of the good ones aren't there.

It got me thinking to what music I have invested in. I have not been to too many concerts. It's a bit of a drive into the city and I don't really like big crowds and the stadium scene. "Live" loses something when there is a quarter of a mile and several stories between you and the band.

I do like going to the Orpheum which is an old theatre.

My first concert was John Denver in about 1976. My sister Pat spent all her money on the tickets because I was (am) such a fan. I still sing his stuff with my guitar.

Then D took me to Burton Cummings at the PNE in 1980 and to Billy Joel (Glass Houses) in 1981.

At university in Calgary, we had quite a few bands come to the student union. Don't even remember much. I did go to Steve Winwood on a first date.

D and I went to Gordon Lightfoot in one of the summers between highschool and dating again at the end of nursing school. He is a great musician and we had our first waltz to his "Beautiful".

As an adult, I went to k.d.lang three times. We saw the 3 tenors at BC Place on New Year Eve 1994 (?). My MIL bought me tickets to Jann Arden when she opened the hockey rink in Chilliwack a few years ago. I think she's great.

As a family, we have been going to the Vancouver Jazz Festival for the past few years and enjoyed Winton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr (!!!) and Dave Brubeck. I wonder what's on for this year?
They unveil the 49 songs for the 49th parallel on Tuesday. I'm really excited. It's so hard to vote for just one song. My charity knitting has begun with Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby sweater. I know it's only January. This is a great recipe. I'm rewriting it in my own words so I can just knit it next time without interpreting. I don't know how many times I've knit this. I still enjoy it. But I really appreciate the work that went into adapting it for the February Lady Sweater. I must contact her and let her know how much I appreciate the work she did.

This is the big UFO in the room. I may have to take this shawl to Mexico with me. I took it to the Caribbean and to Texas as well. See how nicely it fits in a bag? It's just the thistle pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. But it has quite a few rows of repeat. I blew up the pattern and cut out each row onto a card. Easy peasy. Just not what I want to knit "right now" for about 5 years.

What is your monkey on your shoulder?