There’s this wonderful feeling when things go well – the small things, the big things, all the in-between things.
Like when you make a shopping list and go to the store and get everything on the list (and maybe only one or two extra things,) drive home and make every light – that’s how this weekend felt!
Even though the turnout was slim in Canada, the reception was warm (the turnout – AND the weather) and welcoming. Meeting Terri from Feather your Nest and all of her wonderful students was a blast. I must admit that my time in Canada is a bit of a blur – but after the last three days, what WOULDN’T be!?
Threadbear
Rob & Matt made me feel just like family – in so many ways – especially if you understand that my family has an addiction to Diet Coke (it’s genetic.) That’s pretty much what flows through the veins of the folks at Threadbear!
My first class on Friday night was exceptional – oh, heck, ALL the classes were exceptional!
It’s amazing when – out of FIVE classes – there were really no rough patches, no parts when I wanted to kick myself for not explaining a concept better, no student who just couldn’t ‘get it.’
Everybody got it in these classes – they were an amazing group!
When I teach more than three classes at a venue I fear folks will get tired of my stock jokes, stories, the little songs I sing. If the students at Threabear were tired of me, they were kind (and gentle) enough not to let me know.
Heaven knows I told the same damned jokes over and over, but there always seemed to be at least ONE person who hadn’t heard it, and that seemed to make everyone enjoy it all over again!
This speaks to the dynamic of the shop – which really is a yarn mecca, one of the most amazing shops I’ve been in.
Once you walk in the door, you adopt the sense of humor of a 14-year old boy. Luckily, I happen to enjoy that humor, some of the funniest people I know are 14-year old boys.
The weekend felt like a baseball game – I’d set up a joke, Rob would overhear me from across the store and knock it out of the park.
And speaking of ball games, on Saturday night while the guys had ‘movie night’ at the shop, I retired to their home to rest a bit and watch the fireworks at the ball field across the river. The Lansing Lugnuts know how to put on a good show!
The view from Rob & Matt’s house is quite lovely – this is the view earlier in the afternoon – before the sun went down (note that I shot this through a screen…)
But so much laughter is wearying – so much teaching is rough. I think an hour of hardcore instruction is equivalent to 3 hours of design work. Teaching 4 days in a row (all but one a full days) is utterly exhausting.
In the last class today I thought one of the students was about to have an aneurysm during the cabling without a cable needle part of the class. She laughed so hard she almost didn’t come up for air! Thank heavens we had an EMT in the class on ‘standby’!
When I’m tired I become emotional – I was in tears when I said goodbye to Rob – so much sympathy, so much love from the students, it all takes it’s toll – and drove to the airport, dropped off the car, caught my plane and was home by 10:30. Like clockwork. Here’s an shot of one of the cops at the airport on his little Segue scooter.
Seeing Lynn & Jillian, getting to finally meet Carina (Gerry is NUTS over the cherries – THANK YOU!) receiving a six-pack of Blue Moon (YUM) from Sue (I couldn’t take them on the plane – go back to the shop and have one, Sue!) and sitting here stuffing my face with delicious brownies from — (oh, crap, I forget your name – dang – with the 3 & 8 year olds, the adorable redheads – help me!)
All of these loving gifts are both electrifying and calming – it’s so odd that folks know me – read me – get me – in a wonderful & unexpected way.
I can’t figure out why I deserve so much love, but I will gladly take it – and hope that I’m able to give it back with my full, whole heart soon!
We’re pretty much squared away here for our adventure. The kids are packed, Gerry and I will pack up the car tomorrow after the kids are at camp, and after running a few errands we’ll probably end up in Rochester late in the day.
Gerry just admitted to me that he’s excited – he paused and I said, “In a weird way.”
He said, “I was about to say the same thing!”
I told him, “We’ve been married too long!” Just one of those silly knee jerk things you say.
He said, “Not long enough.”
These are the times when we know that we both get how serious it all is.
We don’t talk about it much, the “bad” possibility, but the understanding is so complete between ourselves that we don’t need to discuss it.
As I was falling asleep last night in an odd bed, alone, far from home, the implications of this whole thing socked me so hard it knocked the wind out of me – I couldn’t even sob.