Surprise!

You thought since I took two days off that I was gone for good, eh? Oh ye of little faith! I'm back with not much to say, except that I leave for Kansas City in less than 3 days and I'm SO excited. Thinking about all of the places I want to visit....La Familia, Papa Keno's, KCRF, Bloom Bath and Body (try as I might, I couldn't find a link!)...
And of course I'm excited about visiting my best friend and her hubby and Sweet V, and my folks. It will be lovely to be out in the sticks again, although I'll almost certainly be put to some sort of strenuous work by my father, whose sole delight in my visits is handing over a giant To Do list. I've tried to explain that these visits are my vacation time, but that doesn't seem to carry much weight. And besides, there is a sick sick part of me that actually likes those projects. I'm a tasker, so seeing something get crossed off a list really soothes a part of my soul that gets no relief in a life of retail. Also, my dad's not the mushy sort, so these projects are really the only quality father/daughter time we have. And, I usually learn something useful while doing them. So I'll whine and complain, and end up with blisters and a giant backache, but ultimately I'll look back and love the fact that I picked up 30 pounds of walnuts from the back yard, or flushed the gutters or helped patch a hole in one of the boats. Or something.
With any luck all that backbreaking labour will be offset with some time in the kitchen with my mom (and no, I don't mean cleaning out the pantry, mom!). We both love to cook/bake, so maybe we can whip up some goodies while I'm there. And of course, shopping. There are always fun little odd shops out in the middle of nowhere. I don't know how they stay in business, but I'm glad they do. And I'm glad my mom knows where they all are. And even though we've tried--and failed-- everytime I've seen her for the past three years, maybe *this* time, the knitting lessons will stick. :)