This is where I long to be today...but on a warm, summer day with a slight breeze stirring up a froth on the water. The bitter cold reared it's ugly head today and has left me freezing, dreaming of being warm and on vacation again. So, I decided to share another of my favorite vacation 2005 pictures. This was taken on the Arnold Transit ferry boat to Mackinaw Island, late July 2005. Not exactly the very best shot, but it evokes a jigsaw puzzle in my mind. I used to be a puzzle queen, thanks to my grandmother who kept a stash of them in our toy closet for cold winter days to be done after an hour or two of sledding down the pasture hill. Somewhere in that stash, there must have been a sea/lakeside one with boats because I am always drawn to them. And European scenes. And snow, although the snow ones are beginning to turn me off in a major way.

The other reason this picture appeals to me is that it commemorates E's first boat ride. I enjoy boats and water a lot but this ride was a nightmare for me. Too many times I have been trapped on a ride with a kidlet screaming "STOP THIS THING! I WANT OFF NOW!!" and I had a very irrational fear that she would do this as soon as the boat left the dock. My other highly irrational fear was that the boat would begin to sink and I would have to chose which kidlet to help, knowing full well that Duck doesn't swim. (Don't ask. Duck is a person, not a duck) So, how did I survive the ride? Part of the way to the island, I rode with my eyes closed, listening to E and Duck ooh and aah over everything. R and J were rather silent I think...old hands at boat rides. The way back to the mainland, I knit on what I called my 'nervous riding sock'. I do not ride so well when others drive anymore so this sock was knit and then frogged when we came home to Ohio.

While I am not anxious to return to Mackinaw this summer (it is VERY expensive), I am looking forward to our Michigan trip again. The girls miss their gram and I miss her too. Plus, there is just something about Michigan. I vacationed there years ago as a teen with friends and loved it then too. The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful and wide open spaces seem to be plentiful. A very nice place and I could imagine living there. Go figure.

Hubster is hanging in there. His ER visit was basically a bust. They ran a few tests, gave him pain meds and sent him home since he has an appointment to see the surgeon on Friday about having his gallbladder removed. While he was gone, I managed to knit 5 inches on the Guernsey sweater back. I bound it off yesterday and cast on for the front but have been dragging my needles a bit when it comes to working on it. Why the pause? Well, I guess the thought of 13+" of stockinette has stopped me in my tracks. While I enjoyed the st st during the back, lately the thought of all that just makes me shutter. I mean, what the hell heck was I thinking when I agreed to knit this for R? Maybe that I'd earn "Good Mama points"?? So to save my sanity, I also cast on for...socks. What else? LOL. Someone has created a monster. Any guesses as to who that person is??

Last night, I made 3 pounds of fudge because chocolate sounded good to the kidlets. Best fudge I've made in a long time. Today the girls helped me get the crockpots (yes, plural) going. One had tangy pork roast and the other had chicken and carrots. Why two crocks going at once? I am trying to get the freezer filled with home-made, ready-to-heat meals during the winter months so during the summer we have a variety ready to go when it is too hot to cook. Tomorrow, we will be trying out the roaster oven the Egg Donor gave us for Christmas. Fixin's? A mondo batch of chili. And I will be trying out a recipe I found for Cheddar bread. Keep your fingers crossed and the drool to yourselves.