Unless I get a wild hair and decide I want to visit my family for Christmas, this will be the last Texas trip of the year.  We have a few fun things planned for this trip. I’m hoping to see some old friends, a new baby, some museums, and get some knitting done.

The first morning of driving to Texas on Friday was a little grim.  I didn’t get to bed until after 1 am. David was up late as well and had a conference call at 2:30 am.  When his call ended at 3:45 am he immediately started to pack.  Why he didn’t pack the day before or earlier in the day, I do not know. We were out on the road at 4:45 am.

Yes, you really can get up at 4:00 am, pack and be on the road at 4:45.  Fortunately we had three drivers. Chynna came with us this time, and picking her up added an hour to our first long day. Thankfully she was able to help us drive. We rotated drivers, rotated naps, and by noon we were sufficiently rested caffeinated to get through the rest of the 14 hour drive. 5 hour energy shots, caffeine pills, Excedrin and a Rock Star got us through.  We discovered that flavor of Rock Star that we had with us tastes like Smarties. I like Smarties.  David was less than thrilled. We made more stops than usual and instead of getting in around 8 pm, it was closer to 11 before we arrived at the hotel in Amarillo.

That’s okay, the long first day made the second day on Saturday a piece of cake.

We saw some nice scenery.

I never knit as much in the car as I think I’m going to. I’m not sure why.  I have close to 20 hours of feasible knitting time and I took advantage of maybe one hour. We pass a lot of  dreary scenery.  I did chat a lot with David and Chynna and I did sleep a bit.  But hardly any knitting or reading. I can remember being on car trips when I was a kid and I would read for several hours.  Isn’t it odd how habits change?

My sock only grew by this much:

I have a few dishcloths planned that will go in the Christmas box, but mostly I plan on working on Mom’s shawl. She might not let me leave if I don’t get more of it done.

That might not be a bad thing 😉

Danica arrived by plane  on Monday and it’s nice to have most of my family around me.

My summer so far:

We visited my mother for mother’s day. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures of her.  I got lots of the nephews, though.

I got to see my friend, Rachel’s, best WIP ever.

Daddy drove his truck hauling a boat like most people drive little red sports cars.

We visited Dad’s little farm.

We spent a week at the lake with my family. My parents and sister go to Lake Palestine every year.  This is the first year I was able to go with them.  It was nice.

We stop in Colorado for a short visit on the way home from Texas.

We look at nice scenery,

played with snakes,

and carefully photographed knitting out in the wild.  Approach with caution, you never know when it will charge.

Danica changes her hair color.  Again.

Keaton models my knitting.

We test drive David’s new car by going on a small staycation with Chynna, Joshua, Stuart, and Eliza.

Keaton finds a new place to sit.  I think he learned this from Wendy’s cats.

I finally overcome my fear of heels.

I add more sock yarn to the stash.

David donated his hair. He’s really glad he did it during the 2 weeks that we had highs in the 100’s. I miss the curls, but I know they will come back soon.  And doesn’t he looked kinda hawt like this?

I shishkabobbed for the first time.  They were so tasty! Auto-correct wanted to change that word to “babushka”.

I was greeted on my birthday with a house full of balloons, a new sewing machine, a bouquet of flowers, a lovely anklet, some spending money, and a Hello Kitty cake.

I am 29 plus a lot of shipping and handling.

We avoided the crowds and fireworks and spent the rest of the 4th of July weekend getting the house ready for company. I try not to be disheartened because I can’t really get the house looking zen, feng shui, and spiffy.  Instead, I have to settle for not gross.  And really, it’s okay, the kids were a tremendous help, we had a little pizza and cake party, and the house looks good to me.  It won’t look great to my company, but then I need to learn to give up on that goal and settle for one that I can attain and live with. I love my little house.  It’s a bit crowded right now and zen, feng shui, and spiffy will just have to wait.