Travels

 This winter is starting to get to me.  January and February have been cold and grey.  Ed and I escaped the dreariness for a long weekend in Orlando.

Every few years Ed gets an email from a particular resort offering 4 nights at a very discounted rate.  We've taken advantage of these offers at least 4 times in the past, but each time required sitting through a sales pitch for their 'vacation club'.  Don't call it a timeshare; they get offended.  But it sure looks and smells like a timeshare.  Anyway, each time we've gone we've said 'No.  Thank you.'  They still invite us back.  This time we were not required to sit through the pitch.  They did ask and offered us cash and an upgrade if we would.  We declined because we just wanted a relaxing, no-agenda weekend away.  The concierge said we wouldn't be invited back if we didn't listen to their talk.  We'll see.  Ed thinks they'll send another offer in a few years.  If not, he thinks he'll be able to get us invited to other resorts.

I don't regret declining the offer.  We had a wonderful weekend.  We relaxed by the pool.

Enjoyed the sunny, warm weather.

Took walks everyday.

And visited the Disney Boardwalk, which we do every time we go to Orlando.  We don't do the parks.  Just stroll along the boardwalk.

While on the trip I cast on the Odyssey shawl from Joji Locatelli.

I'm using 3 skeins of Baah Sonoma that I had in my stash:  Pebble, Krona-logical and On The Rocks.  They go together nicely with a subtle fade.

 Up to now the pattern has been miles of garter stitch.  I'm at the first pattern row and managed to screw things up.  I discovered my mistake while sitting at the airport waiting to board our plane to come home.  I ripped out the errant row and shoved it in my bag.  I haven't touched it since but hope to get back to it today, after I finish February's edition of another shawl.

My enabler (aka my friend Cindy) talked me into signing up for Jimmy Beans Wool's Sunshower Shawl monthly club.  Each month a mini-ball of yarn and the instructions for that color are sent.  It is a nice bite-size bit of knitting that can easily get done in a day or two, provided you don't misread the instructions.

Before we went to Florida, I finished the Oktoberfest Shawl and pinned it to block while we were gone.  It turned out absolutely beautiful.  I wore it to work on my first day back.  It was so soft and cozy and kept my shoulders warm while sitting at my desk.

Our oldest daughter is traveling also.  She is on a mission trip sponsored by the University of Michigan Dental School.  Two professors take 8 students each year to Kenya for 2 weeks.  Kristin was among the students selected this year.  They will visit several schools and orphanages to provide dental care to the children.  They just completed their work at the first orphanage.  In two days they cleaned the teeth of 300 children and filled many cavities.  This will certainly be an adventure she will remember the rest of her life.  I'm very proud of her.