An Abbreviated Vacation

I'm back from eight days away, and re-entry sucks.

The first part of the week was about salvaging our family vacation time. We ended up spending Saturday to Wednesday near No. Conway, NH, where we visited Storyland;


explored Diana's Bath;
played mini-golf; and ate good food at the Moat Mountain Brewing Co. (I had the "New England Quesadilla", which was filled with pureed butternut squash, cheddar cheese and chicken, and then topped with apple chutney and cinnamon sour cream. Mmm.) We also did some letterboxing, which deserves a blog post of its own.

It wasn't a relaxing vacation, but it was enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the second part of the week entailed me spending thirteen hours a day at Dartmouth/Hitchcock hospital, where my dad was a patient, while DH did the single parent gig at home (2.5 hours away). I had four days without my kids--the longest time I have ever been away from them--and I even had some time to knit...but it wasn't exactly a vacation. The good news is that my dad is now back in rehab and doing better, although there is no cure for the many things that ail him (congestive heart failure, diabetes, possible Parkinsons, etc.)

My return home has been a bit rough as my girls seem to be punishing me for abandoning them for four days. Getting this package in the mail did help:

It is my spoils from winning a contest on Jessalu's blog. She sent a copy of Charmed Knits, plus navy and gray sock yarn for some Ravenclaw socks, plus a size 1 Knitpicks circular needle, which I'm looking forward to trying. She also included some chocolate (Godiva for me, kisses for the kids) and a gorgeous notecard from the Blue Moon sock club. Thanks, Jess!

And opening this box reminded me that I opened another box right before my vacation, one that I forgot to blog about. It was my prize from a "funny pet story" contest on Bev's blog:

She dyed the roving herself, and I am anxious to try it out once the weather is a bit cooler.
Now I have to go and figure out what a 941 form is and how the hell I file it. I am currently hating my volunteer responsibilities!