What a weekend!

Stressful, hot, fun, tiring, energizing...I got to see Columbia in the dark twice, and the vibe wasn't negative. The train's fun, and infinitely more comfortable and cost-efficient than the bus, but it's an interesting trick actually getting comfortable enough to sleep. His sister's shower was a blast; I spent almost the entire time chaperoning the hostess's two smallest boys. Samuel is a typical 2, serious climber, no fear, southpaw, an absolute ladykiller with his cute face and dark blond curls; Manning is 4ish and has some form of ASD. It's definitely not true autism, so I hope they stop calling it that. That kid can sit in a room full of people all talking at once without the slightest freakout, plus he's quite tactile--I kept trying to go inside to get him sunblock, and he'd reach right up and grab my hand to pull me back into play. Plus he cuddled right up next to me at one point, when I was trying to wind them down with a movie. Can't wait to see them again; we'll probably go back up in July after Kara has the baby.

Family drama of different sorts kept things a little stressful, plus car shopping in our delightful southern heat can be exhausting. We finally found a 2004 Nissan Sentra with only 32K miles on it for a nice price in a kind of celadon green (reasonable facsimile courtesy of www.nissanusa.com). Les stayed up in SC to get insurance and his license renewed, but I had to get back home before the cats died of thirst, so I grabbed the train back EARLY this morning. Poor Jordan's so pissed, he didn't come out from under the bed for the entire time I was getting changed for work :( We've been gone 5 days; definitely gonna have to smother them with love for the next couple.

Their home is comfy; I'd sit in their side yard to get away from stuff, and took breakfast out on the back patio at least twice to enjoy the morning before the heat kicked in. I got some inadvertent sun and ate well without going apeshit on the snacks. His grandmother's on the mend, but her operation definitely took the wind out of her sails; she's very weak and pretty quiet still when people come to visit, but they managed to get her into a rehab facility that's just a mile down the street from their house--very convenient, but also means you have absolutely no excuse if you forget to visit her on a particular day.

I got all kinds of complements on the baby stuff; naturally didn't get to take pictures, but the final tally was the Big Bad Baby Blanket in Encore, sage green; 1 basketweave hat, 1 umbilical cord hat, 2 sets of mittens, and 1 set of basketweave booties in Encore, white; a simple baby bib in Wool-Ease, Heather Rose; and a pair of baby Uggs in Wool-Ease, Wood Multi base with Jiffy in beige for the body. I did a row or 3 on the SSS after Sunday, and tried to start the Beginner's Triangle, also from A Gathering of Lace, but I must've forgotten how to do ssk properly or something, because it got ripped out twice for looking like crap after half a dozen rows. Will probably take another swing at it this weekend.