A knitwit with too much sh*t

I cannot stop knitting. I took one knitting class.  I know how to make one hat.   I may knit a new hat from the same pattern every week for the rest of my life and I would die one happy lady.  I have finally traded in my knitting needles for some ice cream tonight so I can get back to this blog.  And at the moment the major motivator for me to write faster is thinking about laying down in bed with my yarn....  just kidding...sort of...maybe not...maybe I have a little problem...

...or maybe I have always had a thing for knit hats.... 

Since we got back from Bozeman there have been a few night where I've had a hard time sleeping.  Last night's nightmare included me trying to ride my bike home while dragging the car top carrier behind me and with a suit case on my back.   I kept falling over or getting stuck in a tree with my bike.  Bottom line, I have too much junk.  And it's bringing me down.   This move to Montana was good for my soul.  It taught me that I can live without TV...and that I can live with 2 weeks worth of clothes....and that I don't need 7 blankets and 12 pillows....I don't need more than one pot, or more than one colander... that I don't need to put little chatchkey knick-knacks all over the house ...that I don't need to collect old spaghetti and peanut butter jars stock piled under the sink...and I don't need 8 bowls and tons of cups (we can't even fit more than 4 people in this place!)....and I don't need a medicine cabinet full of expired anti-diarrhea medication... (heck that stuff was so expired it would probably give you diarrhea at this point).

The closet needs gutting, the medicine cabinet needs gutting, the bookcases need gutting, the top of the refrigerator needs gutting, the kitchen cabinets need gutting. I can't live in this tiny place with all this stuff that I don't need!  I need my space!  Blank space...a wall with no photographs...an empty shelf... a cabinet where what you need is accessible and not hidden...a drawer that is not so jammed full that you cannot even open it!  After a stressful day back at work, I came home on a mission to take control of the oppressive "stuff" that is overwhelming my peaceful mind and space... only Trevor came home too soon and find me on a ladder half into the attic pulling everything down.  One look from him and a curious "what are you doing?" ..... "I just wanted to get rid of some stuff" (pouty face)......So, well, you can say I have been on a little bit of a purging binge lately (in between knitting all these hats, of course). Surely I do miss the ol' bare bear cabin days....

Well you might think that having nightmares about having too much stuff and going a little cray cray with the thrift store deposits is a little nuts...   But Trevor the other morning asked me if I knew what he sings to himself every time he pours himself cereal.  I said "no."  But then I looked at his cereal.  It's Kellogg's Kashi certified organic whole grain cereal with dried strawberrries and it's called "Strawberry fields."  Duh, that's an easy one, you obviously sing "Strawberry fields, forever."  ...but no, he sings "Strawberry fields... for Trevor."  Then he eats it with a smile.

Before leaving Bozeman, I went on one last walk in the woods down the street from our cabin with my knitting buddy:

We went out and said good-byes to our good pals at the bar:

the bearded brothers

Then we headed off on the open road once again...

Our first stop was in St. Regis, MT (ok we didn't get very far on the first day, we were off to a late start), where we stopped for dinner with my Dad's best friend, Foot, and his wife Roberta and her brother Larry and cousin Ricky.  We all had a pleasant evening eating chili on their deck overlooking the river...

 We stayed the night in Coeur D'alene, Idaho and moved on through the tiny German-inspired town of Leavenworth, Washington.  Leavenworth is the birth place of my oldest possession, a matted old teddy bear named Curly that my grandmother bought for me, what 23-maybe 24 years ago?  Hate to see the day when I have to say good-bye to him.  Then you will really see that I am not yet a woman.... Let us not think of such things...

From Leavenworth, we headed on towards Seattle...stopping for a drink in Index:

In Seattle we camped out at my ol' college roommate Ginger's place.  Ginger is a real grown-up.  She has a husband, a house, a career, a dog, and a baby.

 "Never get a dog and have a baby in the same year"  ---Ginger

Point taken.

From Ginger and Tyler's we headed to Katie and Tyler's (different Tylers) who also happen to live in the Seattle area:

Then we headed to my Uncle Robert (affectionately known as "funny" Robert) and Aunt Lori's house for some dinner on the pier.

Trevor wearing his "cats" shirt while hanging out with Batman. yes.

And while I didn't get a good current picture, I did raid their basement walls for oldies but goodies:

From Seattle we headed through Portland... 

I knitted that hat

 ...then out to the Oregon coast at Tillamook in time for sunset...

We winded our way down the Pacific Coastal Highway at night, in a thick fog, with deer darting across the street every so often.  This is not recommended.  But we made it far enough south that we could wake up and go straight into the redwood in the morning.

I knitted this hat

We stayed one night in Sacramento, where again, I failed to take pictures of the lovely friends, Evan and Ashley, whom we stayed with, before stopping in Napa on our way to Oakland... 

In Oakland we stayed with these fine folks and their lovely dog Elizabeth....I mean Lucy.

poor Lucy

It was from here that Trevor left me to fly to DC.  I then went over to San Francisco where I attended a Folsom street fair-inspired party, which was colorful and eccentric and a very good re-introduction back into California.

San Francisco wall murals

On the hot bus to the food fair

On the last night of my journey home, I accompanied my good friend, Serena, to a hotel-opening party in Santa Cruz.  The event was open-bar and included stilt walkers...

... magicians,

and fire dancers!

Then I made it home to the old apartment by myself...unpacked...by myself...cleaned up...by myself.  Then went and picked up Trevor from the airport.

aaaaaaand then I'm back to work in the ol' cubicle world that is my current life:

And Trevor went back to school...

He looks sad, but that's probably because it may or may not be his last year with a view like this:

And I gave all my old clothes to my friends: