Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July has always been important to me. My Dad's parents were immigrants from Austria/Hungary (the area kept switching back and forth depending upon who was opressing whom). My Grandma used to tell me about her voyage to the United States. Her mother died when she was young, and as the eldest daughter, she was responsible for her brothers and sisters. At the end of WWI, her Aunt who lived in Chicago, convinced my great-grandfather that Anna would have a better life in America. Her father took her to the train-- many miles from their village-- in a horse cart. She took a train to Marseilles, and took a ship, the Mauritania, across the Atlantic. There were several people in her area who were very sick, and Grandma helped take care of them. When she told me of coming into New York and seeing the Statue of Liberty, her pale blue eyes would shine a bit. During the Bicentennial, I saw fireworks aroung the Statue of Liberty, and ever since, fireworks remind me of Grandma. She was an amazing lady. You'll probably hear about her again.

It's been another one of those weeks. The mosquito bites popped up on Friday, and I have a bazillion of them on my arms. The little suckers must have gotten me while I was sleeping at camp on Wednesday night. At least I got the first ones of the season out of the way early this year. Here's hoping for no West Nile virus.

Had fun with friends at KH on Saturday afternoon. It was a much-needed respite after a busy week. The big problem was that people were working on spectacular Summer-of-Lace things that make me wanna start new projects all over the place. (Wendy was working on Peacock Feathers and Carol-the-Wizard was doing a beautiful lace scarf.) Katie's working on an awesomely constructed sweater in beautiful greens. Kel and Holly and Aimee and Courtney all had loveliness goin' on, on the needles.

The big gasp factor of the day was Shanti's Ravenna which I finally got to see in its almost-finished-ness. It is lovely beyond description, but required a bit (!) of cosmetic surgery. Please go to Shanti's website for the saga. Courtney did surgery. Others added either moral support or technical advice. Everything worked out all right. I'm still shaking.

Conversation centered on some of the ridiculously bad behavior experienced at the hands of co-workers. You'd think people could just be nice and get along.

I, on the other hand, don't run into too much wackiness with my co-workers. I did, however, end up working a chunk of Sunday night. My original 4-day weekend that turned into a 3-day weekend (my own damn fault) then turned into a 1-1/2 day weekend with some of a day on the other end. It's always something.

I've made some more progress on Spring Fling. Sometimes I wish I could just go into non-stop knit mode and get these things finished. I'm not a particularly fast knitter, and I like all these projects and new techniques, and there just ain't enough time.

Meanwhile, The Son is in Winchester for the weekend with his buds, and will be met by the Scout Troop to go to summer camp for a couple of weeks as an advisor. He spent last week as the Boys' Unit Leader at Fort Hunt Girl Scout Day Camp. (He had the neatest little group of boys whose moms were volunteering as unit leaders for the week.) I'm quite proud of him. After the Boy Scouts return from camp, he's going with the Venture Crew to the Keys for Sea Base. Such the volunteer.

The Daughter is working at the movies, and seems to be enjoying it. I know I'm enjoying going to the movies on her days off-- a definite perk. She's working today, so we'll pick her up and go to a very special fireworks viewing place. I haven't gone to see the 'works for a number of years-- usually watch 'em on the tube or from a remote area. I don't love fighting the traffic or the crowds. But this year's venue should be pretty swell.