Reading through the gray days of March

The college thing has been very exciting. It's been an amazing year. Of course part of the process is grueling. Last night I dreamt about walking on campus. Am I living vicariously through my daughter? Hmmm…. I've also been in touch with my Sophomore Year roommate, Barb, through Facebook!

Tom is currently reading The Gatekeepers, which I read just before passing it on to him. It's about a year in a highly selective college Admissions Office, primarily at Wesleyan. Tom summed it up best when he reflected that he's glad he didn't read it while we were deep in the admissions process. I don't know if it would be worse to read it while completing applications or while in the waiting game. Which reminds me, a group of assorted field hockey parents had dinner after a tournament last week, and one mother commented on the money spent on field hockey and whether it was worth it. AMM succinctly captured our shared perspective when she said, with hand gestures, field hockey moved my kid from a pile with this many (large stack) applications to a much smaller stack.

Yes, we've spent thousands. In this part of suburbia, almost every parent spends thousands on something. Tutoring, sports, music lessons, SAT Prep. A car. Private school. Or the worst option: some sort of troubled teens program. So, she's played two high school sports plus club field hockey. She's learned about winning and losing, making friends in new environments, trying new things and testing oneself. She admits that it is easier to get her work done with a packed schedule than when she has free time. (And, her lax coach just announced that 15 girls have 4.0 or higher GPAs!) So, we make choices, and deal with overpacked schedules, and we hope that when it's all done, they thrive and we survive!

Other reading: Adriana Trigiani's Brava Valentine. Her writing is masterful, and her characters are bright and lively! Ever since Lois told me about the Big Stone Gap trilogy, I've read every book she's written. In a period of less than 24 hours, I read Elizabeth Edwards' Resilience. Cover to cover start to finish. Well written, easy to read, but she still doesn't pass my test: She's not on my list of "someone I'd like to go to lunch with."

The Bride Will Keep Her Name was another fun read – three books in less than a week!—and one that made every minute on the treadmill fun. Lots of twists and turns in the countdown to the wedding. Set in NYC, of course. This book couldn't be set anywhere else. I thought the author was female until I saw his photo on the dust jacket. Jan Goldstein, has an uncanny view of the female mind!

Knitters Wine Tote -- Is this Useful?

I visited a Wine Show this past weekend to determine if it would have been a good show for Olio2go to be at (sadly, "no"). It didn't seem to be a gourmet olive oil crowd! I did find this cute wine bottle tote bag. I can't possibly think of an occasion when I would need a 6-bottle wine tote, but this holds promise for a knitting sports mom (that's a term in need of a definition!) The dividers could well keep separate a couple of bottles of water, a small snack, and small knitting projects such as socks or mittens.

The bag holds a twisted hank of Ballybrae, and the Finished Object: The Farrow Rib Scarf in Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo yarn. I haven't blocked the scarf yet because today is Valentine's Day and I need a flash of Red. A special thanks to Claudia for a great pattern and scarf idea. I particularly like this pattern because it could also be well suited to a gentleman's scarf. I must get back to updating my knitting log so the details can be found when needed again!

Reading Adventures: I finished Adriana Trigiani's Home to Big Stone Gap. The beginning was familiar in the sense that I kept asking myself if I had read this book before or if the deja vu sensation was from being familiar with the characters in her prior books. It took until the mid-point of the book before I realized that I hadn't read this book before. I've now read everything except her cookbook, Cooking with My Sisters.

Ski, Knit, Read.....Eat, Pray, Love?

The girls had a long weekend and it was filled with activities. Tubing at Liberty, Futsol in Alexandria, Field Hockey in Rockville, and Skiing at Bryce.

My 30th High School Reunion is coming up and I'm having fun trying to locate folks. It was great to find Gary Umholtz -- because he has an easy name to Google!

The knitting projects haven't changed. I'm not sure if the red vest will be the right size, but I'm going to knit a couple more inches before making the final decision. Right now, the red scarf is the most satisfying because there's no fit issue, and it seems I will have just the right amount of yarn. It's a great stitch pattern and the yarn is Classic Elite's Wool Bam Boo. It's a perfect red, a Talbots blue-red.

Current reads have included Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (I really wanted to know more about her first husband! Where is his blog?) and Adriana Trigiani's Queen of the Big Time (I cried buckets at the end). I'm now reading a book of Katie's: The Diary of Melanie Martin or how I survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Such fun--and child-like irreverence!