(no subject)

[elainegrey]

All continues to go well.

There is snow!

Friday my folks and i hiked for three hours to the lake and back. I was curious so i turned on the trail tracker application on my phone: as we returned and veered from our trail to another, i was glad i did.

Mom said, "I don't remember going under this tree."
Dad said, "You did, you just don't remember it."
I looked at the trace and saw the divergence and hoped that it wasn't a noisy point, "Um, i think the trail is thataway."
Dad says, "Let me see that." Inspects. "The trail is thataway."

I had a hard time believing we'd gone so far off trail so quickly, but eventually we were back on our trail home.

I fell twice, once with my right leg down to my knee in the hole left by a rotting stump.

But really! despite the drama, it was a beautiful late autumn walk (and the recently fallen leaves were the main culprit in hiding the trail and the hole), good exercise, ad a pleasant time with my parents.

We were home in time for a lunch of leftover mushroom polenta with a Sicillian stew (my mother is slowly adapting to my diet, and she's found delicious things to make), then my sister dropped off her kids and she and i "got out of Dodge." I think lola_kristine was a bit tired of the long hours T has been working to launch a new web service this week. We zipped off in her car, with L taking decisive action. "Where are we going?" I asked. "Oh! Where _are_ we going?" she replied in surprise. I rather think it was most important for her to just GO.

We ended up visiting the Duke Homestead and Tobacco museum. There's a great deal to praise about the way the tobacco growing industry supported small family farms and a comfortable way of life. The museum was filled with nostalgia for the hard yet profitable work, and hardly a mention of why this way of life is passing. Then we jaunted over to the charming small town where annie_r lives. L and i got hot tea and window shopped, unable to resist Michael's Chocolates. The truffles are covered in a very glossy fondant that looks like swirled iridescent glass. We proceeded to the yarn shop and petted almost every yarn in the store -- except even as we were leaving with annie_r we were still finding new yarns. I purchased yarn for the Mother's Day slippers i'm going to make and a crochet hook more suitable for my needs than the rescue hook my Dad purchased for me. annie_r, lola_kristine, and i had soup in a cafe and chatted, then L and i returned to my parents' home for dinner with the kids and her T.

Yesterday was marked by snow, and i joined my mother working at the Scandinavian Christmas Fair. I was able to kidnap my nephew W from his mom a couple of times, getting our hands stamped so we could sneak out, get a snow ball, and bring it back in to throw at L. Ah, a partner in crime! We had a fabulous sushi dinner at a place over by Durham. I thought the waitress was wonderful in explaining the sushi meal to those of us who hadn't been there before: useful for my parents, entertaining for me.

I'm feeling rested, supported, relaxed, and neutral. I thought for a minute that maybe the Prozac was sapping me of feeling, but no: i'm feeling the joys of this visit, delighting in playing with my nephew. I think i've firewalled off my worries about work, though, both my current job and my dissatisfaction. Tonight i might have a moment to talk to T about educational gaming companies. I know that with the plans Christine and i are making, we will want to stay where we are for a year longer at the very least. I think her work, which is taking off, could stand perhaps even longer before an uprooting. Yet, for my peace of mind, i think having a vision of where i could go if i had to go would be the right thing.