Gearing Down

Three more sleeps, and I'm on a week's holiday! Don't know about you, but that news always makes me loathe to do a heckuva lot at my office as the hours wind down. Must resist that temptation, as I have at least 1 report to finish and another file to work on as my boss gets back next week.

My Tequila Tank is finished, save the assembly, and thus joins the stack of Things I Must Finish Off over my holiday. Now that it is a bit cooler, it is once more a pleasure to work on the Boat Neck Sweater for my DD. However, I hit the "Ack!" button on the bus this morning when I realized I'd forgotten to pack another ball of Emu Superwash and would be stuck on the return trip tonight with nothing to knit!! DD and her fiance are coming Friday night for the long weekend, so I want to have made good progress on the BNS since she last saw me working on it in mid-July!

I have also been quilting up a storm. I have finished an artsy back for my Garden Delight, and will be taking the whole thing into My Sewing Room Sept. 5, to be quilted. It's huge! I laid it on my bed the other afternoon, and it is going to be beautiful -- hanging down just right on the sides, and long enough to cover my pillow like a 'proper' bedspread.

Next I made an artsy back for my Quilt of Stars -- the one I constructed from the first "Saturday Block" program I was in at Freckles. I want to send that one to Keep Canada Warm later this fall, so have made the sandwich and will at least get it pinned for quilting by the end of my holiday week.

Now I am working on four smaller quilt projects: a Chinese Lattice wall hanging* as a house-warming gift for friends; a baby quilt for the daughter of friends, who is expecting in early October; a table runner for a colleague soon to be married; and a wall hanging for other dear friends, even sooner to be married. (*From a class at Quilt University.)

Sept. 1 and 2, all will go on hold for a bit as I drive DS down to the University of Lethbridge for his first year. I have finished the rucksack in red and black Oriental prints; now it's time to fill it with send-off goodies, and watch him tote it off into the next phase of his life (and ours). This is what makes DD's arrival this weekend so special. It will be a time for family fun and connections, sharing good food and memories and lots of advice from those of us who have Been There, Done That.

I look forward to the next 2 weeks with mixed emotions. As a parent, I am proud of him, and confident he has learned 'most everything his dad and I have tried to teach him. As a mom, I love him with my life, as I do my DD. I know why Bess refers to hers as "Little Darling". They are, and now that both of them have learned to fly and our nest is empty (for the time being), it's going to be awfully quiet. I shall miss them more than I know.