The house is clean and quiet...

A bit too quiet. About 36 hours now since our DS went off to UL, and while I have clean carpets, there are no boys cluttering up our family room, blaring their punky music, guzzling pop, using every glass in the cupboard, munching taco crumbs onto the carpet...

I miss him, for sure! However, I also have this sense of peace and comfort -- that this is a logical progression, and that DH and I have done our best with our kids. Now it's time for them to strike out on their own. After 2 tearful evening conversations (despite the fact he had a great day today), we've decided to leave him alone, to let him make the next phone call.

Soothing the savage breast, meanwhile, was a visit to 2 yarn shops and a quilt shop on my way home! The yarn shops were in Lethbridge: the spacious, sedate-yet-warm "Needlecraft Cupboard" in the Heritage Mall (where I saw my first Rowan DK Felt and my first Sirdar silk-cotton blend, and left with my first Addi Tutbots -- 4 mm, 32"!) and "Knitting Time" in the Centre Village Mall, just down the street (where I saw the fibres for a Colinette AbFab Throw, hanging temptingly from the ceiling; saw some pure alpaca hanks, locally spun; got my first good look at 'The Knit Stitch' and put it on my Chapters Wishlist; and bought a Sirdar DK pattern and a back issue of "SpinOff").

On the road, I didn't stop till Claresholm, where I grabbed a snack at the local DQ and popped in for a happy 1/2 hour with Connie McNair of Wood Lily Florals and Quilting, billed as "The Smallest and Cutest Quilt Shop in the West". Small and cute it is indeed. And up to date with events, fabrics, prices, and all things quilting. I came away with a warm heart, 2 fat quarters, a new blade for my rotary cutter ($2 less than Calgary prices!) and a little packet of decorator buttons to die for.

All in all a highly satisfactory trip. (I'll tell you about the Chateau Demers Guest House another time -- a fabulous place to stay!) Right now, I'm off to bed...