The Walk

Well, thanks to many of you, I made my fundraising goal for the walk. So Sunday morning, I set off to meet my mom and sister feeling pretty darned pumped. It was a little early for me to be showered, dressed, and ready on a Sunday morning, but I did it. OK, it was 7:02 a.m. when I walked out the door, but I swear that's some sort of record for me. Not that I'm not up by then, I'm just unprepared to leave my home at that time...or take out the trash...or God-forbid someone knock on my door... I managed, though--granted, I had two (yes, I said two) travel mugs of coffee in my hands, but that's beside the point. To top it all off, I actually beat the two of them to our rendezvous point! That never happens. The stars were in alignment.

So, we drove to the closest station to catch the T into Boston. Kind of annoying--we couldn't go to the one 20 minutes from my house, because it's a commuter rail and, like me, doesn't get moving that early on a Sunday. So we drove 45 minutes to Riverside station. Of course, the station was very busy and there was line, but I'd expected as much. I did NOT expect that there would be only two machines. I did not expect that one of the two would be out of order. What?! I did not expect that the 20-some high school girls in front of us would hold up the line for 30 minutes while no one could figure out how to get a stinkin' pass out of the machine. All right, I am not crazy or super impatient. I realize that that's a lot of tickets to buy, and that they had to coordinate, etc. Seriously, if you were there, you'd have wanted to punt them. I did. But I was quiet. I did not say anything....I just made fun of them later. (I know, I'm a bad person.) It did not help things that they were coiffed up and plastered with makeup like they were some sort of NFL league cheerleaders. And no, they weren't cheerleaders; their shirts said ____ Soccer. (I will keep the poor town out of it, it's not that place's fault they were annoying.) Anyhow, we finally did get our tickets (quickly, I might add--we're very courteous) and get on the train.

Here's my mom and Ann at the station, waiting for a train. I won't tell you how many came and went while we were waiting in line for our tickets...


Here are the three of us in the train, on our way. I tried a new technique for self-photography. I held the camera up really high, like directly over us, so as to eliminate the double-chin effect I usually get when holding a camera as far out as I can while leaning closer to the other subject(s). I think it worked:


We started out for our 6 mile walk around 9:30 or so. All in all, I thought it strange that my 1 hour commute to Boston turned into 2.5 hours. At least we made it. The walk was fun, but a little quiet. (Even after all that coffee?) Beautiful weather--not too cold, not too hot, no rain. Or snow, this is New England, after all, so I think we were lucky.



By the end, I was awfully tired, but feeling good. One sad thing did bring me down from my "doing good for others" high. While we were crossing the finish line, the announcers on stage started talking to a little girl who was apparently lost. They told her to come toward the sound of their voices, and described how she was dressed, her name, etc. This upset and saddened the three of us to the cores. I looked around, but I didn't see anyone who matched the description or looked lost. Talk about the scariest thought you could have as a mother. You child lost in the middle of 40,0o0 walkers, thousands of volunteers, in the middle of Boston. I wish I knew if they found her. The voice in my head keeps saying they must have, but I believe it's just self-preservation. It's sort of just too horrific to think about, someone snatching your kiddo up while you're doing a fundraising walk with her. I came home and hugged up my own kiddos, very tightly.







How could I resist?

I didn't get much knitting done at all. Sort of a shame, since I did so much travelling, and I'd lugged Brian's sock all around RI and MA, but I'm dealing with it. I did cast on for a pair of mittens for Spencer, to try out a new pattern and see how the fit is. I finished the first one yesterday, and the fit is perfect. Almost too perfect--I think if he grows at all, they might be too small. Ah, I don't want to think about it. He's the baby--he's staying small forever. If I keep saying it, I swear it will come true. Tonight, after this, I will go and finish the second mitt. All that's left is the thumb. And I love the pattern, too. It's Classic Mittens from Free Vintage Knitting. My favorite part is that the pattern has directions for both 2-needle and in-the-round mitts (I went with in-the-round), and variations for different looks, like stripes and cute duplicate stitched snowmen. And I'm using Knitpicks Swish to match their hats, of course. Ribbing on US 3's, stockinette on 5's. Pics will be coming...maybe I can get him to model them. He put the first one on this morning and would NOT take it off. I tried to confiscate the mitten, but Spence started screaming, so I let him play a little more. Can't remember how I managed to get a hold of it again, but I'm guessing it might have involved some M&M's or something.

Keegan's hat is done, but for the bells. I will get some soon. Then I can start on my niece's hat and mittens, but I'll need another color for the pattern. Better get shopping!

Ps. For those of you who are thinking it's early to be knitting woolen mittens, I'll have you know that Monday when my daughter headed to school, I had to dig out her winter coat from last year. It was only 40 degrees outside!! Winter is coming...around here, at least.

Oh yes, one final thing (this is it, I promise!) the prizes have been sent out. I hit the post office today, so be on the lookout...I think for the most part they were all 2 or 3 day delivery, so you should all have them by Friday or Saturday, for sure. Start stalking the postman!