When visiting Drake's family, we spent a lot of time at high school girls' basketball games. Our niece Jess, who is a sophomore, made the Varsity team this year. We arrived the night of the team's first game of the season, which they won by almost 50 points (the team is ranked #5 in the state by the Associated Press). Due to one of the seniors being injured, our niece started in the game and proceeded to break a school record for the number of assists in a game. Talk about making a first impression!
What both Drake and I found striking about the games is the large number of guys that turned out as a cheering section for the girls. I was in high school pre-Title IX and girls sports (aside from cheerleading and gymnastics) were basically invisible. Guys turning out each game to cheer for the girls? That would have been unimaginable.
I asked Jess if she knew what Title IX was. To my surprise, she didn't. This gave Drake and I the chance to talk about the "old days" when the only high school sports that got any substantial moral and financial support were boys sports. She was truly surprised at the difference between then and now. I guess that's a measure of how far things have come.
It was great fun to see Jess play. She is a talented, hard-working athlete, and an excellent student, too.
GO LADY BOMBERS!
The highlight of our trip was arriving, as a complete surprise, at my Aunt Alice's 90th birthday party, which was hosted by my very lovely cousin Carol. The party started at 6:00pm; we showed up at 7:00pm - driving straight from the airport. Here is a pic from the party of my Aunt Alice with her brothers Fred (my Dad) and Carl.
All three are mentally sharp as a tack. My Dad still works every day - at the company he started after he "retired." It's great to see the three of them together.
We got in last night, in the midst of a rare Seattle snowstorm. The normally 30 minute drive from the airport to our house took 2 hours. We were sharing a van-cab with 4 others. For a while, it looked like we weren't going to make it. The cab in front of us couldn't make it up the ramp to I-5, but we did - barely. One person in our cab was a cancer patient coming in to Seattle for treatment. At one point, we all were seriously considering the fact that we would be stranded. Here is an idea of what it was like:
In the cab, we were listening to the Seahawks-Packers game - the only home game the Seahawks have ever played in the snow.
I am still trying to catch up with work, laundry, grocery shopping, and 2 1/2 weeks of accumulated snail mail.
Given our last travel attempt to the Midwest, I am keeping my fingers crossed for smooth sailing tomorrow. Funny coincidence: my cousin and her husband (who live at the Pike Place Market) will be on the same flight with us tomorrow morning! They also have a house in upstate NY so they travel back and forth all the time.
I might do some mobile blogging - I discovered there is a little Vox app for the Palm so I have that loaded on my Treo.
But otherwise, I'll be back after the Thanksgiving holiday.
My first scarf is done, awaiting cast-off. I'm having trouble remembering how to do this, so I just decided to wait and get help in my class, which starts Nov. 30.
I am loving my new (mistake rib) scarf project. I goofed around quite a bit with the gauge:
The pattern calls for Size 6 needles to get an 8" width - I was only getting 6"!
So, I went up to Size 8 and got a whopping 6.5" width - still 1.5" inches short.
I decided to get really crazy and go to 10s. So, I was up to 7" with the Size 10 needles - still an inch short, but I really didn't like the look of the fabric - too loose.
I saved each version all so I could put them side-by-side to compare. I decided I liked the look of the Size 8 version so that's what I'm going with and the scarf will just be a bit more narrow. It was a good educational exercises to start three different versions of the scarf using different needle sizes.
Today, is Drake's birthday. He maintains he is still in his early 50's - he wasn't convinced that turning 54 nudges him into the mid-50's range.
For me, Drake's birthday is a time to appreciate that he is here. He is a 2x cancer survivor (melanoma and lymphoma). Two years ago this month, he was finishing up a 6-month treatment course of chemotherapy and biologic therapy for the lymphoma. He's been doing fabulously ever since, the cancer staying firmly in remission.
We've got symphony tickets for tonight, but otherwise are keeping things low-key.
This Saturday (a 6:00am flight - ug) we leave for 17 days in the Midwest:
- Madison, WI (we are showing up as a surprise for my aunt's 90th birthday party),
- then rural west-central Illinois (to visit Drake's family)
- then north of Chicago (to visit my family where we will be on Thanksgiving).
We do this trip every year - but minus the Madison segment. It's a challenge to pack for because we need warm outdoor-type clothes for doing stuff around the farm but also dressy stuff for doing things with my family. The wardrobe requirements are almost mutually exclusive. It's what happens when a farm boy marries a city gal.
By the time we return, the holidays will be in full swing. I finished the final online ordering and local purchasing of Christmas gifts last night - so we are good to go there. But it seems like we've got a million little things to get done before we go...
I think this CD would be a great introduction for anyone to the music of the Ring, even though it focuses only on the tenor voice.
We've seen Ben Heppner three times: twice in Seattle (Lohengrin, Tristan) and once in New York at the Met (in Les Troyen). He's got a true Heldentenor voice - the strength of it is amazing, especially live.
This is my 20th season as a subscriber to Pacific Northwest Ballet. Last year marked a major change for the company when Peter Boal took over the artistic leadership from long-time directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell.
Before the switch had been a rough patch for PNB. When the new opera house opened, it was clear they had lost a chunk of subscribers in the transition. Part of this may have been due to a flap on how seats were being priced and assigned in the new house, but also I think the company had gotten a bit stale under Kent and Francia, who had lead the company since 1976. In fact, for one performance I was seated behind Doug Fullington, who is a dance historian who regularly speaks on ballet - he looked around at the empty seats and commented that it looked like a lot of people had not re-subscribed.
Last season was Boal's first and it seemed like people were watching and waiting. This season, however, I have been thrilled to see huge pick-up in the audience. It's amazing really and completely warrented.
The current program, All Premiere, is a stunning mix of established and new chroeographers. The Seattle Times review of the program is here. All Premiere runs through November 12.
My first (seed-stitch) scarf is almost done - could probably finish it off tonight, but I'm going to be doing some writing on my other (professional) blog. I'll post pictures of my finished scarf of course! I put it on Drake last night and even though it's pink he looks pretty good in it.
So, it was time to get materials for Project #2. I talked to the lovely folks at Hilltop, where my advanced beginner class starts on Nov. 30. They suggested I do a scarf/hat set: I could work on the scarf now - and then tackle the hat as part of the class (which is what most people do for the class).
Here is the pattern I chose:
It's in seeded rib stitch (mistake rib) which will be a little more challenging but still just knit and purl.
I'm kniting it in Karabella Aurora 8 - a beautiful worsted-weight merino wool - in the color Federal Blue. Oh, I love just feeling those soft little balls of yarn!
I was so excited about my new project that I forgot to buy some point protectors - which was one of the main things I wanted to get. Guess I'll just have to make a return trip :-).
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