Home Again, Home Again. Jiggity Jig

I love to fly to places, but I also love to fly home again. I was in our nation's capital this week attending a seminar for work. The DoubleTree Hotel Crystal City where the seminar was held, and where I stayed, was simply beautiful!

Here's a pic of the accommodations:














and the beckoning message on the pillow


Oh yeah . . . and the warm cookie they give everyone when s/he checks in. I called this LUNCH.















and the view out my window (9th floor "city view").




Put a Fork In Me -- I'm Done

I actually got to go to Knit Happens IN PERSON.















And I met Holly, the shop manager, IN PERSON (pictured below ringing up my first day's purchases). It's kind of like meeting celebrities, really, to meet these people I've been seeing pictures of and reading stories about on blogs.















I also met Kristine who owns Knit Happens, and a bunch of great knitters when I attended Late Night on Wednesday. I went over budget (can you actually have a yarn budget?) while increasing my yarn stash. Some of the knitters are also bloggers so I've added them to my "must read" list (which I'll add to the sidebar in the next week). NurseLaura gave me a ride back to the Metro station, which was much appreciated!! (Thanks Laura!)

















I met a teacher and a Naval officer. The gal who oversees the KH online shop, and the list goes on. The conversation around the table was quite diverse, and yes, we did talk about yarn, knitting and patterns a bit in there, too. (Stay tuned for pictures of the additions to my stash from KH. I'm tired now and gonna go look at my yarn some more.)

Haze Gray and Underway
I spent an extra evening in town to visit with "old Navy friends" whom I was stationed with in Hawaii in the mid -1980s. Their young boys (three of them) are all in their 20s now. The oldest teaches in the DODDS system in Korea, the middle is in Springfield, MO, defining himself, and the youngest is an Electrician Apprentice in northern Virginia. Mom and Dad are dear friends and it was great to spend time with 4 of the 5 folks in person (though I did talk with Evan in MO on the phone briefly).

Alas, I did not get to meet Wendy Knits or the King of All Remote Controls in person, but their spirit of kindness was in the air.

I'm home again, and Samson was happy to see me. At least I think he was. When I walked in ...

Samson Said
"Supper? Supper?"



(Note: Bird not pictured to actual size -- I don't know why, but this shot seems to make him look the size of a cardinal instead of his full 16".)