A Gain, a Finish, a Beginning, and a Loss

I picked up our new kitten from the vet last Thursday and she seems to be adapting quite well. I thought she'd be skittish, but she spent all afternoon sleeping between me and the laptop, with her paws and chin resting on my right arm. She is so sweet.

And then the pain meds wore off. She's going to be an active little girl. She's also developed an affinity for laptops, which makes it very difficult to work. See?



That's our little Emma. So if future posts look a little weird, you'll know why.

A Finish
Last Saturday was the JFK 50-Miler. Yes, you read that right, 50 miles. The participants have 12-14 hours to complete the course. Tom chose to complete the race in 12 hours (or less) so got to start running at 7 a.m. Those who wanted 14 hours started running (well, walking) at 5 a.m. That is way too early! I was CREW (an acronym for Cranky Runners Endless Waiting) and along with all the stuff that I thought Tom would need during the day, I packed two knitting projects and my drop spindle and some roving under the delusion assumption that there'd be plenty of time for knitting or spinning. I also packed a book. As it turns out, I got zero knitting, spinning, and reading accomplished. I was so afraid that I'd miss Tom and the other runners from the running club. But it was fun (albeit a bit cold and damp) to see all the runners in various stages of exhaustion throughout the race. As it turned out, Tom ran well and completed the run in 10:36. That's 10 hours, mind you. He crossed the finish line, grinning from ear to ear. I think he was ecstatic to finally be able to stop running. He wasn't crippled, he wasn't cranky, and he was pretty functional the next day (which was his birthday). I'm so proud of him!

A Beginning
Well, I've made the decision to open a yarn shop in town. Retail spaces keep popping up at me. I was going to look at a space on Sunday, but the owner called and said that someone had leased it Saturday night. I was pretty disappointed, and surprisingly, so was Tom. So, we made the decision to go for it. A friend's husband is a commercial realtor and I've asked him to look for space. This venture will be part-time initially, so the shop will be small. I don't think there are enough shoppers during the week to justify going full-time right off the bat. It's scary and exciting at the same time. I'll keep you all posted on progress, but I don't think much will happen (other than the very necessary planning) for several months yet.

A Loss
And finally, some sad news. My grandmother passed away on Saturday. She was 95 and had lived a long life. I wasn't as close to her as I would have liked; our lives were very different and I think she never fully understood what I do for a living, or why I married late, or why we never had children. But I know she loved me and that love was reciprocated. I take great comfort knowing that my all-too-brief visits during her stay in the nursing home gave her immense pleasure and I'll always remember, more than anything else, how her face would light up when she saw me. I'm sorry I didn't get to see her before she died. I'll miss her.