What Have I Been Doing?

My sister asked me last night why I never blog anymore. She said she kept looking, and there was never anything new on my blog. Actually, I realize that. As I told her, writing tends to suck me in, so I've been avoiding it.

We spent three weeks away from home, traveling to California for John to work at Pt. Mugu, and then hanging around for Christmas. Our youngest son, Ben, brought his wife Ruth, and their daughters Ashley, barely 2, and Kate, 4 months, to see all the grandparents and assorted relatives before they pack up to relocate to Amsterdam, Netherlands. He's been promoted within his company, and they'll be gone for a few years. 

Our oldest son, Tighe, drove up from San Diego to join the group, so we were nearly a complete family for the holidays. We sure missed Jeremy, but he's still a busy chef in Louisiana. Now that Tighe is moving to Phoenix, we'll truly be all over the map. It's a good thing we didn't stay in California to be close to the children, as some people strongly suggested we do.

One exciting offshoot of Ben's transfer was his successfully negotiating with his company to add something to his financial package: annual round trip airfare for each set of grandparents to fly to Amsterdam to see their grandbabies. I'm still stunned that he would think of the folks at a time like that. (Yes, I'm proud.)

People who know me realize that I enjoy crochet work, but find knitting, which I've done much longer, often frustrating. I gave a knitted outfit to each of Ben & Ruth's girls, but Kate's was too small. We got back last week, and ever since, I've had the needles flying, trying to make a new one in a bigger size before we have to get back to California. I want to get it in the mail for her before they head to Amsterdam. I get up, check my email, and spend the day knitting and doing laundry. I make sure John has plenty to eat, and work on that little jacket. It's nearly done. I still need to make the hat. We need to leave by Saturday for John's next contracting stint in California. It's a race.

So it's not that I have lost interest in writing my blog. It sits there, and I feel guilty. My manual still needs to have the final edits done, too, but I just can't start and stop. I haven't played with my guitar. I have new photos that need to be framed. That can all wait. Kate's still growing.