We have been directed to wax poetic… here’s my attempt at a triple haiku.
Knitting a birch shawl
It was for my mom’s birthday
But that has since passed
Knitting a birch shawl
Adventures at the playground
Watch out for the sand
Knitting a birch shawl
One more repeat is finished
Almost half-way done?
I just downloaded the 243 pictures I took on our trip and have made the decision that you don’t want to see them all (in one post that is). So I’m going to spread them out by location…
We left home at 3:45am on Friday June 17. TBFiL (the best father in-law) took us to the airport. It was a groggy, grumpy group of 5 consisting of myself, Bunny, B, and my parents (G and H). We arrived, checked our mountain of luggage, and proceeded to security only to find it didn’t open till 5. Why, then, did they tell us to arrive 2 hours early?
It was an uneventful flight to Houston and then change and on to Vancouver Canada. The customs/immigration line was long but kept moving and once we were through we found the cruise representative and were onto a bus toward the hotel pretty quickly. G fell asleep on the bus and missed lunch and a storefront fish and chips place and then we all napped. 
A swim in the hotel pool followed and we proceeded to a Thai restaurant across the street for dinner. The place was neat and I was sure G would like it with animals on the walls, little shrines, etc. But there was a statue just above our table that freaked him out. Oh well. He did like the display of rows and rows of jade elephants.
A good night’s sleep, breakfast at Denny’s, and a little shopping at Roots and we were back on a bus. This time headed for the ship! We set sail on the Celebrity Summit bound for Alaska and leaving Vancouver behind.
We arrived home late last night from our fabulous trip to Alaska. What did we bring home? A stuffed husky dog, some pins, a pair of earrings, and the stomach flu. We thought it was motion sickness, but since the house isn’t moving and he’s still barfing, I’m thinking it’s something else. We’re off to the doctor at 11:00… I’ll try to get up a post soon including the $100+ ball of yarn that did not come home with us!
Tonight is bitter-sweet on the Birch front. It was the night I had hoped to be blocking Birch because mom arrives tomorrow and Birch is a gift for her birthday. The birthday that we will be celebrating on the cruise that we leave for on Friday at O-dark-thirty.
But Birch is not done… not even half way. I'm almost done with the 6th repeat. Being a math teacher I wondered where that put me in terms of percent completed so I made this
Each line represents three pattern repeats. The good news is I'm more than a third of the way there. Wait, is that good news? I have decided to plop Birch, needles and all into a box and wrap it. Mom can open it and then I'll get back to work. I am pleased that it's at least far enough that she will be able to see the pattern.
Despite my disappointment at not being farther, Birch is looking good and we (Birch and I, left the rest of my family at home) had a good trip 32 hour trip to Atlanta. There I saw the Governor who I suspect is not nearly this blurry in real life… but I was too far away to tell you for sure. He told us all about the wonderful things he has done for teachers in the state of Georgia.
The guy from Target who spoke at lunch seemed to be more popular, but then again, he had gift cards!
Then end of the school year went fine, crazy, but fine. I did learn why you should not leave a 3-year-old unattended in a room full of math manipulatives.
So, as I said we're about to leave on a cruise! Alaska here we come. I should have months worth of blog photos when we return so I'll "see" you all then!
We were out and about one day, Birch and I, when Birch spotted some pretty flowers.
"Let me play, let me play," Birch pleaded…
"Are you kidding?" I replied. "The thorns on that thing are the size some people use to knit socks… We will not risk your well being for a romp with some yellow beauties (strangely out of place in Virginia.)" And into the car we went. As we drove the whining got louder and louder until I finally gave in and we stopped at a playground.
There was climbing
And daring feats with the wind
Lest you think this is not x-treme… keep in mind, dear reader, that the ground is covered not with soft, yarn tender grass. Nope it's
Birch had fun, even going on a bus ride!
Not x-treme unless this bus driver is
three and driving on the wrong side! All seemed to be going smoothly then suddenly
A few tears, and some words under my breath while the bus driver was out of ear shot, and all was returned to normal. Back into the car for naps, a good day was had by all.
Tomorrow is the last day of school and the day that report cards are due so I have been crazy grading papers.
In one problem the students were to design their own Beanie Baby and part of the problem asked, "What scale factor should TY use to make your Beanie? Explain how you determined it and what assumptions you had to make." Most of the students came through with appropriate numbers and explanations about deciding how big the Beanie should be, using data about the animal, and determining the scale factor.
But not one… His answer reads, "Inches because otters are bigger than centimeters and smaller than meters." Now the question for me, should I laugh or cry?
Birch update coming soon!!
Numerical Knitting 