Crazy Midwestern Stuff

Things have been crazy, crazy the last few days. I have been working on completing some WIPs and, keep your fingers crossed, I should have at least one FO to post this weekend.

Last weekend I drove to South Dakota to visit my parents. They are originally from SD and retired there about 18 months ago to get out of the city. I can't imagine leaving the city, but they are happy. Watertown does have a yarn shop so I paid it a visit Saturday afternoon and bought some Mountain Colors.

To get to Watertown SD from Minneapolis I have to drive through a whole bunch of quirky little towns. Some a whole lot quirkier than others. Dawson MN, the last town before I hit the SD border, has gnomes everywhere. According to the City's webpage each gnome is made to represent a citizen of the town. No explanation why they want to do this, just a short blip saying they have gnomes. Here are some of the gnomes that are in a park right as you enter town.

They are EVERYWHERE. I'm all for hobbies though and it looks like this town definitely has one. Wouldn't these gnomes be warmer in the Minnesota winter in nice knit hats?

The other sources of craziness are Little League and work. I'm trying to get a certification for my job so today I'm taking the first of 8 tests towards the certification. I am 41 years old. It's been a really long time since I've studied anything that didn't involve yarn. I've really tried to knuckle down and study, but it's hard. I don't have the attention span for it. Yesterday I spent all day doing a final cram for the test today, but everytime one of my co-workers came by and said, "do you want to walk over to Caribou for a latte?" I jumped up and ran off to get coffee.

I haven't mentioned it, but I'm President of our local Little League board of directors. You might be wondering, gee Kate, isn't your son too old for Little League? Yes, yes he is. One more year and I'm outta there. But I campaigned for our league to have the opportunity to host a post season tournament. We are officially a tournament venue this year and I need to stick around for it because it will be a lot of work for all the volunteers. This time of year is my busiest when it comes to LL as it is the time we register kids, prepare for the season, etc. Lots of meetings, lots of paperwork, lots of phone calls and mailings to parents.

So, there you go, all my excuses for not having a single piece of knitting finished this week. Be back tomorrow.