What's on Your Needles?

Usually on a Wednesday I would be talking about the things that are on my needles and the progress I have made towards to my knitting goals for the week.

Not this week.

This week (and the beginning of next week) are all about lining things up, and getting routines in place ready for the upcoming school year.

This year I have two seniors in high school.

(Deep breath it will be ok, I tell myself as I look at the college tuition bill for ONE and think of the three it will be this time next year*)

So today, we took the day off for a last fling before we all get back into the grind that is real life.

We went to the zoo.  I have mentioned before it is one of my favorite places to kill a few hours.  A Walk with a View, is how it has always been percieved.  Today of course it involved 3 of the 5 people in attendance catching Pokemon and hitting poke-stops to get poke-balls, while TFB and I actually looked at the animals.

It was the perfect day for the zoo, rain kept a lot of the usual zoo goers away, but we timed it right that the downpour happened as we were on the road in and stopped for while we were there.

One of the party (the other daughter, who is not mine but the best friend of TDQ and calls me Mom when she is being snarky, which is often...the kid fits right in!) was falling asleep on her feet as we wandered through the African Congo.

Tomorrow will be another packed day of getting school supplies, paying tuition and user fees, picking up schedules and then the magic day will happen.

The day I am alone for a few hours.**

TOB asked if I would be lonely.

Silly boy, I have never in my life felt loneliness, there is always someone to visit with or talk to.  But maybe, just maybe I will get a sense of quiet when everyone is out to school and I have the house to myself, at least for the first day of school!

What is really on my needles is this:

I am a little further along, a few rows into the grey. Then I have a darker grey and black to finish her off.

What do you think so far?

And of the new headshot I am thinking of using for my designer profile?

Does it capture the real me?

~M

*No student loans here, we are working on the pay as you go system because I do not believe that starting a young adult into the world post-college in debt to their eyeballs is the way to go.  No-one was willing to fund my going to school, but it is the least I can do to set MY kids up right. (Although I have told them all that they will pay me back after college is done, with interest!)
**I can never really be along at home, we still have a socially unacceptable number of cats, even if my dog did (not unexpectedly) pass away this summer.  I am wondering how I will feel without him sitting at my feet while I work on projects from home that day, I still find myself sitting with one foot to the side for him to rest his chin on, even though he isn't here to do that anymore.