KNITTING FOR A WEDDING
880 yards of Plymouth Yarn 100% Baby Alpaca Lace
Did that catch your attention?
Well, I have a long story to tell.
Back in March, The Coach and I met for dinner one night. He picked the place and suggested to go back to the Thai restaurant where we had our first date. We have never been back since, but not because it was a terrible restaurant, it just did not work out again. Anyways, I am sure a bunch of you will think, ahhhh, didn't think he had something special in the works? Honestly, no, because I am pretty oblivious to things like that. But when we got the place, he insisted on sitting at the exact same table we had at our first date and then I thought, hmmmm, that is interesting...
So yes, he proposed that night and gave me beautiful a diamond ring. And in return he asked me for a promise. I was not allowed to tell my parents until we would be back in Germany in April for a little vacation. The Couch is old school and wanted to officially ask my parents. OK... That was the hardest promise to keep in my life. I talk to my family several times a week and can not tell anyone? DANGIT!!! There were times when my mom or my SIL would ask if there was anything going on, anything new happening and I would say "No. not really...".
It was even harder when I flew to Germany, one week before The Coach, because I worked in the Munich office to help organize a international lawyers meeting. Well, staying with parents was wonderful and hard at the same time, BECAUSE I COULD NOT SAY ANYTHING... And being there, I almost slipped a few times. But I didn't and I am kind of proud of that.
So, now we get to the even more romantic part. The Coach was supposed to arrive on Saturday, April 17, in Munich. Well, that was the weekend the Icelandic volvano ashes turned Europe into a very quiet continent with no air traffic. Yeah, that weekend, of all weekends...
His flight got cancelled on Friday morning and you can imagine how unhappy and disappointed we were... BUT... I told The Coach when they cancelled his flight to just go to the airport as planned because it is easier for him being helped in person at a counter instead of calling the 1-800-number and being blown off with a new reservation for almost a week later. That is what I did in the meantime. And the Delta agent didn't have a seat available until the next Thursday and not even to Munich. He would have had to stop in Paris, meaning he would have gotten to Munich on Friday mid-day and we would have flown home two days later.
So, we agreed that he should try to get to any airport in driving distance of Garmisch, meaning any airport in Austria, Switzerland or Italy would have been OK. His first choice was Zuerich, but that flight got cancelled as well. The next possible option was Rome, Italy. On freakin' MONDAY... My parents were saying that The Coach would be back for some other trip later this year if it wouldn't work out now, that I shouldn't worry. At least he wasn't stuck at some airport somewhere on the globe, like so many other people. True that, but they didn't know that he was on a mission and that he had to make this trip for a reason.
And then all hell broke loose that weekend... Europe was shut down completely, on Saturday, on Sunday, and partically on Monday. The flight from Atlanta to Rome was cancelled on Saturday, but the one on Sunday left Atlanta and arrived in Rome savely. So we were hoping that everything would go well with the flight on Monday.
Since all the signs were saying that it was a go for Monday, I got a rental car and a hotel reservation for Rome. I am sure my parents thought that I have gone completely off the deep end, because it is a 10-hour drive from my home town to Rome. Rome sits pretty much smack in the center of the boot, but I didn't care at that point. I just wanted The Coach to get over to Europe and get a big hug from him at the airport.
So, my mom made a thermos full of strong coffee and packed a basket of food and off I went with my sisters's GPS and a bunch of road maps. I have never been to Rome and I thought, you know, everything has a good side, even that stupid Icelandic volcano. That way, The Coach and I got to meet in Rome, very romantic. Cute story to tell the grandkids one day, I guess.
I left at 9.30pm and got to the airport in Rome after 9 hours driving through the night, with just four pit stops. Not sleepy for one minute, thank goodness, and a blasting A/C in the car... The sun just rose at 6.30am when I parked the car at Rome's international airport. The Coach's flight was on track, arriving a bit earlier and we finally met around 8.30am. YAY!
We drove to the hotel, showered and spent a fabulous day in Rome. Mind you, he was on a plane for 10 hours and I was in the car for 9 hours, but seemed that we had a lot of energy and we walked around the ancient city all day. There is so much to see. Really, more for a 10-day-trip than for just a 1-day-trip.
Here are some pictures for you (enough text for the moment)...
We did a swoop through Rome and saw the Colosseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain (and tossed coins to make a wish) and the Vatican. We had pizza around the corner from the Vatican. After that we went back to the hotel and crashed at 9pm. A long, but awesome day. So, that was kind of like a "pre-honeymoon"... Hehehe... One thing I have to say about the Romans tho'. They are one of the rudest bunch of people I have ever met. And not only to foreigners, also to one another. They drive like a$$holes, very scary and dangerous. We saw a graffiti at one place that sums it up pretty neatly (unfortunately I did not take a picture): "I do what I want, when I want." The Coach and I started calling this the Roman mantra...
The next day we went back to Germany. It was a grueling long day. After 10.5 hours in the car, we were back at my parents place. My mom had dinner ready when we got home and the Coach proposed to my parents afterwards. I translated back and forth and it was actually quite funny. ;-)
So, we had a very "uneventful" 10-minute civil court cermony later that week and went up the highest mountains in the Alpes for our "honeymoon".
While we were with my family, we also celebrated my nieces 4th birthday. She called me one day and asked if I could knit her a purple cardigan for her birthday. Her wish was my command:
Project Stats:
Pattern: Helena
Size: 4 years
Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm Knitpicks Harmony
Yarn: Dark Horse Yarns Fantasy
How much? 3 skeins = 615.0 yards (562.4m)
Colorway: Purple
She didn't really want her picture taken but she LOVED the cardigan. That's all that matters to me anyway.
I also knitted a pair of socks for myself while I was in Germany. That was my "riding the train" project, while commuting to work.
My mom bought me this really cool sock magazine. It is a VERENA Special edition, called "80 socks around the world" and this first of two issues has 30 sock patterns from several European countries. The pattern I knitted is one of the Italian patterns. Funny, thinking about it, that I went to Rome the week after I finished the socks. Italy was not planned at first. :-)
The rest of the week was considerable less eventful. We had no trouble flying out of Munich. By then, the travel chaos was pretty much over and I can only hope that most of the travellers made it to their destinations by now.
So, we're back in Georgia. And we'll have a busy summer ahead of us. Selling my house, adding on The Coach's house, moving all my stuff in, plan a little family wedding in South Georgia at the end of the summer, but before football season starts. See, I already know the rules around here...
Hermione and I moved in with The Couch, his two kids and their little yorkie, Sophie. I had to find a new home for Noah because he and Sophie did not get along - at all (he tried to eat her one time last summer)... That was very sad but I know he is in good hands. So, for now, until the three rooms have been added to my new home, I have only moved my clothes and a couple of knitting projects. And of course, there is always something that I would need, but that is still at my old house. But that is only temporary and therefore OK. Oh, and don't worry, one of the rooms will be full of yarn and roving. I can't wait!!!
So, coming back to the header of this entry. There will be a little wedding with a preacher at the end of the summer and I am going to wear a cute summer dress and that shawl. Casting on this weekend! It's a great pattern - you knit it up the long side with 295 stitches. Whew... Happy counting, Claudia!
And if you want to look at all the vacation pictures - here they are.
