Back from France

We're home now and still recovering from jet lag. Waking up at 3:30 AM really doesn't do it for me especially when I have to work all day. It was a wonderful trip, walking from village to village. We have lots of photos, but they need to be sorted and labeled. That will take a while.

Re: knitting. All the pieces of Sonnet are done. I just need to sew them together. I'm not confident of my finishing skills so I have been procrastinating a bit. I'll post a photo when I've gotten it together. I did find really nice buttons in a small yarn shop in Amboise and it will feel good to have French buttons on my sweater.

Retirement is six more working days away. It's such a great feeling; a weight lifted off my shoulders. The VP offered me the opportunity to continue on an hourly basis doing those parts of the job I like best. I took her up on it.

We're still waiting for the twins to arrive. I was so surprised they weren't born while we were away, but it's a good thing my daughter-in-law is carrying them nearly to term. The risk will be lower the longer she can hold on to them.

Getting Excited

Dick and I leave for France on Friday. We'll be joining our daughter, Jackie in Orleans and will be walking from village to village in the Loire Valley. Dick has worked for weeks figuring the mileage and searching the internet for small hotels or B & B's. He's lined up all the walks and the accomodations for the first 10 days. Then Jackie will go back to Paris and Dick and I will continue for a few more days on our own.

We've done this kind of trip before using an outfitter that booked the hotels and ferried the luggage. This time we will be carrying everything we need on our backs. I've carefully selected things for my pack and it weighs about 17 pounds. I think we will manage fine.

It's a strange time for me. My last day of work is October 12 so I will work two more weeks after we return home. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up. The powers that be at the agency are already campaigning for me to stay on in some capacity doing home studies or staff training or both. I will be negotiating with them when I come back. I'm so ambivalent. I want some time off to play but doing a bit of contract work would sure help pay for my health insurance. I have to COBRA for ten months and it is really expensive!!

I'm hard at work on Sonnet. I've finished the second arm hole and am nearing the finish of the front shoulder. It's almost time to decrease for the neck. I don't think I will finish before we leave (I have to do the sleeves) and I won't be bringing it to France because everything I bring I have to carry. I'm going to bring the sock project instead because it's small.