"Hi mom, it's been a long day -- but AWESOME..."

Katie went on a trip to Canterbury and Dover yesterday and that's the beginning of the email she sent me upon her return.  She's given me the poop so I can access her Photobucket account while she's away -- she uploaded maybe 15-20 of the 100 pictures she took on the trip (nearing 400 for the entire time she's been away, so far) and I'm sharing a few with you.  First awesome thing, in my opinion, is the weather.  I'm sure that view from the keep is gorgeous even in the rain, but that one takes my breath away.  There she is with the Northstar Mittens at The Pharos -- I feel completely idiotic (and I don't care) that I find it so thrilling to see my mittens there!  And sheep on the cliffs of Dover!!

This is a ceiling in Canterbury Cathedral.  Amazazing.  This one actually makes my neck hurt!

My weekend wasn't nearly so scenic.  We're preparing for a little remodeling project and I did some preparatory cleaning, with a teensy trip down Memory Lane as some of it involved going through some of the girls' saved school stuff.  I threw out lots, saved a little, laughed a lot.  There's much more of that to go through, though, as I saved everything from spelling tests and math quizzes to monthly newsletters and workbooks.  Now, the accumulation phase has pretty much ended and with the knowledge gained over the passage of time (I've never been inclined even once to see what was news in the spring of *anyone's* third grade year), I can be more ruthless than I once was, and I am able to save just artwork (the good stuff) and journals, possibly a particularly interesting report or project, and report cards; even so, there was a bit of wistfulness and I had one of the girls haul the bag to the trash.  The path to the attic is more clear.

Typepad is being weird, so I better get this up.  I've been working on Shirley Shrugs; found the yarn (Better Pal stuff!) that eluded me a couple of weeks ago; and I have a finished pair of Jaywalkers to show you tomorrow.  Woo.