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We made it back from our visit to the kids. I love them all dearly, worry about them daily, but have to come to terms with the fact that they're grown up (pretty much) and have their own lives. Friday night we arrived at Shea's to find them all there, hanging out together cooking dinner for us. (Steak fajitas - yum!). Our niece didn't make it - too much studying to do. We ate, we talked, we laughed - typical family get-together. It was wonderful.

I suppose I have to take a moment and admit that Friday afternoon hubby was waiting for me when I got home from work - packed and ready to go. I'd have bet money that he was going to get tied up in some work thing and be late. Good thing I didn't actually bet any money because I would have lost. So, we hit the road and kept hearing dire weather prediction for a well organized winter storm. I'm curious - does a well organized winter storm suck any more than a disorganized one? They're both winter storms, which means snow. And we all know how much I hate snow. Anyway, no storm on the drive north although it did start to rain just as we arrived.

After a not-great night's sleep (I just don't sleep well away from my own bed, and without Buffy the Wonder Dog sleeping by my feet), we got up to a bunch of snow on the ground and more falling. Our drive from Greeley to Fort Collins took longer than normal due to the icy roads, blowing snow, and frequent white-out conditions (which basically means: "OMG, I can't see three feet in front of the car!!!") I'm glad I wasn't doing the actually driving; it was scary enough from the passenger seat. Shea went with us and we met up with everyone else (except Shea's boyfriend, aka might-as-well-be-son-in-law, Nathan - he had to work) at Ian's apartment and went out for lunch. We hung out at Ian's for awhile afterwards, then went and checked out Austin's apartment. Didn't bother going by Chance's place - he's moving somewhere else on Thursday. Slipped each of them a little grocery money. It's a Mom thing.

We started home in clear weather but all that ended just south of Denver. Then it turned into a screaming, windy snowstorm all the way to the middle of Colorado Springs. After that, the storm disappeared and we had dry roads the rest of the way home.

Jordan found time while we were gone to clean the house, so that was nice to come home to.

I visited three yarn shops: one in Greeley (Shea and I went to that one), one in Loveland, and one in Fort Collins. The first one we visited, Wild-n-Woolly in Greely, was a combined yarn and quilting store. The weather was so bad and the owner looked so lonely that I bought some yarn to make her feel better. The Loveland store - Woolen Treasures - had a Maine coon cat named Patrick in residence. He made me buy yarn. He acted like he owned the place and followed me around while I shopped. The Fort Collins store was called My Sister Knits and was in a residential neighborhood. The shop itself was in a small house behind a big house and we had to walk down a pathway through a garden to get to it. The garden had tables and chairs, flowerbeds, and a gazebo. I imagine it's very pretty in nice weather. I had to imagine because it was all covered with a foot of snow. The shop was neat - two stories, a sock class going on upstairs (I obviously did not ask to join) and some kind of party with cake going on downstairs. We were offered some, but had just eaten lunch so we passed. If I had been by myself I probably would have taken a piece. I love cake. Everyone was so friendly, I just had to buy something. So that's why my yarn stash is even bigger now. I have to give credit to hubby - he took me to the stores in Loveland and Fort Collins, went in with me and looked around, and didn't mention a word about the yarn purchases. He's stocking up brownie points for something, I swear. Plus I don't think he really knows how big my yarn stash is. I did a lot of knitting in the car on the way up, but not so much on the way back. I quit knitting about the time visibility was reduced to a couple of car lengths. By the time we drove out of the storm it was dark. So in addition to getting all the laundry done today I need to put in some knitting time. Oh, darn. :o)

Today's Silver Lining: I only have to do the laundry in this house, not the piles I saw in my children's homes.