My last three weeks

I flew home to Houston on July 20.  It was good to be home, although the Houston weather remains insufferable in the summer.  I was happy to see my cats, although they have settled into a routine with Mike.  As I posted on Facebook, my husband said something I never thought I would hear:  "Where's the Furminator?"  After three months away, it took me a while to settle back into things at home.  I worked the 24th, drove up to see my mom on the 26th, went to my niece's baby shower in Flower Mound on the 28th and drove home that evening to work on the 29th.  Whew!  In the week plus that followed I managed to work three more shifts, see my internist, get my hair highlighted and cut, pick up the dry cleaning and have a mani/pedi.  I was itching to sew something, but I knew I didn't have time to do much.  I remembered that I had this Mary Engelbreit baby panel, so I cut some binding for it out of her iconic cherry fabric and machine sewed it on.  Now I have some hand stitching to do.

We flew back up to Minneapolis last Thursday and took the light rail in from the airport.  There is a stop two blocks from our loft, and it only took 20 minutes to get here...sweet! Visited the boys (and their parents) Thursday evening and Friday morning, then drove down to Milwaukee on Friday afternoon.  On Saturday we attended the wedding of the daughter of a high school friend and on Sunday we got together with my BFF Marjorie's family.  It was wonderful to see so many old  long-time friends.  We drove back up to Minneapolis on Monday and had dinner at Muffuletta with our daughter, son-in-law, son and his girlfriend (and the boys!) Yesterday morning we rented Nice Ride bikes and rode them over the Stone Arch Bridge to have breakfast at Wilde Roast.  We are really enjoying the urban setting here.  Yesterday afternoon we drove down to Rochester to attend the retirement dinner of one of Mike's former colleagues.  It was held at the Foundation House of the Mayo Clinic, the former residence of one of its founders.  It was an awesome setting, and we were so happy that the timing worked out so well and that we were able be there.  We drove back this morning, had lunch with Kate, Kyle and the boys, and then I drove Mike to the airport, and he is on his way back to Houston right now.  He will be coming back for Labor Day, so I am on my own for the next two weeks.  I plan to relax, see the boys every day, do some reading and knitting, and enjoy the cooler weather.  And oh yeah, finish sewing this binding on!