In Which I Talk About Home and Hockey

So I went home for Thanksgiving and I brought the JC with me. And while I'd warned him many times just how small the town is, I don't think he was quite prepared for the actual rural-ness of it. To the point that he compared it to cottage country in northern Ontario.

Anyway, I only brought one knitting project. Which was a bad idea as I got to the airport for my flight home and discovered that my size 0 circular needle that I was knitting my socks on had broken. Now, usually I use metal needles because they don't break but I'd specifically bought long narrow wooden circs because I've been doing so much damn flying lately (knitpicks fixed Harmony circs for those of you who are interested) as the skinny little addis are kinda threatening and quite visible on the airport Xray machines. And yes, I know the TSA allows knitting needles, but must screeners are twits and sometimes it's better just to play it safe. So I had NO knitting. And of course my flight home was delayed. Because I wasn't stressed enough already.

Ouch!

Of course, the small LYS at home didn't have a long size 0 circular needle and as it isn't solely a knitting store, the old lady who worked there looked at me like I was on crack when I asked, so I called the yarn store in Brocton, who also didn't have one but at least had someone working who knew what the hell I was talking about. Not being able to deal with my family and the return flight totally sans knitting, I actually went to the Brocton store and got the supplies for an emergency project, the much-knitted Fetchings.


I've already finished the left one. Anyway, I can't say enough nice things about the Brocton yarn store (Woolgathering) - they have a great selection, long hours, and the owner is really nice and apparently offers spinning lessons too. Having knitting made the flight back far more pleasant, a sentiment the JC agrees with.

Anyway, while home I gave the JC the grand tour of...not much. And I even dragged him to BJ's, where I only saw one person I knew from high school (and one I liked at that) so that was good, plus there were dollar pints! And I made a pie for Thanksgiving that turned out mostly okay, though it was HUGE:
So huge that the lattice didn't really work out. Anyway, it's the pomegranate-pear pie from the NYT last year and it's worth a shot...though don't use the pearl tapioca! It was weird having it with my mom because we've been going to dad's the past few years, but she threw such a fit that we sort of had to not go to dad's, which was too bad.

But we spent all Friday with dad - we went into Buffalo for the art museum and the hockey game. Which we spent in a luxury box, which was awesome. And Jim Kelly was in the box next to us! He's going quite bald. My phone crapped out so I took a very blurry pic of the back of his head with the JC's crackberry, but it's so bad it isn't even worth posting. In the box with me was another kid from high school, who despite having the same last name is not the Retropolitan's cousin. And we even won! While my dad's seats are great, the luxury box wins if only because it has a private bathroom. Stadium bathroom lines are so not okay. And that's one classmate at the bar and one at the game, which isn't bad. Though on a related note, I got the save the date card for my 10-year reunion. Ick.

The JC survived my family and my town, and they survived him. Which I suppose is good. I hadn't been back in nearly a year. It's so odd going back - so different from how I live now. With all my urban amenities, like mass transit and stores other than Wal-Mart and being able to drive for two miles without hitting a farm. Though you can buy beer in the grocery store at home, which is an amenity I sorely miss.

Anyway, I'm mostly glad to be back in Philly. With much knitting to choose from.