Finished Knitting! YAY!

One of the really wonderful things about being done with school is the fact that my evenings and weekends are mine, to fill with whatever leisure activities I choose. No papers I should be writing, no papers to read and NO guilt! Well, there is still "chore guilt" but I'm working on it.
So how have I been filling the hours? With lots of knitting and reading!

First, a pair of warm and cozy socks I started Inauguration weekend in D.C. I love them! And considering that I my feet would never be warm again after Inauguration Day, it's fitting that they are so toasty!

Here are two pairs of socks that I finished knitting last summer but never wove in the ends. So sad, my laziness. But now they are wearable!

Having just finished up the Inauguration socks, I thought it was best to start another pair immediately! It was also a great excuse to play with my new ball winder and swift. Oh my LOVE for these items!! I don't know how I went so long without them! Kyle is pleased that he'll no longer have to ball up my yarn for me because I'm only capable of making tangled messes in less than 30 seconds when left to my own devices. Russ also wanted to get in on the action! He is totally yarn obsessed! Good thing he's cute and (usually) well monitored in the presence of pretty things. :)

Witnessing History - The BEST Part

We've been home for nearly 48 hours and I'm still trying to process the entire Inaugural experience. There's nothing that I can say that will adequately capture the incredible power of being there, among 1.8 million other Americans (and some Canadians waving flags like crazy right next to us!) to witness the Inauguration of President Obama. I'll leave the trite cliches to the media, some of whom captured the day for me but most of whom I felt did a disservice to the dream of Dr. King by declaring absolute victory when as a nation we are still far from the promised land. It goes without saying that President Obama was judged by the content of his character, and this makes me as proud of my fellow citizens as I can possibly be, yet it does not erase the social and economic injustices that prevail across the United States. I absolutely believe that President Obama can and will lead the country down a path towards greater justice and that we can see the true fulfillment of Dr. King's dream in my lifetime.

During the Inaugural Address I was struck by the fact that a candidate whose principles and policies I truly believe in was now assuming the presidency. During the election of 2004, I was unconvinced that this would ever be the case. Kyle and I have been excitedly following the political rise of President Obama since his speech at the DNC that year and I never thought that we'd arrive here so soon. I am SO excited and energized and look forward to following this Presidency with the voracity that some stalk Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip blog. As before, I think that our pictures capture things far better than I can. The rest are here.

Witnessing History - Part 1

So...my last semester of grad school was hard. Very hard. And perhaps I stretched myself more than enough ways to make myself crazy. Hence the absolute silence around here. But, now I have my degree and I would not have changed one thing! Sure, I nearly lost my mind, but in the end it was all worth it! (Not sure if the husband and the puppy feel the same way, not there not really complaining at the moment so we'll assume they're over it).

Now I'm free! This means that we've got the freedom to do totally awesome things, like travel with the rest of humanity to the most amazing thing to happen in my life time - the Inauguration of Barack Obama !!!! Tonight we are doing "Inauguration Day Strategery" which includes things like "Have a positive attitude!," and, "Stuff your pockets with toilet paper! And granola bars!" We've already had an amazing time, box relaxing and braving the city for the Inauguration Concert 2009. Here's the recap:

1.) Arriving at the concert and asking strangers to take our picture. The woman with the guy that took this for us shook her head "no" when asked if they would take the picture. Nice. 2.) Getting interviewed for BBC radio. Lost a bit of respect for the BBC when the reporter asked us to pretend that it was the next day and that we were super excited about Beyonce and Usher. Apparently the UK is not as into Springsteen and James Taylor. 3.) The crowd was HUGE. And we were pretty close to the front. 4.) Singing along with everyone was amazing and made me happy happy happy!!

Overall, I was truly amazed at the spirit and kindness of the crowd. Everyone seemed genuinly thrilled to be there and we were able to chat with people from all over the country that were there to have a good time and share the experiance. It was fantastic! And the amazing line up of performers capped off by a speech by the President Elect was beyond words. And, as the program continually reminded us, we were WITNESSING HISTORY. ;) I can't wait to tell my grandchildren about this!