Retreat, retreat...

So I had a weekend away. That might be the biggest understatement I've ever made.

I had a lovely, amazing weekend of knitterly goodness. Starting Thursday night with a class at Make One taught by Annie Modessit. The class was awesome. I am not at the skill level some of my fellow classmates were but I got so much out of it!

I tend to be a reluctant class taker. I've dropped out of classes I paid good money for because there were people who insisted on talking all the time. I can't cope with a lot of noise, if people in the class are talking it's hard. I'm left handed which means spending a lot of time not only learning a technique but having to figure out how to do it in mirror image so when the instructor is saying "now take your right needle..." I am immediately translating "SO that means my left needle and when she's doing this, to get the same thing I need to do that....". Annie was very good about keeping the background chat to a dull roar for which I was profoundly grateful. She runs a tight ship and that's a good thing! There was a lot of information to take away at the end of the night.

Friday, I had the boy's report card interviews. Never fun. He doesn't get his written assignments done, if he does get them done, he never gets them handed in. We heard this in every tone ranging from positivity, hope that a change might be affected to total exasperation. We ended the morning by stopping by his cooking teacher. What a difference. "Your son is so appreciative of food! He is professional and efficient in the kitchen, he looks like a true chef!" I told him that passion and commitment needs to carry over. He has to find something in his other courses to be enthusiastic about.

We barelled home after the interviews, I grabbed my bags and called a cab. That's when the weekend really started. The boy went to his Grandma's, the dog had a sitter (and her new birthday bed) and I hit the road.

We met at the yarn store for a yummy breakfast, hopped on board a luxury tour bus for some quality knitting (or drinking depending) time and headed up to Emerald Lake.

What a fabulous weekend. Lots of amazing food, excellent wine, spectacular scenery, knitting by the fire, hot tubbing, more fantastic food, excellent classes taught by Annie Modessit (an excellent instructor), fresh air, cosy accommodations (every room had it's own fireplace).

I'm not a large group person, there were times when the noise level got to me, but there were lots of corners to go knit quietly and ample time to get away. Much progress was made on Greenjeans and the lace scarf. I spent one afternoon (after a much needed session in the hot tub) curled up by the fire in my room reading. I ate more than I should have, drank just a little bit more than I should have, met nice people, laughed lots, learned lots and just generally had a fabulous break! Something that hasn't happened for me in a long time.

Amy and Sandra did a fantastic job of hosting the weekend. There were nearly 50 women there needing to be kept happy, I don't know how they did it. The staff were awesome, the lodge is spectacular. It was all together amazing.