Home again, home again, jiggedy jig

posted by Helen

When I was a kid, whenever we arrived home from a longish family trip (it may have been a day at Candlewood lake or a two week camping trip in the White Mountains), my dad would say "home again, home again, jiggedy jig" as we rattled down the driveway in the station wagon. It was comforting then and I still think it nearly every time I come home from a trip.

I'm relieved to be home. It was a good trip, but long. It isn't that I don't like the places we visit, it's just that I like this particular place so much. On the way home from the airport, I feel a frisson of happiness every time I reach a certain point on route 89.

So here we are. Back in our routine: a dog to walk, friends to greet at the post office, a stack of mail to open. It doesn't seem like much, but it is everything.

Report from Dallas

posted by Helen

We have been in Dallas most of this week at the International Lighting Market. Many of our clients come here to shop at this time of year and we like to be where they are. The mood at market has been good this year. I'd thought it might be down because some folks have complained that sales are soft in their retail markets, but it seems they are buying new stock anyway.

I miss Vermont, of course, but the unseasonably warm weather here has been a nice break. This morning it started to rain and the reaction here is happy relief that this might be the end of a lengthy drought.

Belated happy new year

posted by Helen

I know this is late, but I'm still getting over this cold and have been somewhat low energy. We had a nice new year's with our friends, Marc and Cindy, and some of their friends. It was intended to be just an early dinner, but we got to talking and playing a couple of games and ... then it was 2006.

If what you do on New Year's Day is a template for the year, it's going to be a quiet one. I didn't leave the house once. Dave walked Cammy while I made crepes for breakfast. I did a little housework, started restoring the first quilt I made, listened to top hits from 2005 and knitted. For dinner I made chicken and asparagus stir-fry. The secret is to velvet the chicken before stir frying it. It sounds like a pain, but it's not hard and is worth the trouble. All in all, it was a lazy day. I needed the rest.