The small things.

I suppose in life one must acknowledge and respect the small things. You have to find the pretty pattern in the leaves on a blustery day, or the beauty in an icicle on a winter one. It's only fair, then, to do the same thing for the little things in life everyday. We are all faced with challenges and seemingly insurmountable obstacles - or even things we just don't want to do, and it is our prerogative as human beings to accept those challenges and meet them head on. One way to make those obstacles feel smaller is to enjoy what time you can be doing things you love. I love spending time with DH, I love watching movies, and I love knitting. (I also love eating chocolate, among a mess of other things, but I'm not going to list all of it. I'm not insane.} The past few days I got to spend a lot of time doing two of the things I love, even if not in the best of circumstances. I spent copious amounts of time with DH, and I knit quite a bit. I think that since I am trying to find happy things in a trip that was less than pleasant, I'll list some highlight parts that were my "silver lining" from the adventure.

* We stayed in a nice hotel. We never stay in a nice hotel, they are,after all, just for sleeping. But this one was cheap AND nice. Can't beat free breakfast, free Internet, and cable. Just having cable for an evening is fun for us.
*We got to eat at a local restaurant that DH misses a lot. Heid's Hot Dogs. If you are ever in Liverpool New York, or in the Syracuse area, make the trip to Heid's. You will not be disappointed.
* We went to the Carousel Mall. Now, wait I here you saying, you always complaining about how much time you spend at the mall for work! Why the Hell are you at one of your own accord? Well, because it's HUGE. I mean mega HUGE. And they are making it bigger. Soon it will be bigger than the Mall of America, and then they will change the name to "Destiny USA". It will have a Marina. Just saying.
*I went to a yarn store. Did I need yarn? No. But, it was right down the road from the hotel, and I just had to stop. Wanna see what I got?

The Eucalan was actually a need, technically, so the trip wasn't completely devoid of reason. The two small skeins are Wick from Knit One, Crochet Too. I want to try some socks from this. I've heard good things, and the soy is sooo soft. The other yarn is Kaleidoscope from Elegant Yarns. I've heard of Kaleidoscope, but have never seen it. I picked it up as a trial skein. I plan to make a hat to try it out.
The yarn store I went to had a very fun atmosphere, and a great chatty staff. The people were very nice - even the ones knitting at the table in the rear of the store. It's nice to see a little store that has some of everything. It's not just baby, novelty, worsted and sock yarn. They had selection in all weights, fibers, and colorways, yet the floor was still open and easy to move around. I didn't check out the pattern support, but they looked to be quite stocked. oh, and as for my two yarn store pet peeves - messy and no prices marked - good on both accounts! All the yarn was organized and marked with prices on the shelves. Heaven. The owner (I think... my apologies if you weren't) was excited to hear I was a blogger, and we shared some ravelry info. Frankly, that was fun. SO, if you are in the Syracuse area, and you have filled up on Hot Dogs at Heid's, went to the Carousel Mall, and enjoyed the cable at the hotel, try and save a little time to go to the Knitting Connection . They really have a great little store there!