I'm Baaack!

Finals are over, and I'm starting to feel almost normal again! (Whatever that means.) I've been consumed in a flurry of knitting, trying to catch up from my self-imposed break. I finished my version of the Girlfriend Shrug - pictures will follow once I can convince my own Girlfriend to pose for them. I've done a bit more on the purple business, although I needed a bit of a break from all that fine yarn and small needle story, so I started on the ChildHood sweater from Knitty, for the baby. I'm working it in 100% cotton, part of which my Mum found at her local Value Village, and the other part I bought from the discount bin of my LYS. By amazing co-incidence, or Providence, if you will, we found the exact same yarn in two different colours half a country away from each other. I love that.

It's a dark pink (the VV yarn), with baby blue stripes (the LYS yarn). I've finished the back, front and sleeves, and am working on the striped button bands that are slipstitched on... not my favourite aspect of this pattern. I was thoroughly enjoying it, and had plans to make one in a larger size for my #1 son, but am rethinking that plan after the button bands. They're just fiddly, and ick. However, I'm sure the finished object will be too sweet. All I have left is the second button band (which is more than halfway there), the hood and the making up. I hope to have it done over this weekend, so I can finish the purple businesses before our May long weekend. Which brings my to my big news:

My Wonderful Husband presented me with an early Mother's Day gift - a trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to visit my Mum and other family there, over said May long weekend. I'm taking the baby with me, naturally, but leaving everyone else at home. I'm very excited, but at the same time apprehensive. I suppose my "Mum-ness" has become such a big part of my identity, that the thought of being away from my little ones makes me feel.... strange. Not like myself. It's nothing for me to travel with everyone, even though I have spoken to so many people who shudder at the thought of family travel. This past fall, the whole troop of us went off to Ontario to see WH's family, and a few months after the birth of my son, I packed us up and drove cross-country to see my Mum, sans WH. No biggie.

So why is the thought of traveling alone bother me so much? I've always been a big supporter of the "maintain your identity - know who you are" school of thought. I truly have believed that I have been successful in this endeavor. That's part of what school is all about right now - doing something for me, for my future, as well as everyone else's. But this trip is allowing me to see that it's just not that easy. I am Mum, hear me roar! And don't forget: I'm also The Wife. As in, "Are you WH's wife?" or "Hi there, I'm WH's wife." Not me, "just" the wife. Going away, even for just a few days, not as Mum (at least, not as everyone's mum) or Wife, but just as me; it's made me realize how much I need that. So, off I go. And I hope to have the purple business done by then, so I can deliver it myself.