Congratulations, HVAC Man!

He did it! Last Friday at 7:00pm, Anthony graduated from the Greene County Career Center's HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) program. His mom had flown in from Seattle to be there (she surprised him on Thursday!) and my mom and aunt drove down from Northeastern Ohio to surprise him Friday night. It was great to see the culmination of nine months of hard work and see him get his career passport, which details all of his accomplishments, certifications, and successes for prospective employers. Congratulations, baby... I'm SO proud of you!

The two guys on the ends are the instructors, and the guys in the middle are the graduates. There were two other classes that graduated that night, but these were my favorites. It was neat to be back at the GCCC... I used to teach GED classes through there, and I attended meetings and GED graduations at the career center on occasion.

Anthony, his mom, and I went to dinner at Smokey Bones on Thursday night, his mom stayed with me that night, and we met Anthony at Jungle Jim's on Friday morning. After a record four+ hours at Jungle Jim's, we slowly (car trouble!) trekked our way toward the graduation, where we met up with my mom and aunt. After the ceremony, we went to Longhorn for celebratory steak dinners, then all the ladies stayed in a hotel in Fairborn while we let Anthony recover from all the celebrating. Saturday morning, all the women went to sock club at my yarn store, then we picked up Anthony for lunch at the Oasis, and then my mom and aunt took Anthony's mom to the airport to head back to Seattle. It was a really packed weekend, but it was fun, and there was much reason for rejoicing.

As for the knitting, I have four projects I want to finish before the Knitting Olympics: two pairs of socks, the Shedir hat, and Sadie's sweater. The niece and nephew need Valentine's socks, of course, and I must get those other two things off the needles for my own peace of mind.

Speaking of socks, here's Kim at sock club, showing off her newly completed, very first pair of beautiful socks. That's Wendy behind her, working on some leafy socks. Isn't it wonderful how she's happy about socks now? Isn't it wonderful how I still have my eyes? And my eyes don't have little holes in them? And my skin is puncture-free? It is a beautiful thing. Kim started sock pair number two at sock club on Saturday morning. It was indeed a beautiful thing. Now we just have to get Dorothy to that stage, too! For more socks, head on over to Joy's blog. There's another beginner-sock-knitter-extraordinaire!

As for knitting surprises, you may have to wait a while. (You know, because actually finishing a project is a surprise around here. Having time to finish a project could be a surprise, too.) But that's all I can say for now. Keep your pants on, and GO SEAHAWKS!!!