The timing is perfect

I was getting seriously wound up yesterday (I know. It's so not like me) I'm going to be speaking in Madison this weekend and that's like... in three days. I immediately had a complete meltdown, and then realized that the timing on this one is perfect. Totally perfect.

The top ten reasons why it is a good idea to leave town.

1. The dirty bit on the shawl came out, but it vexes me anyway. I think that it and I should have a time out, and it's not a good travel project anyway. Too white, too fragile, too many charts. It's a chesterfield project, and that's where I'm keeping it. I hope it misses me.

2. I will not have to wage war with an appliance of any kind for 48 hours. This is good because I'm really starting to believe that the dishwasher is toying with me. One day it drains, the next it refuses. This seems to be related to how many dishes are in it, and how much I don't want to wash them. I feel that this is personal, and yesterday when it refused to void its steamy dish slag, the urge to mangle its racks was overwhelming. Time to go.

3. I'll be able to get some knitting time on the plane. (Hold up there! Wait! You... the one in the back.. I see you. You're about to send me an email or type a comment asking me if I can really knit on the plane, or am I sure I will be able to knit on the plane, or maybe I should check and see if I can knit on the plane, or ask me if I am really, really going to knit on the plane, or maybe even ask me how it is that I can knit on the plane, or enquire about how I arrange being able to knit on the plane, or ask me what sort of needles I fly with because you are flying and you want to knit on the plane but you don't think that you'll be allowed and am I really allowed to fly on the plane?
Stop.

- I am going to knit on the plane.
-I am going to take whatever needles I want.
-Nobody has ever, ever said anything to me at security, even when my bag is being hand searched and I say "Whoops there, mind the bag full of a multitude of metal needles, don't want to poke yourself". The only thing that has ever been said to me by security is " Are those socks?" "That's pretty" or "My sister knits too".
-I have never phoned ahead to see if I will be allowed. (I admit, this is because I think that if you ask them to think about it, they get worried that maybe you're asking because you think they might say no (which is true) and that then they say no, because they figure that if someone thinks they might say no then they should, just to be sure.
- For the record, I fly more than a carrier pigeon.

4. No internet connection while I'm on the plane. That means that for at least a few hours on Friday and Sunday, I have an excellent excuse for why I can't deal with my inbox.

5. The last time I went to Wisconsin, I spoke at an event at Yellow Dog Knitting, and I had a really good time. Really good, actually. This time I'm with the Madison Guild, and I'm expecting a fair bit of overlap. I know I'll see Joyce Williams again, and I'll get to meet Meg Swansen, which is really neat because we've only ever spoken on the phone. (I am nervous about that a bit.) The best part last time was the knitters though, some I think it's really fun to see every few years, and I can't wait. (I'm hoping for Dale-Harriet, Shelly, Vicki (when my blog pictures grow up, they want to be Vicki's blog pictures) Beadslut, Chris, Cursing mama... I know some of them have lives that don't include me... but I'm still pretty excited.

5a. Holy cow. I missed a trip to Madison. I was there last April. (How could I not remember that? I plead book tour. There's no way you can expect a writer to know where they are and what they're doing under those circumstances. To be fair, I remember that day beautifully. I just didn't know I was in Madison.

6. The weather in Wisconsin will not be a shock to my system. Unlike many Canadians who are going to go to Mexico, or Cuba or the Bahamas for March Break (we do not call it "spring break", because it's just not accurate) I am not going to put myself through the emotional rollercoaster of actually seeing the sun and feeling it's warmth on my skin, only to have all of that hope dashed into a million dark shards on my return. Wisconsin is a much healthier choice, emotionally speaking.

7. It has been a long time since people have held my socks. I miss it. (I'm not worried that's weird either.)

8. Chris Farley is from there. (I'm not sure why that's relevant.)

9. I forget what 9 was. I'm out of coffee.

10. The Madison Knitting guild is wicked, and I'm pretty sure that none of the teenagers there are my problem.

See you there. Saturday. We'll have squeaky cheese.