The entire weekend was a harmonious blend of my favorite things -- family, friends, Mom's cooking, NYC and Winter weather as cold as 13 degrees. Winter is a character in my life that doesn't visit often enough. It's so sensory, full of life and I love everything about it. The reason for the trip was a celebration, my niece turned 16! She's a great kid. Before the party, I had absolutely no concept of what 16 year old kids were like but I was surprised that a lot of them seemed like really good kids. There weren't any obvious nose piercing, tattoos or use of vulgar language so I was pretty impressed and surprised.

I know so many of you live in cold climates but for this Florida guy, it was paradise. The only really beat part of the whole weekend was I forgot my knitting. I must have said 10 times before I left, "get something out of the ottoman to bring on the trip." Never happened! I did have my Nook so the trip was not lost. Just for fun, I wanted to try knitting with twine and two pencils at my parents. I could hear my Mom, "Joseph, give it a rest already!" Gotta hear it with the New Yawk accent ... Classic!