A Lovely Long Weekend and Some This and That

We left Thursday morning heading towards Pittsford, NY to attend my nephew's high school graduation.  We decided to make it a mini-vacation.  We found ourselves heading to Corning, NY to visit the Museum of Glass. I'd been there over 40 years ago, and I didn't recognize anything!  We drove through some lovely NY state scenery down I-88 which I'd never traveled before and arrived at the museum about 4 pm.  It's open until 8 pm during the summer so we had plenty of time to visit the exhibits and attend a hot glass show.  After the museum we found a great restaurant downtown (Sorge's) where we enjoyed some terrific pasta.  We spent the night at a chain hotel in Corning, and then headed northerly along Seneca Lake.  We had hoped to stop at some wineries, but we were on the road too early.  None of the wineries opened until 10 or 11 am and we were on the road at 8:30.  The lake is beautiful, and the drive up Rt 14 was leisurely.  We got our bearings in Geneva ( a lovely college town) and then headed westerly towards Canandaigua.  After a short drive along the eastern side of the lake, we headed to my sister's town of Pittsford.  We played tourist (since that's what we were!) and took a 90 minute cruise on the Erie Canal on the Sam Patch.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and the canal scenery is really pretty.  Once back on land, we called my sister and headed to her house for family festivities.  The graduation was held in the RIT fieldhouse.  Despite the ceremony being 2 hours long (240 graduates), it never got boring.  The student speeches were excellent.  I was amazed by the poise of the young men and women speaking to an audience of close to 1000.  My sister and her husband hosted a great party for friends, family, and neighbors, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
Sunday saw us heading home, and after 8 hours on the road, we arrived back safe and sound. I have to give my husband a lot of credit. He did ALL the driving.  We usually take turns  - 2 hrs on, 2 hrs off, but my hands were so painful, I found it hard to grip the wheel.  We just took it slow, and stopped more frequently than normal.

Monday was laundry, catching up on mail and chores, and grocery shopping.  Today was a bit more of the same, except that I also worked on my ordering for my classroom  and had to head over to school for a bit to take care of some staff development things.  I'm co-chair of the district's staff development committee, and we're in charge of making sure all teachers have completed their requirements for recertification by June 30.  A couple of procrastinators had failed to get their completed paperwork in by the end of school, but had dropped it off on Monday.  I had to go in and check it all and add the "stamp of approval" to their documents.  It didn't take long, but it sometimes bugs me that some people leave it so long!

I managed to knit 6 rows on my socks this afternoon.  The dr said that I could knit as much as my hand could stand, so I'm taking it easy.  I have so many projects I want to knit -- some Christmas presents, a baby gift, and some sweaters.  I'm not sure whether I will succeed.

For the rest of the week:  pick up new glasses tomorrow, bring the business bookkeeping up to date, dentist, visit to the rheumatologist, water aerobics, finish my classroom ordering, and a celebration dinner at a favorite restaurant with a dear friend and his wife.  He's retiring after 36 years as a teacher and principal.  He will be missed by parents, kids, and the community!