Books and Cookies

This is my second Valentine's Day alone in a row, and I have to say that it's not a lot of fun. Not that we ever made a big deal out of Valentine's Day, but it's nice to ignore all the commercial nonsense with someone you love.

Fortunately, Purdue provided lots of entertainment - and desserts - today. So I took the toe sock out to show it a good time, and to collect some goodies for me. (Incidentally, I'd hoped to have the toe socks finshed for Valentine's day, but have been too distracted by other projects. I'll try to have it finished before Aaron gets home - since it's always good to show that I really do enjoy using the yarn he brings me!)

Our first stop was at the "Cider Social," hosted by the university president, France Cordova. She just joined Purdue this summer and held a "Handshakes and Milkshakes" meet-n-greet, and seems to be planning to make these socials a regular event. I didn't wait in the very long line to talk to her, but it was a nice gathering with a large number of people, a fun band, and very good food. I'm still in awe that we managed to get such an outstanding person - background-wise she's probably the best president the university has ever had, with a bachelor's degree in English followed by a Ph.D. in physics (and all kinds of interesting stuff in between and after). Between needing one hand for the hot cider and another for the oatmeal cookies I didn't get any knitting done, but I still took the sock out to show it around a bit.


From there we headed one building over for the English Department's "Books and Coffee" lecture - more yummy cookies, courtesy of Purdue - and a lot of knitting time this time! It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the sock has a heel now.

This week's book was The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, presented by Bich Minh Nguyen. Not only was her talk enjoyable, but she took my "hold the sock, please" request with good humor. I haven't read the book yet, but I have a copy on order from Amazon, and it appears to be very popular.


The talk turned out to be especially good for me - every week they raffle off some goodies, and for the first time ever, I won! So now I have a gift card from Barnes & Noble - maybe I'll use it for next week's book.

And then the sock and I headed home...to find a package waiting for me. Aaron sent these beautiful roses, which started open and fill the room with fragrance just as soon as I got them into water. So I may be spending Valentine's Day with a sock and some dogs for company, but I'm not alone in spirit!