My father passed away late at night on March 19th, 2012, due to complications from his quadriplegia. It’s still pretty surreal, writing this post, as I figured he had much more time after his accident two years ago than he had.

. . . . .

I remember the last six months before his accident, the first six months I spent back in New England after moving from Indiana, as some of the best months with him I can remember. I drove out to western MA for cookouts with the family, went whitewater rafting for the first time and spent so much time laughing, and spent New Year’s Eve with my family going to the movies and eating finger foods as the ball dropped.

My dad was positive, worked hard, and loved his job. He instilled in me a passion to find a job I love and to enjoy my life every day. He never minded taking phone calls on vacation, or helping people when he was off work. He made friends wherever he went, and he helped me get my first full time job as a web developer by striking up a conversation on the golf course with my eventual boss.

He loved golf more than he loved his job. He spent all his free time either at the course or perfecting his swing at home. He subscribed to multiple golfing magazines and watched golf on television as much as he could. He constantly bought and sold his clubs on Ebay, wanting to try the next big thing.

My father lived a life full of passion and hard work. He moved up in his career from a bagger at a grocery store to a district director in the same chain. (He was actually MY district director for a little bit of time when I worked at the grocery store in high school and college!) He understood the value of hard work, determination, and being personable. I always felt proud to tell him about my jobs and the people I met there.

Dad loved the Cape. He’d take us boogie boarding on the Atlantic side of the island and we’d take walks to the bridge with our dog, Chewy. He loved going to the flea market and seeing movies at the drive-in. He loved the time he spent with us.

. . . . .

He would have liked his funeral. My brother stood up and said a few words and shared a few stories about my father in a ceremony remembering and celebrating his life. We played a few songs by some of his favorite artists; a song by Chicago, “I’ll Remember” by Madonna, “Shower the People” by James Taylor, and, the ultimate tearjerker, “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin. (That song makes me cry when I’m NOT at a funeral.) So many people came to the ceremony and so many tears were shed. My family and I were touched by all the people choosing to celebrate his life with us.

I’ll miss my father. I still can’t believe he’s gone.

Can you believe it’s been a year since I last wrote about standing in line for crazy hours for a beer? No? Well, I can’t either.

Yesterday, Ted and I joined the ranks of many, many other beer geeks throughout the greater New England area and stood in line to get a taste of Kate the Great, the Portsmouth Brewery‘s famed Russian Imperial Stout. I stood in line last year, as seen from the link above, but this was Ted’s first year experiencing the fun, crazy madness that is Kate day.

We woke up bright and early and arrived in line by 8:45am. I knew already we were in for a long wait; I was MUCH farther up in line last year and arrived 45 minutes later! I figured we wouldn’t be in the first group of 250 or so that’d be let in at 11. So close, yet so far away…

You can probably tell from the picture that it wasn’t exactly warm standing out there for a few hours. No, it was downright FREEZING. I had brought knitting in hopes I’d be able to get some of a dishcloth done, but no. I kept my hands in mittens the entire time and my toes kept on going numb. That’s what happens when you stand outside in 25 degree weather…

As predicted, we did NOT make the initial cutoff of people being let in at 11. However, we did not anticipate having to stand outside for another TWO hours being so tantalizingly close to the Brewery entrance! I started feeling pretty miserable at this point.

Our awesome friend and beer blogger Brian of the Seacoast Beverage Lab posted a live blog and streamed a live webcam of the line waiting to get inside the Brewery. As we inched closer to the front, we appeared on the website! We may or may not have posed for the webcam for a few minutes while we took screenshots on our phone. (I’m right behind the guy in the bright blue jacket, by the way. Pink hat, white coat. So close!)

FINALLY, a few minutes after looking at the webcam, we got in! We were seated upstairs at the topmost floor of the Brewery, allowing us a full view of the chaos below. We loved it.

We only had to wait for a few minutes before our waitress brought us our sweet, sweet glasses of Kate. The Brewery ordered special snifters for the day, which were smaller than last year’s glasses. With a beer as strong as Kate, though, I didn’t mind the smaller pours (8oz) this year.

I’m also thoroughly entertained by the Kate logo on the glasses. Yes.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Kate, even with a red face, messy hair, and all over coldness.

My first impression of the 2012 Kate batch? Good, but I loved the sweetness and chocolate flavors of the 2011 batch. This batch seemed a touch more bitter, which may be attributed to the fact that the beer’s pretty fresh. We’ll let our bottles age a bit, and we’ll taste the difference when we open one up next.

Was it worth standing outside THAT long for it? Yes, but 4 hours is definitely my stand-outside-in-cold-weather limit. I fear it will be even crazier next year, so hopefully the weather will be warmer. That’s the hope, at least.

And now, we wait for Kate Day 2013…

I should write about how I finished my first Snapdragon flip top mitt, right?

Right. I’m only just a week late in posting it.

But! I knit, and knit, and knit, and weaved in WAY TOO MANY loose ends, and here it is. Done.

Done!

To say I love how these look is grossly underestimating how I feel about these mitts so far. I loved my first pair, but I LOVE this pair so much more. They fit better, the stitches stand out more with the color I used this time… I could go on and on. I just can’t wait to be done with the second so I can proudly wear my awesome pink mitts outside in the… uhh, warmish weather we’re having up in New England.

Anyway.

What’s a knitting post without a cute picture of a cat? Oh boy, I’m falling into the stereotype of being a knitter who posts pictures of her cats on her blog. I won’t do it often, I promise.

This guy was very interested in my camera strap while taking pictures of my mitts. Of course, I had to take a picture of HIM, too. He didn’t seem too pleased with that.

Until I finish the next mitt…