Last Tuesday, at SSK (Silver Spring Knitters, our local group), I coerced Heidi into modeling my newly completed hat.

The cap is a summer version of a hat I wore all winter long. (I’m obsessing a little bit about hats right now, lots of deadlines for sweaters, vests, socks and minutely crocheted shawls, and all I want to do is make hats.)

After we had settled back in…

We had some unexpected (to me, at least!) visitors:

You may recognize James, I’m holding Jay, and in the bottom right corner is the back of Selma’s head. (Note they all have dressed for the event–James in a nice jacket, Selma in a skirt and crocheted shawl, and Jay in his Spiderman Jammies–everyone picked out their own outfits, I hear.) They had come to surprise me and James had worked quietly with the Martha, our group’s fearless leader to arrange their visit. James said something like this, when he arrived:

“In the military, when someone has a big achievement, we like to make a fuss, have a ceremony and give them a plaque to commemorate the event. Amy’s first book was just released in March, and to celebrate Jay and Selma and I had this put together.”

Then, they unveiled the coolest surprise ever:

James wrote to my publisher to ask them for a cover of the book, and they sent him one! Then he took it to our local frame shop and worked with the framer to come up with the perfect frame. I love it. And I was so touched that James took all that time and effort to say publicly that he was proud of me. What a sweetie.