Scuttlebutt Fuzz

Carmagedon 2011

2011-01-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

Queue the theme song to Gilligan's Island.

Seriously.

I set out thinking my commute home would be over 2 hours, 2.5 hours at the most. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be stuck with thousands of other DC Metro residents in the worst rush hour ever. I've heard it called "Commute from Hell" and "Carmagedon", whatever you call it...it truly sucked.

My commute time took me 9 hours and I was home a little after 3 a.m.. While pretty horrible, I gotta say it wasn't as bad as others. My neighbor who left Tyson's corner at 3:30 made it home at 2 a.m....almost about 10.5 hours. There were people who got stuck on GW Parkway for 14 hours. My mom told me she couldn't imagine how terrible it was and she said she felt bad that I was all by myself. I told her I was thankful I was all by myself. While my situation was bad, I can't imagine being in the shoes of a parent trying to pick up a child at day care...or a parent who was able to get the kids only to get stuck in the traffic with no food, water or bathrooms.

Five hours into Carmagedon

Lets just say, I had a lot of time on my hands to think about things. The big questions this morning in the DC area was "How could this have been avoided?" Did OPM screw up allowing the federal government to close 2 hours early...essentially releasing the hounds all at the same time? Could public safety done a better job? Could radio and news outlets have done a better job?

Six hours into Carmagedon

This storm had been forecast since last week. For at least 3 days we'd been hearing about it. My first question, they kept saying it would hit during evening rush hour. There is kind of a big window there....is that 3 p.m.? 5 p.m? 7 p.m.? I would have liked to have had a better idea of when they thought we'd get hit with the storm. While it was chilly and rainy all day, it really didn't seem like it was going to be that bad at noon, or even at 2:30 p.m. But an hour later, the snow was coming down. If it looked like it was going to hit us hard early into the commute, maybe an earlier release was in order.

6+ Hours of Carmagedon

What I'd have liked to have known was just how bad the roads really were at 6 p.m. when I finally left the building.

O.k. let me back up a bit. Why did I wait until 6 p.m. First, I'll be honest, it was Yankee bravado "This isn't going to be that bad...everyone here in DC are wimps" Second, cars were backed up in the parking lot for an hour. My co-workers watched one car for 45 minutes before it was out of the lot and then stuck in traffic on the road. My reasoning...if I leave at 6, most people will be home and the roads won't be so bad. That reasoning has worked for me in the past.

7 hours into Carmagedon

Even when told that visibility was a quarter of a mile and the snow was falling at a rate of an inch or two and hour...I thought, well, they've known about this and have been pre-treating the roads and they have plows out...the roads should be drivable. This is when my Yankee-ness should have kicked in and said, "This is DC, Virginia and Maryland, not Buffalo or Northern Ohio."

I think the weather service should have sent out a "shelter in place" command for everyone who hadn't gotten on the roads yet....kind of like they do when a tornado has been sited and is heading your way.

The next thing I found lacking for this rush hour...traffic reporters weren't telling us what was going on. I was stuck for 2 hours on the toll road, listening to the radio and there was no mention of the two buses and three trucks and numerous cars that wiped out two exits ahead of me. That would have been valuable information.

In the case of the toll road, there is the airport access road that is accessible from the toll road. There should have been an announcement for people to bail onto the access road. Police should have prevented people from entering onto blocked roads and directed them to alternate routes.

Preparation, or lack there of for DC Metro area drivers. We had warning, days of warning. I made sure to fill my gas tank on Tuesday night and fill my windshield wiper fluid. They were telling us it was going to be bad for our evening commute, so why risk running out of gas?

Common sense, or lack there of for DC Metro area drivers. Don't abandon your car in a travel lane. Come on people! If you find you are running out of gas, why not get over to the shoulder as quickly as you can BEFORE running out...or at least be in the right lane so you could chug onto the shoulder on gas vapors. And all of you cool, wealthy people with those snazzy, rear wheel drive, low to the ground sports cars...why drive those to work when they are calling for 5 inches of snow during evening rush. Or, why didn't you leave before it started snowing? Those cars can't hand a dusting of snow, let alone 5 inches. I saw so many sports cars parked on the shoulders of the roads or in ditches off exit ramps when going home.

Courtesy, or lack there of from DC Metro area drivers. So....the light is about to turn red as indicated by the Yellow light that always precedes it and there is no room for you to make it across the intersection....don't go through and block the intersection for the people on the cross road. Oh...and when everyone has to go right or left to get around one of the abandoned cars in the center travel lane, do the zipper thing, don't be a jerk and not let people in...they are going back into the center lane as soon as they get around the abandoned car. I'll confess, I flipped a beyotch off who wouldn't let me "zip" in.

My take away. Even though I live in the DC metro area, from now on, I am going to prepare a winter emergency kit. If they ever forecast five inches of snow during evening rush, I'm packing a blanket and pillow and plan on staying at work.

Things I'm extremely grateful for are: my Subaru Forester, it handled so well in the weather conditions from 4 inches of snow, to ice; my Eton emergency radio - - so nice when the power was out; my smart phone and the ability to post updates to FB last night; my friends who stuck with me on FB until I got home; and my wood burning fireplace.

Things That Make Me Mad

2011-01-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I attended a little get together of divorced women. I have confirmed a couple things about myself.

1) I get really upset listening to other's stories.
2) It makes me angry when women make a bunch of excuses as to why they are overweight and blame their weight for the demise of their marriage.

One woman commented that her husband left her after she had gained weight. She turned to emotional eating while going through the divorce and gained even more weight. She said it really upset her that men weren't interested in her. Oh, they would talk to her at church, but as far as dating, they just weren't attracted to her. She said she decided she was not going to lose any of the weight she had gained until she met "the one" because she knew he would like her for "her".

My opinion on that....Bullshit. I know strong words. I wanted to say that. What kind of crap are you talking about? You're hiding, hiding behind the weight. You want a reason for men to not like you...its not my personality...its my weight. The sucky truth of it is, if a man had a room full of women to choose from, he'd pick the woman that he found most attractive. She might not be the skinniest woman in the room, she might not even be the prettiest or the woman with the best personality...he's going to pick the woman he finds attractive. Period.

Why make an effort to make yourself unattractive? Why?

I say that as someone who has gained 40 pounds over the past five or so years. Yes, 40 pounds. I'm not happy about it and my mom so kindly pointed out that the reasons I may not be getting any dates is because "you're not as young, thin and pretty as you used to be".

Bottom line, when I was young, thin and pretty, I really didn't get very many dates either. I got more than I do now, but that has something to do with the fact there are fewer single men at my age...and even fewer quality men.

Another woman complained that she had also gained weight due to an accident, being too busy with work and a PhD program and an illness. She was upset that men seemed to think she was invisible. I started to get angry and spoke up. Hey, I've gained 40 pounds the past 5 years. I used to be very athletic. I looked fabulous...but yes, my issue was I just got busy with work and didn't fit in fitness when I should have. But I realized, I'm killing myself. Seriously, I was. I decided the weight gain had to stop.

Not because men weren't paying attention to me. Who really cares?

There are so many things that I want to do in life. My life is active. I love being outdoors and traveling. There is a lot of walking involved with that. I can't enjoy that if I have to sit down every 20 feet or am huffing and puffing. I want to be in shape for me. I want to be the best I can be at my current age and be good to the gift of this body that God created for me. Now is a perfect time to start something and it shouldn't be about looking hot for a guy or losing weight. It should be about becoming healthier.

Of course both women had excuses. "I don't have time with work and school". Why not. Do you have 5 minutes...do one exercise a day for 5 minutes. "The guy I'm dating says I don't have to lose weight, he likes me the way I am and says I should only do it for myself." Well why not? You are slowly killing yourselves (yes, I said that). Clogging arteries, increasing your chance of diabetes, increasing your chances of a weight related injury....come on! Aren't you worth a healthy body and lifestyle? Don't you value yourself?

I'll be honest, I might not have valued myself as much as I should have. I put work and other activities before myself. I'm claiming my value again. No more excuses. None.

These women made me so mad that they don't value their lives enough to get healthy or make an effort to get healthy. How can they expect a man to value them? How? I feel motivated to whip myself into the best shape I can get in so I can ...I don't know...be the best me I can be. Why don't people want to be the best they can be? And its not about weight, people.

FYI. I am working through the 100 push-up challenge from hundredpushups.com. I've also got a good full body circuit going. I'm improving on my strength weekly and I'm on target to do pull-ups of my own body weight sometime this summer. And after 6 months and a set-back of actually gaining 10 pounds at my December weigh-in, I lost 4 pounds my last weigh-in, January 17th. My next weigh-in is Feb 14th.

Holy Smokes! Its the Middle of January Already!

2011-01-17T15:33:00.000-08:00

When adults said time moves faster the older you get...they weren't kidding!

Well, its almost three weeks into 2011 and I have not posted my New Years Resolutions. I like posting these as its fun to look back and see what was actually accomplished.

So, first intention for 2011 is to blog/journal a little more. The whole reason I started blogging was to get my thoughts, frustrations, experiences...whatever down, with the intention of using it as a source to scrapbook. Uh, ya, well, I haven't scrapbooked in like, um, 5 years. My intentions are to scrapbook my Bali trip at some point this year. I need to do that too. I was just talking to a friend of mine and his wife...both from Indonesia about my Bali trip and I couldn't remember the names of the places I had visited, and it hasn't even been a year yet. UGH!

Resolutions, intentions, goals, whatever I want to call them, the things I want to focus on in 2011 are divided into four areas: Fitness/Health, Personal Growth/Relationships, Financial, and Travel.

Fitness/Health

I'll be honest with you all, I was not happy with how I looked in ANY of my Bali pictures. I was on my dream vacation but who I saw, wasn't me...or wasn't the me I wanted to see. The nails in the coffin were a hike in June at Sky Meadow State Park with two friends....I could barely make it and had to stop and take a rest half way up the darn hill. Huffing and puffing with calves burning and sweat pouring into my eyes, I realized I was REALLY, REALLY out of shape and things needed to change. At least at my annual exam in 2010, I hadn't gained any significant weight from the previous year...not the 15 pounds in 6 months like the year before that alarmed my doctor. However, after making a commitment to eat a little better and to start working out a little bit here and there...I had still gained 2 pounds. We had my thyroid checked, my blood sugar...everything and it all came back normal. I was as health as an ox, and in my opinion starting to get as big as one too. Well, after that hike, I decided things needed to change.

I had been subscribing to Oxygen Magazine, in my opinion, the best women's fitness magazine out there. I read it from cover to cover, every month, but was not applying it to my life. Yes, I was book smart. What good is book smart if you don't use the knowledge. I went through all my back issues and cut out the workouts and healthy recipes and made a plan. That plan was, I was going to go work out everyday at lunch time, for an hour. I had been avoiding that because I am a girl who sweats, a lot. If I worked out at lunch, there would be no time to shower, I'd be a stinking sweaty mess the rest of the day. Well, I decided that yes, I would be a stinking sweaty mess the rest of the day. That beats being an overweight, tired, pre-diabetic, heart attack waiting to happen. I choose lunch time because, everyday, I had that time slot open. I also knew I couldn't drag myself out of bed at 5 a.m. to make it to the gym. After work was constantly a challenge as things would constantly come up or I'd just be to tired at the end of the day. The sweat part....well, it can't be avoided, I decided to wipe down with baby wipes afterward and pull my hair back into a pony tail. So far, no one has complained about me smelling bad. I might not look the greatest with my hair in a pony and faded make-up, but I'm getting healthier. I also found I was more energized for the second half of my day. I really think the lunch work out has made me a more focused, clear minded employee who gets a lot more done.

The other big thing that happened in Bali was I kicked my Coca-Cola habit. Seriously, I'd drink about 2 - 20 oz cokes a day to wake up and to stay awake. That is like 500 or more wasted calories I have kicked out of my day.

My fitness goals in the gym were healthier than they had been in the past. I decided to not focus on weight loss, even though I'd like that as a result, that wasn't the goal in 2010. The goal was to form a new habit and get consistent, get stronger. I did see those results, except for the weight loss. I'll be honest, I was shocked in December when I weighed myself for the first time in six months and had gained 10 pounds. What the heck!

I was discouraged, yes, very much so. But that hadn't been my goal. Had I gotten consistent? Yes. Had I gotten stronger? Yes. Was I healthier? I think so. I was at least on my way and off the path of slowly killing myself.

Deciding not to sweat it during the holiday season, I used the time to continue with my work outs and make my new plan of attack. Which I'll outline in a future blog. My bench marks for 2011 are:

Remain consistent with my workouts
Be able to do one pull-up of my own body weight by this summer (June/July)
Eat Healthier
Complete the 100 push-up challenge
Complete the 200 sit-up challenge
Lose 40 pounds.

I'll come clean with you all. December 15th, when I weighed myself I was 180 pounds. Horrifying for me, a former three sport varsity athlete. I have been determined that the scale will, and I mean, WILL go in the other direction this year.

Personal Growth/Relationships

What activities are important to me and who are the important people in my life? Hands down, my personal relationship with Jesus has blossomed the past two years. That has been helped along by a wonderful bunch of women in my small group Bible study and the wonderful community in the singles ministry at Fuel. In addition to that though, I really miss the friendships at my smaller church and the solid teaching there. If only I could clone myself! Photography continues to be a passion of mine, however, I find that my work seems a bit stale. I need to do something to freshen my skills and hone my 'eye'. Intellectually, I love to learn, there is so much to learn and so many opportunities here in the DC area. One of the things holding me back both in the Personal Growth and the Fitness area is the chaos of things in my life. I need organization.

The areas of focus for 2011 will be:

Take classes to grow in theological knowledge and spiritually
Take a photography course
Make more time to do things with my friends
Attend more events and lectures at area museums
Get organized.

Maybe getting organized should be a the top of the list. Because with out that, I won't be able to keep things straight, nor will I be able to feel rested or have time to do things if I'm constantly looking at the mess on the dining room table...or looking for my keys in the mess on my dining room table.

Financial

My big goal has been to get my credit card paid off and to keep it paid off, I think every year since becoming single again 14 years ago. I get so close, even get it paid off...only to have something happen to de-rail the plan. Well, the plan may get de-railed again, who knows. But, my goal again is to get the credit card paid. In addition to that, I will be getting my finances organized in such a way that I am saving monthly for things that need to be maintained (house, car) and things I'd like to do (vacation).

Pay off the credit card
Set-up savings accounts for house maintenance, car maintenance, vacation, emergencies.

Travel

I love to travel. Bali was such an amazing trip and there is SOOOOOO much of the world I want to see. While I may not be able to afford an overseas trip every year, I am committed to taking trips, even short day or weekend jaunts in the local area.

Make vacation reservations for this year
Make a 5-year vacation plan
Set aside a weekend each month to explore locally.

So that is the plan. You and I both will have to keep checking back to see how it progresses.

2010 in Review

2010-12-31T17:54:00.001-08:00

Well, I considered naming this entry 2010: The Good, The Bad and The ugly....but I don't have many bad things or ugly things to recall. Sure 2010 had its moments....like Ranger getting all matted with his own poop that he had to be shaved...right before snowmagedon. I mean Ranger was pretty ugly and he smelled bad...but he was really cute in that lion cut.

I looked back on my January 1, 2010 entry...the resolution blog to see if I had accomplished anything I had set out to accomplish in 2010. Surprisingly, I really did.

In 2010, my big focus areas were: Relationships, Personal Growth, Financial and Travel:

Relationships: I really wanted to get myself more inline with God's will for me. So often we are swimming against the current because the darn current is taking us where we didn't want to go. Its exhausting...and when we finally let go and float, not drown, but lay our heads back, rest and float...the current takes us for an interesting ride. We start to see that the places the current is taking us aren't too bad. This was the year I finally embraced my singleness. Not sure how God is using it but I'm feeling very blessed in the freedom it provides me. Oh, and peace...I am feeling more at peace. Maybe I'm seeing how God is working everything out and I'm learning to trust Him more. I'm liking the ride and look forward to how I'm going to be shaped and what things I'm going to learn in 2011.

Getting to know the women in my small group better...while I haven't felt closer to a group of women, than I do with the women in my small group, I think this is still an area I can work on in 2011.

Getting to know my co-workers better...also another area I need to work on. I'll be honest, I don't walk around and socialize much...I sit down and work. I'd like to get to know folks better as they are all pretty cool.

Personal Growth: The big goal was to get into better shape and be healthier, maybe lose a few pounds. I haven't lost any weight, yet. However, I have been working out regularly since June and have seen strength improvements. While I have seen results, not as impactful as I had hoped so for 2011, I'll be changing some things up to improve on what I've done in 2010.

I wanted to take dance classes, photography classes and maybe an improv class. I took dance classes and really learned I like rumba and cha-cha. While I have taken the past six months off, I have signed up for rumba and cha-cha classes in January and I hope to stick with them for the next year. Dancing with the Stars...here I come! Didn't take the photog or the improv class...but hey I have 365 days in 2011.

Financial goal: Pay off the darn Credit Card. Oh I was so close! But Snowmagedon took its toll on my 10 year old Honda and the transmission started to go at the end of February. Half the money I was going to use to pay off the credit card went as a down payment on a new car. I'm really happy with my new car, a Subaru Forester. So nice to not be dropping $1000 every other month to get something fixed. So the Credit Card was not paid off...but, if all goes as planned, which it most likely won't because nothing ever goes as planned, it should be paid off this March.

Travel Goal: Do more travel, internationally and locally. So one word here: Bali.

Yes, I went to Bali at the beginning of the summer. I also checked out a few more places locally, not as many as I would have liked. There are plans for 2011 so stay tuned!

Baltimore Adventure #3: Fort McHenry

2010-11-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Above, Fort McHenry around 9 a.m. in the morning.

This is a statue of Orpheus and it was erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. A little boy walking to the visitor's center with his family caught sight of Orpheus and started to scream "Its a naked man!Completely naked!" And he burst out laughing.

Orpheus isn't exactly naked. He does have a leaf covering his private parts...barely. Interestingly, according to park lit, many people think this is a statue of Francis Scott Keys, the author of our National Anthem. Ha! Would Keys have objected?

Below, detail of the stone foundation of the statue, its face, foot and lyre.

Baltimore Adventure #2: The American Visionary Art Museum

2010-10-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

From the top of Federal Hill, you can see a lot. The American Visionary Art Museum was right next to the hill. Like when I say next to it...it was at the foot of the hill. I could have rolled down the hill and onto the museum's grounds.

What caught my eye was the amazing mozaic, glittering in the sun.

I am attracted to sparkly things and bright colors...I had to get a closer look. Was this a restaurant or a museum or both?

Well, as it turned out, it is an art museum with a cafe on the top level. One of these days I will have to make a return visit and check out the cool things inside and eat up at the cafe.

I didn't have a lot of time so decided to check out what was outside. Admission to the museum is $15.95 for adults, a very reasonable price. However, I'd want to get my full $15.95 out of my visit and really get a chance to linger at their exhibits....if they are as cool as what is outside, I think I could spend several hours there. They are open Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

So here is what I did see:

Is this not a fantasy garden? That "play house/tree house" is so cool. If I were a kid, I'd embarass my parents and immediately take up house and start playing pretend. I just imagine tree nymphs and faeries all over this garden.

The detail of the house is just amazing a true work of functional art.

Some of the magical critters, a pink donkey, I think. Much of what I saw outside was fresh and childlike. I mean childlike in the best of ways. The things I saw were right out of a young imagination that hadn't been stuffied up by what grown-ups consider art or beauty or a technique or the fact that in reality donkeys aren't pink (well why not?)

Now I just loved, loved, loved this sculpture! A bird and her nest. Talk about an industrial size bird...and a musical one at that.

Here is her beautiful egg. I love these glass mosaics. It reminds me of a place near my home. Maybe some of my homies may remember the house on Hayes Avenue up by Speigal Grove where they had these towers of cement with pieces of beautiful glassware, plates and mirrors pressed into them. I'm sure many adults may have thought the elderly couple's "glass and cement garden" an eye sore but I thought it was the lovliest thing. I always wanted my mom to stop to let us look through the chainlink fence at the sparkling, colorful rocks. The elderly man's works were no comparison to this egg or the mosaics around the museum buildings.

So back to the mosaic that caught my eye...oh, the balcony above is the restaurant.

Now is that a school bus or is that a school bus?! Below, close-up of the outer wall mosaic.

Biker chick is right over the entrance, you can't miss her.

This glittery mirror tree is right in front of the main building. I can't imagine how cool this must look if it gets hit directly with sunlight. It certainly sounded pretty, tinkling in the soft breeze that afternoon.

This is a close-up of some of the glass and mirror leaves on the tree.

Now, if something can be judged by its 'cover', I have to think the stuff on the inside is pretty cool. The welcome mat for the museum was made out of brightly colored tooth brushes, so who knows what other fun, imaginative, out-of-the-box stuff is inside. If you are in Baltimore, visit the American Visionary Art Museum...if you go, take me with you.

Balitmore Adventure: Freedom Hill

2010-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Can I just tell you I hate driving in a city. It was almost a disaster for me as I almost got in a car accident trying to find my hotel. I was in the wrong lane so at the last minute I attempted to change lanes (often done in city, right). Since it was the weekend, there wasn't a lot of traffic so people were driving much faster than the speed limit. Before I committed to my lane change, I checked my rearview mirror to see a VW coming up at high speed. I stopped where I was. Lots of room for her to get by on my right but she still layed on the horn and screached to an almost stop and shot me a snotty look. So that's how it started.

After locating my hotel, but it being too early to check-in, I headed to the Inner Harbor. I went to check out Federal Hill which is on the other side of the Harbor, a view I've not really seen before.

What is Federal Hill?

Federal Hill was discovered by Captain John Smith in 1608 on his first exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. It earned its name in 1788, when thousands of Baltimoreans marched from Fells Point to the hill in celebration of the Maryland General Assembly's ratification of the Constitution. (Residents of the neighborhood reenacted the parade 200 years later.) Subsequently it was the scene of other civic celebrations. Shortly after Independence, an observatory was erected on the hill so merchants could get advance warning of the arrival of their vessels. The hill gained notoriety during the Civil War. Federal troops occupied the hill and trained their cannon on the city, whose loyalty to the North was in some doubt.

The city government acquired the hill in 1875 and made it a park. The marine observatory was discontinued in 1899. For much of the 19th century the Federal Hill shore shared with Fells Point the city's thriving shipping trade and related industries. Federal Hill itself was mined for sand for a nearby glassworks, leaving behind some caverns which exist to this day and are a favorite subject of legends.

Modern Federal Hill was born around 1960, when a few hardy pioneers bought and began renovating homes in what had become a dowdy neighborhood. But the existence of the neighborhood was threatened in the mid-60's by a plan to plow through it with an interstate highway, part of a complex of connecting freeways that would have demolished the Inner Harbor and Fells Point. The residents rebelled, joined hands across the harbor, and eventually defeated the plan. The rebuilding of the Inner Harbor area in the late 70s and early 80s greatly increased interest in Federal Hill as an enclave of intimate residential streets within minutes of the city's business and entertainment heart.

Below are some views of the Inner Harbor from the hill.

Holy Muscle Failure, Batman!

2010-10-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Just when my muscles were getting used to the killer tri/chest/abs workout my co-worker created two months ago, we switched it up with one I put together. What was I thinking?!?

Well, I was thinking muscle failure actually. The creation of this three part circuit was intended to cause failure for a particular muscle area. I was not expecting it to feel like this. My arms were jiggly at the end of the first set and the skull crushers almost became true to their name.

Here is the workout. It is a circuit, so each exercise should be done right after the other with minimal rest. Rest for a couple minutes at the end of the set. We have been able to make it through the circuit two times in 40 minutes. If you have more time, you could do this 3 times. However, I can tell you that your arms will want to fall off after the second set.

Standard push-ups (as many as you can do)
Supinating dumbbell chest flye (10-15)
Skull crusher back and cross alternating (total of 30 or 15 of each)
Bench press (10-15)

Knee tucks (as many as you can do)
Military push-ups (as many as you can do)
Triceps push-downs (10-15)

Plank (1min)
Wide push-ups
Side Plank (30- 60 sec on each side)
jumping jacks (30)
Repeat.

After doing our other killer workout for two months, I was not expecting this to be that hard. Just doing the push-ups in a different order from our other workout made a BIG difference. I'm a little afraid of my Bi/Back/Abs workout...I hope that one doesn't make me want to throw-up.

Skyline Drive Mid October 2010

2010-10-16T18:57:00.001-07:00

Where the heck are the fall colors?

Yes, I do know this is a pine tree and it should remail green all year long. Look at the surrounding mountains and hills, green.

Only when you get to the higher elevations are the rusts showing. They don't think we'll have a very bright fall this year because of the drought at the end of the summer.

This milkweed pod is my favorite photo of the day. There was a whole field of milkweed all bursting with their fluffy seeds. The field was backlit by the sun so the white fluff sparkled like monster size, silky, snowflakes. I wonder how this got the name milkweed and not snowweed?

Here are some red leaves backlit by the setting sun, maybe a sampling of what is yet to come?

A lonely bench. This was at one of the first visitor's centers at the northern most part of Skyline Drive. The bench is facing a clearing in the mountain that overlooks the Shenandoah valley, its the perfect place to sit to watch the sun set. Maybe I'll make a return trip later in the month and I'll see not only a red tree but a beautiful sunset.

Some of my favorite photos from the Frontline retreat

2010-09-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

Jesus is my Lifeguard.

It was a beautiful morning, crisp and cool but not chilly. Lots of people, mostly women, out and about doing their quiet time. I really liked the photo below.

For the sports pictures, I was pretty excited about this "catch". I think I took over 200 photographs.

I liked this one because the intensity on the face of the guy rusing the quarterback was pretty intense. To see the rest of the photos in this set, follow this link to the album Frontline Retreat 2010.

Matthew 13:22

2010-09-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

"...all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life."'

Wow!

This verse is from the parable of the man sowing seeds and refers to the seed thrown into the thorns. How fitting for this to be the key verse in my morning devotional, this morning, the day after the church retreat.

Am I going to let me to-do list crowd out what I learned, what I still need to reflect on and unpack? Oh, but only if there were not cares in this world.

What were my take-a-ways from the weekend?

Be a servant like the Lord (I GET to serve because I am a Christian)
Love others but most importantly, love those in the church
I was put here, now, for a reason
God has put me in difficult situations so I could work through things.
Holy discontent should lead us to action, it may be what God intends for us to change about our church.
Am I serving where I can make the biggest impact for Christ?

Am I going to find myself lost in the weeds?

I will admit, I am already struggling with the first bullet point...being a Christ-like servant.

What things has God wanted me to work through? Entitlement, envy, jealousy, worldly expectations, dealing with mean people, boundaries, trust, understanding men better, realizing my worth, finances, life balance...this list could go on and on.

Reflecting, since hind sight is always 20/20, I can see how God was working on me. I have struggled, stumbled, wrestled with many of these things, Maybe some of them I've worked out maybe others (most of them) I'm still working through.

God put me here, at this time and place for a reason and he put the people in my life for a reason. I think I struggle with this statement the most because I often feel like I should have been born at a different time. Sometimes I have even doubted if I should have been born at all. The Purpose Driven Life helped me to realize that God doesn't make mistakes.

Where is my Holy discontent. I'm not sure. Right now, I'm feeling pretty content. I don't like hypocracy, for instance, people in the church acting all righteous about things. We are all sinners. All sin has the same concequence with God...death. One thing I was convicted of was my friendliness toward new people. I want to feel welcome in my church, but do I make people feel welcome? I really think I need to engage more with people outside of small group or Sunday.

Am I serving where God wants me to serve? I think there are a couple things I need to pull back from and I have made the decision to do so. I really feel called to do a mission trip but I can't do that with my commitments to work, fitness, the museum, being a small group leader, church and animal rescue stuff. Like the weeds...all of these activities have "pretty flowers" but they can become over grown and take over.

Fallen Off the Face of the Earth?

2010-09-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

No. I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

It feels that way sometimes.

I can not believe that today is September 1st already! Where has the time gone. I commented on my Facebook that it seemed like the older you get the faster time flies but the slower your metabolism gets. Hardly seems fair.

I also can't believe I have not blogged since June. Much to catch up on before my memory goes the way of my metabolism.

It has been a busy summer and I will admit that my once vibrant and regular blogging has turned into quick two second status updates on FB and that is about it.

Stay tuned...if all goes well, I'll blog tonight.

Bali Day 7: Bali Beach Club Dinner, New Friends, and Over the Rainbow

2010-06-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

For our final night in Bali, we headed down to the Bali Beach Club (BBC). Above is a photo of one of the hosteses. Hundreds of tables line the beach. Not all of these tables belonged to BBC, every restaurant on the beach had tables in the sand. Amazingly, there weren't any bugs. At least I don't remember bugs. There were jumping fish and that was quite interesting to watch later in the evening.

Strolling the beach was a band of musicians. Our tour leader told us that most of the singers probably learned the songs by listening to them on the radio. The first song they came over to sing for us was Johnny Be Good. Its interesting to hear that song in a Balinese accent. Very fun.

Here, they perform Hotel California for us.

This was my dinner. I had to consult this picture on my camera as I ate because it was so dark, I had a hard time seeing what was on the plate. I accidently ate too far up on the fish and got a nice mouth full of ribs....so glad I didn't get the gills and eyeballs. We also didn't get any utensils to crack the crab legs...so we were all improvising and adapting by crushing the legs with spoons. That could occassionaly send pieces of crab meat shooting across the table or into one's own lap. The squid patay was very good.

Below, a self portrait of myself. Behind me is a stage at a neighboring restaurant where child dancers were performing traditional Balinese dances.

J from Hong Kong and D from Florida purchase freshwater pearls from a vendor strolling the beach. To authenicate that the pearls were real, he held them in a flame so they could see that they didn't melt. I didn't have enough Balinese money left at this point or I may have purchased a necklace...I love pearls.

Now for last photos with my new friends. In keeping with my blog policy of not publishing names, unless people are public figures or business operators, I'll mostly be providing first initials.

Below, I am with our tour leader Halle from Spirit Quest Tours. She did a great job and was very helpful. I loved listening to her stories and she taught me a technique to help me when I have problems sleeping. I would go on another tour operated by Spirit Quest in the future and recommend them to my blog readers and to my friends.

This was the first vacation that I have taken with a tour group. They have probably spoiled me and I'll expect any future tour groups I go on vacation with to be much like them. Halle and her partner Greg were fabulous in how they interacted with us...like they had known us all for years and were just bringing a group of their friends along on a vacation. I can't say enough good things about my experience.

Oh, and apparently, I was looking a lot like the real Elizabeth Gilbert (except I probably weigh 30 pounds more than she does)...kind of weird that I would be 'channeling' the author of the book our tour was based upon. Halle and Greg told me that a couple times (they've met Gilbert in person) and I didn't know what to say to that...Gilbert's obvioulsy a pretty lady (hahaha!), no I didn't say that. I'd actually never seen any pictures of Gilbert, until I came home and googled her...and yes, I look like a meatier version of her.

Below is my awesome roommate J from New Zealand. Such a nice lady and she put up with me locking her out of the room the first night. Whooops! I really enjoyed chatting with her and hearing about her life in New Zealand, her sons and grandchildren. She is an avid photographer (did Spirit Quest do a good job matching us up or what?) and I loved seeing some of her picutres she had taken. (I fell asleep while watching her edit photos one night so I have been enjoying looking at them in detail on her facebook).

Below is my new friend A from Australia. She decided to come on the trip at the last minute. I also enjoyed listening to her stories. She's a midwife and she quit her job to go on this vacation because the hospital she worked for wouldn't let her have the time off. What a gutsy lady!

Below is K from the US. She is a mystical healer and counselor who helps people who are making big transformations in their lives find themselves and their calling. I really enjoyed chatting with her on our car ride back from the Elephant Park. She told me about her life raising her family, at one time living in a tent when they were part of a co-op and were waiting to build their house. She was so excited on our visit to the Artist Colony because she found a beautiful painting of a Hindu goddess she just loved....I can't wait until she shares photos on facebook of the painting in her office!

Next, this is my fellow Washingtonian and talk about a small world, she used to also attend the same church I currently attend. She is a massage therapist and has her own spa in the Washington DC area. She was such a great person to chat with. One thing she learned a few years ago during a career/personal coaching seminar, was how to find your strong suits...the characteristics about you that you eminate. She was telling me that knowing our strong suits can help us find the types of careers we should be in or understand how we ended up in our careers as well as understand how people relate to us. On the flight back to DC, she interviewed me and helped me make a list of some of my strong suits and boy was that enlightening. I hope to stay in touch with her as she is in the DC area and she was such a nice person.

This is G, also from the US. She once worked in Marketing and sold her firm a few years ago and now raises horses.

Below is L from Australia and D from the US. L has a daughter the same age as I who has had similar bad luck experiences with men and relationships. D was one of the first people on the tour that I met. She and I have a lot of shared experiences on this trip ...from the long line to go through immigration in Bali, the elephant ride, and the temple visits.

This is J from Hong Kong. I didn't get much of chance to hang out with J on the tour. She and D really hit it off. D, J, M and I spent time hanging out in the Denpensar airport with J helping us by-pass the really long line to check-in. Once at the Hong Kong airport, she gave us some tips for spending our time before our next flight.

This is another J from the US. I also enjoyed learing about her life experiences. She was one of the ladies on the Elephant Park trip as well as to Tanah Lot temple.

So many strong, independent, beautiful women on this trip, exactly what/who I needed to experience in my life. Everyone of them is a person I'd love to get to know better. Before I went on this trip my friends and I prayed knowing that God had selected each person for this trip and that all of us would have a wonderful time being touched by each other. While I know not everyone on this trip were Christian, I know that we are all God's children and my faith has been strengthened so much by this experience. Seeing how much He loves us that he put the right mix of people together so that we could enjoy His beautiful creation was just incredible.

The final morning before we boarded the bus to head to the airport, the sun illuminated the Hindu temple on the hillside across the valley from our resort.

About half an hour later, I heard gasps. When I looked up, I saw this huge rainbow ending over the temple. What a great ending memory of this trip.

One of my take-a-ways from this trip was wanting to celebrate more. Celebrate all that God has given me. Almost everyday we were passing through a village and the entire village was out in a parade celebrating and giving offerings to their gods. One thing that really stood out to D and I at Tanah Lot was all of the families that were coming together to worship...how different the US would be if our families and towns came together to worship and celebrate what God has given us. The Balinese have so little in material things compared to us in the US, yet they celebrate and give offerings with open hearts of what they have. We in the US complain way too much and ruin what we do have. At Tanah Lot temple, I actually was overwhelmed with a feeling of saddness. God just put it on my heart that I needed to celebrate and praise Him for what I've been given...and it has been a lot.

Celebration...that is my theme for the rest of the year...and hopefully, celebration becomes a habit and I learn to celebrate all of my life's blessings everyday.

Bali Day 7: Lunch at Gulingan Village

2010-06-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

Our day started at lunch time on my final full day in Bali. We went to Gulingan Village for a pig roast.

Really, it was a Babi Guling roast. Babi Guling is Balinese for suckling pig and is a famous delicacy. It also sounds a lot like it should be the name of a Vegas Lounge singer.

Again, to get to lunch, we had to walk through the village. Below is the equivalent to the corner store in small town America...or the 7-Eleven in bigger cities.

When we arrived at the location of the lunch, we were directed to walk across a bridge over a pond. It was breath taking!

Once across the bridge, we found ourselves in a beautiful garden, our places already set at a beautiful table. The hats on our glasses were also practicle in that they kept the bugs out of our drinks, clever, clever!

Again, we were pretty much eating at someone's house. Most rural Balinese are farmers. The house was surrounded by beautiful rice paddies. Of course, we all had to take a walk out in them for pictures.

There were several thoughts I had as we walked out into the rice paddy. I was thinking about Vietnam Veterans and how they described going on patrols through the paddies. I also thought about how hard a day's work this would be to plant and harvest the rice. We did see both going on in various fields as we drove to our different destinations.

The fields were hot. The sun is very intense. I got sun burnt in just 20 minutes.

Ahhh!

Back to the cool shade of the family compound.

Such beautiful gardens all around.

One of the beautiful women who served us.

This is a palm. This is the one time the weird stuff my camera was doing to the images actually looked cool.

This is the centerpiece on our table. It looks kind of like pointsettas, however I don't think that is what the pink and white leaves/petals are. Very beautiful.

My palm frond glass hat protecting my water, our first course of spicy chicken soup. By the way, all of the palm hats, centerpieces and placemats were made by hand by this family that hosted this lunch.

Meet our lunch.

That would be what is left of our Babi Guling after carving. They placed its head on a plate with its four hooves. If you would like to make authentic Babi Guling, I found a recipe for it: Recipe for Babi Guling.

This is my lunch plate. I just want to say that the chicken patay I have was the best patay I have ever had. At 5 o-clock, I have my pig portion. The brown squares on top are pieces of the crackling skin. This is consdered the delicacy of the suckling pig. It tasted like pork rinds meets bacon. It was good. The pork itself was extremely tender.

The family dog, complete with Grocho Marx eye brows.

After lunch, as we departed for the walk back to our bus, the hosteses handed us these, they are birds in a nest. Very pretty.

Bali Day 6: Visit to the Medicine Man

2010-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ketut Liyer is a key player in Elizabeth Gilberts' book Eat, Pray, Love. He is a traditional healer and has the ability to read palms. Again, I didn't have a reading done but did follow with the group and got to soak in the beautiful Liyer family compound.

One of the things I really liked about this tour was we got to go outside of the normal 'tourist box'. Our tour bus couldn't fit down the narrow roads of Ketut's village so we disembarked on the main road and walked through the neighborhood to his house. Here are some neighborhood boys playing volleyball in the street. Who said you needed to have a net to play volley ball? At the other end of the street, another group of boys was playing soccer. I seriously considered asking one of the groups if I could play with them...I wonder what they would have thought? I should have done it.

The 'Welcome mat" into the Liyer compound.

The Balinese live in extended family compounds. They generally have several generations living together. Our Balinese guide told us that the Liyer compound could be considered upper middle class. There are multiple buildings within the compound, I assume they accomodate different families. Many of the common areas were open on at least two if not three sides.

This was a very ornate door on one of the living quarters within the compound.

This is a sitting area and I assume the drawings had been done by Mr. Liyer.

An old TV set sitting in the 'hallway'.

Within each family compound is the family temple where they family goes to make their offerings in the morning. Below, I am standing at the entrance to their family temple.

Below, deeper into the compound are additional living quaters and a kitchen building. Also in this area, Mr. Liyer housed quite a few exotic birds. He had peacocks, a hawk which you can see in the photos, an owl that may have had only one wing and a couple other things that I can't remember.

This building appears to be the family kitchen. I didn't want to venture too deeply into their compound as I felt like I was just walking around inside someone's house.

The front porch of one of the living quaters.

Bali Day 7: Trip to Tanah Lot Temple

2010-06-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

This is the temple at Tanah Lot, it resides on the cliffs of the Indonesian Ocean. The inner temple, or the holiest part of the temple can only be reached at low tide. We could not go there, we did get to walk around the very beautiful grounds of the outer temples. But before we got there...

After our babi gulang lunch, the group was given the option to either go for massages or to to the temple. About half of us really wanted to go to the temple. I liked that about this tour group, they were very flexible with us. On our way to the temple, we stopped in either Megnwi or Kediri because one of the women in the group needed to purchase a white blouse so we'd be in temple dress, the men also needed to purchase head covernings. This photo is the street outside the fabric store we ran into. We were the only westerners in the store. It reminded me of a memory from childhood, of Jo-Ann Fabrics in Fremont, Ohio...the orderly chaos of countless beautiful fabrics in a kalidascope of colors and patters on walls and floor racks. It wasn't white and brightly lit like fabric stores are now. So much of what we saw, I felt like I was transported back in time.

Tanah Lot is one of the big tourist destinations. There was a parking lot, similar to parking lots for amusement parks here in the US and once in the gate, there was a HUGE open market all the way to the temple. When we got there, I realized I didn't have my sash...so again, we had to make a dash into a stall to find a sash.

This was a neat experience. Our bus driver had tried to help one of the gals tie her sarong. When we walked into the first stall we saw that sold sarongs and sashes, the woman working started to laugh that D's sash was tied like a mans and offered to help her... Mine was also not tied correctly. These two Balinese woman whipped our sarongs off, right there in the open (luckily I was wearing shorts under mine). and then, zip, zip, zip! had us all wrapped up correctly. So I learned the absolute correct way to tie a sarong. We tipped the women for dressing us and began our walk to the temple.

Along the way, we got stopped by a Balinese family who wanted their pictures taken with American's. They walked away thanking us and said, "Go Obama!"

Yes, that is a Ralph Lauren shop on the way. As far as I could tell, it was the real deal and not a knock off store.

This is me with the entrance to the temple in the background. We drew a lot of attention because we were dressed like the Balinese, not like western tourists (you see a couple in pink shirts behind me walking up the steps). Again, Balinese stopped our group to have pictures taken with us.

We were also lucky when we arrived, there was a four day long religious holiday going on at the temple and people from all over the island were coming to worship.

Worshippers in one of the temple areas.

We headed toward the water, I think we were hoping we could go into the holiest part of the temple, the part up on the cliff that could only be reached at low tide. The video below shows all of the worshippers heading to the tidal basin where they would do their offering.

This is me standing in the tidal basin with the holiest part of the temple behind me.

The photo below shows all of the worshippers sitting in the tidal basin doing their offering.

I stood back by the cliffs/caves because I was not going to particpate in the worship. There were still many worshippers back here where I stood, because it was shaded and cool. The sun was very, very hot that day.

One young woman saying her prayers and making an offering.

The video below is the worship and offering ceremony that I filmed.

As you could see from the video. The people got up as soon as they were blessed with holy water and then they were promptly replaced by another wave of 100s of worshipers. Below is a photo of the discarded offerings.

This is a gamelan below. Gamelon is not a musical instrument, it is the ensemble. Mostly what I saw people playing were xylophones and some gong looking things and drums. The ornateness of the instruments was incredible.

Look at this...you would not want to run into that in the dark.

Next we went for a walk on the grounds. This temple has several large boa constrictor snakes about the grounds. We saw one and the handler told the group he'd feed it a duck so we could take pictures. We declined. The grounds are lovely.

Our guilde took us to an overlook where we were able to get some stunning photos of the main temple.

Below is another temple on another cliff. This one was much smaller. I was facinated by the narrow land bridge that looked like only one person could walk on it at a time.

I will leave you with a touched up version of the other temple. The light effects make it seem as if I took this at sun set.

Stand by for my final blog entry...Dinner at Bali Beach Club.

Bali Day 6: The Best Pizza in Bali and Yude Andiko

2010-06-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

So, in keeping with the theme of our trip, "Eat, Pray, Love", we headed into Ubud for pizza after the morning at the art gallery. According to our tour leader, Pizza Bagus has the best pizza in Bali. "Bagus" also means good in Balinese. It got its reputation as the best pizza joint in Bali from Australian surfers. My opinion of the pizza. It was o.k. It was California style pizza with the super thin crust. I love the big, thick, chewy crusts of Chicago style pizza (and the fact they are baked in a butter coated pan helps too). Pizza Bagus doesn't come close. However, pretty much everyone coming in to eat were westerners, so I suppose it was close enough to that comfort food.

Joining us for lunch was Kitty Yancey, the travel writer from USAToday. That is her at the other end of the table. She was interviewing our tour leaders about our trip because she is writing a piece for when the movie "Eat, Pray, Love", staring Julia Roberts opens in August.

This tour arranged by Spirit Quest Tours, is the only "Eat, Pray, Love" themed tour out there. We were actually the first group to go on it. It may become a popular tour after the movie is released this summer...and I can say I went on the inaugeral trip.

While at Pizza Bagus, we had a special visitor, Yude Andiko, one of the many people Elizabeth Gilbert met while in Bali.

O.k. how wild is this. I went up stairs to get my borrowed copy of Eat, Pray, Love to leaf through so I could find the chapter on Yude, the book opened right up to the chapter! So, if you would like to consult the book for background info on Yude (in the book his name is spelled Yudhi - - either way, its pronounced You-Day) he is chapter 83.

He is a really neat person. Very nice and personable and as you can tell from his huge smile, he's a happy person. He talked with me and my fellow Washingtonion for a good bit of time and told us about a contract he had just signed with a music lable in England and his upcoming album.

Yude had spent several years in New York City until he was deported after 9-11, despite being married to an American, when the US clamped down on all immigrants from muslim countries, Indonesia is a muslim country. When he was in the US, he was part of the music scene in New York, this had been a childhood dream of his.

Now, he performs at clubs in Bali.

Listen to some of Yude's work from his album "Searching".

He was so sweet when we bought copies of his album and we asked him to autograph them. "Why do you want my autograph? I'm not anyone important."

We replied, "Not yet. And we can all say we met you before you became famous."

Bali Day 6: The Art Colony, Wood Carving Studio and Silversmith

2010-06-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Where is Waldo?
My roommate on the tour said the above painting reminded her of those illustrations, and yes, it does look like a Where's Waldo print.

Today, we went to the Artist colony, a wood carving studio and a silver smith. You all have been asking me on Facebook what I bought...so I'm going to show you.

O.k., no, I didn't buy all of these paintings.

In this room at the gallery were paintings of flowers and of landscapes. I really liked the landscapes below and I did by a small version which is at my desk at work. I'll be honest, I probably paid WAY to much for the paintings that I purchased. But oh well, as my fellow Washingtonian pointed out to me, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter, some where down the line I'll get a great deal on something.

This room had what I call, more traditional paintings of the countries religious and mytholgical figures.

I was considering buying one of these because I liked how it showed the stages of the illustration.

This space displayed more modern type paintings.

This is one of the paintings that I purchased and it is being held by its artist.

After lunch we headed to the wood carving studio. They showed us the different types of wood they used and told us what was native to Bali and what wasn't. We then headed into the showroom.

Let me just tell you, the items in this show room were amazing. I know I've been using that word a lot to describe things. The showroom was like a museum in and of itself.

Look at the detail on this statue.

This statue had to have been 15 feet tall. I can't imagine how long it took to carve this.

Below are some of the sarong I purchased at the open air market. I love bright colors.

At the silver smith, I made the following purchases.

Opening of the Museum's New Galleries

2010-06-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

The new galleries opened this weekend. The kick-off was the formal gala Friday evening. Above, General Ron Christmas, President of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and Lin Ezell, the Director of the museum, greet guests as they enter.

The keynote speaker was General Amos, the Assistant Commadant of the Marine Corps.

Prior to and after the ceremony and buffet dinner, guests got to check out the new galleries and re-visit the old.

The tableau at the entrance of the World War I gallery depicting a German machine gunner and a US Marine locked in mortal, hand-to-hand combat, made its return. It had been part of the original opening of the museum, kind of marking the spot where the WW I gallery would be. However, it was removed from its glass case.

Anything that could possibly be touched is a replica. However, that replica knife looks pretty deadly. The Chief of Exhibits told us that someone would have to really work to get that weapon, as well as the pistol the German is holding. Arms would have to be broken off the statues to get the weapons and of course someone would have to climb onto the tableau and then avoid the security cameras.

Below is Skip, one of the volunteers in the Restoration Division and his wife. Skip and I worked together when I was also a volunteer in restoration. They are standing infront of the King Armor car, a vehicle the Marines tested but did not field.

In this same gallery, visitors examine many other artifacts from the early 1900s.

The much anticipated gallery was the Belleau Wood immersion. Below, visitors sit among the trees behind a German machine gun position as Marines charge through the wheat fields toward them. Lying in the machine gun pit before them are the bodies of two dead German soldiers...which honestly, you don't really notice.

The film is awesome. It was filmed last summer in a wheat field in Bealton, Virginia. Most of the actors were Marines stationed at Quantico with a smattering of professional actors. During production, directors found that the real Marines, with no acting experience, were doing a better job playing the part of Marines than the actors. All of the Marines in this film had seen combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, so even though the uniforms and weapons were reproductions of those and used almost 100 years ago, there are somethings that are no different today than they were then.

This gentleman is the great-grandson of Major Maurice E. Shearer, 5th Marines, who on June 26th cabled, "Woods now U.S. Marine Corps Entirely."

The younger Mr. Shearer had been in the Marine Corps back in the 1980s. What a legacy to carry on. He had just returned from France and Memorial Day celebrations there in the Wood, the previous weekend.

Below, General Ron Christmas with Mrs. Madonna DeGrasse. Her late husband had been one of the first Marine Corps combat artists during World War II. He was later the Art Director for Leatherneck Magazine. One of his paintings is hanging in the entrance of the Revolution through Civil War gallery. BTW, General Christmas is a Navy Cross recipient for action in the battle of Hue City during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

On Saturday, things were a bit chaotic. There were about 25 docents as well as Marines from the 5th Division here to commemorate the opening of the new galleries, especially that of the Belleau Wood/World War I gallery (today, June 6th is the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood).

Below, Col. Buhl, the current commanding officer of the 5th Marines, is interviewed by combat camera. [Side story, he was my X-boyfriend's commanding officer in Iraq. After Major A had gotten blown-up by an IED, he or someone had handed Col. Buhl part of the HUMVEE they had been able to pull out of Major A. Col. Buhl had carried this piece of bloody metal in one of his pockets for weeks (he had forgotten about it). Major A had wanted doctors to save parts of the fragments removed from his body so he could have a souvenir. The doctors had thrown them all out. Major A was very upset by this...but along comes Col Buhl with a blood stained piece of HUMVEE door on a visit months later.]

Below is the color guard from 5th Marines.

Many of our visitors on Saturday didn't know this was going to be the grand opening of the new galleries. It was quite a thrill for people to be part of the ceremony and then to see these new galleries. The big complaint we had heard before from visitors was they had not planned enough time to see everything. We'll be getting more of those complaints now that we have these three new galleries.

In addition to the 5th Marines helping us dedicate the new galleries, the President's Own, the Marine Corps Band, is also featured in the new galleries. They performed in Leatherneck for our visitors, what a great concert it was! Below, I caught the Marine Corps Band taking pictures of...the Marine Corps Band.

General Christmas introducing the Marine Corps Band to museum visitors. What a great concert!

Bali Day 5: Balinese Healing and lunch at Bali Buddha

2010-06-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

The theme of this trip was Eat, Pray, Love - - all based upon the book by Elizabeth Gilbert of the same name. One of the people she writes about is Wayan the Healer. We stopped by Wayan's shop in Ubud. Below, Wayan the healer speaks with our tour leader.

While half the group was getting healing services at Wayan's shop, the other half of us headed over to a cafe across the street called Bali Buddha. Bali Buddha had a great atmosphere, this is a cafe that could be transplanted in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and fit in. Totally hip and relaxed...I loved the purple walls and the food was GREAT! If you are in Ubud, I recommend you stop here for lunch.

Two of the gals in our group along the outside wall looking out the window onto Jalan street.

Me and my fellow Washingtonian at one of the middle tables with the menu of healing drinks or meals on the chalk board behind us.

Bali Day 5: Meet My New Boyfriend

2010-06-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Things went bad shortly after this photo was taken. In all honesty, I'm glad I couldn't see what was happening to me or I probably would have gotten upset. The horrified gasps of the other tourists was unsettling enough. While no one got video of this monkey attacking me, I thought I'd share a video I found on line of a monkey in Ubud monkey forest attacking another American.

When the monkey on my back decided to taste my hair and scalp, I can tell you I was not laughing...or smiling for that matter. Anyone who got near me got hissed at and I'm sure it bared its teeth. Note to self: Next visit to Monkey forest, don't shampoo with mint scented shampoo and conditioner.

I'm not the only one who got jumped on, however, they usually jumped off right away.

There were quite a few moms and babies and they were very interesting to watch.

Below, shot of the rainforest and the deep gully in the park.

Thhis was a temple in the park.

This was the bridge we walked across to get to the temple side.

A monkey 'guarding' the bridge. Yes, that is blood on its chest. These are wild animals and I took this with the telephoto after having been attacked...this guy was not my attacker.

It almost looks like this monkey is getting her child ready to head off to school, "Here, let me straighten that fur a little bit."

Bali Day 5: Besakih Temple

2010-06-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Besakih temple is the 4th most important temple in Bali. It is dedicated to the protector of the universe and is called "The Mother".

The gate or doorway that you see in the middle, supposedly will shut should an evil spirit attempt to enter. Yes, in order to get into the temple, we had to walk up all of those steps.

Looking down from the top of the steps, do you see the buildings all the way in the back right, that is where we parked the bus.

The doors and stone carvings are just incredible. Besakih temple is made up of 22 smaller temples that all lead up to the main spire Meru structure called Pura Penataran Agung. I'll be taking you up there. The view is amazing.

This is one of the temples within the temple complex.

Because it was pouring rain, all of the women in our group were ushered to a shelter in the courtyard from which we could perform the offering and worship ceremony. Notice all the little rug rats we aqcuired.

The temple's priest was a woman. According to our Tour Leader, they have made many visits to this temple over the years and this was the first time that a woman presided over the offering/worship.

This is what the offering plate looks like. Of course, due to the rain, everyone's incense stick went out. I passed my plate back to one of the others on my tour because I was not going to take part in the ceremony.

One of the other women on the tour, surrounded by the little children trying to sell her post cards. "One dollar, lady."

During the offering/worship ceremony, two of the women on my tour hold the incense sticks and inhale the smoke. The smoke acts to purify, if I remember correctly.

The men in our group getting very wet going through their offering.

This is how you hold up your flower offering.

After the offerings are made, the priest comes and sprinkles holy water on everyone and puts rice on their foreheads.

One of the three front doorways in to the temple. This one, if you were outside looking at the temple was to the right.

The temple complex was built in the 1300s (14th century) and was almost destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1963. The lava flow missed the temple by feet, however the initial erruption killed 1700 worshipers.

One of the temple dogs. We saw a lot of dogs wandering around. No cats though. Animals are sacrificed in the temples. According to our local guide, the animals stand for a characteristic and by sacrificing the animal, it sets a person's foul free from that attachment. Only black and white puppies are sacrificed but only ever 10 or 15 years, I can't remember what the guide said. The word dog also translates to "no good", so by sacrificing the dog, the person sets their soul free from all the 'no good' in their soul. Other animals sacrificed are ducks, geese, cocks and pigs.

A beautiful door on one of the temple buildings.

The next series of photos are of the smaller temple complexes we walked by as we ascended up to the Pura Penatarang Agung. I probably could have spent all day here photographing the different temples and buildings. Beautiful, intricate patterns.

Another temple dog. I'm not sure if these dogs belong to anyone or are strays that get by with eating garbage or hand outs. This one growled at me as I stopped to take a picture. Don't worry, I was keeping my distance.

This is me, didn't mean to post such a large picture. Behind me are shops leading up to the main temple spire. Jesus would not have been happy with this. Even though I have never visited the Holy Land, seeing how these temples were set up gave me some new insite into how the temples must have been in the time of Jesus.

Some scary masks at one of the shops. I'll be honest, I considered getting one of these for my 8 year old nephew, however, I decided they were too scary looking. Heck, I'd freak out seeing one of these hanging from my wall during the day time.

Two of the ladies making the treck to Pura Penataran Agung.

Here I am on the road with Pura Penataran Agung behind me. We are almost there.

I was so disappointed in my camera for doing this to this photo. One of the dragon/sea monster heads crowing the banister leading up the stairs into Pura Penataran Agung.

This is the detail of the floor infront of the stairs. I don't know what the circles symbolize. They made a very interesting pattern. Its wild to think these may have been here since the 1300s.

Ascending the steps into the main spire. My camera lense got fogged up from all the rain and humidity.

With the gray clouds, the gateway into Pura Penatarang Agung looks kind of scary.

Detail of the railing surrounding the temple.

Throne for one of the temple gods.

Detail of the door way. I increased the color saturation so that the details stand out more.

Not sure what god this is over the doorway, but the detail is amazing. This part of the temple dates from around the 17th century (1600s).

The view from the door's threshold. Its almost like you can see the whole world from up here.

More scary masks at a shop.

From here on out, the photos are of the various temple complexes we walked past on our way down. I loved all the gardens.

Bali Day 5: "One Dollar! You buy only from me! You promised."

2010-06-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Let me just say, today, I came the closest I have ever come to wanting to backhand a little kid.

Today we took a long drive up to one of the most important temples in Bali, Besakih. It was raining. When we got out of the bus, were were beseiged by 20 little girls holding umbrellas.

"Umbrella lady?"

The tour company had big golf sized umbrellas that we could double up under and some of the ladies had brought their own umbrellas (duh, what a good idea to bring when you are in a rain forest). The woman I shared an umbrella with mad the mistake of asking, "How much?"

Holy rubber boots, Batman!

I'm not kidding you, 20 umbrellas in a rainbow of colors were shoved up into our faces. We were surrounded. I think I grabbed the lady and pushed her and me through the throng of umbrella wielding waifs and repeated, "No, No, No!" quite firmly.

Next, our group acquired the little girls pictured above. They were selling postcards. We said "No" I don't know how many times yet they kept following us.

"You want postcards lady? One dollar."
"No."
"One dollar for two."
"No."
"Postcards lady, one dollar."

Our tour leader told the little girls to go away (there were like 10-15 of them) but they stuck to us like flies to rotting meat. Our tour leader told them we'd buy post cards from them after the worship ceremony.

"You promise?" one little girl asked.
"Yes, I promise. Now, be quiet and go away," the tour leader replied.
"You buy only from me?"
"Yes, we'll buy only from you."
"You promise?"
"Yes, I promise. Now go away."

Despite other tourists entering the temple, the children did not go to them. Maybe we Americans were bleeding fish and these little girls were hungry sharks in some other cosmic dimension.

After it was all over, a couple of the ladies bought post cards. That just caused more children to approach. The annoying thing was the really little kids, like the ones that looked like they were about 3 years old. When you told them "No", they started to cry and whine, "One dollar lady, you buy postcards from me. One dollar."

Some where, I have become hardened. Maybe its the beggers on the streets here in DC who end up making $60-70,000 dollars a year pan handling. At least the professional pan handlers in DC dress the part. As you can see from the picture, these little girls are dressed quite well. They would blend into any 2nd or 3rd grade class in the US. They look well fed and clean.

But they were sharks, I'm telling you.

They wanted me to pay them money for the picture I took of them.

"No, you pay me, I took the picture."

Bali Day 4: Open Air Market in Ubud

2010-06-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

The open air market in Ubud is an experience, to say the least.

Chaos, filth, beauty, junk treasures.

If you are claustrophobic or suffer from PTSD, this is not the place for you.

Our assignment, buy a sarong for the temple. Our tour leader gave us a tutorial on bartering on the bus.
"Ask them how much. They will give you a price. Offer them a third to half of what they offered and go from there. If its still more than you want to pay, walk away, if they don't follow you with a lower price then you know you didn't go too low."

I also remembered my experience in Mexico, years ago. Don't ask for a price unless you intend to buy something. Don't touch something unless you intend to buy it. I approached this shopping trip much like I shop in the states, I walked around and looked at all of the stalls first and then went back to where they had things I liked. I did o.k. and got a couple nice cotton sarongs for 65,000 rupia (about $7 US). I was told that was a really good price.

The deeper you went into the market, the more of a dark, hot and sticky a labyrinth it became. I saw some very pretty silk dresses....if only I were as thin as I once was.

Bali Day 4: Elephant Park

2010-05-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

One of my fellow travelers, Denise, did some research on other things to do in the area and one of them was Elephant rides at the Elephant park. She suggested this the night before and three of us decided to take her up on it. Our tour leader arranged a van from Tour East to pick us up, wait for us and bring us back. This was a great experience and I am so glad that I did it.

Getting there was half the fun. My observation of driving in Bali, its a never ending game of chicken. While some roads have line markers, it doesnt really matter as people tend to drive right down the middle and just get out of people's way at the last second. Motor bikes are constantly weaving in and out of traffic. Pedestrians - - you do not have the right of way and its up to you to get across the street alive and in one piece.

Can you imagine the road rage if people drove like this in DC?

This next video shows one of the villages as we drove by. The house compounds are built right up to the side of the road. We even saw a woman doing her laundry in the irrigation ditch that run along the side of the road and in front of all of the houses.

Once we reached the village where the elephant park was located, we had to make a donation to enter the village. Yes, a toll to enter through the village gates. There was no set amount, whatever we had, a dollar each perhaps. I think that is what we each threw in.

The Elephant Park also had a museum, hotel/resort, gift shops and restaurant. Below is a photo of a HUGE elephant skeleton. FYI, I apparently missed the "No Photography" sign posted near the entrance of this room, whoops. I had to laugh because we give people such a hard time when they flash photograph the Iwo Jima flag...how can they miss the signs. This room allowed no photography what-so-ever. I think they need to put the no photography sign right infront of this elephant.

The above elephant was so large that I could have walked under its belly without slouching.

I think the artifact below was in an area of the museum where we could photograph. This is a wood carving with intricate, beautiful painting all over the elephant.

We didn't spend much time in the museum as we needed to take our ride and get out of dodge to be back at the Alila to catch the bus to the Market. This is a photo of the park. It was very beautiful. We were greated by a park Ranger who hustled us over to the elephant rides.

As we walked to 'loading dock', this little baby walked up to us. She wanted to be petted and to check us out.

Below is a blurry picture taken by the park ranger my group on the elephants.

This would have been a cool picture had my camera not done this strange break-up of the image. If anyone knows why this is happening, let me know. The name of the elephant I was on was Dina. She was a nice elephant. Our driver spoke english very well and we had a great conversation as we road through the trails.

Below is some video of our ride.

Right before I started to video tape this, Dina came to a dead stop in the trail, flapped her ears and made like she wanted to back way. We asked the driver what was wrong. You may be able to hear the gamelon music, at one point it was very loud, the village must have been walking by at the intersection at that time. Dina is afraid of the music. The driver turned her around so that we could take pictures of each other (the other two gals were right behind us on their elephant). Once the parade passed, Dina moved on.

I'll be honest, the ride was not comfortable. The seats had a wooden bar across the back that hit you right below the small of your back. So as you lumbered from side to side, the wooden bar would hit your lower back in a very uncomfortable place.

Along the path, we noticed Balinese standing at intersections taking our pictures. It wasn't until after and we were leaving did I fully understand. They probably could not afford to take the elephant ride (it was $58 US dollars a person which was 580,000 rupia) so they did the next best thing, they took pictures of the westerners riding the elephants. I'll be honest, this kind of made me sad.

After our ride, we took in the elephant show.

Here is some video of the elephant painting.

After the show we went to have our photos taken with the little elephant that had greeted us when we entered. Such a sweeet animal. I scratched her trunk and behind her ears.

The skin on its face and trunk is very hard. Not even leathery. Its more like living stone, that is how hard it is. The skin behind their ears is quite soft, similar in texture as the skin on my arm.

Our drive back to hotel was kind of long as we got stuck behind another religious festival parade.
The boxes on the women's heads contain the offering. Much of what is in the offering is actually the family's dinner. They will make the offering and get the meal blessed and eat together as a family on the grounds of the temple.

Bali Day 3: Food, Worship and Parades

2010-05-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, day 3 continues.

You will notice that there will be several entries for each day. I'll be honest, this trip seemed like it was longer than it was because we did so many things. Even though we did many things, there was never a feeling of being rushed. It was all relaxing. The theme of this vacation was tied to the Elizabeth Gilbert book: Eat, Pray, Love.

Food.
Of course there is food involved. For breakfast, I had a yummie banana pancake. There is a big difference between Bali and the United States in regards to portion size. When I say I had a pancake, I mean I had A pancake. Singular. One. Uno. No wonder we Americans (myself included) have issues with our weight. In the US, that order would have been a stack of banana pancakes.

I must say, that solo pancake, along with fresh fruit, two croissants with butter and a berry smoothie kept me going until we had our dinner at Amanusa in Nusa Dua. Amanusa has an Italian restaurant, so we had Italian for our first dinner together in Bali.

Amanusa was exquisite. Its a five star hotel and it just beautiful. The restaurant was small yet very elegant with dark wood paneling, tables and beveled glass windows that magically glittered in the candlelight on our table. We learned that alcohol is very expensive in Bali. The lady next to me had two glasses of wine that cost her the equivalent of $50 US dollars. Our tour leader told us that alcohol was expensive on the island because it has be be imported.

Prayer.

I'll be honest, this part of the trip theme made me nervous because, as a Christian, I can't worship in the Hindu temples. I did mention this to my tour leader, privately, and she was very understanding, even glad that I brought it up. This morning, we learned about praying in the temples. This was in preparation for our trip to the Besakih Temple in two days.

The Balinese are Hindu, which is different than the rest of Indonesia which is Muslim. According to our instructor, all are welcome to pray in the temple to God, it doesn't matter what god you worship. However, there is a very specific patter that is followed when doing the offering. The little offering baskets contain several flowers and some rice as well as an incense stick. They start by breathing in the incense to cleanse them. The first offering is empty hands. The next offering is a yellow follower which is then thrown away. Then they offer another flower, which is then tucked into the woman's hair or the mans head cover. The final offering is again, empty hands. After this the priest or priestess will come around and sprinkle holy water on everyone. The priest offers the worshipers rice, they eat a few grains and then place some grains in the middle of their foreheads.

As luck would have it, our arrival coincided with a 10 day long religious holiday, their Gods had descended to earth during those 10 days and at noon on the 10th day, they ascend back to heaven. Entire villages get together and parade through the village to the local temple to give their offering.

In order to enter the temple, we each needed to wear a sarong (even the men). The women have to wear a white blouse tied with a sash. The men have to wear a white shirt and a head cover.

We got to witness several villages worshiping in the streets.

Bali Day 3: Exploring

2010-05-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is the view of the rooms at the Alila resort. You may notice the strange fracturing of this picture, thanks new point and shoot camera. GRRR! My only complaint of this vacation is I lost a lot of pictures due to the odd things this camera was doing, over exposing, underexposing, fracturing the pictures. I got a new Nikon coolpix, point and shoot because I didn't want to lug my heavy D80 with me in carry on. I'll be honest, I wish I would have brought my D80 with me.

Below, this is me sitting on the yoga platform at the sculpture garden. Behind me is Mount Batukaru, a volcano, also known as Coconut Shell Rock. Its the 2nd highest mountain in Bali at 2,276 meters. There are hiking trips into the jungle on this mountain where you can get a 360 degree view of all of Bali. At the base of the mountian is the Pura Luhur Batukaru temple, one of six main temples on Bali. We did not go to mountain or the temple there. Maybe, when I return to the island, I will go on a mountain trek tour...and I'll bring my good camera with me.

Below, the roofs of some of the private villas at my resort. Yes, we had thatched roofed huts/rooms. Very water tight!

Lots of steps throughout the resort, my legs got quite a work out walking around here.

This is the spa at the resort.

The walkway from my room to the lobby, restaurant and pool. The lobby, restaurant and poolside cabana were all open. There were shades they could pull down to block the sun or rain, however, the open walls allowed for excellent circulation of air. Despite the humidity and heat, I never felt uncomfortable. It was open, lush, green, relaxing. Paradise.

This is a shot looking out of the library door down the walkway at the side of the lobby.

Lots of hybiscus flowers throughout the grounds.

The view from the restaurant deck looking across the valley to the temple on the other side.

Below, is another resort, nestled in the hills.

Here I am heading down a path at the edge of the resort.

I found this private cabana. A perfect place for a wedding or romantic meal.

The path continued past the cabana down into the valley. I wasn't wearing my tennis shoes and the the stone path became overgrown and slippery as it descended. I could hear rushing water, so I am not sure if there was a waterfall into the river in the valley. Because it was steep and slippery, I decided to not go any further than this and returned to the pool for a relaxing dip.

This is the pool.

Isn't it beautiful? The only trecherous thing about the pool was the tile bottom. It was slippery. You really needed to watch your step walking into the pool. Very beautiful, refreshingly cool, and peaceful.

Below are the sculpture gardens. There were two.

This is the second garden. I'll be honest, I don't really 'get' the sculptures and their placement. It looks more like a cemetary.

In the second garden, each sculpture resembled a large stone bell.

In sculpture garden I, the sculptures looked like large stone frenchfries. These three were part of a 5 stone circle. To the left of this grouping was the yogo platform framed by two rectangular rock sculptures. As you can see, we were very much away from the city...which was so relaxing!

May 22nd - - Bali Day 3 - - Orientation Day

2010-05-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

At 3 a.m. this morning, I discovered a slamander in the toilet -- after I had used the toilet. Boy did he fight hard not to go down the drain when I flushed. I am very proud that I didn't scream.

Its 5:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. DC time) and I am sitting outside next to a recessed light so I can see to write.

When it got lighter, I moved to the pool. I was still wearing my pajamas. It didn't matter as no one, except the staff, was up and about. The morning was cool and slightly humid. The roosters in the near-by village were crowing, birds, frogs and crickets were chirping. Its beautiful and calming.

I plan on spending the whole day at the pool!

May 22 - - Bali Day 2: Arrival

2010-05-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is the sign in the parking lot at the Denpasar airport.

After our flight, it was a little confusing about what to do. I found two of the women I learned who were going on the tour with me and we collectively figured out what line to go to first. After paying for our entry visa we then had to stand for hours in the Cusoms/Immigration line. We were approached by a plain clothes man who said he could get us through the line in 5 minutes and we should follow him. Um, no, I don't think so. We told him we were o.k. with standing in line for an hour.

It did take an hour and it was hot and uncomfortable!

Thank goodness the tour company provided us cool, wet towels when we boarded the bus. Boy did those feel good!

Below are billboards as you leave the airport.

Is this what you think it is? It sure is! A western style, high end mall just outside the airport.

One of the monuments to one of the Balinese gods. There were many of these statues at intersections as we drove through Denpasar.

May 21 - - Bali Day 2: Almost There

2010-05-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong. 12 hours ahead of the Washington DC. Longest flight ever!

We stopped for an hour in Vancouver, Canada. However, they didn't let us disembark. I had hoped we would have been able to get off the airplane and walk around a bit. Didn't happen. UGH!

I learned later that the plane was so packed because it was a holiday weekend in Hong Kong. I had a crummy seat, in the middle in the middle section. On the flight from HK, I sat between two a husband and wife. Their seats were on opposite sides of me. I don't think they were real happy about that. The woman did the helpless "Oh, I can't get my carryon in the overhead." There was no way for the man to get over to her side as the other rows had filled up and people where streaming down the aisles. Despite this, she continued to look at him helplessly saying, "I can not get it up there."

I offered to help her and she suddenly was able to get her bag up in the overhead.

So on the long flight to HK, I watched episode 1-3 of season six of Project Runway. Then I watched the movie, Couples Retreat (horrible movie). Then I watched, The Blind Side -- very good! I also did some sleeping.

We arrivedin HK at 7:02 a.m. HK time. This was 7:02 p.m. on the 20th back in DC. I have been traveling for 32 hours now.

The HK airport is very clean. It is surrounded by mountains on the norht and water on the south. When we got off the plane, the very noticible thing was the humidity.

Watching the sun try to break through is very pretty. The sun seams to spotlight different things like islands on the sea side, or a boat, or spots on the mountain side.

There were some bumpy parts of my flight to HK, I was getting sick. Only a couple more hours and I'll be in Bali!

May 19th - - Bali - Day 1: I am REALLY on Vacation!

2010-05-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

I will admit to starting my vacation with a panic attack. Before leaving for vaca, I needed to select my health insurance coverage. I seemed to have missed the default password in the intro letter that came with all the insurance information, so when I logged in and tried using my enterprise password, it didn't work. Go figure.

I called the help number that was published saying it was available 24/7 during open enrollment. Apparently not. Two hours before I needed to leave for the air port, the Help Desk got a hold of me and I was able to log in and select my new health insurance.

Worry. I will admit that is what I did up to the point of where I was on board the airplane flying to New York. Does anyone else worry this much?

Its been two years since I've been on a real adventure. When I checked in at the airport, I was asked where I was running away to? I handed the man my passport and e-ticket information and responded: "Bali."

"Bali! You really are running away!"

Yes, running away...from the responsibilities and the stress of DC. I am running away!

Free!

Re-Entering the Blogosphere

2010-05-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged since February!

Yes, since February, I have been reduced to the quick status updates provided on Facebook. Since February my life has been very full. Work, dance classes, prepping for vacation, fostering a cat for Lost Dog Lost Cat, and volunteering at the museum.

I have a lot of catching up to do! Where do I start?

Work. Well, its been work, and that is all I have to say about that.

Dance Classes. I love them! I have learned how to Cha-Cha and Rumba. I think I like the Rumba the best. I plan on taking the next class level. I would love to meet a man who likes to dance...anyone interested in taking Advanced Cha Cha and Rumba with me?

I went to Bali for vacation. Stay tuned for the play-by-play!

Annabelle. Not sure what I last blogged about her. She is the foster cat I have had since October. As she recovered from ringworm and grew, she started walking funny. The older she got, the worst her walking got. I turned out that her knees were popping out of socket. Lost Dog Lost Cat approved surgery. X-rays closer to the date of surgery revealed that she not only had bad knees but bad hips and all would have to be repaired. She made it through double knee and hip surgery and has recovered nicely. She is now ready to be adopted. I am praying for the perfect forever home for her.

The Museum. Lots of stuff going on there! Stay tuned for updates. The new galleries for the Revolution through World War I will open next Saturday, June 5th.

Code Talkers and Their New Mission

2010-02-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

Three of the surviving Navajo Code Talkers attended the 65th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. While all the veterans were treated like rock stars, these three men were like the rock stars of rock stars, almost mythical. They are a rare gem, becoming rarer as the years pass. Of the 400 Code Talkers, only 100 are still alive.

These three men were on a mission this past weekend. That mission was to promote the building of the Navajo Code Talker Museum. If you follow this link, Navajo Code Talker Museum, you can get information on this project as well as see photos of the land where the museum will be built. Its a very beautiful setting.

"Marines help each other out, " Keith Little told his fellow veterans at the symposium on Saturday. "Help us build our Museum. We won the war helping each other, we are asking for your help."

The Navajo language was an unbreakable code. Amazing when you think about the complex mathematical logarithms were devised by Governments to encode information passed on the battlefield - - all broken. Yet, something that had existed for thousands of years, a native language used as a code - - never broken. Having this 'code' as an option is also amazing when you consider the US Governments history regarding Native Americans, their language and culture. The US Government had tried to "Americanize" the native peoples, sending their children to boarding schools where they were forbidden to talk in their languages, dress in traditional clothing or observe other traditions. The government tried to erase the native culture in the 19th and early 20th century. It failed.

The Japanese tried to crack the code, recording the messages being passed and sending them back to Tokyo for analysis. The analysts couldn't crack it. Bill Toledo related an incident when he had traveled to Japan to speak. He met a Japanese soldier and introduced himself as one of the Code Talkers. He asked the man what he thought of them. The man got a very angry look and stormed away.

Toledo, like several other veterans I spoke with, enlisted in the Marine Corps before completing High School. Marine Corps recruiters were looking for Navajo men who spoke both Navajo and English fluently as well as could read and write. They were not told why the Marines had those specific requirements and would not learn the reason until they were in training.

They were to be the code.

Their purpose, mission was classified until 196. For over 20 years, these men remained silent about their true contribution to the war effort. Once their role was declassified, they began traveling around the country telling their stories.

For Toledo, the opportunity to leave the reservation and see other parts of the United States and the world was one of the benefits of being a Marine. He said meeting other people, experiencing other cultures really helped him grow as a person.

After the Marines, Toledo returned home, finished school, got married and went to work. After a 30 year career, he retired and now travels, promoting the story of the Navajoy Code Talkers and their mission to build a museum dedicated to that story.

The one thing he tells young people from his trive as they consider a life in the military is to not forget their language. "So many of our young people have lost the language, you know. I tell them to hold on to it."

The thing he wants people to remember about the Code Talkers is that the code was never broken.

Iwo Jima Anniversary Weekend in Review

2010-02-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

Weekends like this past weekend, I wish I had a laptop so I could type out my thoughts during a break. By the time I got home at night I was so tired that it was all I could do to download the photos.

Fridays event was electric. You could feel the energy in the air. I haven't felt that kind of energy since the museum dedication. The oddity or irony of this celebration was that we were celebrating the anniversary of what experience of their lives.

One of the veterans stated it perfectly when he described the feeling of both Americans and Japanese on Iwo, “None of us wanted to be there. We were doing what our countries required us to do.”

Every veteran I spoke with pretty much said, “It was HELL!”

Was I expecting a different answer? What WAS I expecting? I don't know. Its not like they were playing in the super bowl or something.

I recently saw a video out of Afghanistan's battle for Marjah. Two Marines are crouching behind a wall. One Marine's rifle is at the ready as he scans the terrain. The other Marine is on hands and knees vomiting. It brought to mind an Iwo vet being interviewed by his family in the Iwo Gallery a couple years ago.

“Were you scared Dad?” his daughter asked.

“Oh, yes!” He exclaimed, “I was so scared, I didn't go to the bathroom for five days.”

All of the veterans I spoke with talked about having nightmares, symptoms that we call PTSD today, back then it was called battle fatigue. One corpsman told me that people shouldn't have to see those horrible things. If you weren't effected by what you saw and experienced, there was something wrong with you. Any normal human being would/should be upset by what they saw.

At the symposium on Saturday, Frank Caldwell, a company commander on Iwo Jima, shared a story of a Japanese soldier jumping out of hole charging them with a sword. A Zippo tank hit him with a flame. As the Japanese soldier charged, he lost his helmet. Caldwell's Gunny picked up the helmet and tucked inside was a photo of the man they had just killed with his wife and six children. “My Gunny broke down and cried.”

The Navajo code talkers gifted us with a special serenade, the Marine Corps Hymn sung in Navajo. They made a request of the veterans and their families to support the building of a Navajo Code Talker museum. I'll post more on that later.

General Mattis addressed the veterans with a status of the Marine Corps today and the current fight in Afghanistan. While I have this all on video I will not post any of it. As you know Mattis speaks his mind. During the question session, someone asked him about Iran. Before he answered, he looked at me and asked if there was any Press in the room. I almost responded “Milblogger”. I understood his question to mean what he was saying in the room was meant to be kept within the family. I will respect that.

Colonel Dick Camp gave a great overview on the Naval Operations leading up to the Battle. I will be preparing a blog entry on that for all of the history nuts out there.

A special treat this year was the presentation made by Japan's military attache assigned to the embassy in DC. H spoke about the Japanese preparations leading up to the battle, specifically the tunnel system.

The gala event on Saturday was spectacular. I think General Amos could take a stab at stand-up comedy when he retires. He was an engaging speaker with a motivational message. It was a great evening. A once in a lifetime experience.

Don't Bottle Up Your Combat Stories

2010-02-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

John Roy Coltrane from Siler City, North Carolina wishes he had talked about his combat experiences earlier. He didn't start talking about what he had gone through on Midway or on Iwo Jima until he started attending reunions. He says talking about experiences helps the nerves.

Coltrane joined the Marine Corps prior to the start of World War II. He was a 19 year old timberman and decided he could get paid more being in the military so he headed down to the post office where there was a recruiting station, fully intending to join the Army. There, he met the Marine Corps recruiter. He had never heard of the Marine Corps before. Within 5 minutes, the recruiter had talked him into signing a 4-year commitment with the Marine Corps instead of joining the Army which only had a 3-year commitment.

After training, Coltrane arrived at his first duty station on October 4, 1941, Midway Island. Little did he know that in a little over 2 months, the Japanese would launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and Midway would become a contested piece of real estate. An artilaryman, he manned one of the 5-inch coastal guns that protected the island.

In 1943, Coltrane headed back to the states, to Camp Pendleton, where he joined the 5th Marines.

In 1945, 23-year-old Coltrane was a squad leader with an artiliary security platoon. As they road the Higgins boat onto the island, he and only 2 other Marines had prior combat experience. They landed on the beach at 4:30 p.m. on the 19th of February. By this time the Japanese were shooting at the incoming landing craft. As the ramp dropped on his boat, a shell hit directly infront sending fragments into his right elbow. The Corpsman patched him up and sent him on his way. He said it was unfortunate that the Corpsman got killed so no one was able to put the required paperwork in for a purple heart.

Because so many men in the 5th Division had been killed or wounded after 36 days of fighting, they did not head to Okinawa but instead were sent to Australia to re-group. They were at full strength again, just in time for the scheduled invasion of Japan. Luckily, the atomic bombs were dropped as they were enroute. Instead of combat, he spent the next 11 months in Japan as part of the occupation forces. They were tasked with blowing up or destroying Japanese munitions and weapons as well as making shipping crates for all the gear that was being shipped back to the United States.

When he returned to the United States and was discharged, he said he suffered from nightmares for years after. The three dreams he shared with me were: 1) A raid on Midway Island kills everyone except for him and he is left alone on the island, 2) a Japanese zero comes diving at him from the sky, dropping its bombs and he would wake just before the bombs hit the ground; 3) The Japanese steal his metal food tray and water during the night and he catches the soldier and shoots him in the back.

Several other veterans I spoke with shared that they also suffered from nightmares for years following the war. They didn't have a name like PTSD for what they were experiencing and they didn't talk about it. They said they just pushed through it.

Left for Dead on the Battlefield

2010-02-19T18:47:00.000-08:00

Leonard Nederveld wa 19 years old when he stormed ashore on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. On D +5, he threw a grenade into what he thought was a Japanese bunker. Turned out it was an ammo bunker. The explosion peppered the left side of his body with fragments and knocked him unconcious. The corpsman, thinking he was dead, did not advance through heavy fire to treat him.

A day later, Nederveld woke up and began to crawl back toward his unit. Seeing movement crawling toward them, a couple Marines thought he was a Japanese soldier and were getting ready to shoot when another Marine shouted, "Don't shoot, that's a Marine!"

Nederveld was evacuated to a hospital ship. He lost hearing and vision as well as some mobility on his left side from his injuries. After 11 months in the hospital, he was discharged from the Marine Corps. He said most of the men in his company that survived Iwo Jima were later killed on Okinawa.

After being discharged, He used the GI bill to go to college and he became a Certified Public Account, got married and had 5 children. For many years, he and several other World War II veterans would volunteer at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. He is currently the 5th Marine Division Reunion President.

Creative Storm II

2010-02-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

Cat Nap

2010-02-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, be a cat with the ability to enjoy a sunny window.

Creative Storm I

2010-02-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hangover from Snowmageddon

2010-02-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

This

The

End

The

Road

I laughed when I took that picture. People here in the DC area are idiots when it comes to snow. What person tries to drive down an unplowed road when it just snowed 3 feet. Unless you are driving one of those off road, 4x4 trucks with tractor tires, you aren't going to make it down that road. At least this driver was smart enough to realize it before they were too commited and got stuck. I did see another pick-up truck stuck down at the end of a cul-de-sac, considered photographing it...but decided the driver might not appreciate it.

We had a lot of trees that snapped under the weight of the snow.

While the photo below was taken the day after the storm (Sunday)... Tuesday it doesn't look much different. I had a scary driving experience getting out this morning.

While our townhouse circle was cleared out down to the asphalt, the main roads through the neighborhood were not...and still look much the same three days later.

The only vehicles that were moving about on Sunday were SUVs, 4-wheel drives and pick-up trucks. However, people driving those types of vehicles aren't always that great at driving in the snow. After honking at me to get out of the tire tracks, this guy gunned it, causing the vehicle to fish tail wildly. I almost thought he was going to spin out right next to me so I started taking pictures...hey, if he was going to kill me, I was going to go down taking pictures.

The reason I had been standing in the tire tracks is that I saw a great picture...nice straight tracks through the snow...then the truck went by. As you can see he fish tailed the whole way.

Reflections Snowmageddon 2010

2010-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

This first picture was taken at sunset on Saturday night. The snow had finally stopped, after 24 hours and seeing the sun was such a relief! Despite the fact that we didn't have power and that the snow was covering the brokenness of the trees, it looks beautiful. Peaceful. Like an Alpine villiage.

While I know my facebook followers have already seen the chronology of the storm, for those who follow me here on blog spot...and for my own memory, here are some photos showing the progress of the storm.

The above shot is my front yard around 10 p.m. I think I went out to shovel at this point but opted to not shovel the deck off for the third time (big mistake as you will see later).

Around 11:30, 12 midnight, we lost power. Luckily, I have a wood burning fire place and a lot of fire wood. The cats and I snuggled up on the couch in the family room in front of the fire. Besides sweats, I was wearing my hooded robe with the hood up and had two thick, woven blankets thrown on top of me. With three cats that then snuggled over my feet, behind my knees and ontop of my chest, I was quite warm. Actually was sweating. I shed the robe around 2 a.m. when I woke up to stoke the fire and add another log.

Around 3:30 a.m., something woke me with a start. I went upstairs to look out the windows, they were finally plowing down our street, so maybe it had been the noice of the plows. There was an eerie red glow in the sky. Despite there not being any power, it was quite light out. I noticed all the broken trees behind my house and was thankful that none had hit my house. I had been worried about a couple. God is good!

The tree in my back yard was bent almost to the ground.

Poor thing, for some reason this reminds me of something from a Dr. Seus book. Not wanting it to break, I came out with a broom and beat the snow off of it. Despite its freedom, it struggled to spring back into shape.

I'm not sure why I took this next picture at three a.m. However, it becomes a good reference for later. Just remember that garden cart.

In the morning, the destruction was more evident.

With more snow falling, more trees were threatening the houses.

I decided to tackle my deck. I really didn't want it to collapse under three feet of snow. I had shoveled it off twice the night before. However, I had a food and a half of snow in the morning, and it was still snowing.

I am about half way through getting it cleared off. I'll be honest. It was discouraging because we were getting about 2 inches of snow an hour...so when I got back in, from shoveling the front, the deck already had another 2-3 inches of snow on it.

Where was all the snow going?

I was pusing it off the side of my deck.

Remember that garden cart? I don't think I'll be seeing it till sometime in June.

Sunday morning was glorious! While I had dug out around my car...you can see how far I got with my car. I was tired of shoveling Saturday night.

This is me before I headed out to check out the neighborhood. Don't worry, I wore much more. It was only about 15 degrees at this point.

One of the things I've really enjoyed about the snow is talking with my neighbors as we are all out shoveling. In our busy lives, we really don't do much with each other or say much more than "Hi" as we pass each other coming and going.

Losing power...I didn't realize how much I miss electricity and the internet...or watching DVDs. I would have been fine with no cable, because I could have watched movies ...but no power...I sat there and looked at the cats for awhile, expecting them to entertain me. They however, were content curling up next to me or on my lap. Eventually, I did fall asleep. When the power finally came back on Saturday night, I found I was a bit disappointed.

I did learn what I need to get to update my "Shelter-in-place" kit. It totally sucks when your batteries for the flashlight are dead. While I have candles...they are all scented. I need some plain, white, un-scented candles. In addition, I need batteries for my radio. I can't believe I didn't have those.

Marine Corps Documentary Looking for Backers

2010-01-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

Dave Scantling is producing a documentary film about Marines in Afghanistan and he's looking for backers. Check out this link to his project.

Patrol Base Jaker

A New Year, New Outlook, New Goals (sorta)

2010-01-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

I have heard that who you spend New Year's Eve with, you will spend the rest of the New Year with. The only year that seemed to work out was the year my small group Bible Study spent the night eating and chatting at Christine's house. I certainly hope that it holds true with 2010, because I spent it with an awesome bunch of people. I can't think of a better group to spend 2010 with.

The photo above was taken at the All Single's New Year's Eve bash put on by the Mid 40's - 60's group. They invited the group I belong to (the 30s - mid 40's) and 20 of us braved the ice and snow that was still on the roads to party. What a great party it was. There were over 100 people there. I'll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised at what a good time we had...You don't need alcohol to have a good time, we certainly had it. The midnight toast was done with sparkling cider and when I left, it was us "young 'uns" who were dancing the last dance.

2010 is also another year of changes. Last year I braved the new hair color world and went red, with a streak of blond framing my face. This summer, I went all the way red. For the new year, I went darker red and longer hair. I'm digging hair extensions. So, here is the straight look.

And here is the curly, beauty contestant look:

I'll be honest. I freaked out a little at how dark it was. I also wasn't so sure about the length. I don't like the straight look as much as the wavy/curled look. I have never had hair this long so it was and is still an adjustment...like when I sit back in my chair, my back rests against my hair, when I bend my head forward to look at something on the computer, it felt like I was yanking my hair out. So I suppose this year, I will be learning the art of the hair flip over one shoulder or something.

Also getting a new look, Ranger. My little lion!

He had mats so bad on his back and by his rear end, I had to get him shaved. He was smelly. I love how he feels, he's like velvet right now and I so enjoy petting and snuggling with him, I'm sure he enjoys this too. Annabelle, my foster kitten, loves to play with his pom-pom tail (oh the humiliation!).

The goals for 2010 are pretty much the same as they were for 2009. I achieved none of the things I had set out to accomplish...like losing 25 pounds... over the year. I know that was a big goal, but realistic as it really is only half a pound a week. I suppose I should be happy that I didn't gain anything. I start 2010 at the same place I started 2009. I have survived one week of P90X (I know the feeling that my body has been hit with a baseball bat will subside by the end of the week.). I have signed up for Zumba with two of my friends so I hope to also get to know them better.

Relationships, growing them, is another goal of mine for 2010. While it would be nice to meet "the love of my life" and be talking about a wedding at the end of the year...I'm not holding my breath. In regards to relationships, I am talking about growing and deepening ones I already have as well as starting new ones. The relationship I hope to deepen and grow the most is my relationship with Christ. My prayer that I will pray this year is that my will become more in line with His will, that I can let go of myself. I hope to get to know the women in my small group better. In addition to that, I hope to get to know my co-workers better, we have new people that have come onboard and since I spend most of my time with them, I should get to know them.

For personal growth...in addition to getting into shape and eating healthier, I hope to continue taking dance classes, a photography class and maybe even stand-up comedy or improv. I think learning to see the humor in things or to be funnier can boost a more positive attitude about life. I think I also read somewhere that laughter can help you live longer.

Financially - - pay the darn credit card off. I think I will have this done in March. That is the plan anyway. I'll let you all know in March if it happens.

Travel plans - - I am going to Bali this year. I am REALLY looking forward to this adventure. I also plan on going to Texas to visit some friends I have there...and maybe some of my blog friends I have made too....anyone up for San Antionio? I'm still finalizing that plan...I'm thinking of taking a train down instead of flying...if a train goes where I want to go. I realized when doing my holiday letter (which I still have to send out to people, sorry) that I really didn't go on any day trips this summer like I had planned. I hope to turn that around. I'd love to visit some of the civil war sites down by Virginia Beach, head out to Bedford, VA and the World War II memorial, hike Old Rag (I have never done this anyone want to go with me?), and spend some time exploring and hiking in the Virginia hills this summer and fall. To tie this in with building relationships...I will be better about asking others if they want to go with me.

Final goal - - get rid of the clutter.

That is it in a nut-shell...or a blog anyway.

Here is to 2010 and all of its possibilities!

New Year....

2009-12-31T13:12:00.000-08:00

Its a new year. Almost.

I will be celebrating at a party tonight, I don't know if I'll make it till midnight...this getting old stuff really stinks.

So, I got the new planner pages and cleaned out my cluttered planner. Of course, I saw the goals I had set for myself last year. They will pretty much be the same goals this year. Only this year will be different...I will lose that 25 pounds I gained through 2007 and 2008. While I didn't lose the weight in 2009, at least I didn't gain any more. I will pay the darn credit card off... Styker breaking his leg at the end of 2007 really set me back! Then, when it looked so close to being paid off in 2009....all the car repairs nailed me. Here is praying the plan still holds to be debt free in March (oh, please, no more car repairs!).

This month, I'm going to try to simplify things, stream line, purge all the clutter in my life. I'm hoping that 2010 allows me to have more time to spend with friends and doing things I enjoy like traveling.

Have a safe evening everyone! See you next year!

Ohio Snow Driving Skills My @#&

2009-12-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

My Facebook status today was, "Heading off to work, good thing for my Ohio drive in the snow skills, wish other drivers had them."

You know, I jinxed myself.

The townhouse roads are clear to the pavement. However, the road out of the development, through the big, swanky, single family homes isn't. You really are o.k. as long as you don't stop and stay in the packed down area. Well, a BMW got stuck in the middle of the road. There was just barely enough room to get by him...so I tried and just got past him when my right front tire slid off the track and into 18 inches of snow. So now the road was really blocked and there were 4 cars behind me.

BMW guy had a shovel and he started to help shovel me out. We tried three times to get my car out of the 18 inch snow. The people behind me were very impatient. Then up drives a Merry Maid car...and they were going to try to pass the BMW on the other side through worse snow.

Come on people!

So, BMW guy and I dig out my right tire some more and this Pakistani guy three cars back walks up, doesn't offer to help push or help dig but says, "Why don't you put it in D2 or something to get more traction."

"I'm in 18 inches of snow, D2 isn't going to help me."

He keeps giving me driving advise.

"I know what I'm doing, I grew up in Ohio driving in the snow. I can get out...it will just take a couple tries."

When the next try got me about 6 inches further but not out, the lady two cars behind got out and yelled, "You need to straighten your wheel."

Just so you all know, my wheels were straight on the initial get traction, but I had to turn to the left in an attempt to free myself from the 18 inches of snow on the right. All going straight would do is get me into more of the 18 inches.

She walks up and knocks on my window, "Straighten your wheel."

O.k. I was about to back-up and straighten ...but would still have to turn the wheel left. When that attempt also only got me six inches further. She is still standing there telling me to straighten it up more.

"Do you not see the 18 inches of snow on the right side of my car...it won't matter if I'm going perfectly straight...I need to get to the left a bit."

Did she offer to push or to help dig. No. The BMW guy pushed my car with each escape attempt and helped me dig out my tire with his shovel the whole time apologizing that it was all his fault. The drivers behind us stood outside their cars, arms crossed, toes tapping, eyes rolling. I looked at BMW guy and said, its not your fault, its the weather and to heck with those people behind me. If they want me out so badly, they could help and they aren't. A look of relief settled on him. One more push and I was finally out.

I suppose I shouldn't wish for bad winter karma to get those people behind me...but I kind of do.

Cats can be very industrious...but they aren't stupid

2009-12-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

Ranger came out on the deck to help me shovel it off. With the huge amount of snow on the deck, I was a little worried about it with the snow weight. Ranger was happy to be outside...but very bummed he wasn't 'free'. He started digging and then looked to see just how much he'd have to dig....and decided to come inside. I don't raise dumb cats in my house. Hahaha!
Enjoy.

I survived the Blizzard of 2009

2009-12-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

I wonder when the t-shirts saying "I survived the DC Blizzard of 2009" will be available.

Yes, I survived. I haven't run out of toilet paper, milk or meat yet. One of my friends posted on her facebook, pictures of the shelves at her Safeway in Alexandria, VA. Milk completely gone...unless you wanted chocolate for your coco puffs. Meat section, empty! Clearly some people were planning on doing some serious BBQing. The only insanity I experienced was Friday night, trying to get gas. I NEEDED gas, I was on E. There were lines at every gas station like you'd think it was the 1970s again and the gas was going to run out. I decided to go to Target, get something to eat (all they had left were cheese pizzas), do a little shopping and then get gas.

At 9:30 when I left Target, the snow had finally started. My car was covered in a quater inch of the white dust. Off to the gas station. I won't even go into how annoying people were at the gas station. I am surprised I didn't witness any accidents or fights. I have decided that only the meanest of a species ends up surviving...nice, fair people such as myself, well, we get walked over. I got my gas, and that is all I have to say about that.

Saturday morning...I woke up to this:

My little porch decoration couldn't even escape the snow.

It was only about 7 inches at this point. Nothing an Ohio girl can't handle. It was also nice, light, fluffy snow, even though, it still took me an hour to clear the sidewalk and my car off.

At 10 a.m., this is what the car and the front of my house looked like:

I know, I know, already a dusting...actuaually it was about a quater inch of snow at this point and as you can tell from the picture of my house, it was snowing again and was coming down harder.

So, back in the house I went for a morning of baking (2 loaves of pumkin bread, lasagna, tomato-garlic-rosemary chicken, and a crockpot of chili). When I get baking days, I make several meals that I can freeze and pack for lunch. So much healthier and more satisfying than the boxed microwave meals. My house smelled amazing!

At 2 p.m....I took another look at the snow. I had been watching it come down on the deck from the kitchen but the gradualness of the buildup didn't phase me...until I looked out the front door.
Where the heck is my car?

Holy cow! It doesn't look like I had cleared this stuff off at all! the snow was almost even with my front porch and I have three steps that lead up to it. Steping out onto the side walk that was clear of snow 4 hours earlier, I was up to the top of my boots.

So, I started digging again. My neighbor cam out and commented "Boy, you must love to shovel". No, really I don't. I hated that LONG driveway we had in Ohio that we'd have to help shovel...then after we took care of our driveway and sidewalks, we did our grandparents' next door. My dad didn't get a snow blower until all of us kids had left for college. One thing I learned growing up in Ohio...its better to maintain throughout the storm...then to do it all when its over. I'd rather deal with just 7 inches of snow at a time...not 20 inches all at once.

Here are the results of the second dig out.

The deck looked like this...I didn't shovel it and I should have...I was just tired after doing the second clearing out front.

Remember from the photo I took in the morning, I had a planter on the table...can't see it now. Nor can you see the 10 inch planters that are along the back deck railing. In the morning, the top lip of the planters was visible, now...nothing.

Hey, is that Frosty the Snowman chillin' on my lounge?

The aftermath...these photos are from Sunday morning.

Not too bad. My neighbor was wishing she had done what I had done in because I only had 3-4 inches to shovel and clear off my car at this point.

In the afternoon, I did drive down to Quantico to photograph the museum in the snow. I'll blog about that later today. The Federal Government in the DC area is closed today...so, I'm taking advantage of this rare free day (I do have to use vacation) to get some other things done around the house before Christmas...then I'll be back catching up on all my blogs.

Stay warm everyone!

Christmas, um I mean, Holiday Partied Out.

2009-12-13T19:51:00.001-08:00

It has been back to back Christmas/Holiday Parties this weekend.

Friday night, the singles at church had their party. It was really nice. Even though we all are dressed nicely for church on Sunday it was fun seeing everyone in cocktail attire. The food was GREAT too. It was catered by Macaroni Grill and they had a lot of food. For $25, this was the best value for a Christmas party ever.

My favorite series of photos from the evening: The Usual Suspects

Below, me and the ladies from my small group (aka Bible Study) that attended. Everyone was so pretty. What an awesome bunch of ladies.

Below, our social chairmen offering up prayer before we ate. They did an awesome job with decorating, planning...everything. Top notch.

Saturday during the day, Santa visited the museum. It is so much fun watching the excitement and shyness of kids when they meet Santa. If you still believe, stop reading until after the pictures are posted.

Our Santa is the father of one of the museum staff members.

This little girl was to afraid to sit on Santa's lap, this was the closest she would get. However, at lunch time, Santa was up in the Mess Hall having lunch with his "elf" and daughter and the little girl saw him. She had eyes as big as saucers and exclaimed "Santa! Santa!" We laughed, as she was probably shocked that Santa actually eats. She still wouldn't get near him. She did say good-bye when she left.

I remember the one time we went to visit Santa...I think I was 5 or 6. The Santa in my hometown was this old Polish guy with a long white beard and long white hair. I seem to recall he may have even still had a bit of the Eastern European accent. Well, I was so excited to meet Santa...but a couple kids in front of us got scared and started to cry and that scared me and I think I threw a fit and never had my picture taken with Santa. I had it taken yesterday.

This next group of ladies with Santa are future Marines. They are Poolees that came with their Recruiting Station for a visit to the museum. Poolees are high school students who are in the delayed entry program, meaning they have signed a contract to enlist in the Marine Corps when they graduate.

This next bunch are Blue Star Moms. Blue Star Moms are mothers of service men and women. They all posed with Santa while holding photos of their children. They also wanted the two Marines manning the Toys for Tots drop off to be in the picture with them.

Then the mad rush home to get ready for my company Christamas party that was held at the Udvar-Hazy Center, the BIG Air and Space museum out by Dulles Airport. There were 3400 people there. Holy cow...when I pulled into the parking lot and saw how full it was, I figured I'd NEVER find anyone. The museum is HUGE and it was PACKED. Amazingly, as I was walking in, one of my project mates was walking out. I did end up finding several of my project mates.

Of course...I did walk around and take photos of the aircraft.

This is the SR-71 Blackbird.

Light effects in the Blackbird's engine.

The space shuttle.

Some of the crowd.

The Enola Gay.

Some aircraft flown by and to be flown by Marines. The air craft in the front is the F-35 Lightening II.

Below, some World War II aircraft.

"Christians to Blame for Secular Christmas"

2009-12-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

When I saw this headline a few minutes ago, I was like "What?!?" Of course I HAD to read the story behind it and boy, it sure was something I needed.

I really haven't been feeling the "Christmas Spirit" this year and this is my favorite holiday of all. Instead, I feel rushed, stressed, tired, fat, ugly, stressed, tired, boring, disorganized, frazzled...did I mention stressed and tired?

This paragraph stabbed me like a knife..

"Instead of allowing ourselves to get swept up in the whirlwind of "holiday" parties, useless gift exchanges and harried shopping, we can use those weeks to prepare our hearts and homes in meaningful ways for the Prince of Peace. Make time for family prayer, singing and the lighting of the Advent wreath. Choose cards and decorations that have religious significance."

I miss my Fontanini nativity set that the X-husband got 12 years ago. I loved that each figure had a story and I had planned as I collected a new figure every year, that as a family, our tradition leading up to Christmas would be to read the figure's story, add it to the scene, read from the Bible and really prepare our hearts. I had hoped that tradition would have been very special to my children.

As you know, I am no longer married and I never had any children. As my 40th birthday came and went, I have resigned, or am trying to resign, myself to the fact that I will most likely not be getting married and I'm about 90% sure I won't be having any children. You know, that just breaks my heart. Those are two things I just don't want to give-up hoping about, but the cold hard reality is I need to let those two hopes just go.

I was recently asked about my favorite Christmas shows...I haven't watched any this year. The favorites of the person asking were those stop motion animated classics from Rankin and Bass, "A Christmas Without Santa" and "Santa Claus is Coming To Town". Just the mention of those brought back memories of Christmases past, I could actually remember conversations. But then, I got kind of sad, we looked so forward to those shows. Now that they are on video, kids can watch them on demand, they aren't even as "special". I would love to watch the excitement of a child as they watched these, counting down the days to Christmas.

I remember the excitement of putting up the tree as a child. When I bought my townhouse five years ago and put up my first Christmas tree. I was so excited. I'm slowly collecting special Christmas ornaments (again, all the ornaments I had collected that were special to me were lost when I left my X-husband). I was still excited about unwrapping each of my new special ornaments, most are Marine Corps Museum themed. Yet, after it was all done, I realized, who would see my beautiful tree...heck, I have had it up now for two weeks and I haven't even gotten a chance to sit on my sofa to enjoy it. Ranger enjoys sleeping under it and I've lost another ball ornament to the cats' playful whims.

I feel like all the joy and excitement is being sucked from me. There are times I feel the crushing alone-ness that George Bailey must have felt as he stood on the bridge in Bedford Falls. I wonder what God's purpose was/is for me. I wonder if I failed Him. At the same time, I hear the nasty, jeering taunt of my X-husband "I hate you" "You are so unloveable." "No one will ever love you!" "No one will ever marry you again." "You will die lonely and alone." I've been hearing that voice in the back of my head a lot this past month.

My small group did this wonderful Bible Study on The Christmas Carol. Just as Scrooge's heart was hardened, I realized mine has been hardened too from past hurts, hopes lost, fear of a dead and empty future. I've lost site of these facts:

God created me and He doesn't make junk. Eventhough I may not be the standard of beauty, success or value that is the world's standards, He created me and I am beautiful, successful and valued by Him.
I am so valued and loved that He sent His son to redeem me, despite all of my faults and impurities.
He loves me
He will never leave me
He will provide for me
He will give me the desires of my heart - - I just have to let go of MY desires so that He can fill me with HIS.

I'll admit, I'm struggling right now. I'm wishing for that "Red Ryder BB gun" and I keep getting the "You'll shoot your eye out" as the response. So...what I want for Christmas is a change of heart, I want it to be in line with His. I want His will to become my will. Geez, is that hard and scary to pray for. I want to be able to live each day confident in whose I am.

The Magazine and Guardhouse

2009-11-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

Next Stop, the Magazine and Guardhouse. This was originally built in 1715. It was the storehouse of guns and ammunition for the colony. I believe they used this as a location shoot for the HBO series John Adams.

Revolution era barbed wire.

The revolution in Virginia was touched of in April 1775 when Governor Dunmore removed the gun powder belonging to the Colongy. Lets go on in and check it out.

It was not easy to take powder and guns out of this building. Once past the main door, you had to ascend this narrow, winding staircase. I'm sure this had a defensive purpose.

Once up in the Magazine, every kind of musket, pistol and ammunition and cannon balls were stacked and hanging from the walls.

In addition to the weapons and powder, other supplies a militia would need...powder horns, blanket roles, canteens, uniforms and drums.

Williamsburg, the Governor's Palace

2009-11-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

Construction for the Governor's Palace was authorized in 1706. The Palace was complete in 1722. It was home to 5 Royal Lt. Governors and two Royal Governors. Usually , Royal Governors would appoint their Lt. Governors to administer the colony...because they didn't want to leave the comfort of England. When the colonists started acting up, the King required that his appointed Governor move to the Colony and administer it in person.

The Palace was destroyed by fire in 1781 while being used as a hospital for American's wounded at Yorktown. It was rebuilt on its orginal foundations in 1930. It is furnished to represent the home of the last British Royal Governer of Virginia, John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore.

Inside the front entrace of the Palace.

According to the tour guide. If you were a colonist, the guns and swords hanging on the wall would not have impressed you...because you probably had at least one gun if not more. What would have impressed a colonist....the marble floor.

Most colonists were lucky if they had a wooden floor, most had packed and hardened dirt floors in their homes.

Upstairs, this was the Governor's dressing room. It walls were covered in embossed leather.

Below, the family dining room. Interestingly, the children would not have taken meals here, they would have taken their meals upstairs in their bedroom with their governess. The Governor, his wife and guests would have eaten here.

Below, the music room and ball room.

On to Williamsburg - - The Haunted House

2009-11-27T16:47:00.000-08:00

My day in Williamsburg was also rainy. Above, the Governor's Mansion. One of the benefits of visiting Williamsburg in March is that it is NOT crowded. One of the disadvantages of visiting Williamsburg in March is that many of the places to eat are not open.

Back to the positive. Because it wasn't crowded, I got some great pictures and went on some almost private tours. So much fun...and I had such a different perspective going on tours after serving as a docent at the Museum. The "private" tour I went on was of the Peyton Randolph House. It is one of the most haunted of the houses in Williamsburg, according to my tour guide.

Since I was the ONLY person on the tour, it was like walking through the house with a 'friend'. The tour guide and I even sat at the table here in the parlor and she shared the ghost stories with me. Yes, we sat at the table as its a reproduction, not a real antique. My tour guide appreciated the opportunity to sit down as her corset was tied a little to tight and she felt out of breath throughout the tour...and I think she may have been a little sick by the time we got here...or were we being followed by the ghost of the mistress of the house, Mrs. Randolph, pictured in the portrait at the right.

It was neat sitting and chatting, again, I could imagine myself as the wife of a well-to-do merchant, visiting Mrs. Randolph for a cup of tea. According to the tour guide, both Mr. and Mrs. Randolf have made themselves visible in this room.

After 'tea' we headed back to the kitchen. This long hallway, according to the tour guide, has had the most "ghostly" activity. Above the hallway were slave quaters for the house slaves. She said often times, as it grows dark, the sounds of footsteps or other knocking and banging can be heard above...when no one is up there.

Below, the kitchen.

Out in the court yard of the Randolf House...

Peyton Randolph (1721-1775) served the Colony of Virginia in many of its highest offices. He was the first President of the Continental Congress. His father, Sir John Randolph, was the only colonial Virginian to be knighted. The senior Randolph died in the house in 1737. Peyton Randolph and his wife did not have any children. Randolph had had small pox as a young boy, this often times rendered people infertile. His nephews lived with the Peytons, I believe while attending college at William and Mary.

On the Battlefield - Yorktown

2009-11-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

It was a cold, rainy day on the battle field. Below is a panarama of the Americans breaching one of the British positions. This was inside at the National Park Service building.

The earthworks that were re-built...I think in the 1930s. These would have been the British positions.

Below is how they built the earthworks during the revolution...early version of Hesco barriers. These are kind of falling apart. They would have been filled with dirth and the covered with dirt.

"The Fox" , this is a French made cannon manning a British position. "The Fox" was the name engraved on this cannon. It could fire a cannon ball as far as a mile.

Below, are American and French positions. This is part of the Grand French Battery. This battery contained 30 pieces of artillery which bombarded the main British Defenses. The two cannon below are field guns.

Below a Mortar (front) and a Howitzer (back).

Looking down range...that house is in big trouble.

Below, the American Approach Road. This ravine protected Americans from British cannon fire as they moved up to build the main seige lines.

Yours truly "manning" one of the American cannons.

Then down in the trenches. I actually slipped in the mud while walking around and up on this Redoubt... Yes, I was almost impaled on one those logs. Would have been very interesting as one of my ancestors survived the Revolution...lost a leg, but survived the war...could you imagine that meeting in heaven..."Hi great-great-great-great-great-great-great....grandfather, I died on the Yorktown Battlefield...no there was no war...I slipped in the mud and was impaled on one of those big spikey log things."

Recreation of a Successful Virginia Farm

2009-11-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

My favorite things about the Yorktown Victory Center were the immersion type displays.

Clearly, this turkey wasn't afraid of losing his head.

Below, a recreated, successful Virginia farm during the pre-revolution/revolution era. My ancestors were successful Virginia farmers (Not wealthy, but successful, according to documentation my family has). As I walked up to the farm, I imagined myself walking up to the S. farm.

The house was modest, single room building with a loft.

The lady of the house was de-seeding cotton... looked like quite the tedious chore.

One one side of the room was the dining/work area, on the other was the bed. If there were additional children, they probably slept above in the loft.

This "family" had a separate building that served as the kitchen.

The barn was full of drying tobacco. Looks like they had a bumper crop, the barn rafters were full.

Most households grew their own fruits and vegetables. This is the vegatable garden.

2009-11-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

Back in March, I took five days of vacation and toured Virginia's historic triangle. On my first day, I spent a rainy day walking around the Yorktown battlefield.

Below, is the Moore House. This is where the British surrender was negotiated. Imagine, riding up the drive via carriage or on horse back.

The front door of the the Moore house.

Inside the sitting room, a recreation of how it may have looked at the time of the surrender. At the table were representatives of the British (2), French, and the Americans. The interesting fact shared by the park ranger was that the only one at the table that understood both English AND French was the American Lt.Col.

For more information on the Moore House and the articles of capitulation that were signed, check out the National Park Service's Moore House site.

The Dash and Stache Kitten Update

2009-11-23T15:33:00.001-08:00

So I have the day off and I'm catching up on blogging, reading and writing them. I've been meaning to give you all an update on Dash and Stache, the last two of my foster kittens to be adopted this summer.

As you remember, my heart was torn, I loved those little guys. When they weren't adopted, I wasn't disappointed. However, when they weren't adopted, I was a little afraid as they got bigger and started to lose the kitten cuteness, that they wouldn't be adopted. I was baffled that no one was adopting them as they were so friendly at events, their fur was so soft and shiney and they were cute as could be. How could all those people reject my babies?

As the weeks progressed and I got more and more attached, I did what several of my friends parents did for them...kind of. I have several friends whose parents prayed for their spouse from the time they were babies...and they all were married to good, Godly men. I decided to bring in the "big guns" and pray to God for a family for Dash and Stache. I was very specific. I wanted them to have a young couple that would spoil them rotten, treat them like children and just love them up.

Prayer works. Two weeks after starting my prayer and after an evening of tearful pleading with God the night before....my prayer for Dash and Stache was answered.

The cool thing, their new mom friended me on Facebook. She gave me permission to share a couple of the pictures they posted of the boys at the beginning of Football season.

Here, the boys are sporting Ohio State sweatshirts. Yes...how cool is that, their new parents are Ohio State fans!

Stache is at the top, Dash is at the bottom.

Stache: "Hey, help me out of this sweater!"
Dash: "I can't, I think I'm paralyzed!"

This is Dash and his mom. He was very upset over a score made by the other team.

Dash: "UNBELIEVABLE! How hard can it be to tackle someone?! If the Buckeye's lose I think my short life will END!"

Below, Stache realizes that he can move...and still eat while wearing his sweater.

Stache: "Hey Dad, hand over the grub and no one gets hurt!"

I laughed and laughed at the pictures. I know they are being loved and spoiled rotten. They are adorable little guys. I also got a kick out of reading all their friends' comments on the pictures. Their parents' kept their names, Dash and Stache, and people thought those names were cool.

Their mom updated me on their first vet visit. It went well and they are healthy. Stache is going to be the big guy and was a whole pound heavier than Dash. They enjoy chasing each other up and down the stairs and entertaining their parents.

....and they lived happily ever after!

Handwriting from the past

2009-11-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today, I decided to make these peanut butter and chocolate bar cookies that are quite famous in our family. You can't just eat one....

I pulled out one of my old cookbooks to get a peanut butter cookie recipe. There, written on the cover of the cookbook was a message from my grandma. Seeing her handwriting was almost like seeing a ghost. It brought a flood of memories back. Suddenly there was that desire to see and to talk to her but that isn't possible as she passed away 11 years ago. I wish the cookbook was a hardcover book. Eventually, it will fall apart. I will never get rid of that book. It would be like getting rid of a piece of my grandma.

Holy Crap! I'm 40!

2009-11-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

This is yours truly just 9 days ago with one of my fellow volunteers at the National Museum of the Marine Corps' Birthday Ball and Volunteer appreciation ceremony.

I don't think I look like I'm 40.

O.k, technically I wasn't 40 when this picture was taken...but still, I don't think I look like I'm 40. Have no idea what I expected myself to look like at 40. I wish I were a little bit thinner - - but hey, I've always wished that even when I was in the best shape of my life. One of my goals this year is to get back into the best shape I can be. 40 just seemed like such an old age. Almost an end to things, until I started getting closer to that number.

So any way, here I am. No bells or whistles. It is what it is, just another day. Hopefully tomorrow will be another day and I'll have about 80 more years of another day because there is a lot of stuff I still want to do.

Um, like work on my 40 on 40 journal entries. I think I have 38 more to go.

Premonitions

2009-11-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

This morning, I shot past the first exit I take to get to work. I turned around, missed the next exit I needed to take. Finally got on the toll road. Then I missed the exit I take to get off the toll road.

It was the most bizarre thing. Something that hasn't happened to me since September 11, 2001.

I met one of my co-workers in the parking lot, she was also arriving late and I told her how unsettled I felt and all the exits I had missed and the last time this had happened to me. Her response, "Jeez, I hope nothing like that happens today."

Today, as I left work I heard about the shootings at Ft. Hood.

Cool Auntie Award

2009-10-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

I'm excited and have to share.

My niece loved her pop-up Cinderella book I got her for her 4th birthday. What little girl wouldn't love this book?

My sister told me that she really liked the birthday card I sent too. It was a Cinderella card, of course. Niece screamed over and over when she opened it, "Its Cinderella! Its Cinderella!" My sister said she has been reading the book to her every night now and Niece always asks for it to be read again. Heck, I'd just want to go through and turn all the pages to see everything pop up.

When I called them last night, my sister put Niece on the phone and in her little, high pitched 4-year-old voice, she exclaimed, "I LOVED THE BOOK!!" "I'm going to be Cinderella for Trick or Treat." "I'm going to be a Princess!"

I reminded her that she already was a Princess. She replied, "Yeah!"

Oh to be a little kid again and to believe with your whole self that you ARE a Princess!

An interesting Day at the Museum, a Chat with a WW2 Woman Marine

2009-10-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Sundays are usually pretty slow.

Today at 9:30, three two buses pulled up. We had a group of JrROTC kids and a group of senior citizens. Their trips to DC were side tracked because they couldn't get into DC because of the Marathon. About an hour later, another bus rolled in. This one was carrying Wake Forest Alumni who had been up to Maryland for the WF/Navy football game.

I gave two tours. I'm tired.

I have a great story. A woman marine from the World War 2 era came in with her daughter and son-law. They asked me if there were any displays on women Marines in the museum. Three cheers for me listening and taking copious notes at our docent meetings! The museum recently published a special pamphlet about women Marines and where there are displays about them.

I chatted with the lady for a short bit and got her story. She was in what was suppose to be the last female boot class in 1945. The war had ended, she said, and they were looking to let all of the women Marines go...but everyone wanted out, so they needed to keep the women, who performed administrative duties, to do all the paper work for everyone getting out of active duty and going on reserves.

I asked her why she joined the Marine Corps. She said she had always wanted to be a Marine. Why? She said she didn't know, she just always liked the Marines so when she was old enough to join that is what she did. She also married a Marine and was a Marine wife for 22 years.

She said it was tough being a woman Marine because they were very strict with them. They were never granted overnight liberty and they had to be in very early in the evening. I asked if they were doing that to protect them, I mean, there were probably a lot of women who were from small towns and Washington, DC could be dangerous. "The Marine Corps was stricter on us than our parents were," she replied.

"They would kick a woman Marine out for the smallest infraction. For the 'good of the service'."

I asked what kind of infractions. She told me the following story.

" Once a group of us from Henderson Hall had the day off so we walked across Arlington Cemetery and over the bridge into DC to go watch a movie. When we left the theater there was a horrible rainstorm. The only place we could go inside and wait for a bus was a little bar. So, we ordered a pitcher of beer. One gal had only had half a glass of beer and she was acting all silly, like she was drunk. We didn't think she could be but she was. We got on the bus and road back to Henderson Hall. When we got off the bus, we ran to the gate so we'd get in on time and this gal fell. We had to be inspected when we returned and this girl we stood her between us because she was muddy from the knees down, hoping they wouldn't notice, but they did. She was kicked out the next day, 'for the good of the service.'

I was once restricted to post for a week. You know the summer uniforms we had? [I did, we have the uniform on display in the WW2 gallery]. Well, I starched the hem so it would lay nicer, we'd do that. I got caught, wasn't suppose to do that so I was put on restriction."

She was in the Marine Corps for 2 years when she married her husband, a 1st Lieutenant. Since she was a LCpl, it was strongly encouraged that one of them get out. So she did. She said she enjoyed every bit of being a Marine and then every bit of being a Marine Corps wife.

Where in the World....

2009-10-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have not blogged in ages!

Funny, blogging used to be my "slap-it-up" there so I don't forget about something I've done so I can scrapbook it later. Lately, Facebook has become my "slap-it-up" there place. This is where I get into the meat of things.

Two weekends ago, I, along with some of the gals in my Bible Study group spent a wonderful weekend in Pennsylvania. I posted the photos and the stories (I had a major issue with following directions) only to have everything go *poof*.

GRRRRR

So I have a ton. A TON of catching up to do.

Its coming. All the photos and gory details of the weekend trip AND today's dedication of the chapel at the Marine Corps Museum.

40 on 40: My First Friends and Surviving Scary Mr. S

2009-10-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how we all met. I just remember we seemed to all be playing together from the beginning.

Camille and her brother Jamie, David and his brother Jason, Joey and my sister and I. For some reason, I remember more of us, but maybe that was it.

David and Jason had a dog named Boo. He went everywhere the boys went. We'd run up and down the street and play at every one's house. We were a tricycle/Big Wheel gang if there ever was one. We would run up and down the side walk, often times into Clover Street, as it seemed that no one ever drove their car down that road. Lots of laughing, squealing, yelling and barking. Until HE came out.

"He" was the dreaded, scary, cranky, senile, mean Mr. S. I think he could hear a pin drop, if a child dropped it. Often times he'd send his poor suffering wife out to yell at us. You couldn't touch a blade of grass in his yard or he'd know it and would stand at the door and yell. He even preferred we not touch his side walk. He was scary. I think we all thought he'd eat little children lie the witch in the story Hansel and Gretel.

I remember one sunny day we were all playing with Boo following us gang of kids. He was barking gleefully, his tongue flopping about as he dashed and hopped among us. Mr. S. came out and yelled for us to "shut-up" and he called the dog pound to take Boo. Jason started to cry and we all ran to our mothers. I think Camille's mom came out and stood on his front side walk and yelled back at him. That he should be ashamed of scaring little kids and what a horrible man he was. The complaint had been lodged, Boo was running around without a leash. I don't remember Boo running around the neighborhood with us again after that.

For my sister and I (yes, I have 2 sisters, but the second sister wasn't born yet), the only save place from Mr. S was either inside our house or at someone else's house. If we sat on our swing set and sang songs at the top of our little lungs, he'd come out and yell. If he could see us from his kitchen window, he'd come out and yell.

One summer, my mom planted green beans along the fence. I remember the terror of being sent out to pick those green beans. I cried, I wouldn't do it because I'd have to go into Mr. S's yard. My mom yelled at me to go pick the beans. Boy talk about a dilemma!

Touch a blade of Mr. S's grass and be eaten alive or get spanked for disobeying my mom.

I went to pick the beans.

Sure enough, the first grass blade broken must have set alarm bells ringing. Mr. S. came out in a rage! I ran back into our house. My mom walked back out determined that I'd pick those beans and Mr. S. would have to suck it up. He yelled at my mom, something about the beans on his side of the fence belonged to him. My mom yelled back and sent me marching to what I thought was my death, to pick those darn beans. My mom stood on the back porch of our house, arms crossed, staring Mr. S down. I timidly crept along Mr. S's side of the fence, picking the beans while Mr. S yelled. I peed my pants I was so scared.

Eventually, several years later, Mr. S died. When he did, it was like new life had been breathed into his wife. Instead of yelling at us when we sat and sang on the swings, she'd compliment us on our pretty voices. My youngest sister befriended the S's grandchildren, who came to visit once Mr. S was dead. She'd play with them on the front porch, their yard or in their house, places that to us older kids would have meant certain death.

40 on 40: Memories - - A Blessing or A Curse

2009-10-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

I remember a lot of things.

From a writer's perspective, a long, detailed memory is a great gift. I always wanted to be a writer - - what happened how did I get side tracked? Maybe I just hadn't experienced enough life, created enough memories. Writers are told in every workshop to write what you know. Well, what do I know?

I used to think I knew a lot. But then I started learning things and realized how much I really don't know. Ironic how that is, isn't it?

A long, sharp memory of things long ago. Sometimes it is a blessing. Other times it is a curse. There are things I'd like to forget - - like the almost 4 years I was married to my X husband or ...well some other things I'd like to not share.

The earliest memory I have is of my parent's Rawson Avenue apartment. I was maybe 2 or 3 years old. I remember a dark linoleum floor in the kitchen, dark wood cabinet doors and I was playing with a tooth brush and the push buttons on a desk lamp my dad had. The memory itself is not extraordinary. The fact I can remember that snippet from that long ago and its not something traumatic is what is extraordinary.

Other early memories are vague, nondiscript, such as getting up at the crack of dawn , turning on the t.v. to watch the crackling black and white test pattern. Apparently, I did this often. I only have a single memory of doing this.

I was terrified of my uncle Babe. I don't know why. I knew I didn't want to be held by him when my parents did the "Pass the baby around" thing.

There are things I wish I could remember like the time I climbed out of the baby bed, scaled the diaper table, opened a jar of Vaseline, dipped my little hands into it and proceeded to rub globs of the petroleum jelly into my wispy baby hair. I then toddled into my parents' bedroom and woke them up with greasy hand pats to the face. For some reason, this seems like a fun memory to have - - but its reconstructed from my parent's memories.

I remember my parents buying the Hayes Avenue house. I don't remember the move. I do remember my dad taking me into the room that would be mine and asking me what color I wanted the walls. Looking out the window and picking at the paint on the window sill, I said, "Blue".

I think my dad was surprised by that. I like the color blue.

The Hayes Avenue house was next door to my grandparents. That was nice.

Our house had stood empty for a couple years before my parents purchased it. I remember the house being kind of scary. The floor were carpeted with a wool Berber that 20 years before had been a pretty rose color, now faded to beige. The plaster on the walls and ceiling was cracked and falling off in places. There was a large white enamelled 1950s sink in the kitchen and a huge pantry with floor to ceiling cabinets. The floor was a rainbow flecked linoleum.

The scariest place in the house was the basement. At the bottom of the dark stairway was a monster of a furnace. Its door looked like a cavernous monster's mouth, ready to gobble up an unsuspecting child. The laundry bin for the laundry chute was behind the "monster". A baby sitter once tossed our clothes down the chute and my sister and I melted down into horrified screaming and crying, certain that the monster that lurked in the basement had eaten our clothes and would then come get us.

40 on 40

2009-10-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of my upcoming 40th birthday, I decided I would pen a few blogs regarding the past 40 years. I doubt I'll get 40 blogs completed in the next 40 days. 40 on 40 just sounded kind of catchy.

Let me just say, my first sentence is already a lie. I'm not "anticipating" my 40th birthday.

I'm in denial.

Yes, denial.

I can't be 40 already. I can't be. 40 is .... so... so.... well, so old. I don't feel like I'm 40. O.k. sometimes I do feel like I'm 40, all those darn hurdles I fell over when I was younger.

I don't look like I'm 40?

Do I?

The one thing that I can say about reaching this milestone in life is:
"Its not at all what I expected."

What did I expect? I expected I'd be married. I'd have kids. I'd be living in an above average single family home. I'd have a successful career. My husband would have a successful career. I'd be thinner. I'd have traveled more. I expected my life to be more exciting, not as ordinary as it seems to have been. I had some big dreams.

I often wonder if my parents are disappointed in how I turned out and where I am in life. Like I said. I had some big dreams. I wonder if they had some expectations. I feel I have fallen flat or come up short on the expectations that I had. For some reason I always felt like I still had time. However, as the days march down to my birth date, I realize the expiration date on many of those expectations and dreams has been reached and surpassed.

Has anyone else felt this way when you hit the big 4-0?

Those of you who knew me way back - - where did you expect to see me. When you friended me on Facebook were you surprised? Or was it what you expected?

While the first 40 didn't turn out how I had planned, its all o.k. If I average out all the peaks and valleys, everything ends up being a straight line to right here. Its all quite ordinary.

Thank goodness!

I mean, who wants to be a train wreck?

Maybe while I reminisce about the last 40, I'll figure out what direction to head in for the next 40. Those of you who know me and remember some of what I write about, I welcome your comments (positive and negative). I'm writing from my perspective. Your perspective is also valued. Its like "the rest of the story".

When this project is complete in 40 days, I'm going to collect it all up - -all your comments, shared photos if anyone has any and posts any, and I'm going to put it all in an album. I'm sure when I'm 80 I'm going to get a big kick out of it.

"Ordering" a General about and Ignoring Another

2009-10-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

I swear, put a camera in my hands and I become fearless.

I didn't like the picture so...

"General, General! One more."

It wasn't really "Ordering" it was more like a very insistent request. In all honesty, General Mattis could have told me to 'shove off' if he didn't want another photo taken, a do-over shot, with the soldier. I don't think General Mattis is like that. I'm sure he could be to a really annoying photographer. Which I hope I wasn't.

I showed both photos to the young man and explained why I insisted upon the second photo, the one I posted below.

The wounded warrior explained that in the first photo the General asked him for his "Warrior" face. I explained to the young man that he looked much better smiling.

After I had taken the second shot, another man next to me said, "You know that other gentleman is General Myer's former Joint Chief?"

EEEK! They don't wear rank on tuxedo jackets. Retirement from military life has done well by General Myers. I didn't recognize him.

Heck there were other people there that had I recognized them would have been quite interesting to talk to, including a gentleman who as a young Navy pilot, had spent 7 years in the Hanoi Hilton. I didn't even catch his name.

Last night, I attended an event put on by Families of the Wounded. This organization raises funds to help support the families of wounded warriors so they can be near their loved one during recovery. I should have grabbed a program so that I could tell you everyone's names, but I didn't. (and I wonder why I didn't make it as a journalist?)

It was a really neat event observe. For me, the goose bump moment was when everyone in Leatherneck gallery sang "God Bless America".

I really enjoy photographing General Mattis. He's such a personable man. I can tell why people are drawn to him and his Marines like him so much.

From a photographer's perspective, he maintains an "open posture". Its like he positions himself in a group so that a photographer can take a candid photo of him chatting with everyone and you can see everyone's faces, or a part of their face.

He is just so good about working the crowd too. He's comfortable with having his picture taken.

I need help from my docent friends identifying some of the people (like below). The man on the left is a retired Marine Corps General, he led the singing of the National Anthem and God Bless America. He and General Mattis are old buddies and General Mattis asked me to take this picture.

General Mattis with the two wounded warriors honored at the event and the President of the Wounded Warrior Fund.

General Mattis was the keynote speaker. It was a very serious speech about the need to provide for the care of not just the wounded warriors but their families. I did videotape the speech but have not reviewed it. If it the lighting and sound are o.k., I'll post later in the week.

One of the soldiers honored. The woman standing next to him is his mother who has been with him through every step of the recovery process. He had grave arm and leg wounds due to an IED.

The other young man honored is below, his father is to his left. This young man was also injured by an IED.

Visiting their Boys on Gold Star Mothers' Day

2009-09-27T18:21:00.001-07:00

The museum has been hosting the Lima Company Memorial since September 11th. It will be at the museum until January 2010.

The Lima Company Memorial honors the 23 men (22 Marines and the Navy Corpsman) of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, a Marine Corps Reserve Unit based in Ohio, who were killed while deployed to Iraq in 2005.

According the the Lima Memorial website, "The Ohio-based Marine Reserve unit, once known as "Lucky Lima," was one of the hardest hit single units in Operation Iraqi Freedom, suffering deaths of 22 Marines and their Navy Corpsman. Created by Columbus artist Anita Miller, the memorial contains life-sized paintings of each of the 23 fallen heroes. Names and statistics of each of the fallen men, an ever-living candle, boots and space for visitors to leave mementos are part of this moving memorial."

The Artist, Anita Miller, envisioned life size portraits displayed in an octagon. You can see her conceptual drawing and read the story behind the memorial here. When it was completed, it was displayed in the rotunda of the Ohio Capital building, for a picture of how it was displayed, click here.

It is currently on display in the Leatherneck Gallery of the museum. It is displayed in groupings of 4 panels on either side of the Tarawa exhibit.

Today, I had the fortune of meeting some of the mothers of the Lima Company Marines. They were in DC for Remembrance weekend, in honor of Gold Star Mothers' Day.

For those who don't know, a Gold Star family is a family who has lost a military son or daughter in a conflict.

One of the mother's, Pat Murray, gave me permission to photograph her with the image of her son David Kreuter.

I asked her which image was her son, she said, "This good looking guy right here." He is the the Marine pictured on the far right.

She asked if I wanted her touching him when I took the picture. I told her "no" because we don't allow anyone to touch paintings and artwork. She told me no one had ever told them they couldn't touch the paintings. My sincere apologies, to everyone, if touching was the intent of the artist, I just didn't know.

David is displayed on the last panel on the far right. His fresh smile, frozen in time.

She said the artist invited the families to help varnish the paintings. That was very special she said. I asked if it was like touching him one last time. She said it was.

When David was killed, he had been married for just a year. His son was only six weeks old. He did not wear his wedding band while in combat, this is not unusual. When the artist was painting the panel, his widow asked her if she could paint his wedding band in. The artist did.

I am going to share with you one final photograph, I hope Ms. Murray is not offended by me sharing this moment with you. Saying her good-byes.

Our freedoms are not free. The men and women in the military and their families know this. They have paid for it in separations, sweat, blood, tears and some, ultimately, their lives. I hope that those of you in the Washington DC area can take a visit to the museum to meet these young men.

Retreat to the Hills - - Baptisms

2009-09-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Baptisms were held at the hot tub after the last session for the day. The thing that most excited me was how many people came. I think several hundred came to witness 15 get baptised. One of the gals in my Bible study group was baptized .

Below, my friend gives her testimony and why she is choosing to be baptized.

After the baptisms, there was a talent show. Last year I didn't go because I was so tired. This time I had taken a nap before the homecoming game so I could make it late into the night. Can I just tell you this was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I mean, I have paid big bucks for comedy shows but this free show was by far the best I've seen in a while.

The MC is who made it funny. He had funny comments regarding everyone who went up on stage -- and the performers were such good sports!

Below, juggler. She told us she learned this as a "Party trick" in hopes that knowing how to do this would get her invited to more parties. It didn't work that way, but she knows how to juggle.

Again, we are clearly NOT a Baptist church, below a dance routine to a Spice Girls song.

The two guys below won the crowd favorite award. They were really good. Next year, I need to take video.

Retreat to the HIlls Part 3

2009-09-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Of course, if the theme is Schooled aka High School and we had a homecoming dance already, it is logical that we'd have a homecoming football game.

I decided to take my sports photography skills out and dust them off. Within two plays, I as almost creamed by this green monster.

The staff handed off to their ministry intern quite often. He was a good ball carrier and receiver. I think he scored all of the touchdowns for the staff team.

This guy had some serious moves. It was like watching a martial arts film (I know bad comparison since he is Asian) where they twist their body at the last second to miss being hit by some thrown blade. Well this guy could contort his body while running to avoid getting touched it was amazing to watch. After watching him, I'm surprised their aren't more Asian football players.

Fan reactions: Oh NO! Oh YES!

Retreating to the Hills Part 2

2009-09-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

The main day of sessions and activities was Saturday. After breakfast, we all piled into the auditorium for worship and session 2 of the main message. Below, some of the 500.

As you can see from this picture, we are all very serious Christians. The girl sitting next to this guy is probably thinking, "Dear God turn them into pillars of salt now!"

This is me with minimal make-up and my librarian glasses poseing for a shot with our Single's ministry team leader. She is a phenom! She spends about 40 hours a week doing all the administrative stuff for our singles ministry and its all volunteer based.

The next three shots are of the praise band during the worship portion of the session. I'll be honest with you. They really have the volume up too high. I know I had some hearing damage done. That morning at breakfast, one of the girls sitting at the table was asked what her favorite part of the retreat was so far and she replied with a big smile, "Katie". No, what was has been your favorite part of the retreat? "My name is Katie" she shouted back. Since I was sitting next to her at the table, I repeated the question to her and laughed, "you were obviously sitting too close to the speakers last night weren't you?"

My favorite part of the retreat was "cabin" time. After the first session and before lunch, they had time scheduled for the cabins to get together to talk about the weekend and just interact with each other. I thought this was great! The first retreat I had ever come to, I didn't know anyone and had hoped to meet some people - - only thing was everyone in my cabin seemed to know each other already so no one invited me along with their group. This was really nice because we could all get to know each other. I got to know and chat with a couple women I've not really had the time to chat with before. We picked the pool deck for our cabin time.

Retreating to the Virginia Hills

2009-09-26T19:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I escaped the hustle and bustle and stress of the Washington, DC area and went to a church retreat at Rockbridge Alum Springs, a Younglife camp.

This was the main lodge where all of the sessions were held. We had about 500 attendees.

Below is the "Chow Hall".

This is the "lake" aka pond for all of us that grew up by the Great Lakes.

A beautiful, peaceful babbling brook gently cut through the camp. There were many rocks and benches where you could sit and enjoy quite time in the rising morning sun. I wish this time of day lasted longer.

The theme of the weekend was "Schooled". The message that I walked away with was to remember that I am to love God first. Serving Him is my first priority. After the first session, most of the 'campers' headed over to the Homecoming dance -- yes this was a back to high school theme.

The dance was such fun! I haven't danced since the Marine Corps Birthday celebration last year. Clearly, we are not a Baptist church. Lots of dancing.

This is me with a couple of the men in our singles group.

Below, one of the pastors shows everyone his dance floor moves.

Following in My Ancestor's Footsteps

2009-09-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

This past spring, I went on a family history vacation to Virginia's historic triangle, Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown.

My first stop was Yorktown. At the Victory Center and Museum, there are interpretive, static displays inside as well as a living display outside. The living display is a Continental Army encampment, a window into the life of my ancestor John Sale.

After writing a draft and going back to the family history notes I have from several different family members and then cross checking online. I was getting three different stories. So...

What I do know, John Sale was in the Continental Army. He did not participate in the Battle at Yorktown as one set of papers indicated but was in charge of the Prisoner of War Camp in Ablemar, Virginia. Some material indicates that he may have lost a leg.

The camps he may have lived in while serving in the Army may have looked like the camp depicted below in Yorktown.

The re-enactor below is dressed in the uniform of a Private.

The living quarters of enlisted soldiers in the revolution consisted of canvas tents with straw floors. Straw is a great insulator, so if you were lucky in the winter months to get a lot of straw from a local farmer, you could keep relatively warm and dry in your tent.

Officer's quarters were a little better in the camp, bigger tents, anyway with cots.

The tent below depicts General Washington's tent. Not only were these living quarters but they were where "business was conducted" Washington's tent included a large map table off to the side.

I was quite interested in the cooking pit. According to the interpreter, this was always built away from the tents in order to prevent fires. They had a huge circle dug into the ground with "cooking holes" carved into the side of the inner island. A fire would be built in the hole in the side and smoke and heat would rise through the hole at the top. They would place the pots and pans on top of the "exhaust" hole because heat rises and would cook the items in the pots and pans.

He demonstrated how to start a fire using flint, a piece of charred fabric and dried grass. I am so thankful we don't have to demonstrate anything like this at the Marine Corps Museum!

Inside the Yorktown Center, they had a display of what a typical soldier would be carrying. One thing I learned this year was regarding the 'wigs' they wore. Everyone wore a wig so all hair was uniform but it was also hygienic. Since bathing was practically an optional thing back then, the wigs could be washed in a river or any available water - - so their "hair" would be clean.

Discover their stories, honor their values

2009-09-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation has embarked on a fund raising effort to build an education center at the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. I just saw a full page advertisement for this in Armchair General, a magazine I subscribe to.

The Education Center will be built adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial. The center will not only put faces to the 58,000 names on the wall, but will house and display letters, photos and artifacts that have been left at the wall. The American History Museum had a display of artifacts left at the wall that brought me to tears every time I stood in front of the display case. When I have gone down to DC and have walked the length of the wall, I can't help but stop and read things that have been left at certain panels. I never walk away with dry eyes. I can only imagine how moving this Education Center will be.

More information about the center and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund can be found at their website: http://www.vvmf.org/.

Above, sculpture at the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC.

Today's Washington Post is also carrying a story on the center and the task at collecting photos of the 58,000 plus veterans listed on the wall: Putting Faces to the Names on the Vietnam Memorial. According to the article, 10,000 photos have been received so far and $20 million has been raised of the $85 million needed to build the center.

Remembering 9/11

2009-09-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

9/11.

That day is seared into our memory. Many of us remember almost everything about that day.

For me, it was a normal, warm early fall day here in DC. I rushed around in the morning. I was running late (like I am today). I must have ran out to my car and back into the apartment three times. Something was out of place and I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was some connection to the 'spiritual' world or old instincts we humans have surpressed. My subconcious knew something was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good.

At 8:30, I was on the road - - the hijackers were boarding planes with their unsuspecting victims. People in New York were already busy with their day. I was running late, willing myself to get through the crush of traffic on I-66 heading east so that I could make it to Bethesda (where I worked at the time) by 9 a.m.

As I rounded the corner to pull into the parking garage to our building in Bethesda, I heard the breaking news, a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. My first thoughts, the thoughts of all Americans, probably, that this was some kind of terrible accident. By the time I had gotten upstairs to the office, everyone was standing around the cube of co-worker who had a radio.

"Hey, you guys, a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York." I said.

"Another plane just hit the other World Trade Center building," a co-worker replied. We all realized that it was no accident. We were stunned. We all stood in the hall listening. Then the Pentagon was hit. Silently, urgently we all returned to our desks and started calling our families, our friends, people we knew who worked at the Pentagon or near-by.

My sister who was working in Rossilyn, very near the Pentagon, e-mailed me. She couldn't get through on the phone lines. "If you can, call mom and dad and tell them I am o.k."

I have the string of e-mails we exchanged over a half hour span of time before she and her co-workers decided to walk to someone's home who lived near their office.

As I write this, remembering, tears still swell up in my eyes. I really was worried about my sister. There were so many rumors we were hearing in the news and from friends we had reached on the phone or via e-mail.

Our bosses came through the office and told us that if we wanted to go home we could. Everyone wanted to go home. You wanted to be with friends, family or in a familiar place.

The drive home on the beltway was like something out of a movie. We were living the evacuation scene from Independance Day. Amazingly, everyone was curtiteous. No road rage. We were all in the same boat. We were all in the same shock and just wanted to get home in one piece.

Below is a photo of the TV and Radio antenna that had been on top of the World Trade Center. In the background are front pages of the news papers from 9/12. This is at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

There is a movie interviewing journalists who covered the events that day along with the footage they had taken. I couldn't watch long because it made me cry.

I think the childlike thing that I have never understood, and still have a hard time understanding is, why to other people hate us, the United States, Americans? Why would they do this to us? Why were there some people so happy and celebrating that this happened to us? The US is the country everyone tries to come to. The US always seems to be helping, wants to help, feels its our responsiblity to help because we've been blessed with plenty.

I can't believe its been 8 years.

May the the loss of that day not be forgotten. May the lives lost that day and since, not be forgotten. May we, as a nation remain vigilant so this doesn't happen again.

The End of the Summer and New Beginnings

2009-09-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Labor Day, the last "real" day of summer was always kind of a sad day for me. It meant that summer was "really" over. Even though sports practices had begun early in August and school usually the last full week of August, it still seemed like summer, until Labor Day. Once Labor Day was over - - summer was over.

Back in the day when I was in school, I did look forward to the end of summer because it also meant the beginning of something - - another school year. For some reason, I always had this feeling that some how, I could re-invent myself going into the new school year. There were always endless possibilities.

Now that I'm almost as old as dirt, I look back and realize it was the summer that held all the possibilities for me. The seemingly endless days spent at the pool or beach (from 15 to 22 years old, I life guarded - - so it wasn't entirely unproductive). The long cool nights spent reading an endless pile of books while listening to the crickets through the open windows. Oh, the endless adventures I went on through time and space! All things seemed possible in the summer.

Now, the days of summer melt into fall into winter into spring into summer with no real milestones with which to keep track of the years. I feel like Rip Van Winkle when my friends and sister talk of their kids going to kindergarten or worse yet - - high school. The kids can't be THAT old already!? How old does that make ME? Where has time flown? Why, the last time I saw you, you were just a toddler!

It seems so fitting that the last day of this summer be chilly, cloudy and drizzly. The weather kind of reflects how I feel.

The beginning of the summer, it was full of so many possibilities. I wanted to have a BBQ at my house once a month. I wanted to go here and there and all over the countryside of Virginia. I didn't do nearly all the things I had planned and I did many things I had not planned.

The wonderment of childhood was re-introduced to me in the form of four little furry kittens.

I would have to say the kittens were the highlight of my summer. I really didn't think I'd have them as long as I did. With the economy being poor and what seemed like a HUGE wave of kitten births, they were with me all summer. They invited me into their magical world of play and the miracle of growing up. I got to watch their personalities develop and in some way I hope, I shaped the good beings that they will become as adults. Every day there was something to laugh about. Some new adventure. Being a foster has been one of the most rewarding things I've done, next to volunteering at the museum.

I picked up this skinny litter of kittens Memorial Day weekend. The beginning of summer. It was only fitting that the last of the litter be adopted Labor Day weekend, the end of the summer.

Yes, Dash and Stache were adopted.

I think I knew it was going to be this weekend. I hoped it would be this weekend. You see, I was getting really attached to them. They were integrated with Ranger, Scout and Stryker, it was like they were all one big happy family. Scout was grooming them, Ranger would wrestle with them, Stryker would show them all the best sunny spots under the dining room table. As they became 'half-cats' and people would pick them up at adoption events and oooo and ahhh over them, only to then go for the younger kittens...my heart would break. But I knew that God had the right family for them, they just hadn't come to an event yet.

Last week, as the days ticked by, in my mind it was one less day with the kittens. Thursday, I had every intention of going straight home after work, no gym, just go home to play with the kittens. But something drew me away from that plan. My old, comforting friend, Books, was tugging at me. I spent entirely too much time at the bookstore. I was avoiding going home. Subconsciously, I didn't want that to be the last evening I spent with them.

When I got home, I could see the white of Dash's face in my dark front window. When I opened up the door, there he was. Stache came running across the top of the sofa toward us. Their excitement when I got home at night was always so nice. I was loved, wanted, anticipated. We played, but not as much as I had planned and I feel sad about that.

I'll be honest, I felt sad. I prayed Thursday night that God would bring their forever family to the adoption event. For purely selfish reasons...I really loved those little guys and I told God that the longer I had them the harder it was going to be for me to let them go -- so please, please bring their forever family to the event. I prayed for a young couple, like the couple that adopted Spree and the small kitten Zola. People who loved animals and who would love them and spoil them.

I cried. I think it was the first time this whole summer that I have cried, so three months of it unleashed. Stache had curled up on the pillow next to me. He cooed and then I felt this soft paw on the side of my face, wiping at the tears that were streaming down. Well, that just made me sob. Poor little guy, he'd probably just reached out to touch this strange wet thing running down my face because he'd never seen a tear before. Then Dash got into the act, licking my face - - tears are salty after all. That all combined with a sad book about a man and his dog - - well, you can guess where Thursday night went for me.

Friday - - a young couple came in and adopted Dash and Stache. They both grew up with lots of animals and the wife missed having a cat. They were exactly who I had prayed for.

So, while the summer ends, along with my season of being a foster to Dash and Stache, their lives are just beginning and are full of possibilities. I think I even heard their new "parents" say they were going to keep their names Dash and Stache, those were cool names. Even if they get new names for their new life in their new home, I'm sure they will be their loving, crazy, playful, affectionate selves that I adored and I know they are going to be loved.

Thanks to all my friends for indulging me as I shared photos and stories of their little lives with you this summer. Thanks Lost Dog Lost Cat for giving me the opportunity to foster them. Thanks to the families who adopted them. May they bless your lives as much as they blessed mine.

In the Virginia Hills for the Scottish Games

2009-09-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Scottish Games of Virginia were held in The Plains. This is where the Gold Cup steeple chase race is held each spring. I was surprised at the length of the line to get in.

Once in the gate, we were greeted with row upon row of antique cars, many of the them British.

It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people and many vendors selling food, jewelry, kilts, pottery and other crafts.

Lots of good food. I did not sample any Haggis. I was curious about something called Birdies. Its ground beef, onions and spice in a fluffy pastry. It looked exactly like a turnover. I couldn't help but think someone would be very disappointed if they picked one up expecting sweet cherries...

I can't imagine this young lady eating that WHOLE turkey leg. I'm sure her dog is hoping she shares. What a good dog!

There were lots of dogs at the event. This little terrier marched proudly with her clan during the parade of clans.

We even got to watch a demonstration of a border collie herding sheep.

There were even 'sword' fights.

Those Scottish women are sure tough. Yes, beware a Scottish woman wielding a sword.

Be even more cautious of the Scottish woman wielding a HUGE log.

She was really good! The whole idea of this game was to flip the log. She did - - three times.

And she kicked butt in the hammer throw.

This man is an east coast champion. They competed in the hammer throw and stone put (like the shot put only it was a big river rock).

Yes, that would be a pitch fork that he is polishing up - - for the sheave toss.

For the sheave toss, they get a sack of straw that weighs (I think they said 15 pounds) and they take a pitch fork into the corner of the sack and toss it over a pole.

The pole below is set at 27 feet.

I saw this cute t-shirt.

However, I found that the manly Scottish men were quite modest.

A Letter to the Unborn Children of a Fallen Marine

2009-08-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this today in Politics Daily. I almost forgot about posting it. It tugs at the heart. Their father was dearly loved and respected greatly.
The Letter

Ted Kennedy's Gravesite - - Arlington Cemetary

2009-08-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

A simple white cross marks the spot where Senator Ted Kennedy was buried yesterday.

Kennedy is buried about 50 feet to the left (if you are facing the graves) of his brother Robert, who is buried about 50 feet to the left of John. You can see Robert's cross to the back right in this picture. Yes, there was an armed guard at the gravesite. Since Arlington Cemetary was closed to the public yesterday, the public came to view the site today.

I opted to avoid any crowds and arrived around 6:15 p.m. There were maybe 100 people in line when I got there. I did not get in line. I just wanted to take pictures of people in line.

If you go to Arlington Cemetary, the Kennedy gravesite is a short 15 minute walk. If walking in the hot, humid, northern Virginia summer or fall, there is a tram from the cemetary visitor's center. The site is located down hill from the Lee House, home of confederate general Robert E. Lee.

After the resolution of the Cuban missle crisis, John Kennedy walked through the cemetary to clear his mind. When he arrived at the spot beneath the Lee house and looked out across the Potomac toward Washington, DC, he was so taken by the view he told an aide that he could stay there forever.

Jungle Adventure

2009-08-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Having the kittens in my life has allowed me to remember the wonderment of experiencing something for the first time. As adults, I think we lose this perspective. Its the same old - same old, day-in-day-out. We fail to notice the magic in the ordinary.

Since being in my care, the kittens have never gone outside, except for the one or two times they made a curious "sneak" onto the front porch. They watch with great interest as I do yard work in that 'magical', forbidden place called the outdoors.

Today, since I was letting Ranger out, I decided to let the kittens come outside for an adventure.

They stalked bugs, walked on stones, rocks and dirt for the first time.

They followed Ranger around a bit to see what he did. He goes for the grass. So the kittens tasted grass for the first time.

They were furry balls of excited energy. What do we do next? Where do we go? Can we eat that? What is this?

Many of my pictures are blurry as I tried to capture them batting at flying bugs or stalking each other. Below, Stache stalks Dash.

He would run along the stepping stones and launch himself into the hostas and scurry along the fence, under the cover of the bushes. He's actually panting here from all the running around he was doing. As he would pounce around in the bushes, he would let out these meows that sounded more like roars.

Here he is checking out where Dash is, so he can attack.

Stache leaps out from the 'brush'.

Here are two videos of their play. You can see that Dash is more cautious. He sticks to the edges of the garden, not wanting to dive into the dark places. Stache on the other hand, dove right in and was loving life. Dash was having a wonderful time too - - just not interested in going into the 'jungle'.

Here is Dash with one of his GQ poses.

Watching them explore and enjoy their adventure today was such a blessing.