What a Crappy Week

So I haven't exactly had a good week. It all started out Sunday morning when my father told me that my aunt Mary (his sister) had passed away the night before. She was 79 and wasn't in the best of health, but still it comes as a surprise. The funeral was Tuesday. Holly, Haley and Holly's two kids came down from Indy and we all trekked to Eddyville Illinois for the funeral. The weather was horrible - cold, windy, and raining. The cemetary was muddy. But still it was nice to see everyone. Unfortunately we've been getting together for just such occasions at the rate of about 1 a year lately. But I enjoyed driving down to Eddyville and back with my sisters. We don't spend that much time together. And now that I've grown up, sort of... (and yes, I know, it's about time.. I'm almost 40 after all!), I enjoy time with them more. They are twins, and couldn't be more alike and yet, couldn't be more different. That doesn't make sense, but if you knew them, you'd understand. And I'm just like both of them. :) So I get back to work on Wednesday, back in the swing of things, and I discover that my best fiend Jennifer's new husband's uncle (who was best man at their wedding in July) dropped dead last week in Atlanta. He was in his kitchen putting away groceries and died on the floor with ice cream melting in the sink. The part that bothers me, other than the whole death thing in general, is that he lived alone and it was a day or so before his girlfriend came over to investigate and found him. His name was Byron, and he was very nice. I only met him at the wedding, but he was funny and friendly and just a nice guy. I know his family misses him. On Thursday, I'm just hoping to get thru the week. I'm tired, it's rained for almost 2 weeks, and I just don't want to be at work. I get off work, with the intention to go to Target to buy a wedding gift for a friend who's wedding is on Saturday, and less than a block from leaving the parking garage, WHAM!, I'm hit (well, my car) as I drive thru the intersection. I had the green light, and I had a witness, and the lady who struck me admitted to the cop that she ran the light... WHEW... working for a law firm, you see litigation everywhere, you know... Most importantly, I'm fine and my car is driveable... the back bumper was knocked off, but after I took pics with my camera phone (don't you love technology? ...

"Why do you love me? Why do you need me? Always and forever. We met in a chatroom, now our love can fully bloom. Sure the world wide web is great but you, you make me salivate. Yes, I love technology but not as much as you, you see. But I STILL love technology. Always and forever. Our love is like a flock of doves, flying up to heaven above. Always and forever. Always and forever. Yes, our love is truly great. Always and forever. Why do you need me? Why do you love me?" - "Technology Song" by Kip - Napoleon Dynamite

So where was I? Oh, yeah, the back bumper, I took pics, dealt with the cop, called a friend, Mark Mattingly - who is a saint, to come and help me tie the bumper to the car - not that I was looking forward to driving around town looking like white trash with my bumper tied on with rope! Lost my train of thought again... Hmm.. oh, yeah, Mark popped the bumper back on the car and it looks as good as new! It'll still have to be looked over by insurance, and probably the bumper will be replaced, and I will want them to check to make sure the alignment is ok - not that I know what that is (as I'm vehicularly-challenged), but I know it's important. I called my daddy and cried in his ear for a little bit (my mommy was out for the evening, but she called me later when she got home and dad told her about the accident) and drove home to the loving whiskers of my pets. After the aforementioned phone call from mom, I turned off the lights and went to sleep the drug-induced sleep of Tylenol PM.

I'm just so glad it's Friday. And both of my bosses are out of the office for the rest of the day, and I just have a couple more hours to eek thru before... sigh... going to Target to get a wedding gift. And going to the wedding tomorrow...did I mention I'm tired? SIGH...

This Past Weekend...

So this past weekend I drove up to the Indianapolis area to visit my sisters and attend my nephew Duncan's final football game of the season. Duncan is on the freshman team of Fishers High School in Fishers, Indiana. And the team won the game and finished the season undefeated! Although Duncan did not get to play until the 5th quarter, we were very proud to sit in the stands and support him. And he looked so cute in his uniform! J

While I was up there, Friday night, my brother-in-law, Tom's band, Right on Red, was playing a gig at the Fishers American Legion Hall. So my two sisters and I sat in the front row and had a good time singing along with the band and chair-bopping to the music. Haley took video with the intent to post it on YouTube.

In addition to the football game, my other reason for going up this weekend was to visit with Fred & George - two kittens that we discovered in the shed behind my parents' property and who Holly and her family adopted. Turns out both Fred and George are female (who knew!?) And they're living happily in Fishers. Although it was questionable whether the two cats already in residence were going to accept them into the fold. But all is well now. I took my knitting up and knitted them a mouse. I'll have to knit a couple more for them for Christmas.

Saturday afternoon, Holly had committed to playing her viola at the McDonald's in Broad Ripple as a part of a fund raiser for the MYO (Metropolitan Youth Orchestra) so we trekked across town and I knitted and munched on some fries while she played.

All in all, I had a very nice time this past weekend.

On the Road Again - Part Deux

So, where was I? Oh, yes, Sunday we decided it would be a good day to experience the Metro (subway) system since there wouldn't be as many commuters to deal with. Our plan was to get on the Metro and take it to the stop closest to the Jefferson Memorial. Then we'd walk over to the Jeff Memorial and FDR Memorial, then walk back to the station and get back on the Metro. On paper it was a great plan! What we (or at least I) had not accounted for, though, was that even with cutting the walking by subway'ing it, it was still quite a jaunt over to the Jefferson Memorial and then over to FDR and by then we were considerably far from the subway station!
But the Jefferson Memorial had a very nice gift shop and I bought me a cute yellow bag to hold my knitting in (when not traveling). The day was glorious and the view from the Memorial was fab! We were not as impressed with the FDR Memorial, with all due respect to him.
My aunt was not with us the day we saw the Korean War Memorial, and we were very impressed by it, so we wandered by it on our way back to the subway station, so she could see it. I believe it is my favorite of the war memorials.

Once we finally made it back to the subway, our plan was to ride it out to Arlington National Cemetery, which we did. I had been there before, I think when I was 8, but it was nice to see again. And the views of the city from there are gorgeous! We saw JFK and RFK's gravesites, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and various other things. We decided that the men who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier must have the most boring job in the world. They stand 21 seconds, walk 21 paces, turn and stand 21 seconds, walk 21 paces, etc. It's a good thing that they only have to do it for 30 minutes at a time. I'd go bonkers!
Anyway, by this time, it's late in the afternoon, and we're back on the Metro following our plan… which was to ride to Chinatown, have dinner, then walk back to the hotel. I had never been to a "Chinatown" before… Evansville does not have one. It was an enjoyable experience. We found a very nice restaurant and I had the Chicken in Garlic Sauce – which is my favorite. I used to eat it all the time at the Panda (a restaurant in Evansville), but then the Panda closed, and my search for another restaurant with good Chicken in Garlic Sauce has been unsuccessful… until Washington DC!! That restaurant's CGS was DELICIOUS! I only wish they'd deliver to Indiana!

Monday we had reservations for a guided tour of the Capital Building. My aunt made the plans through Barack Obama's (her senator) office and our tour guide was very good. Unfortunately the Senate wasn't in session so we didn't get to sit in on some high-level yammering about nothing. Frankly, I was ok with this, as I have C-Span and am not that interested. After our official tour, we roamed Capital Hill and I got some beautiful pictures. Also, it was the Supreme Court's first day in session and we got pics of the press corps sitting outside the S.Ct Bldg taking a nap! I suppose they didn't anticipate much happening on the first day. We then wandered down the Mall to the National Air and Space Museum (part of the Smithsonian). I went there when I was 8, and I remembered it as being fantabulous. But now, 30 years later, my feet hurt and I wasn't that impressed. I did enjoy the gift shop, though. J Oh, and we had lunch there, too. And I was very impressed by the McD's they had there. It's hard to describe (without using my hands) so I'll just say it's a must see! As we crawled back to the hotel, we stopped at the Hard Rock Café (again, my first) for dinner, then died at the hotel.

Tuesday was our last day there. Our flight didn't leave Reagan National until 4:30-ish, so we set out to see about touring the White House. Now, 30 years ago, we just got in line and tromped through when it was our turn. In this post-9/11 era, you don't do that. Word to the wise, if you go to DC and want to tour the White House, you have to make reservations through your senator or representative. We did not do this, so we did not tour the White House. However, again, word to the wise, you only get to see like 4 rooms, and it's not that impressive. After our aborted attempt to visit George, we wandered back to the Smithsonian because my aunt was interested in seeing the modern art building… the Hirschorn, I believe. Now, I'm not big on art and I don't know much about art, but this was just weird stuff. And I'm not just saying that because my footies were tired. So finally, we got back to the hotel, checked out, taxied to the airport, and flew home. 431 pictures on my digital camera later. God bless the person who invented digital cameras!

On the Road Again

So, just last week, I returned from a pilgrimage back to the land of my birth... Washington DC. I hadn't really been there for 20 years or so, so I really didn't remember much of it. Well, after WALKING about 5 miles each day for five days, I know my way around pretty darned well and all of me, especially my footies, remember it! :)

My mother and I accompanied my aunt who was going for a business trip. We went to sight see. We flew in on Thursday, Sept 27th. Got there about 5:30 p.m. at which point we took my first taxi ride (yes, in my entire life - what can I say, I've been sheltered). We got to the hotel, dumped our stuff and then went out for dinner.

Friday, while my aunt was in her meetings, mom and I hoofed it over to the White House, where we actually saw the President's motorcade! No, I didn't get a picture. My camera, which I love, can be a pain - it has to focus, and then you take the pic, so I had my finger poised on the button while the motorcycle cops go by, and just about the time I figure it's only a bunch of motorcycle cops, and lift my finger off the button, two limos go by, and by the time I get my finger back on the button, it's just Secret Service vehicle one after another. So quite some excitement on my first day.

We trotted over and took pics in front of the White House, then down to the Washington Monument - we took the elevator up to the top, and it's an impressive view, but seriously, someone needs to get up there and clean those windows! My pics turned out very nice, though, despite the gook on the windows! Then we wandered over to the war memorials... WWII, Korea, Vietnam... had a hot dog at the Lincoln Memorial. Now, I realize that in about two paragraphs it doesn't look like we did that much, but our dogs were barkin', and we had walked about six hours, so we taxied it back to the hotel and rested before dinner.

Saturday, again Aunt Chris was in meetings in the AM, so mom and I wandered over to the vistors center... which is really just a big souvenir shop... don't get me wrong, I love souvenir shops, and we shopped. :) Then we roamed the streets, past the FBI building... my mother used to work for the FBI, but not in that building, I think they built it after we moved to Indiana, so we took pics of it, and other places down to Pennsylvania Avenue... where we discovered the whole street was blocked off for some marathon being run that day. So I was able to stand in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue and take pics of the Capital! Cool!

So then we trot back up to the Spy Museum. That was fun. Not enough James Bond, though. Then we had lunch at the Spy Museum cafe... I had a Langley Dog (chili, cheese, and onions) and mom had a Eastern Block Dog (with saurkraut). Then after the spy gift shop, we found our way over to the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot. Wouldn't you know it, it was closed for renovations! But we got a pic outside and that's what counts, right! :) Then we slowly made our way to the National Mall where the First Lady was sponsoring some type of book fair. She was long gone by the time we arrived, but we did get to see Ken Burns giving a talk... about his WWII program, I suppose.. I couldn't hear him, and I couldn't stand around ... I was in the sun, and I burn like hot dogs on a grill!

Ok, so that gets us to the end of Saturday. I'll end here, and try to finish my travelogue tomorrow. So tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!