It's Saturday morning. It's a relatively beautiful day in Evansville. The sun is out, and at the moment, it's 49 degrees out. Since we've had some rough ice storms over the past couple of weeks, I'll take sunny and 49 anyday! I'm currently working at my apartment, trying to rustle the herd of dustbunnies out the door, do laundry, and other general cleaning. Buy my mind is elsewhere, as it has been for most of the latter part of the week.
My best friend, Jennifer has had some bad news. Her mother has been sick for the past .. oh.. since August, with growths in her brain. They've run tests and done biopsies and no one's really been able to figure out what it was. But in the past couple of weeks, they've been down to Vanderbilt in Nashville, and had a slew of tests, including another biopsy. This past week, they went back to Nashville for test results and to find out what the doctors plan to do about it. Turns out that she has a gliobastoma and it is stage 4. They are getting her set up to begin both chemo and radiation for the next six weeks. Understandably, Jennifer is a basket case. And for a while there, so was I.
I'm not trying to be selfish and make this about me, because I know it isn't. But it hits severely close to home. My greatest fear in life isn't my own death, but having to go thru the death of either or (God forbid) both of my parents. So while I'm doing my best to be there and be supportive of Jen, I'm scared to death for myself. Jennifer is my sisters' age and her parents are the same age as my parents or maybe even a little younger. My dad isn't in good health with a heart condition and diabetes. And while mom is relatively healthy, you never know. It's mostly my fear of being alone. That and while I called Jennifer my best friend, my truly best friend is my mother. There is very little that happens in my life that I don't immediately think… oh, I've got to tell mom! Ok, I'm almost 40 years old and I'm afraid of becoming an orphan. And ok, I have two sisters, who I love and who love me. But it's not the same. They have husbands and children and lives of their own. When you say the word "family" to them, they think of that family first. When you say "family" to me, it's my parents and (rather pathetically,) my cats. I know I'm always welcome to join my sisters up in Indy, but still, it just isn't the same.
Fortunately, I'm on my precious pink pills and am able to keep relatively sane in my little stew of anxiety. It's only when things are really hit home to me that it percolates up. So here I am, trying to do my best for Jennifer, knowing that she needs me, and trying to get control of myself. I thought that maybe writing down my feelings would help, and I suppose it has.
I know that God is in control and that He has a plan. I can't imagine what good can come out of this situation, for Jennifer and the rest of her family, but maybe I'm not supposed to know. I'm supposed to just trust Him. And I suppose that that's what I need to try to pass on to Jennifer.
Meanwhile, please pray for them. Thanks.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Oscar - Movie Reviews - 2008
I recently agreed to review some of the Best Picture Oscar nominees for my firm's inhouse newsletter. I accepted this assignment with no little trepidation. After all, I'm more of a Batman woman – BTW, the trailer for The Dark Knight is awesome! Anyway, I was cautiously pleased to read the online descriptions and see that my choices this year were mostly appealing.
First, I went to see "There Will Be Blood" with my mother. I can't speak for her, but this movie was the least attractive choice for me. In fact, I attempted to read the online description twice and lost interest both times. The movie, based on Upton Sinclair's "Oil," takes place in the early 1900s and follows an out of luck miner's transformation into an oil tycoon. Unfortunately for those around him, he also transforms into a greedy murderer. I thought this was a good movie (although my mother would disagree). That being said, I probably wouldn't watch it again. The main character, played excellently by Daniel Day Lewis, lacked all sense of human value and by the end of the movie was decidedly unbalanced. Lewis, though, did a wonderful job of playing this mercurial man who goes from murdering someone to crying over a dead brother he never knew. I could easily see him winning the Best Actor Oscar.
My next movie was "Michael Clayton." I chose this movie for a couple of reasons. First, I remember George Clooney from his days on "The Facts of Life" and to be honest, I've just never seen what the big deal was. Second, it's a lawyer movie, and I've been a sucker for legal stuff ever since I read my first Perry Mason book. Clooney plays the title character, a "fixer" at the most prestigious law firm in the country. We are given the impression that Clayton is the go-to guy for the firm, willing to do whatever dirty work is needed to get the job done. I was not impressed by this skill as we saw only a couple of examples, and he wasn't all that successful in fixing them. The movie starts with an attempt on Clayton's life and the next 2/3s of the movie is a flashback explaining how he got to this point. Back in the present, Clayton is faced with the decision of whether to take the easy fix or do the right thing. Whereas "There Will Be Blood" followed a man's descent into moral decay, "Michael Clayton" follows a man with presumably low moral standards as he finds a chance to ascend. I won't tell you which choice he makes, but I was pleased with the ending. As for Clooney, my jury is still out. For one thing, I had a hard time not fixating on his resemblance to Taylor Hicks! Oh, that dour expression on his face in the movie poster? That was his expression throughout the entire movie. Sigh.
I would have stopped at two movies, but I still hoped for movie that spoke to me. I decided to give "Atonement" a try. After all, it won something, right? This movie starts out in pre-WWII England. The main character, Briony, is a 13 year old girl who has a crush on the housekeeper's son, Robbie. Robbie has a thing going on with Briony's older sister. I didn't get the sense that she does it maliciously, but Briony wrongfully accuses Robbie of assaulting her cousin and he is sent to jail. The movie then switches to five years later. England is in the war and Robbie is given the choice to either stay in prison or join the army, so he ends up in France. The older sister, Cecilia, played by a beautiful, yet excruciatingly thin Keira Knightly, has left home after the whole "episode" and is working as a nurse in London. An older, more mature Briony comes to the realization that her accusations against Robbie were wrong and starts to take steps to remedy them. I can't go too much further without giving away the ending, but I will say I wasn't quite satisfied with it. As for the movie in general, it was difficult to figure out in the beginning because you would see a scene from Briony's point of view and then you'd see it again from someone else's. This made the movie sort of choppy in my opinion, but once you figured out what was going on, you dealt with it. I did have a MAJOR problem with one of the big plot points. Part of the reason that Briony accused Robbie of the attack was that she had previously read a note he'd written to the sister, and the note involved the use of the C-word, twice. My problem here is that this event happened in the late 1930s when Briony was 13! I didn't know what the C-word when I was 13 and that was in the 80's! I just do not believe that it was just bandied about all that much during that era, especially among the upper/middle class. I don't think Briony should have had any clue as to its meaning. Anyway, one final thing I have to share is that as I was leaving the theater, mulling over the movie to gather my thoughts, these two older ladies are walking behind me. One of them says that she was disappointed, and then she mumbled something. The other lady then said, quite clearly, "Well, then you certainly DON'T want to go see Michael Clayton!" Too funny!
To sum up, "There Will Be Blood" left me speechless. "Michael Clayton" left me feeling sort of icky. And "Atonement" left me sort of disappointed. So I went home and watched the "Simpsons." Good luck, Oscar.
First, I went to see "There Will Be Blood" with my mother. I can't speak for her, but this movie was the least attractive choice for me. In fact, I attempted to read the online description twice and lost interest both times. The movie, based on Upton Sinclair's "Oil," takes place in the early 1900s and follows an out of luck miner's transformation into an oil tycoon. Unfortunately for those around him, he also transforms into a greedy murderer. I thought this was a good movie (although my mother would disagree). That being said, I probably wouldn't watch it again. The main character, played excellently by Daniel Day Lewis, lacked all sense of human value and by the end of the movie was decidedly unbalanced. Lewis, though, did a wonderful job of playing this mercurial man who goes from murdering someone to crying over a dead brother he never knew. I could easily see him winning the Best Actor Oscar.
My next movie was "Michael Clayton." I chose this movie for a couple of reasons. First, I remember George Clooney from his days on "The Facts of Life" and to be honest, I've just never seen what the big deal was. Second, it's a lawyer movie, and I've been a sucker for legal stuff ever since I read my first Perry Mason book. Clooney plays the title character, a "fixer" at the most prestigious law firm in the country. We are given the impression that Clayton is the go-to guy for the firm, willing to do whatever dirty work is needed to get the job done. I was not impressed by this skill as we saw only a couple of examples, and he wasn't all that successful in fixing them. The movie starts with an attempt on Clayton's life and the next 2/3s of the movie is a flashback explaining how he got to this point. Back in the present, Clayton is faced with the decision of whether to take the easy fix or do the right thing. Whereas "There Will Be Blood" followed a man's descent into moral decay, "Michael Clayton" follows a man with presumably low moral standards as he finds a chance to ascend. I won't tell you which choice he makes, but I was pleased with the ending. As for Clooney, my jury is still out. For one thing, I had a hard time not fixating on his resemblance to Taylor Hicks! Oh, that dour expression on his face in the movie poster? That was his expression throughout the entire movie. Sigh.
I would have stopped at two movies, but I still hoped for movie that spoke to me. I decided to give "Atonement" a try. After all, it won something, right? This movie starts out in pre-WWII England. The main character, Briony, is a 13 year old girl who has a crush on the housekeeper's son, Robbie. Robbie has a thing going on with Briony's older sister. I didn't get the sense that she does it maliciously, but Briony wrongfully accuses Robbie of assaulting her cousin and he is sent to jail. The movie then switches to five years later. England is in the war and Robbie is given the choice to either stay in prison or join the army, so he ends up in France. The older sister, Cecilia, played by a beautiful, yet excruciatingly thin Keira Knightly, has left home after the whole "episode" and is working as a nurse in London. An older, more mature Briony comes to the realization that her accusations against Robbie were wrong and starts to take steps to remedy them. I can't go too much further without giving away the ending, but I will say I wasn't quite satisfied with it. As for the movie in general, it was difficult to figure out in the beginning because you would see a scene from Briony's point of view and then you'd see it again from someone else's. This made the movie sort of choppy in my opinion, but once you figured out what was going on, you dealt with it. I did have a MAJOR problem with one of the big plot points. Part of the reason that Briony accused Robbie of the attack was that she had previously read a note he'd written to the sister, and the note involved the use of the C-word, twice. My problem here is that this event happened in the late 1930s when Briony was 13! I didn't know what the C-word when I was 13 and that was in the 80's! I just do not believe that it was just bandied about all that much during that era, especially among the upper/middle class. I don't think Briony should have had any clue as to its meaning. Anyway, one final thing I have to share is that as I was leaving the theater, mulling over the movie to gather my thoughts, these two older ladies are walking behind me. One of them says that she was disappointed, and then she mumbled something. The other lady then said, quite clearly, "Well, then you certainly DON'T want to go see Michael Clayton!" Too funny!
To sum up, "There Will Be Blood" left me speechless. "Michael Clayton" left me feeling sort of icky. And "Atonement" left me sort of disappointed. So I went home and watched the "Simpsons." Good luck, Oscar.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
What's Up Doc?
Ok, so Sunday morning, as I get in the car to go to church, I realize that some items were missing from my car. I had left it unlocked (for like the first time EVER) because of a threat of ice, and someone got in and stole some wrapped Christmas presents and MY BIBLE! Ok, so I go to church, then out to dinner with the 'Rents. Afterwards, I went to Target to replace the Christmas gifts.
When I get home, I walk to the garbage cans to toss some trash and guess what I find... my Bible and the two presents, which had been unwrapped enough for the thief to see that they were just relatively inexpensive toys for a friend's daughters. Everything was ok. There was some water damage to my Bible, but it's dried out ok. The packaging for the toys was sort of wet, but that'll be thrown out anyway, so I just rewrapped them and returned the new ones. All in all, I'm not out anything, but I have to say it is a little unsettling to have something stolen like this. I find myself double checking the doors multiple times. I hope that goes away soon. sigh...
There was a pleasant surprise. I received my Thanksgiving rubber ducks earlier than expected. That meant that the Indian duck, for my Village People collection of ducks, got there that much quicker. And I was able to trade one of my extra Indians for a biker duck. So now I'm only a cowboy and a navy duck away from recreating the Village People (or the Village Ducks, as I prefer to call them) in rubber ducks. I'm very excited and will keep the blog advised of my progress. I'm thinking I can have the set filled by the end of the year, or at least early 2008!
Otherwise, this week has gone so-o-o sl-o-w. Yesterday, we had the staff Christmas luncheon where we revealed our secret Santas. And today was the firm Holiday Luncheon at the Kennel Club. Not as ritzy as one might like, but we had a good group at my table, so a good time was had by all. I'm just happy there's only one more day and it's a 4-day weekend for Rose. Tomorrow I give Steve his present. Carrie got hers today, and she was happy with it, but Steve is SO difficult to buy for. He has replaced my father as the most difficult person to shop for in my life.
Two items of good news cheering up Rose: 1) just read that the Colbert Report is returning to the tube on Jan 7th; and 2) we get to wear jeans to work tomorrow. Jeans for Rose equates to wearing my comfy tennies. Comfy tennies, somehow, means that Rose is more productive. Which, considering after 1:00 tomorrow afternoon I'll be the only person on my side of the building, is really going to be needed. If I hadn't got the stomach flu a couple of months ago, I'd be taking tomorrow afternoon off and going to see the new Gerard Butler movie.
Plans for the weekend include meeting some family for a luncheon/gift swap in Southern Illinois; going to see National Treasure 2 after church Sunday; and me and the kids (Sophie and Gizmo) spending Christmas Eve/Day with the 'Rents/Grand-'Rents. Should be fun, assuming the cats don't tear down the tree! :)
When I get home, I walk to the garbage cans to toss some trash and guess what I find... my Bible and the two presents, which had been unwrapped enough for the thief to see that they were just relatively inexpensive toys for a friend's daughters. Everything was ok. There was some water damage to my Bible, but it's dried out ok. The packaging for the toys was sort of wet, but that'll be thrown out anyway, so I just rewrapped them and returned the new ones. All in all, I'm not out anything, but I have to say it is a little unsettling to have something stolen like this. I find myself double checking the doors multiple times. I hope that goes away soon. sigh...
There was a pleasant surprise. I received my Thanksgiving rubber ducks earlier than expected. That meant that the Indian duck, for my Village People collection of ducks, got there that much quicker. And I was able to trade one of my extra Indians for a biker duck. So now I'm only a cowboy and a navy duck away from recreating the Village People (or the Village Ducks, as I prefer to call them) in rubber ducks. I'm very excited and will keep the blog advised of my progress. I'm thinking I can have the set filled by the end of the year, or at least early 2008!
Otherwise, this week has gone so-o-o sl-o-w. Yesterday, we had the staff Christmas luncheon where we revealed our secret Santas. And today was the firm Holiday Luncheon at the Kennel Club. Not as ritzy as one might like, but we had a good group at my table, so a good time was had by all. I'm just happy there's only one more day and it's a 4-day weekend for Rose. Tomorrow I give Steve his present. Carrie got hers today, and she was happy with it, but Steve is SO difficult to buy for. He has replaced my father as the most difficult person to shop for in my life.
Two items of good news cheering up Rose: 1) just read that the Colbert Report is returning to the tube on Jan 7th; and 2) we get to wear jeans to work tomorrow. Jeans for Rose equates to wearing my comfy tennies. Comfy tennies, somehow, means that Rose is more productive. Which, considering after 1:00 tomorrow afternoon I'll be the only person on my side of the building, is really going to be needed. If I hadn't got the stomach flu a couple of months ago, I'd be taking tomorrow afternoon off and going to see the new Gerard Butler movie.
Plans for the weekend include meeting some family for a luncheon/gift swap in Southern Illinois; going to see National Treasure 2 after church Sunday; and me and the kids (Sophie and Gizmo) spending Christmas Eve/Day with the 'Rents/Grand-'Rents. Should be fun, assuming the cats don't tear down the tree! :)
Friday, October 26, 2007
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...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, October 12, 2007
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.
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!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
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!
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