Tonight, as I was working on the buffalo chicken to take over to our neighbor's house for their New Year's Eve party, Mare called me. She wanted to let me know that the two of us have tickets to the swearing in of Barack Obama as president of the United States of America on January 20, 2009.
(pause)
GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! happy happy happy dance dance dance fist pump fist pump Whoot whoot whoot!!!!!!!!
(end pause)
It's gonna be tough. We'll have to drive up to DC the day before to pick up the tickets. On MLK day. With inauguration activities going on. And knowing that we'll have to be in Richmond by 5 am the next morning to catch the Amtrack train into DC. And we're a lot older now than we used to be...meaning creakier.
But I feel like I have been waiting for this to happen for so long. Aretha Franklin will be performing. And Barack Obama will be sworn in as president. And I'll be there. With Mare.
Things are looking up. So far, 2009, I love you.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Recap
Being a self-professed and totally-accepting-of-myself type-A anal extraordinaire, there should be no surprise from anyone who knows me that my favorite holiday is New Year's. What's not to love about the ending of an old chapter, and then the beginning of a new one? ...about neatly tying up loose ends and packaging the old year into the box labeled "the past?" ...about a pure, clean, unblemished fresh new slate lying before me as I balance precariously up on the very left tip-top of the New Year's calendar on January 1? As much as I love the anticipation of the yet-to-come, I also love the wrap-up of the past year. I'll be the one parked on the sofa watching CNN's montage (to cheesy music) of the big stories from 2008, and I'll even shed tears for parts of it. (For what it's worth, I actually used to grade my years as well, and select songs for them. Haven't done that recently....Maybe I should return to this?)
So bear with me in this completely indulgent post as I reminisce over my past 12 months.
Without hesitation, 2008 will always and forever be to me the year that my country pulled its head out of its ass and finally made an intelligent decision by electing Barack Obama as our president. I've been wishing for this for 8 years, and anticipating it (with a name to my wish) for four years. I can't tell you why I instantaneously felt as strongly as I did in July of 2004, and I fully admit that then, it was purely a gut feeling that I knew he was destined to be my president. However, it ended up that my gut feeling was spot on and was only strengthened as I was able to shore it up with information, learning more about him through the years. This is a man with intelligence and integrity. This is a man of MY generation (I say with pride). This is someone who respects humanity, respects science and has ears to hear. He is the real deal (thank GOD). I wasn't sure exactly when he would become president, but the fact that it happened in 2008 will endear this year to me forever, despite the rest of the crap that happened worldwide.
So other than that obvious, my year-in-a-nutshell consists of the following:
This year I finally went into the field (Fairbanks, Alaska and Cold Lake, Canada) during our aircraft campaign. I am enormously glad I went, and documented some of my personal thoughts on the Discovery Channel science blog. For anyone who's interested, here are my entries. There weren't as many as I would have liked - I was sick for a significant part of my time in Fairbanks (99% sure I had Rubella, oddly enough - a mild but exhausting illness for a middle-aged gal).
here1
here2
here3
and here4.
We added a gorgeous sunroom onto the back of our house.
We had a fantastic vacation this summer in Boston and Maine - were able to see not only my boys play in Fenway, but got to spend time with not-often-seen-friends in the Boston area.
I learned this year that I was able to survive Jamie and Jamie and their beautiful children being located in Austria for the year. It's been hard, and I could not go for longer than a year without them, but I have survived (so far). But hurry home please. I need that honesty and acceptance and pure love from your family. Plus, my kids are a million times happier when their best friends are nearby.
We saw the Counting Crows and Maroon 5 and Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew."
I finished up a year of being PTA president and embarked upon a year of taking it easy in the volunteer department (am loving that, I tell you).
The Red Sox made the playoffs. I saw baseball-boyfriend Mikey play in person a couple of times.
Q and E were busy with soccer and baseball and Odyssey of the Mind and Girl Scouts and piano lessons and African Dance classes and science/math camps and cooking and art classes and Model UN and band and making excellent grades and playing with friends. I could not have imagined kids more fun, more awe-inspiring, more loving, or more all-around wonderful than the ones I ended up with.
As for my blogging life, it's interesting that I have been so consistent for the past several years with my blogging. I wrote 115 posts this year (111 in 2007 and 110 in 2006). October was my heaviest month, with 19 posts (pre-election build-up to be sure) and April and December were my slowest with 4 each (though this one makes 5 for December).
It's not been such a good year for a lot of people I know, though, or for most of the US or world. We have global warming issues to grapple with. We have an economic disaster on hand. There are many people I love who are now without a job. We have wars continuing to rage and the associated deaths of servicemen/women and civilians. Overall, 2008 has not been good to this little blue dot in the universe (from the human perspective, that is). However, since that perspective is the one I hold most dear, I'm going to throw all my wishes into improvement on that front during 2009.
A grade? I'm gonna give the world a C-. Only the election of Barack Obama kept us from failing. For myself personally, this was a B or B+ kind of year.
Year's theme song? What else? I didn't even have to think about it. This is what I played ALL NIGHT LONG on November 4 as I downed a bottle of wine and a bottle of champaign and cried and cried with joy as I emailed several of my friends through the night with cries of "WE'VE GOT PENNSYLVANIA!!!!" and "LOOKS LIKE OHIO!!!" as I told them to hang on and don't give up on VIRGINIA.... What a night to remember.
It goes along with my slogan for 2008:
"It was about f*cking time."
So bear with me in this completely indulgent post as I reminisce over my past 12 months.
Without hesitation, 2008 will always and forever be to me the year that my country pulled its head out of its ass and finally made an intelligent decision by electing Barack Obama as our president. I've been wishing for this for 8 years, and anticipating it (with a name to my wish) for four years. I can't tell you why I instantaneously felt as strongly as I did in July of 2004, and I fully admit that then, it was purely a gut feeling that I knew he was destined to be my president. However, it ended up that my gut feeling was spot on and was only strengthened as I was able to shore it up with information, learning more about him through the years. This is a man with intelligence and integrity. This is a man of MY generation (I say with pride). This is someone who respects humanity, respects science and has ears to hear. He is the real deal (thank GOD). I wasn't sure exactly when he would become president, but the fact that it happened in 2008 will endear this year to me forever, despite the rest of the crap that happened worldwide.So other than that obvious, my year-in-a-nutshell consists of the following:
This year I finally went into the field (Fairbanks, Alaska and Cold Lake, Canada) during our aircraft campaign. I am enormously glad I went, and documented some of my personal thoughts on the Discovery Channel science blog. For anyone who's interested, here are my entries. There weren't as many as I would have liked - I was sick for a significant part of my time in Fairbanks (99% sure I had Rubella, oddly enough - a mild but exhausting illness for a middle-aged gal).here1
here2
here3
and here4.
We added a gorgeous sunroom onto the back of our house.
We had a fantastic vacation this summer in Boston and Maine - were able to see not only my boys play in Fenway, but got to spend time with not-often-seen-friends in the Boston area.I learned this year that I was able to survive Jamie and Jamie and their beautiful children being located in Austria for the year. It's been hard, and I could not go for longer than a year without them, but I have survived (so far). But hurry home please. I need that honesty and acceptance and pure love from your family. Plus, my kids are a million times happier when their best friends are nearby.
We saw the Counting Crows and Maroon 5 and Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew."
I finished up a year of being PTA president and embarked upon a year of taking it easy in the volunteer department (am loving that, I tell you).
The Red Sox made the playoffs. I saw baseball-boyfriend Mikey play in person a couple of times.
Q and E were busy with soccer and baseball and Odyssey of the Mind and Girl Scouts and piano lessons and African Dance classes and science/math camps and cooking and art classes and Model UN and band and making excellent grades and playing with friends. I could not have imagined kids more fun, more awe-inspiring, more loving, or more all-around wonderful than the ones I ended up with.
As for my blogging life, it's interesting that I have been so consistent for the past several years with my blogging. I wrote 115 posts this year (111 in 2007 and 110 in 2006). October was my heaviest month, with 19 posts (pre-election build-up to be sure) and April and December were my slowest with 4 each (though this one makes 5 for December).
It's not been such a good year for a lot of people I know, though, or for most of the US or world. We have global warming issues to grapple with. We have an economic disaster on hand. There are many people I love who are now without a job. We have wars continuing to rage and the associated deaths of servicemen/women and civilians. Overall, 2008 has not been good to this little blue dot in the universe (from the human perspective, that is). However, since that perspective is the one I hold most dear, I'm going to throw all my wishes into improvement on that front during 2009.
A grade? I'm gonna give the world a C-. Only the election of Barack Obama kept us from failing. For myself personally, this was a B or B+ kind of year.
Year's theme song? What else? I didn't even have to think about it. This is what I played ALL NIGHT LONG on November 4 as I downed a bottle of wine and a bottle of champaign and cried and cried with joy as I emailed several of my friends through the night with cries of "WE'VE GOT PENNSYLVANIA!!!!" and "LOOKS LIKE OHIO!!!" as I told them to hang on and don't give up on VIRGINIA.... What a night to remember.
It goes along with my slogan for 2008:
"It was about f*cking time."
from the last week...
Me, my mom and dad, and sisters with my grandmother on her 100th birthday.
Watching Stephen Colbert's Christmas special DVD on Christmas morning.
Son Q with his granny and pawpaw.
E with granny
E with her grandfather (pawpaw).
Saturday, December 13, 2008
more sundry
I know!! I'm doing a perfectly lousy job on keeping up with a steady supply of interesting and entertaining posts here. I'm the proverbial mom on the hamster wheel these days, running my little feet so fast that I tumble head over heels and crash into a heap into the wood shavings. (Speaking of which, we found E's hamster in the linen closet Thursday, after she pulled out all the bristles from the brush we use to clean the ceiling fans. Mmmm. OK.)
So here are some random thoughts/and/or/observations from the last few days.
As I leave work through the security gates, I have noticed they have recently installed what the signs say are "Speed Humps." Humps? Is there a difference between a speed BUMP and a speed HUMP? Who calls them "humps" other than the government?
My son would like to be Stephen Colbert and I am totally in support of that
aspiration.
I think the pressure on folks to buy gifts for each other on Christmas is not a good thing, and I would love to move beyond that. But of course I can't because it's not the "right" thing to do. I wonder if I would be more tempted to give random gifts throughout the year to those I love if I didn't know that it was "required" at Christmastime? Despite all that, I love the rituals from Christmas.
My grandmother is about to turn 100. I only now realized that her birthday is on the winter solstice. I think that's a really neat day to be born. I also wonder how it would feel to know you've been alive for a full century.
It's not much, but I've got to get back into the habit of writing slowly. I've got a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my overly stimulated mind....just haven't been patient enough to sit down and think them completely through.
So here are some random thoughts/and/or/observations from the last few days.
As I leave work through the security gates, I have noticed they have recently installed what the signs say are "Speed Humps." Humps? Is there a difference between a speed BUMP and a speed HUMP? Who calls them "humps" other than the government?
My son would like to be Stephen Colbert and I am totally in support of that
aspiration.
I think the pressure on folks to buy gifts for each other on Christmas is not a good thing, and I would love to move beyond that. But of course I can't because it's not the "right" thing to do. I wonder if I would be more tempted to give random gifts throughout the year to those I love if I didn't know that it was "required" at Christmastime? Despite all that, I love the rituals from Christmas.
My grandmother is about to turn 100. I only now realized that her birthday is on the winter solstice. I think that's a really neat day to be born. I also wonder how it would feel to know you've been alive for a full century.
It's not much, but I've got to get back into the habit of writing slowly. I've got a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my overly stimulated mind....just haven't been patient enough to sit down and think them completely through.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
holiday fun
Today ended up being the offical start to the winter holiday season for my family. Although we do not consider ourselves christian, we embrace the spirit of this holiday season wholeheartedly. I love the warmth and the focus on family and togetherness and tradition. In the words of Martha, "It's a good thing." Indeed.
We started the day out by helping friends with their llamas in our local holiday parade:
(There are more pictures on my facebook page).
It was a lot of fun! I have to admit that the introverted portion of my nature (which is substantial, even if held in check most of the time) kicked into high gear when I realized that hundreds of parade-goers were watching me. If *I* felt a bit uncomfortable, I can only imagine what ultra-shy son Q was feeling. He put his llama between him and the crowd, and pulled his hat down over his eyes and was fine, however. Good coping skills. I was proud that he wanted to do it.
Next on the agenda was our annual christmas tree hunt.
The hunt:
The catch:
The dressing down:
And the final result:
And in case anyone is wondering what middle school aged boys do during all this:
And the obligatory eating of the christmas village...
We started the day out by helping friends with their llamas in our local holiday parade:
(There are more pictures on my facebook page).
It was a lot of fun! I have to admit that the introverted portion of my nature (which is substantial, even if held in check most of the time) kicked into high gear when I realized that hundreds of parade-goers were watching me. If *I* felt a bit uncomfortable, I can only imagine what ultra-shy son Q was feeling. He put his llama between him and the crowd, and pulled his hat down over his eyes and was fine, however. Good coping skills. I was proud that he wanted to do it.
Next on the agenda was our annual christmas tree hunt.
The hunt:
The catch:
The dressing down:
And the final result:
And in case anyone is wondering what middle school aged boys do during all this:
And the obligatory eating of the christmas village...
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
the big ten
E reminded me last night around 8 pm that I'd promised her I'd send cupcakes into school today for her class. And I pulled it off. Moms Rock.
Happy birthday, my sweet girl!!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
a more honorable existence
I suppose I've never written the obligatory post outlining the things that I am thankful for this year, have I? It's really a bit difficult since I've been solidly in a "find the cloud attached to the silver lining" mode for the last month or so.
It's a dreary day outside...
Here goes.
I am thankful to those who refuse to remain silent in the face of racism, homophobia, religious discrimination and sexism. It is easy (and cowardly) to remain in the safety of our homes and invisibility cloaks and privately condemn these actions. It is more difficult and much more honorable to respond publicly, whether it's participating in public protests against California Proposition 8, or refusing to let your friend stereotype a religion or race.
I am thankful to the climate scientists who have put themselves on the front lines of what remains of the climate change "debate" (realclimate.com, etc). The few remaining dissenters are quite uninformed and are wrong on all of the arguments I've seen out there, but they are also quite vocal, nasty, and persuasive/persistent, so to ignore them remains a mistake. It takes someone with an extraordinary amount of patience and an extraordinarily thick skin to respond to them. It is difficult for scientists who put in 60-80 hour work-weeks, and who have families and outside lives, to find the extra time and patience to power through the education of the public. It is much easier to bury your head in the comfort of your own research and assume that with time, the tide of public opinion will become powerful enough to ensure response. I am thankful for those who chose the more difficult path and continue to respond to ridiculosities with rational, science-based arguments.
I am thankful to those who volunteer hours and hours of their time every week to help make our public schools successful. It is easy to complain about the PTA or about school policies in the comfort of our homes while downing a few cold ones with friends. It is much more difficult to give up precious extra hours in order to plan fundraisers, print and distribute newsletters, and attend meetings.
I am thankful to everyone who has chosen the difficult path of action over the easier path of apathy and acceptance. For everyone who has acted rather than simply talked, I believe you have chosen the more honorable existence. So thank you.
It's a dreary day outside...
Here goes.
I am thankful to those who refuse to remain silent in the face of racism, homophobia, religious discrimination and sexism. It is easy (and cowardly) to remain in the safety of our homes and invisibility cloaks and privately condemn these actions. It is more difficult and much more honorable to respond publicly, whether it's participating in public protests against California Proposition 8, or refusing to let your friend stereotype a religion or race.
I am thankful to the climate scientists who have put themselves on the front lines of what remains of the climate change "debate" (realclimate.com, etc). The few remaining dissenters are quite uninformed and are wrong on all of the arguments I've seen out there, but they are also quite vocal, nasty, and persuasive/persistent, so to ignore them remains a mistake. It takes someone with an extraordinary amount of patience and an extraordinarily thick skin to respond to them. It is difficult for scientists who put in 60-80 hour work-weeks, and who have families and outside lives, to find the extra time and patience to power through the education of the public. It is much easier to bury your head in the comfort of your own research and assume that with time, the tide of public opinion will become powerful enough to ensure response. I am thankful for those who chose the more difficult path and continue to respond to ridiculosities with rational, science-based arguments.
I am thankful to those who volunteer hours and hours of their time every week to help make our public schools successful. It is easy to complain about the PTA or about school policies in the comfort of our homes while downing a few cold ones with friends. It is much more difficult to give up precious extra hours in order to plan fundraisers, print and distribute newsletters, and attend meetings.
I am thankful to everyone who has chosen the difficult path of action over the easier path of apathy and acceptance. For everyone who has acted rather than simply talked, I believe you have chosen the more honorable existence. So thank you.
post-holiday
Here are the two cousins
And here is my sister with Roxy. I double checked that Roxy was still in the house after we took them to the airport for their departure. I was a little worried Tracy was going to sneak her back to Texas in her luggage.
And here is my sister with Roxy. I double checked that Roxy was still in the house after we took them to the airport for their departure. I was a little worried Tracy was going to sneak her back to Texas in her luggage.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
ready for visitors
I woke up smiling this morning.... My little sister and my niece will arrive tonight! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I especially love having a big group over to my house for a nice dinner. This will be the first dinner I've had where I've been able to have a family member here....Not that having friends over is a less than ideal thing in and of itself. I wouldn't change a thing from any of my wonderful Thanksgivings past. I'm just very excited to have my very own sister here. (Though I will be missing my other sister! I will get you out here for a visit soon, La.)
Thus far, on the table for Thursday:
Smoked turkey
fresh cranberry sauce (courtesy of friend)
cornbread/sausage stuffing
apple/cranberry stuffing (courtesy of friend - we all have our favorites so we
just agreed to put it all out there)
green salad (courtesy of friend)
pumpkin soup (though I'm thinking of changing this to sweet corn soup...?)
apple pie with whipped cream topping (courtesy of friend)
goat cheese and carmelized onion topped puffed pastries (courtesy of friend)
lots of good wine
I'll also do something with potatoes and probably the broccoli/rice/cheese casserole that we always used to have (I'm suspecting Tra will want this). I want to come up with some good appetizers and another dessert. And for sure we'll have a blazing fire in the fireplace and candles and good music.
I also really really really like ham with these dinners, but I've run out of oven space.
Today's plans are to clean out the fridge and the oven, buy more wineglasses, replace broken dinner plates, buy new tablecloths, return the carpet cleaner, and wash windows. See how I spend my vacation leave hours?!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
drivel
We certainly did our part yesterday to continue the flow of good and services in this country. I finally couldn't stand it anymore that we had no seating (other than one papasan chair) in our sunroom, so DH and I ended up going shopping. We now have a new couch (courtesy of a local shop), and a new bookcase capable of handling the mountains of books daughter E collects (also courtesy of a local shop). This is on top of replacing the brake pads on the van this weekend (national dealership). So you're quite welcome, US economy.
(J writes here encouraging those of us lucky enough not to be unemployed at the moment to not become too cautious of spending. It's a cornerstone of our economy. If you can, then do.)
My heart is totally warmed by this couch, by the way, as the MOMENT the delivery guys put the couch in the sunroom, E grabbed pillows and blankets and a good book, and she has been parked there ever since. She's claimed her spot.
Note, at the time of this photo, E temporarily moved to the papasan chair because she wanted a snack and I'm forbidding food or drink on the new couch for a while. Wow - the walls REALLY need some color and some artwork, don't they? Regardless, Oh, I love our sunroom.
(J writes here encouraging those of us lucky enough not to be unemployed at the moment to not become too cautious of spending. It's a cornerstone of our economy. If you can, then do.)
My heart is totally warmed by this couch, by the way, as the MOMENT the delivery guys put the couch in the sunroom, E grabbed pillows and blankets and a good book, and she has been parked there ever since. She's claimed her spot.
Note, at the time of this photo, E temporarily moved to the papasan chair because she wanted a snack and I'm forbidding food or drink on the new couch for a while. Wow - the walls REALLY need some color and some artwork, don't they? Regardless, Oh, I love our sunroom.
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