Back to the grind?

Back in March this year, I started writing about teachers that had had an impact on me because I had missed teacher appreciation day -- but I never posted it. I saw the article when I came back here and I also realized that I've only written TWO POSTS the last two years! And I need to write again.

So, I decided that I’m going to change the focus. Instead of just listing the teachers who had an impact on me, I’m going to write about them individually and include a little bit of what else was happening around that time. And maybe that will get me back in writing mode again...

New Year

It's a new year, a new day, and maybe a new blog. I haven't written in a long time but I am bound and determined to start writing again. 2011 was not the best year for me, so I'm hoping that 2012 treats me a little better. And I think I need to write. I need to get my thoughts written down so I can deal with them.

Soop - I plan to make myself write *something* on a regular basis. It might be gibberish, it might not - who knows?

If you are still reading, thanks for your support!

What Now?

OK, so I was supposed to write on Day 25 about the contents of my purse, but I've already done that.

The only differences are that I forgot to include the flashlight that I always carry, my "old" phone now works because my lost phone was returned and then stolen, and it's way too cold outside to include the fan…  SOOOO I'm skipping that day.

And then Day 26, I was supposed to post a picture of some place I travelled.  Well, beentheredonethat too!

Oh alright, I guess I could post my favoritest picture, which I took in Kitty Hawk a few years ago (MUST go back!):


Or a Key West sunset


Or just the Mall (hey, I "travelled" 10k that day!)



But Day 27 was about me, a year ago.  What's most interesting to me is that a year ago is when I started this blog.  It was a weird time because I had to go to a funeral the day before Thanksgiving.  I haven't been the most regular of posters, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey and I've loved the feedback and it was kind of cool to become "famous" for a day when I got called out by DC Blogs *and* quoted on NBCwashington.com!

And I think I'm getting the hang of it now, so yeah, I think I plan to continue writing -- whether you like it or not!  heeheehee

Day 18

(Yep, still working through the Blog-A-Day sweepstakes!  According to them, "Day 18 = What I wore today" - and somehow I translated that in my brain to what happened on the 18th, and what was I wearing.  I think I need some mental help...)

January 18th it was in the 50s – very unusual for a DC January – and it's a holiday.  I was able to walk around in jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweat jacket.  And of course my Timberlands to trudge through the snow… I went to a movie.  What movie?  I have no idea… ;-)

February 18th – recuperating from a fabulous few days in New York City, where I attended the Westminster Kennel Club show, visited the Bronx Zoo and played a lot of Wii with Chats, her dad, kaspi, Max, and Magoo.  It was a lovely time but I was very glad I was able to work from home today, especially in the wake of Snowmageddon last week.  So, of course, I am wearing my jammies all day.  Snuggly and warm!  (And Happy Birthday sister o mine!)

March 18th is my birthday – or rather, the aftermath of my birthday celebration.  Because I was born in Hong Kong, I start my birthday a little after 12:30pm on St. Patrick's Day (yes, I play that International Date Line to my advantage).  On a rainy day like this, I indulged my hangover and sleeeeeeeeeept, still wearing the whatever green I wore yesterday.

April 18th – Daphne and I were scheduled to go pick up a dresser from a horse farm way out in Virginia, but Zipcar called me yesterday to tell me that the car had been in an accident and would not be available.  We rescheduled for next weekend, so I ended up enjoying Earth Day by bundling up in sweats and reading a book out in my park.


May 18th is still dank and damp.  It feels like it's rained for months, but I am in a good mood.  Last week I went with higher level people in my company to Yonkers, NY for a meeting to begin a beautiful relationship with a very well known consumer quality magazine.  Today I was able to tell the rest of our team what we would be doing in our team meeting, so I dressed up a bit. 

June 18th – Ahhhhhh Friday!  I love working 1/2 day Fridays! It's a gorgeous day before the regular summer weather starts in DC, you know, hazyhotandhumid chanceofthunderstormsintheafternoon. I love this weather, just before it turns ugly: warm enough to wear shorts, but not so hot you start sweating as soon as you walk out the door.

Happy Birthday M & E!  July 18th, I went down to Virginia to celebrate my niece's 21st birthday.  While she and her friends groaned and moaned about their hangovers, I reminded them about hydrating while you dehydrate and kicked their butts playing Balderdash.  It was a good day!


On August 18th I am in the middle of the first delivery of my major project so I am wearing black pants and some colory shirt.   Yes, "colory" is a word!  Isn't it?  OK, maybe not.  My brain hurts!!! Oh yeah, and it's raining.  Argh.

September 18th  - Saturday, glorious weather and did I mention it's Saturday?  We released the first phase of Major Project yesterday and it's… yes, I'll say it again!  Saturday!  Maybe some day I'll get caught up on sleep.


October 18th – I slept and worked from home today because I went to the Redskins/Colts game last night with my sister.  Tooo much fun, except for the ending.Weather news came out today indicating that not only did we have record-breaking snowstorms last winter, but the summer was the hottest on record too.  Maybe the Fall will be the most average temps ever? 

November 18th – Ahhh my summer vacation finally begins! (And my mom is back home from the hospital, yay!)  I went to the new Russell Crowe movie sneak preview last night (The Next Three Days – slow to start, but really good!), gone to the doctor's and now I'm getting ready for an evening at the THEeah-tah.  Going to the Kennedy Center to see "Hair" – so what to wear?  Should I dress up in nice clothes?  Nope, I decide to go hippy-chick.  I'm in a tie-dye t-shirt, jeans, tennies, silver rings on every finger, silver feathers in my ears, tiny braids in my hair and glitter ("my own personal starshine" as someone said) on my face.  Let's get groovy people!

And of course, everyone else was wearing nice clothes and I was the only one in "hippy chick chic" … oh well!  It was a blast!

December 18th – I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be wearing.  It's very possible I will be on my way down to Georgia to stay with my parents for a week or so.  If so, I think I'll be wearing something very unusual for me:  jeans, t-shirt, and/or sweats.  If not… probably the same! LOL

Favorite Song

I don't know if the Hallelujah Chorus is my favorite song, but it is RIGHT up there in the "fun song to sing" (or play) sweepstakes!  My sister posted a great video on Facebook today and it just makes me feel... ahhhhhhhhhhhhappy!

It is not just the absolutely fabulous gloriousity of the music, but the concept of a "random act of culture" -  650+ people of all ages, types, and races took over a shopping mall and SANG their hearts out, accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ!  Just wow!

Can you imagine how much fun that must have been for unsuspecting Halloween shoppers? I know if my sisters and I had been shopping there that day, we would have joined in spontaneously because we all love the music and that's just the kind of people we are.  (Wait, you want us to sing?  Out loud?  In front of people?  OK!!!!) 

Not surprising really, but there are several videos of this on YouTube.  I've chosen this one because it's not as jerky as what seems to be the "official" one.



If you have the time and inclination, check out the other "Random Acts of Culture". It's cool!

Three Blogs I Like

According to the November to Remember list, today is when I'm supposed to tell you about three blogs that I can't get enough of.  Disregarding the grammar issues in that last sentence, I still had to think a bit on it because I don't have a lot of time during the work week to read blogs.  There are a few other great blogs that I check out about once a week, but I read the following three blogs just about every day.

In no particular order:

The Pioneer Woman
Officially "confessions, cooking, photography, and home schooling" but truly a treasure trove of hilarious pictorials of Ree Drummond's family, home, and animals;  great stories of her life and travels on the road;  lots of her insecurities and strange sense of humor; and fun contests of trivia, photography, or just to win a Le Creuset french oven or Nikon camera.

My favorite posts lately have been about her basset hound Charlie and the new cat "Kitty Kitty", but I also love how much she loves her family, including her brother Mike whose favorite curse words are "turkey damn butt hell ass!" and the lovely "Things I appreciate about my mom" volumes.  I love the fact that she has a tendency to break into Ethel Merman and that she is just as much of a goof as I am.

All Hail the Pioneer Woman!

T-T-T-TURKEY DAMN BUTT HELL ASS!

*snicker snort*

They were all Yellow 

OK, I'm slightly biased on this one, but it just makes me SO proud!  My niece is a senior in college, learning to be an English teacher.  Her insights and beautiful way of expressing them have made me laugh, cry, and just beam with pride.  She inspired me to write a blog too, so I guess all I can say is "It's all your fault, Em!"

DCist.com

I might have mentioned this one before… ;-)  This is the DC version of a blog that was started in NYC called "Gothamist" which focuses on "local news, events, food, and entertainment for an avid audience of young urbanites." I seriously don't know how I survived without DCist!  I read it in my Google reader, so I am alerted whenever there's a new post, and I must admit, I read almost every one!

"Overheard in DC" and the commentariat are hilarious and I have learned so much about what goes on in the District.  And I love anything which elicits the response of "Sqweeee!" such as the current plethora of lion cubs at the National Zoo and I read the Morning Roundup and Go Home Already features every day.  DCist has figured out how to provide the news of the day with a heavy side of snarky.  RIGHT up my alley!

Look for an "ist" near you - there are quite a few of them!

 
Enjoy!

Peace Love Understanding

According to the list of topics for every day in November, I'm supposed to write about something I crave.  After thinking about it and coming up with really lame cravings, I realized why I was having difficulty: it's Veterans Day.

So, I decided to write about that instead and then I came up with something!  I crave peace.  I want a world without war.  I want people to stop screaming and maybe open their minds and come up with something that works for everyone.  Give a little, get a little.

And most of all, I want all of our troops to come home safely.  I hate the fact that so many of our citizens are facing life and death situations, or getting maimed physically and emotionally.  I truly appreciate what they do for me and for all of us.


Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13).

 So thank a veteran and wear your poppy in their honor.   Not just today though, remember them every day if you can!

p.s.  I wrote this on Thursday 11/11, but did not post it until 11/14 because I'm an idiot. Sorry!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

Five years ago was a pretty good year for me.  I had started planning to go back to Hong Kong in 2003 for my 40^th birthday… and then SARS hit.  So, I decided that I would rather wait and NOT be in danger of dying!  In 2003, I had already saved enough frequent flyer miles to get an upgrade from economy class to business class on United Airlines, but I decided to make a more concerted effort and see if I could save enough for a *free* round-trip ticket.

So, I got the UA credit card, I signed up to earn miles through my Safeway card, signed up my credit cards to earn miles by dining out, buying flowers online, etc.   I transferred balances from other cards to the UA card, and by the end of 2004, I had done it!  So, instead of having to pay $1,700 for the economy class ticket, I could use that on my hotels!  Yay!

I started planning and decided that I would go to HK for 10-12 days in August.  Yes, I know, August is not really the best time weather-wise to be in HK, but… it would feel like home!  Hot, muggy, humid, with chance of typhoon or monsoon.  HOME! ;-)  It was the kind of weather where you are always soaked either from sweat or rain, and there was no real chance of getting dry.  Unless of course, you stayed inside in the A/C. ;-) 

When I was growing up, one of the special things to do was to have High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel.  This hotel is THE hotel in Hong Kong – it's absolutely gorgeous, the service is impeccable, and it is really is a piece of Hong Kong history.  I had always told myself that when I grew up and was rich and famous, I would return to HK and stay at the Peninsula.  I would be picked up at the airport in a Rolls Royce, and live in the lap of luxury.  So, I got online to find out if it was possible… and it was!  Well, for two nights.  I booked a "spa package" which allowed me to be picked up at the new airport (on Laan Tau Island  ACK!) in a Rolls Royce (not a Silver Cloud, but still very very nice!), have breakfast and lunch on the Pool Terrace and get hour-long massages and facials, and the most painful shampoo I've ever received (poor girl put extra effort into the head massage portion – I felt like she was crushing my skull OUCH!), all on my first two days in HK.  My room was amazing, and I was right in downtown Tsim Sha Tsui (Jeem Sah Jui) so I could get to the Star Ferry, the Ocean Terminal, the #7 bus, and the Metro.  Perfect!

Star Ferry heading to HK Island

Since I couldn't afford more than two nights at the Peninsula, I looked around for other deals and found one immediately across the street from the Peninsula:  the Kowloon Hotel.  The room was TINY, especially compared to what I was coming from, but mine had everything I needed: a bed, a bathroom, a hot water pot, a TV, and a fridge.  I went to the Stop'N'Shop and stocked up on bottled water, soda, beer, and juices to fill up the fridge, and some ramen noodles for quick breakfast or snack.  I took to boiling water at night and letting it cool overnight so I could refill my water bottles.  So, call me cheap, but I had more important things to spend my money on!

From my Kowloon Hotel base of operations, I was able to get a tour of the new campus of my old high school (HKIS), shop at Stanley Market, meet up with my friend Andy from high school (he now owns seven restaurants in HK), and revisit my old stomping grounds in Kowloon Tong.  What a great time!

At the "first" waterfall

I planned to relax on my last couple of nights in HK by staying at the Silvermine Beach Hotel on Laan Tau island.  I had a distant hope of being able to climb up "my mountain" to visit the Laan Tau Mountain Camp where I spent just about every summer of my life, but I didn't want to go alone and I had not been able to get a cell phone rental.  On the last day that I had time to do it, a woman came up to me at breakfast and asked if I knew anything about the hiking trails on the island… "As a matter of fact, I do!"

Small world, she was from Bowie, MD!  Who could have predicted that I would meet a fellow Marylander (I lived in Bethesda at the time) in Hong Kong, on Laan Tau island, who wanted to go hiking?  As it turned out, she didn't listen to me about buying enough water and/or food for the trek so we only made it to the first waterfall, but at least I got to hike a PART of the trail!  I was a happy camper.

The hotel was a very old hotel (I think my family had stayed there when I was LITTLE little), but just what I needed.  After the hustle and bustle of staying in downtown HK, I liked being able to relax a bit.  But, I still went back to HK on my last day to make all the remaining purchases. J  And I finally went back to Kowloon Tong. 

Good ole Lion Rock!

I think I had been afraid to go there because the rest of HK had changed soooooooooooooo much!  But I'm very glad that I finally went back to where I grew up.  I walked from the Kowloon Tong metro station, down Waterloo Road, to York Road, then over to Oxford and Hampshire Roads, and down by Essex Crescent.  None of the houses I knew were there anymore, but the new buildings were still low buildings with very few residents.  Probably exorbitantly expensive condos, but… the Asia and Dairy Farm  markets were still there!  The tennis courts and the big ole Hialeah (?) mansion were still there!  And of course, the Baptist Hospital, College (now University), and good ole KBC were there too.

I was SO glad that I had been able to get back to Hong Kong!  My trip was wonderful, and it also changed me in some important ways.  For example, after I got settled in at the Peninsula on my first night, I sent an email to my family with the subject line: "I'm HOME!"  And when I returned to my apartment in Bethesda, MD after ten wonderful days and a very VERY long flight home, my first email to the family was titled, "I'm home!"

Now that might not mean much to everyone, but to a third culture kid like myself, it was HUGE!  Ever since I left HK to go to college, I felt like I had no home anymore, especially in 1997 when HK went back to China.   My trip back to HK in 2005 reminded me that "you can't go home again", because life goes on when you're not there.  The HK in which I grew up was a lot like DC in a lot of ways:  height restrictions on the buildings, very cosmopolitan, and any kind of ethnic good you can imagine.  But now that they have moved the airport, there are no more height restrictions and HK has just BOOMED – and now it's more like Manhattan.  Which I love!  But it's not the same place. 

And that's OK, because I'm not the same person. Hong Kong grew up, and so did I!

Silvermine Bay at dawn, my last morning in HK

I also learned that Business Class is the ONLY way to fly around the world!  hahahaha

More pics from my trip here...

James

So I was supposed to write yesterday about a dear friend.  I started it, honest!  But then I kind of got bogged down.  Well, there was the work thing too, but that wasn't really it.

I was having a hard time picking "my dearest friend".  What a hardship!  I have so many "dear" friends that it's difficult to figure out who is the dearest! LOL

It's true – I've got a LOT of friends.  That's partly because I grew up overseas (Hong Kong) in a very transient place, and now I live in another very transient place.  I've got a lot of different "sets" of friends… my HK friends, my old college/Hoodlum friends, my old "Bob's" friends, my work friends, my Nanny's friends, my trivia buddies, my Aroma friends,  my RHR friends, my family friends, etc. etc. etc.   Some of these "sets" overlap in weird ways too, but it is a bit nice to have a lot of friends who don't necessarily even know each other!

But, when it got down to it, I asked myself: "Who would you say is the one person on whom you can always count to be there, to make you feel better, to make you laugh?  Who will always have a piece of your heart?" 

And I realized that that one person isn't here anymore.

Hasn't been for about almost 27 years.

And that's why I couldn't write.

But… it's important to write about him, isn't it?  If it still hurts 27 years later, maybe writing about him will make it a little better.  So… let me introduce you to James.

James moved to HK when he was about nine months old, shortly before I was born.  His dad and my dad were both surgeons, medical Southern Baptist missionaries.  My understanding is that Uncle Don (his dad) came to HK to work with my dad (who James called Uncle Lewis) in the Baptist Hospital (which my dad had just finished building).  As it turned out, their entire family became my family's best friends.  Aunt Mary and my mom got on like a house on fire, their oldest son was the same age as my brother, and I was between James and his little sister Donna. 

I don't remember first meeting James (probably because I had barely been born) but there are SO many pictures of the two of us together as little little kids, I'm just imagining that we were best friends from birth!  I used to call him my "twin brother from another mother" (after the Dan Fogelberg/Tim Weisberg album of the similar name -- to which I was introduced by James, of course).

James was hilarious.  He was very very smart and could use words like a paint brush.  I remember in elementary or maybe even in Jr. High school, he convinced his parents to let him open up an ice cream store… in their living room!  I, of course, was his willing assistant, and I think Donna, Paul, and maybe even Devra got into the act.  I used to go over to their house to spend the night, and it alternated somewhat between staying with Donna or James… but mostly James.  I remember magic shows and other entrepreneurial adventures, and still love the fact that his parents let us do them!

And I remember hours and hours playing with James, Donna, Paul, and Devra creating towns with the Fisher-Price people, connecting them with the Matchbox tracks as highways… from James and Paul's room, all the way down the hall, turn left and all the way down to the living room and back. 

I remember playing circus under the dining room table.  They had this great tablecloth that looked like a "Big Top" and we would while away the hours under there with James's imagination keeping us entertained.

I remember one time when I was sleeping on the bottom bunk, and James jumped off the top bunk in the middle of the night.  I called to him but he didn't answer, so I followed him.  Down the hallway, down the stars, open the house door, down the driveway, and then he went out of the gate and closed it.  (I stayed INSIDE the gate!)   I heard him say something like "Oh crap!" as soon as the gate was locked, so I called him again and never heard such a grateful James.  Apparently, he had a bit of a sleep-walking problem! 

I remember in Jr. High and High school, we would sit in the huge living room while James introduced me to Fusion Jazz on the family's quadraphonic stereo (I especially remember that they had reel-to-reel tape!) .  Or, we'd just listen and laugh our butts off to Bill Cosby.

I remember visiting the family in Louisiana on one furlough – I think I must have been going into third grade – and they had two horses, a black one and a brown one.  Which James of course, had named "Bwack and Bwown Booty".  I sat behind him on "Bwown Booty" and laughed and laughed!

We had both started school at Kowloon Junior School, but he was a year ahead of me.  Then his family moved to the US for a furlough and they put him back a year because he was too young for the American system.  As I mentioned, we visited them in the states a few years later, and then they went back to HK and we stayed in the US.

When they returned to HK, James went back into the British system at KJS and then KGV (King George the 5^th).  I came back for 5^th grade and was sent to Beacon Hill School so I didn't get to see James at school at all.  So, I would head over to Essex Crescent nearly every day instead!

I started going to the American school (Hong Kong International School – HKIS) in 7^th grade, and I believe James's family went back to the States while I was in 8^th grade.  When they came back, James joined me at HKIS and we were in the same grade… and in some of the same classes.  That was perfect for me!  We had English (1^st period) and Humanities (6^th period) together, and along with my good friend Scott Morris, we put those teachers through hell!  But even they couldn't help laughing. 

I lived in Atlanta in 10^th grade, and we didn't really write all that much, but when I got back to HK, we were inseparable again.  His girlfriend Tracie wasn't really that excited about it at first… I left Atlanta the day after school ended, which was about a month before school ended in HK.  So, James convinced me to come to school every day and hang out on the Village Green, an area set up in the cafeteria for hanging out purposes.  It was great!  It was made up of four large blocks (about 6' by 15'?) covered in green indoor/outdoor carpet.  James, Steve I. and I would move them around into interesting shapes and sit in precarious positions reading, playing cards, or whatever.  And then Tracie (who I knew from 7^th – 9^th grade) pulled me aside and said, "He's MY boyfriend!"  To which I laughed and said, "Yeah, but he's my BROTHER!"   Then I explained using our last names, which when combined was the name of our dads' fairly well-known partnership at the time, and how I'd known James since birth, and she went "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

James and I had 11^th and 12^th grade together at HKIS, and he was still the amazing, senstive, creative, wonderful guy I'd always known.  In 11^th grade, my parents and I moved to an apartment on Nathan Road, which was no where near anybody else, and made me fairly depressed.  But James would go out of his way to walk me home and cheer me up (usually involving something like wearing his underwear (CLEAN!) on his heaed), so I wouldn't feel lonely.

We moved back over to 30 Oxford Road, and for some reason, James started coming to stay with me after school.  We'd get home at about 4:30pm and I'd make cheese omelets.  We'd turn on Sesame Street (only show on the English channels at that time), or play piano and sing, or we'd joke about soccer, or something.   I think our upstairs neighbors had gotten the trampoline at that time (which had travelled from the Harvey's house (28 Oxford) to our old house on York Rd to the house on Essex Crescent and back), so sometimes we would sit out there and plot our take-over of the universe… no, not really.  We'd just talk.  About life, the universe, and everything.

And then we went to college.

I went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and he went to Baylor University in Waco, TX.  Once again, we didn't write that much, but we would call each other at least once a month.  Freshman year was hard on me,  and the worst was that I didn't get to see James at all that year.  Sophomore year was weird because I got mono for part of the year and didn't know about it until it was almost over.  (Messes a person up!)  But I was able to get back to HK during summer and hang out with the teenage Devra, which was fun!

 Junior year was the worst.  I sort of "unofficially" dropped out of school for one semester, and then officially dropped out the next when Vanderbilt put me on academic probation.  A lot of that time is a bit of a blur for me, because a LOT went on in my head then.  I went back to Vanderbilt the next Fall and thought I was doing well until my English prof failed me – even though I had aced every test and paper – because I didn't show up to class enough.   When I went to protest it, I found out he had gone on sabbatical so I had to wait a year.  Needless to say, the things coming out of my mouth at that time were NOT the most complimentary!

I had also met a guy and gotten engaged.  I found out later that he was sleeping with a friend of mine and decided, "uh, this is NOT going to work!".  But at the time, I was just a bit of a basket case.   I was out of school, living with my boyfriend, and working part time at a sub sandwhich shop (along with my boyfriend).  I felt like I was having a meltdown – nothing was going right and I just didn't know how to change it back to the right path!

And then one night, I was working at the Sub Base and I got a call from my brother.  James had killed himself.  He didn't know all the details, but he knew that I would want to know as soon as possible, because he knew how close we were.  I felt like I had been stabbed.  I was very lucky that my (very dear) friend Megan was there that night because I just could NOT take it all in!  I took over washing dishes in between phone calls and crying jags – and washing dishes surprisingly helped a lot.

Megan called my boyfriend to come pick me up (I not only didn't have a car, but I didn't know how to drive), but he couldn't do it.  I found out later that the reason he couldn't do it was that he was tripping his brains out – this was AFTER he had told me he wouldn't do acid anymore, so it was just one more thing.  He also had the gall to give me crap for getting a guy he was not very fond of to drive me home.  Needless to say, every bit of my anger and grief and vituperative bile came out at him, and at all the other people tripping balls at my house.   (Also needless to say, we didn't stay together for much longer.)

I went back to Hong Kong for a month to recuperate, and I'm sure my parents were very worried about me.  This was in 1984 and I suddenly realized why George Orwell picked that year – it was a horrible year!  But the absolute worst part was that James died because he didn't think anyone loved him.  I did!  And I still do.  And I always will.

I learned something very important that year:  do not ever assume that your friends know that you love them.  Tell them! 

OK, I'm going to stop crying and leave the office now…

My Day in Close Up

Alarm!

Snooze

Alarm!

Snooze

Alarm!

Snooze

Cat sitting on head

GRR-OFF!

Alarm!

Oh alllllright…

Shuffle shuffle BRIGHT LIGHT!!!  Ow.  TV chatter

Clean litter box

Shower

Get dressed… wait, which sweater am I wearing?  Oh, the red one…  Do I have socks?  Yes, Christmas ones.  Well, at least it's past October now…

Feed the kitty (mreow mreow mreow)

Take the drugs

Pack the bag, get newspaper, stuff it in bag with the rest of my life

Crap, my coat needs to be cleaned or at least pressed!  OK, leather it is…

Good to go?  Bye kitty, be back tonight!  Turn off lights, lock the door.

Go back in, retrieve glasses, leave again and lock the door and leave the building...

Next Bus = 36 minutes?  You've GOT to be kidding me!  Wait, isn't that my bus just coming right now?  Why yes it is!  Woohoo!

Grrrrrr, wouldn't it be great if my DC vote actually counted for something?  I know, I know, I didn't actually vote - for the first time since I was old enough to vote, I really didn't think it would matter.  All of the people I would have voted for won their DC elections, none of the SUPREME nut jobs made it in, and my vote DOES NOT COUNT in the grand scheme of things regarding representation in the House or the Senate because DC does not have voting representation in the US government!  Sheesh...  Grumble grumble grumble

Wouldya look at that?  I'm at work almost ½ an hour early!  Just enough time to stop at Corner Bakery for the worlds best coffee and a bagel!

Work work work

Lunch from the Brown Bag –

I love Dr. Brown's Cream Soda (Diet)!
Just sayin'!

Blog blog blog (during lunch of course, certainly not on work time, oh noooooooo)

Work work work

Database Database Database

Document document document

Lose mind, bang head, face palm
I'm FINE, really!
work work work
(Facebook, Facebook, Facebook)

Is it time yet?  YES!  Laptop, backpack, tote bag... why do I feel like a bag lady?

Walk four blocks to the Metro, get off in Cleveland Park

Hi Mrs. Shaffer!!!! How's married life? ;-)

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TV/DVR Castle, last half of Amazing Race, NCIS, Zzzz, Glee, Survivor…

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Something I Ate Today

For lunch today I decided to walk somewhere and get something decent that was not Au Bon Pain.  And then I went outside.  Without a coat.  It's COLD!  So, I walked the two seconds it takes to get to Au Bon Pain, thoroughly intent on getting the soup mixture I tend to devour on a regular basis:  chicken noodle (without all the broth) and a topping of broccoli/cheddar.  Add some crumbled crackers and it's fantastic!  And warm!  And yummy!  (OK, enough enthusiasm...)


But - I'm a little tired of that concoction because I tend to have it 2-3 times a week.  And then I saw... Macaroni & Cheese!  *swoon*  So, yes, I decided on a (small) cup of Mac & Cheese, grabbed an apple for something healthy and went back up to the office "café " for a nice comfort-foodie type lunch.  So I'm sitting there eating my low-fat Mac & Cheese (believe that?  got a bridge I wanna sell ya!) with my caffeine-free Diet Coke (it all balances out), when one of my friends pulls out this huge platter from the refrigerator.


"What's that?"

"Huh?  Oh, it's leftover cheese platter from a party the other day!"

"Hum.  Wouldn't it be all hard and icky by now?"

"Mrpmph..  nomph, iss priddy good!"


Uh oh.  So yes, for lunch yesterday, I had Macaroni & Cheese, with a cheese chaser!  (Heck, it was good cheese!  Mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss, monkey jack, and mmmmm smoked Gouda!  And grapes!)


Yes, I did eat the apple and grapes as well, so it was a very nicely balanced meal... right?

November Postage

Thanks to Emily for an idea to get me writing EVERY DAY!  I just realized that I missed an ENTIRE month of writing on this blog... ACK!  So, Em's friend suggested doing this for November, so I'm going to too... OK, I'm a little behind, but still, I 'll do what I can!

Yesterday's (Nov. 1) post should have been a self-portrait, which it isn't really, but it's sort of a portrait of a day in my life.   A weird day, but aren't those the most fun?

So here's what I'll be writing about for the 30 days hath November...

Day 01: A self-portrait.

Day 02: Something I ate today.

Day 03: A close-up of my day.
Day 04: A fabulous friend.
Day 05: Myself, five years ago.
Day 06: Three favourite quotes.
Day 07: A song for the day.
Day 08: The city I live in.
Day 09: The last item I purchased.
Day 10: My favourite place to eat.
Day 11: Something I’ve been craving.
Day 12: Three blogs I can’t get enough of.
Day 13: A favourite song.
Day 14: A favourite TV show.
Day 15: Something I never leave the house without.
Day 16: A celebrity I’m swooning over.
Day 17: My family & myself.
Day 18: What I wore today.
Day 19: A silly self-portrait.
Day 20: A childhood anecdote.
Day 21: Something that makes me rather happy.
Day 22: Something that I miss.
Day 23: Fifteen facts about me.
Day 24: Something that means a lot to me.
Day 25: The contents of my purse.
Day 26: A photo of some place I’ve travelled.
Day 27: Myself, one year ago.
Day 28: A favourite movie.
Day 29: Something I could never tire of.
Day 30: Three great things that happened this month.
 

Mom

I was cleaning my house (and saw pigs flying outside my window) and found my old Creative Writing folder.  There was one thing I wanted to find and was very pleased to do so.  It was an assignment to write something about someone you admired, and I wrote it about my Mom.  This might have been written 15 years ago, but it all still applies! :-)

Mom (September, 1995)

She is a short, silver-haired dynamo.  She walks very fast and with a slight lean forward, as if her legs just don't move fast enough for her.  She has an unwrinkled face with sparkling blue eyes and a bright, pink-lipped smile, and a ready laugh.  Somehow the cloud of white hair doesn't match the youth and personality shining through her.

What is her secret? "I enjoy life! I believe that if you greet each day with a smile, you can't go wrong.  I also truly believe that the more you give, the more you get. I have lived a full life, a life full of joy and sorrow, but the Lord has blessed me with the ability to accept the sorrows and celebrate the joys -- this keeps me young!"

Christmas Eve

I started this blog at Thanksgiving and completely thought I would be writing every day, or at least every couple of days. I've had MANY stories and posts running around in my head, but they just haven't seemed to get written down! A lot has happened since my last post: at work, we got the update release out the door and published, we had several "holiday" parties, including a "white elephant" party which was lots of fun, and I'm now on vacation. I started on the 17^th, but did go into the office on the 18^th for a Wii Bowling Tournament which was a sort of prize for participating in a company event.

Personally, I've emceed several trivia nights, did not win the one in which I competed, had lots of fun and laughs with my friends and have seen several movies, "The Blind Side" and "The Princess and the Frog". But yesterday was the best day, because my niece and nephew came into DC to see "Avatar" with me at "my" movie theatre, The Uptown, in Cleveland Park. They got there a little late, so instead of the 11:30 movie and lunch, we had lunch at Nanny O'Briens, then walked through Wake Up Little Suzie for lots of giggles and headed down to Firehook for a coffee and just to "hang." We still had some time, so we went down to the Zoo for a bit before heading back for the 3:15 movie. It was a really great afternoon, and topped off by a really fun movie – very cool story and AWESOME special effects.

Oh, and there was this snow storm thingie… Did you hear about that? Sixth largest snowstorm in DC recorded history, and we were STILL digging out four days later! I know, those of you in the Northeast or Montana are going "18 inches? That's a big storm??!?" Well, yeah, for DC, it is. Our normal "big" storms are about 6" of snow, so having three times that makes it a little difficult for our planners. I will say that the main streets were cleaned up pretty well and pretty quickly (luckily, the main storm was on a Saturday), but the sidewalks? Not so much! DC is very much a pedestrian city – yes, the roads are extremely important so that all of the suburban residents (you know, the ones in Maryland and Virginia) can drive into work or shop, but most of the DC residents are dependent on walking to the Metro or taking the bus.

Cleaning the sidewalks is ostensibly the responsibility of the property owners, so many of them are fairly well cleared. But the sidewalks next to parks and all of the corners are a complete mess! Two pedestrians have been killed in the last two days because "cars have gone out of control" (because cars obviously have minds of their own) and the pedestrians were in the road… BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT WALK ON THE SIDEWALK. Also, no matter how clear the sidewalks are, the snow plows have pushed all of the excess snow onto the corners so that pedestrians have had to either climb over two to three feet of packed ice and snow or trudge through a foot (or more) of slush to simply cross the street.

As for taking the bus, it took two days for WMATA to clear the bus stops, but there are still four foot high mountains of ice and snow piled up between the stop and the road! At some stops, riders have stamped out a path from the sidewalk to the street, but it is still slippery and dangerous. A couple of nights ago, I had to stand in the street at the corner to flag down a bus because there was NO way to get to the bus otherwise. Ridiculous!

GAaahhhhh!

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now (carefully, so I don't slip on the ice)... Today is Christmas Eve and I'm heading over to my sister's house for Christmas. We'll have Chinese food for dinner, go to a new church this year (because their regular church has a band instead of a choir, and last year's experience was not QUITE the thing...), and then it's back for hot chocolate as we drive around to look at the lights. I'm really looking forward to the Dancing Trees, where the people have set up the lights to go on and off in time to music. Tomorrow, I'll run down the stairs with my "kids" to open our presents and then eat lots of turkey and ham and probably take a nap on the La-Z-Boy with Patti in my lap. (Ha, I'm a poet!)

So, Merry Christmas! If you don't believe in the Nativity story, just treat the day as a day of peace and hopefully good will. Enjoy the day, enjoy the people around you, enjoy yourself, and smile.