Our DC Trip, Realized

Though I wasn't too sure we were going to make it, *B* and I went down to DC yesterday. We managed to struggle out of bed early enough to get there around 10 am. We decided to see all the things that we just never quite got around to when we were younger. And as luck would have it, this week is the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It was absolutely gorgeous. And lucky for you, I took my camera along :o)

View of Jefferson Memorial from across the Tidal Basin

*B* and me at the Tidal Basin

Gorgeous view of the Washington Monument

It seems we've gotten a lot of rain lately - these trees should not be on an island!

And this bench should not be IN the basin. How did that little girl get there?!

I have discovered my favorite memorial. We didn't plan to stop, but we had to walk through on our way from the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. That is when I discovered the beauty of the FDR Memorial. I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone. I was really touched.

The entrance to the memorial

*B* by one of the many gorgeous water installations. I so wish we could have gone in just a bit.

*B* against the memorial that quotes: "More than an end to war, we want and end to the beginning of all wars."

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."


Just one of the amazing waterfalls at the memorial.

Hello Mr. Lincoln

An interesting view of both the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the steps of the Lincoln Monument.

A picture from the American History Museum - me with a canning poster. *B* said I just had to post it for you all, and as usual, he was right!

We didn't get to see all of what we wanted, but we walked for a good five to six hours yesterday. Boy, were our dogs barking! We ended up seeing the cherry blossoms, the Jefferson Monument, the FDR Memorial, the Korean Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and finding my mom's cousin's name, the Lincoln Monument, the reflecting pool, the outside of the Washington Monument, and the American History Museum.

We stopped at a great place for lunch - I highly recommend it. It's called Capitol City Brewing Company, and we found it at H Street and 11th, though it's listed as being on New York Avenue. They give complimentary soft pretzels, and their burger and fries were the best ever! (By the way, I realized later that it was Friday and I wasn't allowed to have meat. Mea culpa. But it was GOOD.)

We decided that we have to come back sometime this spring/summer to finish off DC. We want to see the National Archives, the Capitol, the inside of the Washington Monument, and a few other, more obscure museums. For the cost of a metro ride (~$3 each) and lunch (more than $3 each), we had an amazing, jam-packed day of fun together.

A Beautiful Sound

Evie is getting better. She has an upper respiratory infection. I have to give her amoxicillin twice a day for a while. We did find out, however, that petsmart was wrong about her age. She's five months, not three. Not that I love her any less, but I have less kitten time with her now.

After just about a week of quarantining the cats, I'm currently listening to the pitter-patter of eight little feet. Wicket chases Evie up the stairs, then somehow Evie ends up chasing Wicket down the stairs. While we won't go anywhere without separating them, they seem to be okay together while we're here. We only let them out together for a little while. Wicket's still scared of her and hisses at first, but overall we're doing just fine.

We had a lovely little New Year's party. There were only nine of us, but I enjoyed it immensely. My friend from high school confirmed that *B* will be performing his wedding ceremony! I'm very excited. *B* has only performed one other ceremony, and that was for his sister's wedding a few years ago. It does mean, however, that we have to get up airfare and hotel to get to Indiana for a weekend. It's two months after *B*'s best friend's wedding, too. I guess I'm getting to that age :o) I'm hoping that I'll be able to post news about me in that respect, but I don't know when that'll happen. Right now, I'm just hoping and praying that it'll be soon. As Billy Crystal said in When Harry Met Sally, "...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

I decided to join a gym a few days ago. It's $30 a month (less than normal because I'm a teacher). I had been putting it off because of the expense, but I realized my health is worth more than $30 a month. This place is open 24-7, is less than a mile away, and has brand new equipment. I went for the first time yesterday. I was so excited to get back into it that I spent almost two hours there. I loved it so much. Now, though, I hurt SO BAD. I'm going back tomorrow for some light cardio. If I don't, I'm not sure if I'll ever go back :o) *B*'s aunt gave me a cute padded journal that looked like a sweatshirt. This is a journal something like it:

My access card fits just in the pocket, and I can keep track of what I'm doing. I like keeping data on my progress. When I first got it, I was thankful but ambivalent, though now it seems like it perfectly fits my needs.

Once I get into the habit of going to the gym, then I'll work on eating better. This year will be a much more relaxed endeavor than the usual "lose a bunch of weight" campaign. I want to be healthy. If that means I end up losing weight, great. If not, at least I'll be fit. Maybe, as if by osmosis, *B* will follow suit. Not that I'd ever critique his physique, his family's history of health problems is cause for concern. And anyway, he's the one that pushes vegetables all the time. Maybe now I'll actually listen to him :o)

What a Surprise!

I got the best Christmas present ever. While it wasn't what I was desperately hoping for, it was very good nonetheless. May I present to you:

EVIE!


My mom, along with my dad and brother, got me a kitten! As you can see, she's a gorgeous tuxedo cat. She's purrfectly symmetrical (I couldn't help myself). She just loves to purr and be cuddled, which is what I do best. Her name, Evie, sounds like the letters E and V. It's a common nickname for Evelyn, and was the main character in V for Vendetta. Wicket is not at all happy with her being in the house though. It will be a long, slow few weeks until they get used to each other. I'm praying for a somewhat quick acquaintance period.

We went to see all of our close family on Christmas Day, but went to *B*'s parents to see extended family yesterday. We ended up sleeping over because it was closer for *B* to get to work. Then, we saw my extended family today. Talk about running around!

To top it off, we went to Ikea tonight to get some pieces of furniture that we really wanted for the house. Yes, we could have lived without them, but I think they complete our rooms.

I am totally beat from all of the running around. I will post much more extensively tomorrow.

We Made It!

We weathered the storm (pardon the pun) quite well. We got two feet of snow! That hasn't happened since I was about 7 years old. As it's such a rare event, I took a million pictures :o)


That's a normal size picnic table right there - the snow went well over the seat.


We walked down to a local park to see what it looked like outside of our neighborhood. This is a good indicator of how much it snowed. *B* is just shy of six feet.


This is Main Street of our little town. Isn't it gorgeous!?

*B* taking a much deserved shovel-break.


This is picture number two of me on this blog. Not the best picture of *B*, but it's Christmas break. He's entitled not to shave or wear contacts :o)

Even Wicket got into the action! We weren't afraid of her running, unlike other times of the year. We tossed her out into the back yard earlier in the day to see if she'd like snow. A few seconds after this picture was taken, she was pawing at the door to get back in.


I've gotten so much done in the last few days. Almost a year after I received it, I made a good playlist for my digital picture frame. Before, we just threw in whatever card was full. Now, they're good pictures that make me happy.

I've finally gotten my meds in order. I am so thankful for it, too. I was pretty miserable. I'm still working with a psychologist. I'm starting to think teaching (or at least teaching physics) is not for me. The more I talk to her, the more I realize I dread work. Not as much as other jobs I've had, but still more than I should for a career. She made a really good analogy - what would you say about a relationship where you're together because he's an okay guy and there was no one better around, but you didn't love him. That made a lot of sense to me.

I also reorganized our pantry this week. For my birthday, my brother got me 24 boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. That means we now have enough cornbread mix to feed an army!




Isn't it a gorgeous pantry? I've asked for gamma buckets for Christmas, and I plan on getting/making more shelves like those shown here. We've got plenty of vitamin C fruits, veggies, and canned soup to last us for three months. I'm so proud! It feels so good to not NEED anything. There are things I go to the store to get (like the ingredients for our awesome dinner last night), but nothing I MUST get.

Speaking of last night, I made prosciutto-wrapped pork loin with pears and sweet potatoes. It...was...AMAZING! I got the recipe from Real Simple. Oh so delicious, and very, very easy.

I'm also very excited for our Christmas Eve dinner. We're going to a very nice (so my brother says) local restaurant. I've never called to make reservations anywhere before, and I've never been there before, so this is going to be fun. *B* even said that he'd dress up for it. I just have to get him a dress shirt. He only has two collared shirts, and they're super casual.

I love Christmas!!!!!!!!

Let it Snow!

We got over 5 inches of snow yesterday! That's a big deal for around here, and probably the most we'll see all winter. Wicket seemed to enjoy it, as she ran out the back door when I opened it. Usually, I freak out and run after her, but I knew that she wouldn't get far in the cold, wet snow. She pawed around for a good two minutes and ran right back inside. Good girl :o)

Because of the snow, we couldn't go to get a tree like we wanted to. It took me an hour and a half to get home from school yesterday morning when it's usually a 45 minute trip! So instead, we addressed all of our cards to be mailed tomorrow, had some mildly spiked coffee, baked cookies, and watched Christmas movies.I love spritz cookies. We happened to go to Joann's (a craft/fabric store) the day after Thanksgiving and I saw a spritz gun for $6.99. I just had to have it. So yesterday, I made 5 dozen chocolate spritz cookies in varying shapes.
When I was little, I had a teddy bear hamster. If you don't know, they are what most people who think of hamsters imagine. We gave him a tree-shaped spritz cookie for a treat, and he stuffed the WHOLE thing in his pouch. It was bigger than his head! You could see the outline of the tree through his cheek. It was hilarious.
More spritz cookies. YUM!I only made half a batch of shortbread, because I didn't pull enough butter out of the freezer ahead of time, and it was eaten quickly. I have four left this morning. Side note - I've cleaned that pan a million times, and those splotches are still there. It used to be my mom's, and that's how I got it. Any ideas?

I'm really hoping that we'll be able to get the tree. Last year, we waited until the weekend before and I didn't feel I could enjoy it. We used the little lights last year because that's what *B*'s family does. This year, we're using the big, C8 light bulbs. I like them much better.

An Overview of My Break - In Reverse

Happy birthday to me!!! I turned 24 today at 5:30 pm. Woo hoo! For lunch/dinner, my parents and my brother took me to Carabba's. It was sooo good. I like their chicken marsala a lot.

This morning Michelle and Bill took *B* and me out to breakfast at a really awesome cafe called Blue Moon in the city. *B* had Cap'n Crunch French Toast (omgosh) and I had a great omelet.

*B* had promised me a planned party on the day before my birthday. I was a little disappointed when it didn't happen. He got caught up and didn't invite anyone. But his friends Dan and Laura came over and we chowed down on leftovers - turkey korma with samosas using the leftover turkey and mashed potatoes. The boys even polished off the trifle *B* made for dessert on Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it went really well. Unfortunately, my camera died and I couldn't find the battery charger. But I took pictures with my mom's camera. I'll post them as soon as she sends them to me. We had ten people total, and a 21 pound turkey. There was stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, peas, and sauerkraut. For dessert, there was pumpkin pie, pumpkin gingerbread trifle, chocolate pie, and apple crisp. We still have a full pan of apple crisp, turkey, some peas, sweet potatoes, and curried potatoes, but everything else is gone. My dad and his parents got on well. I'm glad to see their year long feud has at least taken a hiatus. Right after everyone left, *B* and I pulled out Christmas boxes and started watching DVDs and decorate. I love the holidays! I can't believe it's almost Christmas!

Before that, my mom and I painted my upstairs bathroom. It looks so good! It needs one more coat, which will probably be done during the Christmas break. Again, as soon as I find my charger, I'll post pictures.

One of my first activities once the break started was to go out and buy a whole heaping cart full of food during the holiday sales. I swore it would cost me $200, but I got out of there just shy of $80. I am well on my way to stocking a good, healthy pantry!

I'm also through a book and a half in my nine days of vacation. I had bought but never read Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence a number of years ago. I finally pulled it out and read the darned thing. I ended up really liking it! I bought The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, thinking that I love Kate Winslet and every movie she's been in, and I've found it lacking. It's not great, but not awful. It's a shame - I read Little Children by Tom Perrotta and found it engulfing. Not so much this time. I also own, but have not read, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. That will probably be my next book. I have asked for Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut and Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb for Christmas. Vonnegut's book was published posthumously, and Lamb's books are amazing, but few and far between.

I hope everyone out there had a good, relaxing holiday!