Snowpacolypse 2 on Saturday - i

This was 12 hours ago, midnight EST.

This was about 6 hours later, around 6am EST.

This was about an hour ago, before I started shoveling, at 11am EST.

I was literally snowed in.

I couldn't open my front door.

My door now opens.  It's very slick,

and no sooner is the surface clear, then it is covered again by snow.

This is my weapon of choice against the snow. Rrrrrrrrrr!

I am the woman.

The view from the bottom of my stairs.

But on a happier note, I have clean towels stacked up again in my bathroom.

The appliance delivery guys knocked on my door at 0645 yesterday to deliver my new washer.

They wanted to get ahead of the storm with their deliveries.

Yay!!!!

I can do laundry in the comfort of my own home.

Now, I'm off to walk about and meet a friend for lunch near Eastern Market.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and for laughs here are two of my favorite links providing storm coverage:

PANIC

And The Curse of Snowbama.

photos by me

looking back

This week I cancelled my MySpace account.  I rarely check it, and when I do I have e-mails from random, unknown men, whose awkardly worded attempts at flirting with a perfect stranger were vaguely disquieting and uncomfortable.  So, I cancelled my account, however I did keep my blog posts and thought they would be fun to share here. 

The post below was written two years ago.  I remember this day.  I had been on a blind date with a perfectly nice, handsome, interesting man to whom I felt absolutely no attraction.  I had also just received word minutes before I met him that one of my dearest friends had died.

If there was ever a woman that I would call my second mom, it was this dear friend.  She braided my hair when I was younger, painted my face for Halloween, always loved me no matter what and made my birthday dinner and cake for me on my sixteenth birthday when my parents were out of town.  She let me come and play her piano any time.  When I would go home on leave, my time wasn't complete if I didn't stop by to say hello and play the grand piano.  I still miss her when I go home; Paradise just isn't the same.  I love you, Norene.

I was waiting for the blind date on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant when my sister called to tell me the news.  Just as she told me I saw the perfectly, nice, handsome, interesting man walking towards, and I burst into tears.  I was still crying when he came up to me and waited, patient and concerned, until I finished my conversation.  He was very kind and concerned at my obvious distress.  I was impressed that he hadn't been scared off by the unexplained emotional distress of a female stranger in the first few moments of our meeting.  I pulled myself together and went on the blind date.

I'm surprised at the entry below, because it doesn't capture what I was truly feeling that day.  I needed to write, but apparently couldn't write what I honestly felt at the time.  Everything I wrote is true, it was a good day in spite of the bad news.  But, I think I would have been much more true to myself if I had written about who I loved that day.

written on 19 January 2007

So, today was a rockin' day spent being a tourist. From the top of the Washington Monument, we looked down and watched Marine 1 fly below us and land at the White House to pick up George. Pretty rockin'! The Botanical Gardens made me feel as though it was summer again for an hour or so. The Library of Congress took me back to Italy for the afternoon as I walked among beautiful mosaics, marble carvings and paintings.

I love DC. It was the first city I visited that exceeded my expectations and it still does every time I go out and play. I love the crazy layout of the streets that gets me lost every time I come up out of the Metro. I love that every evening on the drive home, I see the Capitol with the sunsetting behind it. I love the walk around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial and then around to the FDR Memorial when cherries are in blossom. I love that the Metro doesn't always run when it's supposed and makes me late for stuff. I love living five blocks from Eastern Market and the smell of meat in dead of summer (blegh!). I love walking the C&O canal in Georgetown, and finding the Chagall mural in some guy's backyard. I love walking Memorial Bridge over to Arlington, and the quiet that I find there.

Basically, DC is now my home and I'm learning its ins and outs. It's been quite a ride since I moved here and I am so looking forward to more. Woohoo!

photo by me

i just discovered

i just discovered this lovely little blog, that is filled with wisdom, observation and beauty by author Kate DiCamillo.  here are just a few of her books.

her essay on seeing a water fountain is... well it's hard to describe.  i just know i like the way this woman thinks and tells a story.

she has tips for aspiring writers, that make me smile and want see more of this wonderful, bright world i live in.  hopefully, you don't mind if i share a bit more of what i see.  (the essay that proceeds her tips describes how i feel about writing.)

reading her blog is like drinking from a water fountain on a hot summer day.  you never want to stop drinking, the water feels so cool and good going down your throat into your belly and takes the sting out of the heat.  her writing elicits the same response and takes the sting out of the world.

image from: katedicamillo.com

ah, weekend

on friday, i just wanted to put my head down on my desk and have a good cry, and i couldn't figure out why.  i was tired after working a couple of very long weeks without a weekend to recuperate, but i didn't think that was reason enough to cry while at work.  i guess i was a bit tired and homesick.

i wanted to run home and be taken care off all weekend.  i wanted to have my mom make her cream of turkey with rice soup with homemade bread and apple pie bars for dessert.  i wanted to watch dumb fort documentaries with my dad, and then watch a romantic comedy with him and my mom.  i wanted to go for a long walk up through the fields and enjoy the silence found only in the mountains of northern utah.  sometimes i wish i didn't live so far away from places where it's easy to find quiet.

instead of running to utah, i spent the weekend enjoying my home here.  it snowed really hard most of the day yesterday, and i spent it helping a friend finish up the chores that come with moving.  it was fun to spend time with her and we laughed about some of our adventures together as we worked.  mainly she needed moral support while buckling down to do the last of her packing and decision making.  i hate that part of moving as well, so i was glad to help and spend time with her.  it felt good last night to go to bed tired from physical exertions and read until i fell asleep.

unexpectedly, i had a very quiet day today.  church was cancelled due to the six to eight inches of snow we received yesterday (yes, i know we are snow wimps here in dc).  with the morning free, i spent it alternating between sleeping and reading, deliciously warm and comfortably tucked in my bed, and relishing not having anything to do or anywhere to be.  it's not often that i have so much time in which to do nothing, or so much time to be quiet.  i spent the rest of the day enjoying my free time, reading, watching a movie, crocheting, chatting briefly with a friend and going for a walk to watch the sunset through the bare branches of the trees around lincoln park.

i'm thankful for weekends that recharge my batteries.  i'm now ready for the new week ahead.

more snow this weekend

more snow this weekend in dc.

wahoo!

i love this photo with the light from my flash

catching the snowflakes.

let it snow,

let it snow,

let it snow!

photos by me

fort monroe, va - two weekends ago

it was a gorgeous, sunny 60 degrees farenheit on the virginia penninsula.

it was a perfect tidewater day to visit fort monroe and walk about being a tourist.

 

it's good to be the commanding general.

you get to live in a house like this.

other officers get to live in houses like this.

beautiful old oak trees everywhere.

this is the view you get from the houses above.

they face one of the busiest shipping lanes along the east coast.

there's a ship in the distance.

it was a gorgeous day, with a strong, brisk wind

coming down from the north, pushing the clouds along.

the gulls lined up just for me to get a photo.

ft. monroe even has a lighthouse. 

it's poking up over the berm of one of the gun emplacements.

this is the tunnel through the east wall of the fort.

the white house at the end is full of history.

as you can see, i got to walk where president lincoln walked.

i love historical weekends.

some of the officers' quarters still have christmas spirit.

chesapeake bay christmases are some of my favorites.

the west wall casements even get decked out for christmas.

jefferson davis was held prisoner here after the civil war.

i love this metal filigree cross.

a view of the moat from the top of the fort wall.

another view from the top of the fort wall.

this is the west causeway bridge.

the west moat and another gull who posed just for me.

this grand looking bullding is the base gym.

beautiful.

thanks cousin jay and sue for a great weekend.

photos by me

the wrong shoe

these are the shoes i wore to work today.

i also wore them to dinner this evening

and then to book group.

at first glance it's difficult to tell the difference, but

yes,

i am wearing two completely different shoes.

i'm just glad they were both black.

i've been laughing at myself all day.

gosh, i'm getting old... or something.

photos by me

happy birthday sis

i love my sis.
she's one of my best-est friends in the whole wide world.
to me, she is amazing.

i am in awe of her as a mom.  she is so good at it.
she goes through hell to become a mom, but she pulls through it.
she lets her boys go off and explore the world,
and keeps an ever watchful eye on them.
i hope i am a lot like her when i get to be a mom.

we've had our differences.
for instance, i accidentally ran over one of her pet geese,
and learned a very important lesson--
always wait until you can see the goose
on the other side of the car before driving forward.
she didn't speak to me for about a week.

when we were younger, i felt like we were so different.
she rode horses, competed to be a rodeo queen,
milked cows, doctored calves, moved sprinkler pipe,
drove a tractor and hunted each fall during deer season.
i sang in the choir, worked on the school news paper,
performed in plays, wrote short stories for fun,
watched classic movies and musicals, and
on occasion helped her move sprinkler pipe.

i wondered if we would ever find our common ground.
it took a while, but we did.
i think i had to grow up to be able to appreciate our differences.
i think we both did.

we've had a lot of fun times together.
her visit to london rocked!
she asked me to take her engagement photos.
i got to see her husband-to-be surprise her
with the official proposal and ring, and capture it on film.
we love being aunt becky and aunt christine.
we have fun singing together, and playing duets on the piano.
we had fun with our brother on the deer hunt from hell.
we have fun talking on the phone for a really long time,
and sharing all the great times and the really hard stuff that happens in our lives.
i miss being able to see her whenever i want.

so, to my sister becky, i love you.  i'm really glad you're my sister.

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y