When I Get Time

Women's Suffrage

2009-09-14T10:34:00.003-04:00

Over the past few years, I've been increasingly discouraged by the apathy directed toward our election process. I've heard many statements like "What does my vote matter," or "I don't have time".

Recently, I completed an extensive documentation dossier for a historical marker that my DAR chapter is placing near the site of the Occoquan Workhouse. (I've added some informational links below, in case you don't know about the significance of the Workhouse and the "Night of Terror".) While I was reading first-hand accounts, books about the period, and watching the incredible movie Iron Jawed Angels, I gained a new respect for our democratic process. Most importantly, my new argument to those who remain apathetic points to the struggle these women went through to provide the right to vote. Even if you don't care for the politics, appreciate that we, as citizens, can participate in the process.

I found myself even wondering if I could do what these women did...

The Workhouse's wooden structure is long gone, but the former Lorton prison has been reclaimed as an Art Center. An area has been designated for a Women's Suffrage museum, and that's where our marker will be placed. A temporary museum exists today, in a building across the lawn from the future site.

Informational links:
http://www.sewallbelmont.org/ : "The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum is the headquarters of the historic National Woman's Party and was the Washington home of its founder and Equal Rights Amendment author Alice Paul."

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/suffrage1900/a/suffrage_brutal.htm : References the email often circulated around Election Day. "The point of the email: it took a lot of sacrifice to win the vote for women, and so women today should honor their sacrifice by taking our right to vote seriously, and actually getting to the polls."

http://www.lortonarts.org/the_workhouse.htm : The History of the Lorton complex and its current transformation.

http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/ : The HBO site for Iron Jawed Angels. The movie "recounts for a contemporary audience a key chapter in U.S. history: in this case, the struggle of suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment. Focusing on the two defiant women, Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O'Connor), the film shows how these activists broke from the mainstream women's-rights movement and created a more radical wing, daring to push the boundaries of political protest to secure women's voting rights in 1920."

Leaving St. Lucia...

2009-04-11T11:24:00.001-04:00

We were almost ready for an 11 AM transfer to the airport. Knowing we were running short on cash, we got some more St. Lucia currency for the airport departure fee, and put it with the tickets and passports.

When we arrived at the airport, we hopped out of the van, collected the luggage, and got in line to check in at the airport counter. (Note that this entire airport had a “Carnival” feel, with plywood booths, and minimal décor.) After various conflicting reports, we were able to establish that the alcohol we purchased had to be in the checked baggage. I kept the passports to get us checked in for the flight while Darrin went to claim the duty free alcohol we purchased, so we could check it with the rest of our bags.

As I was at the counter, I discovered that I had most of the departure fee, but Darrin had the rest of our cash with him, so I ended up being short on the tax by a couple dollars. The attendant waved it off, since there were others in a long line that he wanted to check in. While another attendant was checking bags, I explained that one couldn’t be checked yet, since my husband was retrieving some duty free items. She printed the tag and stuck it to her hip and told me to find her when the bag was ready. I went off in search of Darrin…
Meanwhile, Darrin (after a false start of trying to enter the doors with the big, scary “DO NOT ENTER” sign) was making his way through the “Exit St. Lucia” security process, without his passport. After making it through the first hurdle (the big guys checking passports), he was admitted to the baggage checking area. Carrying the bag that the bottles were to be packed in, he explained (again) his intent to retrieve duty free goods, and he was directed to the person standing behind him where he proceeded to explain (again) his intent. He was directed to place the bag on the conveyor and proceed through the metal detector area – three feet away. After several attempts to navigate the metal detector, having removed his rings, watch, belt buckle, glasses, wallet and anything else he could think of, he made it through the metal detector successfully, where he collected the bag, and got to explain (again) that he needed to pick up duty free items. In a moment of extreme irony (for some), the security guard said if she’d known his intent, he wouldn’t have gone through the metal detector search. He was then led through a secured door to the disembarking area, on the other side of the wall, (where he’d attempted to go originally). He had to explain (again) that he was picking up duty free purchases. The security guard disappeared through a door, and reappeared a few minutes later without the items from another door asking another guard (in a loud voice) about where the Duty Free goods were kept. Darrin, fearing the worst for our purchases) was not amused. The second official disappeared through the same door as the first, but reappeared a few minutes later from the same door, mercifully with the purchases.
About then, I had just walked straight through the “DO NOT ENTER” door, sending several officials into apoplexy, when I informed them that I was waiting on my husband who was right THERE. At this point it looked like Darrin had it under control. When we caught up with each other, we quickly exited the area to avoid further consternation among the local security guards.
THEN, with purchases in hand, we went around the corner (remember, this was NOT a big airport) to pack the bag, ensuring that all bottles were well wrapped in dirty laundry. A well-meaning passerby pointed out that we’d need to check that bag, since liquids were not allowed to be carried on the plane. We thanked him for his advice, continued to pack the bag as we’d planned, and proceeded to find the attendant who still had the printed baggage tag attached to her hip.

OK. So we were all set to actually leave the country. We headed back into the security area, this time with BOTH passports and a real desire to go home. At least we knew how our airports worked! After passing through security (again for Darrin), we settled in for a short wait to board the plane.
We were waiting for the plane, when Holly Lynne realized she hadn’t purchased a spoon from St. Lucia to add to her collection. Darrin went after something to drink, and in search of a spoon. The search for the drink was immediately successful, but the spoon, not so. I was watching from across the waiting area, and spotted what I thought was a spoon in the window display. Communicating with finger-pointing, Darrin was able to locate the spoon I saw. We needed one for his sister too, so he ended up asking the store attendant where the rest were hidden. Mission accomplished.

We watched as the American Airlines twin prop landed, and incoming passengers disembark. After a short wait, our flight was called. As our rows were called, we had to go through another bag inspection, which was primarily job security for this small island. We then proceeded to the tarmac to stand in a line to board the plane.

After standing in line for quite some time, we were informed that they were having engine difficulties, and were assessing the airplane before boarding passengers. So we all trotted back inside where we sat anxiously for a few minutes, waiting for an update. When the update came, it was to inform us that we would be delayed several hours. A maintenance crew had to be flown in from San Juan. Several updates came in, including putting us up for another night in St. Lucia. We picked up a game of cards with some fellow passengers, and continued to wait. When the flight attendants informed us they were putting us up in hotels for the night, several other passengers declared their frustration with the situation, and told the attendants that they had to work the next day! (Fortunately, this was only Wednesday, and we’d decided to take the rest of the week off!)
Finally, a decision was made to reroute another incoming plane back to San Juan as our flight. We never did see the arrival of the mechanics. So after an eight hour ordeal, with no meals (beyond the convenience store), we were called to board the plane. At this point, we again provided job security for the local economy by allowing the security guards to re-check our carryon bags. Like anything had changed…
On the tarmac, many passengers wondered if we’d actually get off the island this time, and whether this plane would make it to San Juan. Fortunately, boarding and the subsequent flight were uneventful.

Landing in San Juan was another story. Many passengers were understandably ruffled, and passed this frustration onto the airline employees who were working past normal operating hours to ensure that the passengers were taken care of for the evening. American Airlines put us up at the San Juan Airport Best Western and provided vouchers for dinner and breakfast. Due to the hour of our arrival, the hotel was all we saw of San Juan that night.

Catching up...

2009-04-11T11:16:00.003-04:00

So I've slacked off the blog a LOT recently... All sorts of projects seem to get in the way.

Tons of things have been going on around here -- keeping up with SAR, DAR, Girl Scouts, C.A.R. (National Convention this weekend!), and proving lots more supplemental ancestors through SAR. A couple big projects have been keeping me busy, but the dance card isn't nearly full.

A couple recent projects du jour have involved finishing up scrapbooks. Just put some finishing touches on the France scrapbook and though it's nearly two years late, our wedding trip scrapbook was just finished up last night. I actually DO have a bumper pool table in the living room downstairs!! (I hadn't seen it for months!)

The next post will be our Leaving St. Lucia saga that was really only funny in retrospect. Enjoy.

xoxox
hlms

Part Deux...

2008-09-10T04:38:00.003-04:00

(Sorry for having to do this in a couple installments... Jetlag was just not agreeing with me at 11 PM last night!)

Day 6: Met Mom & Dad for breakfast at 7:30 and headed down to the buses for Hotel des Invalides. We had a military band lead us into the main courtyard for a short homage ceremony for the veterans who furthered freedom and liberty in the US and France. Military band played French and American National anthems with an amazing resonance in the courtyard that sent chills through everyone. Jacques (the main coordinator) introduced Dad who gave the homage. Not that I'm biased, but my favorite part was a group of people whispering if Dad was the head of the SAR. We got a tour inside the current (and active) part of the chapel - amazing! Went to the Tomb/Crypt side of the church (the original chapel) where Napoleon and others were buried. Napoleon's tomb was observed from the top - from a huge balcony structure built into the first floor of the church. Everything was very elaborate.

Went to Picpus Cemetery for a Wreath Laying. This will be a running theme. Apparently, visits to Picpus require a reservation, so we had the entire cemetery in peace and quiet. La Fayette's grave is next to the mass graves where La Fayette's wife's family was buried after being guillotined during the French Revolution. Story says that George Washington appealed to the Revolutionaries for the life of La Fayette's wife. (Can't validate that, but it sounds good, right?) Chapel right outside Picpus had the names of those in the Mass Graves. Amazing.

Sit-down lunch at the Visitor's Center. The courses kept coming... Quiche, Salad, Chicken, ice cream and sherbert dessert... and good wine too!

Next was Vincennes - the Army and Navy arvhices with a Keep tower from the eral of Charles V and Louis (enter number here). The doors at the end of our tour were from where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were held before their executions. For our archives visit, several interesting items were pulled out that related to the time of the American Revolution. Maps of troop movements, naval records and inventories, La Fayette's birth certificate, personal papers of John Paul Jones.

Now to the rockstar part... our police escorts! We had several of these to get us through Paris... usually at rush hour! How cool is that?! So we were a little late getting out of Vincennes, so the police helped us get to Place du Rochambeau where were were scheduled to meet the mayor of the 16eme arrondisement for a wreath laying ceremony. We made it there - some exciting times, and very ballsy motorcycles later. Wreath Laying was nice - celebrating the assistance of the Compte Rochambeau's assistance. Escort got us back to the hotel where we changed for our next evening reception - the Musee Jacquemart Andre. Reception was given by the Instituit de France. It was in a beautiful (former) home that had been turned into a museum of works collected from throughout Europe. The works were moved to the countryside during WWII and saved from destruction. Rembrandt work Pilgrims at Emmaus hangs there and is never loaned out. Very powerful painting.

Day 7: Treaty of Paris celebration day. Breakfast before heading to Palais du Luxembourg for lectures. One in english and two in french with a translator. The two in French were very hard for the translator, and unfortunately, many people were lost along the way. Watching the actions of the French professor and then hearing the words from the translator was very tiring. Lunch reception at the Palais - Cocktail reception. Yummy finger sandwiches (tomato, mozz & basil) and desserts (chocolate covered pineapple, chocolate mousse and wafers) and wine.

Naval Museum tour - interesting models and details. Cutaway models were cool. Scuba and sailing exhibits was interesting. We had our picture taken at the Eiffel Tower. Walked over to Benjamin Franklin statue/park and laid another set of wreaths. Discovered that Dad lost his glasses. Another Police escort back to the hotel.

Eternal Flame Lighting @ Arc de Triomphe. We *walked* a block down the Champs Elysees and through the circle around the Arc. Traffic was stopped to get our marching group across, led by our flags - US, France, SAR, DAR and Washington's. Ceremony was neat - the eternal flame was dimmed and then the turn of a copper ring opened the valve again to set it blazing. More Wreaths, La Marseillaise and Star Spangled Banner were played by the military band, huge receiving line. We signed the guest book, then it was back to the hotel.

Police escort to Versailles -- This is becoming a pretty cool theme at this point! Gorgeous gate that is even more beautiful and gold than I remembered! Dad worked on names for introductions, as he was the M.C. for the gala event. We walked through apartments twice. Dinner was at the Grand Trianon - a side palace at Versailles. DAR picture taken. Champagne reception -- noted that it was Taittinger. Had duck for the first time. Sounds so much better as 'canard'... not so much as Daffy or Donald. Couldn't hear the Ambassaor's speech, but it went for a long while.

Day 8: WWI Homage day. Breakfast before LONG bus ride to Escadrille La Fayette memorial honoring WWI pilots. Life expectancy of a pilot in WWI was 3-4 weeks. Technology was 'barely there'. Laid set of Wreaths then visited crypt under memorial. Amazing Stained Glass!! (KC, you'd really be awed!!) Airplanes in each window. Crypt being restored - built in 1928 with little restoration since. French and American effort to restore. Two French buried there with 38 Americans.

Huge Lunch at a restaurant that could've doubled for a disco. Chateau Something. Did I mention lunch was HUGE? Salmon and shrimp (with heads AND legs - Mom thought the eyes weren't real...), Turkey and mushroom gravy, potatoes, zuchinni, and amazing Rhubarb pie! We had a very fun table. The George and Kristen Jones ate with us and we became fast friends. Oh dear, the jokes abounded - as they always do when there's testosterone in the room... Water with Gas, the oddly engineered Men's bathroom with a huge window.

Went to Bois Belleau - Very large monument at Chateau Thierry. Rembering Army division with Marine Attaches. Chapel and Cemetery - Wall of the missing - Lyman Harper's great-uncle listed among them. 250 unknown graves. Gorgeous Stained Glass.

Reims Cathedral was amazing. After staring down a would-be pickpocket behind my dad outside the cathedral, we saw a slideshow that gave some history - and pictures of the destruction from WWI and WWII bombings. Some stained glass from the 1200's survived. One window (champagne window) was recreated in 1954 from documentation - and replicated exactly as it was before WWII.

Taittinger Caves (cellars) - Long, very cold tour of cellars given by Taittinger himself. A very quiet man, but obviously very knowledgeable and very rich. (Check out your local champagne seller for Taittinger next time!) Old wine, long process - 2 fermentations. 1st makes non-bubble wine. 2nd adds yeast to make CO2, and bottles are turned in quarter-turns two times a week for 6 weeks. When the're ready to cork, the neck of the bottle is frozen to ice-in the sediment. Bottle is then uncapped and ejects ice and sediment. Tasting room - bought glasses.

Champagne Reception at Taittinger home was amazing!!! Gorgeous home - we had the reception in what looked like the "barn" - though it was obviously a reception hall... Beautiful flowers, lots of candleabras made with magnum (or bigger!) bottles.

Day 9: DAR/SAR Meetings. Across the street at Concorde Chapel. At the SAR meeting, the guys got their medals. Darrin got his first medal presented by the PG. Information given about W3R route markings. At the DAR meeting, I applied to become a member of the France chapter.

Went souvenir shopping - in boutiques next to the hotel. Walked all around the Arc de Triomphe - found the TnT (Trash 'n' Trinkets) shop, went to McDonalds for lunch. Interesting menu - mostly the same, but had "Croque McDo" and "Australian" burger.

Saint Denis Cathedral - Had a mass there for the preservation of peace. Flags entered first, wreaths laid while we waited. Processed to crypt, saw tombs of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and others. Beautiful service in French and Latin. Recognized many of the words / musical phrases from the Requiems we've sung at church. Long line at gift shop. Another police escort back to the hotel so we could get ready for the big to-do! We had about an hour to get ready...

Police escort (again) to Hotel de la Ville - City Hall - Opulence isn't even the word for this place. Champagne Reception -- Taittinger, of course -- before going into main reception hall. Great dinner. Darrin and I had put together the songs for the dancing -- and there were people on the floor the entire time! (Thanks Jamie!!)

Day 10: Transfer back to Hotel de la Paix. Wasn't about to pay the 250 euros a night for Concorde when Hotel de la Paix was so awesome! Experienced the Paris Metro. Purchased carnets of tickets - made our lives much easier. Waited around the Eiffel Tower - in the hopes that Heather got my email before I left. Sadly, we didn't get to see her, and I haven't had a chance to catch up with her yet. Wakled to Trocadero Metro, bought souvenirs and prints. Went shopping with Mom and Dad while Trice did his own shopping at Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps.

Lunch - Nice place with (thankfully) English menus. I'm still amazed at how bad the translations are on many menus. Good business opportunity here -- translating brochures to what they REALLY mean to say vice literally translating. Had a ham and cheese baguette. Met up with Trice at Saint Chappelle... The giards closed the gate at 5 or before, and they were supposed to close at 6. VERY upset about that. Bummed, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at a recommended italian place. We got good food, but bad service. Back to the hotel to set wake-up call for Burgundy!!

Day 11: Burgundy! Tour guide (Olivier) arrived early at hotel. Headed to Burgundy, stopped for Breakfast along the way. Saw lots of castles, Wall of castle that inspired Versailles, sunflower plantings, lots of signs along the way. Learned a lot about appelations of wine, the regions, and the affects of the soil. Rained a little on the way there and on the way back, but gorgeous for getting out and taking pictures. 1st stop was in Beaune- I'd been there during my study in Dijon. At Domaine Mussy, got a great personal tour of family producer's cellars. 2001 good year to drink now, 2004 a good year to drink in 1-2 years, 2005 a great year in 10-15-20 years. Suggested to buy a case that is good, let the taste "close", and it will repoen eventually. Must open and continue to try them -- hence the case purchase. *shh* We tried a grape off the vine.

Lunch at La Concorde then a walking tour of Beaune. Medieval Hospital - Hotel Dieu. Small streets, old-style wine presses, upscale TNT store. Beaune is a formerly fortified city. Went through Marche de Vins - with little tasting cups. Not very good wine, in our opinions. Little explanation, Mostly red wines, nice setting though.

Traveled to Clos de Vougeot castle - saw vineyards of most expensive wines in the world. Headed back to hotel in Traffic. Felt like being on 66 back home...

Had to stop to get money out, and heard a horrible crunch in the street. A motorcyclist had been hit! He could get up though, so it was just damage to the car and motorcycle. Dinner at Auberge de Venis again -- where we had dinner our night after Normandy!

Day 12: The flights home were pretty uneventful -- the 7 hour layover at Heathrow was VERY excessive, but what can one do?! Fortunately, we had things to do like take buses from terminal to terminal and go through security again (I swore they were going to take Mom's new Chanel perfume). All baggage and passengers again arrived in one piece -- including the two bottles of champagne and the bottle of wine!

EDIT: Pictures are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/mckinleyschmidt

xoxox
hlms

The Paris Trip....

2008-09-09T21:56:00.002-04:00

Oh goodness, I'm just going to put the entire travel log here and expand on it when I get time...

Day 1: Flight on British Airways. All luggage passed the weight test (Shocking, since the only thing left in the house was the kitchen sink!) Watched Made of Honor and Kung Fu Panda. Darrin watched Ironman... At least I got my requisite 'chick flick' in, but that doesn't let Darrin off the hook. :o)

Day 2: Still flying. . . Layover at Heathrow. All family members and luggage arrived at CDG in one piece, if only a little sore from sitting so long... The 'puddle-jumper' flight's engine didn't sound so good, so we were very happy to be back on the ground. Took a van to Hotel de la Paix in Montparnasse. The taxi driver cut off someone on a motorcycle, who raced up and whacked (broke) the taxi driver's side view mirror. Made it to the hotel in one piece... a little rattled, but discovering that DC doesn't have the monopoly on road rage. Can't say enough good things about our hotel! Though the hotel breakfast is a little pricey, the rooms are adequate for travelers who are just looking for bed and shower necessities. The staff is wonderful - and they're not snobby about speaking English. (My rusty French got better as the week went on -- I'm sure the Parisians are grateful...)

We freshened up and walked about Paris. Mom, Dad and Darrin hadn't been there before, so this was a nice orientation. Walked through the Luxembourg gardens. Walked through St. Sulpice, where an exhibit actually walks through the Da Vinci Code description of the Rose Line. Dinner was at the Great Canadian - standard pub stuff, but it was close by. We barely made the boat at Pont Neuf for a ride up and down the Seine. Sunset on the boat. Took the long way home... Really, nearly 30 blocks out of the way.

Day 3: Normandy Trip. Can't rave enough about Paris-Trip.com for the ease of booking, and quality of the tour guides. Nicholas started our Tour at Caen Peace Memorial Museum. Saw artifacts like a copy of Einstein's letter to Roosevelt about the Germans' nuclear abilities and Roosevelt's return letter. Typhoon aircraft. Helmets, 1st aid kit, bullets, comfort items of American, British and German forces. Wedding gown made from a parachute. Movie of WWII events, centering on D-Day. Stopped at panoramic view of Normandy beaches. Lunch at Arromanches (Hotel Normandie). Mom had her first (?!) Croque Monsieur... y'know, with ham and cheese and all melted inside and outside...

We went to the American Cemetery... Where we saw flowers from the SAR laid at the main sculpture. Over 9300 graves marked with crosses and Stars of David. Went to Omaha Beach - MUCH wider than I expected. Hadn't thought much about the tactical side of D-Day, but since obstructions prevented landing at high tide, the beach area was significantly increased. Went to Pont du Hoc - where rangers climbed the rock cliffs to take out the big guns that could reach the beach. Still huge craters from the bombs.

Day 4: City Tour, Le Bourget, Moulin Rouge. After a petit dejuner of mini baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolate, we were picked up for our "City Tour". The van only made three stops (Notre Dame, Trocadero - to view the Eiffel Tower- and Sacre Coeur), but we saw many sites. the Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's recycled cannons, the Louvre, Sorbonne, Obelisk, Place de la Concorde, Opera, etc.

After the tour, we headed out to lunch. Nothing exciting there, but we had some thoughts up our sleeve. Dad (who is a docent at the DC Air and Space Museum) wouldn't stop asking about getting to Le Bourget - the field where Charles Lindbergh landed from his Atlantic Crossing. (For more explanation, ask Dad.) It also happens to be where the French Air and Space museum is housed! After seeing where this place was -- and finding out that it's a Military airfield, I'd told Dad that we couldn't go. After lunch, we took a walk to the Train Station (Since that sounded like a good idea). I had to bite my tongue, lip and feign interest in a subway map when Dad said "I guess I can't go to Le Bourget" -- Darrin was off buying tickets. Quite a surprise for Dad, and apparently an interesting time. Not a good area of town to be lost in... Mom and I went shopping, but found crepes and a pseudo-diet-coke instead.

Moulin Rouge -- Much smaller venue than I expected. A very colorful, slightly odd show. Was a bit upset with the quality of the performances - sloppy moves, particularly on the ensemble numbers. Guess that isn't the point.

Day 5: Transfer to Concorde Lafayette. Trice packed his passport, which made checking in exciting. Met Cousin Russ and his wife Laura! (I had to go halfway around the world to meet my cousin!) Found the post office, had lunch (quiche) at Le Touring on Rue de la Grande Armee. Walking back, we got caught mid-crosswalk and had an excellent view of 8 lanes of Paris traffic with no lane markings and no accidents. Reception where we met our host families -- 3-4 guests to a French host. Darrin and I were with Jacques' daughters Catherine and Laure. Wow was that a fantastic time! Dinner was melon, quiche, salad, and homemade chocolate mousse with raspberries and blackberries! Laure drove us back to the hotel after dinner and coffee.

Facebook world

2008-06-21T22:07:00.003-04:00

Man, this Facebook world keeps getting smaller. People I know from completely different organizations know each other in another way... And finding people from a hundred years past (ok, what feels like it) and catching up like it's yesterday. Whoa.

So we had our first (very small) open house last weekend. All went well, and we had some great company. Rain and busy beginning-of-summer schedules kept a few people away, but the house is definitely in shape to entertain more frequently now! Not to mention that Darrin's 1st anniversary gift was a very cool-looking grill! (I think he'd love to become the next Alton or Bobby).

So on a little "forced" time off next week, I'll be heading to WV with Mom to look up some more old relatives and find out where they're residing now. (Read: running around courthouses and cemeteries in the hopes that the graves are properly marked.) Kvetch moment: really wish the relatives hadn't jumped the Ohio River so much... WV doesn't charge $16.50 for each record copy. OH does. Ick. However, this trip won't be nearly as bad as the $300+ at one courthouse while doing Darrin's genealogy work...

So to all, have a happy summer, and Darrin and I hope to see you soon!

xoxox
hlms

Ah, the excitement!

2008-05-20T08:05:00.005-04:00

I've GOT to quit blinking! Almost Memorial Day now, through the worst of allergy season, and onto "end of year" activities for Scouts, DAR and most importantly, almost our first anniversary!!

Lots of stuff has been going on at our house - Darrin's learning the art of lawn and house maintenance, including the excitement of a flood in the basement after the recent downpours. "Add it to the list" has been a very common term!

I've been working my tail end off (and Darrin's too!) trying to get our house into "home" mode... and I think we're almost there. When you have a new house, the little things like a clean kitchen or a new tablecloth can get your heart racing... this time it was dining room chairs! And a huge cabinet. And a new light for the dining room. All sorts of new projects to poke at...

Prince Caspian was great - the first movie we've seen in the theater since Harry Potter. Hopefully we'll be doing a little more of that once all the tax returns and our refunds are in the bank.

Hopefully this summer won't pass without visiting with friends! We'll be in town most of the summer (except for C.A.R. Mid-Southern in Williamsburg and a trip or two to Newport News). Our next big trip is planned for Labor Day week -- Mom, Dad, Trice, Darrin and I are going to France with the SAR!

xoxox
hlms

Time Flies

2008-02-14T11:12:00.009-05:00

Holy Smokes! How did we get to Valentine's Day already?? The time since I last blogged has been pretty eventful, and I'll try to catch up here... and I'll try to be better at blogging more often!

July and August were pretty quiet around the condo, since Darrin was off to Germany and Hawaii for work. I know I know - enter sob story here explaining why *I* couldn't go!

In August, I went with Mom to WV to do a little more genealogy hunting -- and we went to Charleston to the Cultural Center. Wow, did they have some good stuff! I just wish I knew everything I was looking for!

The Virginia DAR Board of Management was held in Lynchburg, so Darrin and I had a quick overnight jaunt down there for that.

In September, I was only able to attend District V's Fall Muster -- Work started kicking my butt with a new, yet slightly awesome, assignment. I'm still on that assignment, but the awesomeness has started to wane...

September brought a very exciting prospect... We signed a contract on a house on September 9th, and it was ratified the next week! We decided on closing October 9th, since I just couldn't BEAR to spend that much money on our birthday! Happy Birthday to us! Four days after we settled on the house, we were knocking holes in the walls! We added cable outlets to the house, and patched up the walls pretty well - if you ask us!

October brought our Birthday and Yorktown Day celebrations, as well as the SAR Public Safety awards banquet. Nothing overly eventful, but we did get to spend part of the weekend in Newport News visiting Fred and Sandi. We had our wedding album back by then, and were able to take it down to show it off.

November brought our actual move-in to the house on November 9th. We hired movers to handle the piano and other big things. Things started out late, the estimate was so off, and the movers were so frustratingly slow that Darrin and I finally told them to leave.

Two weeks after moving in, we hosted Thanksgiving... and invited Margretta and Daniel over. We joked that the Pilgrims weren't unpacked either! We thoroughly enjoyed the company and the food, but there's an eventful story from our "First Thanksgiving". Darrin tried a yummy apple dumpling recipe - that was super easy to make! He put it in a square pan, and filled the sugar sauce to the brim of the pan. As the dumplings puffed up, they pushed some of the sauce onto the oven coils, starting a billow of smoke to come out of the oven. Darrin came to the rescue by throwing salt at the fire. While it worked, I'll admit I was standing there thinking "and what is THAT going to do?"... So the apple dumplings were saved, and we all enjoyed the rest of the events of the evening.

So then came Christmas. We had a great time when Fred and Sandi came to visit us -- though we hadn't really gotten the guest room entirely together. The Lessons and Carols service went well (I'm even the reader on the recording!!). Christmas was a bugger though -- Darrin doesn't want to take Christmas vacations, and I'm all about spending it with family. OK, so here's the thing -- I hated leaving, but I'd already taken the time off of work. So I left with Mom and Dad to WV for a couple days, but then the rest of the week, I stayed home working on house stuff. Darrin was supposed to come home early those days, but that didn't quite happen.

The call came that Saturday that we needed to be in Ohio - pronto. Darrin's mom was in the hospital, and the outlook was bleak. I tried to do what I could, helping out, shopping, distracting the girls, whatever I could to give Darrin time with his mom. I thought things were going well, but was totally upset when Darrin's sister directed a backhanded comment at me. I was bummed to because James, his mom, Darrin and I were supposed to do something for New Years -- and I had to cancel because of the trip. *sigh* Best laid plans...

On January 10th, we got the call that his mom had passed away. While everyone was sad, we all know it's a relief from pain for her. Cancer in any form is devastating, but this was just awful.

Since then, we've been working on more house stuff. My goal right now is to get pictures on the walls so we can sit on the chairs that are currently hosting the pictures. Diplomas went up last weekend, so I can open the closets without clunking the corner of one. We also have all of the Christmas Trees down, and can finally move in our house without running into a box or three!

So that gets us to today rather quickly.

xoxox

hlms

A little breathing room

2007-07-09T22:28:00.000-04:00

You know the feeling when you rush from one thing to another and don't have time to sit back and enjoy? That's been most of my past six months. Not that I'm complaining though....

The wedding was everything I dreamed of... and we have plenty of pictures to prove it!! The honeymoon was beautiful and relaxing... and if St. Lucia can relax ME, that's definitely saying something!

I'll try to get pictures up here soon... they're on flickr, just need to get linked over here now...

Thank you so much to everyone who provided personal pictures, time, energy and good wishes!!

xoxox
hms

DAR overseas trip

2006-11-17T09:30:00.000-05:00

The trip to Spain was spectacular, non-stop, and I never knew our Ladies could party so hard!! *whew*

So I promise to get full details up as soon as practical -- but for the time being, I'll try to get some pictures up on flikr.

As soon as I got back, I started working my tail end off (at work, church and Scout stuff) to keep myself entertained. The Chrismon Service is going to be awesome -- Mom and I just finished the decorations... now just to make sure everyone signs up to read stuff. The adult choir has agreed to sing at both services (THANK YOU!!), and we're going to have a really well-rounded service. Should I really be in IT security, or was passing up the Director of Christian Education path a bad choice? Who knows... there's always that second-career option.

Stay tuned for more updates.....

xoxox
hlm

A matter of time........

2006-10-09T01:08:00.000-04:00

It's just a matter of time....

*Before I quit answering the question "Why aren't you married yet".
*Before I run out of patience for stupid, politically-charged "what if" questions.
*Before I unpolitely ask someone why the heck they care so much about what someone else thinks.
*Before I decide that my time is my own and worth more to me doing what I want to do.
*Before I run circles around people who take 8 hours to do a 15 minute job.
*Before I run screaming when I hear about another problem that isn't mine and I can't do anything about.

xoxox
hlm

Adam & Michell's Wedding

2006-09-24T23:33:00.000-04:00

We left late Thursday night and drove to Parkersburg to visit with Uncle Jim and Aunt Brenda for a few hours. Darrin crashed in Dirk's room and I slept on the couch. We started our trip very early the next day to be in IN by 5 for the Rehearsal Dinner. Aunt Nancy really made the Rehearsal Dinner nice for Adam and Michell. They had a Hawaiian Luau like we're going to have!! Aunt Nancy gave me and Darrin all the decorations that we wanted!

Because they had an afternoon wedding, we had some time to kill to visit South Bend. We found a brochure for the South Bend Chocolate Company. Mom bought some Cocoa bean mulch once she found it repelled deer.

The funniest thing happened on the way to the wedding! We went to the wrong church as another wedding was getting out! How embarrassing!! Adam and Michell's wedding was beautiful!! Michell's dress had gorgeous silver lace and they were both so obviously happy during the ceremony and the reception afterwards. The reception was at the Elks Club down the street.

Before we got home, we visited with Darrin's Mom and Ken, and part of the rest of the family for breakfast at Bob Evans in Piqua...

My last "family" vacation

2006-09-02T00:36:00.000-04:00

To start our Caribbean cruise, we drove from Great Falls to St. Augustine FL. We packed everything in the car and off we went REALLY early on Sunday morning. After an uneventful drive, we stayed in a Holiday Inn Express for the night. The next day, we drove the rest of the way to Port Canaveral... stopping at a Kennedy Space Center Gift Shop on the way. The port had a very smooth entry and we had our bags on the side of the road while Darrin and Dad went to park the car.

After checking in, we had our first munchies on board and went to find some info on excursions. We walked around the decks and checked back for our bags until dinner. The rooms were almost nicer than our RC rooms from two years ago!

The first night's dinner was casual -- and so were our tablemates! The first night's show was a preview of the dancers and a pretty funny comedy show.

Darrin and I took a lesson about the casino games, and during the week, we learned how to make the towel animals!

On Wednesday, I wasn't able to dive -- sinus problems -- so I was feeling rather miserable. Darrin actually said everything absolutely right -- he said that the dive at Grand Turk wasn't anything we hadn't done before... Even if it was a complete lie, it sounded good.

Thursday was Private Island day, and we found a great spot under a tree to put our four chairs and hang out for the day. We even got to do some playing around in the water.

Friday was Nassau Day where we got to take a tour to see Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle and the interesting pirates museum. After that, we met Mom and Dad at the Hard Rock Cafe Nassau. That night's entertainment was a musical review and there was a mexican buffet later that night... that Darrin and I actually tried to stay up for!

We waited in the dining room while our deck was waiting to be called. To pass time, we answered more crossword puzzles and had a good time chatting. We started driving home that day, and made it to the Holiday Inn in Fayetteville NC. The phonecall to reservations was SUPPOSED to put us in a hotel CLOSE to the interstate. This one wasn't. Otherwise, the trip home was calm, and we were all happy to be home.

Jenn & Peter's Wedding

2006-07-23T22:32:00.000-04:00

Darrin and I went to Jenn and Peter's wedding in Blacksburg. About two weeks earlier, Jenn had asked me to help with her wedding-day details.

We left NoVA on Friday at 2 and had smooth sailing all the way to Blacksburg. Because it was Friday -- and we ALWAYS do Mexican on Fridays -- we went to El Guadalupes. I called Jenn when we were done to tell her we were in town, and I'd get with Carolyn on the details of the ceremony.

The next day, Darrin and I drove all over campus and saw the new alumni center. We met Jamie and her b/f Mark to help set up the DJ equipment. Once everything was set up, we went back to the hotel to change.

The wedding was so pretty! Jennifer's dress had a beautiful red ribbon and upper band. After the ceremony, Darrin and I took the flowers from the wedding to the reception, so we had to hang around for pictures -- and OMG, I about shot the photographer. So... we got to the reception a little early, but I wanted to make sure everything was set up right.

Without going into crazy details, everything was fantastic, and Darrin and I were able to get a little dancing time in too -- and not just the Hokie Pokie!

I was so exhausted on the way home that I almost fell asleep driving more than once.

The box.... the infamous box......

2006-07-17T21:31:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday of this week, Mr. Schmidt called Darrin to let him know that he found a "box". Darrin was so excited (OK, so *I* suggested it), but we went down to Newport News to check out this box.

Fortunately, there was a book of family history and a few obituaries in the box for genealogical purposes. We spent all of Saturday evening looking through the rest of the box.. It was full of WWII newspapers fro Piqua and some important items (programs, flyers) from the 1950's-1960's. Apparently this box belonged to Beth Ellen, Darrin's grandmother!! There were some family obituaries in this box, and Mr. Schmidt was happy that we were interested in the box and the family history it contained.

While we were there, we helped his dad pull down the berry nets. We also watched Pirates of the Caribbean, while we had some wine and yummy pizza.

NYC 4th of July

2006-07-05T23:30:00.000-04:00

Darrin and I took the Amtrak up to NYC on Monday AM. After arriving at Penn station, we left our bags in the hotel room at the New Yorker and called James to figure out what the afternoon's plans were. He and Nick were with a group getting us tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. When everyone made it back to the hotel, they came up to hang out for a bit before dinner.

James, Darrin and I walked through Central Park together, in a "we'll get there eventually" kinda way... We eventually made it to the Delacorte Theater and met up with everyone once we got to our seats. The weather was great - just warm enough that I didn't freeze to death... the star of the show was Liev Schreiber. Halfway through the show, Nick left suddenly and we didn't see him anymore that night.

The next day, we'd decided to do our own things, as I wasn't too comfortable with being a friend-of-a-friend's party, so James, Darrin and I went venturing on our own. We walked down toward Broadway, went to Lindys for cheesecake, then onto 30 Rockefeller Plaza where we had tickets to go to the observation deck on top of 30 Rock. Darrin called his dad and Sandi from the roof... and there was a cute 4th of July celebration/party upstairs. We went through all the observation decks and got some great pictures.

We walked around Browdway for a while, then went to Fridays for lunch/dinner.... as we were leaving, we were chatting so much that we *almost* forgot to pay the waiter! Oops!

Eventually, we found our way to FDR Drive at the UN Building. We picked an open spot next to the generator (cough cough). We chatted and caught up on some more of life, as the barges came down the river. The fireworks were interesting -- though I wouldn't say they were bigger/better than DC's. We walked back to the hotel in the pack of everyone else -- but then went to meet Nick and everyone at Kevin's house. Everyone was feeling tired, so after we watched James' films from the first semester, we left to go back to the hotel.

Because it was so late and Nick and James both had to be at the airport crazy-early, we said our goodbyes that night. While it was fantastic to see Nick and meet his girlfriend, this trip would've been miserable if James hadn't been on top of some planning some fun things.

Darrin and I spent the rest of the day doing fun stuff of our own -- going to the Library to see the Lions, the Hershey Store, the Park behind the library, walking into Verizon to check about our phone plans, then back to the New Yorker. We retrieved our bags and headed back to the train station to wait for our train to show up.

The train ride was nice and quiet, and I took a lot of wedding catalogs to gather ideas for our wedding... and I think I decided on the reception favor idea. Darrin and I enjoyed each others' company and decided that we wanted to go back at Christmas...

Grandma Pequignot's 80th Birthday

2006-06-12T00:32:00.000-04:00

In January, Darrin's family decided to get all the grandkids together for Mrs. Pequignot's 80th Birthday.

We drove out to Ohio after work on Thursday night -- and made it there to spend Friday with family and try to get some genealogy documentation in a Dayton Library. Since the library trip was a bust, we went home and helped to prepare food for the party. Later that evening, we went to the winery to get Mom some more Darke Red wine.

On Saturday, we were scheduled for a round of golf -- all the grandkids were supposed to go to keep them out of sight for the morning. To my *great* dismay, it was raining cats and dogs! We ended up hanging out and making preparations for the party.

The party went beautifully, and the expression on Mrs. Pequignot's face was priceless -- and worth the freezing cold rain! She got lots of presents, and everyone had their picture taken with her in every possible configuration. This produced a lot of pictures that Tina could make into a scrapbook.

Family gatherings....

2006-06-11T10:44:00.000-04:00

Back in January, Darrin's family decided to get all the grandkids together for their Grandmother's 80th birthday. Due to all the crazy schedules and timing, we were a couple days off, but no big worry tere.

Darrin and I drove out to Ohio after work on Thursday night and made it out there to spend Friday with Family and to try some genealogy digging in a Dayton Library. Since none of the digging worked, we went home and helped to set up for the party. Later that evening, we went to the Winery at Versailles - a favorite pit-stop for us! (And mom wanted some Darke Red anyway!)

On Saturday, we were scheduled to go play golf (to keep the grandkids out of sight for a while). To my *great* dismay (HA!), it was raining cats and dogs! We ended up hanging out and playing cards all day. Ben, Ollie, Janet and Dave came over to kill time, and set up for the party. I tried to help Carol as much as possible since I was going out of my mind with the card games... (One of these days, I'll actually learn how to play. I have to give Ken and Carol credit for trying to teach me, but I think I was throwing more cards out there on a wing-and-a-prayer than actually "playing" them...) Darrin and I were sent to get ice when I discovered that my car was leaking! the window wouldn't seal, which I found highly annoying! (This became an ongoing saga that was temporarily fixed with saran wrap.

The party went beautifully, and Mrs. Pequignot was speechless. Even though it was pretty cold rain, we had a great time, and she couldn't quit saying how wonderful this was. Everyone had their picures taken in every possible configuration -- grandkids, grandkids with S/o's, brothers & Sisters, children, etc.... This produced a ton of great pictures that Tina could make into a scrapbook.

The next day, Tina and I went to WalMart to print the pictures from my camera to show everyone while we were there... Then we all went shopping at the Mall -- Mrs. Pequignot and I had a nice chat while Carol and Darrin were checking out.

Northern Neck Wine Trail

2006-05-29T19:20:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day Weekend:

Darrin and I took the Northern Neck Wine Trail on our way to Newport News this weekend. We started early on Saturday to be at the first winery when it opened.

Oak Crest Winery was gorgeous - It was a house refurbished into a store and tasting room. The winery had some interesting wines, including a yummy strawberry dessert wine that goes GREAT with cheesecake! We purchased a couple bottles, and headed to Ingleside - the next stop.

At Ingleside, I did the Black Label tasting which was mostly reds that Darrin wouldn't like, but I really wanted to get a good bottle to sit on the shelf. Darrin tried and liked the Virginia Gold, and we purchased a bottle of that (and a couple others). After taking some pictures of the cute fish, we headed down the road to Belle Mount Vineyards. On the way, we stopped for lunch at McDonalds so I could continue driving. It was that point that we decided that we could make the whole trail in one day, so we cancelled our reservations in Tappahannock, and called Fred & Sandi to let them know we'd be in a day early...

The Mapquest directions to Belle Mount were spot-on, but the winery is actually inside a state park gate that it is close to -- it shares a driveway!! (Note for future purposes: you don't have to pay the State Park fee if you're only going to the winery!) The view is gorgeous from there, and we got to drive with the convertible top back the rest of the day! The wines were different, they offered the "Blue Crab Red" which was touted as a "beginners" red wine.

We headed to Athena and stopped at this brand new winery. They'd just opened, so they weren't quite ready for the craziness -- having only a couple wines, and their ice wine was not yet for sale. We decided to come back when there was more of the winery constructed.

When we left Athena, we tried to find the closest route to Newport News... HA! We actually found where the road "ended"! Along the way, we found a cute Christmas shop where I bought an ornament for our tree. The shop was in Kilmarnock on Rt 3. We ended up down ft 642 in a small town and a dead end. We got a good laugh, and made our way back to Rt 3 and the Norris Bridge.

Because Sandi had surgery a couple das before we arrived, we stopped and bought flowers on the way into Newport News. We had a fantastic visit with then, and Betty even stopped by (with roses that I got to arrange for Sandi). The visit was quite relaxing, and Darrin got to help his dad with some chores.

On Monday, we left Newport News about 9:30 AM and headed toward Richmond. I didn't even get onto I-64, as it was already backed up to 250, so we took Mercury all the way into Richmond, then took 17 North. We stopped at James River Cellars and enjoyed the Beautiful scenery and yummy cheeses! The Divino ice wine was amazing and the Chambourcin was great with strawberries! (Seeing a theme here?)

We tried to stop by the Russell Stover outlet, but it was closed for Memorial Day. Darrin and I made it back home after only an extra hour of driving, and shared our trip with Mom and Dad. We opened a bottle of the Oak Crest wine, and then Darrin went home to do laundry - how exciting :)

Graduation Day....

2006-05-26T00:14:00.000-04:00

Thursday, May 25....

All the hard work from the JHU Cohort paid off. Jennie, Sue, Sean, Demond and I (and the rest of Cohort 6) graduated together from Johns Hopkins with our MS in Information & Telecommunications Systems. Mom, Dad and Darrin attended to see me graduate, and we got to enjoy the evening in Baltimore until I had to go robe at 6:15. As we were robing, Sue announced that she was getting married that weekend! What a surprise!!

We all walked in together, and got our degrees in a row -- They didn't hand us the diplomas onstage, only once we got back to the gymnasium... but the "Well-Oiled Machine" was together 'til the end. I gave Sean, Sue & Demond their cross-stitched JHU Crests that I made, and we got a group picture minus Jennie. We lost her along the way, and were quite bummed :(

Judy, one of my DAR ladies, was there to see her son graduate, and she sent me a sweet e-card the next day! I called James on the way home, and he told me I'd have my present delivered the next day so I'd be home. He sent me beautiful red roses and blue irises.

The seat belt sign is off....

2006-05-11T23:11:00.000-04:00

In case I didn't call you on the way home from the "after-party" bash at OTB:

*It's done**It's done**It's done**It's done**It's done**It's done**It's done**It's done*

We just presented our Capstone projects to the JHU Panel, and hopefully within a few days, we'll have the final-final word that we passed! Not that we doubt it, it's just nice to know that the school agrees!

*whew* what a ride, but a perfect landing as always - Thanks to the Well Oiled Machine!!

Going to bed now.... soooo tired....

xoxox
hlm

Congratulations

2006-05-08T23:10:00.000-04:00

Ok folks, the next time you see Darrin, send him congratulations... or condolences....

His papers just made it through the Registrar General at SAR *woohoo*

And to quote Bianchi: "so he can be a sketchy senior now too" -- *thanks*

I so can't wait to see the genealogists' notes on those papers. Maybe I actually did them right!! *crosses fingers*

xoxox
hlm

Maybe I'm missing the point

2006-04-30T16:04:00.000-04:00

For being so pretty, this weekend has been pretty bad.

First off though, a HUGE YAY for all but finishing my capstone project with the "Well Oiled Machine" from Hopkins!! We had a grrreat session, and we knocked out almost all of our deliverables! WOOHOO!

Then it was all downhill from there! No one was around last night to hang out with, and those who were were "too tired", "too busy" or had some excuse equivalent to washing their hair. *Boo*. FYI, I'm not going to beg and plead - If you sound like you don't want to go out and have fun, I'm not going to force you to...

So then the Page Hotel Room reservations had to get done... Not hard, right? Wrong. I didn't have the password for the site, and I had to spend 3 hours on the phone this morning with our hotel lady to get the 12 rooms all straightened out!

Ok, great.. that's done. So I'm still waiting on a call from Friday afternoon. Yeah, like that's going to come... Lesson learned: It's a good idea to check the safety harness BEFORE going on a rollercoaster.

I wouldn't mind a couple sick days to get over this cold either.

xoxox
hlm

Sooo perfect!

2006-04-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

"Someone asked someone who was about my age: "How are you?" The answer was, "Fine. If you don't ask for details.""

- Katharine Hepburn

xoxox
hlm

creepy crappy day

2006-04-19T18:06:00.001-04:00

So today didn't start out so well.... who knew that superiors were able to screw up THAT badly! Leave it to ME in my first month with this client to find all the problems and try to fix them single-handedly... *sigh*

So after that, my game was TOTALLY thrown off.... to the point that I left for the "Guest Speaker Forum" that convened at Rock Bottom at 2:30. Yeah, so no one was there -- which shocked me for Booz Allen employees! But I swear I saw an ex-boyfriend-look-alike at Ballston which shocked the *stars* out of me. I was way too shocked to see if it was really him -- kinda the "not knowing what to say... even it if were him" thing.

Now to finish my final for IT Strategy. Can this day get any better?? Please??

xoxox
hlm

Interim Review.... and sanity is lost

2006-04-14T07:55:00.000-04:00

The Well-Oiled Machine made it through Interim Review presentation last night... Definitely glad that's over! Maybe we'll all return to a bit more sanity.... HA! It seemed like Professor Yates was pretty pleased with our presentation -- now we're just waiting for the email results.

The only bummer of the night was that after the IR, absolutely no one was around to call!! Boo!

We had our last "class" last night -- and Scott brought up a pretty good point... We haven't gotten much out of IT Strategy because we're SOOOOO concentrated on the Capstone! The only grade we have in this class will be the final exam -- but apparently the case study counts as extra credit.

Onto the next thing....

xoxox
hlm

.... when i get time

2006-04-11T15:20:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posting recently... man, it's been one heck of a ride.

BUT the good news is that one month from TODAY the Well-Oiled Machine presents its final Academic Presentation for the Capstone... which to all of you NOT in the hopkins program means "We're done!".

I've been crazy busy with Hopkins stuff, Scouts, APO Sectionals, Conferences, Conference Planning and work, so you won't be surprised that my posts from Conference Season haven't made it up here yet.

I hope to be over the stress soon... personally-delivered pina coladas can't hurt though!!

xoxox
hlm

Don't let the door hit you on the way out....

2006-03-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

Whew, definitely finishing up a few bad chapters, and looking forward to some good ones!

I'm off the Tiger Team task, which is going to do a lot for my sanity. I'll miss the IRS policy task, but it's for the best that Pat take that over.

Getting onboard with the JTF-GNO task has been pretty fun so-far... The team is fairly young, but experienced, so we're getting a lot of good feedback. Our first briefing was well-accepted, and we're on-track to deliver some quality stuff in June/July.... right around Congress!! yay!

I'm psyched about the DAR Junior Breakfast on Saturday, and the VJC meeting on Friday! Karen and I have been busting our collective butt to get things together... She's more organized than I am!! -- Good thing she's the Treasurer!!

Sunday is going to be exciting... Mrs. Davis' project dedication and the conclusion of the 2nd Conference of Mrs. Mayer's administration. I absolutely love her "Explore, Dream, Discover" theme!!

JHU Capstone work is going well -- I'm definitely looking forward to putting work into it next week! Once I get past DAR State, I'll be good until C.A.R. National in April. Shockingly, there's very little on my calendar right now-- good thing that plan came together! Capstone has to take precedence!

xoxox
hlm

Seats upright .... Seat Belts Fastened...

2006-03-06T12:27:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen.... Please prepare for final landing... (Thanks Jennie)...

Countdown to May 11th has begun. The timetable got moved up 2 weeks because the "Well-Oiled Machine"'s Capstone Academic Presentation is May 11th. Graduation is May 25th.

So what's happened in the past month? Eesh... here's the short-version.

-Baking up a storm for Dad's SAR State Conference Reception.
-C.A.R. Convention Planning
-learning to play the zither, re-learning the fife, and perfecting the thumb piano for the Colonial Entertainment program
-Incessant costume fittings (Mom made our outfits - pictures to come!)
-Presenting said Entertainment program at a record-attendance SAR Ladies' Event
-Enjoying Dad presiding at SAR State's Banquet in the same ballroom where I presided C.A.R. State Conference!
-Snow... which threw off a Potluck (rescheduled for this weekend!)
-double-booked meetings, and I even forgot about both of them!
-Delivery of the huge 200+ page Information Assurance Plan for a class. Rant: We got "nickel and dimed" to the point that we only got an 80% on it!
-V.S.C.A.R. State Conference where Miss Michelle presided. *good times*
- Planning for VADAR Juniors Club meeting and Breakfast- It's a casino theme this year!!
-Girl Scout planning meetings for Great Falls Day and the Girl Scout Sunday celebration
-client-site interview, where I start working tomorrow.

and that brings us mostly up-to-date.

Our house has a happier aura to it now. No more talk of backstabbing political moves. No more stress of stupid people trying to keep their nose in everything we do. No more planning to cover inevitable sticky situations.

Onto happier places and thoughts... and to finish out Conference Season

xoxox
hlm

Patience....

2006-01-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

If you know me, there's two things that you know I have.... priorities and a limited amount of patience. The latter is wearing thin on a few different sides, so I'm going to settle into the priorities for a while. I haven't talked to people in forever -- partially conflicting schedules, partially because I don't want to download stress and anxiety into other parts of my life.

*end venting*

In case you're curious, here's my Essential To Do List:

- Standard Work Stuff... Trying not to put in more effort than I'm getting benefits out of it... It's all about managing expectations and trying not to flip out in the process...
- Classwork -- Big project draft due 2/9, final Due 2/23. Another class starts 3/2, and another starts on 3/11.... *shoot me*
- DAR Juniors Club stuff -- All sorts of things, including the State Conference Junior Breakfast
- C.A.R. Convention planning this weekend
- Conference Season starts in three weeks -- VASSAR, V.S.C.A.R., VADAR, APO, N.S.C.A.R., NSDAR Planning.
- Handbell rehearsal -- practicing with Dad to get a duet together for Spring / Summer
- Make it to Graduation... May 25th.... If I can get to that point without going insane, I'll be happy.
- ... and wedding planning. (If you haven't seen the site yet, click here - and sign the guestbook!!)

If anyone feels the urge to take on any of this stuff for me, please let me know ;) I'm accepting resumes for personal assistants.... immediate opportunities are available ;)

xoxox
hlm

"You must have a brain somewhere in there..."

2006-01-17T17:34:00.000-05:00

*shakes head*... sometimes I really want to take a Dutchman as he means it...

First, Happy New Year to all! Christmas was crazy, as usual, but full of fun and family.

The Christmas Pageant went wonderfully! Baby Jesus even slept on cue!! I might just have to try that "one-rehearsal" bit again. Seeing Ryan and Chris home for Christmas was definitely a high point -- It's tough being one of the only people in the church that's your age!! *hugs*

Christmas Day was the annual drive to WV - though this time after Church. We had a nice evening, and I got to show Lauren Paige my heritage scrapbook that Mom and I had worked on. She was surprised how many pictures of her were in there!

Darrin and I spent NYE with Ted and Rachel -- it's been forever since we'd had a chance to hang out, and I REALLY needed the laid-back evening :) We had an awesome dinner, caught up on life (and everyone else's lives), played games, watched videos and (the traditional) Dick Clark's NYE show. After polishing off the bottle of champage, Darrin and I headed home, since I had to do the "church thing" in the morning.

Plans are being made for Commencement!! May 25, 2006 will be the last day of a three-year long effort on our Cohort's part. The "Well Oiled Machine" will be graduating with a M.S. in Information & Telecommunications Systems with a concentration in Information Security. We also found out that we will be earning our "Graduate Certificate in Information Security" from all the classes we took as electives. *whew* MSA anyone??

Mom and I went to a Bridal Show this weekend. It was rather disappointing, considering the one at the Patriot Center was MUCH bigger and had better selections of vendors. There was only *one* invitation vendor at the WHOLE show!! Nonetheless, we got to make some decisions, and I got some good wedding trip information so Darrin can plan something spectacular involving diving ;) ;) (hint hint!)

xoxox
hlm

who's setting my priorities?

2005-12-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

Well, for the first time in a long time, I'm back in control. Case Study practically went out the door today, I don't have any classwork for like a week and a half, and besides the Christmas Pageant, I am just going to kick back and enjoy Christmas.

Most of that started last night when Darrin and I went to the TSO concert in B'more. *wow* doesn't even begin to cover it. Amazing comes closer. Long story short, we had a great time.

So my only problem of late is other people trying to tell me when I'm taking on too much. Hey folks, I *HAVE* learned the word "No", and have started using it. But dangit, if I want to do something enough, I'll make time for it. If you're wondering what set me off this time, I got told that I have "enough" going on... If I did have enough going on, I wouldn't be finishing the DAR Cross Stitch, have finished cards, wrapped presents and cleaned the whole house tonight. *geesh*

xoxox
hlm

wrapping presents... and still haven't done christmas cards!

2005-12-20T14:41:00.000-05:00

Yup, this is a totally typical Christmas for me! I haven't gotten Christmas cards out, I've totally procrastinated wrapping Christmas presents (though the house looks awesome!), and the Christmas Pageant has me up to my ears.

And I still haven't finished shopping yet. *sigh*

Merry Christmas!
xoxox
hlm

LA review

2005-12-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

Now *that* was an awesome vacation!

Last Sunday after the Lessons and Carols service, I left for LA. When I left, it was about 30 degrees, and when I landed, it was about 60. How spectacular does that sound about now??

I had a really great time out there (I'll link up pictures once I get them onto the web) -- mostly because I got to visit with James, who I hadn't seen in quite a long time. We'd been talking about his class films and such, and I've been dying to see them, so being able to spend some time down at USC was nice. I was able to meet some of his friends out there (who all seem fantastically nice), we went to a screening of The New World where Q'orianka Kilcher's Q&A proved to us that her performance was incredibly talented.

Tuesday, we spent the day in Santa Monica, shopping on the Third Street Promenade, enjoying the ocean view, walking in the sand in December, and catching an awesome sunset. James even found the West Coast equivalent of "our" restaurant there! (I'm still trying to figure out how I got so much blasted SAND in my purse!!) We caught up with a friend of his who lives close to Santa Monica and had dinner. Later that evening, we crashed at his place to watch Peter's Friends (a very good Christmas-y movie if you're interested).

So basically, I had a fantastic trip, but now it's back to the grind. There's going to be a whole-lotta-writing-going-on for the next couple days. Wish me luck.

xoxox
hlm

appearances vs. intentions

2005-12-04T18:57:00.000-05:00

This has been a completely unproductive couple of days. . . I went shopping, put up a Christmas tree (ok, seven trees), baked cookies, watched the Tech game, worked some on my current cross-stitch project, did church stuff this AM, but got NOTHING done on the papers I have due this week... Boo. Maybe I'll get inspiration tonight.

The good news is that one week from today, I'll be heading to LA to visit James... I've needed some QT outside of DC, so this will be a nice vacation -- even if it's only for a few days.

What's bugging me is that my attempts to be hospitable, helpful and (here's the kicker) a *friend* have apparently turned against me. Dad was approached at a C.A.R. meeting today, and told by a member that I was _obviously_ trying to get a girl into DAR by being her friend... So here's a poll: Everyone who thinks I'm a heartless witch-with-a-capital-B and do things in a completely self-serving manner, please raise your hands.

~hlm

some needed time away

2005-11-27T23:30:00.000-05:00

...And some time to think of nothing but what is going on in this moment -- and not two weeks or months from now -- was nice and long overdue. Unfortunately, that means I need to kick it into high gear until I leave for LA on the 11th.

Long weekend recap: Wednesday night was bells and choir, per usual... though I got to talk to a few people to send my "Happy Thanksgiving"s and such. Thursday wasn't much of anything -- but being thankful for my family, my wonderful friends, and my family's health. Friday was shopping -- but only because I felt like it. (A *very* cute red dress, two pairs of shoes, a bunch of cute tops and 2 more cute skirts came out of it, so it was a good day.) Darrin fixed the freezer with his magic wand (or curiousity, you pick), which made Mom a VERY happy camper. Somewhere between Friday and Saturday, I went out for a bit with Edwin. We had a good time, and hopefully the next time won't be three and a half years from now. Saturday was...a very stressful 1st half of the Hokie Football game...*Cheers from the audience*...then came the second half! *whew*. Today was church stuff, cleaning my bedroom and office (woohoo, I can find the floor and daybed again!), writing the family Christmas Letter, and putting the finishing touches on the Heritage Album Pages before Christmas.

Oh, all that, and the DAR Memorial Continental Hall crossstitch is almost done.

xoxox and Sweet Dreams,
hlm

Leaving a Legacy...

2005-11-21T13:38:00.000-05:00

The purpose of a girl's Gold Award project is to leave a positive mark on the community and to establish something that will be around for a period of time... I never anticipated 10 years.

I just received this link from the Great Falls Historical Society -- http://gfhs.org/gf_day.htm . Check out the pictures from last year's event! If you were there in the beginning, or any time since then, you'll remember that it wasn't nearly this big!!

Thanks for the indulgence.... Hope to see you at the celebration in May!

xoxox
hlm

Tempus est iocundum

2005-11-20T23:19:00.000-05:00

(Props if you can tell me what I'm listening to ;) Even more props if you can tell me my memories attached to the larger work...)

Mom and I decided on the trees for this year -- Our house theme is A Child's Christmas, and the 10-foot tree is going to be the storybook tree! We're using the doll tree, the Santa tree (with new additions!), the full-sized Barbie tree, the snowpeople tree, and the Gingerbread tree in addition to the old favorites - the creche tree, and the music tree. I think it was 45 last year... and I know I bought three more last year. Everything goes into high gear on Friday - and the house is mostly ready. Stay tuned.

The wall is patched, and surprisingly well painted.

tired of thinking

2005-11-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

Tons of stuff going on... I'm just too tired to write. A work presentation went pretty cruddily (leniency please) today -- but apparently it wasn't as *bad* as I thought. Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory made up for a good portion of the cruddiness.

BUT -- good news is that I got my plane reservations to go visit James!!! *woohoo* This officially marks the first completely spontaneous trip i've EVER taken. Only about three weeks notice too! I'm really looking forward to it! Now I just need to go shopping for cute clothes :)

xoxox
hlm

Third Gear.. hang on tight...

2005-11-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

... yup, that' s my life. I'm making a concerted effort to slow down -- I even learned how to say "no" the other day! ... That lasted until I was asked to do the Christmas Pageant again. (I'm such a sucker for those kids at church!) Seriously though -- I put together my extracurricular activity resume for my DAR chapter and got tired!

Class was long last night. Even though it was all about laws and regulations (and excitingly-dweeby stuff like that), it was just plain long. I'll blame it on my table full of distractions (I still love you guys!), and a few recent bombs.

In case you didn't know, a good friend of mine is living in Amman right now, and I've been worried sick about him recently. The bombs going off over there on Wednesday didn't help. He's ok though, and his fairly quick email was an immense, yet brief relief. Guess this kinda strikes out going to visit for a while.

I had a nice talk with my "big brother" last night.... still tons of things to be talked about, and a ton of questions (I'm keeping a list!), but it was still nice to chat. I hope we get to catch up soon!

Speaking of Big Brothers, Dawson emailed me yesterday! His son is three months old! There's a little Dawson running around. That's kinda scary. I'm really happy for him and Heather!

Adding to my list of things to do: Valley Forge memorial on Sunday, Hopkins class mon/Thurs next week, DHS document comment acceptance and incorporation. And getting a lot of coffee...

To keep you stealth readers entertained -- a collection of the best pictures of me and Darrin... :)

Happy Veterans Day!
xoxox
hlm

Psst..: Where's the comment love? I know some of you are keeping tabs on me... (wink wink) Let me know what you want to hear about!

Things I know for sure....

2005-11-05T23:55:00.000-05:00

1) I have my car back now- even with fewer scratches than *before* the deer!
2) The Hokies game never happened tonight. Period.
3) Even though I only got three hours of sleep last night, I got a ton of things accomplished today! Darrin and I hung shelving (woohoo!) and found cornstalks for Mom. Who knew that cornstalks cost that much!!

.....Oh, and Karma better be biting some people in the butt soon. Talking out of...both sides of your mouth (Yes Mom, that's cleaned up...) doesn't sit well with me -- especially if you're in a n elected, theoretically-respectable leadership position. *grr* Six more months... only six more months!!

Misc stuff: I heard from Edwin this past week. I *have* to find out what he's been up to for the past 3.5 years. (Remember this folks... my memory for specific things is like an elephant's.) James and I had a good talk at 2:30 this AM. I heard from Malinowski, and am most-definitely excited about seeing her sometime soon!

Plans: Bells tomorrow AM (both services - come entertain me!), GSCNC/Booz Allen Mentorship event tomorrow until 6, then Hopkins and DHS stuff until who knows when! I have a couple meetings this week, and of course, class. *boo*...

xoxox
hlm

Repair Update

2005-10-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well, the body shop called this morning (and got me out of bed *grr*). For a deer bouncing off my car, $3109 in damage is a pretty good score for the deer. We'll see how much that goes up in 10 days, when they "say" the repairs wil be done.

For now, I'm driving a Pontiac Sunfire. It's really touchy -- mostly because I'm used to driving a tank, and braking a tank and braking this lightweight are very different. To quote Darrin, "This thing is tiny." I'll definitely agree to that! I'll live -- as long as I don't meet another deer in the road.

From the number of people who called or IMmed to make sure I'm OK, I must have a couple of blog-followers! Yay, I feel loved!!

xoxox
hlm

Deer hunting, Suburbia-style....

2005-10-21T01:06:00.000-04:00

I'm going to choose my words carefully here, due to a pending lawsuit with a deer.

On my way home from watching the game at Darrin's place, a deer and the driver's side quarterpanel and door of my C70 met. Rather abruptly, but I digress. I must admit that my affinity for Volvos has grown over the past two hours. I heard the deer more than I saw it, or felt it.

When I got home to assess the damage, I couldn't even get out of the car. The door latch popped, but the door wouldn't open more than an inch. (I appreciated the compliment, but decided to just get out the passenger side instead.) The whole front quarterpanel, driver's side door, part of the side view mirror, and some of the hood are crumpled (Yay for Volvo's Safety Engineers!), but I was still able to drive the car home.

Must get sleep before dealing with more insurance people... At least my Hokies won tonight!

xoxox
hlm

Things to be happy about.. Take 1.

2005-10-17T13:12:00.000-04:00

Current things to be happy about:

Fantastic DAR Chapter Centennial Celebration banquet last Friday
Learning about Bounty Land Warrants and all sorts of other records at the conference this weekend
Almost finishing Darrin’s SAR papers (*one stupid link left*)
The Metadata whitepaper draft that knocked my socks off
Going to the Yorktown Day Reception and festivities tomorrow

Current things to be not-so-happy about:

Not hearing from my best friend in over a week
Having friends all over the blasted globe and not enough time to visit them all!
Having a ton of ideas about “where to go from here” and not having enough time to do them!
Not enough RSVP's for the Scrapbooking social on Friday... :(

karma rocketh my world

2005-10-11T23:05:00.000-04:00

OK - away with the bad Karma.... *wow*

After being in a screwy mood all day, I was very surprised when Jenn and Kerri remembered my birthday! We hadn't done dinner in a long time, so when we planned this three weeks ago, I didn't even think anything of it.

Jenn bought me a birthday drink while we were waiting for Kerri, and Kerri walked in with a balloon and gorgeous flowers! *yay* ... They bought me dinner -- and even had a fireworks show planned out!! Hee hee... there was a big festival thing at Reston Town Center, but the fireworks show was almost better than the one at Ring Dance!

:) Finally turning things around for the better....
hlm

singing myself to sleep

2005-10-11T00:55:00.000-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised by two awards at work over the past week and a half: one for developing and supporting an NGA DB, and the other for the Security Architecture I wrote up for the DoI OMM project. Woohoo!! Unfortunately, I think most of the money is already spent, but we'll see...

I made it to 25... I can finally rent a car without paying more for insurance... and my insurance rates would go down if I didn't own a convertible... If I had it to do over, I'd probably start caring a lot less about little things. That way, stupid little things like losing my 4.0 at Hopkins wouldn't bother me so much!! (grumble, moan, complain) I'd probably take a lot more time for myself too -- rather than giving and volunteering to the point that my mental stability is frequently in question. Happy birthday to me....

Back to the grind....
hlm

how is it wednesday already?

2005-10-05T01:03:00.000-04:00

What a week!! I didn't think last week could get worse after last Monday. It did. I don't like pulling deadlines so close to the wire - but NeMaC's done... I think....*whew* We left at 6:30 Pm on Friday night, with an uploaded document. Then I got to help Darrin finish packing. Then his Dad and Sandi came into town -- which it was great to see them, but I was darn tired by the time I got home!

Saturday and Sunday were packing and moving Darrin into his new condo... the coming home at night to do more work.

The draft of a really long document I helped to author was released at the Software Assurance Forum yesterday. *woohoo* The Software Assurance Body of Knowledge draft that I edited was also released... That was a REALLY long document.

Though the Software Assurance Forum was pretty neat, it still felt weird having a professional meeting in the McLean Hilton.... where I went to my PROM!! It sounds goofy, but I have some very vivid memories of fixing my hair in the bathroom, and the walks outside the ballroom when the music just got too loud. Now I ran out there during breaks so my fingers could thaw! I'm surprised I was able to keep typing as long as I did!

I got to talk to Nick briefly this past week. That REALLY cheered my day up -- I was pretty close to insane, so his unique perspective was greatly appreciated.

time for bed... xoxox
hlm

wedding advice

2005-09-27T09:53:00.000-04:00

Props to Rachel on this one: "That's the true meaing of the modern bridesmaids, to form a protective barricade around the bride, against all angsty jealous vicious relatives and their toadies." heehee... definitely good advice... now, who to ask... :)

In general, I'm not a huge fan of wedding advice. Apparently the two things people "know" are weddings and babies. Please don't even think about giving me advice on the latter. Occassionally, I'll be posting the good, the bad, the funny, or the obscure wedding advice I receive from friends, relatives or total strangers.

Ted can attest to this odd wedding-related event in the middle of my crap day yesterday... One of my clients (yes, the one who is planning the polka band at my wedding -- story later) called my cell and asked me about the place we're having our reception. His stepdaughter is looking into the same place (because it rocks!!), and he wanted to know about the sister facility. What a nice break in the middle of my insane day!

xoxox
hlm

closing that chapter quickly

2005-09-27T08:03:00.000-04:00

That was a fun day- I'm glad it's over. Just in case this fact might help someone else, don't try to Contac-paper shelves when you're on the brink of a breakdown... it might just drive you nuts.

I've been cranking through this Developer's Guide today -- Tech edits can get SO tedius, but this one's going well. Once I finish this off, I'll be balancing three other tasks. Though the past couple days have really had me doubting my management capabilities, those doubts are gone right now. *yay*

xoxox
hlm

can you help me decide?

2005-09-25T22:58:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if I need to break down and cry or just start kicking butts and taking names... I'm so frustrated right now. What kills me is that I'm starting to doubt my management abilities... which I know are at least MOSTLY intact. Unfortunately, I haven't learned to mindread yet, so right now I'm doing the management on half the information. *grr*

Alright, on a better note.. James and I had a great conversation last night. I am SO happy for him -- Mr. "I'm in film school now, going to mandatory socials and having the time of my life"... yay for dreams coming true. I'm going to have to go shopping so I can go visit him!! ;)

Speaking of dreams -- of to bed with me so I can get up and do this again in the morning.

xoxox
hlm

what i get done in a week....

2005-09-22T23:10:00.000-04:00

Tuesday: DAR District V meeting. The skits went well - the ladies liked them. The expected amount of "you're making light of very serious subjects"... but y'know, Fall Muster isn't about reading reports (that's State Conference!)... it's about getting information out, and in the hands of the membership. I think the skits accomplished that a little more than another 2 minute report.

Wednesday: Did another walkthrough of the condo before closing. The countertops were *still* scratched, the mirror *still* wasn't there, and the hardwood floor *still* had scratches. Anyone seeing a theme here? We went to the Title company for closing, and had a mostly unprofessional experience. The closing appt was for 10 AM; we were there at 9:45, and we didn't get in until 11. Our realtor was very upset with them, and I know Darrin was a little perturbed. The closing itself was long, a lot of signing and then more check-writing. Note to self: plan for $1000 more in closing costs than anticipated. ... Then we got to pull out shelves, and clean windows before I had to run to bells & choir practice.

Thursday: DAR Districts II & VI meeting in Charlottesville. Me and the Hokie-mobile went to Charlottesville, where the meeting went *great*! The skits were phenomenally-well-received, junior table sales were strong.... and then right as I was rushing to dump stuff in the trunk and attempt to get to my grad class ontime........... I locked my keys in my trunk.

I know - good on me, right? So the car was locked, with the keys in the trunk, no "button" to get to them, and Volvo wasn't going to make this easy for me. Oh, *where*'s my Volvo On Call info? Yup... in the glove compartment.

So I did what any damsel in distress would do..... I called Darrin. Definitely helpful -- once we got over the muffled amusement. (And don't think I didn't hear that ;))

So I got the number, called VOC, and they wanted everything from my VIN to the mileage on the car. THEN she asked me for the license plate. Aren't you supposed to start with the EASY questions? sheesh

Anyway, the lock guy came, and had problems getting into my car. Finally, he got the door open, but set off the alarm, which meant the truck unlock button wouldn't work. Then, trying to go through the backseat access didn't work either, as Volvo put in a ski-bag-type-thing that sealed off the trunk. *Great*... After ripping the seam to this bag-thing open (and I *still* don't know why it's there), blindly reaching around my trunk (ow, found the handsaw too!), and pulling most of the contents of my trunk through this new hole in my car, I got my keys.

Did I mention I was rushing to class when this happened? *sigh*

So one final rant: During the C.A.R. Committee report, the State President and her project were mentioned a total of *ZILCH*. This is the one year that she can be the star of the show, and I think it's deplorable that the report had no mention of the C.A.R. activities going on this year. Did I also mention that the website has not been updated? This is very, *very* upsetting

xoxox
hlm

Happy (?!) Harriet Homeowner

2005-09-14T18:15:00.000-04:00

News Flash...

The housing prices in Northern VA suck pond water. Like a vacuum. There's something inherently WRONG with paying _a quarter of a million dollars_ for a _one-bedroom_ place (even IF it's in a decent neighborhood)!! Of course this is nothing new to anyone going through the purchase of a home... but it resurfaced in my head when I did the walkthrough of Darrin's new condo this morning.

The short version of what we found wrong:
- The countertops were scratched up (for being brand new, this is bad)
- The hardwood floors in the kitchen and pantrywere dented -- which I don't know that they'll ever get "right", considering they have to remove appliances to get it right in the first place
- Something wrong with a window?
- The sink stopper didn't go up and down right
- There wasn't a stopper in the bathtub
- The towelracks weren't mounted
- A random-colored paint splotch on a window sill. This wouldn't've confused or concerned me, if that paint color were ANYWHERE else in the condo.
- Our personal favorite! The construction people managed to put up a light and leave the instructions for how to put the light together IN the light globe!!

I had a my-parents'-age friend of mine tell me how happy she was that she and her husband weren't "starting out" again -- mostly because of the housing prices. enter sinking feeling

So we go to closing on Wednesday at 10 - with another walkthrough before that at 8. Gee, this keeps getting earlier and earlier. Darrin and I promise that move-in will not start at 8 AM. We'll be calling in favors... Keep your phones (or screennames) close by ;) ...

xoxox
hlm

stressed out....

2005-09-09T15:08:00.000-04:00

This is news. I'm stressed out. Between the midterm last night, the client work I _had_ to get done, the visiting I wanted to do with my family that's in town, and the skits that had to get done, I really thought I was going to lose it last night. Did I mention I needed to pack for a weekend in Blacksburg? Yup, it was a late night.

Here's a thought: I heard on the radio that stress prevents breast cancer because it prevents high levels of estrogen in the body. On several levels, I find this disturbing. First, you're telling me that if I stay stressed out, I'll have to deal with less stress in the long-run? Second, doesn't the breaking point of stress usually involve a large amount of crying and estrogen-caused emotion? Ah well... enough of being sidetracked... You can be sidetracked at: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article311294.ece

The DAR Skits are hilarious. Show up for Fall Muster and I think you'll find them amusing! You should show up for Fall Muster anyway. Trust me. Very Loud Props to the DARing Chairmen who let us pull the skits together though...

I think I blew my Hopkins 4.0 last night. The midterm was brutal, albeit freshmanesque -learned definitions and slide specifics written back on paper. *grr*

Back to two level network management.........
hlm

Let's get this party started...

2005-09-06T22:45:00.000-04:00

Wow! Great Cluster meeting to start off the year for Scouts! We took over the really long bench in the back of Amphora in Vienna. It's kinda sad that Celia's leaving us, but we're getting a pretty cool new FD for the Service Unit. She used to be an Ashgrove Aide, so she's definitely got some props on her side.

Good day at work... minus the being sick part. Developing a Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) is like trying to summarize the important parts of an encyclopedia... Good thing I'm just doing the tech-edit. :)

gnight... long day ahead tomorrow.... wish me luck...
xoxox

Let's Go Hokies!

2005-09-05T02:59:00.000-04:00

Woohoo!! This redeems my Hokie Spirit for another year around the client site. *fives*

I need to vent a litle frustration for Marcus though. . . and give Michael props for trying to play down his presence tonight. I really thought I was going to lose it when the announcers kept calling Marcus by his brother's name -- and "Mike" at that! Who's Mike Vick? An alter ego that we Hokies don't know?? *rolls eyes*

I still have to get these DAR skits done. I'm losing my touch!! Where's the Hillbillies when I need them? Oh wait, Ellie Mae's married now!! Maybe I'll just borrow Elspeth...

xoxox
hlm

tightening the guest list now

2005-09-03T03:29:00.000-04:00

Darrin and I just saw Wedding Crashers. . .
Silly, yes... Stupid jokes, yes... but it was SO worth an evening of not thinking about packing!

I got all the VJC letters copied, signed, folded and in envelopes awaiting DAR District Mailbags. *Whew* Glad that's done. Now I just have to come up with 8 skits by Monday... enter divine intervention

xoxox
hlm

catching up on life

2005-09-02T03:22:00.000-04:00

Ok people, I've joined the club.

props to malinowski on the blog title, though she'll probably never read this... It comes from the poem she gave me our Senior year of HS that is still on my corkboard by my desk.

So many of my "younger" friends from C.A.R. are back at school (or starting freshman year!) ... Man, I'm feeling old. Darrin and I got to visit Elspeth the other night, which was a VERY weird trip back to college life. I remember my first week of college and not knowing what the heck I was doing. (Let's not EVEN discuss the Biology Lab disaster.) At least visiting with Jamie on Tuesday helped me regain a little grasp on my not-so-old side.

Random thoughts would be amiss without mentioning Hurricane Katrina. Definitely a helpless feeling seeing the satellite images at work today. I almost wish I were back at Tech and could drop everything to go help at the donor center like APO did for Sept. 11th.

I'm going to have to do posts about all the organizational stuff I'm involved with now... but I'll leave that for later.

xoxox
hlm