Random Thoughts

As I sit here watching "Harold and the Purple Crayon" with Bubba I keep thinking of different things I want to write about. Not anything big or special, just lots of random thoughts floating around in my head.

Have you heard of Harold? I thought everyone had, but it seems as if not everyone has. It's a great concept and one I have remembered since I was younger. When Harold can't sleep at night, he uses his purple crayon to create adventures. Whatever he draws becomes "real." It's very simple, simple story lines, simple characters, etc. None of the fast paced, over-stimulating stuff of current kids shows. Bubba loves it. I do too.

I still have a ton to do before we're ready for Christmas. I keep thinking I'm ahead of the power curve but it turns out that I'm not. I think I was at one point - I had most of the presents taken care of a while ago. It's the wrapping and sending that's taking longer than I planned. I mailed several boxes earlier this week but have at least three left. Then I still need to wrap all of our own presents. My parents are coming to spend Christmas with us and will be here Friday so I need to finish soon. We also still need to plan our menus. My wonderful husband is feeling very Italian lately and wants to do the Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve. We've thought of about four or five fish dishes but I'd like to talk it over with my step-mom since she's the big cook.

I've kind of been out of control lately with buying books and Project Life materials. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to go on a book diet in 2012 and I think that made me react like I always do to any diets - I want more of what I can't have. So, I guess you could say, I'm stocking up. My plan is for at least the first quarter of 2012 to refrain from buying any new books (including Kindle or Nook books). We have so many books, we even have some in storage! I need to read what we've got so I can pass them on and not move with them again. We'll see how it goes - I'm kind of a book addict. There are worse things I guess...

Bubba is ready for nap time so rambling is done for now...thanks for listening.

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WW - Old Family Pictures

My Great-Grandma and one of her uncles...

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Christmas at the White House

I am lucky enough to have visited the White House three times so far. The first time was with my grandfather, just weeks before I entered Basic Training. The second was about 5-6 years ago while I was an Intern at the Pentagon. The third time was last week!

I was able to get an invitation to the White House Press Event on 30 Nov 11 from the National Military Family Association. I was a little nervous because I wasn't really sure where to go or what to do. My wonderful husband took me to brunch at the Old Ebbett Grill and then walked me to the White House. He even waited with me for a bit until I got up the nerve to attach myself to a few other people who were waiting to go in.

Once inside, we were allowed to walk around on our own and really take our time looking at the decorations and other exhibits. I think because it was the press event, we were even allowed to take pictures.

Washington's Plate

We got to see several rooms that aren't usually open to the public (as far as I know). The Vermeil Room had six or seven official portraits of former First Ladies, including a very haunting portrait of Jackie Kennedy. Secretary Clinton's portrait was out in the hall. I don't think I saw Laura Bush's portrait - wonder where it is or if I just missed it...The China Room had a beautiful table set with china from the Bush presidency. It also had pieces from each previous china set on display including some pieces from George Washington's presidency.

Theme for this year

I could have spent a lot more time in the library looking at the books. They had some old White House Christmas cards on display including a really cool one with the 8th Air Force insignia on it. They were replicas, but still neat to see. Speaking of old White House cards, in one of the hallways, they had all of the previous cards on display. It's interesting that for Eisenhower all of his cards were very simple - just the Presidential Seal.

Official White House Tree

The official Christmas tree (one of 37 trees!) in the Blue Room was huge. I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing. It was decorated with pictures from military children around the world as well as ornaments made out of the material used for military medals. Interesting idea, at the same time I felt as if it were somehow trivializing what those medals stand for to use them as decorative material. One neat detail was that the tree skirt had buttons from military dress uniforms.

400 pound White House Gingerbread

There were so many cool things, such as the traditional White House gingerbread house (400 lbs!), the many different "Bo" decorations including a large one made with felt, one out of buttons and another one made from marshmallows and licorice, and one somewhat dark and scary nativity scene.

First Lady Michelle Obama

The highlight was seeing/hearing First Lady Michelle Obama speak in person. What an amazing surprise. Although the bigger surprise may have been that I liked her speech. The only thing I didn't like was that she said something along the lines of not wanting anyone to ever have to ask again what a Gold Star family is but then never actually told people what it was. (In case you are wondering, Gold Star families have lost a family member in the service. Blue Star families have a family member in the service.) Mrs. Obama mentioned that we were the first group to go through the White House of the over 85,000 visitors expected this season - neat to be part of that. Overall, it was pretty cool to see how a "press conference" happens. 

The large felt Bo

I met another Association volunteer and had a nice time walking around with her and talking with her. It's so much nicer to share an event with someone instead of walking around by yourself. We also met a Gold Star wife and walked around with her a bit. She was nice enough to share some of her pictures since she had brought an actual camera and not just her phone.

There are quite a few articles and probably much better pictures on the Internet if you want to read/see more.

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WW - Grandma's Welcome Mat

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Things I Love A to Z

There's a new book out all about things this guy hates...he is such a grouch he wondered if he had something he disliked for every letter. Sad thing is, it will probably be a best-seller. When I saw the book, I wondered if I could list something I love for every letter. (We recently went to someone's house and they had a really cool A to Z wall art thing - I wish I had taken a picture. If you're reading this, can you send me a picture!?) So here's my attempt at things I love A to Z:

A - aquariums, airplanes and art (both the making of art and the seeing of art)

B - balloons, babies (human and others) and bowling

C - crafts and cats (have you seen that YouTube video about the girl who loves cats? The song is even funnier...)

D - dogs (and warm cinnamon/sugar donuts like the ones my sister-in-law made us the other day...YUM)

E - elephants and Easter eggs

F - family (especially Bubba and my husband!) and french fries...the crispier the better, but not burnt.

G - giggles (especially the deep belly laugh kind of giggles that Bubba does) and games

H - hydrangeas and helping people

I - Ireland (I also thought of adding igloo just as a away to say that I love homes - not just my own but you know how sometimes when you go into someone's house and you know right away that it's more than just a house, it's a home? I love that!)

J - jokes (especially kid jokes...favorite: What kind of insect do you find on the moon? *See answer at bottom)

K - kites (and pretty much anything that flies - regardless if it's alive or man-made)

L - the library (I can't wait to visit the Library of Congress!! and one of my favorite cheesy movies is "The Librarian"...is it just me or is Warehouse 13 pretty much the same thing? Either way, love them both) 

M - museums and movies

N - new things (even if they are only "new" to me - hand-me-downs & heirlooms rock!)

O - the ocean! 

P - pictures (Photo albums), pools and pretty things

Q - Queens and the monarchy...especially European - although the Queen Noor biography is still one of my favorites

R - reading and reenactment (Renaissance fairs, places like Williamsburg, etc)

S - singing, swings and science

T - travel, TV and telling people I love them 

U - underwater...though I've never gone scuba diving or even snorkeling

V - values (also, feeling as if you and others are of value to the world...)

W - writing and water (being on it, in it, around it, near it....)

X - XOXOXOX (does that count? I do really love hugs and kisses but also couldn't think of anything other than X-rays and xylophones...both of which are cool in their own way, I'm just not sure I love them...)

Y - yellow (it's actually not my favorite color but it's so cheerful and as an accent with blue is completely refreshing to me)

Z - the Zoo

This turned out kind of random (or is it rambling?) but fun. Most of these popped right into my head and are things I enjoyed as a kid too. Somehow along the way of growing up I forgot about a lot of these. I'm  blessed to have the opportunity to relearn them.

* Answer to my favorite joke ever: Lunar Ticks!!

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Rubber Ducks

This past week we went to NJ to visit family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Bubba really enjoyed playing with his cousins. I'm always amazed at how some young adults are so good with toddlers. Luckily, Bubba's cousins fall into that boat - they were great with him. 

Speaking of boats and falling...While we were in beautiful Mt Tabor, NJ (if we had the money for a second home, this place would be on the list) I happened to be flipping through my nephew's Earth Science textbook. Yes, I know that makes me a supergeek (maybe I should get a cool shirt made to look like Superman but with an S and a G for SuperGeek!?). There was this neat write up about 29,000 rubber ducks (and green frogs and some other stuff) that fell off a container ship in 1992 and how the ducks' voyages have helped scientists learn more about ocean currents. What a cool way to learn about oceans, continents and the earth as a whole.

Of course one of the first things I did when I got the chance was to Google it. Turns out there's a website dedicated to those little ducks (actually rubber ducks in general but close enough). Eric Carle (from The Hungry Caterpillar fame) even wrote a book about it. How cool is that? I thought it was this obscure write up in a text book and there is so much more to it. There is a good article about it from 2007 which you can read here.

http://www.lindasog.com/archives/2007/07/voyage_of_the_rubber_duckie.html

I could have spent hours flipping through my nephew's textbooks (the Earth Science one as well as a Literature textbook). When I was his age, I probably felt a bit as he does about homework. Who likes to read when it's an assignment? But reading just for the pure enjoyment of it? Just because it interests you and you are learning something new...that's the best!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Not the only turkey we had, but it was a good start!

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