February Travels

February was a month of traveling for me. I think I was on more airplanes and in more airports during that one month than I have been in the last three years combined. Unfortunately my travels were strictly work related, but at least I got to visit some cities I had never been before. We are preparing to implement a new program at work, and since there are only two of us in my office working this issue, we were the only ones who could provide the training.

First stop was San Diego, CA. I have been to California numerous times since a lot of my extended family lives there, but this was one city I had never had the chance to visit.My view outside the window as we flew over Chicago. This was the last snow I would see for the rest of the week.

Most of my time in CA was spent either driving to and from airports, or on base to give training, but I did get to have a nice lunch at this cute little restaurant by the beach in between classes. My meal was served with freshly sliced Avocados and real sourdough bread. Two of the reasons I love California.

From CA I flew straight to Seattle Washington. I actually stayed and worked across the water in Bremerton, WA, but I could see Seattle from my hotel window. Everyone talks about how it always rains in WA, but it was clear and beautiful both days that I was there.This is the hotel I stayed in.

My next trip was a quick four day trip to South Carolina and Pensacola, FL. Ironically I had to take more flights to get to and from both of these places than when I was flying all the way across the country. I stayed in Charleston, SC. One of the days training got out early, and I got to see some of the old downtown. I wish I had more pictures of the architecture in that city. I would like to go back some day when I have the time to spend in some of the museums. There is a huge open air market that I got to walk around.

I was in Florida for a grand total of 24 hours, so no pictures from that stop. Believe me, there was nothing photo worthy in the town that I was staying in anyway. Lets just say it was the not the kind of place where you would want to go walking around alone after dark.

The trip home was a bit of a mess, with a delay going out of Pensacola, and a layover in Atlanta. I ended up having to take a shuttle in Atlanta to get to my terminal and jog all the way to the end with my luggage in order to board the plane before they closed the doors. Luckily I just made it.

After all of this travel I am VERY glad to be home for a while. I have no long trips planned for the near future, and am very happy about it.

It's a boy!

So we found out last Friday that we are having a little boy. Since then the list of things to do before he arrives feels like it has tripled, and time is speeding up. There are 19 weeks till his estimated arrival date, which in a normal world would sound like a long time, but for some reason now sounds like it's just around the corner.

We have started painting the nursery (well Henry started, I'm staying away from paint fumes at the moment) but due to a lack of advanced planning we have run out of painters tape and progress is stalled until we make a trip to the hardware store. It's a small room, so you would thin it would be a quick project, but somehow we have managed to drag it. I'll be glad once it is done, at least we will have completed one project.

Today we finally sat down and wrote a list of all the little projects we want to get done in the next four and a half months. Now that it's on paper I feel slightly more sane. On the bright side, I now have the energy to work on projects. On the down side, I am traveling for work 2 out of the 4 weeks this month so at home project time is limited to weekends.

Me, now that my bump is actually showing.

Happy Groundhog Day

It's that time of year again. The time when an over fed furry animal is pulled out of a tree stump in an otherwise unknown town in Pennsylvania to whisper in the ears of men in top hats and predict our meteorological future while national media catches it all on film. While I've never been to Gobblers Knob, I have watched the proceedings on TV, and I'll admit I was curious as to where this tradition started. For any of you likewise curious people, here is some information http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/punxsutawney/a/groundhog_day.htm

In my search of the history of Groundhog Day I found some little known facts abuot the event. Here are just a few I thought were interesting:

1. Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 97 times, has not seen it 15 times, and nine years are unaccounted for.

2. The National Climate Data Center reportedly stated that Phil's prediction's have been correct 39 percent of the time. This number is in conflict with Phil's club, which states he's been right 100 percent of the time.

3. In the years following the release of Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney where the ceremony takes place.

4. Though groundhogs typically live only six to eight years, Phil is reputed by townspeople to be more than 100 years old, surviving beyond a marmot's normal life span thanks to the strong constitution of his wife, Phyllis, and a steady diet of Groundhog Punch.

5. States without groundhogs are taking matters into their own hands by choosing their own weather predictor. Texas, for example, chose its state mammal, an armadillo, to predict the weather for their first "Armadillo Day."

6. The groundhog's full name is actually "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary." It was so proclaimed by the "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" in 1887, the same year they declared Punxsutawney to be the weather capital of the world.

So happy Groundhog Day everyone! Punxsutawney Phil comes out at 7:25 this morning, and although the odds are stacked against me, I'm hoping for an early spring.

Moments of Creativity

Lately we have been trying to finish up a lot of the projects we have started around the house. This includes putting the finishing touches on both the living room and our bedroom. One thing that we have been wanting to change is the lampshades on our bedside lamps. Instead of getting new lamp shades we decided to re-invent the ones we had using old magazines.

My lampHenry's lamp

We also recently got a new sofa for the living room, one that will last us for a long time. In order to make it fit in I had to recover my pillows. We found pillow covers that we liked, but of course they were the wrong size for what we already had, so out came the sewing machine! It has been a while since I have done a sewing project for the house, and it was fun to work on.

We liked the pattern of the fabric because it complemented the pattern of the artwork we already had.

(Just ignore the messy living room)








We also needed a new shade on the window in the back door, so we got an extra pillowcase. I took the case apart and was able to use the fabric, plus a strip of left over green fabric, in order the make the drape.

A close up of the curtain

It has been fun to have some creative projects the last couple weeks, and now that they are finished I will have to find a new creative outlet. Luckily we still have one more room in the house that I can work on :)

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas season has been a full one, and we have gotten to spend more time than the last two years enjoying the holiday events in our own area. This is our third Christmas living in the DC area, but really our fist time spending the entire season at home.

A couple weeks ago we had family members come stay with us, and we went to the ICE event at national harbor. They had re-created the entire story of the Grinch in larger than life ice sculptures.

It was only 9 degrees inside, so we had to bundle up in their special parkas before we could enter.

Inside who-ville.

We spent most of the two days leading up to Christmas cooking and getting ready. Every year growing up Henry's Grandma would make homemade tamales, and Henry would get to help. This year we decided to start our own tradition and try to make both the Guatemalan tamales that Henry grew up with, and some Mexican style tamales. They were a lot of work, but worth it.

Yum!
We also made about 20 loaves of banana and Cranberry bread to take to friends and neighbors.

We had a wonderful holiday, and we are looking forward to the new year and all the changes it is going to bring.

The Classics Really Are The Best

As soon as the Christmas season hits I get out the holiday movies. Good, cheesy or otherwise there is something great about Christmas movies, especially the classics. This year we have a new addition to our lineup. We got a compilation of Christmas specials which includes (among other things) the original Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Frosty Returns.

It had been years since I had watched most of them, which makes it even more fun. I think my favorite thing about re-watching all of these is that it is the first time that Henry has seen any of them. It’s been fun to watch him discover the absurd comedy for the first time, and to see him laugh at things like the elf’s desire to become a dentist. We still have to watch Frosty and Frosty returns, but this weekend’s feature film is an all time favorite; The Muppet Christmas Carol. If you haven’t seen it I strongly suggest you rent, buy, borrow or otherwise get a copy of it within the next two weeks. There is just something about Muppets reciting Dickens that makes it feel more like Christmas.

Homebound Holiday

This year we are officially staying home for Christmas! We have made it clear that anyone is welcome to visit, but we are NOT traveling. Somehow I think the knowledge that we will not have to go anywhere has put us much more in the holiday spirit. Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, and I even made a Christmas tree skirt to cover its naked trunk. I had a slight concern this year with bringing a tree into a house where a dog lives, but amazingly there have been no issues. The only change is that our pup has found a new favorite place to nap; right under the tree on top of the new skirt.

So along with this holiday atmosphere has come the overwhelming desire to start baking. Unfortunately the days are filled with work, and the evenings and weekends have suddenly started to fill up with meetings, activities, work parties, church parties, family and friends visiting, and little holiday excursions. All good things, but my inner baker is starting to get impatient. Once my frustrated cooking desires have been satisfied I will let you all know what wonderful creations I’ve made. Until then I’ll just keep dreaming up new recipes.