An Organized Chaos

Tonight we had the in-town family over for dinner before we leave town for a few weeks. It's amazing how noisy nine little munchkins can be as they tear through the house searching for something to do. A favorite pastime for them is to pile into Grandma's linen closet and see just how many of them can fit onto the shelf and still get the cupboard door closed. Tonight they added playing in the bathroom and lights out in the pantry with flashlights on to the repertoire. We thought perhaps a video in the spare room would calm the riot, but it just moved the chaos into that room as Grandpa and I struggled to find a DVD player that would work and hook it up. When we finally got the movie on, interest waned but the fun with Aunt Suz's leftover jewelry and scarfs continued. And we wouldn't have it any other way!! As we cleaned up after the masses (granted--their parents do an excellent job of shepherding them through pick up time) I thought that nothing in Spain could compare to an evening at home with the grandkids. I'm going to miss the little gremlins!

Leaving Virginia

Well, we'll soon say goodbye to Virginia and head for points north and then west. What a stay this has been! The time has gone by so quickly and yet, it seems like we have been here forever. How does that work? I could wax nostalgic about what and who we'll miss here but I've always been one to look ahead and there's plenty to look forward to.

We have a great trip home planned with stops in Hershey, PA; Harmony, PA (now Oakland); Ft. Drum (Watertown) NY; Palmyra, NY; Carmel, IN; Nauvoo, IL; Kanab, UT and home to Mesa. We'll have other stops of course but those are unplanned.

The last two weeks have been jammed packed with family, friends and goodbyes. Judy came and spend a week with us and we had a ball catching up all the loose ends of sight-seeing we wanted to complete before leaving. Our Spanish ward feted us at a going-away cena with lots of kind words, gifts and pollo. We spent a day with the departing missionaries, speaking twice in meetings and attending the temple. Brother John flew out to start his new job in Virginia and we spent last night with him at dinner and then a whirlwind once-over of the District to give him a feel for it. It was like a last hurrah for us before leaving.

The apartment is completely torn apart at this point as we separate things into going home with us, going to a new apartment, or going to the Goodwill piles. This apartment is closing and it's a job. But by Friday morning it will all be done and we'll be off for the adventure of going home.

What's Civil about War?

In our Mormon culture we do a thing called "Treks" where we dress up in pioneer clothes and push or pull handcarts over rough terrain to simulate the experience of our ancestors as they crossed the plains to Utah. It's supposed to give us an appreciation for the trials they went through and the sacrifices they made in order to practice the religion they espoused.

I suppose the same might be said of the "reenactment" we experienced this weekend of the Battle of New Market, a somewhat lesser known Confederate victory fought in the Shenandoah Valley late in the conflict known variously as the Civil War, the War between the States, the War of Northern Aggression depending on your viewpoint or ancestry. The re-enactors are perhaps seeking to appreciate and keep alive the history of the bloodiest, most uncivil conflict in which this country has ever been engaged, maybe in appreciation for the sacrifices that were made to maintain the Union.

A few thousand modern day Americans dressed in clothes to simulate their 1860's ancestors, converged on the little town of New Market, Virginia to reenact a battle that had taken place 145 years earlier. If you were not in costume, you were in the minority. I, frankly, have never seen anything like it. I am of conflicting feelings about the purpose of such doings. As a Northern sympathizer I truly felt out of place and more than once wondered if such activities could only serve to preserve and perpetuate the divisions still had in our country. I saw exactly one black citizen the entire day.

Another good, long day

Sad that I got no posts in whatsoever in April. We had another long day in District yesterday. Maybe I only post when I'm worn out from the day before. And most of our pictures are going onto Jim's computer and then Picasa and I have no easy way to add them here.

We picked up Kodie about ten and headed toward town. Our goal was to visit Theodore Roosevelt Island, Tudor Place, Dumbarton Oaks and Meridian Hill Park. We got it all in and added a visit to Ben's Chili Bowl and a drop-by of the D.C. version of the "legalize marijuana" rally going on worldwide, as well. Back at Kodie's we ate yummy food she had fixed and played bananagrams. Everyone won at least once so that worked out well.

Our time here in Virginia is winding down quickly. We've been able to see and experience so much being here along with our work in the mission office and our associations with the missionaries, senior and otherwise. We've enjoyed the friends we've made in our Spanish ward as well.

The "greening" of Virginia is almost complete. Although it's been coming on for weeks, it seems so sudden. The trees are leafed out and the bare woods are filled with green. The Farmer's Market opened yesterday for the season so we took our traditional stroll through the woods to the train station and paid way too much for fruit and veggies. We said hi to our friends there and thought of one more thing we'll miss as we head home.

That said...can't wait to be home and hug the grandkids. We think we'll stay home for a while. We've been gone for three of the last four years and we could stand being home for a time.

A Day in the District

Wow, what a day we had yesterday. The part I really liked was getting in 5.18 miles of walking according to the trusty pedometer. Well, that is not to say I wasn't a little sore this morning but it feels good to move. AND...it was so much warmer than last year. Last year at the kite festival we about froze, this year we did wear our coats but it was pleasant. Lots of little kites and kids having fun. The only thing that disappointed was that the tower on the Old Post Office was closed because of the weather. We had decided to hike over there and go up the tower. It's supposed to be one of the best views in the city, but we could only go to the ninth floor because they were afraid someone might slip. We did see the bell ropes that go to the Congress Bells in the tower and learned a lot about "change ringing" which is different than normal bell ringing.

The fish market was the best. Lots of smelly fish and fish hawkers trying to get our business. There were bushels and bushels of blue crabs so I wish someone would invite us to a crab boil since we don't have the means to do it ourselves. We made due with shrimp, scallops and ocean perch. Not bad.

Weird Outage

So we get home from stake conference last night ravenous because we didn't get a chance to eat before leaving. We are ready to heat up our roasted veggies and veggie soup (do you see a theme here) and chow down. Approaching our apartment we notice that it's really dark in the breezeway--like no light at all. Inside the apartment is very dark except for a dim light from the lamp which we had left on. That's strange, there's no dimmer on that lamp.
I head back for the bathroom and flip on the bedroom light. It goes on just fine. Oh good, Jim thinks, the power is back on. Not so. The power is just fine in the bedroom and attached bathroom but not in the rest of the apartment.
I just want to know that it's not just us, that someone knows about this problem and is on it. So Jim wanders outside for a while and says he really can't tell. So both of us wander outside for a while and a neighbor shows up asking if we are having power issues. He's having the same issues two floors above us.
We decide that the fridge probably ought to be seen to since the power has already been out for two hours at this point. We plug in the fridge using about four extension cords. Actually before the fridge we moved the microwave to the washer plugged it in and moved the toaster to toast some bread then we heated our veggies in the microwave. Jim collected about a dozen candles, many of them tea light and we ate by candlelight on our dining table.
Then we moved the modem and router to the bedroom, plugged in the laptop and looked up a number for the power company. They said a transformer in our very complex had blown up and caught fire. We should have power back by three am. So we watched a little Burn Notice on the computer and went to bed.
When I woke up in the middle of the night, I heard a noise in the kitchen. In our messing around one of us had turned the fan over the stove on and when the power came on, the fan started up. That was better than the TV blaring out at three am which was what I was afraid was going to happen.
So adventures in power ended our day which had included a Wegmans run and a walk in our woods. I liked the walk in the woods.

Today we decided to visit the regional shopping mall, Tyson's Corner, just in case someone asks us if we went there when we go home. What a gigantic place! We spent time in the Lego store, Williams and Sonoma, Candy Heaven, Godiva, Bare Essentials, Borders and Lord & Taylor. We made an unplanned stop at the AMC theatre and saw Taken with Liam Neeson. You will never let your teenage daughter go to Europe if you go see that movie. We also made a stop at the Food Court on 3 and shared a chicken kabob plate, plenty for two.
Otherwise it was a pretty typical Saturday with shopping for groceries, laundry and cleaning. We also made a quick visit to "our lake" since we haven't been there for months. It was chilly but worth it to see the birds walking around on top of the water (ice).
Kodie came over last night for dinner and to watch Monk with us. She brought dessert, a yummy bran, flaxseed cake and we made turkey picadillo, sweet potato fries and salad. She is going to Ireland and Italy next week for two weeks.

Well, I was checking up on some of the blogs that I follow and noticed that I had actually started one last October. How cool is that! I had forgotten that I did that. So now I will make another post to my blog.
The Cardinals just beat the Eagles and are going to be in the Super Bowl. How did that happen? Pete and Travis in particular are very happy. Maybe tomorrow I'll hear who they are going to play.
This weekend Jim, Kodie and I watched the entire John Adams mini-series. We took breaks of course but we were basically at Kodie's house for 12 hours. It went fairly quickly but we could really see why it was a mini-series. You needed some time between episodes because it was not the most action packed adventure ever. We had all read the book I believe so much of it was familiar but we enjoyed the acting and the production values. Jim hated the soundtrack. There was an obnoxious buzzing fly track that they inserted VERY often. I hadn't paid much attention but when he pointed it out, then you start to notice and it was there a LOT. So then we start to notice the bird sounds they inserted and pretty soon the soundtrack had us riveted.
The inauguration is this week. We are staying as far away from the District as possible. Besides, we have to work Monday and Tuesday where most people will be off those two days. At least around here.
I am reading the third book of the Shaara's Civil War trilogy. The first two were excellent, I prefer the son's writing style to the father's. Jim has started reading the first one, Gods and Generals now that he has finished the Adams book. After I finish, Last Full Measure, I want to read David McCullough's Truman.