Friday, February 14, 2014

A Little Valentine Encore




For all you romantics out there who have been married a few years...
A funny parody of a Phantom of the Opera song:

Monday, February 10, 2014

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Dear Snow,
Thank you so much for coming just in time to give me a lovely picture-postcard Christmas. So festive! So thoughtful! The after Christmas visit was fun--perfect for sledding and hey! who's going to complain about a few extra days of Christmas break? You are the life of the party!
So, here's the thing. To be honest--you have overstayed your welcome. Now you are just getting on my nerves. I have places to go, things to do and there you are--blocking the driveway, causing hazardous road conditions. Piling up in mountainous heaps. 

Oh, there was a time when you were so picturesque. 
So breath-taking.
 Full of wonder and beauty.

But you know, the dog would like to get a potty break without freezing his paws. 
He's a California pup and is a little baffled by the never ending white stuff. 

You've just about reached the top of our fountain now. 
Aren't you satisfied yet?

There is no place left for the snow plows to pile you! 
And you know, it pains me to have to tell you, but you are starting to look grubby and dirty.


The wood pile! Come on! 
We need that wood to stay warm.
 Your Arctic embrace is chilling us all to the bone. 

Seriously, pack your bags and go. Give me some space. 
It really isn't attractive to be so clingy and desperate. 
Maybe by next Christmas I will be ready to welcome you back with open arms.
For now, let me soften the blow with 'It's not you it's me'.


No, it's you.

Sincerely,
Connecticut






Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Four Score and Seven Years Ago (Give or Take 150 Years)

On my way home from my Southern jaunt, I took a detour to check another
 historical site off of my dream list:
 Gettysburg.

 I can't do the history of this battlefield justice here in a little blog post--
it is worth reading up on it if you get a chance.



                                        I got there about half-way through my eleven hour drive.
                                 I had planned to just take a quick look around and get back on the road.
                                                       But, I couldn't tear myself away. 


I went inside the Visitor Center and watched a movie and 
took in the museum.


I am one of those people who wants to read every plaque and take in
every button....
...and buckle

This is a bullet that was stopped by a belt buckle--kinda cool.


Every pistol


and cannon ball

The pretty drum...


and other musical instruments.


I was surprised to see that Utah sent out 96 soldiers
to fight for the Union.



From the museum, I drove over to the battlefield and cemetery.
I had overstayed already but I didn't know if I would
ever get back there again.
I meant to take a few pictures and then hit the road.
But I kept walking.

Just one more monument to see...


One more artifact to look at...



A majestic equestrian monument dedicated to the memory of 
Northern Major General George Gordon Meade
(Read more about it here)


Another plaque to read.



We have a son-in-law from North (the South shall rise again) Carolina so
I stopped to take a closer look at this monument.
The inscription made me cry and was a reminder of
the lives lost on both sides. 
Heartbreaking.
You can see how close the regiment was to the High Water Mark
during Pickett's Charge before they were stopped.



I lingered and wandered the battlefield as the sun went down.
 There is a feeling there that this
place is tragic and sacred. 

I cannot say it any better than
President Abraham Lincoln:
 Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
 But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-we can not consecrate-we can not hallow-this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, “GETTYSBURG ADDRESS” (19 NOVEMBER 1863)








Monday, February 3, 2014

Road Trip

After the Christmas holiday was over, I had a hankerin to see our southern kin. So I jumped in the car and drove south for eleven hours. I actually enjoy driving the Eastern highways and byways. The trick is to go in the "off-season" (dead of winter). You just have to pick a window of opportunity between the storms. The main reason Eastern road travel is so civilized is because of lovely rest stops...


...like this one in Virginia:
Click on the picture to take in the loveliness.



You always get a little history as you stretch your legs.
Here I enjoyed some insights on Mt. Vernon and 
The Father of our Country.

They were even handing out these somewhat creepy
 masks of George Washington.
Modeling credits: Mason

Shanna's hubby was in Vegas at the annual Shot Show and she needed someone to
keep her company. I was in need of some girl time--so win/win.
I had  a good time with my favorite train engineer.

Who also happens to be a race car diver!

Don't worry, it was a pretend injury.

Shanna and I had a great time with Mason and Miriam at a local Children's Museum.

A perfect place for a busy toddler and active preschooler
to get out some energy.

Sweet Miriam thought she found a cute little friend...
"Kisses!"

"Hey! Let's play!"

"Look! Matching outfits!"

Awww good times.
 I had to beat the weather back across the eight states between 
here and there. I got home just as the snow started falling.










Saturday, February 1, 2014

The Mail Box Saga Comes to an End


Oh! The sad tale of our poor mail box! 'Twas a baffling mystery that sorely plagued and annoyed us lo these many months since we have lived here. It was so odd that only our mail box was getting knocked to the ground at every turn. I stood on our curb and scanned the mail boxes in both directions each time ours was toppled, and all the others were still standing. Why? What forces were at work to single out our unassuming, dutiful receptacle for bills and junk and the occasional actual letter? It seemed to be connected to the snow and the plowing each time it snowed. Was it too close to the curb? Was there a vindictive snow plow operator who just veered to knock over only our mail box? But to add to the mystery, our poor mail box was found laid low a couple of times when it wasn't even snowy!








We thought maybe our mailbox was too heavy on top without enough support at the bottom.
So Andy bought a new mail box and a sturdy post to go deeper in the ground.

No--that wasn't it.


Finally, I realized our mail box lined up perfectly with our across the street neighbor's 
driveway in a perpendicular way. They had professional snow removal service. Meaning some guy with a scraper attached to the front of his pick-up truck came each time it snowed and scraped their driveway for them. And shoved all of the snow from their driveway up against our mailbox. 

But what about the times that it was knocked over and there had been no snow to plow?
The neighbors had some work done on their driveway that involved a bunch of heavy equipment and several weeks of labor.
Our sad mail box was right in the line of fire for that as well. 

So, taking my own advice of 

"Don't curse the darkness, light a candle."

We solved the problem with a relocation of the mail box.
Shane did the digging and the heavy lifting as Andy was still
recovering from his back trauma.

Three snowstorms later, she is still standing strong.
On the other side of our driveway.





Happy Birthday Scott!

 It has been awhile since I updated this little family scrapbook on the internet. I like to pop over here from time to time and look at our ...