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Ashley isn't doing well and wants to go to Heaven now. She's so tired. In so much pain. Ready to go home. You'd think I'd want her suffering to end so she could be at peace this holiday season, but I can't help but think about the pain her passing will bring. I wish that I was selfless enough to understand her desire to be done with all of this, but I'm not. And it gets even worse because I don't feel this way because I hate seeing what the thought of losing her is doing to her family--it's because I don't want to let her go, at least not yet.
I want to see her again, even though I know it wouldn't be like when I saw her this past summer. She wouldn't be laughing and having fun with her cousins. She wouldn't be able to tell me stories or help me make dinner or read me her favorite book. But I want to hold her in my arms one last time and tell her how much I love her, how grateful I am to know her, what a source of joy and love and learning she is in my life.
Yet a part of me knows I won't get that chance. I keep telling myself I was blessed to be able to do this last June when I saw her. I should be grateful for the time I've had with Ashley and the wonderful blessing her family has been in my life. But that just isn't enough. I don't know if anything will ever be enough.
And as hard as it is for me to relinquish any kind of control, this really is in God's hands. I have said my goodbyes and now I need to be at peace with that. Though my heart is braking, I need to trust that everything will be all right in the end. Things in life always seem to work out, and now I just need to have a little faith that even this will work out, too.
- Location:Washington, DC
I am a better person and have a much fuller life because of the many people I have lived with over the years. I've learned about different countries, eaten different foods, listen to different music, learned about different subjects and loved vastly different people because each one of you was unique and willing to put up with me.
So for all of the people who were, are or will be my housemates, I am grateful for each of you.
- Location:Washington, DC
There is a baseball diamond at the camp, so I brought along my glove (I'm left-handed and play infield, so I always have to have my own glove). I was excited to find out a couple other people all totally into baseball and was looking forward to participating in a pick-up game or two. That is, until I found out who I would be playing with:
1. A guy in decent shape who played ball in high school
2. Another guy who coached his company team to a league championship this summer
3. An all-state fast-pitch catcher from Texas who throws like a pro
4. A guy who's being scouted by Denver because of his 93 mph fast-ball
Yeah, way out of my league. Not only am I totally out of shape, but I also (a) haven't played a full game for almost six years, (b) was in a roll-over car accident five years ago that messed up my rotator cuffs, (c) haven't played on a regular team for more than 10 years and (d) wasn't that great to begin with.
So we just tossed around the ball for a couple hours to get back into practice, but mostly I think they were just taking pity on me and didn't want me to embarrass myself by picking up a bat. And now both my arms hurt, my shoulders are stiff, my hand is bruised and I think I pulled a muscle in my thigh.
Conclusion: I make a much better bleacher bum than wannabe player.
- Location:Thurmont, MD
But I digress.
When Sara sent me an email congratulating me, I had no idea what she was congratulating me for. But apparently, I am one of 13 recipients of an SCBWI Work-In-Progress Grant Letter of Merit. I have never even entered a writing competition before, and now to have received a Letter of Merit from such an amazing organization...I honestly don't even care that I didn't get the grant.
This might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but to me, this is like being nominated for an Academy Award. While the nominees don't get to give an acceptance speech, I at least get to post some thank-you's here on my blog.
There were so many people who encouraged me to apply for this grant. Sara, Ann Dee, Tammy, Janessa and Chris read the error-riddled pages of the first draft of the first chapter and encouraged me to keep going with it, Sydney helped me revamp my first page to get it noticed, Laurie kicked my butt into gear to actually join SCBWI, my sister literally kept food in my mouth while I finished writing the entire novel and looked for a job after graduation, the Tammy, Sarah and Corrina did the first read-through and gave me an honest reaction, and Corrina helped me get the grant application together in the first place.
Who knew that so many people went into a Letter of Merit. Many of you probably have no idea how much you influence and encourage me. You all deserve your own Letter of Merit. Thank you!
Now I get to start working on my application for next year. After all, a Letter of Merit means I still have a chance at winning the grant itself. Oh yeah, and there's still that little issue of finding an agent and getting my novel published. I can't forget about that.
- Location:Washington, DC
We also sat in Francis Scott Key Park for awhile before making the hike across Key Bridge to hope on the Metro home.
Is it just me, or does Mr. Key look a little frightened by the tall red-head about to give him a smooch? Maybe he's just worried his wife will find out.
But this little outing started off with my roommate and me getting tickets to see a random play the last time we were at the Kennedy Center. We had gone to see Ragtime, which I saw in Chicago about ten years ago and LOVED, when they announced that they had discount tickets to a play that had received eight Tony Awards in 2007, including Best Musical. Not one's to ask twice when a good offer is presented, we bought the tickets knowing nothing about Spring Awakening.
I swear, this play was made for me. It is the ultimate YA novel put on stage (not that I'm recommending you take your 13-year-old to see it). Sexy and moving and powerful, it reminds you want it is like to be young and confused and totally at odds with yourself and everyone else around you. There is a subtle theme about the flow of time with the past meeting the present that I am obsessed with.
The set is amazing with a band (drum set, piano, keyboard, guitar, string bass, cello) at the back and audience members sitting right in the choir. The cast sings into handheld microphones and all of the set changes are done in full view. And the music...the music is just amazing. I would see it again in a heartbeat.
- Location:Washington, DC
I was planning on posting about so many fun things that I did and amazing people I spent time with while I was out West, like...
Stopping by the new Wasatch Music Coaching Academy studio to visit an old friend. (Michael Jackson passed away while I was there, which was sad as his music had touched a lot of people involved in the school, myself included.)
Seeing "Hello, Dolly" performed at the Hale Center Theatre. I had never seen a musical performed on a circular stage before, so that was kind of cool. For a relatively small metropolitan area, Salt Lake City is chalked full talent.
Catching up with old friends with growing families. I've seen Angie in so many stages in her life--college student, engaged, newly married, pregnant, first time mom, pregnant again--and it's been kind of hard to be away from her for so long. Emma is growing up so fast, but I was happy to see she has inherited her mommy's passion for reading.
Reuniting the Sisterhood. While I did a lot in my time out West, I had really made the trip to see Sarah get married. It was a small wedding (less than 20 people in attendance), but I wouldn't have missed it for all the world. Sarah was beautiful and her new husband is almost as wonderful as she is, but let's face it, no one is good enough for my Sisters. I don't think I have ever met or will probably ever meet such a fabulous group of women who mean so much to me. Besides my blood-sister and mom, there are no women I love more in all the world.
Making a surprise visit to see Tammy's family. While I was living so far from my own family, Tammy's family became my segregate family. We were lucky enough that all five of her siblings and every single one of her nieces and nephews were in town when we dropped by. I love them like they're my own.Okay, enough sappiness and pictures for one night. I still want to post about the 4th of July in the Nation's Capitol, including a guest appearance by my very own mom, but that will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day. Plus there are more roommate adventures in DC to share and a real, live writing update. Yes, that's right, I'm actually going to talk about writing on my writing blog. Don't die of a heart attack, y'all.
- Location:Salt Lake City, UT and Rexburg, ID
I don't think I had ever been to Dallas before, but I didn't see much of it other than out the window and at the airport. Maybe next time I'll be able to meet the Ewings or a rich oil sheik.
And of course it was in the 80's with clear skies when I left Virginia at 8 a.m. only to arrive in Utah during a massive downpour and 60 degree weather. All I packed was short sleeves and flip-flops. Good thing I have a wonderful friend who brought me a jacket when she picked me up from the airport.
This trip is really for my friend's wedding, but I'm also trying to see as many people as possible while I'm out here, and I've been lucky enough to see a lot of friends, including my book buddy, Jaleh. I've been staying with her family for a couple of days, and it's been like one big slumber party. She also has two little kids, so it's been fun to play with them and see how much they've grown in the past year. And of course, we managed to sneak in a book signing.
Syndey Salter has been a great source of encouragement and support for me, so I was excited to be able to show her a little support as well. Her book My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters is a fun read for any teenage girl. I haven't read Linda Gerber's Death by Denim books yet, but she was kind and funny, and I can't wait to see what they're all about. And Jaleh was excited to meet NYT bestselling author Aprilynne Pike and get her copy of Wings signed.
You ladies may not be local authors for me any more, but a huge part of me still resides in Utah. Thanks for letting us hang out with you for awhile!
- Location:Highland, UT
My roommates and I kicked off our summer adventures with a day-trip out to Pennsylvania with a friend to see a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright houses, but we ended up doing a lot more than just walking through old houses.
Not only was the drive spectacular, but we also listened to some tunes that took me back to the day before Gwen Stefani was a solo artist and no one knew what a wonderwall was but everybody had one. (Yes, I am going to re-live middle/high school by going to the No Doubt concert next month.)
Our first stop was at the Kentuck Knob house, the largest of Wright's Usonian homes. Of course the architecture was flawless and the grounds were beautiful--I would expect nothing less from a FLLW home. 
After touring the house and walking through the sculpture meadow, we had a picnic lunch. We couldn't have asked for more spectacular weather for a holiday weekend as it was sunny with a sprinkling of clouds yet only in the hight seventies with a decent breeze, which made me especially glad that Corinna and I brought out ball gloves so we could play catch. Holy cow am I out of practice!
We then drove the ten miles to see Fallwater, a.k.a. the Bear Run House. What FLLW fan doesn't want the opportunity to see that modern marvel? I have wanted to see that house since I was about ten years old, so I was a little giddy by the time we got there. I took almost 100 pictures, but I will spare you all my pathetic attempts at artistic photography and just post a picture of some fine looking chicks instead.
Of course I was ready to bite someone's head off on the drive home, getting up at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday, driving 450 miles in one day and spending so much time in the sun will do that to you. But the trip was well worth putting up with the east-coast drivers. Plus, driving those back roads in Pennsylvania can be a lot of fun.
Who knows where our next summer adventure will take us, but you can bet I'll have more travelogs to come.
- Location:Dunbar, PA
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater... debuts August 1. Preorder today!
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
(Re-post this and leave a comment here letting Maggie know you are a member of team Raving the Pen!)
- Location:Washington, DC
Okay, so I went to those embassies, and technically an embassy is considered foreign soil. And being on all that foreign soil was pretty cool.
With the different music
and textiles
and culture
and art
today was a fantastic adventure. Next year I was to go back and see some of the EU embassies.
- Location:Washington, DC
The fun of attending baseball games actually has very little to do with the end score. It's all about getting behind a team and cheering at their good plays, booing bad calls and yelling at visiting team fans who won't shut up. It's about the smell of roasting hot dogs, the sound of thousands of frantic fan, the sight of the crystal-blue sky and the feel of adrenaline pumping past your ears at a million miles an hour. It's about talking stats with one friend while admiring the posterior build of the catcher with another friend.
The boom of the fireworks, the crack of the ball against the bat and the silence of 20,000 people holding their breath during that last desperate play. For the love of the game and for the love atmosphere, I could sit in a ballpark every day through September (keep your fingers crossed for October) and be happy. Nothing could have welcomed in Spring quite like attending a baseball game. Win or lose, may there be many more to come before Fall.
- Location:Washington, DC
I thought Tammy was just about ready to have a heart-attach when she saw me back into these teeny-tiny spaces, and the one on the left wasn't even all that bad as there only had a raised walkway on one side. She also couldn't believe I was willing to attempt parking between two concert posts like the one on the right. (Don't ask what Misheal and I are doing in this picture, because I have no idea, but it was hysterical at the time.) And that doesn't even touch all the parallel parking I had to do. I guess in a city where real-estate is such a hot commodity, you don't waste it on parking garages, a truism a country-bread girl from Idaho fond intriguing.
Part 2: Summer concerts
There is noting that says summer so much as music. I got my tickets to the NIN and Jane's Addiction tour, and I'm still hoping to find a group who wants to see Crue Fest 2 so I don't have to spend a fortune on tickets but can get the group rate. (I have to admit, I'm not so much a fan of Motley Crue as I am obsessed with Theory of a Deadman.)
Least you think I'm a total heathen and my mother didn't raise me to enjoy polite society, I'm also seeing Ragtime for the second time, and I'm hoping to catch a play at the newly remodeled Ford's Theatre. Then there's also Screen on the Green to look forward to, where the city puts up a jumbotron in front of the Capitol and people come to watch old movies on Monday nights. And of course my mom and sister are coming for the 4th of July concert as well.
I'm so excited for all the activities what will be going on this summer! I just hope I don't put myself into the poorhouse trying to do them all.
- Location:Washington, DC
We read anything from picture books:
To memoirs:
To "medical" books:
To YA novels:
This was a tradition I carried on with new roommates, and now, after three years apart, Corinna and I are roommates again and we had reinstated this age-old tradition. We began by reading Ally Carter's hysterical book, Cross My Heat and Hope to Spy.
We can't wait to read the next book in this series, Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover. (Okay, I can't wait.) And now Ally is getting ready for her book tour, which means she will be reading part of her new book aloud herself. So if you live in the DC area, click on the widget below to request that she comes. And if you don't live in the DC area, don't click on the link below and find your own favorite read-aloud author!
- Location:Washington, DC
In high school, I was totally into football, in part because I was totally into the Green Bay Packers, but mostly because had a huge crush on one of the JV football players my freshman year who would sit next to me during all the varsity games and explain the rules and tell stories and stare longingly into my eyes. Okay, so maybe that last part was just my over-active teenage imagination. I went to all the school games, followed pro teams and even kept up on college stats.
Now I don't really care about football, but the Super Bowl is always a good excuse to get together with friends and eat junk food. Last night I was with a bunch of friends from all over the country (California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New York, North Carolina), and I didn't really care who won, so I said I was rooting for whatever team was winning. And for the majority of the night, I was a Steelers fan. And for a few minutes late in the fourth quarter, I was a Cardinals fan. And in the end, I was a Steelers fan and a Cardinals fan.
Best moments of the game:
1. The 100-yard touchdown by James Harrison. I totally got goose bumps when this happened, and then I thought I might see that poor linebacker keel over from a heart attach after that mad dash. I want to know why Harrison didn't receive the MVP award.
2. The Boss's kneel-slide into the camera. I'm not a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, but the best moment of half-time was when he knocked over the camera, shrugged off the flub and kept on singing. We were all just glad there wasn't a wardrobe malfunction at that moment.
3. Kurt Wanner's spectacular plays. You have to admire Kurt Wanner and his QB skills. He almost pulled it off, too. But while his team is lighter and faster, the Steelers just have far more experience and had overall better plays. I might just become a football fan again to see what this guy pulls off next year.
4. Larry Fitzgerald and the safety seen around the world. I couldn't believe he made it over the line of that 1-yard play! And then the 2-point safety, and then the break away, and then touchdown. I couldn't believe what was happening so late in the game!
5. Santonio Holmes toe-touching touchdown. Everyone was on their feet for that play, especially when just seconds before he had let a game-winning pass slip though his fingers, literally. I think his toes touched by shear force of will.
Seriously, this was the most exciting game ever. I think I am a football fan again. And maybe next year, I'll be supporting the Cardinals.
- Location:Washington, DC
I was tagged by my old friend Stephanie (déjà vu) and thought I would post something back. I have already tagged 10 people with this on facebook, so my list at the end only has 15 people on it.
Here are the rules:
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you.
2. I am an obsessive reader. This might not seem like something random about me, but it is when the things I’m reading are ads on the Metro, the backs of cereal boxes, books in other people’s hands…
3. I hate driving or riding in cars in general. I hate the way stupid drivers make me so angry, I don’t trust my own driving and I can't stand having to park in teeny-tiny spaces. I would prefer to ride public transportation any day, even if it is unreliable and smells like pee.
4. I have always wanted to be a writer even though I’m not particularly funny, smart or good at spelling. I just get stories stuck in my head that drive me crazy with the talking and moving about that I have to get them out of there so other people don’t begin to think I’m a schizophrenic.
5. When I was in middle school, I met a boy online who started stalking me. He became obsessed with meeting me and even ran away from home when his mother told him he couldn’t fly out and meet me. His mom finally got my email address and told me I had to tell her son to back off and stop emailing me. It was the one and only time I broke someone’s heart.
6. I am embarrassed by the fact that I’m in love with Bon Jovi and Sugar Ray. I love music—especially good music—and have no idea how these two groups became a part of my otherwise non-conformist musical taste.
7. I’m having a hard time thinking of 10 random things let alone 25 of them. I have such a big mouth that nothing really seems random.
8. I am obsessed with the etymology and grammatical structure. I love looking up word origins and having discussions about why phrases are put together in particular ways and how language is used in general. The only problem is, I never remember what I read or the conclusions I come to, so my vocabulary and spelling never improve.
9. In elementary school I was obsessed with the name Sammy. In second grade I had a mealworm I named Sammy. In third grade I had a guppy named Sammy. In fourth grade I wanted to name the class pet Sammy. I think this might have been because I was a little bit in love with Sammy Davis Junior at the time, but it could also be that I was just as crazy then as I am now.
10. I have a tendency to come across sick people/accident victims on the road. I once helped a mother get to her three year old who had locked herself in the car. I gave a woman rescue breathing at a gas station in Wyoming. I was the first responder to a T-bone accident where a woman was hit on the way to her father’s funeral. I helped a family on the highway in Utah whose son was having a massive seizure.
11. I can’t stand the sight of blood, and the thought of visiting a sick person in the hospital gives me panic attaches. When I was thirteen, I had to sit on my dad’s lap when I had to get a tetanus shot, and once when I saw a woman with a broken finger that had gotten infected, I passed out.
12. I get peed on by dogs all the time. This has made me not like dogs or animals in general. When I tried to explain this to a friend of mine, she didn’t believe me until we saw two dogs in one day and they both peed on me.
13. I have the worst red-light luck of anyone I know. I have to leave ten minutes early for anything because I know I will hit 90 percent of the traffic lights red. But some of that time is made up when I park—I can get rock-star parking just about anywhere I go.
14. I love to move. I am a natural pack-rat, and moving helps me control the clutter. I always do one purge while packing and another while unpacking. It helps me know what’s really important.
15. I cannot help but buy books. While every once in awhile I buy books I have never read, the majority of the books I invest in are books that I love and want to share with others. Often times that means I loan out a book and never see it again, but I figure if I get one person to read a book I love, it’s worth the cost.
16. I hate swimming in the ocean, but I love the beach. I’m always afraid I’ll get salmonella or step on a stingray. I end up going into the water up to my waist, but I spend more time messing around in the sand. I’m okay with rivers, lakes, pools, ponds and streams, but I can’t do the ocean.
17. I have all kinds of plans to travel around the world, but I’ve never left the United States (Tijuana doesn’t count). I read about other cultures, have shelves full of travel books and talk about traveling all the time. But I never seem to have the money, time or energy to follow through on those plans. I always seem to get caught up by school, a move, a family emergency or a wedding and end up flying somewhere in the States instead.
18. I’d kind of like to try out for American Idol. I can’t sing, I’m not a bombshell and I don’t even watch the show, but I’d still like to go and audition just to see what Simon says to me.
19. I like to blog-stalk people. I read blogs compulsively and then tend to think I’m friends with people whose blogs I’ve read yet never actually met. I am well aware this makes me sound crazy, but I really do know the difference between a friend and stranger. I do, however, have a few legitimate friends whom I have met through blogging, so maybe this is just my way of hoping I can be friends with everyone I meet.
20. I have an aversion to contractions. I have to force myself to use them and often have to go back and re-write something so it flows more conversationally.
21. Sometimes I miss watching commercials on live TV. Because I watch everything online, I never hear about new movies or laugh at clever ads anymore.
22. I am always cold. Seriously, it can be 90 degrees in the shade and I’ll be cold. Sometimes I wonder if this is a sign of a rare medical condition that will bring me to my death bed and lead the writers of House to feature my story on prime-time television.
23. I like being alone in a crowd. I like living in the city and being all alone yet never being alone. I think this is also why I like the internet so much—you can stay connected to people without ever having to be with people.
24. I spent years studying journalism but I still can’t write a concise piece to save my life.
25. Writing all of this has made me realize just how delusional I am.
I'm tagging Corinna (Six Feet of Fire), Celeste (A day in the life of...), Kevin (Calling Captain Obvious), Lori (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
goadingthepen), Sara (sarazarr), Sarah (The words I say), Katie (I Keep Wondering), Brittany (Turning Leaves), Tammy (As I See It), Gwen (g-when), Camilla (The Taylors), Angie (Brown Town), Lisa (lisamcmann), Ann Dee (adellis) and of course, Stephanie (déjà vu).
I'm tagging Corinna (Six Feet of Fire), Celeste (A day in the life of...), Kevin (Calling Captain Obvious), Lori (
goadingthepen), Sara (sarazarr), Sarah (The words I say), Katie (I Keep Wondering), Brittany (Turning Leaves), Tammy (As I See It), Gwen (g-when), Camilla (The Taylors), Angie (Brown Town), Lisa (lisamcmann), Ann Dee (adellis) and of course, Stephanie (déjà vu).- Location:Washington, DC
I've now gotten corrections from all three people I sent my manuscript to--all amazing writers and editors in their own right. (Thanks Corinna, Sarah and Tammy!) But now this means I have to make all those corrections, and that's not an easy thing. In fact, I had been putting it off for awhile until I had a bit of a mental breakdown two nights ago. I couldn't stop thinking I was a wannabe poser who would never actually send my manuscript to agents or publishers or grant-givers.
Then my friend Sheri gave me a pep-talk and sent me to a couple of websites to help me snap out of my funk. (She’s such a great mom, and she’s not even old enough to be my mom!) Basically, she told me to get over myself and get to work, only she’s much nicer than me, so she said it in a much kinder way.
So last night I got back to work. I opened all three corrected files and went through them chapter by chapter, making corrections on my own draft and notes about where I need to fill out the story and where I can cut back. I’m about half-way finished, have two additional chapters to write and a month and a half to get it all done. Luckily I only have to submit my first two chapters to the SCBWI WIP grant committee, meaning I can work on the rest as I go.
Next month marks the first anniversary of the day I began writing this novel. It’s been a long process and a crazy year, but I have faith this is going to work.
- Location:Washington, DC
We got to the Metro station at 6:45 a.m. and waited for 45 minutes to catch a train downtown only to have them full up. I even tried just getting on one as really there was plenty of room if people in the middle would have been a little more willing to set aside their belief in personal space. The next thing I knew, someone had thrown a banana peel at me (no kidding, from a real banana) and someone else shoved me off the train. For a second I was so shocked I didn't know what to think, then the next second I couldn't stop laughing--someone had thrown a banana peel at me!
We ended up having to go out to go forward. By this I mean we hopped on an outbound train to a station that was almost empty so we could get on a train going in the right direction. And it worked! After an hour and a half, we had meet four new friends and were downtown. We buddied up with two local guys and a guy and girl who had driven in from Michigan, calling ourselves Team McPherson Square because we decided to stick together after agreeing the best place to get off the train was the McPherson Square Station. We all kept tabs on each other to make sure no one got lost/left behind and made decisions together.
After seeing the masses walking to the Mall, we figured it was too late to get into the inauguration, so we made plans just to get on the parade route and get decent seats. But we kept getting herded and sent in different directions by security. It was quite the sight to behold.
Before we knew it, we had crossed over the parade route and got spat out onto the Mall. We ended up about 50 yards in front of the Washington Monument. We were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, but we could see the jumbo-trons and hear the speakers, and if we shifted the right way to see between heads, we could make out the Capitol Building in the distance.
You may think you saw how many people were on the Mall yesterday, but let me assure you, the pictures were all taken around 11 a.m., well before people stopped flooding the mall. The crowd just kept growing, and the excitement grew exponentially with the numbers. We had all come to see history being made, and in that moment, we transcended cultural beliefs, places of origin, religion, creed. We were all there with a hope for something different, something more. While that may sound kinds of naive and hokey, that was truly the feeling in the crowd.They only time I didn't feel unity among us was when former-President George W. Bush came on stage. In fact, I was a little disappointed in the spectators. While I don't agree with a lot of decisions Bush made during his administration, I understand that we all had a voice in putting him in office. We asked him to be our leader, and he took that burden upon himself for eight years. He also deserves the respect the office of the President of the United States deserves. While I believe in freedom of speech, I also believe in self-control and knowing the correct time and place to voice your opinion. And a ceremony celebrating the peaceable transfer of power from one President to the next is not the place to boo and sing "hey, hey, hey, good-bye." But after that, things calmed down and excitement returned.
Cheers echoed off the monuments that honor the leaders of the past when our leader of the present appeared on stage. The excitement of the moment settled over me more warmly than my winter clothing and the blanket I had wrapped around myself. I knew in that moment, in that place where history had been made time and time again, I was witnessing something great. Something bigger than the crowd that had gathered. And when Obama placed his hand on the Bible once used by Abraham Lincoln to take his oath of office, I suddenly became aware of something much different. We were placing a huge burden of expectation on this one man. We are expecting him to change the world--we were probably asking more of him than any president in living memory. And I think, as he fumbled over the words he was asked to say, our new President knew it as well.
His speech was powerful, probably made more powerful to me by knowing I was there when he spoke those words. He had the authority of the office he now held. And while I don't agree with everything he said or with all of the things he has promised, I know that he is now our President. He is the new face of our nation, and I pray that we will be able to live up to all of the faith we have put in him.
Spirits continued to run high as we made our way off the Mall. I was surprised by the patience of almost everyone (of course there were a few people who complained and a few others who were rude along the way), but we eventually made it to the White House where we saw the organizations lining up for the parade. By that time, the parade route was closed to any more pedestrians and we were popsicles, so we just kept walking until the feeling returned to our toes and the adrenaline wore off enough that we all became hungry.
We hit 18th and M only to realize we were not getting on the Metro any time soon, especially when we received a text about a woman who was trapped under a train on the red line and the stop was shut down until she could be rescued (on a side note, she was later freed and only had minor injuries). So we just kept walking all the way into Georgetown. We finally found an Italian place that had less than an hour wait, and six strangers who had become friends in one morning, sat down to eat and watch the parade and news on the bar television.
We continued out walk through Georgetown and finally crossed over Francis Scott Key Bridge into Roslyn. A quick stop at the Metro information booth revealed that the trains were still incredibly full and delayed, so we just kept walking until we got back to my car. So 12 hours and 5.88 miles of walking, we ended up back at the beginning.
That is a day I will always remember. Now I just need to get back to work and wait another four years until we can do it all over again.
- Location:Washington, DC
Left: Here we are at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago where my sister attempts to strike me down in front of a reproduction of Hammurabi's Code.Right: Everybody loves the Bean. I don't get it. It's a hunk of reflective metal in the middle of Millennium Park that is really called “Cloud Gate.” It's shiny and huge and odd shaped and doesn't look anything like a cloud. Maybe if I was from Seattle I'd find it more interesting.
Below: They were having this Prop 8 protest at Daley Plaza while Jackie was visiting as well. I don't know if I had ever seen protesters of a protest before, but there were people on both sides of the street, police all around and a lot of heated opinions.
Left: Here we are with our good friend Sue who lives at the Field Museum. We got to know Sue pretty well, like that she is 67 million years old, is 13 feet tall, had a bone disease and might not have actually been female. This also isn’t really Sue’s head--the real one is displayed on the second floor but was too heavy to put on the skeleton.Right: This is just a cute picture of me. I never like pictures of me, so I want to show off this one, at least until I stop liking it.
The next set of pictures is from my road trip to Washington, DC. We got a later start than I had hoped, so it was dark by the time we got to all of the pretty stuff in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Pretty much all I saw was this...
(the back of the trailer loaded with all my stuff) and this...
(way too many tollbooths) and this...
(it being a holiday weekend, the police were out in force). Not very exciting, I know.
Then the next day we unloaded and my roommate’s boyfriend (fiance as of last week) helped put all my furniture together. Go Kevin!
The final set of pictures is from New Years.
Left: This is my new haircut that only the stylist will ever get to look this good. I can’t figure out how she did it, and I was watching her and she was explaining what she was doing to me the entire time. I just don’t get it.Right: Celeste, Corinna and I went up to Maryland to see our old roommate Kit who is serving a mission in Baltimore. Kit was singing with a bunch of missionaries for the Festival of Lights at the Washington DC LDS Temple, and since that is only about half an hour from where we live, we snuck up and saw her. We dragged Kevin with us as well so he could take pictures.
Look at the pretty lights. Look at those pretty girls. Sometimes I’d just like to capture a moment in time and never let it go--this was one of those moments. What a way to start the New Year off right.
So now I am caught up. Hopefully I will be able to buy a new camera next month so I can take my own pictures and not fall so far behind again. While this was fun, editing, uploading and captioning all these pictures takes way too long.
- Location:Washington, DC
The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago--I minored in the development of Western Civilization and found this museum absolutely fascinating. There were artifacts from Mesopotamia, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt. I just loved seeing all of these things that I spent years studying.
Hyde Park Bookstores--Between a branch of Powell's Books, O'Gara and Wilson Booksellers and 57th Street Books, I was in heaven. Really. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I love that musty old book smell mixed with the smell of freshly printed books. There is just something about seeing a second edition Lord of the Rings shelved next to one sporting Elijah Wood's face that gets me excited. Don't bother with the romantic dinner and sparkly jewelry, just take me to a used bookstore.
Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park--I had grown up living around the corner from a Frank Lloyd Wright home and have visited the Fabyan Villa and Japanese Gardens in Batavia and the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield on many occasions. I even wrote a report on Frank Lloyd Wright for my modern American history class and my art history class in college. But before today I had never seen the FLW home and studio.
Of course I also took Jackie to some of my favorite city haunts like Andy's Jazz Club, Giordano's Pizza and the Field Museum. I think we did more in four days that humanly possible. In fact, the blisters on my feet tell me we did more in four days than Kathryn-ly possible. But I loved every minute of it and can't wait to do more. I hope to see a couple more things before I head out to D.C., and I plan on coming back for the Printer's Row Book Fair in June. Or maybe I'll try to make the ALA conference in July. Oh, or the Taste of Chicago over the 4th...There are just so many reasons to come back for a visit!
- Location:Aurora, IL
I rode a CTA bus for the first time in about twenty years this weekend. I am a big fan of the commuter train and the L and sidewalks, but I NEVER ride the bus. When I was living in D.C. I rode the bus all the time and I even rode it a few times in Salt Lake, but it was never on time and always crowded. Plus, riding in city traffic in a vehicle that my apartment could fit in scares the bajeebers out of me. But we wanted to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and it’s either take the bus or walk two and a half miles. On the way there, it was fine—the train was on time and we even got seats. But stupid me got on the wrong bus going home. We had a scary bus driver, so I was afraid to ask for an emergency transfer, plus I figured the bus would have to turn around at some point. But that never happened. By the time they switched to a really nice drivers and we got a transfer, it took us an hour to get where we were supposed to go. Busses—NEVER AGAIN!
Anyway, we had fun at the zoo. We packed lunches and eat as we walked. The weather was great and they had giraffes.
We were kind of speeding through it all and not really reading any of the signs or caring what animals we were looking at. I finally asked Leah if she liked animals, and we found out we both never really cared about animals. (It’s not that I hate animals, I just don’t relate to them or particularly care to have them around—you know, like the French. (I am so just kidding!)) Even when we were kids and all of the girls in our grade were obsessing about horses and cats and fuzzy bunnies, we were more into hiking and camping and baseball. (Okay, I was into baseball, Leah could care less.)
So we left the zoo and went to the Lincoln Park Conservatory instead.
We want to go to the Garfield Park Conservatory soon because I hear it’s even bigger and more beautiful. I can’t wait.
- Location:Aurora, IL
