Our Nation's Capitol

Washington DC is pretty impressive. Like Mom, I think it's sheer scale really has an impact on anyone who's visiting for the first time. If you've never been to the US Capitol, it just isn't possible to fully grasp how enormous it is! It's very grand.

So, let's get started.

Day 1
We knew it was going to be a long day but we were excited so it was ok. We left for the airport at 4:30...AM! Our first stop was the hotel, to drop off our luggage. Luckily, they had some rooms ready so we got to check in early. Our first stop was the American History Museum. If you love history, this is the place for you!

After that, we headed over to the tour bus area. We got a 2 day pass on a "hop on, hop off" tour bus. Everyone should do this! It's awesome! It takes you by all best spots. We didn't "hop off" until the Lincoln Monument though;

Then we walked over to the Korean War Memorial;

After that, we went to Arlington Cemetery. 

This one was tough for me. The loss of human life on this scale is just so hard to comprehend. Over 400,000 men and women are buried here. On average, Arlington oversees 30 burials a day. 

sigh

After this, we headed over to the Vietnam Was Memorial. Again, unless you are standing right there, in front of that wall, it's impossible for you grasp the enormity of loss.

After that...back on the bus, headed to our hotel. We were exhausted! It was well into the 90's, humid, sunny, and according to my Fitbit, we walked almost 10 MILES that day! Whew. Not bad for a couple of old broads :-)

fun things to know

So, mom and I went to our nation's capitol last week. Other than the this close to unbearable heat and humidity, we had a wonderful time. I'll share pictures later. But before i forget, we learned some fun things while we were there.

For instance, did you know that until Ronald Reagan, all the presidents were inaugurated on the east side (the back) of the U.S. Capitol? Reagan chose the west side, (the front) in homage to his home state, California. Since then, every single president has chosen to be inaugurated on the west side.

Did you know that the dome of the U.S. Capitol is made of cast iron? Can you imagine how heavy that sucker is!?!?!

Thomas Jefferson is my new favorite president. Why? you ask? Because he was a great, great, man. He invented macaroni and cheese. The worlds best food EVER! Aaaaaand, he brought ice cream to America. Yep. He was a genius! I love him. 

President Cleveland wife, was the youngest first lady in history. She was only 21. 
What were YOU doing at 21?!?!?

C-Span is the only network allowed to film inside the Senate and House chambers.

Washington DC has a Chinatown but no Chinese population, to speak of.

house update

Last weekend, we finally picked the tile for the wall/backsplash behind the sink. We bought several pieces and brought them home, leaned them against the wall and voted on the 2 we liked best. We had a secret vote :-)  Out of 4 choices, I liked 2 and four. The man of the house liked 1 and 2. So we're going with #2. It was a good experiment and turned out to be a really great way to make a decision! I think I'll use it again in the future.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice in the other pictures, we also got new lighting! Yay!!

Many years ago, we rented this little OLD house. When the house was sold and we were evicted, we pilched some of the old furniture stuffed in the attic. We had permission. Sometimes I wish we had taken more because some of it was kinda cool. One of the things was a tall, round, end table. It's very plain but solidly built. We just recently decided we would refinish it. When we turned it over, we found this written on the bottom!!

Isn't that neat??

Do over...

This is one of those days that I wish I could have a do over on. 

It started last night, about 11:30, when I woke up to the sound of sweet Greta, coughing. I thought she might want to get up so I turned the flashlight on and looked over at her and there was blood all over her face!! Yuck. So Bill and I got up and took her into the kitchen and started wiping off her face. I looked in mouth the best I could but didn't see anything unusual - beside her yucky teeth. And she was acting just as happy as could be! So I determined that she lost a tooth and swallowed it and the blood made her cough. That's what I'm hoping. But I slept crappy the rest of the night. And it made Bill grouchy so I had that on top of it. 

And work sucks right now. 

And as much as I LOVE our new looking house, this week, all the mess and disorganization is kind of weighing on me. No, I haven't been inconvenienced. But the nesting part of me is bugged that there's so much stuff that doesn't seem to have a home right now. And I'm tired of all the dust.

And work sucks.

OK - there are some lighter things. Like, check out this totally awesome rug I got for the kitchen!

It's a little colorful for the man of the house, but I'm going to win on this one.

And honestly, HOW FANTASTIC IS THIS FLOOR!!!???

ruh roh

Apparently, 
I can no longer be trusted to go to the store, 
alone. 
Hey, it's back to school season! They're everywhere! Aaaaand, they're on sale!! Aaaaaaand, there are so many different kinds! 
It's scary.
sigh

Gen Con

Do you know what Gen Con is? It's the biggest gaming convention in the U.S.
It's held in my hometown. 70,000 people in attendance over a 4 day period of time.
It's been held here for several years now. You always know when it's started because of all the crazy people walking around in costumes. 

This year, I decided to find out more about it. You know, like what the hell does Gen Con stand for?
Well, it all started in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. So they called it the Geneva Convention...Gen Con. 
And it's all about games. BOARD games!!! I had no idea that there were even board games that required a convention! All I know about board games are, Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Uncle Wiggly, Risk, Sorry. It made me want to go to a Toy Store and look at board games! I guess this all stems from that game, Dungeons and Dragons? Beats me. Anyway, the convention center was cram packed full of people. Lots of them dressed like their favorite characters. And they're just so happy to stop and pose for you, if you want to take their picture;

Yeah, I know this isn't a costume, but really, have you ever seen a dragon made out of balloons? How cool is that?

The other thing that was interesting to me was the lack of diversity in the gaming world. I guess black people are too busy working to play games? 
Or there are just A LOT of white nerdy people sitting around in their parents basements, playing board games? I'm positive there's some kind of social commentary there...whatever.

. 
It was all very entertaining to a non-gamer, like myself. And I enjoyed learning a little bit about it. Hobbies are such a funny thing. 

My fella asked me just the other night if I would ever join a group. You know, like a quilling group. I said no, nope, nah uh! I'm really not a joiner. I don't want to have to interact with people or feel responsible for doing something with them. Ick. Is that weird? It made me think of Gen Con though. Tens of thousands of joiners!!!!! Wow!

Almost done!!

We're heading into the home stretch!! All we need to do is get a back splash and paint! Oh, and the trim work and little details. Oh, and I still have to paint the inside of the doors. But still!! We're almost done!!! Walking around in this new space last night, it really hit me. It's an entirely different place now. When I put these pictures together this morning, I was really surprised! It's SO AWESOME! 

Here are some before and after pictures;
(don't forget, you can click on them to make them larger)

My fella is still trying to let the blue island grow on him. He'll get there :-)
I might sand it a little so there's less color.

But check out this floor!!!!!

I wish I could submit his name, for some kind of award/reward for the truly spectacular job he's done!

Other July things....

My brother likes to go to garage sales. He bought a couple trunks for $5, to store things in, in his garage. Inside the trunks were a couple of Alpaca rugs! 

I got to bring one home with me! It's fantastic. Big and super soft and thick. I'm going to put it in the bedroom after the hardwood floors are in. Mmmmmm, nice on the bare feet for sure!

Here are a couple shots of Lake Elsinore - (well, only the end of the lake) where my brother lives;

And, completely unrelated to California...THESE ARE THE BEST PENS EVER! Ink Joy is an appropriate name for them too.

I bought them. Right along with another set of 70 colored gel pens. Something is wrong with me. Please, if you ever see me looking at gel pens, tackle me!!!! Who needs 500 gel pens??? I ask you??!!!

July

Yep.
I missed July.
A lot happened in July too!

My husband had another birthday. He hates that. Which makes me hate it too.

Also in July, my Mom and I went to California. My youngest niece graduated from the Sheriff's Academy. In a million years, I never would have said that she was tough enough to be a Sheriff. Man was I wrong! She is BAD ASS! And not just bad ass attitude but seriously, bad ass. I'm so proud of her. The ceremony was so special. Mayors, police Chiefs, lots of other Sheriffs, were in attendance. It was good stuff.

getting her badge

she's a Sheriff!!

Swearing in

best looking Sheriffs in the building!

and the cutest couple too!

 This is one proud dad!

And in case you ever wondered what that "thin blue line" means...

The thin blue line represents the police. Above it, is the public and below it, are the criminals. So all that stands between you and the bad guys, are the police. I didn't know that until last month. cool.

And of course there was was a celebration afterwards!

That's the niece I know and love!! :-)

My brother is one of the best people I know <3

Wine and whales

One day we went wine tasting. I didn't really have any expectations but it wasn't what I expected. I had no idea that wine tasting was so popular!!! Seriously, hundreds of people were there! I liked sitting outside best though.

The next day we went whale watching. On the way to Newport Beach, we drove along the coast. It was fun, just for the experience. But dang! There are way too many people at the beach! I guess it's been a long, long time since I've been to the beach. But honestly, even if I had millions of dollars to spend on a house at the beach, I wouldn't do it. I don't like people. And too many of them take away all the pleasure of something. We saw million dollar cars on the road and a yacht dealership! whaaaaaat?!? And then we saw this,

that really balances out all the opulence :-)

We stopped at a fun little retro diner, called Ruby's, for lunch.

Then came Newport. Again, I didn't have any expectations but I didn't think it was going to be SO AWESOME! We saw whales! Up close! In the ocean! WOW! It was the best thing ever!!! There was a National Geographic photographer on the boat with us. When we were headed back to the harbor, he had his laptop set up in the galley so we could go in and see the photo's he'd taken. It was pretty cool.

there's our boat...

 Another beautiful day comes to an end.