My Favorite Monday -- Flowers

It's been a while since I played along with Tiburon's "My Favorite Monday", but I've got a couple of minutes to spare before a meeting today and the topic caught my attention: My Favorite Flower.

I've got a couple of different "favorites" -- I love the tulips and irises in the Springtime. I have some nice tulips in my front flower bed & am very hopeful that I'll have even more next year thanks to my fortuitous score earlier this year. While those are nice, however, my all-time-favorite is the Gladiolus.

Glads are a very versatile flower. They come in many different colors, and like tulips, some of them can be multi-hued, with one color in the center and a different color around the edges. They can be upscale and elegant (think white glads arranged with red roses) or everyday and homey (say, a spray of various colored glads mixed together).

Because they have multiple blooms on a single stalk, they are a long-lasting flower. They bloom from the bottom up, so even if the first flowers are fading, newer ones further up the stalk are just opening.

I used to have quite a few glads that would bloom in my front flower bed, but they've not been doing so well in the past few years. I think the bulbs I had have "run their course" -- either that or the squirrels got 'em. Either way, I need to plant new ones.

The one complaint I have about them is that since they are tall & can get "top heavy" with blooms, they tend to get knocked down/fall over if there's a heavy rain. With the heat and humidity we get here in DC, it's not surprising to get frequent thunderstorms, some of which can be quite heavy, resulting in quite a few glads that need to be cut/brought inside, often all at once. At times, I've had too many to know what to do with -- glads in a vase on the kitchen table, on the hall table, in my room, in the family room, etc. But, hey! That's a problem I can learn to live with!!

Miss vs. Ma'am

I've noticed something lately -- all of a sudden, I'm being called "Ma'am" instead of "Miss". It's not everywhere, but (teenage) cashiers when I check out at places like Target or CVS or whatever now say, "Ma'am". It's weird.

I used to teach at the US Naval Academy & it was the only place I ever felt old. Part of it was working with 17 and 18-year-olds, but the other part was I was always referred to as "Ma'am" -- "Yes, Ma'am", "Ma'am, I have a question", "Thank You, Ma'am", etc. I know that in that case, it was a military thing & they wouldn't have dared say anything else, lest an upper class student or officer overhear them, but it still was startling and a bit unsettling to hear it.

Now it seems like I'd better get used to it.

*Sigh*. I'm not ready for this!!

Words are Failing Me at the Moment

ZOMG!!!!! There are no words.....The Lion King is AMAZING!! All I can say is that if it comes to a city/theatre near you, GO!!!! Drop everything else & go order tickets!! Go on. What are you waiting for?!

I am a big Disney fan. When I lived in SoCal, I had an annual pass to Disneyland. I'd even made it a rule that any time we drove past the park, we had to stop, go in & ride at least one ride. (You can do silly things like that when you have an annual pass.) But, I have to say I really was disappointed in The Lion King the movie; I saw it when it first came out in the theatres & never bothered to see it again or buy it for my collection. It just didn't do anything for me.

The Lion King the play, however, is a whole 'nother story!! I am completely in awe of the person who was the creative force that brought the stage production into being. I am a pretty creative person, in general. I also have spent a fair amount of time in productions -- dance or otherwise. But I can't even begin to say that I have anything close to the vision that it took to create what I saw tonight!! Even more amazing was what it must have taken to verbalize that vision to others in order to get the costuming, choreography, animal life, staging, set design, lighting, etc., not to mention the financial backing, support, & investment that was needed to make that vision a reality.

Wow!

Just Wow!!

Thankful Thursday

It's been a quiet week, but that doesn't mean there aren't things to be thankful for. In no particular order:

• Live theatre! -- Opening night is tonight for the Lion King and then I get to see Julius Ceasar at the Shakespeare Theatre over the weekend.
  
  
• Friends who can hook me up with tickets to live theatre -- See above.
  
  
• Finding a REALLY GORGEOUS vintage bracelet at an expo over the weekend that was very affordable. Even better, it goes perfectly with a dress I got a couple of months ago. Best of all, it's over-sized, but my wrists are small, so I can have matching earrings made from the links I'll have to have removed so it'll fit me.
  
  
• Getting assigned to a new project at work that is not only high-visibility, it should be a lot of fun to do. I also get to hone new skills/expand existing ones, and it allows me to engage my more-creative side (something that I don't get to do too often at work).
  
  
• Local fruits are starting to come in season. The berries are here & it won't be long before roadside stands have peaches, tomatoes, and locally-grown corn available. Nothing says "Summer!" like fresh, vine or tree ripe produce!!
  
  
• Getting inspired to do some redecorating at home. When I got my home phone/internet fixed, I also went ahead and got cable tv. Up until then, I'd only had what was available on broadcast tv. HGTV has become a favorite station already and while I haven't hit on a "vision" yet, I'm now starting to mull over possibilities for my family room. I've also gotten motivated to work on my bedroom too. (Of course, actually finding the time & energy to execute any plans I come up with will be another matter altogether, but at least something is starting to happen.)

So, that's my list. Your turn. Feel free to take the banner & make your own post -- I stole both from Tiburon's SharkBait blog.

My "Personality Type"

No, I haven't changed my name, nor is that a reference to a particular disorder that affects men. It stands for "Energetic Doer" which was what I tested on a quick "personality type" test. It's not 100% accurate, but a lot of it is true for me. Click on the button to read more and/or take the test yourself.

I Want to Be in Sweden!

I was an exchange student to Sweden in high school & ever since then, it's been my "second home" -- a place I really feel at home, not just a visitor passing through. I don't think there's any time of year where I'd turn down the offer of being able to go back ("here's a plane ticket; off you go"), but that pull is especially strong this time of year and particularly strong today.

Why today?

Because today is Midsummer. The summer solstice. The longest day/shortest night of the year. When you live so far north, there are times of the year when there isn't much daylight. The flip side of that is the summertime, when there is lots of sun. Above the arctic circle, the sun won't disappear at all today. For areas a wee bit farther south (e.g. Stockholm & its environs), it'll get dusky around 11:00 pm or so & remain twilight-like until about 3:00 am-ish, when the sun will come back up. In general, Swedes know how to make the most of this fact, enjoying the summer with a zeal most of us probably will never know. Midsummer is the epitome of that enjoyment.

First off, today is a national holiday. A 3-day weekend? Yeah, I could go for that. :-)

Second, there will be festivals all over the country. Actually, for many, Midsummer is second only to Christmas as far as its importance, but unlike Christmas, Midsummer is often celebrated with friends and/or extended families; the more, the merrier! It's a time to be outside, surrounded by friends and family, enjoying the long sunlit evenings, the first fruits of summer, good company, etc.

I wish you all a Good Midsummer. May you enjoy a wonderful evening in whatever way you'd like. For me, I'll do my own version of midsummer albeit not quite like these "make your own midsummer party" directions I found. Mine will be a bit quieter, but, on principle, there will be dancing, if only for a little while, probably on my back patio watching the sun set after I get home tonight.

Oh, and there will be 7 types of wildflowers under my pillow tonight. Or as many as I can find considering I live in the suburbs of a major city & walking in the woods doesn't come easy.

What the Guidebooks Don't Tell You, but Should! Chapter 2: What a Difference a Quadrant Makes!

DC is divided into 4 quadrants: NE, NW, SE, and SW. The magic spot that divides one quadrant from another is the US Capitol. I suspect that the guidebooks you read in preparation for your trip to our fair city did, in fact, tell you this important piece of information, but you were either on information overload or didn't realize it would be on the test, so you glossed over it. Bad move!

As you plan your visit to the various landmarks & points of interest DC has to offer, you'll want to notice in which quadrant each point of interest is located. Knowing that you want to go to a building/statue/memorial/whatever at the intersection of X and Y streets isn't enough; you also need to know which quadrant it's in. This is especially true when said intersection is in the vicinity of the US Capitol as there very well could be 4 different intersections of X and Y street and they might be a goodly number of blocks away from each other. Without the quadrant information, you'll sound like agent Maxwell Smart as you hear yourself saying, "Missed it by that much!"

Oh and one last note: the building/landmark/statue/memorial that you expect to be at the intersection of X and Y streets isn't going to magically appear when you're in the wrong quadrant, no matter how long you stare at the map or point at the street signs & declare, "but we're at the intersections of X and Y street just like it says". This is DC, not Brigadoon!

Thankful Thursday

Thursday again. Time to reflect on the week & take a moment to be grateful for those things that make me happy.

This week, in no particular order, I'm thankful for:

• Water -- we had a large watermain break in my county. I didn't lose water service/pressure like some ppl did, but I did have to use bottled water or boil tap water before using it for cooking, brushing my teeth, etc. The problem is fixed now, but like the electricity, it's easy to take it for granted until you temporarily don't have it. (hmmm....between the power outages and the water problems, I'm making DC seems like a 3rd world country rather than the capital city of a superpower nation.)

• Getting my phone & internet services restored at the house

• Lilies that are about to bloom -- looks like my relocating them a month or so ago didn't cause any damage. Color should be bursting forth any time now.

• Figuring out my parents' Xmas present -- Xmas? What? You're already thinking about Xmas?! You're kidding right? Nope. Every year, my siblings & I go thru the same thing: "Anyone got any ideas for Mom & Dad?" Usually this discussion starts in earnest around Halloween or Thanksgiving if no one has come up with a suggestion before then. With none of us living near them, we don't get to see those everyday interactions where you hear them mention something they wished they had or say something that triggers an idea. Whenever my parents visit one of us or one of us visits them, we all keep our eyes and ears peeled looking for ideas. Last week, my parents were in Vancouver, BC visiting my sister & her family and my sister came up with an idea. A few emails later, a plan was hatched and has already been implemented. In fact, Xmas is coming early for them this year as we've received notification that the item was shipped and we expect it to arrive tomorrow.

So, how bout you? What has made your life better this week? I took the idea and the graphic from Tiburon at SharkBait; feel free to do the same & create your own list.

Seeing What's Around You

I've mentioned before that my office is pretty close to the US Capitol and the National Mall. Given that, when I have to go to meetings or events in another of our office bldgs, I often find myself walking down Constitution Avenue. A couple of weeks ago, I needed to do just that and the reason why required me to have a camera with me.

For those of you not familiar with the area, Constitution Ave forms one of the boundaries of the National Mall. If you've ever watched an inaugural parade or saw part of former Pres. Ford's or former Pres. Reagan's funerals on TV, you've seen it....When on Constitution Ave, most ppl are pretty focused on the Mall-side of the street. Afterall, the street is lined on that side by the various museums or memorials & that's what people have come to see. The other side of the street is pretty much just government office bldgs, so there's nothing interesting to see over there, right?

In a word: wrong!!

Most of those government office bldgs were built during the Depression. As such, there was a big push to find ways to get ppl working. The overwhelming majority of those government bldgs had money set aside in the original construction budget for artwork as a way to generate jobs for the thousands of artists/artisans/craftspeople who desperately needed to find work. As a result, the details of these bldgs are absolutely phenomenal!! To wit:

This decorative urn outside one bldg:
Or this metalwork on a gate at the same bldg:

These 2 statues flank the steps in front of the National Archives:


and check out this bas-relief at the roof line of the Archives:

At another building, this metalwork caught my eye:
I love the juxtaposition of the 3 different types/eras of ships! Here's a close-up of the most modern one:
I L-O-V-E the detailing on this statue: (I would have taken more pics of it, but the guard was a little nervous that I was taking pics of a federal bldg, so I moved on.)

This one sits in front of one of the courthouses in the same general vicinity. When the Scooter Libbey trial was going on, you could sometimes see it in the stand-up shots as reporters gave updates:
I would venture to guess that everyday, hundreds (if not more) people pass these gems (and many others that I didn't have time to get to) and never even see that they exist.

Because I know ya'll are just dying to know this...

Here's a map of the states I've visited. I hope to one day get to all 50 states, so I guess 38 isn't too bad of a start.


create your own visited states map

How 'bout you? How many states have you seen?

ETA: for some reason, the map isn't showing up completely. It looks great in the preview, but cuts off just east of the Mississippi when I publish this post. For those who are curious, I've been in every state east of the Mississippi except for Maine and Alabama.

Happy Father's Day!

To all the dads out there. Hope you get to enjoy your day in whatever way would make you happiest.

And to my own dad, a simple thanks. For everything. I would never have made it to where I am without your love, support, guidance, and example.

Back online!

Yay!! I have phone and internet access again at home. Woo Hoo!!

Thankful Thursday

A little stomach bug kept me sidelined for a couple of days, and with now both my internet AND my home phone being down, I've been pretty much incommunicado lately. However, I'm back now & just in time for another Thankful Thursday post.

Let's see, this week, I'm thankful for:

• 3 fuzzy white love junkies (a.k.a. my dogs) -- they kept me company on the sofa when the stomach bug dictated that that was all I could accomplish the other day.
  
  
• Spending Sunday afternoon with 2 of my nephews -- Such cuteness!! And I'll admit to just eating it up when the 3-yr-old is glued to my side from the moment I walk in.
  
  
• The cold front that came thru here Tuesday night, breaking the heatwave we'd been having. I've had my fill of 90+ degrees/high humidity/triple-digit-heat-index days for a while, thank you very much.
  
  
• Air Conditioning!!! (See above).
  
  
• Finding out I've got a ticket to the (sold out) opening night of The Lion King when it comes to the Kennedy Center later this month. Better yet, it's FREE (and GREAT seats!!), thanks to a friend of mine whose son works for Disney!!
  
  
• The phone company FINALLY acknowledging that the problem is in THEIR network/is THEIR issue & not mine. They've promised to have it fixed by end of next week. It'll be nice to have phone/internet service at home again!

As always, the banner & idea for the Thankful Thursday posts came from Tiburon at SharkBait. I'm behind on reading the blogs I normally do, but I noticed in hers that she is having a rough day, so why not go over there & leave her a little love? Even better, why not play along yourself & let her know there's one more person making Thankful Thursday posts; she'd like that!

So, What's Up This Weekend?

This weekend looks a lot like last weekend. Namely, dance workshops, followed by dance workshops, followed by even more dance workshops. :-) This weekend, however, I'm just a participant, not an organizer, so it's a little more relaxed -- I can take those classes I wish to, skip the ones I don't, and I don't have to worry about the "behind the scenes" stuff.

And then, of course, there's all the mundane stuff like laundry, house cleaning, etc.

We're expecting a heat wave -- temps in the mid-90s or so, with humidity to match, heat advisories have already been issued, etc. -- so that may dictate some of the choices as to other activities for this weekend as well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Stay cool & have fun!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again. Actually, it's nice to stop & reflect and spend some time really thinking about those things for which I'm grateful. It makes me appreciate them all the more. So, in no particular order, here are things I'm thankful for this week:

• Electricity -- it's one of those "you don't miss it til it's gone" things. Yesterday's downpour knocked out my power (and hundreds of thousands of other homes/business in the area). It was out when I got home and was still out when I left for work this morning.
  
  
• Dance classes -- or I should say *good* dance classes. Being able to work with world-class master instructors/dancers has gotten me re-energized about dancing again.
  
  
• Seeing old friends -- it's been great catching up.
  
  
• Speaking enough Swedish to be able to communicate with my friends' almost-4-year-old daughter. (The 15-month old doesn't speak any language yet, so it isn't as important with him quite yet.)
  
  
• Ben Gay -- after 9 hours of master dance classes in 2 days, including lifts, I was sore! I found an old tube of the stuff I'd forgotten about in my medicine cabinet. It felt soooo good when that stuff kicked in!!
  
  
• Good friends who are there for me when I need them -- you know who you are. Thanks!
  
  
• Chocolate -- 'nuff said.

So, how about you? What things are you thankful for? I stole the idea and the graphic from Tiburon at SharkBait. Feel free to take them from me and play along.

Now *THAT'S* What I Call Rain!!

In less than a minute, it went from impending-rain-but-not-yet-raining to not being able to see a building 50-70 yards away.

Now THAT'S what I call RAIN!!

(30 mins later and the sun's out again....go figure.)

Wednesday already?

Uh oh. I better post something quick; it's Wednesday already & if I don't, I'll have 2 Thankful Thursday posts in a row, and we can't have that!!

So, where has the week gone? Mostly with the friends visiting from Sweden. I mentioned in my last post something about getting to take master classes with world-class teachers all weekend. Well, those friends are the world-class teachers/dancers, so I've spent time both as their student and as their friend/host, not to mention organizer of the workshops.

Between Saturday & Sunday, I did about 9 hours of dance workshops, including some focusing on lifts. As if that wasn't enough, we went out dancing Sat night and then did some more on Monday. And, glutton for punishment that I am, we'll be doing more tonight -- I don't get the opportunity to work with people of this caliber very often, so I've got to make the most of it while I can.

It's been WONDERFUL!! And exhausting and energizing all at the same time.

I.WANT.MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)