Posted on January 26, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Playing catch up

So last week was a blast.  We drove up for the inauguration and froze our butts off, then we came home and tried to put our life back in order (we’re still a mess from our holiday extravaganza regional tour).  So it’s Monday, and I’m slowly digging my way back out.  I had 30 emails and 23 voicemails to wade through.  Luckily lots of those were junk or just friends saying “hi.”  Whew!  I’m done with the emails and half way through the voicemails, so now it’s time to look at all of the CDs of images I need to deliver from recent events.  Tomorrow is print order day, so it will be perfect to get everything in the mail at once.

A funny little event (and remember it’s just me and the animals here, so funny to me might be a little skewed).  Alfred & I were sitting in my office, me working, Alfred curled up in his bed.  India was doing his mournful wail downstairs, so I called him and then waited.  Nothing but some plastic rustling and more wailing.  After a few attempts, I finally got up to go find him.  He was wandering in Nathan’s office.  He’s plastic bag victim was abandoned at the bottom of the stairs.  When he saw me, he gave me the most pitiful meow, so I scooped him up and carried him into my office.  Alfred, being the helpful pup he is, came with me to retrieve his friend (and I use the term friend in the loosest sense of the word).  When we got into the office, I set India down and settled back in for more work.  As I set India down, I warned Alfred that he might want to hop back into his bed before he lost it.  Alfred is just so trusting, he sat and stared at India who marched right up and settled back in.  Then Alfred looked at me like, “Didn’t see that coming.”

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Posted on January 23, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Inauguration Photos

Wow!  Posting the photos was more difficult than actually getting to the inauguration.  Wordpress needs to update their gallery functions so when you say “I’d like to sort images by menu ascending” it actually does that.  Anyway, enough of my woes, here are the long awaited photos from our trip to DC.  It was a fantastic trip!  We’ll have to do it again in 2012!  🙂

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Posted on January 22, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Ever had a weird dream about your cat?

I do every so often.  The last one involved Rupert (the black and white fluffy one on diet food, not the black one that almost died).  Rupert can be a bit skittish sometimes, and I can only assume this dream stemmed from that.  In the dream, Rupert had gotten out of the house and was running in the street.  Of course, it wasn’t our quiet little cul-de-sac.  Nope, it was a 5 lane highway with cars speeding both ways.  I ran out to save him while Nathan yelled at me to not run in the road.  I definitely paused to look both ways before running into on coming traffic, and Rupert seemed okay in the middle lane until someone bumped him and he went flying, doing a quadruple backflip before landing.  He got up and scampered down the road with me hot on his trail.  At one point he stopped and looked back, but as soon as I was close enough to grab him, he took off again.  Eventually I caught him, but he was all beat up, so I took him home to prepare for a trip to the vet.  And here’s where the dream goes awry.  Instead of rushing my injured cat to the vet, I decide to walk several blocks away for lunch.  In the back of my head, I knew if I didn’t hurry, Rupert would die, but who can rush to the vet on an empty stomach, so off I went.  On the way back, the street I needed to take home was blocked off by construction.  Apparently we lived on a college campus (or an area that resembled such) and there was a new building going up in my usual cut through.  I suppose I must have taken a longer lunch than I had planned, because the ground was dug up for blocks and everything was surrounded by chain link fencing.  Not only was the ground dug up, there was a GIANT hole on the other side of the fence, so even if I climbed it, I would be in a huge mud pit surrounded by construction equipment.  My friend Raeus was on my side of the fence telling me I needed to hurry, but I just couldn’t get across.  I felt so guilty for going to lunch before the vet and woke up before I could resolve anything.

So, anyone have an analysis for me?

_mg_0448-2

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Posted on January 21, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Heading home

We are on our way home now. This was a fantastic trip. I am so glad we came. My mom is incredibly jealous.

Not only did I have a fantastic inauguration, but I really enjoyed spending time with some friends we hadn’t seen in years.

Melissa and Bryce were so generous to open their home to us and my friend Sarah. We had fun hanging out and Mel is such a good mommy making sure we had enough layers and food and a plan (which kept evolving due to the insanity that was yesterday). Sarah, Melissa’s sister was our local guide and kept us on track and located on the map. We wouldn’t have made it without her.

I had never really hung out with Sarah as an adult. She had always been Melissa’s little sister. Turns out she is awesome. We had such a great time hanging out.

After the ceremony, the wind really picked up and a chilly day became painfully cold. We decided to find some warm food before heading home. Urban Spoon recommended Thai Place at 2134 Pennsylvania Ave. It was Fantastic!! I enjoyed hanging out and listening to the conversations around us. Sarah M. got to really get to know Sarah (Mel’s sister) and Adam. I think the Sarahs and Bryce may go sight seeing tomorrow.

We got a bunch of free pretzels at the inauguration, so we gave two bags to a homeless guy. The metro station was packed with people outside and workers with megaphones telling people not to push. A nice lady told us which station to use since that line was behind and they were limiting the number of people on the platform because a lady was hit by a train earlier in the day (she survived).

We lucked out for our yellow line connection. We got to the platform as the train pulled up and the whole platform sighed. It was completely empty and we all got seats. I love mass transit.

I was pretty pumped despite getting up super early, but everyone else took a nap. We looked for Bryce in the parade, but they didn’t spend much time on the Navy band.

Nathan and I met my friend Nicole and her boyfriend for dinner in Old Town. I hadn’t seen Nicole since 1993 despite both living in Atlanta at the same time. It was great to catch up. Dinner was at Austins and dessert at Bilbo Baggins. Yum!

So we had a great trip and are now on our way home. Hopefully the print order will arrive soon so I can get those sent out. Nathan has some jobs to finish up. Also, I will be at the Club LeConte bridal show on Saturday. It’s by invitation only, so if you want to go, let me know and I’ll get you a ticket.

Back to life. Back to reality. A happy and hopeful reality.

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Posted on January 20, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Yes we did

It is amazing the difference in tone. This was a message of hope and love rather than fear and hate. I was so moved. I’m still a bit teary. We can all work together for the common good and a better world. I hope the hatemongers lose their hold. It was a speech taken straight from my personal philosophy. This has been worth every freezing, squished, disorganized moment. The feeling of hope and comradery is palpable.

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Posted on January 20, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

President Obama

We moved back to get near some speakers. The jumbotron is behind a tree, but that’s better than a bunch of hats. Just a bit of booing for g-dub. This is so exciting!

Aretha franklin rocked in her fancy hat!! And we have a new veep! Everyone is ready for the main event.

You know, it’s amazing to think that my mom was a teenager when segregation in schools was still around. We have come so far.

We are official!! For some reason I keep tearing up. I am just overcome with excitement. Must listen to the president’s speech. :):):)

Hail to the chief, president Obama!!

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Posted on January 20, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

On the mall

We finally made it! The crowds are nuts!! Everyone has been in a great mood despite the confusion. We had to get off at the wrong metro station so our plan of attack has been altered. No one seems to know anything for sure, but after several wrong lines and wrong turns, not to mention losing Sarah m, we all made it. We are incredibly far from a jumbotron near the Washington monument. It’s pretty darn exciting!

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Posted on January 20, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Inauguration Day

A train has died on the rail ahead, so we are sitting on a train crammed full of laughing, almost giddy people. Nate, Sarah M and I are seated together. Adam and Melissa’s sister Sarah are beyond a sea of bodies. A little boy in green is passed out in his mother’s arms. I think Nate is catching some extra zzz’s.

We got on at the end of the line, thus the seats. Sarah’s empty seat was filled by a nice lady from Georgia. Gainesville to be exact. I mentioned my mom lived there and worked for a school. One member of her group sitting another row behind asked her name. Turns out not only does she know my mom, she knows my name! That’s hilarious. I’ve been looking for people I know, but I didn’t expect to see someone who knows mom. Small world.

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Posted on January 18, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

Road trip to the White House

We are on the road to DC. Looks like we made a good decision waiting until today to leave. The roads are dry and salty with no sign of bad weather. The signs of recent road hazzards lay crumpled, alone and in small groups. One car was backwards, butt uphill, with an SUV upsidedown snuggled up passanger sides together. There was another truck that didn’t make the on ramp. I’m not certain where the back tire was, but it wasn’t where I’d expected, i.e. on the truck.

We stopped for lunch at Subway. I have a couple of full subway cards somewhere. When I mentioned that to Adam, he laughed. Apparently they quit with the subclub cards four years ago. They also replaced the little round roll sandwiches with “mini” subs. I ate way more Subway than I ever wanted in college and generally avoid the place.

There seems to be a required length for your wait, and Nathan and I didn’t meet it, so once our sandwiches were ready, the girl at the register abandoned us to make a sandwich fir the next guy while the last who made our sanwiches tidied the condiments. It was odd.

I did learn about the new “history in the mixing” inauguration flavor. Pretty tasty!

Somewhere in the middle of Virginia, we started to see snow. The sky was a creamy blue grey. Almost a blueberry yogurt swirl. It felt much colder, and then, every so often the clouds would break and warm, golden, late afternoon sun rays broke across the hills. The cold blue made the golden hour light glow even more.

A man watching TV on his sun visor flew past us and the backs of the semi trucks began to look like dragon faces. That’s when the thirst began. I tried to finish my empty drink three times before taking it out if the cup holder.

Lucky for us, Nathan started paying attention to his dash and realized it was a good time for a gas stop. Gas here is a good ten cents higher. Bummer.

We stopped at a Citgo/Wendys and got fuel for the car and the people. My side salad was decent and a close approximation of what I wanted. Adam bought a lottery ticket and was short an AR to win. We found it amusing that it was his initials that spelled his downfall (or lack if windfall, I suppose). I picked up a $1 ticket on my way out and doubled my money which I immediately reinvested in a $2 ticket. I usually pick my ticket based on the return for your investment. My first ticket capped at $2000. My new one is worth $20,000. Hope I win. I have a camera on my “want list.”

The girl at the pump next to ours was messing with the back of her car. Nathan thinks she was switching her license plate, so we decided she was a spy. It was all very cloak and dagger.

We have about an hour until we get to Melissa’s. Nate ate all the gummy peaches. Probably just as well. I didn’t need all that sugar.

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Posted on January 18, 2009 by rebeccaclaire

What would we accomplish without the internet

I sit here, bored yet too tired to get any work done, thinking about all the things I should do. Photoshop is running an action, so I’m off the hook there. I could tidy up my office, but I did that earlier and the rest of the mess requires more thought than I can muster at this hour. I could tidy up Nathan’s office, but that would clutter up the kitchen and who wants to do dishes at this time of night. I could do some laundry if I didn’t worry that tomorrow I would get distracted and leave a load in the wash for a day or two.

There are so many productive things I could do, but instead, I check my facebook & twitter looking for interesting posts by interesting people. I follow links to articles that link to other articles. Since I obtained an Internet capable mobile device (not a phone so much as a constant fix of world opinion) it has worsened. I thought the laptop was bad enough, but the world wide web in my pocket is far more insidious.

I find my hand itching to check every ding or buzz, hoping it’s something interesting. I am tempted at every red light to check my twitter feed. I know way more about mere acquaintances than I ever cared to learn because it’s all there and I don’t seem to have enough else to do.

What I’m trying to say is, “my name is Claire, and I’m a net-aholic.”

Now that I’ve admitted my problem, it’s time to start the recovery. First, I would like to apologize to anyone who did not get my full attention because I was straining to hear a beep. That was rude, and just because I can be reached instantly at any hour does not mean I must be infinitely accessible to people far away to the detriment of my time with those who are right here.

I will strive towards more limited web use. Only when I need it. I have a blanket to knit for my dad that would be a better use of my time.

I will not check my email every ten minutes. Nor will I check facebook and twitter every time I check my email.

I will put real life ahead of virtual life.

But first I will go to sleep so we can start again tomorrow.

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