Cherry Blossoms

Yesterday, I traveled down to Washington, D.C, hoping to see the cherry blossoms with my daughter.

The Cherry Blossom Festival was in full swing.  Tons and tons of tourists lined the Tidal Basin.  The reflecting pool was surrounded by people.  The line to get into the National Archives was over an hour long.

However, try as we might, we couldn't find open cherry blossoms anywhere.  Right as you enter Washington from Virginia, there is a beautiful garden that is usually full of tulips this time of year.  We found ten tulips in bloom - and hundreds- literally hundreds - of green tulilp foliage that was about 6 inches tall.  If we looked closely, we could see the tulip bud still wedged, deep inside of the greenery, waiting.

The weather in the Mid-Atlantic Region has been unseasonably cold.  We had snow last week.  Snow in March is practically unheard of around here.  Even stranger, this was our second March snowstorm. I think the tulilp bulbs are hiding so far deep down in the tulip greenery because they are afraid to come out.  They know that spring still isn't really here yet.

Finally, after much searching, daughter and I stopped and sat on a bench near the Tidal Basin, looking across the water to the Jefferson Memorial.  There was a cold wind blowing, and the water in the basin was very choppy.  There were two paddle boats out on the water, and the occupants were struggling to keep the boats going. They were attempting to paddle upstream towards the bridge, but the water was blowing so hard, they couldn't go anywhere.  They were in the middle of the basin, but making no progress no matter how hard they paddled.  Finally, the Dad climbed over from one boat to another, and moved one of his children to the boat with his wife.  He paddled the first boat back to the pier, dropped off two children, picked up a rope, paddled back out, and tossed the rope to his wife and then towed the wife and remaining child back to shore.

It reminded me of one of those logic math puzzles we used to get back in school.

My daughter and I got up from our bench and began walking when we saw IT - across the basin - next to the 14th street bridge.  One lone cherry tree, in blossom, all by itself.  The crowd around the tree was massive.  We counted over 50 people stopped around the tree.  They were all taking pictures, posing with the tree, and taking pictures of all of the people crowded around the tree.  It was kind of funny.

And then, we saw IT.  On a tree branch, right next to us.  A single blossom had opened it's petals, wide and welcoming to the world around.  Oblivious to the cold, windy day around us, the flower was open and spreading the joy of new beginnings to everyone around it.

My daughter and I took pictures of the flower.  We were standing in the cold, shivering, and a light rain had just started when all of a sudden, we couldn't stop smiling.  Somehow, the miracle of the single cherry blossom had brightened our day and made the trek and the traffic worthwhile.

As we walked away from the trees, searching for the nearest Metro station, we looked back at the tree, and we saw a group of 20 people, huddled around the tree with the blossom.  As we watched, one young man dropped down on a knee, and handed a small box to a young woman who started crying and nodding her head.

Even though we didn't see all of the cherry blossoms in bloom this particular day, we saw so much more. 

Mission: Accomplished

Five years ago, I began to work on my Master's Degree.  I've been sidetracked by family illnesses, death of loved ones and life in general.  Over a year ago, I made a promise to myself.  I was going to finish my Masters Degree.  Come hell or highwater, I was going to finish this degree and get it done.

I had a child go off to college.  The last one started high school.  And I kept plugging on along.  College applications for the middle child have gone out, and a college has been chosen.  And through it all, I've been plugging and chugging, working on my Master's degree.  The papers have been steadily written.  My laptop has  gone on vacations with me, and I've been reading papers and writing papers and completing projects on the side of sports fields, in hotels around the country, and in libraries around the area. 

And the perserverance has paid off.  Last night, I submitted my final posts on Blackboard.  I submitted my last project.  Everything is finally finished.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry with relief.

My kids were thrilled beyond words for me.  They have sat with me while I've worked on papers.  We've gone to Wi-Fi hot spots and bitched about our homework together.  I've maintained a straight-A average, and the kids have seen the amount of work and dedication that has gone into keeping those grades up where they belong.

This last class has been the most frustrating of them all.  I loved the class before this one.  This class was not a good match for my personality.  It has been a struggle for me to slog my way through these classes, assignments, and readings.  As of now, I have an A in the class, but there are still 3 papers that I have submitted that have not yet been graded.  As long as I get a C in the class, I will graduate.
HOWEVER, I would really, really like to keep my A average at this point.  I'm patiently waiting to see what will happen next.

It is a strange sensation.  Earning my Master's Degree has been a goal of mine since I graduated from high school.  25 years after I graduated from College with my Bachelor's Degree, I will be graduating with my Master's Degree.  I've accomplished a major life goal.  Knocked a major tick off of my bucket list. 

Within 10 crazy days this summer, my middle son will graduate from high school, and I will walk across the stage and receive my diploma.

I love the feeling when you accomplish a dream.

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all! 

Festival of Trees

Kennedy Kreiger hosts an annual Festival of Trees in Baltimore at the State Fairgrounds every year.  Kennedy Krieger is an institution which focuses on the education of children who have severe disabilities.

This was the first year our family had ever been.  The Cow Palace was filled with trees and gingerbread houses decorated by members of the community, and then donated to Kennedy Kreiger.  The items were then sold, and the money goes to benefit the children of Kennedy Kreiger. 

Pictures of the trees are below.  I still haven't figured out how to add text to the pictures from my phone, but at least I know how to add the pictures from my phone!

Enjoy!

From the Cats

Happy day, it's Friday.  This is Tiger and Luna, and we've taken over the keyboard this morning in order to bring you the feline view of the week.

Tiger here- The boys have been working up at the camp.  They were home for the day earlier this week to do laundry, swing strings, feed us catnip, and dangle the magic shiny feather thing around for us to chase.  Luna got her ears cleaned out! (not funny, tiger)  And we both crawled up on the boys and took turns sleeping on top of them when we got the chance.

The girl has been fun to chase around this summer.  Luna does a very good job at waking her up each morning.  (thank you for noticing my hard work)  She likes to sit on the pillow and lick the girls' nose until she wakes up.  It's funny to watch her try and flick Luna away and put stuffed animals over her head.  Luna will bat the animal away and go back to work on her nose.

Luna here- in my defense, if she'd get up before 10, I wouldn't have to lick her nose.  Mom has already called her a couple of times before I go in and finish the job!

It's rained a lot here the last couple of days.  Thunderstorms mostly, but we'll take any kind of water we can get.  We're a couple of inches short for the month and the flowers are very dry.  I like butterfly watching in the garden... we've got to keep those flowers happy!

Tiger here- I caught a mouse this week.  I was so proud of myself, I brought it inside for Mom.  It was still mostly alive. She needs to learn how to mouse.  She's spend less time at the grocery store if she could just catch a few mice in the back yard and fry them up for dinner. 

She wasn't happy with the mouse.  I dropped it at her feet, and it ran for a paper bag.  Mom screamed, and I kept trapping the mouse and dropping it back at her feet again.  I wish I could have told her that if she'd stopped screaming long enough, she'd actually be able to catch the mouse and kill it herself.

Don't you hate when you have to finish a job for somebody?

(Luna's note- it was really, really funny the third time Tiger brought the mouse back to Mom's feet!)

When the Brakes Fail

I wish this was just an imaginative title for a post.  The brakes on our car failed last week while my husband was driving our daughter home from camp in the city.

He went to take an off ramp from the Beltway, and the brakes were not working as he entered the deceleration ramp and went into the curve.

Fortunately, this was not the tight, inside edge of a clover leaf ramp.  this was a long, curvy, but mostly straight ramp with grass on the left side, and woods on the right.  The ramp is an uphill ramp, with a stop light at the top of the ramp.

My husband mentioned that he noticed the brakes were having problems before he entered the exit ramp, and his foot had been off of the gas pedal and on (and on and on) the brake pedal for quite some time before he hit the C/D ramp, and he had his emergency flashers on.  His car had slowed to 40 mph, and was continuing to slow, but not fast enough to stop at the light.  He lowered the car down to 3rd gear, and then to 2nd, hoping the weight of the engine would slow the car down more.

As they entered onto the exit ramp itself, he pulled on the emergency brake, and lowered the gear down to 1st as they went up the hill. 

Miracle of miracles, the car slowed as it went farther up the hill, and he was able to pull safely into the grass on the left side of the ramp.  The car stopped about 10 feet into the grass.

I got a rather shaky call from my daughter, explaining what had happened.

My husband just shrugged it all off and said "It really wasn't that big of a deal."

We towed the car to a garage.  They showed us the remains of the brakes. 

Today, I am thankful.  Very thankful.  Very, very thankful, that this story had a happy ending.

Travel safely!

Super Hero Summer

As far as movies go, this summer we've had a plethora of Superhero movies based on Comic Books.  The Avengers and Spider Man come quickly to mind.

I saw The Avengers with my middle child over Mother's Day weekend.  What an amazing movie!  I am so in awe of that movie.  I was especially touched that the directors seem to have gone to great lengths to find an actor who is very reminiscent of Bill Bixby, who originated the role of Bruce Banner on the television series back in the late 70's, early 80's.  Iron Man was new to me.  I've never been a big fan of Robert Downey, Jr, but his portrayal of Iron Man sold me on his acting abilities.  And Thor... *sigh*... what's not to love about Thor?

Today I went with the boys to see Spiderman.  Another excellent movie.  It's not the version I originally saw back in the day, but I really enjoyed the special effects and the acting.  Seeing Martin Sheen and Sally Field in the role of Peter's Aunt and Uncle was an unexpected pleasure. Oh, and the special effects.  It goes without saying that the CG special effects were off the charts, blow your mind fantastic!

One big thing I noticed today is that the authors are no longer writing wimpy, helpless roles for women.  No longer are they just sitting by helpless, and hapless, waiting to be rescued.

In Spiderman, when Gwen faces down the giant lizard man - not once, but twice - I was impressed.  When she used her brains to help solve a very large problem (and looked smoking hot while engaging in science related activities!) I was in awe of the genius who wrote the plot.

In the Avengers, the Black Widow is a gorgeous, beautiful, smart, intelligent, kick ass woman who can take care of herself.  My personal favorite scene in the movie is at the beginning.  She is being held captive by an evil criminal overlord.  And she's wearing her classic little black dress. When it is time for her to exit the scene, she breaks free of her bonds- by herself, and gets rid of the bad guys- by herself, then picks up her stacked black high heeled pumps, straightens her dress, and sashays out of the room.

Stan Lee, thank you for writing strong roles for women!  No longer are we relegated to be beautiful but stupid, or smart but ugly.  You are writing roles that show women in all of their glory- strong, smart, beautiful, and capable of solving any problem that comes their way in a well thought out, well reasoned manner that doesn't make them look hapless and hopeless.

You are truly showing the beauty and power of women.  We are amazing, we are powerful, we are smart.  We have the power to change the world.  Thank you for capturing this!

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all! 

Derecho Wind Storms

Last week, we had a pretty phenomenal weather event roll through the Mid-Atlantic:  A Derecho Wind Storm.

Winds of 70 mph destroyed homes, trees, and our power grid.

I'm sure that by now, you've seen pictures of the damage around the Mid-Atlantic region, and seen the close up pictures of how bad the damage was in and around the DC Metro area.

Our power is up and running now, and I have a few observations I'd like to share:

1) Gas runs out quickly.  If you are fortunate enough to have a generator and a garage or shed to store gas in, keep the tanks full.  Fill a new can as soon as you use it up. 

2) Generators make life bearable.  Keeping the refrigerator running and the fans moving the air made life not quite as miserable.

3) Sleeping outside in tents or screened in porches can get downright chilly.  That's right.  When it's miserable in the house, it gets downright cold overnight in a tent.  We live in the outer suburbs, and felt quite safe sleeping in a tent.  Many of our neighbors spent the night outdoors, also.  It was a great bonding experience!

4) Solar Powered LED lights are a thing of beauty.  I have solar powered garden lights.  Put them out in the morning, they charge in the sunlight.  Bring them in at night, and they lit the house without danger of fire.  The only problem we had was that we couldn't shut them off! 

5) Hot showers are a wonderful thing.

6) Cooking can get tricky when the power is out.  We used our grill.  I experimented with our solar oven.  We have a propane camp stove that we used.  We also have a fire pit and cast iron cookware that we used.  The best thing about this is that we used it outdoors.  Yes, we have a gas stove, but we didn't really want to heat up a hot house by using a gas stove. 

7) Food at the store runs out quickly.  Since I am a home canner, we have a lot of food that was safely stored in the basement, ready to be heated and eaten.  I heard that the lines at the grocery store were long, and that they'd had to throw out everything from the freezer and refrigerated sections due to the power outage.  I stopped by the grocery store this afternoon, and a lot of the aisles are still very low.  According to the store manager, they've been wiped out.  They just can't stock the shelves fast enough.

8) This was an awesome time to meet the neighbors.  Spending time out of doors, trying to stay cool, heading down to the lake to fish, we ran into a lot of people we've only ever had a waving acquaintance with.  Nice to actually learn their names and talk with them for a while!

9) Solar Powered cell phone charges have moved to the top of my "must have" list.  My birthday is at the end of the month, and that's now the ONE thing I want.  Yes, we could charge it with the generator, but we had to pull a fan out in order to charge the phones.  Next time, we'll have a solar charger.

10) A hand cranked emergency weather radio is a very nice luxury.  Ours came from L.L. Bean.  It has an LED flashlight on the end, and gets bulletins from the NWS, as well as all AM and FM stations.  Just a few cranks would power the radio for quite some time!

I hope everyone who reads this is safe and sound.  It's been an interesting week in the Mid-Atlantic. Stay safe!