My Baby

Today my baby started his adventure in high school and seminary.  This morning was very different from our school mornings last year.  Last year, I got up early, exercised and tootled around the house for a while and then woke McKay up at 9:00 to start his homeschool day.  He usually stayed in his PJ's until around 2:30 when we were done homeschooling.  Some days he never changed out of his PJ's!!!  What the life.

Today, Lincoln got McKay and I up at 5:20 a.m. McKay showered and got dudded up in his new skinny jeans and etc.  By 6:00 we were at the church and by 7:15 he was at the high school.  Dropping him off at high school was OH SO WEIRD!  It almost felt like the first day I dropped my first child off to kindergarten.  It'll be fun to see and hear how his day went when he gets home.  All will be well, I'm sure . . . . . . . well . . . . . I'm kinda sure!!!!

Restoring Honor . . . . . through our eyes

On our way to the Restoring Honor Rally we decided to use a metro stop that wasn't listed in the information page of the Rally.  It turned out to be a good choice both in going to the Rally and coming home again.  There wasn't a wait at the Branch Ave station and the Archives station downtown didn't have many people in it either.  When we left the Rally there was a line of people at the Smithsonian station that came up and out of the station and then wound around outside of it!!!  There was no line at the Archives station and no waiting to get on the train, Woo Hoo! It pays to know the system!

I thought it was funny that we rode the line(green line) that a blogger discouraged people from riding because it goes through the bad part of town.  This is no joke.  It DOES go through the bad part of town.  I think all the Rally goers made the regular riders a bit uncomfortable from the looks on their faces.  They were wondering what in the heck was going on!

Walking toward the Lincoln Memorial

As we got closer, it became apparent that a LOT of people were going to show up for this!

The closer we got to the Memorial the more places we could find to sit.  I guess it is kind of like sitting in the front few rows at church, no one thinks they are available so they just don't look.

I've never felt safer on the Mall.  People were smiling and polite and friendly.  After we found our spot to sit, I decided that I was going to strike out on my own to see what I could see (and see if we could find somewhere closer to sit)  Here is a crew interviewing someone.

I actually did get close to get this picture.  People were so jammed packed here that I couldn't even slip through the crowd to get closer.

I clicked a few pictures of t-shirts.  Signs were not allowed at the Rally and so most people were wearing red/white/blue or had some kind of saying on their shirts.

This was across the reflecting pool from where we were sitting.  It looked like it was standing room only over there.

Sarah Palin was my big draw to go to the Rally.  Sadly, this was the best view of the big screen we could get.  We couldn't even hear very well where we were sitting.  Later when we got up and started wandering around we found that we could have heard better at the Washington monument than we did up close!  I'll have to find some youtube video clips to hear it!  McKay wondered why we all were staying if we couldn't hear it.  I guess that wasn't really the point for me, or for others. 

On both sides of the reflecting pond there were people scattered out through the trees as far as you could see.

I wanted to get some photos from the WWII memorial.  I couldn't find a great vantage point and so I handed my camera up to a man that was higher up.  He kept my camera for about 5 minutes taking different shots.  We were finally able to hear the Rally from here!

Looking through the WWII memorial.

Even with all of the crowds, I felt a solemness.  We were walking on hallowed ground.  I wish everyone could feel of the greatness of this country.

As a side note, I think the Mall has finally put in a sprinkler system.  When we moved here 11 years ago, I was shocked at how dead and dry the grass was at the Mall.  I was appalled in fact.  If there is one place that needs to be kept up it is the National Mall.  This time (and this is usually when grass is dead from lack of water here) the grass was lush and green.  It was beautiful.

My camera does a pretty good zoom!

We were there!

Love the Washington Monument!

A day to go down in history.  I know the media will (and has) downplayed this, but the people in charge of the event felt like there were over 500,000 people there.  I've already read an article that only said "10's of thousands" of people were there.  It could be more accurately said the "100's of thousands" of people were there!

Catching A Break

I just read a friend's blog entitled "catching a break" and decided to title this post the same.  For all the rotten stuff that we have been going through lately with the  electric company, needing renters, new a/c units, hail storms and etc., something happened yesterday that restored my faith in human kind again.

Our townhouse sustained hail damage along with our main home.  The insurance claim on the townhouse only paid for the front portion of it to be re-sided.  When the contractors finished with the siding, Lincoln went over to inspect it.  He came home and told me that they had done the back side of it also.  The front side is two stories and the back side is THREE stories.  We immediately panicked thinking that the contractor would bill us for the back side and we talked about what we would do.  We hadn't ordered siding for the back, didn't ask them to do the back and didn't want to pay for the back. 

The contractor called to tell me that the work had been done, and I raised my concerns about the townhouse having had more work done on it than the insurance claim paid for.  He told me that he had decided to do the backside as a courtesy to us.  A WHAT?  I couldn't believe it!  He said that since we had two homes contracted with him and that 2 other homes in the townhouse neighborhood had hired them because of us that he wanted to do it for us.  WOW!  I definitely will give this company good word of mouth referrals!!!  This hail storm has truly been a blessing for us.

AMERICAN EAGLE REMODELING everyone!!!  How great is that????

Rar'n to Go!

Last year McKay and I decided that homeschooling was a good idea and so that is what we did, We homeschooled.  It was a great experience for both of us and I believe he learned a lot more than he would have at school.  I wish he would continue to homeschool, but I believe he was too lonely and has decided to go to high school this year.  It is a scary thing for me, but I hope he will apply himself and choose good friends and thrive in the environment. 

Even though I think McKay has always been a cool kid, we went and got him dudded up in some new "hip" clothes.  This is his first pair of "skinny" jeans!  He'll fit right in I'm thinking!  Isn't he a good looking kid???

He surprised me with his choice of shoes though.  I like them.  My poor boys have always lived with two pair of shoes, a pair of church shoes and a pair of casual shoes.  As we were standing in line, McKay looked at me with wide eyes and announced that with these shoes he wouldn't be able to go to gym.  Oh dear!  We got out of line, and conferred with his father who agreed he needed a third pair of shoes.  LUCKY child!  I guess that is what he gets when he is the only one home.  A little spoiling.

Did you notice my red door behind McKay in the first picture?????

What are you doing this weekend?

This is where I plan on being.  I know if I didn't live here in the DC area I would wish I could go to this and so I will take advantage of the location in which we live and show up.  I'm twisting Lincoln's arm and hopefully he and McKay will come with me.  It should be an interesting event.  The speakers include, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Dr. Alveda King and Marcus Luttrell. Jo Dee Messina will be performing as well.

EVENT DESCRIPTION:


Throughout history America has seen many great leaders and noteworthy citizens change her course. It is through their personal virtues and by their example that we are able to live as a free people. On August 28, come celebrate America by honoring our heroes, our heritage and our future.

Join the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and many more for this non-political event that pays tribute to America’s service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor.

Our freedom is possible only if we remain virtuous. Help us restore the values that founded this great nation. On August, 28th, come join us in our pledge to restore honor at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

FROM ME:


Since this is happening on the 47th anniversery of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech, this should be an interesting event.  It is appropriate that one of Dr. King's family will be speaking, and also appropriate because Dr. King's speach was a "tea party" all of it's own.  He wanted to change the course of America concerning civil liberties.  This is not suppossed to be a "political" event.  It is all about peace and restoring honor in America.  I should have some cool pictures to post this weekend!

One last look . . . .

I only took one video at the beach and McKay is pretty disgusted with this one! I only got the end of his wave ride and he rode it until the very end! I love the sound of the waves. I don't ever think I could get tired of it. This kid is entirely too tan! He better not need to see the doctor until he fades a little. Do your doctor's give you grief about a tan kid? Mine does!

Life's a Beach!

My favorite part of summer is time at the beach.  We didn't plan this trip very far in advance and so we only spent two days at the beach and had to get a hotel a good distance away to find vacancy at an affordable price.  Our first day we spent at Assateague Island, which I really like because it isn't overly crowded, however, the surf is very rough there.  We spent the second day in Ocean City.  The first day we had my parents with us, and the second day my sister's family joined us. What I love about the beach:

~playing catch~

~father-son time~

~picture taking . . . . . . hat holding!~

~smile time~

(sorry about the pole mom!)

~crab houses~

(complete with human crabbiness!)

~FOOD~

(ahhhhh the food!!)

~the end of food~

 :(

~kodak moments~

~cousin time~

~sand~

~buried in sand~

 (and having Uncle Lincoln walk on you!)

~boogie boarding~

~McKay getting his "slick" board~

(even though we have at least 5 of the other kind!)

~Grandpa time~

~sand castles~

~sand castle village!~

~washing sand off~

 (extending clean-up time by about an hour???)

I can't wait for next year!

Be careful what you pray for . . . .

My life is like a roller coaster.  Ups and Downs.  In and outs.  Slips and slides.  So I was feeling kind-a low about an ongoing problem/challenge in my life, asking for some relief, and what I got was a boat load of other challenges to take over my life.

A little over 30 days ago our tenant here in Waldorf gave us her 30 day notice.  No problem . . . . we'll just turn it around and rent again.  Ha! If it were so easy!!!

I've been haggling with SMECO (our electric company) for several days now . . . . . . WHY?  They tell us that sometime between our tenant turning off the power and us turning it on that someone tampered with our meter, broke the seal, broke the lock and stole electricity from them (a big $8 worth).  There isn't even a outlet on the outside of the house!!!  After a series of things that I'm not getting into here, we decided that it was the contractor (hired by our tenant) who had been given a key to lay carpet, stretch carpet, paint and other small odd jobs.  The power company turned off the power, he needed it, and we believe, broke into the meter and turned it back on so he could get his work done.

Why is this a bad thing?  SMECO wanted and got $600 to turn the power back on! 

We decided to withhold the contractor's pay until we could get some answers.  He decided that he couldn't wait for payment and went in our townhouse with the intent of pulling out the carpet and undoing all that he had done. . . . . . he just didn't know that my husband was there working at the time he chose to enter and do the dastardly deed.  YIKES! 

Needless to say, we don't need a contractor who is H - E - L- L -bent on doing damage to our property and so decided to pay him, pay SMECO and get the power turned back on.  This all started last Friday and we finally got power today so we could finish up the cleaning/painting/etc. to get it ready for tenants again.

YES!  be careful what to pray for.  My prayers were answered, and I definitely forgot about my other problems for a while!!

Shiny and new!

It has been quite a process getting our house repaired after the gargantuan hail storm we had.  We had so much hail damage that we got a new roof, siding and shutters thanks to the insurance company.

We decided that since all of this it would be nice to get new windows (but they were on our own dime!)   The windows needed to go in before the siding.  It was interesting how they peeled back the old siding to put the windows in. 

Now I'm a thinking those bushes have got to go!

The windows and siding took three days to put on.  It was kind-of weird to have workmen working on windows.  I hated to be in the same room that they were in.  Below is a picture with the new roof, Siding and windows, but something is missing!

A couple of days later our shutters were delivered.  Actually it was yesterday!  I really like them! 

Now I have a question.  We have three people that live in this house and three opinions.  Can you match the opinions with the person? and then which would you do?

~paint the door barn red?

~leave the door the same color?

~Paint the door a dark green to match the shutters?

A little side note - Lincoln and I decided to attach a flag post to the house.  After screwing three screws into the flag pole holder (and our new siding) we realized that it was to flimsy to hold the flag we had purchased.  We wanted to kick ourselves!!!  We had just created three holes in our newly attached siding!!!  ARGHHHHH!!!!!  Yesterday when the workman came I asked him first, if he spoke English (while the house was being done there was ONE guy who spoke English and he didn't stay around the whole time!!!)  and then second, if he'd come over and look at our flag pole holder. 

He spoke enough English that I could relay my problem to him.  Thankfully the workers left a little extra siding under our deck and "spit-spot" the siding was fixed!!!  NO HOLES!  He marked where the studs were located for us and I gave him a $20 dollar bill!  He refused it at first, but was kind enough to take it and was happy for his efforts.  I think I was happier!!!!  Whew!  Disaster averted!