March 22, 2009

1. 4:55 and I am ready to go. 
2. Let’s just set the scene shall we, as there may be those in the studio audience who are wondering  why I am jaunting off to Jamaica two weeks before Spring Break.
3. Our dear friend AB, lubricated by liquor and susceptible to suggestion, bought a house in Jamaica at a Silent Auction.  She invited myself and a merry band of others to come along.
4. I suggested that we go during the summer.  The rest of the crowd, weak though the are demurred, as this apparently is during hurricane season.  Other date were bandied about and this coming week was settled on.  Most of us have some sort of responsibility at church during Holy Week, which is my Spring break, especially yours truly, who as Altar Guild President, will be doing the Lord’s Laundry pretty much day and night that week.  You see, I can shirk with the children, I can’t let the Lord slop about in wrinkled linens.  In my time as a teacher, I have never taken a week off, and though I have seen it done, I still felt a little guilty, but both my teaching team, the principal, and even one of the children were all like “Are you kidding? Go!”  So I am.  And I shall attempt to lay any guilt, both church and school, down on the TSA security belt, and not pick it up again.
5. I am very indebted to AB, who when I hesitated, smacked down a pile of frequent flyer miles to buy me a ticket.  And the tragedy?  They were all out of coach seats. That’s right, First Class, baby!
6. I’m off!  Will attempt to report along the way.  Much love to all, Chris especially.  That you and your guys aren’t able to relax is a  guilt I’ll take with me, though I am glad to know you’ll be home for a break soon!

August 1, 2008

1. OK. Now I am rested and coherent.
2. Nice trip on the train from DC to Boston.  A brief fracas as the Bostonians have no sense of honor when it comes to hailing cabs.  Say what you want about Washingtonians (and Arlingtonians) but we make a line, or at least that is my experience.  I prefer to close my eyes to any other reality in my town.
3. Our friend Karin picked us up and we are staying in the rectory of her church.  We met Karin in Germany when I was in high school.  And she is totally hilarious. (and no I am not just saying that because my mother instantly told her about this blog.)  From the initial glance Rockport seems very nice and tiny and cool and we will be gadding about town today.  Daddy arrives later, I am sure lobsters will be eaten at some point.  And fried clams.  And apparently, this is the home of the donut.  Hello!  We might go see whales too.
4. The rest of the trip will be recorded on Twitter.  I played around with this a trip to Georgia.  I can send messages by cell phone.  The challenge, a good one I think, is that it is limited to 140 characters.  This could be a good literary exercise.  Maybe the total lines will turn out to be a form of the American Long Poem, like Robert Lowell, though of course with less depth and more references to food.
5. A Challenge of the Twitter updates, is that when texting using predictive text, the phone can sometimes insert a word that is not what you wanted, and I don’t always notice it, OR I do and I like it so I go with it.  For example, when sending Ali a message yesterday about the aforementioned Bostonians and their Taxi etiquette, it predicted “Bostonhams” instead of Bostonians, and of course that is a much better word, so I went with that.  So that may explain some of the word choices in my Twitter Updates.

July 31, 2008

1. Train trip from Dc to Rockport MA.
2. Settled at our friend’s house in Rockport.  Very cute little town.
3. Fun dinner. Good!
4. Might be getting a cold. Bad.
5. Exploring tomorrow.  All well.  Very short entry due to extreme tiredness.

June 15, 2008

1. Completely tired.  Finished the script.  Video still to go.  Will prepare remaining pictures and then to bed.  Big push tomorrow.
2. Because Jim is able to give me a ride to airport, I may be able to get an earlier flight.  That’s good; more time to work.  I hate to cut my time here short, but the crisis, she is imminent. In fact I am in her belly.
3. Still tired.  All of the sudden.  Wow.
4. 5 days until vacation.
5. Woo!

June 15, 2008

1. Up early (same time as always, but it is still early) to finish packing for my quick trip to Ft. Benning.
2. I am to meet Jim at the Airport, where he will have arrived before me, and have gotten a rental car.  I have the growing suspicion that he and I are coming into different airports, me into Atlanta him into Columbus, since the time he cited for his return seems to close to the event itself to enable him to get there in time if he has to fit in a two hour drive back to Atlanta. I’ll call after church to confirm.  I really hope it is Atlanta, otherwise I will have to take the shuttle, which is not bad, but adds even more time to the journey and the company will be better with Jim.
3. I am going to Ft. Benning to see Chris’s Change of Command.  I am really looking forward to hearing him speak, and to hear his commander, who I am sure, will say nice things about him.  It will be sad that this two years is over, but such is the army circle of life.  Two years ago we sat on the left side of the reviewing stand and watched him take command, not we will sit on the right and watch him give it up, while another proud family sits on the left and waits to begin their two years.
4. Very pleased that Jim is coming.  He and Chris were wee young lieutenants together in the 101st.  Chris brought Jim home for Christmas in 1989? 1990? since Jim’s parent’s lived in Thailand.  On that journey Jim met my best friend from high school, Katherine.  They eventually got married, as did another couple who met on that trip, or one not long after, Bill and Mary Ellen.  Jim is Michael’s godfather too.  It’s all very intriguing and linked over time and long distances as Army friends often are.  Anyway, it is great that he is coming!
5. Kevin is lying at my feet all snoozy and pleasant.
6. I am taking the computer on the trip with me to work on the video and script for the 8th grade graduation which have to be done by, oh, let’s see when is that…..TOMORROW!  Argh.  I am not taking any knitting or my ipod or even a book, because any spare minute has to be dedicated to that event.  Which is Tuesday.  Argh again.  At least I can count on an hour and a half on the plane each way.

November 24, 2007

1. At the Mess Hall there was a table at Thanksgiving in the corner of the breezeway.  Set for one and left empty, it was the table for fallen comrades.  The war is very present at Ft. Benning.  This is not surprising of course, but made me very aware of how the majority of Americans need not think or sacrifice at all.  We can do easy sound bites, and feel bad from time to time, but it is not constantly with us.  M talks as if C will go there after this assignment.
2. The Coke Museum in Atlanta takes the position of wide eyed wonderment and innocence at their success, but the whole place is disney-esqe manipulation and indoctrination. ”Love the Cola!” “Drink the Cola!”
3. Waiting for the train in a Border’s Books across the street from the station.  I bought a book of Jennifer Wiener short stories, that are a step beyond the usual “Chick Lit.”  It reminds me of a book of short stories by _?_ McKelvey, which was one of the first books that I read where I felt that I took a chance and discovered a book was good by myself, rather than being told so by someone else.  I wish I could find that book again.  Another book I purchased was “Drunk Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair”, which is shaping up to be funny, but also thoughtful.
4. I think my family really wants to please others, but we don’t always wait long enough to hear what people want.  I am very guilty of this, I will spin out 5 suggestions before the person has had time to even consider the first.
5. I’ve visited Chris and Melissa in so many places that I sometimes forget where I am.
6. The train ride back was exceptional.  I lay in my top bunk with the curtain open, watching the land spin out in the dark.  The moon was a huge ball, chasing me.
7. At the moment I feel without purpose.

November 22, 2007

1. Several good walks from Chris and Melissa’s to the guest house and back.  Michael and I just walked down to see the war dogs monument.  There is a large one with a very impressive German Shepherd statue, and then another monument, for a paratrooper unit that has a small sausage dog.  He was noted as missing in action in Belgium.
2. I love walking on posts.  Very quiet, with the occasional rattle of gunfire from the training ranges. (Yes, even on Thanksgiving.  The troops came to the mess hall with their guns slung over their arms, even while eating.)  But I do mean it when I say it is peaceful.  It reminds me of my youth.  It has a very safe and protective feel, and also years and years of tradition and history.  The houses that I pass have been there since the 20s, and have had hundreds of families pass through them.
3. We are about to embark upon the second thanksgiving meal, the turkey sandwiches after dinner.
4. I happened to walk in on the Macy’s Day Parade just as the OU band was playing.  They sounded excellent.  Tradition again, every note they played in Boomer Sooner and Oklahoma, I played on so many years ago.
5. Michael and I are making a gingerbread house, and there are some structural difficulties with the alternative, open design (see in side and outside of house) that we have chosen, so we made some Lego supports to hold the structure steady.

November 22, 2007

1. This is going to have to be fast because Melissa and Michael are waiting for me to play Monopoly.
2. The ride was excellent, about 14 hours over an evening and a day.  Stayed in Wilson, NC.  My parent’s criteria for a hotel is that it needs to be a Holiday Inn Express, because they serve warm cinnamon rolls in the morning.  We had no trafficc to speak of.  We traveled the back roads, and though last years super long trip may have been a fluke, and this route may have been an over correction, It was still neat to see a perspective other than that of the main highway.
3. We are staying on post in the George Marshall House.  Apparently, if you drop Pop’s title, you get the good digs.  I am not in favor of dropping titles, but it is a nice place.  George Marshall lived there, just down the street from Patton’s old place.  You know George Marshall of the Marshall Plan.  Huge house, fully furnished including china with the Infantry Shield.  The place even comes with a Master Sergeant who is the steward.  We hope he doesn’t show up, what with us being poseurs and all, but are worried, since there is a steward’s fridge with all the makings for breakfast.
4. Always lovely to be with the family, but I miss singing “We Gather Together” at Grace on Thanksgiving, and being with the coffee shop gang for dinner.
5. So it must be noted that in the guest book for the house there are all sorts of notables and interesting people, but very sadly a few entries before ours is a family from Ohio, that in their note thanks the Ranger Battalion for the “memories of their son.”  I am guessing that he was killed in Iraq, and they came here for a memorial service.