How's the Weather

I am writing this on a beautiful sunny day after shoveling the 4.5 inches of snow we received last night and watching the remainders under what was shoveled melt. I have two children currently inside finding many things to entertain themselves and one still outside throwing snowballs with other gathered neighborhood kids. It is technically the middle of the school week, but it is a snow day. It probably could have been a 2 hour delay today, but I don't make these decisions, so snow day it is.

Yesterday was Groundhogs' Day. Personally, I think Groundhog's Day is a bunch of nonsense. Trent teases me about my attitude and conversely thinks it is a great holiday, one of the top 3 in February easily. Hee hee. I still watched the festivities with the kids yesterday while they got ready for school. At 7:00, the announcer for the Weather Channel said that Phil would emerge from his hole in 30 minutes. I thought to myself, how do they know he will emerge in 30 minutes? Oh, that's right, they know, because they will pull the poor groundhog out of his artificial stump in 30 minutes. In fact, how do they know there is going to be a Punxsutawney Phil in that stump if they don't place it in there earlier? Has anyone been there in the off season and seen Phil out and about? At 7:30, they pulled Phil out of his hole. He didn't want to come out. Imagine that, the groundhog didn't want to come out of the artificial heated stump it is hanging out in and go out in the cold weather where thousands of people are standing around with lights and cameras etc.. Anyhow, Phil's handlers (that is right, Punxsutawney Phil has handlers) placed him on top of this stump, and a bunch of men in black top hats and bow ties gathered around while one looked Phil in the eye and conversed with him. This man then declared (in rather amusing speech I must say) that Phil saw his shadow and there would be 6 more weeks of winter. Phil saw his shadow on a morning where the sun was barely coming up and there was full cloud cover. It is far more likely that the men in black top hats and bow ties (Hey! Men in black..........) knew what the upcoming forecast looked like and therefore made sure Phil said there would be 6 more weeks of winter.

I know, I know. Bah humbug. Well, in further support, the Weather Channel reporter said similar things about the cloud cover and lack of light to provide a shadow after saying she didn't mean to blow the lid off the whole thing? What whole thing? Could she mean the whole concept that a rodent pulled out of an artificial den can't predict the weather?

In addition to the 6 to 8 inches of snow we received Saturday and the 4 or so we received last night, we are expecting a significant storm this weekend. The only question is how much snow we will get out of it at this point. One of the moms at school pick up yesterday mentioned she has a friend at the weather service who said that IF the storm coming up from the South and the building nor' easter converge, we could get at least 3 feet of snow. This is still a hypothetical scenario, but even if it doesn't happen, we are expecting snow again this weekend. Trent said I disrespected the ground hog and now look what is happening. I talked to the neighbor about the expected upcoming storm last Saturday while shoveling snow, so I think the ground hog and my feelings about its ability to predict the weather have nothing to do with the string of snow we are having. You can all decide for yourselves.

I should note that the concept of Ground Hogs day goes back to the middle ages in Germany where people would gather around and pull a groundhog out of its hole to see if it saw its shadow. Now, their torches created enough artificial light that it is hard to know about the whole shadow thing...... O.k., only kidding about the torches and stuff. They did used to have a tradition upon which Ground hog's Day is based, but it involved the groundhog coming out on its own.

An Unexpected Adventure

Friday evening while watching the weather report for the storm coming in, Trent and I got into a years old discussion about the Mason Dixon line. Ever since moving to Virginia, we occasionally ask each other where exactly the Mason Dixon line runs. Friday, we pulled out the laptop and looked it up once and for all. (I love reliable wireless internet.)

Like most Americans, Trent and I always thought the Mason Dixon line was the line that separated the North from the South. We could just never remember whether it included Maryland or was the border between Maryland and Virginia. While our understanding is not completely incorrect as the Missouri Compromise, drawing the line between slave and free territory, used the Mason Dixon line for a reference, we had no idea of the full history.

The Mason Dixon line goes back to the 17th century in which the King of England (Charles I) gave the first Lord of Baltimore, George Calvert, the colony of Maryland. Fifty years later Charles II gave the colony of Pennsylvania to William Penn. The descriptions of the boundaries in the separate grants did not match, so there was, of course, a land dispute that went to the British Court. In 1750, the court determined the boundary, and a decade later, the families accepted it. There followed a need to survey and mark the boundary. Colonial surveyors not up to the task, they sent for someone from Great Britain. An astronomer and a surveyor (Mason and Dixon) marked out the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland and marked it with limestone markers. Every mile a marker was placed with a P on the Pennsylvania side and an M on the Maryland side. Every 5 miles, the marker had the Penn coat of arms on the Pennsylvania side and the Calvert coat of arms on the Maryland side. There was an ACTUAL Mason Dixon line. The stones are disappearing, but there are some working to preserve it as much as possible.

I used to make a bit of fun of the Maryland state flag. I thought it looked like a race car flag. After Trent's and my discovery, I now know it comes from the Calvert coat of arms, and I have a new appreciation for it and the history behind it. Trent and I were really excited to learn this previously unknown (to us anyhow) bit of history and are really looking forward to heading a little north when it gets warmer to see if we can find the Mason Dixon line. We are looking forward to this unexpected adventure.

Climbing the Tower

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with some friends about wanting to visit the National Cathedral. I haven't been there since 1993, and there is some fun history and much beauty there. I got on the website and came across information for the Spring tower climb. Apparently, twice a year at the National Cathedral, they have a tower climb. Those who buy tickets for that specialized event, climb the spiral staircase up to the top of the bell tower. There is a tour explaining the architecture on the way up, a demonstration of ringing the bells, and a spectacular view of Washington D.C. from the top.


I was really excited reading about the tower climb. I have set a goal to get into better shape. I haven't exercised regularly since we left Virginia, and it feels icky. This not only sounded like fun, but it sounded like great incentive. I am not anywhere near the shape I should be in to climb 333 stairs. I thought about it and even asked around. A lot of people thought it sounded cool, but I didn't have any takers to do it with me. The date was March 13th. After much thought, I decided not to shoot for the Spring time but to keep a watch out for dates for the fall climb.

It sounds like I gave up before starting. However, my decision was based upon wanting to really feel like I conquered something while enjoying everything else that goes with it. I don't see climbing that many stairs as ever being easy, but I think that giving myself more than 6 weeks to prepare will allow myself to get to a place where I am fit to face the challenge rather than just fit enough to perhaps make it through. So, if you read this and feel inclined, ask me how my preparation for the fall tower climb is going. I could probably use the reminder to make sure I am ready. If you want to join me, the more the merrier, and I could always use someone to push me when it gets tough.

Concert Interuptus

Thursday night was the rescheduled winter concert at the elementary school. The kids who are involved in snow in 24 hours we received on the 18th and through the 19th, school on the 21st - 23rd of December were cancelled. All of the activities were also cancelled, and that included the winter concert.

The kids worked hard, and it was so fun to see how excited they were to get dressed up in their black and white and walk into an auditorium full of people. They were smiling and waving and jumping up and down a little bit.

Ashley is in beginning strings. She is one of 13 who play the viola. In the upper grades, there are only 4 violas. There are 40 violins in 3rd grade and 14 in the upper grades. All of Ashley's friends she walks to school with play the violin. It definitely added to the fun for all of these girls to do this together.

Luckily for you who visit here, we went with Flip video in hand. Now, you can't really see anything, because even though a friend who arrived 45 minutes early saved us seats, they are still 4 rows back. It was a packed house, and people arrived early. We were just so glad that Trent could get off work on time to be there. Enjoy some video of the performances anyhow.

First is the beginning strings students playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.


Next, we have the beginning strings students playing Jingle Bells. They are playing pizzicato (plucking).


Finally, here are ALL of the strings students playing Ode to Joy. You can actually see Ashley here. Look over the right shoulder of red jacket guy and over the left shoulder of the lady in the blue shirt ( I do actually know her). Right behind the green rectangle is Ashley. :)


When we got home, I got some video of Ashley playing her part of Ode to Joy. The beginning strings students played a simple A note harmony during part of the song while the other students played the melody. That is why you hear the repeated same note in the middle. This is Ashley playing after the concert and after ice cream and jumping around with her friends but before it all got to her and she got sick.

Finally, here is Ashley playing the first part of Good King Wensaslas. It wasn't part of the concert, but I love it. You can tell she was playing this for me and was kind of tired by this point, but it is still so fun.

Happy Birthday Trent

Last week we celebrated Trent's birthday. The fact that his birthday falls right when everyone is going back to school and work combined with the fact that Trent doesn't tend to like making much of his birthday means we usually have a very understated affair. Well, it isn't like we did anything major as far as celebrations go, but we made a real effort this year to take some time and celebrate Trent's day. He is such a great man, and he deserves to celebrate a little even if we have to make him do it.


I made him a german chocolate cake, because it is his favorite. I made the frosting from scratch this year, and I cooked it too long, so it was almost like caramel. It still tasted good, but next time I would cook it less or go back to the canned stuff. The kids and I picked out the Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock figures the week before, and the kids helped me make the cake a little more special by turning it into a scene from the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise. It was fun.



Trent didn't open any presents early this year. He even waited until he got home from work and enjoyed the dinner he chose so that the kids could watch him and jump and down and get all excited about it.



Trent received a hammock to take camping. Jon wouldn't stop until Trent pulled it out and showed him even though we obviously couldn't set it up in the house. The kids are already demanding a warm weather camping trip to use Dad's hammock. Trent is in complete agreement.



Remember those pictures Al Bean did representing the Apollo Missions? There is a book about the paintings with lots of pictures of the art. Trent was excited to receive that book and a Smithsonian membership. Two words go with that last item, FREE PARKING! There are other great things about it too, but it is great that we can go to the Udvar Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, which is part of Air and Space, and not pay to park.


A few days after his birthday, Trent received these little things. He loves the ability to plug in his MP3 player and listen to music in his office, and these are small but have good sound and are super portable.

We are glad Trent let us make a bigger deal out of his birthday this year. The kids and I really enjoyed making things special for him. Thank you to all of you who helped make his birthday so great as well.

Merry Christmas Part III

I just loved how "Christmasy" the kids looked all dressed up in their holiday best.

Daddy's Girls

Thumbs up from my sharp looking guys.

Somehow, being dressed up has not discouraged Ashley and Sam from playing around.

Merry Christmas Part II

Here are a few pictures from our quiet and fun Christmas.

Much of Christmas looked like this:

Trent's dad made Ashley a cradle for her bitty baby several years ago. Now, instead of sharing, Samantha has her own special cradle for her baby doll made by her Papa Jon. Her baby was in pajamas and all bundled up fairly early.



Jon loves legoes and received the lost temple set from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is the one with the rolling boulder. The video shows how much everyone knew Jon would love it as they all shriek with him about the gift. Jon worked with his dad for a while on the project but after Trent received a duty call, Jon did the last half on his own with occasional help. He did a great job. He wouldn't stop until it was all done though. He put in between 2 and 3 hours and wouldn't let me set the table for dinner until he was completely finished and let the boulder make its run a few times.

Still building

Still building but nearly done.

The kids received some Lazy One pajamas and were excited with the pajamas and because they are the "same kind" as my moose pajamas. They really are fun and comfy pajamas. Here are all three crazy kids in their jammies.

The front says "Bear Hug"

The back looks like the bear is giving her a hug

Moose!

After that, Ashley wanted to do the moose as well