Gratefulness journaling

Every year I say I'm going to try and write more. After reading a recent story on how gratefulness journaling can help people with depression find at least one thing in a day that is worth noting, I thought maybe that would be a good impetus for me to write.

So here's a thought.

Some mornings when I get off the train there is a guy who plays the trumpet out on the street. He aims his instrument into the Metro station to get the best of that acoustic sound of tile and concrete.

Usually he is blasting the theme song from Rocky, or Star Wars, or a song that I don't know the name of but I always associate it as a College Fight Song.

It makes me feel victorious. For a minute. Coming down the steps to the tune of Rocky, well, how can you not?

Slacker Christmas

We didn't get a tree this year.

For the first time in our marriage, no tree. Nothing. Well, maybe the first year we were married, but I seem to remember the 2 person dining table in our Beverly MA kitchen having a table top tree. But that could be from another house.

With Doug being out of work, money isn't that big an issue (finally) because I am bringing in some decent cash. Ask me how we're doing in three months, though.

He's just been distant, almost siloed, since October. When I try to talk to him or plan things, he gets aggravated and makes a face at me. The face our friend Christopher Kelly once called "the Constabrow" like he's trying to concentrate and poop and process the gibberish coming out of my mouth all at the same time.

I've found it easier to just not suggest things, or talk to him about things, because I sometimes always seem to pick the wrong time to "spring" things on him, and every time is the wrong time.

So we've been quietly dancing around each other for weeks.

He said "Christmas kind of snuck up on us..."

Well, maybe you. But not me. It made me kind of sad to not have a tree, but to be honest, right now I'm happy to not have to put it all down.

If I really wanted to, I could have taken Geoff and gotten a tree like we did last year. But I just didn't feel like it. Lately,  I feel like the Little Red Hen who takes care of all the duties while others are distracted or don't feel like it, or are otherwise occupied, so I just didn't do it.

The only thing I did was buy each kid one thing they would like for Christmas, get Jess a decently priced airline ticket, and encourage Doug to commit to going up to Massachusetts to help her secure a car since her Subaru was not going to pass inspection at the end of the month.

Mission accomplished on all three fronts.

I also just bought (after Christmas but still covering the holiday) airline tickets for Jess to come down in January, Guster tickets (2 nights in DC for her and me to enjoy), and Geoff told me that he wants Judas Priest tickets for May. Which surprised me and I'm kind of glad that I didn't go buy the 4 day pass to Maryland Death Fest that he hinted at maybe wanting.

In my not doing anything, I did manage to put up lights, and make it feel somewhat hygge in the house while he was in Massachusetts last weekend.

So I semi-Little Red Henned it. But that's about it.

Since the kids have been bigger kids, I've totally tailed off on doing a lot for the holidays. But even when I did stuff for the holidays it wasn't like a big bombastic over the top deal. We never really decorated outside. I would put a garland of green and some bows out on the fence at the brown house. Lights in the window in the living room, but nowhere else. We usually kept white fairy lights up year round because watching TV with those on and the fireplace going is just as lovely at Christmas as it is in March.

I have friends who put more than one tree up. And in November, sometimes earlier, they start with putting up lights on the exterior of the house.

That's never been my style. A couple presents, sometimes not even wrapped (my inner semi-environmentally responsible soul finds wrapping paper completely offensive sometimes), an let's all just have a really nice dinner. That's my style

That's the definition of Slacker Christmas.

We hosted Doug's aunt and cousin this year again, they live over in Virginia. It was a nice time of fellowship. We watched Santa Claus vs. the Martians and a badly dubbed Mexican movie about Santa vs. the Devil. Doug's aunt didn't care for either but his cousin seemed genuinely entertained.

We're getting ready to take Jess to the airport, and I'll miss her. I like having her around. I'm happy to spend all her Christmas money on airfare bringing her to visit. And I do feel like I need to go back up there for a visit, but I feel like when I do go back there it is always because someone is dead or someone got hurt. Well, no - my cousin got married and that was nice. And I did go to Boston to see Guster in January, so there was something good.

2018 wasn't as weird as 2017. But it wasn't awesome. Maybe 2019 will be?

December update

Seeing as the last time I updated we were investigating civil war defenses around DC in the broiling hot heat, it seems like summer was a world away.

We haven't really done anything unbelievably exciting, I guess. It's a lot of go to work, come home, go to work, maybe try and do something fun on the weekend.

Here's kind of the update of what's the haps with the gang.

Geoff

Over the summer he took a required class to enroll in Community College. He decided he wanted to pursue a certificate in Radiology, and then decided he would take the year of pre-requisites and apply for the program. He's got one more week of this semester, 2 more classes under his belt.

So far so good.

Next semester may be harder with a biology, biology lab, and an advanced writing class, but he's up for it. He's enjoying the classes, commutes to school on the train, gets his work done.

Even though I told him that he didn't need to get a job, we'd support him while he is in school, he went out and found himself a full time job at a spice company up between us and Baltimore. He works a 4pm-midnight shift, gets home at about 12:30. He's in his "trainee" 90 day period, which I think is hitting month 2 right about now. At the end of that period, they'll offer him the benefits and everything.

I told him he can keep the job as long as his grades do not fall below B-, and right now he's doing pretty well on all fronts.

The only bummer about him working and going to school is that he isn't going to the market and making dinner. Which makes for a lazy Doug and Christine needing to fend for themselves.

I miss his Chicken Parm. He'll be off school soon, so at least I can send him to the market and stuff, even if he won't be making dinner because he leaves for work at like 2:30.

Mind you, shift begins at 4, but "on time is late" is Geoff's philosophy.

Photo of Geoff is from this summer at Doug's family's reunion in Pennsylvania. Wherever there is a dog, there's a happy Geoff. I realized I don't have any other pictures of Geoff that don't involve him looking slightly drunk with a beer in hand. The only time I seem to get to spend with him lately is on weekends, and we do like going to the beer halls and having a taste.

So this picture makes me happy.

Doug
Shortly after my last post, Doug's position at his company was eliminated, along with the rest of his team. He received a small severance, and is collecting unemployment. He's looking for a job, and has had several interviews. None have panned out just yet. He's getting great feedback, so hopefully something will happen soon.

We made a couple trips back to see Doug's mom over the summer and the last one was Labor Day weekend, helping out around the house with jobs that Gary would normally have done, and she's not happy with how service providers have handled the work she needs done, especially the yard work. Not sure when we'll go back again.

We invited her for Christmas but she doesn't want to come down. So we will see what happens with a future visit, or whatever.

Jess
Doing well back in the home lands. Was temporarily unemployed and homeless, but things worked out. I am thankful for her friend who let her stay with after they had to move out of their apartment. Everything worked out. She's got a better job (I think it pays a little less but they made her a full time real employee instead of stringing her along saying they were going to hire her, like the last place did for over a year). The apartment they are in is great - so much more grown up and nice than the last place. And she's got a good setup.

The only thing she needs now is a new car, hers won't pass inspection at the end of December, so she can take a failure and get 30 more days on it - and will need to have a new solution by the end of January.

Again, I'm sure all things will work out.

It's been a bummer for me not being there to help her out with things in person. But her roommate Liz' mom (for years I thought her name was Tammy. Found out it is Evelyn) lives right around the corner and keeps them in laundry detergent and other things from her job, has a key to the place for emergencies, and is the certified Mom for the team. I'm happy about that.

Here's a picture of us from October, without Geoff because he had work and school. My cousin Billy's daughter got married in Maine, so Doug and I made a trip up, grabbed Jess, got to see the great apartment and the great roommate for a minute. We spent a lovely time with my parents and sister, and the overall My Mom's side of the family.

Doug and I then took a trip across NH and VT (after a lovely night's stay at a beautiful Cabin In The Woods provided by my girl C). We drove down into NY State, went to Poughkeepsie, found a great brewery with a super restaurant. We walked on the footbridge over the Hudson, and it was a gorgeous day. We stopped in Philadelphia at the Eastern State Penitentiary, which Doug has wanted to visit for his whole entire adult life (of all things).

That was the most fun we've had since the summer. I think.

Anyway.

Me
Work is fine, nothing overly exciting or pressing. For Halloween my team dressed as Bob's Burgers, and it was tremendously funny. The only person we were missing was Gene. Couldn't get anyone to play along as him. But we did get Little King Trashmouth, the Raccoon, and that was incredibly funny. Famous people where I work tweeted about us. We were temporary stars.

My sister came to visit. We went to see Guster in Baltimore and had a girls' weekend. She hadn't been down to see us yet, so this was a welcome and fun visit. She's coming back again this weekend and we're going to see Ghost. A band much unlike Guster.

But if they did a mashup thing, they'd be Ghoster, and that would be a riot. I can imagine Tobias singing "Fa Fa" and Ryan doing "Square Hammer."

TM! TM! TM! TM! I'm totally trademarking that so no one steals it.

We had Thanksgiving at our house and Jess came to visit. It was pretty fun to have all 4 of us together again. We went to a brewery and the arboretum to see the Bonsai trees. Most of them were put away for the winter, but some were still there and it was a nice time to go, because no one was in our way.

We'll be bringing her down again for Christmas but right now I'm trying to get Doug to maybe, just maybe, go back to Massachusetts with her for a couple days to help her find a car... she needs a Certified Dad to come be with her and help her pick one out. Someone from her work offered to help but she said he's condescending and annoying about it. I told her that is what a Certified Dad would be like, and she kind of agreed.

I turned 52. We went to a brewery at a horse farm. The last time we were there no horses wanted to come see us. This time, we had lots of fans. It was kind of lovely.

This big guy was kind enough to let us rub his nose and cheeks. And we had mighty fine beers and sat by a fire pit on the patio.

It was a nice way to mark the end of 51.

Except.

While we were there, blissing out with horses and chocolate porter, my mom called.

My dad ended up in the hospital with congestive heart failure so that was ... interesting. My sister went to be there, and spent a week with my mom, while they got him all figured out.

He's out of the hospital now but will be having a day procedure to put a plug in his heart valve (forgive me for not knowing all the exact medical terms and things). Because he'll be 79 in May, he's not a candidate for a valve replacement. It would probably kill him. So they'll put this little plug in to stop the backwash into the one chamber of his heart, and hopefully keep him going for a couple more years.

I do believe this happens a week from now. Will call my mom and find out.

And that's right now. Up to the minute coverage of us. Doug has an in person job interview a week from today for a position he really wants so... cross your fingers, kids.

Late August and the Civil War Defenses of DC

It is a Sunday morning, and I have to say that it has been 11 months since we've been to church. Doug was itching to pick a church for us, but then dropped it. Everything was too conservative or way too liberal. There was nothing that spoke to us and made us feel like it was home. I miss the congregation of the church back home. Ha. Look I still call it home.

Sunday mornings we fellowship together. After all, I have said it before, if you can't find God in the sacred space of your backyard or your front porch, you sure won't find God in a building that people claim is sacred. Coffee, news reading, game playing on the phones, dog watching the other dogs going down the street, and the ever adorable watching of people running the stop sign on our corner keep us entertained.

When coffee time fellowship is over, usually right around now, we get ready to do errands and go places and look at things. About a month ago, Doug suggested that he wanted to start visiting the Civil War forts and defensives all through the DC. Sounds cool and historic. Let's go!

We started just across the border from Silver Spring in DC at Fort Stevens which was restored but sits in the middle of a neighborhood in the beating hot open sun.

Walking around the earthworks and modern materials walls of concrete imitating wood, we recounted the story told of Lincoln being there during the Battle of Fort Stevens in July 1864 when he was nearly shot in the head.

I guess if you're supposed to die by being shot in the head, eventually it gets you. Hmm.

Next, he wanted to walk to the small national cemetery  where the dead from this battle were buried. It was brutally hot, so we got halfway up there (it is probably a half mile north) and we weren't seeing any signs or sights of it so we turned around and went back to the car, and drove.

Again. I cannot stress how much I hate how hot it is here.

The cemetery was small, well documented. The visitor's center was closed, which if you ask me is a crime on a Saturday when tourists might want to visit? Not sure if that's just part and parcel of budget cuts but I'd close on Monday and be open Saturday. We weren't the only people there to see the place.

It is a very small cemetery but a very important piece of the history of the District and the Civil War.

We drove over to Fort Slocum, which is now a large open field with a small pavilion. A family was there setting up folding chairs, the grill was starting up, and music was playing. It looked to be a nice afternoon where you could get shade, and I was happy to see the spot being used for life affirming activities.

Next we tried to go to Mr. Lincoln's Cottage. After driving around and getting totally lost in the North Capitol Street area, we knew we were close but we were not sure we were in the right place. Upon reading articles like this delightful one in the Washington Post, I think we were spot on and this was just part of the deal. A guarded gate, a military feel, and the cottage was probably just beyond our reach. We bailed and drove around another section of the cemetery that was not so closely guarded, and it was a mini-Arlington National Cemetery with perfectly measured white tombstones filling every corner of the grounds.

We opted to go home at that point. It was just too bloody hot to make any more effort to try and see something else. We were close to Fort Totten but want to save that for a day when I can walk without dying. Again. So hot. So very hot.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Humidity was gone, it was in the mid 80s which felt like winter compared to the weeks prior. We were up for another attempt at Civil War defenses touring!

First stop was in  Rock Creek Park, which a US National Parks Service property running through the center of DC. It hosts miles of trails, an equestrian center, planetarium, public golf course. There is a lot to explore there.

We parked at the planetarium and visitors center and walked north past St. John High School to go up to Fort DeRussy, (see map) which has not been restored to its original or close to its original condition. It is overgrown and wild. It made me think of the Talking Heads' song "(Nothing but) Flowers" as trees and brush and plants all grew up over what used to be the walls and parapets and  defenses.

After DeRussy, we headed west to Fort Reno. It is the highest point in Washington DC, 409 feet above sea level, and Doug read that the views were great.

Unfortunately, it seems the property belongs to the DC water authority and there is a reservoir there, and the entire area is fenced off with chain link and barbed wire.

One cool fact is there have been many concerts in this park, and there is an information sign about Fugazi playing there in 2002. That's badass.

It struck me as the kind of park I might have picked for a Rebel Shakespeare show back in the day when I was booking tours for the teen program. There is a high school across the street, the field is wide open and beautiful, there is a stage there, and the backdrop of the tower would make an impressive sight. It made me sense possibility instead of feel like we were ripped off by not being able to get to the tower after all.

We drove home through Tenlytown, which looks like a lot of fun, and a lot more affordable for food and shopping than its neighbor to the north of Chevy Chase.

Rescue

I have a friend who set out to hike the Appalachian Trail by herself. She trained through the winter, prepared by hiking around her home in Tennessee and working with experienced veterans of the AT to get ready. I feel that's pretty badass, and a younger me once wanted to do this, when we were campers and hikers and I was in a shape other than round.

She set out in March, and has a Facebook page and Youtube page where she posts videos that she has been making as she goes.  I've been following her steps from afar.

Early in the journey, she injured her foot and has a hairline fracture which is making hiking exceptionally painful, as you may reckon. She saw a couple of specialists, had her shoes checked out for anything that could be done footwear-wise to make this less difficult. She took a couple weeks off the trail in very southern VA about 3 hours from me and rested up, doctor's orders.

Last week she got back on the trail with high hopes. Knowing she is so close, relatively, and wanting nothing more than to go hug her and buy her a great dinner, this has been exciting for me. I've been eyeballing Harper's Ferry, WV, as a destination where we can connect. I know I'll cry when I see her.

Because she lost a good chunk of time, she revised her north-south plans a little, and was hoping to get a ride up to Western Massachusetts to hike up to Maine from there, instead of trying to do it all straight up to Maine. In September and October, conditions change up through that end of the journey and it can be unpleasant and they eventually close the trail to hiking up that way.

I was encouraging her to make it to the halfway point to Carlisle PA, because there's nothing better than yelling "We're Halfway There!" when you're on a journey. My kids still do it, and funnily enough, even when we are less than halfway or more than halfway. It's a thing with us.

Hikers call this "flipping" on the trail, and there's no harm, no foul. doing things where you get a ride north to hike back south to where you left off, whether in short spurts of several states at a time, it doesn't matter. You are stepping every mile of the trail, so who cares if it is not in order. I thought it was a good plan, especially if worried about the weather. Heck, in my brain starting the trail in the North in May and hiking south all the way until you get there, you still have to struggle through the heat of July and August but at least you may not have to worry too much about snow maybe when you make it to Tennessee and North Carolina. You may get a little extra time before the Smokey Mountains are blessed with winter.

I'd been trying to figure out a way to assist her in getting to Massachusetts. I can't take her - we have no plans to head up that way now, but maybe in a couple months. I asked a few friends who live down this way who drive up that way and they were in similar positions. Not traveling until late August. Waiting until Columbus Day.

She has told me that "The Trail Provides" is a philosophy that everyone has while doing this. People are willing to drive hikers north and south, into town. Entire towns have festivals for the hikers, called Trail Days. So she is looking to connect with someone possibly who can help get her north that way.

She messaged me today saying that she may not be able to do this at all any more. She wants to stop. She is about an hour and a half from me and I think I may go rescue her. She wants to go home to Nashville, and stop.

I'm torn about what to say to her. Encourage her to continue, believe in her ability to do this. Or congratulate her on this and get her and a bottle of wine and help her figure out a way home knowing she has accomplished so very much.

It's not my journey but she is my friend. I know what she wants, and she wants to complete the journey and not fail at it, but also she wants to heal her foot and go home. How do you help someone decide what to do?

We'll see what happens, but if nothing else, if she stops here I'm more than willing next year to help her pick up and start from the very same spot and go on with a healed foot.

I've enjoyed following her steps, her tears, her laughter, and each of the white trail blazes she has shared.

If you want to follow the journey so far, visit her videos at Act Old Later on youtube. She'll take you along for a walk. Several times her little screen captions have been just perfect for me. Watching at the office with a message that says to just stop what you're doing and listen, or look at these little purple flowers, or see how the clouds walk across the mountains from here... these videos have been a kind gift from her. Whether they continue after this weekend or not, so far the journey has been interesting.

One of the things I've been pondering on this experience is how alone she is. That may be what is breaking her heart and making her want to quit more than the foot issues. Once in a while she gets to overlap with other hikers, but for those who hike as a team or as couples, they get that moral support and that encouragement that you sometimes need to push through. And here she is alone as alone can be.

I'm sure I would enjoy the solitude at first in hiking alone but after a while, no.

Send her good thoughts to make the right decision for her.

New Guy

Since our move here to DC, our department, which was already understaffed, has become even more understaffed. We lost one colleague to another department, we lost one person to unforeseen circumstances (and God, I miss her so). Another person agreed to stay on and work remotely from Boston, but she found another opportunity and a step up the ladder so she opted to take that on.

I kind of feel like it's been me, JW, and my work wife R against the world. The three of us have grown closer. We've fought some battles, won some, lost some.

We just hired a new guy. New Guy started on Monday and it's been a whirlwind of orientation meetings, trainings, and time with us learning our trade.

He asks a lot of good questions, sometimes I have to tell him to slow down, I'm getting there! He's eager. And I like that.

But I'm also exhausted. I kind of like going through my job, my cases, my everything at my pace. And finding things to show him and teach him as we go is sometimes a challenge. Luckily for me there was a tech support emergency yesterday with JW traveling to a conference and R working at home. So he got to see how we support each other and take tasks and duties.

"I'll send out the email."
"Do you want me to update Slack and Facebook?"
"I will call the station back and check in with sys/ops."

We've got it down. We've had it down, as it were, for a long time. I'm sure we will find plenty of ways to fit the New Guy in.

He told me he took a ginormous pay cut to come here. I hope it is worth it for him. I hope he stays happy and enjoys it incredibly. I'll do my best to play the part to keep it that way.

When I told him that JW and I went to R's baby's first birthday party, I said "we're kinda close like that," he said "Yeah, I picked up on that. It was a little intimidating to realize that I was walking into such a strong fellowship." He said that it initially made him nervous, but we've made him feel a part this week - and not like an invader or interloper. He was relieved.

I took him out for a beer at the end of day one because I could tell he was just over all the work stuff. We had an excellent conversation about music and dogs and the DC metal scene.

We have another position to fill, and that is taking place now. Interviews are flowing in. We'll see how that goes. But for now, I'm happy to have someone to train and am hoping he can become as adept as possible on the products that neither R nor I know much about that we've been trying desperately to learn but don't have the time.

We'll see how it goes.

First Birthday

My "work wife" as the term goes has a little boy. He just turned 1. I'd share the pictures I took of him, but she's not wanting him to be on the internet, and I honor that.

But hell he is so stinking cute I can't even get over it. I mean ... holy cow he's a beautiful little man.

I drove up with our boss and her two boys. The younger one, Isaiah, is four going on old man. When I picked them up, he bemoaned going. Then, he bemoaned our leaving. We got in the car and he said something along the lines of "I just don't want to go home yet. I want to go somewhere else."

Where is that you want to go?

"Somewhere that has a dog."

Meaning my house. They only live about a mile and a half away, and they lovingly took old Brodie in while we had our going to Pennsylvania for Gary emergencies in February. Isaiah has a love/hate relationship with her. She is always begging for his food, and it makes him uncomfortable. So there is sometimes whining and complaining. And then she won't come to him when he wants to pat her. She will go to his big brother for pats and loves.

I told him he was very welcome to come over and see the dog. I texted Doug to give him a heads-up so he wouldn't be napping when we arrived.

There was tail wagging, and sock carrying (Brodie will find a sock and bring it to guests, or bring it to us when we come home from work). "Her tail! It's touching me when it goes back and forth!" he hollered, horrified.

Lots of petting happened. And then when it was time for them to go home he was very sad. He didn't want to leave. I guess we are so amazing.

I gave him hugs and told him I couldn't wait to see him again and we'd have more fun but he needed to go to his house. Eat dinner. Get ready for the week ahead.

He cried in the car, and when we got to their house he said "I just don't want it to end! I have had so much fun, and I don't want it to be over yet!"

I wish everyone I knew felt that way about spending time with me, that they'd cry because it was time to go home.

All told, it was a great day. And now it is Sunday, and I feel like Isaiah, and I don't want it to end either. So I'm feeling you today, little man. I may cry.

Crabs and Colleagues

I kind of let the time get away, didn't I. Lots to cover in updatesville. I did get a visit from Carrie, and we had a wonderful time of food and toenails. I miss her the most.

Most of May went very quickly, without much note. Except that Jess and her friend Molly came to visit. They drove down on a Thursday night late and got to us at about 2:30am. Friday they came to visit my office, and we had a lovely time. We took them to the zoo and it was so hot. A taste of things to come there for Early May!

Molly likes Elephants a lot.

I was sad for them to go. I miss my kid, and I miss the drop-by visits from them in their grown up lives. No more "Can Molly and I swing by?" texts in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, this makes me sad.

 My uncle Ken passed away right around Memorial Day and his funeral was the beginning of June.

Doug and I had planned a weekend trip to Atlantic City for our wedding anniversary, which then turned into a trip up to Cape Cod for the funeral.

It was lovely to see my sister and parents, and my cousins. Jess couldn't come down because it was a work day. We were so close, yet so far.

My aunt seemed very tired, the past year has been a toll on her. I feel very sad for my cousin's kids who spent a great deal of time with their grandfather. I remember talking to him once about his great grandson, and boy did that fire him up. "I live for that kid," he told me, while flipping through pictures on his phone, showing me how cute the little guy is.

I'm glad he lived for him.

Doug and I drove back from the Cape right after the funeral which is a 9 hour trip. Not something I enjoyed, all in one fell swoop like that. We used to drive 12 hour trips like it was nothing. now I feel I need to break trips back up there in half. Luckily, for a Monday, we managed to only run into bad traffic between Providence and

While we were in Atlantic City, we saw billboards for Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot show, and decided we'd buy tickets for it, knowing we were going to have to come back in a couple weeks. No problem! It's close!

It was a phenomenal performance. They only played 90 minutes or so, but every minute was full of awesome. We also noted that we were not the oldest people there. In fact we were almost on the younger end of the crowd. There were some folks in their 30s or 40s, but the vast majority of attendees were in their 70s!

Way to come out for the Rockabilly and represent, lady with the walker and guy with your oxygen and scooter!

Our experience at the Tropicana was kind of miserable otherwise. We won't be staying there again. It was loud and rude. Everything wants to be a dance club, and the layout of the joint was ridiculous. I think we walked 5 miles inside the building just trying to get from point A to B. I vastly prefer the layout at Caesar's or Bally's.

We had a good time walking up and down the boardwalk the next day, playing Pokémon and people watching. Atlantic City is close, and sometimes we get affordable deals. Summertime is expensive though. Doubtful we'll be back there again before the late fall.

Our lovely crab picking instructor

This weekend we were invited to one of Doug's co-worker's for a day of "Crabs and Colleagues," as he called it. 

They live down the Eastern Shore in the Easton area, so about 2 hours from our house. The place was outstanding - what a house! What a spread! Big beautiful home on a couple of acres with waterfront, dock, and a 21 foot motor boat. 

Geoff came with us, and the host has a daughter about Geoff's age, maybe a little older. Her boyfriend is a med student at Georgetown, and both of them were incredibly kind and welcoming to him. They took about 8 people out for a ride on the "creek" which looked more like a full river to me. Creeks are where you catch frogs and there is a piddly flow of water. This was beautiful. Geoff texted me from the boat to say he was having a great time and that made me very happy.

Meanwhile, Doug and I were with the "colleagues" that Matt had invited over. Matt's party was focused on colleagues from every job he'd had. So he went back 20 years to invite people over.

Doug was only 1 of 2 of his most recent colleagues. We got to spend time with neighbor friends of Matt's Del and Patty.

Patty gave us "crab picking" lessons, and told Doug he was a downright natural. They used to live in Gloucester, MA, and they were just in Newburyport for a wedding, so we had a "small world" moment and great talk about living here vs. living there. There are pros and cons.

Baby's first official Maryland crab. 

We asked Del if they had a house with waterfront, and he said no - that's about a $400,000 difference for properties. He said he's perfectly happy not having waterfront but being friends with Matt and his wife Peggy!

Peggy got home from work, at a local gallery, and she was delightful and vivacious.

Crabs and Colleagues was turning out to be a great time.

I am usually of the mindset that I should not have to work this hard for a mouthful of food. Patty said that it isn't about the amount of food you get but the fellowship, the conversation, the beer and the sunshine.

Not able to disagree with her on that, I had my second crab

Doug and Patty went to task on these crabs, which were picked up that morning by boat by Matt from a local marina and crab shop.

After Geoff got back from the boat ride, he wanted to take a kayak out. 

Matt hooked him up and he took off like lightning. A natural. And the smile on his face was amazing. Matt was amazed at how fast he jetted off, and was really impressed. Boy Scout muscle memory comes right back. The incredibly calm "creek" and miles of places to paddle... this was a perfect day and a perfect time for him. I'm so glad he came with us. I really should have taken a picture of him, but am happy to see that smile in my mind.

A small amount of the post-crab picking carnage

We stayed through the sunset, which we didn't intend. The fireflies filled up woods, blinking from ground to crown. It was virtually middle earth as we walked down the drive to the car.  On the way home Geoff expressed how much he missed being on the water. Near the water. Access to the water any time he wants it.  I completely agree. 

We have got to get him a kayak. But thankfully we have a "colleague" that maybe we can visit again.

We had fun down the Eastern Shore, including a stop in to grab some beer to bring to the party at the Eastern Shore Brewery in St. Michaels. There seem to be enough little places up and down these roads to visit in the future. Most likely not affordable this time of year, but good to note for the fall and early winter when it isn't totally freezing and horrible. 

So that's where we find ourselves so far. More to come, I'm sure.

Weekend Flowers

Doug is somewhat of a gung ho gardener. At least, he starts off each season that way.

The first spring and summer in a new house, you don't always know what is there already. Stuff is planted, and there may be perennials, and you don't just want to dig it up and ruin everything. So you sort of wait and see.

We had daffodils in the yard, but no tulips. There are hostas and some other green leafy things. We have some hedges and azaleas that are coming up and around the front and side of the house.

Doug is a firm believer in just letting the bushes grow into the shapes they want to be. He doesn't shape things into boxes or globes... he leaves them to find their own paths. He'll trim back a particularly exuberant and unruly shoot, but for the most part, grooming isn't his style. It's like the English romantic poets... let nature be nature and we shall cower in front of how it grows, its beauty and wildness. None of the Enlightenment man controls nature hoo-haa. She cannot be tamed and restrained.

But once in a while, she needs a good haircut.

We were at the national arboretum a few weeks ago, and they have a national Bonsai and Penjing museum, all very orderly and beautiful, all very well kept. Some of the trees are hundreds of years old. It's quite astounding and inspirational to the gardener who aspires to greatness. Doug brought up the romantics as we stood in front of a pine tree cut, tamed, trimmed to grow against a wall, and how the tree probably hates this. Just freaking hates it.

Doug's heart is in the right place, ever the romantic poet.

This weekend, we bought four nice hanging baskets for the front porch. There are wildflower seeds to sow, as is his style. He is monitoring the gardens for what is coming up, what we like and what we don't. The aforementioned hostas have some friends growing way in the back corner of the yard, which is disorderly and wild, so he thinks he may replant them, and move them over to a spot where they can be seen and enjoyed.

Oh, and the Ivy. We have a lot of ivy.

It's nice to see him puttering around, and I'm hoping that he is able to make it look like what he wants it to look like, and my involvement will be minimal.

I'll take some pictures of the progress I guess. Missed out on the daffodil pictures but will try and do a better job of the other things.

I love things that happen at my job, Episode 1

My job is simple. I help radio stations. I work for a major news network, not going to say who, but my job is to help the stations out in the world with problems and issues. My company builds products and provides services to these stations to get content out into the world. Digitally and terrestrially. 

I wanted to share a funny anecdote about something that happened yesterday. I was working with a small station out west, and they have been struggling with under staffing, tech deficit issues, and general confusion about some things. One of these things is SSL certification. 

A while back, Apple decided that all streams and audio coming into their iDevices had to be in HTTPS Secure format. 

This sent people scrambling. Stations that hosted their own streams or who weren't working with our preferred provider had to do a lot of work. If you were a station working with our partner, - no problem. It was done for you, seamlessly. 

So this sweet little station out west was having a bad day. Ransomware attack over the weekend, stream invisible in smart speakers, issues and complications. 

I was working with the Program Director (PD for those in the know) John, and he was working with his streaming provider. They got the stream secured, and over to me. I tested it for him. They were playing some strange ambient music, followed by the Doobie Brothers...

I said "what's your format over there?! It sounds like crazy town!" 

John said "oh, our hosts... they're free spirits! They play what they want. I'm sorry!" I told him that I loved when stations do that - and I said "You should play Guster!" 

So he ducks into the studio and says "Hey! You got any Guster in there?" The host said they had Endlessly, Amsterdam, and Careful.

Now, Careful is one of my favorite Guster songs so I said "ooooh! Careful! Play Careful for me!" 

So he hollers in and says 'Play Guster's Careful! Dedicate it to Christine, our Station Support manager in Washington DC! She is the super most amazing dedicated helper ever! Say that on the air!" 

And they did. 

I sat here at my desk just laughing hysterically. No one else was sitting in my area - it was on the later side and most of the team had cleared out for the day. But wow. What a giggle. I've requested songs before from stations. I try to listen to a station while I'm reading a helpdesk ticket, or following up on a call. They are all varied and different, big and little; music or news or a nice mix of both... they're all unique and lovely. 

So that made my day. And reminded me why I do this job.