Trip to D.C., Part 2

A few more pictures from our collective phones.

Someone caught this cool shot coming into the city.

 

We noticed our Kota in this painting.

 

Trevor was thrilled by this street sign.

And as we walked along the mall in the drizzle, we came upon this car.  It's at least kind of funny. But kind of awful too!

 

Good luck with that, buddy. Hope you're planning to stay the day!

Trip to DC

Trevor and I drove to pick up Holly and then made our way into DC.  We've only been there a few brief times, but I love going in, and I want to take advantage of both the extra daylight hours in the evening (for the drive home) and Holly's proximity before she's out for the summer.

I'd scoped out parking locations/prices ahead of time and knew that I could easily park for almost 1/3 less than what taking the Metro would cost us.  (Much cheaper on weekends, yay!) We'd save a lot of time that way, and we would be just a block from the National Gallery of Art, our chosen destination.

 Nice feature of Trevor's new phone

We were picky about where we spent our time.  In general, Holly and Trevor preferred the sculptures, bas relief, and older things (13th century or so, at this museum).

 One of a half dozen or more period sculpture galleries

It was particularly sweet for me to listen to them commenting on the different depictions of skin color, facial features, etc., depending on the time period and location of the artist, along with the differences in the portrayals of Greek and Roman gods, expressions, physical strength, and more.

We also really liked seeing the artists we've learned about in the past and reliving our old favorite The Impressionist Art Game!

Holly's favorite face (lol)

I wanted to see the Chagall mosaic, which was outside in the Sculpture Garden. We wandered over in the rain, but the piece was off to the side, not on a path, and I wasn't going to wade through the puddles in the muddy grass to get a look.

We also walked down the Mall for a few blocks.  I felt bad for some of the tourists, who are stuck here in the rain--but on the other hand, I personally felt that a rainy day on the Mall was better than not going at all, so maybe they felt the same!

 Looks like my kids, but it's not!

It was a very misty, fine rain, okay to walk in. Trevor's clothes were pretty wet (no umbrella), and even my (and Holly's, I'm sure) clothes and purse were covered in mist. We got back in the car, and as we headed out, noticed the long lines of people out in the rain, waiting to get into both the Natural History and American History Museums.  I would have *gladly* stayed in the Art museum for a few more hours instead!

It began raining harder on the way back to school. We grabbed McDonald's for Holly on the way, parked in the parking garage near the JC, and Trevor and I ate Indian food on her meal plan, and she and Trevor shared cake.  Trevor, carrying Holly's umbrella:  "I don't care that I have a purple umbrella. I'm comfortable in my masculinity."  ::snort::

We drove around and picked up Starbucks (thank you, Bill!), and hung out in her room for a bit before leaving.

We hit several pockets of rain on the way home, enough to slow us down 25 minutes or so. Trevor slept half of the way.  I couldn't believe how much light we had, even after 7:00.  It was a SUPER fun time. I am anxious to get back up and do things in DC, taking advantage of the daylight, while Holly's there before the end of the semester.

Yep, a rainy day on the Mall is definitely better than not going at all.  At least it wasn't cold!!

Glimpse of spring!

Robert called me outside last night to admire the sunset.  It was damp outside but not chilly, just nicely damp.  Ahhhh!  Spring may just show up yet. I continue to be hopeful . . .

Drawing by Trevor

A favorite Manga character.

Afternoon out with Trevor

Today was my day off, and Trevor and I went out to lunch at the Hibachi Grill Buffet. Robert doesn't care for the greasy buffet food, but Trevor and I enjoy tasting the different foods, and we adore the sushi bar.

Trevor took this with his new iPhone.  It has an incredible camera.

For the last year plus, he's been using Holly's hand me down, four year old phone, that has texting-only capabilities.  He was going to get a new phone for Christmas but opted for his computer parts instead. He bought this phone with the money he's making from his new job. We also got him a great plan from Virgin Mobile, $30 a month, unlimited data and text, and 300 minutes of talk.  If I talked for only 300 minutes a month, I'd switch in a heartbeat!  Anyway, he's having a load of phun with his new phone.

After lunch, we had time to kill and stopped at Best Buy and checked out ipads and other stuff for fun.  And then we went to the movies and saw God's Not Dead.  It was very good, and we both liked it.  Great afternoon, fun time out with my kid.

My sweet son

Trevor's always considered himself lucky to have a cell phone, any cell phone.  Back when we ditched our landline over two years ago, we got him a super cheap phone just in case he was ever home alone.  A year later, he got Holly's hand me down phone.  Oh, it was a step up, but it was three years old, a dinosaur really.

Last week, he used his own money to buy himself an iPhone.  We've never had iPhones here, but he did all of the research himself. After all of the work he did researching his computer components, I'm pretty comfortable asking a few questions and letting him make the final decision.

He texted me at work from his old phone when the new one arrived, and then he went to work at setting it up.  I texted him later in the afternoon on the old phone, and this was his response:

"Texting my beloved beelly . . ." Texting my beloved Billie.  How he referred to his sister.

I love what a true friendship they share.  Priceless.

Trevor's sweet new job

Trevor was recently certified as a soccer official through the U.S. Soccer Federation.  He side reffed his first game last week at a nearby middle school.  He was a little nervous beforehand, wanting to do a good job and not knowing what to expect, but of course, he ended up having a blast!  And he gets paid very well for it too.

Robert and I went to hang out and offer support on the drive.  Robert walked into the game with the refs.  I tried to walk in a few minutes later and was stopped at the gate.  They wanted to change me $4 to get in!  Haha.  I went back to the car and parked it where I could watch--through the chain link fence! That's Trev there, closest to the camera, in the yellow ref shirt.

Back to school Tuesday

We left early Tuesday morning.  There were mostly trucks out on the road, and it was still cold outside.  The roads were good, but about 50 miles up, my windshield began freezing over from the outside. I slowed down a bit decided to pull off at the next exit. As we pulled into the gas station, my ice magically melted away.

Thank You, God, for keeping us safe, once again, on this drive. You make it so clear that You have a different plan for us.

As the ice melted, Holly and I watched a fire truck with sirens blaring enter the highway.

We got back on a minute or two later. Two miles up, traffic was at a standstill.

Two cars had collided in our northbound lanes, with one ending upside down in the median.  Traffic stopped.  A young woman was either not paying attention or lost control of her car slammed into the back of a stopped semi.  Her car burst into flames, and passersby pulled her out. She had already died.

We were stopped on the highway with no where to go and waited almost two hours at a standstill.  We knew from other Wazers (my GPS app) and the highway patrol website that there was a bad accident less than a mile ahead.  With all of the driving we've done back and forth, we've only passed on other serious accident, and we've only had one other slowdown (minor compared to this).

I am so, so thankful for the ice that slowed me down.  We surely would have been behind the first accident, but we would have been very close to the second one.  It was awful finally driving past it, the burned out shell of her car, getting ready to be lifted on the flatbed tow truck.  So very sad.

It wasn't fun to be stuck in the car for so long, but we were quite aware that it was better than being further ahead in any accident.

Leaving on Tuesday morning meant that Holly missed her first class. Being stuck for so long meant she missed her second class.  She still wanted to go out to lunch when we got back to school, which meant she missed her third class of the day too!  It made for an extra long spring break, and as I'm writing this, there are only seven weeks left until the end of the school year.

Snow, snow and more snow

Holly was supposed to go back to school last Monday, but it began snowing on Sunday and was not looking good up north to make the drive on Monday.  School was cancelled, so we decided that I'd take her back Tuesday instead, and I would swap work days.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and then drove the back way--lovely view! 

Sunrise

As I was leaving for work last week.

Holly's fish

When Holly was home at Christmas break, she bought a couple of fish and a fish tank for her dorm.  This is her little betta fish, who is still pretty much unnamed, at the top of the tank.  She also has a plecostomus, Neymar. He's stuck on the side of the tank; you can see his dark flat belly pressed against the glass.

This was taken back in January before they all went back to school.

She's had troubles with her tank and murky water from the first week.  I have a much smaller tank, with just one fish, and I've only changed out my water twice.  She changes out her water (40%) a couple of times a week, and the water still looks awful.  She brought her guys home this week so Robert could give it a try.

The one thing I noticed is that her betta fish is much more blue. I don't know what makes them change color.  But he's definitely gained a lot of color.

It's hard to get a good picture of him.  He enjoys playing in the current caused by the filter, and when I look at him closely, he follows me and looks at me head on, no matter which angle I try.  Sweet little fish; we're hoping Robert can get the water issue straightened out in time for the trip back up to Fairfax.

Day After Daylight Savings

I was at the airport last night at 11:45 picking up a friend (who lives in town).  Trevor came along for the ride.  The airport is close, 20 minutes away.  We got home before 1 a.m., and I finally went to bed at 2.  That's when I started to worry.  I can't survive on 3 hours of sleep.

I set my alarm for almost an hour after I usually get up for work, just giving up some of my computer time.  Interesting trade off; perhaps I should do it more often.  Robert had been up since 4 a.m., couldn't sleep.   Holly was up until 5 a.m.  It was crazy. 

I didn't feel any aftereffects of less than 4 hours sleep, in fact, I'd even forgotten about the time change, except that when I left to go to work, I thought, "It sure is cloudy this morning!" before realizing it was just dawn.

Trevor kept going back to sleep, finally getting up around 2.  He's been sleeping SO much over the past week that I think he must be starting another growth spurt.

Good day at work, right now I'm feeling like I'm on top of things--for the most part, anyway.

Holly had an eye appointment at 6--p.m., thankfully. The kids have reallyreallyreally wanted McDonald's for dinner, I know Holly hasn't had it since last summer, and I'm pretty sure Trevor hasn't either.

I think I've recovered well from the time change, but everyone else seems to be suffering.

Sunday

Robert and I visited a new church, the same one we went to last week.  We've gone to Bedrock for over a year but found it very difficult to gel with out a real "meeting" place. I guess we're pretty ambivalent anyway, otherwise we may have made more effort to make it work.  Anyway, it's nice to find a church where we were surprised to recognize people when we walked in the door, to already feel part of a group, to see the families and kids hanging out and enjoying talking to each other before and after the service.  The kids didn't come, they enjoyed catching their extra hour of sleep for Daylight Savings Time.

Robert's been spoiling Holly (which she much appreciates) by making her french toast two days meals in a row.

It was another pretty nice day outside.  Vader enjoyed the sun and open air in the sunroom (all cleaned out, who cares if it's not done).

Pumpkin nested with Holly, who made her own nest in the couch and was happy to oblige.

I took Kota for another walk.  She was good, again.  I took a picture of her engineered collar set up.  (I've been admonished in the past for calling it jerry-rigged.)  She excels at escaping, and she will run out her zipline in the backyard and use the tension to slip out of her collar.  It's thick, fits very snugly, and has no give, but she has a very large neck and narrow, small head.  So we added a choke chain, and we clip the loop in her collar to the chain.  When she slips out of the collar, the choke chain will **usually** keep her on her line.  But she still has figured out how to slip out even of the choke chain.  We've considered a fence, but she would jump anything less than 8', and we can't afford to fence in the yard.  She'd swim from Alcatraz and make it every time.

BBQ tonight--while we still can weather-wise, and while Robert won't need a flashlight with the extra hour of daylight!

Saturday

Gorgeous day out, mid 60s--finally!  Holly said, "I hope it stays this way . . . for the rest of the year!"  Couldn't agree more!

Robert and I took Kota for a walk, the first one in a long time.  I am so lazy with that dog, but she's an angel and was even not too excited to be out. We walked across the main road just to the other end of the street, where the creek was washing over the road. 

Holly and I went out shopping at Kohl's, where I bought a cute necklace on clearance for about $3. We stopped at Starbucks on the way home, but it wasn't quite warm enough to sit outside (just a little windy).

We stopped at Food Lion. She insisted on MY using the cart to get the groceries to the car--and when I didn't unlock the trunk fast enough, she ran to her door and jumped in, leaving me with the groceries.  I shouted at her, "Hey, don't be a lazy fat!!!"  ("Fat" in this instance is an affectionate noun, only used as a joke in our house.)  We cracked up when we realized there was a man in the car next to us, waiting for someone, with his window wide open.  Of course, she is by no stretch of any imagination "fat," lol.

Trevor and Robert cleaned out the sunroom today.  It's been a state of perpetual renovation for, oh, three years.  I don't care WHAT it looks like, I want to have the room OPEN, I'm happy to have a chair on the subflooring with unpainted drywall, if that's what it takes to enjoy the sun and warmth it will provide the rest of the house right now.  Robert even washed all of the windows, and I'm pretty excited to have my room back for spring!

Old people

Old people go to sleep early.  They go to sleep without trying to. They leave their books open next to them. Sometimes they take off their reading glasses, other times, they do not.  They leave lights blazing and the tv on, sometimes with their hand still grasping the remote.

It's wonderful to have a 15 year old to put everything away, turn everything off, and basically just to put both of you to bed at night.  Even if he does take a picture.

More snow

So.done.with.snow and the bipolar Jan/Feb/Mar (so far) that we're having!  62 yesterday.  I woke at 3 a.m. to pounding rain and checked--and then double-checked--the temp outside.  52 degrees. 

Yes, I sleep next to my phone, and woke up enough to do this.

It turned to snow this morning, with the temp diving down to the mid-20s.  But despite all of the snow, I'm happy to report that it didn't amount to much.

Throwback photo

Following Trevor's joking disbelief that I ever could have waterskiied, my mom sent me this.

 

 

That's Lori on the left, me on the right at Lake Shasta in August 1975. That's the I-5 bridge behind us.  Almost forty years later, this run remains legendary in our family.  We boated every weekend, and this was a special trip where we spent the entire week up at Shasta.  Lori and I skiied together here for more than half an hour, covering more than ten miles.  It was such a thrill to go so far together. We went for so long without signs of stopping -- or falling!!-- that in the end, we finally tossed out our ropes and gave up! 

Tomato-Basil-Parmesan Soup

I made this delicious soup tonight.  I don't like tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce or tomato soup, but I really liked this. Robert was not too excited it, managing to put it off a couple of times when I'd planned it over the past week.  But he liked it too and had two or three bowls.  The cheese changed the texture; I don't know that I'd add it next time, unless someone else wanted it in there.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with the juice
1 c. finely chopped carrot
1 c. finely chopped onion
1 c. finely chopped celery
salt and pepper to taste
1 t. dried oregano
1 T. dry basil (I used three frozen basil cubes)
4 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. flour (I used brown rice flour for GF)
1 c. parmesan cheese
1-1/2 c. half and half (I subbed 12 oz. can of evap. skim milk)

The original directions were for the crockpot. I didn't have time for that tonight.

Stovetop:

Heat 1 T. oil in a large pot. Add carrots, celery, onion, and saute until soft but not browned, 10 mins.  Add salt and pepper to taste, tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, and basil; bring to a boil, and then turn down and simmer for an hour, covered.

Prepare roux. Melt butter on stove, whisk in flour, and cook, stirring, over medium heat. While making roux, smooth soup out by using a blender or food processor.  This isn't a perfect science; I used a metal measuring cup, filled it, tilted it, and let the liquid run out before dumping it in the blender. It took me three or four batches to blend all of the soup.

When thickened and light brown, whisk into soup.  Stir in parmesan cheese and evaporated milk. Heat gently; serve.

Crockpot:

Add carrots, celery, onion, salt, pepper, tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours until flavors blend and vegetables soften.  Process broth in blender to smooth. Prepare roux and add as directed above. Stir in cheese and milk; cover and continue to cook on low for 30 more mins.

---------------------

I made Trevor a rustic grilled cheese sandwich to go along with the soup:  Country bread with slices of cheddar in between.  I was worried it'd be boring, but he thought it was great!

In the mail

I'm a very, very proud mama.

Tuesday

Yesterday morning in Fairfax.

What I really wondered, was where were all the students?  It was 11 o'clock in the morning, and school wasn't closed.

Yesterday morning in Daleville.

I prefer my weather, but I think Holly preferred hers.

A different kind of soccer post

Trevor earned his Referee certification today through the U.S. Soccer Federation (the official governing body of U.S. soccer).  It was a pretty big deal. 

He had studying to do ahead of time and attended a one day course today.  With my crazy work week, it wasn't until last night that I remembered the class was today.

The class was at Roanoke College, a block from my office (where I no longer have an office). At lunch time, I brought him a burger and fries from a restaurant we frequent during the week.  Robert and I did some shopping in the afternoon and picked Trevor up at the end of class.

As a certified referee, he qualifies to officiate for youth and adult teams affiliated with USSF.  He'll begin as a line judge, and he'll get paid big bucks even at that level.  This is an opportunity God put before him quite a while ago (he's been paid as a line judge for our hs rec league for four seasons already).  Great job, kid!!

(Yes, pun intended.)

Boat Show!

Memories of childhood:

Mom says, "We're going to do something FUN!!  It will be a nice family time together!!

No one really gets excited any more (they haven't in six years), but I don't give up.  We went to the Boat Show yesterday.  It was close, small, and cheap (free).  And it was something different.

Several boat dealers from Smith Mountain Lake were there with ski boats and pontoon boats.

Robert and I tried out a few.  :)

I reminded Trevor that Lori and I had spent a lot of time on boats and done a lot of waterskiing as kids.  He turned to me, incredulous:  "Don't you need balance for that?"

Whatever, kid.


It was an easy and fun thing to do on Friday afternoon.

Kota was so glad to have us back home that she actually sat in Trevor's lap.

Visit with Holly

I drove up to see Holly yesterday. I brought her tons of food, lasagne, frito pie, corn pudding, strawberries. We went to lunch at Q-doba, and then to the mall where she spent some of her Christmas money on clothes.  We quickly ran into Walmart to grab a few things for her.  We even had time to grab coffee back on campus and walk around a bit.

I left just in time to beat the DC traffic out of the city.  I'm not up there much during the week, so I don't think about it until I'm actually IN it.  I need to remember to bring Trevor so I can drive in the HOV lane. 

It was a really nice trip, and I appreciate the extra daylight as we move towards spring.  It was drizzly a bit on the way up, and I drove through a little rain storm as I left; otherwise a perfect drive.

She got her new housing assignment today for the upcoming school year. The girls went in as a group of four, and Holly is thrilled with the new room--a three bedroom, one bath, apartment with it's own family room and full kitchen--in another almost-brand new building. 

Two more weeks until Spring Break!

Trev's desk

Trevor built that awesome computer and had no where to put it. For the past month, it's been sitting on the floor of his bedroom--not optimal, to say the least!

While he's been gone, we decided to surprise him. We looked both online and visited more than half a dozen stores--we spent two of the nights he was gone running around! It was worth it.

Robert set everything up for Trevor, and we didn't breathe a word to him. He first saw it when he walked into his room.

It's big and sturdy, looks great in his room, and it fits in the space where Trevor wanted it. The top is deep enough so he's further away from the giant monitor (a tv), and it has a slide out drawer for his keyboard.  I was not so thrilled about setting a computer up in his room, but there isn't adequate, workable space in the family room. The way our house is set up, it's not like he's super isolated--so we still see him occasionally, haha.

Trevor's week at TeenPact

Trevor ended up in the picture TP posted from Monday night.  I recognized him immediately but couldn't see enough to be positive.  He's second row back, on the aisle.

On Tuesday, Trevor received word that our state senator, Steve Newman, was requesting a personal meeting with Trevor in the senator's office that afternoon.  As part of his pre-homework, he had written a letter to Senator Newman, inviting the Senator to visit the class if he had time.

Trevor was understandably a little nervous, but he was accompanied by Peter Martin, the TeenPact CEO.  TeenPact's headquarters are in Richmond, so we've been blessed to know the Martin family.  In fact, I remember meeting one of the boys the very first time that Holly attended TP four years ago.  Mr. Martin is a favorite of Trevor's:  he specifically looked out for Trevor when Trevor was sick and came home early three years ago; and he impressed Trevor quite a bit last summer at NC by remembering both Holly's and Trevor's names (out of 600 kids).  TP runs for two weeks in Virginia, and this year, Trevor chose to go the week that Mr. Martin was scheduled to be the Class Director. So having Mr. Martin along was a wonderful encouragement.

Senator Newman spent quite a bit of time with them, inviting them to come to two different committee meetings where he casted votes, and then for a private chat in his office.

Trevor and Senator Newman

This was the photo on TP's FB page. I saw it in my feed and was thrilled!  I commented, "Hey, that's my kid!" and received this response from Peter:  "Your kid did a great job. He was respectful, polite, thanked the senator for his work, answered his questions, and represented home schooling very well. It was a pleasure to have this opportunity."  Praise God, this was just really a great and memorable experience!

Senator Newman also posted a photo on his FB page, including the comment:

Mr. Martin, Trevor, Senator Newman

"I was pleased to meet with Trevor McGowan, a constituent from Daleville, who is participating in TeenPact Virginia II this week at the Capitol and TeenPact Leadership Schools CEO Peter Martin. It is always a pleasure to talk with students who are taking an interest in their state government."

It was a really large class this year, with 60 students staying at the camp and an additional 20 staying offsite!    Trevor's not in this photo, but I'm posting it because he was there and enjoyed remembering the name of everyone in the photo.

Due to the snowstorm, the students ended up staying at the camp an extra day.  They did additional work for their class and had an epic snowball fight, with graduation postponed until the following day.  We've always made TeenPact a priority, and while the kids have always enjoyed it, Trevor, along with many of the other students, declared this the "best EVER."  A really amazing week, so thankful to be a part of this group!

:/

Robert brought me my favorite candy last night.  I ate half the box.

A few hours later, after seeing pictures of a friend, I commented, "I really wish I were as skinny as Debbie; she looks great!"

This morning, I ate the other half of the box for breakfast.

Sigh.

Nights with Robert

Robert and I have had some quiet nights with Trevor gone to Richmond this week. We puttered around the house and made easy and light dinners, and we went out to eat one night with a gift certificate that we'd been saving.

It was nice to run out together for errands; we do it sometimes but not often enough.  Pretty nights to be out driving.

TeenPact time again!

I took Trevor to Richmond yesterday for another week of TeenPact.  I snapped this when we stopped for lunch at Taco Bell.  It looks like a cologne ad; a friend commented that it looked like an album cover!

 

 

I love seeing the kids all dressed up! 

He was just a little bit nervous at first, but saw several friends right off the bat, making him very happy.  Last night, I got a text that said, "Best TP day EVER!!!!" with no further explanation.  It was good enough for me!

Now I can sit home and try not to worry about the "up to 14 inches" of snow the area is supposed to receive Wednesday night.  We're planning to pick him up on Thursday.  On a positive note, I just realized that some of the TPers stay over Thursday night for an additional day on Friday--and if we can't get there on Thursday, we won't be the only ones.  :)

Simon

Meet Simon, my new betta fish.  I figured, that if we were going to be living in a fish bowl at work, I should get a fish.  No one (meaning management) cares if I have a fish.  We are allowed to have all kinds of fancy things in our workspaces:  Keurigs, boomboxes, 4' tall light up snowmen, and fancy heater-fireplaces, for example.  Besides, Holly got a fish (two) for her dorm, and that made me want one too.

Everyone in my office likes Simon. They come to visit him, and they try to feed him when I am not there.  I had to hide his food. Our job is to feed people, not office pets, and one or two of them get a bit carried away.

Simon likes his blue bowl, and he likes my (non-)office.  He's very friendly, which is hard to believe, because it's definitely cold enough that he should be halfway hibernating for the winter.

Banished to freakin' Antarctica

This was my happy little office right after I hung my pictures and before I got my second monitor.  It was such a sweet little office, small but sweetly isolated, next to the main door but at the edge of the rest of my team.  I loved my office, and I always appreciated that I could close the door, and the wonky floor's heating system would toast my office right up.  In fact, I would warn clients who came in that it would get hot quickly, but I never complained.  It was kind of like my own little heaven.

Due to the wonky heating system and the leaky (and moldy, nasty, disgusting, probably poisonous) ceiling, we've been moved off of the fifth floor.

And into the basement.  Okay, it's not really the basement. It's the ground floor, but I always think of it as the basement.  The dungeon. Where there is no heat. And freezing, ceramic tile flooring.  And no walls.

Six foot high, burlap covered, portable walls, three panels per person, if you are lucky.  Other barriers consisting of file cabinets and tall shelves and short shelves.  No doors. No privacy.  

(To be completely honest, my amazing boss did an amazing job with what she had.  I can't complain about that.  She really IS amazing.)

This is my thermometer. I've had it for 12 years. It's accurate.  And it reads 57 degrees. It sits on my desk.  Just in case I didn't feel cold enough already.

Building maintenance turned the thermostat up to 80.  We brought in small, portable electric heaters--and blew the fuses on our floor.  Repeatedly.  It still wouldn't get above 60 degrees.  We are very blessed to have two great supervisors who continue to go to bat for us and do every single thing they can to make work conditions tolerable.  They aren't accepting any of this "wait until next week when it warms up" crap.

Eddie has one of the coldest spots on the floor, at the corner of two glass walls.  He brought in a very cool (lol) heater--and it actually BLOWS heat out of the sides.

It's been a couple of weeks now, and two things have happened.  It's warmed up, usually now about mid 60s inside.  But not always.  And we've become accustomed to being cold.  I wear my coat while I work sometimes.  It kinda sucks.  I'm a little nervous, wondering how extreme it will be during the summer heat, although my brain is a little too frozen to worry about it much.

100,000 miles

My car hit 100,000 miles yesterday, appropriately when on our way home from visiting Holly. We bought it in the summer of 2009. It's been an awesome car. I never would have chosen it, but Robert and Holly liked the way it looked, it was a Toyota, and I appreciated not spending $$$ on gas. At 50+ mpg, it's saved us a LOT of money, and I'm looking forward to the next 100,000 miles. I'd buy one again in a heartbeat.  It's easy to park, and the kids like how much room is in the back seat.  The only bad thing I can say about it is that it's the kind of car a liberal would drive.
 

Trevor and I looked away for a minute too long, but he snapped the picture at 100,001 miles!

We went to lunch at Chili's, thanks to a contribution by Holly for our lunch. It was a lovely day, cold, still snow on the ground.  For whatever reason, it was one of the best times I've had up there, and Trevor and I had a great drive home too.