ah, live writer

On a tip from my friend Susan, I downloaded Windows Live Writer which is a desktop blog-writing program.  I tested it using the previous Spring post and maaaaan, it’s so much easier.

What does that mean?

I get to catch up on a whole bunch of blog posts!

Get ready!

spring has sprung!

The high today may have only been 59 – though it felt much much colder – and yesterday it was only in the mid-50s too but Spring is with us. 

I took a few minutes yesterday to take pictures of my favorite signs of Spring.

This is the DC area so a big favorite is the cherry blossoms.  They are planted everywhere including in our neighborhood.

  A lot of folks don’t like them because of the allergies they cause but I love when the Barlett Pear trees bloom.  They closely resemble blooming poplar trees.

Daffodils are a big deal in VA.  There are stretches of highways and parkways that are carpeted in them.  I actually slightly prefer tulips but they aren’t out just yet.

Forsythia – it may be pesky and hard to get rid of but I love it!

  
I call them “Tulip” trees but we learned during a trip to the National Arboretum that they’re hybrid magnolias. – LOVE THEM!

They aren’t quite ready but the dogwoods – Virginia’s state tree and flower – are budding so they’ll be out soon!

1000 suns

I just finished Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns and since I was reading it at my desk (it's a slow Friday afternoon ever since my meeting for next week got moved to the following week), I have a headache from trying not to cry. Crying at your desk is usually frowned upon even if the chances that anyone is going to find you are slim.

Telling the tale of 2 women growing up in beleaguered Afghanistan, the book is poignantly moving rather than the shocking brutality of Khaled's first novel, The Kite Runner. I'm not saying that his depiction of the seemingly never-ending rounds of war aren't shocking and disturbing; there just isn't that one slap you across the face scene that made Kite Runner so difficult. The courage of these 2 women is astonishing, amazing, and heart-rending. They show the bravery that comes with being a mother - something that women everywhere hope that they have but don't have to test.

It's easy to see how with each new regime there would be hope; only have hope dashed as each one was as bad as the last. It's hard to imagine anyone living through those conditions for so long and still managing to be hopeful in the end. Because in the end, the story really is one of hope. Hope that things will be better. Hope that all the sorrow won't be for nothing. Hope for recovery, love, laughter and regrowth.

rubber duckies

Sometimes I wish I could have a camera in my office - oops, I actually did that accidentally yesterday. DON'T TELL! I didn't even realize it until this morning - or even my cell phone so I could take pictures.

See - a few weeks ago, one of the guys I work with thought it would be funny to just keep putting rubber duckies on my desk.

Monday - 1 duckie

Tuesday - 2 duckies

Wednesday - 3 duckies

On Monday, no one would own up to where they had come from or who was doing it but he finally owned up on Wednesday and they stopped appearing. He was all proud of himself because he did something similar with one of his contractor PMs who is about my age and now she's pregnant. I guess that's what he thinks/hopes will happen? Who knows.

But the point is that at first, I was so annoyed with things showing up on my desk - I hate it when people use stuff on my desk (esp. my computer) or move my chair - but now, they're really cute and I wish I could take a picture of them to show you.

Here's a stand in from the interweb....



but they're not as cute as mine....

the new dan brown

I consider Dan Brown's books to be interesting brain candy - interesting mostly due to historical facts and clue solving and brain candy because, come on, his stories are a bit ridiculous. I'm still unsure as to why The Da Vinci Code got the most praise because I really thought that its predecessor, Angels and Demons, was much better. I've read Deception Point as well but I hardly remember what it was about so, clearly, it didn't make much of an impression.

I recently finished his newest book, The Lost Symbol. I wasn't about to spend any money on it but my cousin bought it so I borrowed it after my dad got through with it (it's making the rounds through the family).

The book really held my interest even if it annoyed me at certain specific points. Robert Langdon is again the main character as is his knack for solving cryptic puzzles. These are the parts that I found most interesting. I found it helpful to be in front of a computer while reading so that I could pull up images of the iconic paintings, statues and buildings that he is "deciphering." Because this one is set in Washington, DC, the icons tended to be things that I've seen before or even see on a daily basis which made it all the more interesting.

Of course, living in DC has its drawbacks when reading this book too. His most glaring and easily verifiable mistake was putting King Street Metro Station and its neighboring Amtrak station underground. Really? They're both aboveground (and separated by railroad tracks) and that's something that you can see on Google maps. It makes me wonder if he actually visited the George Washington Masonic Memorial at all when researching the book - all he had to do was look down the hill.

It has none of the controversial somewhat anti-Catholic flavor that The Da Vinci Code had even if it is somewhat anti-organized religion at points. It definitely has some interesting ideas about God and/or a Higher Power. His discussions on noetics (apparently a tiny burgeoning new science field) and the effects that thoughts can have on the physical world were kind of intriguing. The idea that thoughts have weight and can be trained and focused toward a specific goal (healing, moving objects, what have you) would be quite fascinating if it could be proven.

The book does, however, have Mr. Brown's usual plot ridiculousness. This one made a bit worse by the fact that the entire book spans about 12 hours in real time. I'm not so great at "reading for comprehension" (sometimes I just flat out read too fast) so there were definitely some "twists" that I should have seen coming that were a bit groan-worthy.

All in all a decent read. Worth the time. Not worth buying - especially in hardback.

thinking spring

There may be snow in the forecast for tomorrow but it's still March which is closer to Spring than February and tulips always make me think of Spring. I can't resist buying tulips from Whole Foods whenever they have them.

g&p - 6 months

We got a few things done during the snow though nothing quite finished.

fitness goals:

• Lose 10-15 lbs. I'd lost the 5lbs holiday weight but I'm pretty sure that I gained it back during snowmaggedon.
• Be able to lift 25-30 lbs dead weight with one arm at a time. Still sucking.
• Be able to touch my toes. I've missed yoga for about 3 weeks due to snow, forgetfulness (we went to NJ early because I forgot I had yoga), and work travel. :(

projects: (in no particular order)

1. change thermostat to programmable - We had the bright thought that maybe we should wait on this until the weather is such that we don't need heat or A/C just in case we screw something up.
2. refinish kitchen table - Still no table top
3. recaulk tub
4. sell extraneous stuff on eBay - I still need to take "inventory" before I start selling on eBay. I was going to during the storm but I figured out that it's really cold in the basement with that much snow around and then someone opened the windows down there.
5. organize the basement, in particular label all the bins and boxes - see comments above about the basement being freezing though I did decide to use Goodreads to keep track of our book collection.
6. wedding albums - professional - We have it! It's beautiful!
7. clean wood floors - We've got the stuff to do it now.
8. figure out our bedroom furniture - We ordered and made a deposit on a dresser. It should be ready in about April.
9. honeymoon scrapbook
10. clean Snuffles
11. Christmas stockings - Leia, Sara, Autumn, Austin and Will - It was a miracle. I finished Leia's and have begun Sara's.
12. sort through stuff at parents' homes
13. get the bathroom fixed - ceiling, drains, and tub faucet - We're in denial about the ceiling.
14. organize recipes - they have been rough sorted.
15. organize all of mom's pictures from the 80s and 90s - I've gotten through 1992.
16. start PT