Dogs

It’s not a good sign when your laptop makes a sound as though it’s getting ready for take-off or when John asks “what’s that noise” and it’s the laptop    I’ve been attempting to save all photos, videos and documents onto an external hard drive.  Came across some video of Maya with her friend Hoss.  It was a snowy October in 2008 and they both enjoyed romping in the snow:

Big as he is, Hoss was careful not to hurt Maya when they played:

Favorite Girl’s Birthday Week

Timing for celebrating a birthday which falls on a Monday doesn’t work well due to busy school and work schedules.  We did take Logan out for a birthday dinner on the big day but decided to wait until following Saturday to have a small party with a few friends.

 

It ended up being a “birthday week”  ~ no complaints from Logan.

On Saturday, Favorite Girl invited a few friends over to have dinner, play few games and, of course, enjoy cake (or in her case cupcakes).

Her friends are so sweet:

Cupcakes were requested instead of a cake on both days (the actual birthday and the party day) so John made several trips to our favorite cupcake place, Georgetown Cupcakes.

Happy Birthday to my Favorite Girl!

Burns’ Supper

…or Scottish for the night.

A couple of weeks ago, John and I received an invitation to a Burns’ Supper.  We were thrilled we’d been included in a worldwide tradition celebrating the life of Roberts Burns, Scotland’s National Poet.  John and I consider ourselves well-traveled and worldly, but we were humbled to find neither of us had heard of a Burns’ Supper.

As I researched the tradition, the more excited I got about the evening but admit I was a bit intimidated about the prospect of it being “participatory.”  Especially if guests were going to be asked to read Burns’ poetry. I admit, my Scottish accent is non-existant and his poems are difficult to read, I can’t imagine trying to recite one of them.

A little background, Burns Night is a celebration of the life, works & cultural heritage of Robert Burns who was born on 25 January 1759.  He was a Scottish poet and lyricist. His most popular song being “Auld Lang Syne” which we sing every New Year’s Eve.  Old habits die hard and, being a Protocol person, I looked up etiquette for the event, going so far as checking out the “Selected Poems of Robert Burns” and “The Poetical Works of Burns”  from the local library.   His poems were written about everyday life in everyday language (language of the time) which was the first of it’s kind back in the late 18th century.  He was a poet for “the common people”.  For much more accurate information about Burns’ Night, click here.

The Burns’ supper we attended last night was so much fun ~ our very gracious host and hostess didn’t force us to participate in any readings. Whew!  He addressed the haggis with a long Burns’ poem and I think these words were included: Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race! Aboon them a’ yet tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o’a grace As lang’s my arm (Burns).  And a guest, with an excellent Scottish accent, recited the Selkirk Grace: Some have meat and cannot eat,  Some cannot eat that want it; But we have meat, and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit

There was also fish soup, neeps, and plenty of Scotch Whiskey to keep us nice and toasty.  I was the DD so John was nice and toasty and I enjoyed the delicious neeps (mashed potatoes).  Speaking of being the Designated Driver, John wanted to take a cab home so we could both partake in the scotch but, after catching a few cabs around here, I seriously think I’d be safer driving drunk than getting in one of these cabs.

The other guests were from a variety of countries and it was so enjoyable to see everyone’s reaction to learning about a Scottish tradition.  It’s safe to say the scotch whiskey was probably a favorite part of the tradition amongst the men.  Kilts were optional and there were a few men sporting them but I couldn’t convince John to wear one.

Here we are with our matching “Logan“ tartans (don’t bother with the teasing “matching” comments, we heard them all last night):

Book Signing in Arlington

Update:

It was definitely worth the drive to see Brad and, BONUS, we got to see his lovely wife, Elaine.  Brad’s talk before the signing was very informative (& funny).  He spoke about character development, how he selects locations, and how he takes precautions to protect those who are still serving.  I’m happy to see they are both doing so well and wish all good success for Brad’s future novels.

Here’s John and Brad at the signing:

I wasn’t quite so impressed with the Book Store    I emailed a week ago and specifically asked if I could have a copy of All Necessary Force set aside along with the David McCullough book, The Greater Journey ~ Americans in Paris.   Unfortunately, they sold out of the book and decided to sell MY copy before I got there.  I know you Kindle readers are laughing at me because all you have to do is click a button for your book, but I still like reading hardback books.  It’s easier on my eyes.

If you’re looking for a good read, I recommend you start with One Rough Man. 

I’ve always wanted to attend a book signing/author talk but, for some reason or another, have never make it.  But I’m determined to go to One More Page bookstore this Wednesday (18 Jan) for Brad Taylor’s book signing for his new book, All Necessary Force.  Brad is the twin brother of Scott Taylor, who was the best man at our wedding.

Brad’s first book, One Rough Man, is an action packed story of a Special Forces soldier who finds himself on the edge after his family is murdered.  For the first few chapters, I had a hard time not imagining Brad as the main character but, as the story went, I became so engrossed I forgot all about Brad and just enjoyed the rest of the novel.  All Necessary Force continues the adventures of Pike Logan and I’m looking forward to reading about how he gets in and out of predicaments.

The author, Brad is a former Special Forces officer and I can’t help but wonder how those who are still in Special Forces feel about his book. It contains A LOT of,  what seems to me, insider information.  If that were my profession, which relies on anonymity for safety reasons, I’d been a bit put-out but as a lay person, I found the book to be interesting and fast-paced.

One More Page promises to be an interesting book store to visit ~ they not only sell books, but they sell wine (and have wine tasting on site) and chocolate.  Can’t go wrong with books, wine and chocolate!!

Houseguests

We love having houseguests ~ it’s always fun to reconnect with family and friends.  Last weekend, we had a visit from Arnis, who was a friend of my mom’s and is now a friend of ours. 

It was a short visit but we squeezed in as much DC sites as we could.  First stop ~ the Pentagon. Then it was on the metro to Rosslyn for a quick walk over the Key Bridge into Georgetown.  Had a wonderful lunch at The Tombs then walked along the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial.  Got a good view looking back towards the Washington Harbor:

Unfortunately, the reflecting pool is still ugly under renovations:

We ran into a few “Occupy Wall Street” protesters and John decided to join in (not really but…)

     

Next stop was The National Archives for John and Arnis. Logan and I went to The Gallery of Art’s outdoor park. We’d both been to the Archives twice so we decided to enjoy the wonderful fall afternoon and people-watch in the park.  We ended the day with a wonderful dinner at a Thai restaurant in Old Town. 

The next day, Arnis and I went to Mount Vernon and took Maya (my dog) along with us. The nice thing about the Mount Vernon Estate is they allow dogs on the grounds (everywhere except in the House and the visitor center/museum).  Again, couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful fall day. 

Arnis left on Sunday afternoon and, on Sunday evening, I got a call from my Uncle Jules (my mother’s brother) and he said he, my Aunt and cousin would be in town on Wednesday for an overnight stay.  Last time I saw my Uncle and Aunt was at my mother’s funeral which was a year and a half ago and I hadn’t seen my cousin in YEARS!!!!  I was so thrilled to see them.  And it made me miss Hawaii A LOT! I t was a rainy afternoon so we ate and went down memory lane   My Aunt is a ardent gardener and spent a lot of time discussing my garden.  It was nice to get some expert advice.  Here I am with my Uncle and Aunt (and the Hawaii Ginger plant):

My cousin Jade and my Aunt:

And another nice surprise was that my Aunt’s niece was in DC with her husband who was on a business trip.  They came to the house for dinner and we enjoyed hearing about their travels.  They make us look like homebodies!

The biggest raves I got was for my eggplant/zucchini casserole and the “dump cake”  which is always a big hit

I have to say seeing my Aunt and Uncle makes me realize it’s been way too long since I’ve been to Hawaii ~ time to start planning a spring trip!

Although it’d been a very tiring week with basement renovations, John and Logan made sure I had a very Happy Birthday ~  How could they go wrong with Georgetown Cupcakes, especially the Key Lime, Salted Caramel, Pumpkin and Birthday cupcake.  Yummy.  We had a lovely dinner and then indulged!

Happy Birthday to John!

Favorite Girl and I had a nice birthday dinner waiting for John when he got home from work.  I even cooked chicken for him which is a big deal for this vegetarian girl   It was a recipe which required the least amount of “handling”.  We ate in the new breakfast nook because, after the removal of the wood paneling, we can’t seem to get tired of looking at it.

We made a double layer cake ~ chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate frosting in the middle and covered with vanilla frosting. Yummy!  And as you can see, Favorite Girl insisted on the exact number of candles on the cake:

Happy Birthday John ~ we love you!!