Noisy HodgePodge

Happy Wednesday! Today feels like it's dragging! I've been at work for 3 hours and it feels like 3 days! I woke up crabby today and thankfully everyone has been leaving me alone!

Yes - because I'm crabby I'm doing as little work as possible. Let's do something fun instead.

    

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the 'historic triangle' which includes Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown Virginia.

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year? Any plans to do so? What's one place in America you think everyone should see? If you're not American what's one place in the US you'd like to see?

I've been to a few.

Boston - the link goes to my blog post about the trip.

USS Constitution - of course! Me, a former sailor, couldn't NOT go tour the oldest commissioned US Navy ship! I learned that, with the exception of supervisors, all of the crew is right out of bootcamp, so they have no experience in the 'modern' Navy yet.

Washington DC - link to the posts about that trip

The White House

This was 2015 so I don't remember why the flag is at half mast....

Lincoln Memorial

The Korean War Memorial - which I thought was more awe-inspiring that the Vietnam Wall.
The figures are all larger-than-life and so realistically carved that you could almost feel their emotions.

And since we were in DC, we had to go to Arlington National Cemetery.
We especially visited Admiral Grace Hopper, who created COBOL, the computer program that the Spouse uses. And Lt Kara Hultgreen, who was the first female fighter pilot in the Navy - unfortunately she crashed on the same ship I reported onto 2 months later.

A different view of the USMC War Memorial

(the one where they're raising the flag on Iwo Jima)

Not Philadelphia, but the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

This was also in 2015. The memorial was under construction, this wall with all the names was the only part completed.

Charleston - didn't get to do much sightseeing since we were there for a dance competition, but was there!

went on the Old City Jail Haunted Tour

We don't have any plans to visit any of these locations this year - it is mine & the Spouse's 20th anniversary this year, so we WILL be going someplace!  Normally we take a week or so and explore Michigan.  Maybe we'll switch it up this year.   I'd really like to make a longer visit to Salem, MA - when we went, we only set aside a day to go - and we totally needed longer!  And it didn't help that I messed up my knee running for the train. I was gimpy all day.  Another place I'd like to go (the Spouse is awesome that he indulges me this) is Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA.  

2. Three sounds you love to hear?

- I love going to take care of Sis1's horses when we stay at her house.  The closest thing to heaven is sitting in the barn, smelling hay, with a purring cat on my lap - listening to rain on the roof and the horses eating their breakfast.

-  thunderstorms

-  hmmmm (because I'm weird sometimes) helicopters / fighter jets. Bonus for breaking the sound barrier. 

and of course I like to hear GRAMMMY , too.  Since very little my grandkids do is quiet. 

3. Three sounds you hate to hear?

- repetition, like in songs.  I despise most songs by the Police because they repeat things over & over. 

- scraping a utensil on a plate - similar to nails on a chalkboard.  Or any sort of high-pitched squeak

- someone chewing (but the horses are OK - must be a grass eater thing)

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day. Are you a fan? With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please? Do you like nachos? With what on top? Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

I could take them or leave them.  If I'm at a Mexican restaurant and they put a plate in front of me with salsa, I'm all in.  But I don't usually seek them out. 

5. We March into March with next week's Hodgepodge...what's one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile?

How is it March????   I have one day that is going to be crazy busy, yet fun - I have a search & rescue drill in the morning, then we're going to see Monster Jam in Detroit in the evening.  Guess I should have consulted a calendar before getting the Monster Jam tickets!   Then I have a dilemma - each Sunday, the K9 part of my search team does training, they have some cool locations planned in March, Greenfield Village (which is an old-timey village with cool "districts" to explore) and the Renaissance Festival grounds.   As much as I'd like to go to Greenfield Village (an hour south of my home), the same afternoon we have an optional class that sounds really interesting - but it's approximately an hour north of my home!  It would be crazy trying to make them both! 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It's several hours later than when I first started this post - darn those people who give me a paycheck expect me to WORK!  

A couple weeks ago, I did a SkyWatch post with a truck at work that has LED eyes on the windshield - I just learned that we have another one!!  The truck was stopped almost directly facing my office windows and they were blinking at me!  My manager and I had a good giggle. 

Also my bi-monthly Pet Peeve - this is what I use to create the VFW newsletter and I never fail to cuss!

Linking up at From This Side of the Pond

Thanks, Joyce!

SkyWatch Friday 021926

Happy False-Spring in Michigan!

This has been our view for the last 3 days. 

Along with the fog, I'm currently also getting thunder & lightning! 

And it's 3pm and the parking lots lights are on at my work.

I took this yesterday afternoon around 5pm.

On the plus side - it's been warm enough to melt a lot of the snow around here! 

linking up at Skywatch Friday

Thanks, Alan!

Here's a pretty pic of my favorite tree.  

A HodgePodge Gem

I'm a day late for the HodgePodge this week! Jumping right into it.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. Do you mark this season in some way? Will you be giving something up or adding something to your life in this Lenten season?

My family grew up Catholic-ish, (never saw Dad in a church except for weddings, christenings or funerals) but when it came time for me (the youngest of 5) to do catechism, Mom had gotten into an argument with the priest about one of my brothers, so I never took the classes and therefore I never had my "official" first communion. I'm not even sure if I worded that correctly! But I have been baptized - it was a spontaneous decision after an outdoor church service. July 4, 2010. In a lake!

As for celebrating Lent - No. We get silly and say we're giving up committing arson or homicide, etc. Don't get mad at me for that!! I fully respect those who do try to make their lives better.

2. Pancakes...are you a fan? Syrup or no syrup? Plain, blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, or some other add in? Are pancakes on your menu this week?

No pancakes that I know of this week. I met up with my sisters 2 weeks ago for Sunday breakfast and the little diner we went to had pineapple coconut pancakes and also red velvet pancakes on their specials menu. Sis1 is not adventurous and got her usual pecan pancakes - they were thick and plate-sized. Sis2 got the pineapple ones - and they were giant puffy "German style" that were simply amazing, swimming in yummy, really sweet juices. I got the red velvet and they were a regular sized & shaped stack, with strawberries and cheesecake on them.  No syrup required!

There's a restaurant that the Spouse & I like to go to that has a lemon ricotta pancake and it's phenomenal. The place is called First Watch and I also like to get a beverage called Cinnamon Toast Cereal Milk - it's got rum in it. 😁

3. Tell us about a time recently when you felt 'spread too thin'.

It was just recently - November / December. We had just gotten our first snow here in SE Michigan and the Spawn (who does NOT have a good track record with winter driving) hit some black ice and wrecked her car. So I had to rearrange my whole schedule - get up crazy early and work from home for a couple hours (like online at 6am), stop and take her to work and grandson to school. Go into the office. Couldn't stay late since I had to get grandson off the bus after school (they don't let kindergarteners walk home alone). Then had wait a little while then had to go pick her up from work (she works at a daycare so the granddaughter goes with her) and then try to do household stuff / make dinner, etc.

She bought a new-to-her car right before Christmas and that was the greatest gift ever. She said it was her gift, but I benefitted from it, too - FREEDOM!

4. What's your favorite jewel or gemstone? In terms of your wardrobe would we find more gem tones, pastels, black and white, or primary colors?

My favorite gemstone is tanzanite. Back story - many moons ago - I went on a Carnival Cruise with the guy who is now the Spouse and several other couples. This is when he proposed - we had been on an excursion in Cozumel - horseback riding thru the jungle. He'd only been on a horse once before (also because of me!) and I had turned around in the saddle to see where he was, since they let us go as fast or as slow as we wanted and of course, I had to gallop down the trail. I was surprised to see him come trotting up, looking like a pro - and that's when he asked me to marry him. Yes, I almost fell off my horse leaning over to hug him! Anyway - he hadn't gotten me a ring yet since he knew I would want something other than a diamond, something unusual. And he was 100% correct! So, I went shopping on the ship with all the ladies in our group and I came home with the tanzanite ring that I'm still wearing today.  This July will be our 20th anniversary. 

I tend to wear a lot of black, but I do like jewel tones, too. I'm slowly getting more colored clothes.

5. What responsibility do you think is hardest about being in charge?

Discipline! I'm pretty close with my manager and I've seen her before she had to fire someone (multiple counts of breaking rules) and also when she had to let someone else go (one of several let go for cost-cutting) and I wouldn't want to be in her shoes at all!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I hate clothes shopping! We can wear jeans at work and one day last week, I got a random tear on the front of my thigh! Not on a seam or anything! So now I have to find a new pair for my rotation.  Ugh.

Linking up over at From This Side of the Pond,

Thanks Joyce!