A Few Of My Favorite Things

I actually hate that song, especially when it's played on Christmas music stations. Blah! Anyway, one of the bloggers I follow recently did a post of things she loves right now so I thought I would follow suit.


Of Monsters and Men

My friend Nicole suggested them to me several weeks ago and aside from Mumford I've listened to almost nothing else. Try them out on Spotify (Mountain Sound is my fave).


Some Nights

Drew has had this song on repeat since we saw them on SNL a couple of weeks ago. The video is moving and I love this song. Plus Nate Ruess is drop dead gorg. Even Drew said so.

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Test Scorer

This is one guy's story about grading the writing portions of standardized tests. Maybe I'm totally behind on this but my mind was blown. It is very well written and not terribly long. If you are an educator, aide, parent, or a living, breathing human then read it. You will not believe it. For anyone who knows anything about SOL's and the pressure that students and teachers are under this will make you sick. You can read it here:

http://monthlyreview.org/2010/12/01/the-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-test-scorer



The Men Who Built America

 

I haven't watched all of these but rest assured they are DVR'd and saved up for a snowy day. I've heard nothing but good things about them and I will likely stay in my PJ's all day Friday and catch up on them. You can watch full episodes to catch up here: http://www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america


Lincoln

I can't describe to you the excitement inside of me about this movie. I hope to see it with my whole family while I'm home next week. Lincoln is our favorite. With the exception of my husband. communist I hope they do this great man justice but judging by the previews I don't think it will disappoint.

Okay, somehow this turned into the "entertainment" portion of my favorite things but there you have it. The interests of an aspiring historian/educator. Thrilling.

A late Memorial Day dinner

I am already preparing myself for the fact that I will cry writing this. I have always had such a soft spot for old men. I imagine it's because I lost both of my grandfathers so early in life, it's something you never really recover from. I still miss them both daily. I have been blessed to be able to have both of my grandmothers for so long and so many aunts that I'm very close to. But with the exception of my dad, I've had few adult male family members to be able to enjoy time with or receive advice from. But when I married Drew I feel that I gained two amazing grandfathers. Both of Drew's grandfathers are so sweet and loving and have made me so welcome. I always love spending time with them.

Drew informed me last week of meeting his friend David's elderly neighbor who was a WWII veteran and David wanted us to fix dinner for him. So last night, Emily and I cooked and their neighbor joined us for dinner. He is 92 years old, lost his wife to breast cancer and his daughter is currently fighting breast cancer. Immediately, I was in love. He had a great sense of humor (bringing his bottle of Wild Turkey with him) and told amazing stories.

He had plenty to talk about with Drew, David and Emily because he too was a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from Tech. But he was happy to hear that my degree was in history. Of course at 92 he repeated a couple of stories more than once but I would have sat there and listened to him for the rest of my life. His war stories were amazing and he was always quick to say he was lucky to make it home because so many did not.  He also told us about driving an army truck and accidentally ending up in the middle of Times Square. He wanted to be a pilot but said that he wrecked too many planes so he had to settle for being a navigator. Oh yeah, and he went to Casablanca during the war and got kicked out of a bar for stroking a girls hair. Man, he has had some kind of life.

He cried when he told about how his wife helped settle him down and actually finish college. And joked about his son only coming to visit to go to Tech football games. And spoke so fondly of his daughter who David told me comes to see him daily.

He kept thanking us and said that he was grateful to be in the presence of so many great people. But I could never thank him enough not only for his service but for spending the evening with us. It was such a special experience for me. I hope we get to spend a lot more time with him because he blessed my heart.

Until I met my dear college professor Mike Strouth, I didn't learn to appreciate our veterans. He placed such an emphasis on enjoying them while we have them. The rate at which we are losing WWII vets is staggering, something like almost 800 per day. And only recently we lost our last WWI veteran. Strouth always said that these men and women should be our heroes rather than the Kim Kardashians of the world. You tell 'em Mike.

Anniversary Weekend

Tomorrow marks one year with my dear husband. We celebrated this weekend in Manassas, VA. It was about an hour from D.C. and he and Ike drove up to meet me. We did a lot of relaxing but enjoyed our time together.

We stayed at a "Residence Inn" meaning we had a full kitchen which allowed me to cook dinner Friday before Drew and Ike arrived. Saturday morning we headed to the Manassas battlefield. It was a beautiful day for a walk and little history.

Manassas is where "Stonewall" received his nickname.

Ike and I tired out pretty quickly but after walking for 2 hours we still hadn't walked over the whole park.

It was surreal to walk over the battlefield. I will try not to get too "historian" on you but it was pretty amazing to see. To stand behind the statue of Stonewall and imagine what it must have been like to see him refuse to retreat any further. It was also crazy to think about the houses that were standing when the battle began. One of which is still there, the other was rebuilt. A lot of interesting stories there. I ran into the little gift shop to get something to remember the trip by and maybe a book for my dad but left there very overwhelmed and with nothing.

We took Ike back to the hotel to rest and headed to Old Town Manassas to get some lunch.

We ate outside at the City Square Cafe across from the train station. It was delicious and was a very filling lunch.

We then stumbled upon the most amazing book store in Old Town. They had all used books and had everything you can imagine. I racked up! I could have stayed there for hours but we both wanted a nap. The rest of our trip involved napping, relaxing, reading, playing a little tennis and snuggling with our puppy. It was the perfect first anniversary. I was very sad to see my boys head the opposite direction from me on I-66 this afternoon but I'm excited to be home with them again soon. 

Career vs. Job

At 22 I didn't expect to start my  forever"career" however an offer came my way to become the CEO of my own company selling insurance through Farmer's...you know the catchy commercials "We are farmers bom bom bom bom bom bom ba" or something like that. On Monday I drove to Roanoke to meet with a smooth-talking insurance salesman that has been in the business for 37 years and loved the sound of his own voice. I listened to him and nodded for 2 1/2 hours, in that time my mind went back and forth many times at moments it sounded like an amazing opportunity and at other times I was almost dozing off.

He wanted me to sell insurance in Blacksburg on my own, which sounded intriguing and the money sounded great but I just couldn't get the thought out of my head that I don't have what it takes to be a salesman and even if they could train me to do it, I wouldn't be able to stand myself by the end of it. Don't get me wrong I'm a good bull-shitter I couldn't have written all those papers in college if I wasn't but I'm not good at blowing smoke and believe me there is a difference.  He tried his best to convince me that it would be "helping people" and I know insurance is just that but it seemed wrong that I would be able to fly to Vegas at a moment's notice (as he was about to do the next day) and that would somehow be "helping someone." I had not completely decided against it until I got a call to set up another interview in a doctor's office just as a secretary, although I do not desire that to be my career that is a little more of what I had in mind for this time in my life. I intend to go back to school next year and do not think that would be possible if I were trying to run mmy own business. I don't mean to bash the insurance industry many people are very succesful at selling insurance and help people daily but in the end, I just couldn't do it.

I am excited for my interview next week in the pediatrician's office and while that may seem like a menial job to many, I know I will be much more satisfied and there is no price you can place on that. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me in the future, I hope to share my love of history with another generation and spark an interest in others to appreciate their heritage. As my uncle wrote to me in a card he gave me for graduation asking me to "keep history alive" and that is my new theme.

Jesus never fails.