Chicken and Sponge

Filling in for the working mom

As someone who can't type very good I am going to give it my best shot so bear with me for mistakes and such. Today is the second day this week that Sam is staying home due to a head cold. Rarely does she ever sleep past 7:00am and it is 7:45am and counting. When Sam stays home my little routine is thrown out of whack a little. I can't go outside for any length of time fearing that she will get into the wood stove while I'm away. As in past posts this is a validated fear. Even taking kitchen scraps to the compost can be challenging. Sam has been turning into a real daddy's girl lately. For the longest time she wanted nothing to do with me. Now when her mom comes home from work all you tend to hear is "mom,the door". She isn't being mean even though it comes across that way. It's just that I am the one at home now and Sam has switched to me for being the one she relates to the most. When I would be working or when both of us were at home Vick was always the chosen one as far as Sam was concerned. So obviously she is siding with whomever is the stay at home mom. Not a job I signed up for but at least she is interacting with me now. For quite awhile I felt like she would never warm up to me even though I knew deep down that she has loved all of us all along. Oops got to call the school and let them know Sam is staying home. I'm back. The monster has woke up. Yea! Her bed is dry! I always thought my wife was overreacting to alot of things that I'm finding out are not overreactions. Laundry is one of those things I felt didn't require merit. How did I ever come up with that conclusion! ALL DAY LONG! Not to mention trying to fold which I'm terrible at. I do try but it probably isn't up to specs with my wife. At least she doesn't complain about my lack of ability to fold clothes. Doing the cooking and dishes are old hat for me. I did enough of it at our place in Alaska that I could do it in my sleep. I really don't mind making dinner but coming up with a menu in this house can be challenging. I just try to think of it as a dinner ticket with 3 different dinners to prepare. Sam only likes certain things so I try to make a surplus of those things and just reheat when she is hungry. Oh I forgot she likes her food cold. No reheating. Miranda is the most challenging because I forget she is a vegetarian. Is she really my kid? Come on now, a vegetarian! She likes her lifestyle and if it's good with her it's good for me. As far as Vick and I you can throw just about anything on a plate and it will be good enough. I think the hardest thing for me at home is not being able to deal with the clutter. If I had it my way I would get rid of alot of things that would probably end me up in divorce if I did. I have come to realize that you don't throw anything away that has text on it unless you have cleared it through my better half first. Junk mail is okay but keep your hands off the rest. I will spare you all the details so you will have to just trust me on this one. Sam is wanting my laptop for her use so I am going to end my post here. If you don't mind I would like to give this a go on those days that my wife takes off. Her schedule is more hectic now and a little relief from blogging every day will really help her out. Let us know how you feel about that and hopefully you will read my stories in the future. Oh, by the way, how many curse words were there? I guess I'm only foul-mouthed when speaking!

Miranda Visits Arlington National Cemetery

   

  Arlington Cemetery is home to people who have lost their lives and some even their identities. We went to Arlington and I began snapping pictures. But, I found many things that proved interesting.

    We visited the Tombs of the Unknown Soldier. I watched as the guards switched shifts. It began with the ringing bell. Then marches began to happen. Soon wreaths were laid on the tomb and it felt more like we ALL had paid our respects as our hands were over our hearts.

    JFK was an amazing president. He is one of my favorite presidents. I walked up the marble steps. All was silent except the sounds of people in the distance. I looked at the grave and of Jackie's and even their two children.[note from Vicki:  ???  I will ask Miranda of this later, since Caroline is still alive.  Miranda has been sending me posts LATE at night and the exhaustion is beginning to show].I saw the eternal flame, never blowing out never needing re-lighting.

    Arlington was great. We saw many graves, many tombstones, many people. But most of all we saw many graves of people who were in their deepest time of rest.

Room Mates and Group Mates: Miranda Shockey

     

Group mates and room mates. They are what wakes me up (well, I guess the hotel lobby does),  they are what keeps me giggling all night, and finally, they are the reason the security guard down the hall hates me.

        Alyssa: She is the "responsible" one, she is the one who lets America borrow her phone to call her boyfriend, she is the one who enjoys stupid scary stories about hairy toes. Alyssa is the one who has a sense of fun, enjoyment, and reason mixed together in the quirkiest way known in the species of humans.

    America: She is the crazy, goofy girl you see in the mall and you know that her friends can't stop laughing "with her." She talks all night with her boyfriend and tries to explain simple things in a twisted way. She doesn't kick in her sleep but, she knees your spine. She constantly says "Guess what? I got a postca- wait that's what they're calls, right?" She may be crazy, goofy, and twisted but, she's all of those things in a good way.

    Shelby: She reads, laughs, and goofs around. Shelby has a great sense of humor and still tries to remain reasonable with our insane giggles. She is great and I'm glad to share a room with her.

    Layla, Keely, Robyn and, that's almost it: All of them are great. they all use the bathroom SO much. And they all wander. But they all have awesome personalities.

    Janay: She is the only one with a bladder  that's not microscopic. She actually watches PARTS of the tours but, that's better than some of the other groups. Janay has a great personality that is full of sarcasm that is only 1/4 of the time pointed at me.

 

I find all of these people great and great to be with  and any character flaws add to their character of quirkiness EVEN more!

Little Sleep Big Adventures: Miranda Shockey

    

 D.C. started with the most fun of travel days! Not really! We got 4 hours or less of sleep on the bus. We all started off like Layla (pictured above) we were wide awake and perky. Like I said we 'STARTED' we didn't end perky.

    

 We went to the air and space museum first. Let me tell you, this museum reminded me of my nightmares from science class after the movie is over and we are stuck after class for talking during a movie about space and a monkey. BORING! Although to create your own universe was interesting.

    The Holocaust museum was great! If you haven't heard there was a shooting a week ago that killed a security guard. So, they decided to have an evacuation drill. The delayed start sucked more than you can imagine. We finally got in to the most crowded rooms in the galaxy. It was fun and one of the saddest things I have seen. My favorite was the hall of pictures. It was one of my favorite things of the day.

    .

    But the Smithsonian History museum was great. But, not the best. I loved seeing the original Dorothy ruby slippers. It was AMAZING! I loved seeing the pop culture of the museum. I would come back again. Although the gift shop was full of political books and  how-to books there were marbles and those were fun.

    D.C. is great and maybe someday I can spend a month here with more than 3 hours of sleep. So far my roommates are great. That is, everyone but America, who has 'indecision' --and I have a suspicion of being a former blonde.

                  

Traveling: by Miranda Shockey

    

 As usual for me it didnt hit that I was actually going to D.C. until I was in my hotel room taking off my make up and my room mates told me that Mrs. Gamble had just told them 10 minutes until the next check.

    We started this all-day journey in Portland where it took FOREVER for one of my group mates (the groups and rooms are completley different) to finally arrive. WE had just checked in baggage and for the first time in my life my bag weighed the unbelievable weight of 11.8 pounds. ANd this was going to last me a week!

    We then got on the plane after eating lunch of a LOT of fries. On the plane there was ZERO turbulence. I like turbulence and I figure I'm not going to die and if I do, well there are worse ways to die.

    We landed in Denver and the airport was the biggest I have been in yet. Kenya and I ate pizza for dinner while the others ate Ben and Jerrys. The plane itself was fun to be on. There was a LOT of turbulence and I enjoyed it, until I had to pee and there was a line of over SIX people. Our flight was late taking off and early arriving so all I know is that I was in D.C. at 1:00 am.

    When we got to the hotel at the unbelievable late time of 2:00 am and I got to sleep, the last I saw the clock it read 3:00 am, so I know that I got 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Well, maybe on my flight back I can sleep for the day. Hopefully.