Christmas

This was our first Christmas completely by ourselves.  Jess and Nic are both in Utah and Taylor is in NYC.  He was off work Christmas day but had to work the day before and after, as well as pick up his girlfriend at the airport so he couldn't come here either. The thought of us spending the holiday alone was fine but I was concerned about the kids.  As it turned out they were all fine and I think I spent way too much energy fretting over it.

The only plans we had for Christmas eve included a church service but it was at a new location so we opted to leave early and do a little Green Line Metro exploring along the way.

 First stop The United States Navy Memorial which we happened upon just as we exited the metro on our way to the National Archives.  They were getting ready to close early so we did a quick walk through before heading to the Archives.  No photos inside the archives because flashes can damage the documents but there are lots of amazing things to see.  Great gift shop as well (kind of a sucker for museum gift shops) so we puttered around there for quite a while.

Next stop was The Gallery/Chinatown Metro where there's a large Regal movie theatre next to the Verizon Center.  We went to see Saving Mr. Banks which we both loved! After the movie we hopped back on the metro to head to U Street where the church service was being held.  We weren't sure how close it was to the metro but it turned out it was literally across the street so we had some time to burn.  Found a little corner joint and stopped in for a drink and had a phone conversation with Nic before heading over to The Lincoln Theatre for the Christmas Eve Service @ 5PM.

 They had all the kidlets come up on stage for the live nativity then brought out the goats, sheep and donkey as they told the story.  It was great fun and the kids were thrilled.  A lovely message from Pastor Mark then we headed home.

 Christmas morning was leisurely and lovely.  Watched a service on tv then we opened our gifts.

My parents sent us Rack-O which we love in addition to some clothes & books!  We got several books which is always a good thing.

 Tom gave me a gift certificate for dance lessons together so I'm sure that will make for some great blogging material…..

This came on the tv for a couple of hours along with holiday music so that was kind of awesome to enjoy while we played games.

The rest of the day was quiet as we lounged in our pj's all day, watched holiday shows, read, played games and fixed dinner.  A lovely, small Christmas.

Marie Comes To Visit

Tom's sister Marie drove from NJ for a short weekend visit and we kicked off Friday evening with a quick drive to National Harbor to see ICE!  The whole harbor is beautiful with all the lights and activities but we headed to the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center which is decorated magnificently for the holiday.

 We came for the ICE! show which is in a large tent just outside the hotel.  This is an annual event and this year's theme was:

We were issued these cozy coats as it is 9 degrees inside the tent and I can tell you my hands were achingly cold by the time we came out maybe 30 minutes or less later.

 I don't know what I expected but it was all more intricate than I could imagine.  Couldn't fathom working in that space for long periods of time but here's a link that talks about the artists.

There were these cool (literally) slides that the kids were having a blast on so Tom and I felt compelled to give it a whirl.  With our blue mega-parkas tucked strategically behind our butts, it made for a speedy ride down the ice!

 It was very tempting to not touch the ice though we had been warned not to…..I had visions of A CHRISTMAS STORY and not being able to remove my hand so I heeded the wisdom of the employees and kept my hands to myself.

 After the Night Before Christmas carvings there was also a room with a salute to NYC and then the gorgeous nativity all made of crystal ice.

Because I couldn't maneuver my camera with my gloves on I had them off the whole time we were in there and seriously, as my fingers thawed out (it was an unseasonably warm 65 degrees outside!) they hurt like heck.  Can't imagine what frostbite must feel like!

Strolled back through the hotel to get to our car and enjoyed some more of the gorgeousness of it all!

 

I had spent some time the last week going through recipes and had pulled out a few I wanted to try as I am attempting to dump some that I've held onto for years.  I know you're never supposed to try out new recipes on guests but I always do it anyway.  So it was a Mushroom Leek Bread Pudding with Gruyere Cheese.  Our consensus was….it was okay; really just a glorified stuffing so it went in the trash (the recipe) but we still enjoyed the dinner.

 Marie had brought some items from the Italian Market in NJ to make meatballs, sausage and sauce but we needed some additions along with a few things she needed from Costco.  Tom and I had accidentally run into this flea market one weekend but it was almost closed up so we stopped again on this Saturday morning to check it out as we started out for errands running.

I won't go into the misery of trying to maneuver DC traffic on the Saturday before Christmas but it's a good thing I didn't have this knife in my hand during the hours it took us to make two stops!

 Marie and I spent the rest of the afternoon making homemade meatballs, sauce and sweet and hot Italian meatballs to have for dinner later in the evening.  I was hoping we could get out and see some more things but Marie was just getting over a bad sinus infection and really just needed to crash so instead we settled in after our yummy dinner and watched White Christmas.

 Sunday morning was still warm but drizzly, so after church we took a walk over to Eastern Market where Marie bought this beautiful scarf (she bought me one too!) before we jumped back in the car to do a quick tour of the city.

The scaffolding continues to come down….

View of The White House from the steps of The Jefferson Memorial

The tidal basin from The Jefferson

 We finished off the tour with a drive through our old neighborhood and a stop at Tom's office before heading back so Marie could be on the road by 1pm.  A quick trip but we can squeeze plenty into a weekend!

A Weekend in December

Wreaths Across America

 We received an email out of the blue that the DC chapter of the U of U alumni club was meeting to lay wreaths at Arlington Cemetery so we decided to join them.  As there were thousands of volunteers we were grateful for the U flag so the group was easy to find!

 There was a program to kick it off but the sound was horrid and we couldn't hear any of the speakers.  They just had us line up at any semi truck that was parked around the cemetery and gave each of us 2 wreaths to start.  They directed us to a section and were very specific about laying the wreath at a 45 degree angle, bow on top, and taking time to read the name on the headstone.

I watched as this group came in formation, layed their wreaths, stood in silence, then saluted and marched off.  There were other servicemen and women who were clearly laying their wreaths on fallen friends.  Very touching.  

 The "get er done" part of me couldn't figure out why they just didn't give us each an armload but I soon realized they wanted to make sure each volunteer had an opportunity to lay 2 wreaths and they wanted us to take the time to acknowledge the fallen soldiers.

 Ultimately we ended up with about 6 wreaths each to lay.  After we were finished we stopped at the Tomb of the Unknowns and watched a boy scout troop assist in the laying of a wreath there.

 The weather was pleasant enough and we had dressed in layers so we were in good shape.  We ran into our friend Jeff Smith as we were leaving (we had avoided the massive parking and Metro jams by parking on the base at Fort Myer) so we visited with him awhile before heading to Ikea to exchange an item them drove to Silver Spring to see 12 Years A Slave.  Very good, but VERY difficult to watch.

Downtown Silver Spring, MD

We were invited to a wonderful Christmas Music Celebration at Vienna Presbyterian Church Sunday afternoon.  As we were going in Santa came by in an old firetruck!  The musical program was gorgeous as they have an 80 voice choir, a strings and brass section, a youth choir and bell choir.  After the program we went with our friends the Fuhrmann's to their home where they had also invited neighbors to join us for yummy snacks and fascinating conversation.  It was a very full but great weekend.

Snow Day

So yesterday before 5 AM Tom's phone started ringing and as we both have message alerts on our phones, those were going off as well.  Tom has been planning a huge exercise for months now that people have flown in for and traveled and planned and you name it…….so of course, based on the weather predictions, the "higher ups", whoever they are, cancelled the exercise and closed the govt. for the day.  So Tom had to get on his phone and start alerting everyone that the exercise was cancelled.  They were also supposed to be doing part of this exercise at the National Cathedral today but because of Nelson Mandela's service there today, that exercise was cancelled as well.

Being the "used to driving in REAL snow" Westerners we are, we decided to take our chances, weather that storm, and go into the office while it was quiet so he could get caught up on some work with no one around.  We hit the road before 7 AM, stopped for fast food and headed in.  As you can see from the above photo, this storm was not very daunting.

 Our "time" at the office turned into ALL DAY so fortunately I had brought along quite a few items to work on.  Advent readings, a new calendar to update, devotional readings, and then I found old magazines in the women's restroom so I of course had to scour them for beauty tips, recipes, cost saving suggestions and articles that I will include in Jessica's Christmas package with many of the above tips for her as well.

 I did take a break around 3 pm to run to Whole Foods.  By then the treacherous weather had turned to this (see below)……so it was the best and easiest driving I've had since we've been here.  Federal govt. closed and schoosl cancelled! I took my time, grabbed us some salad bar food which turned out to be lunch AND dinner (because that's all you can afford when you shop at Whole Foods) along with the few other items we needed then headed back to do some proofreading for Tom, clean messages off my phone, make some phone calls and find some more magazines.  We rolled into home about 6 pm and that, my friends, is a productive snow day.  With no actual snow.