a little bit of political stuff

Republicrat – a citizen of the United States of America who rationally and without regard to partisan political boundaries concerns herself/himself with the well-being of the nation’s political past, present, and future.

This definition is courtesy of my husband, who has found a creative way to describe a phenomenon that might not be as rare as we first imagined.

A fun night

Last night we took our daughter to see Jeff Corwin. He came to do a fundraiser show for a local kids museum, and the frogs, turtles, lizards and snakes he brought with him stole the show! Oh, there was even an alligator!

Haleigh is a science fanatic, and she especially loves animals so she really enjoyed the experience. He called volunteers up to the stage and he would have them face the audience and hold their hands out. Then, he would hand them an animal from behind so they wouldn't see what they were getting until it was in their hands. At one point he had three kids up there, and he and his assistance passed a 6 foot long alligator over their heads and into their hands. The looks on their faces were priceless!

We determined after the show that Haleigh's favorite animal was the alligator:

Although she also really liked her dad's favorite, the monitor:

And I really liked the alligator snapping turtle:

Lots of fun!

Happy New Year (and today's history lesson)!

In the north end of my county is a town called Bainbridge Island. It is a real island, connected to the mainland by a beautiful old bridge, and a ferry leaves the other side for a 30 minute ride to Seattle. It is the wealthiest part of our county, being a bedroom community for Seattle, and the people value the glamour, natural beauty, and seclusion. Many famous people have homes there, but you'll never find them because they're just one of the crowd. Brad and Jennifer (when it was still Brad and Jennifer) once house-shopped there.

But the COOLEST part of this place is not what is there currently, but the history. During the World Wars it was a strategic area for American forces protecting Seattle, a major port city, and the Navy bases in the area. There are still old WWII bunkers built into the hillsides. Some folks say they are haunted, but I couldn't resist exploring anyway (in broad daylight with a flashlight!). There is Fort Worden, a former military training post, where "code breakers" were trained - and some of the earlier Japanese messages before Pearl Harbor passed through.

There is a rich Native American history in this area as well, with the grave of Chief Seattle being just outside the city limits, as well as a gathering place where the leaders of the local tribes used to come together and discuss the future and well-being of their people.

Bainbridge Island is also home to a significant Asian Population. There was a large influx of Japanese and Chinese immigrants prior to the World Wars. Did you see "Snow Falling on Cedars?" That was based and partially filmed there, documenting a dark period in the island's history, when Japanese-Americans were shipped away to be interned in protection camps during WWII.

All this history leads me to what is happening this weekend . . . a Chinese New Year celebration! You can read about it here. It's one of the biggest around. I'm not able to attend this year, but I'm already planning for next year! I'm thinking that I may possibly be accompanied by a particular family member who is intrigued by Chinese culture even more than me, so we will make an event of it, for sure!

Note to self

If you live smack in the middle of the downtown area of the city in which your husband is employed as a police officer, you should always think twice before walking out to the car in a ratty bathrobe and serious bedhead. Why? Because you never know when one of his coworkers will be riding by and waving good morning. Sometimes, they even like to stop and chat. The risk of that increases exponentially when you are walking one of the dogs.

Yes, I had a hiney-cringing moment yesterday. I just needed to grab something quickly out of the car, and it was still pretty early. I had my yucky old bathrobe on because the beautiful luxuriously soft baby blue one that my mother-in-law sent me was in the wash. My hair was a disaster. Then I spotted it ... the sleek silver patrol car headed toward me. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't turn around and walk back inside, so I grinned (or grimaced?), managed a tiny wave and ducked into my car. I can only thank my lucky stars that I wasn't taking one of the dogs out, because they always like to stop and admire the doggies.

Updates

My mother-in-law inspired me to change things up around here. While admiring her lovely new gray and red theme I realized that I have not updated my page in a while. So, voila! :-)

It is snowing here again tonight. The weather channel apparently doesn't have a clue . . . there's no snow anywhere in the forecast! We have a powdered sugar dusting outside our house, but there are cars sliding off the road all over the place in the rest of the county.

I am thankful tonight that snow is my biggest worry right now when it comes to weather. I watched the news last night of the terrible storms in Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama. I have always been terrified of tornadoes, and that made for some sleepless nights when I still lived in the south. If the wind picked up during a thunderstorm, it was not uncommon to find me sitting on the floor in our bathroom (the center of the house!) reading Psalms to calm my nerves. I cannot even begin to imagine the terror those folks were experiencing last night. I am thinking about them tonight, hoping everyone gets the help they need, and hoping those that lost friends and family members are able to find some kind of peace.

Just for fun

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this worldSo much so that you tend to live in your head most of the timeYou have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others.Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofsoulareyouquiz/">What Kind of Soul Are You?

Things, Part 4

Things I love: watching Shirley Temple movies with my daughter (thanks, Grandma!); getting to the "free coffee" on my frequent-flyer punch card; wearing a cute apron that my husband bought me for Christmas (it reminds me every time that he remembered a passing comment that I made about wanting an apron, then took the time to pick two he thought would suit me, and that just makes me feel special)
Things I do NOT love: realizing just how much money we spend on coffee; the idea of Hillary Clinton possibly leading this country; my mother-in-law taking a blogging break (because it sends me into a panic and makes me think she was attacked by rabid raccoons or choked on whole grain pasta or *gasp* just might not want to blog any more and THAT would be something I would really not love)