Vacation Highlights, Part 1

Sue guessed right--we went to Virginia Beach, VA!  Wed. was spent just relaxing around the room.  It was pretty cold out on the beach, so I only walked the boardwalk for a ways--never went out to the water.  On Thurs. we drove up to Historic Jamestown and Jamestown Settlement.  The difference between the two?  Historic Jamestown is the archaelogical site, where they are still digging up artifacts.  The project started in 1994 and they are still finding items.   It is also a National Park, which means we don't have to pay admission, because Jack qualified for an Access Pass.  He's over permanently disabled, so he and 3 adult friends can get in for free.  ( A note on the pass--the site states there must be documentation, but the worker who offered us the pass didn't require any, probably because Jack's disability was perfectly evident.  The same pass is available for handicapped children, which also admits their caregiver for free.) They have the electric scooters, saving me from pushing a wheelchair up and down and around.  It was so nice.

Statue of Pocahontas

View from inside the 4th church built on the premises.  Note those hard benches to sit on!

Memorium inside the church

Statue of John Smith

Some of the gravestones recovered from the area.  Gravestones were primarily for the wealthy.

Where some of the original settlers were buried.  Of the 104 men and boys who set foot here in 1607, only 34 survived the first winter.  Later settlers built buildings over the graves, and only when the excavations started did archaeologists realize it was a multi-level site.  In fact, the James River has eroded about 25 yards of the original coastline here.

After browsing through the archaerium, where photos weren't allowed, we drove the short distance to the Jamestowne Settlement, a re-creation of the settlement.  It's run by the Department of Education of VA, so Jack's pass wasn't valid there.  The day was gorgeous, sunny, and cool--perfect for sight-seeing. I can imagine in summertime it would be oppressively humid, particularly on the boats.

Recreated Indian village--one of the small huts.

Storage inside a larger hut

Sleeping area inside the hut.  Storage also hung from the supports.

The 3 ships that brought the 104 men and boys to James Fort (the original name).  The one in front was the largest of the 3.  After climbing in and on them, I can see why no women set forth on this trip!

The kitchen and cook's quarters.  There was barely enough room to turn around in there.  One of the volunteers told me the brick pit was layered with sand to keep the heat from burning out the bottom of the boat, and there was a grill on top to let the smoke out.  He would cook a pot of food at a time, usually soups or stews, and only one meal a day.  It would take approx. 2 1/2 pots to feed all the crew and passengers.  The rest of the meals would consist of hard tack, and pickled vegetables, such as carrots. Blecchh!

The route taken.  Instead of sailing straight across, they sailed the warmer southern route, and stopped at islands along the way to stock up on fruits and meats and trade with natives for supplies.  We were told the ships sailed with 105 passengers, but one man collapsed of apparent heat stroke while a bunch of them chased a wild boar on one of the tropical islands.

Just another tourist--I wanted to show how difficult it was for a person to stand up straight in the sleeping section of the largest boat.

It was a fascinating day.  Unfortunately, I am allergic to something in the marshlands there, as I got hit with a major allergy attack, and spent the last 3 nights sleeping upright in a chair so I could breathe.  Friday we had planned to drive back up to the Yorktown Civil War battleground site and Colonial Williamsburg, but all I could do was take Benadryl and nap.  It was much warmer and there were tons of folks on the beach, but I was too miserable to go out.

My world became a little brighter when DD arrived Fri. night.  We went to Rockfish for supper, then back to the room.  DD tried out the indoor pool, but says it wasn't as warm as she was expecting.  Virginia Beach is definitely a young folks' paradise on the weekends.  The place was rockin'.  I wish I'd had my wits about me more to take photos of all the rollerskaters and bike riders.  There were even 4-passenger bikes, where everyone got to pedal.  Pretty cool on the boardwalk there!

More tomorrow!

Where is Waldo, er, Stephanie?

Work has been horrific lately. Usually I have a bit of down time to check out your blogs and comment on a few.  Not lately.  Plus, there have been mandatory inservices and computer-based learning modules that we have to do at home.  So at present, there are over 600 posts unread in my Reader--and I eliminated 200 of them from Pumpkinrot's blog a couple of weeks ago when I took a few minutes to quickly scroll through the photos he posts.

I felt like I shouldn't post on my own blog, because how could I ask you to read anything of mine when I am so far behind in reading yours?  But then, I decided that was your decision to make. So here I am.

And here I am:

I'm also here:

And here are some people I don't know, but who looked to be having a lot of fun with their dogs:

See how bundled up they are? It's cold out there!

Anyone want to take a guess about where we are? Besides "The Beach", that is.

I am so happy to take this much-needed vacation.  I'll tell you more later, and will post more (and hopefully better) pictures then, but suffice it to say I'm doing a little shivering in the chilly ocean breezes, and loving it.  Jack is indulging me today, as I said I needed time to just relax and breathe in some ocean air, read a book, walk along the beach.  And yes, I've already checked to see what quilt shops are in the area! lol

We had breakfast in the little continental breakfast room, but it was the most varied continental breakfast I've ever seen--scrambled eggs, sausage, and waffles in addition to the usual fruit, yogurt, cereal and breakfast breads usually offered.  Lunch consisted of sandwiches and chips in the room, but dinner will be fresh seafood.

In the meantime, he's enduring a little boredom today just to make me happy.  Isn't he a sweetheart?.

The next couple of days will be spent doing some sight-seeing, and then daughter will come down to join us Fri. night or Sat morning.  We haven't seen her since Christmas, so I'm anxious to wrap my arms around her again. I don't know if we'll just hang out all day, or if we'll do a little more sight-seeing, before another dinner of scrumptious seafood, but just having her around will be good enough for her dad and me.

Mmmm, the sound of those waves is making me sleepy.  Wish you could hear them.

Think I'll take a nap.

Mawwiage

Last night, while talking to my daughter on the phone, one of my favorite movies was playing in the background: The Princess Bride. As usual, couldn't help cracking up at the marriage ceremony.  Well, okay, in several places.  This morning, DD sent me this link: 

http://www.flixxy.com/wedding-ceremony.htm

I believe this marriage has enough humor to survive!

Tribute

It's the midst of my 4-night off stretch, and I'm working on trying to accomplish something.  Anything. 

I did get a bunch of scrap fabric cut into strips yesterday, but there are tons more where that came from.  But I needed something rather mindless to work on.  Something I could do through teary eyes and not worry if I messed up.

DD had to put her cat to sleep yesterday.  The grumpy old man.  The cat who, as a 5-month-old kitten at the pound stuck his paw through the cage and summoned Jack over to his side and convinced my husband he would be the perfect cat for our 15-year-old daughter.  The feline with more personality in one paw than I have ever seen in any other cat. He would have been 17 years old in May.

In his life, he lived in 3 different states, traveling from New Mexico, to New York, and finally to Virginia. He made 9 different moves, once living with 4 females, 2 other cats, a dog and a rabbit, to living only with my daughter and being totally miserable while she spent long hours away from home, studying.  He was happiest when there were lots of people around to do his bidding.

He loved ice cream and yogurt and tuna, and hated DD's singing.  He loved a fire in the fireplace and watching birds out the window and hated cat carriers.

He survived being hit by a car twice, an abscess on his head (unbelievable hole!), a near-amputation of his tail, being locked in someone's garage for 10 days and innumerable brushings. Under loud protest, he has spent the last 7 years as an indoor cat.  A talker, he had many long conversations with DD about why he was no longer allowed to go outside.

He "saw" DD graduate from high school, then college, then law school, finish a clerkship, and finally settle into her dream job.  He was a little part of her past, a little part of our home that could be with her when her Mom and Dad couldn't. 

But he was tired, and sick, and decided he'd done all he could do to raise her.  It was time to cut the apron strings. She brought him home from the vet Fri. evening for one last night at home.  She built a fire in the fireplace, and he slept on his bed in front of it all night, with only a few moments with her on the couch to give a few more purrs before resuming his place in front of the warm fire, his emaciated 6-pound frame constantly needing heat. 

Sat. morning she and a friend drove him to the vet, while he protested feebly from the cat carrier.  To make him happy (he loved to complain), she sang a few tunes with the radio.  He grumbled.  Refusing to take death lying down, he sat, and leaned against her until he could no longer sit and had to be helped to lie down. Independent to the end.

Well done, Cyrano.  Well done.

Through Rose-, er, Green-colored Glass

Back again, and feeling so much better than the last time I posted.  I really think I have been under the effects of S.A.D.--Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Despite having been born in the South and remembering November and February as the grayest months of the year, 20 years of life in New Mexico, Land of the 350 days/yr of sunshine, has left me ill-prepared to deal with all the cloudy skies again.

Nothing interested me.  I could sit for hours at the computer and play Farmville, because it didn't take much effort and I could forget everything else.  But movies? No. I've had the same 2 Netflix movies here for about 4 months.  Sewing? No.  I'd walk into the sewing room, and just turn around again and leave. I can't even remember the last time we went out to eat, but it had to be August or September. 5 bins of Christmas decorations still sat in the living room, ready to be packed up and put away in the garage.  It was all I could do to go to work.

I was just about ready to make an appointment with my physician and ask for anti-depressants.  In the meantime, I started back on my routine vitamins, and added 2000 IU of Vitamin D daily. It's only been 7 days since I did that, but I am feeling SO much better. The Physician's Assistant for my gynecologist tested my Vitamin D level in Dec. and they have been trying to get in touch with me to give me prescription-strength Vit D ever since, but we have conflicting schedules, and I just never got around to calling them the pharmacy I use.

Two weekends ago, it was warm and in the upper 40s, and I did some early spring cleaning--opened up some windows and cleaned half the windows in the house.  Took down some curtains to wash, did detailed vacuuming, etc.  (Of course, I might not have done that had I not smoked up the house with stuff that bubbled over in the oven and then burned toast the NEXT morning!) Got the Christmas bins put away and bought flowers at the grocery store to put in a couple of vases in the house.  This was before the Vit. D, and it helped some, but the difference in my energy level and just all-round well-being has been in the last week. 

According to my PA, Vit. D has been determined to be a big influence in boosting our immune systems, fighting some forms of cancer, regulating sleep irregularities, and even has an effect on cardiac  problems and insulin resistance.  As I am obese, diabetic, and a night shift worker, it stands to reason I would be deficient in Vit D. I know Cathi, who lives in Canada, says she takes extra vit D from October to June every year. Makes sense to me!

Okay, so that's your public health service announcement for today. In other news, here's the latest weather around Scrapsville:

This was all yesterday, when we were served another helping of winter snow--almost one year to the day from the last March snowfall.  (And yes, those trees are still down.  With the weather and my sleeping schedule, the guys just haven't been able to get them all up yet)

Tandi was having a grand old time in the loose, powdery stuff.  She came in with huge snowballs plastered to her ears and chest and belly--so much so that I had to plop her in a bathtub of warm water to get them off her, because they just weren't melting fast enough--and she was getting snow all over the carpet and sofa.  Baths are not her favorite thing, but I rewarded her with peanut butter doggy treats I baked yesterday, and she was satisfied.

This morning the sun is out, the sky is blue, and the wind has the chill factor down to 22, though the thermometer says it's 33 degress out there.

Most of these pots sitting on my back deck hold chives, and they were just starting to poke their little green heads through.  Don't know if they'll still be there once the snow melts!

The birds were more than happy to feast at the feeders

but this little guy was using his feet to dig a hole and look for seeds that had fallen below:

To help the spring come along a little more quickly, I put my spring tabletopper on the kitchen table, along with a thick-glassed old green pitcher I bought off eBay a few years back.

I love the way it looks with the sun shining through the glass.

Life is looking pretty good right now.  Amazing what a few vitamins can do.

I may even make it into the sewing room this weekend--and stay awhile!