Gishwhes is Coming

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In five short days, Gishwhes will be here. I think I’ve done all I can to prepare, collecting assorted bits of odds and ends. I have two bags and a toiletrie kit with various and sundry items. I hope I can do well for my team. I have much less money than last year but I have just as much, if not more, enthuswiasm.

Here is a peek at some of the items we did last year. They are all my personal items except for the second collage, on the bottom of the Dinomite flying. That was done by my teammates in Denmark and was featured as a cover photo on the official Gishwhes Facebook page for several weeks.

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All images copyrighted to me, may be used by other Brave Little Ants teammates. Top, L-R: Turn highway rest area into paradise, Pop Vinyls at the Great Wall, Batgirl take Superman out for lunch. Center, L-R: Positive post-its on high school lockers, Team Logo, Gardent hack - watered by fairies. Bottom, L-R: National Geographic - The Padalecki, Tribute to Leonard Nimoy, Pack for trip to Mars.

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All photos copyrighted to me except the third one, all may be used by Brave Little Ants teammates. Clockwise, starting at the top: Vacuum your lawn June Cleasver style, What I Fight For + Uniform, Dynomite flying, 2016 Team Logo with rainbow letters, Welsh dragon pronouncing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

Summer Travel Project

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My husband wants to take the kids on a day trip to Boston – no hotel, free rental car. We’re also trying to go to Niagara Falls for a weekend before school starts up again. The map of Great Britain is there because next year we’re scattering my mother in law’s ashes at her home in and around Belfast.

I thought a good summer project for my two little ones would be to plan out the trips to Boston and Niagara Falls. They randomly got assigned a trip and are now using tour guides and maps from AAA to plan an itinerary using a budget of $500. That’s way high for the day trip but I wanted them to have the same amount to work with.

They’ll present their itineraries and suggestions on Thursday, and then trade to choose attractions and things to do for themselves at the other location. They’ll also check some things out on the internet later in the week.

My daughter really threw herself into it, spreading out all the maps, using post-it notes and highlighters. She’s found places; now she has to see if she can afford it within her budget.

We rely so much on navigator apps or GPS that they don’t really know how the maps work so this is a great skill to learn and practice. I’m not sure if it’s taught in school anymore. I know it took me a long time as a young adult to figure them out; especially finding alternate routes. But I could always re-fold a map properly.

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Clinton-Kaine 2016

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Today was a big news day on all fronts. The Republican National Convention concluded last night with its nomination of Donald J. Trump.

Jon Stewart returned to political television with a no-holds barred commentary, not just on Donald Trump but on the Republican establishment who relished in their hypocrisy and fear-mongering.

The Walking Dead dropped its season 7 teaser trailer at the San Diego Comic Con, and while of course, the trailer and the panel told us nothing of who died at the end of season 6 and Negan’s bat, it gave us so much to ponder for the next three months and one day that I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us, not to mention the horrifying new walkers previewed on Greg Nicotero’s Instagram.

Last but not least, Hillary Clinton chose Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia to run as her Vice President on the Democratic ticket.

I’ve been a fan of Tim Kaine for a long time. For some weird unknown reason, several of the Virginia politicians followed me for a short time on Twitter including the lieutenant governor under Sen. Kaine and the now governor, Terry McAuliffe.

Choosing Sen. Kaine was a good choice. He looks like a safe choice, but the reality was that Hillary Clinton had an overabundance of good choices and he may appeal to some of the moderate Republicans that were lukewarm at a Mike Pence VP.

When I heard Tom Vilsack’s name earlier this week, I knew immediately he was a red herring. Iowa. is not a state that Dems desperately need, although all states are important. He’s also too conservative for the Bernie Sanders’ supporters. WHile Tim Kaine isn’t as liberal as they might like, he appeals to several demographics across the board.

Personally, I was on Team Castro. I’ve been following Julian Castro’s career after hearing him speak at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, I believe it was.

Cory Booker and Sherrod Brown were great Progressive choices, and I’m a big fan of both, but in relinquishing their senate seats, the Republican governors in New Jersey and Ohio, respectively would have appointed someone of their own party, and we need them in the Senate.

The Senate also needs Elizabeth Warren to stay there and keep a fire lit under the Republicans.

Tim Kaine is a family man, more conservative than the rest of this list (with the exception of Vilsack), but is also progressive on issues of equal rights (LGBT+) and equal access (women’s reproduction). He speaks his mind, but does so without insults or hyperbole. He’s an optimist, which is something this country needs right now. He’s from Virginia, a southern swing state that has both liberal and conservative citizens, urban and rural areas, military and private sector and a variety of socio-economic people. It is a good state to look to for a microcosm of the country as a whole.

The most important qualification, however is would he make a good president if the need arose? Absolutely, yes.

Let. me know your thoughts on this team that really is Stronger Together. I have no qualms whatsoever at supporting them 100%.

Clinton-Kaine, 2016

Meeting Negan’s Victims; The First Time

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With the season seven teaser trailer dropping later today from ComicCon, and knowing that at least one of these eleven will not survive the first episode, I’ve been thinking that it was time to share my thoughts on how we first met them before we say goodbye to one (or two, as speculation has suggested from internet sources).

In some cases, our first meeting was quite different than Rick’s, and so I’ve included his first meeting with each of them as well from his perspective as the main character.

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50-10 – The Men on the Moon

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This Day in History – 1969

Apollo 11 landed on the moon today in 1969.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon with Michael Collins supporting their mission from the capsule.

My parents tell me I watched it on television, and I have vivid memories of visiting the Kennedy Space Center as a child. Space has always played an important role in my reading and television watching life from Star Trek to NASA to the Challenger to Pluto’s return as a planet with amazing photos.

Source: This Day in History – 1969

 

Originally posted one year ago today, I thought I would reshare it along with an additional anecdote that is part of my family’s lore. We all have those apochryphal stories that may be slightly embellished but it’s been so long that no one remembers where it came from or started.

My parents tell me that I watched the Moon Landing when it happened and despite being only two and a half years old, I was very much engaged in what was happenening on the television.

I have two uncles, both my father’s brothers; one named Neil and one named Buzzy. Upon hearing the astronauts’ names, I thought my uncles were the ones landing on the moon and pointed at the TV with as much excitement that a toddler can muster.

Another moon related family story is actually a piece of memorabilia that my grandfather had – a signed photo of the Apollo 13 astronauts with a flag that went with them on their misadvernturous trip to outer space. We still have this framed bit of history on my son’s wall, or at least that’s where it’s supposed to be. Photos at another time.

Somewhere in my assorted boxes, I have a doll-shaped, doll-sized, astronaut pillow from my family’s visit to the Kennedy Space Center. I loved that thing.

We also grew up near the Cradle of Aviation, Roosevelt Field. Long before the museum that is there now was there, there was a much smaller version, like old space equipment in an airplane hangar, warehouse-style that we took our class to. We played on the replica Apollo capsules and wandered around, learning about space exploration. It was a fabulous adventure.

A trip to the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum during their Star Trek exhibit in the early 90’s gave me the once in a lifetime chance to sit in the Captain’s Chair from the original series and use the transporter.

These are memories I will cherish and long before digital cameras, so I can’t readily access them to share with you. It does give me incentive to get into the basement and sort through some of those boxes, though.

InstaPops

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New Pops celebrating the almost end of the off-season. Ride with Norman Reedus finished yesterday, Major Crimes continues tonight, and Containment finishes tomorrow night.

We also just finished The Day After, a Russian drama with English subtitles on Amazon Prime. Entire first season, worth a watch.

Gifts

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On Friday, I talked a bit about my mother-in-law and the life she led. We were lucky to see her as often as we did, with her traveling to us by bus or once in a while by train before her accident three years ago, and our traveling to see her as often as we could. She lived about two hundred-fifty miles away from us so it was a long drive, but well worth it.

We were visiting her the last week in June. We had waited for the kids to get out of school, and down we went. We had no idea that she would be gone before we left for home. There’s being sick in the hospital and there’s sick in the hospital, heading to rehab to regain mobility and since she was the latter we were already making summer plans to visit again when she passed away.

She was able to have seen her three children and three of her six grandchildren. She admired my daughter’s outfits, which I mentioned on Friday were inspired by her own free spirit and her grandmother’s. She asked us about visiting my parents’ graves and bringing rocks from her garden. (Leaving rocks on gravestones is a Jewish tradition that we followed whenever we were at the cemetery.)

My mother-in-law grew up during World War II in and around Belfast to a Catholic mother and a Protestant father. I mention this again because it influenced her lack of use for the Church. She had seen too much. Even as her kids went to catechism, her opinions on the bureaucracy remained.

When I told her of my decision to join the Catholic Church and be baptized, she was nothing but supportive. She immediately went into her dresser and gave me the prayer book pictured above. She said she wondered why she kept it all these years; now she knew why.

On another visit, she gave me the keychain/folder that is also pictured above. I don’t know that she ever carried it seriously in her purse, but it was the most perfect piece of religious kitsch that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing.

She also gave me a little confirmation statue of Jesus and a girl that she happened to have, probably from one of her beloved garage sales, still in an old, dusty box.

Despite no love for the physical church that she remembered, she supported my new found faith and asked me about it whenever we were together. She enjoyed looking at my Easter Vigil photos from my baptism, confirmation and first communion.

No matter what she thought, everyone had their own path to follow and she encouraged them in it, always.

A Force of Nature

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My mother-in-law was a force of nature. So vivid and bright, even in the black and white world of a Northern Ireland childhood, the sun dimmed in her presence because he knew when he was beat. She didn’t wear pink; she wore fuchsia. She didn’t wear peach or salmon; she wore orange. Her red was the color of a rose or a fire engine. She had to go out and buy a black skirt to wear to my wedding. She wore it again to her daughter’s. Waste not, want not.

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