And I Ended Up Staying At Home

 A Beautiful Day at the Laudromat, Yesterday

(Although the Weather was About the Same Today)

Had a couple thoughts yesterday about driving up the peninsula, or going to a Cinema Cafe movie... but today all I did was make some awesome omelets for breakfast, bake banana bread for lunch, hang a few pictures upstairs (the ones I put into frames last night)... and suddenly I got the urge to clean up the front porch/entryway. Yesterday I painted the mail slot cover white... and I wanted to continue with touching up the trim around the door. But first I decided I'd clean it all up... including the vinyl siding that looked like it had never been cleaned before (ever). Three buckets of soapy water (and three sponges) later, everything looked brand new. So I got out the paint again and took care of all the trimmings. Then I decided to paint the concrete just below the doors since it was all cracked and discolored. This is something I wanted to fix the first day I saw the place... but I guess never got around to until now.

Church this evening was great! Continued their series leading up to Christmas of events that point to Jesus in the Old Testament. Today the topic was sacrifices... blood sacrifices (life is in the blood... without the shedding of it there is no forgiveness of sin), praise sacrifices, and finally, living sacrifices (and a lot about being able to approach God). Something I hadn't thought about before: the pastor mentioned that without Christ we wouldn't be able to approach God because we (in our sin) would be obliterated (as light obliterates darkness). What a thought!

For the rest of the evening, I am going to have a seafood dinner at home (crab and shrimp), and I'm going to watch To Sir with Love because my Darling made me think of it. :)

Jw

Back on My Own

As I was out that way already to pick up my car from the airport (as Meg and Jason had to drive it there to get off okay) I stopped by a repair shop to get my air conditioner looked at. As I waited, I walked around the corner and found a sports bar called "Winners" for somewhere to eat since I was starved. Had a bowl of chili and a hamburger and both were very good. Some retired Navy guys were hanging out there (it was only about 3 or 4 in the afternoon) and they chatted with me because I was still in uniform. Got home and cleaned things up a little, then talked with Meg for a good while. Even read in a book for a while (I organized all my mounds of books, sorting the ones I want to read next).

Today I made the most of my time... woke up after eight and a half beautiful hours sleep, had a simple breakfast, played my instruments, then loaded up the laundry and enjoyed a gorgeous walk on the beach as they dried. Did a little shopping as they washed... I love the location... where else can you do all that when you do your clothes? Upon returning and after putting everything away, I made some fresh spaghetti noodles for my leftover sauce with Italian sausage and mushrooms and watched the current Netfilx film from the mail: Michael Collins (1996) with Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman. After that, I baked another pumpkin pie, took a walk over to our private beach (right at sunset!), then set out for Pembroke Mall upon returning. Picked up some frames at Michael's, and had a little business at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Needed to return something, and pick up a chopper for baking banana nut bread tomorrow. Because I couldn't resist, I picked up a delicious roast turkey salad at Panera, along with a little guac from Chipotle. Was going to watch something else tonight, but I caught up online instead.

Jw

With Family!

So on the evening of the 15th, Meg, Jason and Jonna arrived in Norfolk to spend nine days with me! The first two nights were very brief and very late, since work took so long. And Thursday evening, my Darling Michael came for a long weekend at the same time.

We spent our first night together having some of Jason's chicken curry as we watched Persuasion from Netflix. The next morning Meg and Mike dropped me off in Yorktown, then picked me up in Norfolk that evening. And while they were there, I took them on a tour of the ship, from the bridge at the fourth level to my berthing on the third deck. We were all pretty tired by the time that was over, that we drove straight to our favorite local Italian place in Ocean View, Franco's By the Sea.

The weekend was marvelous. Saturday we drove out to Cape Henry to have a look at the lighthouse and the beach near the First Landing memorial. We even saw dolphins not far off shore just before we left. There were also lots of little crabs with homes in the sand. That night we had steak for dinner, along with stuffed mushrooms and fried (or mashed) potatoes.

Sunday was especially relaxing; slept in a long time, and had another wonderful breakfast at home. I baked a pumpkin pie and a chocolate cake in the morning. Mike and I took a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood together later on (after I finished mowing the lawn), then we went and picked up dinner at the Sunset Grill on Willoughby Spit and ate while we all watched The Court Jester again together. That was the film we watched on our first visit... back in 2009!

The 21st to the 23rd, it was just Meg and Jason and Jonna again. I got home between 2:30 and 3 every afternoon, and I adored just hanging out with them. Monday we made burgers with blue cheese on top, then Tuesday, we went out to El Azteca on Little Creek Blvd for some fantastic Mexican. While we were out there we stopped at two thrift stores for poking around and Walmart for a little errand. It was wonderful fun. Our last evening together, we made spaghetti at home. Meg beat me at Phase 10, and I held Jonna as much as I could.

Jw

Easy Going!

Today has been a wonderful break... many thanks to Christopher for his endurance and fortitude in coming to America. Maybe he wasn't a perfect person, but he certainly contributed a great deal to the outcome of human history and still is an outstanding role model for anyone lacking courage.

Last night I finished up the TV series on another visitor to America... I said goodbye to Stephan Fry as he finally reached the Pacific Ocean. I found out some new things about the country, including places I'd really like to see... and was excited to see him going places and doing things I've done myself... In the next to last episode, he gets to ride in the Sentimental Journey across Arizona that I saw in person (in Phoenix) in March 2010. I'm very jealous!

When he went to an Auburn Football game, he made a statement during the pregame ceremonies that I liked: "I really don't know of anything that sums up America better... that's simultaneously preposterous, incredibly laughable, impressive, charming, ridiculous, expensive, over-populated... wonderful... American." It was pretty neat with the crowd screaming the lyrics to God Bless America, while a few fighter jets flew by overhead. Stephan's face at that moment was priceless. 

I ate out for every meal! I haven't eaten out very much at all lately, so this was a dramatic change for one day. Started out with a crabmeat omelet at the Sandfiddler Cafe, then on my way to go shoot archery over in Hampton, I stopped at Panera Bread and had a hot turkey panini sandwich and a Greek salad. Picked up a couple frames for postcards at Michael's, then shot a few rounds at the archery range. Baked the leftover pumpkin pie materials when I got home, then went to church. I'm sorry to say I fell asleep after a while (it was a good sermon though... I'll have to listen to it online), since I never took a rest after a long watch and a full morning. After communion and singing, I went to dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill again, this time off of Battlefield Blvd, which wasn't far from church. The Seahawks won as I ate.

Today, I slept in, had a bountiful breakfast at home, then proceeded to clean the house... like a deep clean! Then I took some things to the thrift store, picked up some tacos for dinner next door, then got my car's breaks repaired just down the street. While waiting I had dinner, read in Neptune's Inferno and looked through a book I picked up at the thrift store... Rijksmuseum Amsterdam... a little picture book of paintings from their art museum... and that was a good bit of fun, purchased for $1.99. And then I talked with Meg and my parents for a good long while, and that was best of all.

Jw

A Few Things

With all the duty I've been standing, it's no wonder I barely have anything to talk about.

Wednesday, October 2, I managed to do something out of the ordinary, though... Cinemark in Chesapeake played Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and I made it in time for the last showing. Disappointed I missed To Kill a Mockingbird, a couple weeks beforehand; but seeing Jimmy Stewart larger than life was thrilling anyway. Someone in the audience gasped when the murder was done... I was on edge, myself, even though I've seen it a few times (first time as an adult, though - goodness, did I ever pay attention to details as a kid? A lot of it seemed new).

I baked a pumpkin pie last week, and only finished eating it tonight! I've been really lazy about dishes and laundry, but I forced myself to take care of both those things yesterday after a couple-hour nap when I got home from the ship.

I haven't ate out very much at all... I'm so wiped out when I get home, I usually have something quick, like soup and sandwiches. But Tuesday this week, I did go out to Franco's By the Bay for some delicious spaghetti... and I got a half order even then. After dinner, I went on to deposit a recent check from my Dad, then decided to go to Pembroke Mall just to poke around. I tried out Bed, Bath & Beyond for the first time... and I found lots of neat things... a few for deployment and a few for the house.

I've been playing my horn and cello... and today, while stuck in traffic on Tidewater after picking up a couple things at the store after work, I killed time (it took an hour and a half to get home from Walmart) by listening to and watching YouTube videos of The Piano Guys... which is all cello, all the time! Made me not go crazy! I started with their Lord of the Rings video, and that was probably because it was in my mind... I rented the second and third movies from the library the other day and watched them together... the way I've always wanted too... without any of the long, drawn-out, annoying, and dull scenes with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. It went a lot faster, was more congruous and enjoyable.

(On different occasions) I also watched Spencer's Mountain (1963, Henry Fonda), Letters From Iwo Jima (2006, Clint Eastwood)... the battle from the Japanese perspective... which was very interesting. And tonight I finished Road to Rio (1947), the last Road picture that I've seen. Lately on Netflix, I watched Merrill's Marauders (1962, Jeff Chandler), A Bit of Fry and Laurie (from the 80's), and more of Stephen Fry in America (2008), which is very fun and interesting... and another viewing of the highlights from Jane Eyre (1983, Timothy Dalton) because I love it so very much. It's so faithful to the book... shockingly good for 1980s TV. Of course, it is BBC.

Also tonight, I started a puzzle upstairs... so I have lots of choices of things to do around the house.

Jw