I would apologize for my very, very long absence from the blogosphere but I've been working or visiting every day since then so I won't. I was busily getting stuff to write about. Working for you. You are so welcome. Please, no gifts. It's my duty to you to try to have a reasonably interesting life.
So here are the highlights for those of you far too busy to read an entire blog post:
1.) My grandmother came to visit. We learned we are too tall to be pirates.
2.) Grandmother, fiancé, and I went to see the Dalai Lama speak. He laughs like Yoda.
3.) My parents came to visit. We went on the greatest house tour ever. Seriously.
4.) I've become useful at work.
5.) I had a birthday. Got a Crockpot. Awesome.
6.) Fiancé and I spent a small fortune on candy and carved pumpkins in order to entice the childrens to come to my place to trick or treat.
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| You can go back to looking at pictures of cats now. |
1.) My grandmother came down to visit me (and to see the Dalai Lama, but mostly it was about me. I'm sure.) Gram is quite the world traveler and it has long been on her life list to see the Dalai Lama speak. Of course, she was miffed that she couldn't go see him in Tibet but, to be fair, he's not allowed to go to Tibet either so her climb to the top of the mountain would have been greeted with a, "You're here to see who, now?" It was a great visit and besides seeing my man the Dalai we went to visit Jamestown because I refuse to let any one just have fun when there's history to be learned!
I have to talk about this. I'm so sorry but my inner exhibit designer has developed the most serious of crushes on the Jamestown Historic Site Museum. My reaction upon entering:
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| My God, they've used their funding for awesome! |
Go to this museum and witness how it's done. They incorporated all five senses, video, artifacts, interactive displays, and just a darn impressive amount of fancy reproductions of Native homes into one cohesive narrative that was just wonderful to experience. They even had full reproductions of the ships that the settlers sailed on over to Jamestown. These were very beautiful but, as Gram and I discovered, a bit tiny. I knew that people had drastically increased in height in the last 400 years but apparently I operated under the assumption that they still built things for future size people and simply used step ladders or something. Obviously all of history is built for my convenience. After crouching through all the rooms of the ship I emerged on deck and informed Gram of the sad fact that we are simply too tall to be pirates. It was a crushing blow but I think she'll recover.
2.) More importantly, fiancé, Gram, and I went to see the Dalai Lama speak at William and Mary. He gave a really wonderful speech about human compassion and how, as humans, we have the unique ability to spread our compassion beyond those we are genetically programmed to care for. It was a beautiful sentiment and one I hope to model but I mostly noticed that he laughed exactly like Yoda because I am a child.
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| We were seated almost high enough up to get that authentic Tibetan "There's no oxygen here" feeling! |
3.) My parents came down to visit for my birthday and this made me ridiculously happy. I am particularly close with my parents and the distance is not something I'm enjoying so being together again was definitely a happiness worthy of a cheery montage of us hugging and "Happy Together" playing in the background.
We like food, my parents, fiancé, and I, so this weekend visit was a festival of delicious meals. If I may suggest the following three restaurants if ever you are in Williamsburg, VA: Bonefish Grill (a chain so perhaps try your local one,) Food for Thought (a delicious menu and a great theme,) and Second Street (just so good. Soooooo goooooooood.)
We also went on an absolutely fantastic historical house tour. (You know me. It's not fun unless it's got educational value!) Speaking as someone who has been on so many historic house tours that I have lost count (the number most likely resting somewhere in the high double to low triple digits) I can say with confidence that this was far and away the most amazing house tour I have ever had the privilege to experience. We visited Sherwood Forest, the home of our (for the Americans) 10th President John Tyler. Tyler is noted for having a completely not notable presidency and generally just being there for one term and politely stepping out. However, this guy was super cool and the whole "being president" thing was about the least interesting thing about him. He lived in this gorgeous plantation home built before the country was formed (oh yeah, we're talking 1600s... I'm drooling...) married possibly the most fabulous of power playing trophy wives in all of history (girl talked her way through blockades like "oh excuuuuuuse me? Blockawhat? No... we gotta go...") and filled his home with the most amazing collection of stuff (stuff is the only way to briefly summarize the amazing array of things in that house) ever. Antiques, family heirlooms, Wedgewood, Waterford, Italian marble quarried exclusively for the house, gifts from Thomas Jefferson, a second edition set of Tristram Shandy, yeah. Dude didn't need to worry about that presidency thing. He was too busy being a boss.
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| Tyler, pictured here being too cool for the presidency. |
What made this tour truly exceptional, though, was not all the gorgeous artifacts that we were free to not only breathe near but get super close to but the fact that this was a private tour for just my family and I and that our tour guide was the most engaging and knowledgeable man I've ever met. This guy knew his stuff so well I just listened with mouth agape like a nerd-fish hoping to absorb some of his historical cool. The other thing that makes Sherwood Forest so unique is that the home is still owned and occupied by President Tyler's grandson. Yes, you read that correctly. I wrote grandson. The Tyler men apparently were rather, ahem, prolific, in terms of children making and had them late into life. The mixture of the beautiful antiques and heirlooms and the signs of family life made it so much more alive than any other historic house I've ever toured. Go there. Come to Williamsburg just to go there. Seriously.
4.) I've found something at which to be useful at work. Our database of tour companies is a hot mess and I can organize in Excel. Yeah, business! I also got to go to a trade show last night and got to do what I love to do and do best. I spent the evening talking to people about Busch Gardens and tours and generally selling people on the idea of sending tour groups to Busch Gardens while getting to gab away with lots of people. Joy upon joys, it's like podium duty at the Boutique all over again!
5.) I had my birthday while my parents were in town (23 and still getting gifts wrapped in Disney princess wrapping paper!) I got lots of lovely presents but I have to highlight my Crockpot which was a game changer in my kitchen. Anything I can cook in that thing I will. If I could bake in it I would. Fiancé also got me something I've been angling for for quite a while: my very own Phrenology head!
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| Behold the quackery! |
6.) Finally, I present Fiancé and I's attempts at carving pumpkins:
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Ensuring a safe trip home.
Fiancé intensely sketching his design.
Me, intensely tracing like the pumpkin cheater that I am.
Me beginning to regret my decision to carve Cinderella's Castle |
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| Fiancé shading like a pumpkin show-off. |
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| At a point I gave up on the castle and went for an old friend. |
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Castle turned out all right.
Please don't ask about the mysterious portal to pumpkin innards in the middle there... |
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| Fiancé’s is terrifying. He is such a boy... |
There you have it gang. See, I was away on a very important mission to find stuff to write about! I do everything for you. I'm
such a good person.
