3rdof4

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Been quite a while since I've been on LJ, not sure where to start to catch up. Hope everyone has a quiet, peaceful holiday.

Trying to get back to some kind of home routine, one more time.  After my trips for work to California, I actually managed to take a vacation week.  It was planned a while ago, my annual trip to New England with my GA sister to see our NC and CT sisters.  There is nothing like getting together for memories and good old-fashioned giggle sessions.  

This time instead of me driving up and down the east coast, we took the Amtrak train from Raleigh, NC to New Haven, CT.  Yes, I will be planning to do this again next year, the train was comfortable, allowed us to stretch our legs, no traffic jams, no tolls or bridges.  It was great for people viewing (I'm one of those folks who go to football games to enjoy the other people, not necessarly the actual game).  The route we chose was to switch trains in DC rather than NY.  I adore DC's Union Sation, it has restaurants, stores, art exhibits, tourist information, cinemas and the light streams down thru 3 stories of marble.  We were there 3 hours going to New Haven and 3 hrs returning to Raleigh.  Well worth the waiting, we saw a cross section of families, college kids going home for the summer, school groups, international tourists, military, govt employees and as always were reminded of just how bad the economy has gotten.  Most packed their own food and drinks, we did too, to save money.  Much of the conversation around us, reflected the need to watch budgets and  try to find ways to keep the younger chidren entertained with objects brought along rather than spending for new.  Anyone who has a stable job and a place to live is so fortunate, I know I am, it wasn't that long ago that I had no job and was in danger of no home.  Just watching and reading about the election in Iran and the escape of the NYT reporter after 7 months as a hostage has me appreciating my life even more. 

On a lighter note, my two nieces also had a few milestones that I was able to help them celebrate.  One had their Junior Prom, the other graduated from 8th grade.  Lordy, I can't believe they are so grown up! 

As far as my fan stuff, I still miss my shows and are waiting for them to start again:  Burn Notice, Leverage, Castle and Bones.  A new show that sounds good is Warehouse 13, probably because Joe Flanigan is one of the guest stars.  I am very impatient for the end of June, SGA Season 5 DVDs will be arriving, the behind the scene features will be the first things I will be watching within minutes of getting them.

I also have some Dreamwidth invitation codes if anyone is interested, just send me an email and I'll reply with the invitation.

A picture of Union Station with the light just perfect:  http://family.webshots.com/photo/2094805300032984860GvHLSu
 
My two nieces all dressed up:  http://family.webshots.com/photo/2778126490032984860HBXYDk

One more picture with my favorite Team from a site I still check daily:  http://community.livejournal.com/face_of_joe/65796.html

I'm home again, YESSS! 
My icon shows the highlight of my last day in California.  I was so tired of fast food, with nothing open but Denny's and IHOP when I would get back to the hotel at 1 AM.  I asked the folks at work where I might go for lunch on my last day (had to be there at 2 PM), they all said Vince's for spaghetti.  Lordy, I have never enjoyed a simple plate of spaghetti, salad and garlic bread so much.  If I had know about this place, i would have gone every day, they even have one on Rte 66.  Hopefully you can see it started as a diner in the 40's and sort of added on rooms since then.  Loved it!  I also found a Jack-in-the Box, that has incredible eggrolls.  Again found on the last morning at 2 AM.  Ah well, I also have good memories of last Sunday's drive thru LA, Santa Monica, Malibu, Topanga Canyon, back on Rte 101, and the foothills with Rte 66.  I enjoyed it, but I'm definitely glad to be home.  I get to pick up the 2 dogs and cat from the kennel this afternoon, and then all will be right in my world.
In non-food updates, I have several Dreamwidth invites to anyone interested, just email me your email address and I'll reply with an invite.  I'm still planning on staying on LJ and just using the cross-posting function.
Now I can start to catch up on what's been happening this week here, and take another nap.

Happy birthday to all this week,  Four that I know of: elandrialore, ladyflowdi, astolat and syble4.  Hope you enjoy and do something that makes you very happy!

I'm back in California for another week of the strange mid to night shift, covering for an ill co-worker.  This time I was smart. got a late non-stop flight and was here at midnight on Saturday.  Took Sunday to drive around, thru LA, Santa Monica, Malibu, some canyon roads, then 101 to the foothills and hooked up with Rte 66. Definitely have a better idea of the enormous traffic patterns, even on a Sunday, lots of folks moving around, I can't imagine week day commutes.  For the rest of this week, I may take a few short morning trips but working 2PM to Midnight is kinda hard for sleeping, not complaining, I love seeing everything!

As for my most recent shows, Bones, Prison Break and Castle - some interesting stuff.  Looking forward to consequences on PB, Bones broke my heart with the brother and sister last week, Castle has potential.  And I still miss my SGA Team!!!  I've never really had withdrawal from a show, but I guess this unsettled feeling of missing something, just might be it.

Well, I'm back from my week long work trip to Southern California.  That's just about all I was able to see, airport, hotel, work.  I ended up working 10 to 12 hour days, afternoons to early morning.  The only time I got to drive around was around 1 or 2AM.  At least, there was no traffic and I could see the foothills and actually drove parts of Rte 66 at 3AM one night., looking for a change from either Denny's or IHOP.    Nice folks and weather, I may be heading back to help again in mid May.  I'll see if I can't fly on Sat, return on the next Sun, to have at least some tourist time.

Now that I had today to catch up on laundry and stuff, I downloaded the last few Bones, Castle and the return of Prison Break.  Loved all of them and now can't wait for more.  Silly of me, I hoard three episodes or so, then watch them all.  Then, I start immediately trying to figure out when the next ones will be on. 

Anyway, HOME, my recliner and pets around me is the best place to be! 

Last official day for me of the Happy meme, I may just keep thinking and posting happy things for a while longer.  This meme has made me appreciate the little things again, naps, good food. pets, babies and sharing similar crazy life experiences.  It also forced me into (gasp) letting a little of myself appear online every day. 
The really good thing today was getting an invite for Dreamwidth.  Like most everyone else, I'll be keeping LJ and cross posting initially, keeping the same ID as here.  It should be fun to participate in the birth of a new site.  Endless possibilities...

Some pictures of John Sheppard that made me very happy today, over at Tex's journal...

http://tex.livejournal.com/335303.html#cutid1

I'm very happy it's Easter Sunday!   I'll be spending the morning with my sister, then heading for the airport for most of the afternoon and evening either on a plane or waiting for a connection (ATL then DFW).  The Masters and Easter apparently means no direct flights were available.  But I'm looking forward to all the strange and wonderful people who are going to be in the airports with me.  Finally, tonight, I will be in California, yessss!

I think that the full moon does some strange and wonderful things to people.  Today was an epidemic of hugging at work.  I walked into the break room and saw a former trainee of mine.  He works nights, I work days, we hadn't seen each other in what seems like years.  We both, without hesitation, opened our arms and gave each other a huge hug.  What made me so happy was that I couldn't seem to get back to my part of the office without being hugged by all kinds of folks.  I adore that warm, cozy feeling of enjoying the comfort of a friendly human touch.  I'm still smiling .

EIGHT DAYS OF HAPPY!

1. Post about something that made you happy today, even if it's just a small thing.
2. Do this every day for eight days.


Well, I thought I'd try this meme (just not the part about asking others to do the same)

My happy thought today is going to work today and finding out I'll be covering for someone in our Ontario, CA office next week.  Looked it up on mapquest and Southern California here I come!  It's about an hour and a half west of LA, and I'll be working late afternoons to about 11PM.  I should have mornings free to enjoy a part of the US I've never seen.  I'll be flying out Sunday, I do believe I'm going to enjoy the trip.