Greektown!

Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, Food, , , ,

After work, I caught Mass at Christ the King in Ann Arbor, then headed to Detroit to meet up with Allie in Greektown. We snuck into Old St. Mary’s, piggybacking in the building as others were exiting for about 10 seconds of Adoration.

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Allie had already eaten, as I was delayed in getting there, but she graciously had First Dessert while I had some delicious Pastitsio at New Parthenon.

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Next, we went about 2 doors down the street and salivated at all of the desserts and pastries at Astoria’s. Finally, we made our selections (each of us chose a macaroon and one other item) and sat down for more conversation. We ate our French dessert in the middle of Greektown with NO shame. 🙂 We talked for hours and I laughed until my abs hurt.

It was a perfect night: warm, but not hot; no humidity; a slight breeze. There were street musicians and a ton of people walking around. The city was beautiful. I left with my key lime cheesecake as a souvenir to be enjoyed at a later date. (Allie may or may not have had an entire day’s worth of leftovers to take home, including an eclair from Second Dessert.) Allie may be making Old St. Mary’s her home parish, and I definitely think I’ll be returning soon to check out more of what Greektown has to offer.

A Pretty Day at Work

Exciting Adventures of the Everyday, ,

It’s hard, sometimes, working in a building that has (almost) no windows.  I never know what the weather is like outside.  Usually, we can hear the rain (like a thousand cats on a hot tin roof), but whether it is overcast or sunny, hot or cold, is rather a mystery.

The smokers among us escape every so often and go outside, and there are a couple of people who take daily walks at lunchtime.  I tend to eat at my desk and work through lunch and take no breaks.

But today, I decided to order Jimmy John’s.  It was so pretty out, that I went back upstairs to grab my phone to take a couple pictures of the building.  (That and the Jimmy John’s guy was stuck at the gate and I had to call him.)

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National Day: Go Barefoot Day

Planner, Planning, , ,

I’m a “planner girl,” if you haven’t yet noticed from my other social media outlets.  🙂  I am deep in the weeds of it, using stickers and washi tape and the whole deal.  I love it.  It helps me organize my life, reflect on my life and how I’m spending my time, and has introduced me to an entire community of like-minded women – many of whom I have had a chance to meet in person recently at Geaux Wild (I swear, I will post the Geaux Wild stuff soon-ish).

I have a subscription to Design Pandemonium, which sends me a set of coordinating stickers every month.  In the set, there’s always a sheet of “National Day” stickers. These tell you the unofficial, official holidays for random things.  Like today, which is “Go Barefoot Day.”

I may not do this for every day, but I thought it might be cute to comment on them as they come up.  Because I love random celebrations.  🙂

Go Barefoot Day is not a day that I will be celebrating.  I hate going barefoot.  And from my podiatrist friend, I’m told that it’s better if you protect your feet in socks and shoes.  I don’t think my feet are cute, and I like socks.  🙂  So there you go!

I’ve Got This Watch

Holidays, Navy, Sea Stories, , ,

I apologize in advance for the ramble-yness of this post. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this, but they aren’t very well organized.

Today’s Memorial Day.

What does that mean?

I guess to most people, it means a three-day weekend, gathering with friends and family, grilled food, openings of pools and hanging out at beaches, and the start of summer. For me, until I joined the Navy, this was my predominant view of the holiday. And while celebrating this American way of life is good, and being with friends and family is important, it’s so much more than that.

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Memorial Day – the holiday itself – is for remembering those who died while serving the United States Armed Forces. I have two in particular which I remember:

Rene LaMourt: He went on his first deployment on the USS Eisenhower and was out at sea for more than six months. When he returned, he took some leave and was going to fly home to visit his family. On the way to the airport, the girl giving him a ride to the airport got a flat tire. She pulled off onto the shoulder of the freeway, and Rene started to change the tire. While he was getting the jack out of the trunk, another car hit him and he was pinned between the two cars. They had to amputate both his legs in the hospital and he died of shock that evening.

Rene wasn’t officially “on-duty” when the accident happened, but he never made it home. And he was serving. He was helping someone else out. Because that’s what military people are: Servicemen. We are broken down in boot camp and trained to give our lives for our country, for our brothers and sisters in the Armed Forces, and for any person who crosses our path who needs our assistance. We are trained to follow orders, to complete the mission, and to disregard ourselves in doing so. We disregard ourselves, but we know that the soldier standing next to us has our back and will give his life for mine. Just as I will give my life for his. So, we can be off-duty, or separated, or retired. But we are still on-duty. We are still military. We will still serve. Because it’s who we are now.

Chris: I’m leaving his last name off on purpose. He went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He came back home to his wife and children. A few months later he committed suicide.

PTSD is real. War is hard.

Sacrifice. We sacrifice a lot by being in the military. Some personal liberties. Comforts of home. Family. Friends. Safety, sometimes. Privacy. We also gain a lot: bonds that go far beyond friendship, opportunities to see places we’d never have seen on our own, opportunities for education, growth in strength and character, an understanding of what it takes to be a strong nation, exposure to other nations… Our families sacrifice, too. Military members’ salaries are not on par with people with equivalent jobs in the private sector. We do look after each other so that no one is without a home or their families are not fed, but it is often a very tight budget. That’s okay, we are resourceful, if nothing else. Our families have to be strong while we are deployed. They are without us. Relationships are strained. Some of us never make it home. On Memorial Day, we honor not only those of us who gave all, but also their families, who also gave all.

I was thinking about these things as I got ready for work today. I had to work today. Most of my friends have the day off and are spending it doing those Memorial Day weekend things. I’m seeing lots of posts on Facebook about grilling and being at the beach and the pool. I was invited to a barbecue at my best friend’s house that I had to decline. But I’m okay with it. Because we are remembering the fallen. And the fallen are my brothers and sisters. Because the military makes you family, even if you’ve never met. Even if you’re from a different branch. And if my brother or sister is not able to stand watch, you fill the gap and do the job to carry on the mission. It’s just what you do. You keep on keeping on, as they say. You live for them in a way. You take care of their families. You serve, because they can no longer serve.

I am happy to be serving today, in what little capacity I can.

Rest easy, brothers, I’ve got this watch.

Jennie on a Sub
Rob Dodson and Me

Geaux Wild – People: Cindy Guentert-Baldo

Geaux Wild

I love Cindy so much!  I didn’t know her extremely well online before coming to Geaux Wild, but I was thoroughly delighted to have met her in person.  She’s an amazingly genuine person, and integrity means a lot to me.  I enjoyed her Llama Lettering talk:  she gave us not only examples of different ways in which to letter, but she showed us how we can make baby step improvements to our natural handwriting in order to create fun lettering in a style which is entirely our own.  She did not make a big deal about her own talent, but let me tell you, her talent is considerable!  I love how fun everything looks.  I love even more how she owned every mistake that she made and admitted that certain letters were not her favorite to do.

Cindy is the type of person to be happy to see others succeed.  She was continually encouraging and praising everyone on their lettering efforts.  I doodled a quick sketch of my name during the practice time in her session and Isa took it over to Cindy, so she could see it.  The next time I ran into Cindy, I got a huge hug!  🙂

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Which brings me to my next point:  Cindy gives great hugs.  🙂  I tend to be a huggy person, but I  also tend to hold back a little bit because I don’t want to make non-huggy people uncomfortable.  Cindy goes for it and you can tell that it’s because she truly has affection for you.

Point #2390830498:  I think Cindy genuinely has affection for us all.  And that’s a reflection of her heart.  Which is an amazing heart.  She pulls all of this off with an infectious positivity which is refreshing and contagious.

For all of these reasons, Cindy was definitely a favorite of mine to meet this weekend.  (And I’m sad that I didn’t get a single picture, either of her or with her.)

Bad Driver Award: MI BMP 1724

Bad Driver Award

Dear Young Woman in the Black SUV,

When you are merging onto a highway, the people currently on the highway are to maintain their speed and you are supposed to speed up or slow down to merge into their lane.

You are *not* supposed to get along side someone and try to shove them out of the lane so you can occupy their space.

I understand that it’s rush hour, but that’s a good way to cause an accident.

Thanks!

642 Tiny Things: #2

Randomness

Write last year’s fortune cookie. It got everything right.

Wow. How do you condense an entire year into one phrase?! I don’t know that I even remember everything that happened last year…

“You will find joy in new friends, new adventures, and new passions.”

Not to say that long-time friends are not a great source of joy, but I *did* meet a lot of awesome people last year and made (hopefully) some lasting friendships. 2015 was a pretty good year. This year, I am focusing on discipline and self-mastery. It’s time to take all of the joys, passions, obligations, etc., and make a plan for a balanced life. We’ll see how that goes. But any progress is still a victory!

642 Tiny Things: #1

Randomness, Uncategorized,

Several months ago, I picked up this book. As I was cleaning my bookcase, I found it again and (again) thought that it would be a good spark for blog entries. So, here goes!

Write yesterday’s fortune cookie. It got everything wrong.

Okay, then.

“You will spend the day in the great outdoors.”

I actually worked a 15 hour shift. So, I went from home, to work, stayed inside (and our building only has one window, in the kitchen, so I never see the light of day), and then went home and right to bed. No outdoors for me, unless you count the couple minutes walking to and from the car. 🙂

Savoring the Small Moments

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It’s mid-morning, thanks to Daylight Savings Time, but the rooms are not filled with sunlight, as they were yesterday. Instead a quiet grayness lights the house, and occasionally, you can hear the staccato of raindrops falling to the ground from the trees or the ro Even the rain is too lazy this morning to fall steadily.

I had sat on the sofa, with my feet propped up on the small ottoman, drinking my breakfast shake that I wished were a coffee. Not that I don’t like my shake, I do, but on a morning like this, a warm coffee to cuddle into would be preferable. But I am out of creamer.

My library book is about 2 weeks overdue, so I’m trying to finish it. I’m reading “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.” This book is rather like this day; it reads in a slow, rich manner, inviting you to savor it in an unhurried manner. So unlike much of my life.

Sidda, one of the characters, is in the Northwest, and is experiencing the cold and the wet as I am this morning. But the book often has scenes from her mother’s life in hot and humid Louisiana, and the detail makes it come alive for me. I can’t wait until I get to visit Louisiana and experience this for myself. I can only hope that I will allow myself time to enjoy it and not get caught up in the whirlwind of events which I am sure are going to be present.

So, for the moment, I’m trying to savor this morning. To listen to the quiet, soft rain. To cuddle into my throw blanket. To enjoy the flickering light of the candles. And to read a good book and not worry about tomorrow just yet.