Hookin' Away My Saturday

As soon as I woke up and was about to get up, hubby says, "You might as well stay in bed. We're at war." Say what?!

My first thought was "What did he do know?" and my second thought, as someone who avoids all news as much as possible, was "Did we know this was coming?"

No matter the answer to either, I knew I needed a day of distractions. I did watch a little news but then headed into town to Lighthouse to get a few papers for upcoming Camp Crop-a-Lot in 7 weeks since I picked up more photos yesterday and am jumpin' to go!

Then I cleaned my office "aka Oh My God Room" a bit before I earned my chance to relax.

Can't do too much cleaning on a weekend when there are projects waiting in the wings.

I have a wedding shower coming up in the same time frame as camp. The couple has many "sage" colored things on their list so I am making them a blanket that is mostly sage with a strip of white, then multi color for a wide strip, then white again close to the top – and the rest sage. 

I'm liking it. And today I realized I could close my eyes and do a whole row without looking, just feeling. I am a Jedi Crochet Master, I guess! That also means I can head back to the livingroom now and watch a Hallmark movie AND multi-task without even blinking.

Well, I better pay a little attention. This is a gift after all!

And oh yeah, it snowed again today. Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Back at the Homestead

What a whirlwind of a week! I thought I'd be sharing highlights each day of my time in San Diego. But to be honest, I was exhausted trying to live on West Coast time while my body was mentally and physically 2 hours away in Central Time.

First of all, about the amazing marketing conference. It was good and I learned some exciting things. I've been to the San Diego Convention Center before – remember when I was there for Comic Con and met Erik Estrada? – but I forgot how massive the place is. And very interestingly designed.

You know how I love me some architecture pictures. This was coming down the escalator at the right moment and seeing the other escalators off in the distance.

For the conference, the final keynote was an interesting coincidence.

On the plane ride out, I just happened to finally watch the Barbie movie (worth seeing!). And it turns out actress Issa Rae – "president of BarbieLand" – was our final speaker! 

How interesting! Most times, we have no idea how hard people work – or what obstacles they must hurdle – to get where they are today. Probably like most of us. We're just not that famous!

In the evening hours, after grabbing a bite to eat, I could explore a little bit. But kept it close to my hotel since the sun sets there early, too, at this time of year.

Fun fact: The bar where the filmed the "Great Balls of Fire" piano scene in Top Gun was not even a half block from my hotel!

Piano is still there!

And plenty of memorabilia.

Also, service men and women have found it a place to hang their hats. Pretty cool.

Also, just a block or two in the other direction is the USS Midway Museum on the Navy Pier and some interesting statues.

The Unconditional Surrender statue – based on the iconic photograph – was pretty cool to see.

Especially when there was a couple replicating the pose while I was there! Gives you a sense of how tall the statue is, too!

In that same park, they also had a statue scene of Bob Hope entertaining the troops. If you're too young to know, you missed out!

Very well done!

Of course, I also had a chance to catch the sunset there before booking it back to my hotel before I got dark. Glad it was so close!

Yesterday was a super long travel day...

Leaving the marinas of the Pacific Coast...

To flying over snow-capped mountains...

To the beautiful fall colors of the Midwest!

Due to some delays and fun travel headaches, I didn't get back home 'til almost 11 p.m. last night. Glad to be home same and sound! 

And in the Central Time Zone. If you know, you know!

Not The Weaker Sex

There's a couple of things I've realized in the last 3 weeks. The most important one being that women are stronger than we think. Not sure how my sister or my mom keep trudging forward, but they are both the type of strong woman I hope to be.

It was by pure coincidence that our April (the longest month of my family's life) book club book was The Women by Kristin Hannah.

I'll admit that everything I've learned about the Vietnam War was from Robin Williams' Good Morning, Vietnam and Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump movie. It's sad but as a high school student in the early '80s, when they went through American History, I'm pretty sure they ran out of time at the end of the school year and  crammed in the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam, and Korea in one week.

And even though I've watched a ton of M*A*S*H episodes, I didn't equate it to the fact women were also serving in the Vietnam War – mostly as the crucial role of nurses.

What an eye-opening and really, really well-written book. Across the board, we almost all gave it a 5 out of 5 rating. 

You know I don't go on and on about particular books much (since I read a ton), but this one is worth a read. Is it long? Yes. Was the war long? Yes and then some. I personally got a chance to listen to the audio book and was engrossed from the beginning. Reading a handheld book (or device) will likely get you in the same position.

When I see servicemen wearing their caps or jackets, I always thank them for their service. But nurses in Vietnam? I haven't seen your badge of honor. First of all, you deserve it. Secondly, thank you so much! 

This book (and life) is a great reminder we all deserve praise for our accomplishments and service, and support for our struggles and unearned uphill battles.

Just so glad I have the support today of my sisterhood – birth sisters and "adopted" ones. Love you all! Let's keep moving forward!