A New Job -- and Free Weeekends!!!

On January 10th, I started my new job with the Outreach Department. It was different being inside all day, in “professional” clothes, and in my own cubicle. Though different, it was also a welcome change of pace. The days at work were mostly spent in training to develop my educational programs, learn procedures, etc. and were pretty typical during the week. Weekends though have been lots of fun since starting the new job. (photo: In some of the down time in the office, we found time to have some fun and leave Jeff a surprise...)

That weekend (my first weekend off in over six weeks, at least) I went with the UM Alumni Club to tour the USS George Washington aircraft carrier at Naval Station Norfolk. I hadn’t ever been on a military ship and it was quite neat to see up close and personal, especially with our navy guides. The following weekend, being a four-day weekend with Lee-Jackson Day on Friday and MLK Day on Monday, Megan, Mark, and I went to North Carolina for a brief trip. We’d wanted to go anywhere and were looking at all sorts of ideas, including a circuit trip to Charleston, SC and the Outerbanks, but for various reasons only went to Chapel Hill an overnight. My friend Mark had gone to UNC and thus gave Megan and me a very enthusiastic introduction to the town and its culture, including a trip to the Carolina v. Maryland basketball game (apparently Megan and I are forbidden to return since we obviously jinxed the team). Mark’s friend joined us in a quest for barbecue for dinner (Carolina style barbecue being “the best food you’ve ever eaten,” according to Mark), which took us to three restaurants before finding one open and culminating in a blissful sweet potato and cranberry bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce. After dinner, we hit the town (where it was still snowing (!!!), albeit only flurries not really accumulating) for pool and a few different establishments. The next morning, we breakfasted on biscuits and sweet tea (more classic southern cuisine) and did some browsing/shopping before heading home. (photos: The Tidewater Alumni Club heading onboard the USS George Washington, the carrier on the left; one of our fellow alumni, a naval officer that had served on the Washington, during our tour on the main flight deck of the ship; at the North Carolina vs. Maryland basketball game in Chapel Hill; Megan excited in the snow; and our house the day after the snow (this was the most we had all year!).)





The following weekend included a trip to Hampton to see the U2 in 3D movie at the Virginia Air and Space Center IMAX. It was so cool to see U2, my favorite band, in such a neat live performance and to see The Edge as basically a 3-story high version of the epitome of cool. Some of our crew also came down and we had an evening at one of the pubs. The weekend after it was off to a former co-worker’s house for a massive Mardi Gras party. Much of the Jamestown interpretive staff and others all showed up for the beginning of a long evening. After Greg’s party wound down, a former interpreter and current outreach coworker offered to take us to his place in West Point (a small town on the York River about a half hour NW of Williamsburg) to a bonfire he knew of in the area. After a long drive there and a mile ride in the back of a pickup through the woods, we got to the bonfire only to be greeted by stares from those already there (“Who are you? Why are you here? You guys are old! We’re all in high school!”). We didn’t stay long and instead headed to someone’s fancy barn for darts, pool, country sing-a-longs, and barn cats. It was quite a lot of fun, though we at last realized it was nearly 6am and should probably head home, though it had been quite a while since I’d been up that late. (photos: Stephanie taking a photo of her food -- the obsession has become contagious!; apparently drinking a beer is serious business; Jeff (with straight hair) and Sally; Callie and Gordon at Greg's party; and Brian and Loren.)





(photos: Sam and Jeff at Greg's; and the Barack Obama rally in Virginia Beach (he's the illuminated(ish) figure on the stage).)

Home for the Holidays

So due to work, I couldn’t leave Williamsburg til the early morning of Christmas Eve (though it wasn’t too bad since I was home in Lansing by midmorning). Between all the wrapping, cooking, and shopping, I met with my friend Joe, former Civil Rights instructor from school. Also that evening, we went to my grandma’s house for the family’s annual snack buffet. Mom and I had decided to also bring a plate of new and delicious cheeses, which that evening mostly sparked the “Ew, it’s green!” type of comments about the Sage Derby.

Christmas morning was great fun and all, with more cooking to be done before returning to my grandparents’ for dinner and gifts. The cheese was a bit more popular at dinner, which of course was followed by the obvious euchre tournament. After dinner with the family, I met with some friends for more food and a very bad movie. After trying to force myself into the winter mindset without snow or much cold weather in Virginia, I felt the joy of winter at last when, walking down a driveway, I completely wiped out on a patch of ice and earned myself a spectacular bruise. (photos: Leslie, Gpa, Uncle Mike, and Chach as the kitchen crew; Gpa carving the roast beast; opening Christmas presents; and Gma in her new robe/wrap/sleeping bag thing and Callie under the mistletoe.)




(photos: Christmas dinner on the table; Gpa showing off his holiday duds; the after dinner rest while some of us play on in the euchre tournament; and the grandparents surrounded by their grandkids.)




The day after Christmas I was off to Ann Arbor to meet with Beth, Jenny, and other members of Beth’s wedding planning team to look for bridesmaid dresses and such. We had great success finding what she was looking for. Jenny stuck around with me so she could avoid driving a full five hours through a blizzard back home. Instead, we had lunch and met with some of my friends from school that I hadn’t seen since graduation before also heading back to Lansing for a blood-inspired viewing of Sweeney Todd (complete with red slurpees!). (photos: Jenny, me, Sas, Patrick, and Raisa at Ashley's in Ann Arbor; and me trying to save myself from a scary yet still sexy Johnny Depp.)


Jenny left the next morning and I spent the day relaxing a bit more and doing some shopping with the family. It had been a pretty busy week so far and I was glad to relax for a day. The next day, I went with my mom and grandma to Alma to visit my great aunt for some lunch (I hadn’t seen her in a while either, but it’s not so surprising given my record with other friends and family, I guess). The only catch for the mini-trip was that there was a big winter storm blowing in that afternoon. The weather held out for us for the trip, but once getting back to Lansing, the roads were getting much worse. I’d been hoping to get to Grand Rapids that evening to meet Katie for dinner and music, but the growing blizzard kept me at home. (photo: Me sledding in the blizzard)

The weather didn’t do too much to my plans to get home the next day… at least at first. The whole family met for a Saturday version of Sunday breakfast at “The Flap,” with me keeping a watchful eye on my supposedly delayed flight from Lansing. I’d been really psyched to not have to drive to Detroit to fly home, but that morning we’d realized that my flight had a delayed crew leaving Detroit and would thus leave late, making it difficult for me to make my connecting flight to Norfolk. I took advantage of some of my extra time by doing some more sledding and frolicking in the snow before heading to the airport and still finding the flight delayed. Northwest assured me I could still make it, but after getting to the airport and checking in, my flight was delayed even further. Even after my flight arrived in Detroit and after they’d held my flight to Norfolk for twenty minutes, I still just barely missed it and had to settle into the terminal for a few hours. I had hoped to get back with an evening to recuperate from impending sickness and travel weariness. I was quite glad to be back after a stressful day of travel and a busy, though rewarding, week at home. (photos: The family at Flap Jack; more family after breakfast; me and the sibs; and one last trip down the hill before going to the airport)




After getting back, it was almost immediately back to work for a couple of days. New Year’s Eve brought a fun and bit ridiculous party at a friend’s house only to be followed at the end of the week with an equally fun and equally ridiculous “frat party” at our house. Mike (King of the Gypsies) got married on the 6th, so the gypsies and crew, along with all of Mike and Christine’s families, attended nearly a week of wedding-related events. The wedding itself was at Historic Jamestowne in its church, followed by a reception (not with a traditional cake, but rather a stack of cheese wheels or “chesse cake”), and a sing-along/beer session post-reception. I was also coming into the final stretch of my time as an interpreter on site at Jamestown before starting my new position with the Outreach Department (involving office work, a cubicle, and a regular schedule with weekends off… what a novelty!). We’d gone into winter hours at work, bringing with it a reduced schedule, limited training, and lots of time to either just hang out or do cool trainings like bow and arrow training. Still, it was strange recognizing that my time as a costumed interpreter would be soon coming to an end in mid January, exactly a year after starting at Jamestown. (photos: The screaming monkey in his winter gear; the frat party at our house, complete with ridiculous outfits and popped collars; Katie (with the good luck hat), Matt, and Grace at the party; rocking out at the party; and Christine and Mike getting married by Chief Adkins in the church on Jamestown Island)





(photos: Mike and Jack at the reception; the 400th anniversary of the first burning of James Fort as commemorated through baked goods; the commemorative effigy being burned; a quiet day alone in the Village; and keeping warm and busy in a yehakin)

Interesting Video

This site was sent to me by a friend and I found it pretty interesting...

http://www.yeswecansong.com


(you might have to copy and paste it into your browser)