Posts Tagged ‘work’
March 25th, 2010 | 
Author: I was fortunate enough to visit Washington D.C. this month for training. I decided to extend my training session a few extra days and turn it into a vacation as well. Jess flew out on the last day of my training and stayed the last 4 days with me. It was a much needed vacation for us both. Here are some highlights:
The United States Capitol (bigger than I expected)
This is one amazing building!
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The White House (it looks so small! Seriously, from the front it looks tiny. Unfortunately, you have to have an appointment, which takes about 3-4 months minimum to get, in order to get around the backside to actually see how big this thing it) It is REALLY REALLY WHITE! I was amazed, I wonder how often they clean it…?
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This is the reflecting pond outside the Lincoln Memorial. Yep, it’s empty. Unfortunately every year before the famed Cherry Blossom Festival they drain it and clean it. We were there 2 weeks before. Sucks, but gives us another reason to go back.
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The Lincoln Memorial. This was so powerful. Lincoln was truly a great man, being in this monument was, well… monumental!
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The view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial. This is a great view of the reflecting pool and I can’t even imagine how amazing this must look when it is full. What an inspiration!
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I had no idea there was an observatory at the top of the Washington Monument. I also had no idea you had to get tickets in advance. They are nice enough to hand out the extra tickets first thing in the morning for those of us who failed to do their research.
Jess and I decided it would be worth it to head up to the top (and it was!) but that meant that we had to leave our hotel at 7:30 to get there by 8:00 so we could be in line for when they start handing out tickets at 9:00. Normally this would not have been a problem, but on this particular day… it rained. Then snowed. Then rained. Then rained some more. Did you ever see Winne the Pooh and the Blustery day? Ya, I expected to see Piglet and Pooh floating by in ‘hunny’ pots and on chairs. Also, it was REALLY cold.
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A Great view of the Lincoln Memorial
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The White House
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The Capitol and National Mall (American History Museum is on the bottom left and the Natural History Museum is right next to it… they are MASSIVE)
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The view as straight down as I can get it. The building shown is where we got out tickets.
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Inside the American History Museum we saw so many things! I didn’t get pictures of a whole lot, but Jess has a ton. I will upload them as soon as possible.
The Hope Diamond
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Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond (there is a hole in the center, I dubbed this the doughnut diamond)
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We also saw the Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, and Julia Child Kitchen (Yep, her REAL kitchen. They moved it piece by piece and used Polaroid photos to make sure everything was in the EXACT same place.
The most amazing thing we saw was original the Star Spangled Banner. It brought tears to my eyes and made me so proud to be an American, and even more proud of my dear husband who fought to make sure that flag never loses it’s meaning. The song was posted behind the flag and I couldn’t even bring myself to read the lyrics for fear of sobbing loud enough to bother other visitors. The flag is enormous. 30 feet tall by 32 feet long, and that is the tattered and torn version. The flag when it was new it was 30×42. This was by far the most amazing thing I saw (outside of Arlington). No pictures were allowed, so I do not have anything to show you, however click here and visit the Smithsonian Website.
There is a giant section on the Military History in the U.S. Jess has all those photo, so it will get it’s own post (hopefully in a few days)
The Natural History Museum:
The Elephant (as made famous in Night at the Museum)
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For Ryan:
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There is so much more to tell and so much more to show, but this blog is getting really long! I will make a part two with more from the American History Museum, my AMAZING birthday dinner and Jess riding a mechanical bull (yep, that makes you want to come back doesn’t it!)
TTFN!
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I feel so distant from my blog. My every other day posts have whittled down to just 1 a week. So while I am sure you have all missed seeing how our little family is progressing, know that I left you for very good reason, and that is was only temporary. One of the hardest classes I have ever had to take is now OVER! And, I worked my little *cough*BIG*cough* butt off to get through it with a drum roll please…
Please note the comment on the Final. Yep thats right, I got the high score! Woot! Just goes to show how a little hard work can pay off.
I can honestly say, I have never been so proud of an ‘A’. This was a REALLY difficult class for me, and I thought I would be lucky to pull a ‘C’. Go me!
One particularly busy and stressful week, we decided to take 10 minutes at the end of Friday day to breathe…(have I ever mentioned we don’t really take breaks other than lunch at my office, so when we do, they have to be filled with fun!) and what did we decide to do with that time?
WATER COOLER BOWLING!
(Did I mention the big boss was in Florida this whole time??)
So this post is a little overdue seeing as how it is April 6th, but between work being ridiculously busy and school being just as crazy, I have had no time to post.
April Fools Day went a little crazy this year. It started off with some packing peanuts…
Then a few more… and a closed door….
Chris said he didn’t think his office was full of peanuts, but he sure did open the door slowly!
Then my keys got hidden, DARN! and then… it was ON! On like Donkey Kong!
All in all it was a great day!
Today our office went underwater… Don’t you wish YOU worked here?
We took turns napping under the warm sun…
Alright, I admit it… I’m 29. Last Saturday was my Birthday and while I swear this is my last one, it was a bit easier knowing Addie was there to celebrate it with me.
On Friday afternoon, Ali brought her to my office for the afternoon. Kristel brought in her twins as well. They are 2 months older than Addie.. It was a fun play date and I think we should start a PTI Daycare!
Yay! My birthday is this weekend, and I started celebrating today with the help of my dear friend and co-worker Shanda. She is going to Disneyland (for me, since I can’t go this year… again.) But, before leaving she wanted to celebrate in typical PTI style. WITH FOOD!
Last week she asked what I wanted as a treat before she left. After careful consideration, I decided on Cupcakes… no wait, M&M’s… no cupcakes. Ahhh! Cupcakes with M&M’s on top! PERFECT! (can you feel the cavities forming yet?)
So happy Birthday to me here it is!
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| From Work |
And don’t worry, there are still 3 days until my birthday, so if seeing these yummy cupcakes makes you feel bad that you didn’t get me anything there is still time.
I like cars, cash and jewels…
And candy.
Oh the places you’ll go, oh the people you’ll see
when you try to get to Nashville, Tennessee.
Oh the people you’ll see when you fly to Atlanta,
Your flight will get cancelled… dose up on Mylanta.
Not to worry, don’t fear, things will get back in gear
and 6 hours later you’ll put down your beer.
A 4 hour flight, oh it seems rather quick,
But beware of your neighbor, for he’s rather slick
From India he roams
with his “impressive” camera phone
He smells of curry, and very cheap cologne…
We finally arrive but much to our surprise
the flight to Tennessee? It’s canceled.
Rebooking takes a day
and the rentals? – Not one way
this just sucks, theres absolutely no time to play.
The training it starts in a measly 12 hours
We’re all very tired and quickly losing our powers
A round trip we’ll make
Four hours it will take,
and thats just the start of day 1.
2 hours in, the swear words begin
as we realize the round trip was wrong.
For from where we left, we are not going back
the flights not the same, we’re all out of whack.
The hotel, it’s amazing
and I just can’t stop gazing
at all of the wonder I see.
Can it be our lucks changing
as things start arranging
unfortunately theres no guarantee.
