My birthday present

Before I came up to Virginia, David told me that my birthday present was a trip to Washington D.C. Nothing could have pleased me more. I have only been there one other time, and that was in June about sixteen years ago. It was so hot, yes, hotter than Florida, that I became ill from the heat. But what a wonderful trip it was. I'm sure that he must have heard me say, somewhere in time, that I would love to go back when the weather was cooler.

We left on Friday evening after they got home from work, stayed in a hotel in Fairf*x, traveled by Metro into the city. What a wonderful way to get around. On Saturday we spent time at the monuments and memorials on the mall and then came back to the hotel in time to see Penn State beat Michigan, and then I watched the sixth game of the ALCS series. Photos and thoughts about all this in another post.

I had mentioned that I wanted to go to the zoo, and so that was our destination on Sunday The weather could not have been better...clear and crisp. Sabrina had warned me that starting at the top, it was a downhill trip. That wasn't so bad, but then we had to come back up, but again, the zoo will be another post.

Before our trek to the zoo, we stopped for lunch at Californ*a Tortilla for lunch. Their specials right now are the O-Chili-Bam* Burrito and the McCain-chil*da Burrito. The restaurant is guaranteeing that whichever Presidential Burrito is ordered the most wins the election...not too scientific, like a lot of the other polls we read.

I receive e-mails regularly from Pastor Tim at Cybersalt, and he had a little political humor and a quote in his post the other day. Here are some of the quotes that he listed:

"I resent your insinuendoes."
"If we don't make some changes, the status quo will remain the same."
"If Lincoln were alive today, he'd roll over in his grave."
"We do not have censorship. What we have is a limitation on what newspapers can report."
"Candidly, I cannot answer that. The question is too suppository."
"Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it."
"To be demeanered like that is an exercise in fertility."
"I deny the allegations, and I defy the allegators."
"If somebody's gonna stab me in the back, I want to be there."
"When you're talking to me, keep your mouth shut."
"Let's do this in one foul swoop."
"I want to thank each and every one of you for having extinguished yourselves in this session."
"We'll run it up the flagpole and see who salutes that booger."
"I would like to take this time to reirritate my remarks."
"The average age of a 7 year old in this state is 13."
"I hate to confuse myself with the facts."
"We have a permanent plan for the time being."
"Family planning has many misconceptions."
"The people in my district do not want this highway bypass, no matter if it goes through or around the city."
"My knowledge is no match for his ignorance."
"As long as I am in the Senate, there will not be a nuclear suppository in our state."
"These numbers are not my own; they are from someone who knows what he's talking about."
"People planning on getting into serious accidents should have their seat belts on."
"In 1994, Americans stand on the horns of an enema."

And then this quote: "An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry."- T.S. Eliot

I read this statement in a blog post, and it is the conclusion that I had come to a few days earlier.

"No matter what the results of this election, life will go on. We will still get out of bed each day to work, to love our families, and to serve and love others, helping this country continue to be the great country that it is." May it be so.

Come on over!

My doorbell rang a few minutes ago, and when I answered it, a very nice gentleman was there with a cooler. He asked me if I was indeed Beverly, and when I said yes, he said that he had something very nice for me. He came in, took it out of the cooler, and here is the lovely edible arrangement that was in the box.

Friday was my birthday. My son forgot. He called last night, horrified that he had forgotten and all apologetic. I told him not to worry, that I hadn't been sitting by the phone waiting for his call. I knew he would remember sooner or later. He told me that he had talked to Sarah yesterday, and while they were talking, it struck him that he had forgotten. When we finally did connect by phone, we had a nice conversation. Ella even said, "Happy birthday, Grammy!" He tried to get her to sing "Happy birthday," but after a while she ended up singing "Baa-baa, black sheep."

Then this morning I was out and about, and my phone rang. It was my friend Peg, calling. She, too, had forgotten. She said she was trying so hard not to forget her new daughter-in-law's birthday that she overlooked mine.

We had a long chat about this and that. I came on home and started doing stuff. Power went off for about an hour. I was sitting here like a trapped animal...no lights, no internet. My car is in the garage, and I don't think I have the strength to raise it up manually. Anyway, after about an hour, the lights came on and then the doorbell rang.

I first of all thought that David had sent the arrangement, but he told me last night that they have my present in Virginia, and if this had been from them, it would have been way too much. They're going to take me to Washington D.C. for a weekend when I go up in October. I am so excited about that. I've only been once, and it was in the summer when I thought I would perish in the heat. So I can hardly wait to go in cooler weather.

When I turned the card over and saw it was from Peg, I was so pleased. She really shouldn't have, but it's so nice that she did. So now I have all this luscious fruit. It's much too much for me. I wish you all could come over and help me eat it.