Beautiful ending to a long day...

I arrived at the boat this evening and snapped these on my phone.

Ahhhhhhh. It's so good to be back!

Alec Baldwin on Dave Letterman last night...

Last night Alec Baldwin was on Dave Letterman and they dicussed the Palin appearance on last week's SNL. He had some nice things to say about her, but it was the first time I've heard of Palin being referred to as *Bible Spice* - friggin' hilarious!



Note: For those who don't get the reference, he was making a joke that she could be a Spice Girl - the world famous all-girl (woman) British pop-band - all of whose members go by *something*-Spice (Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Baby Spice, etc.). Nevermind. Trust me, it was hilarious.

Thanks for Playin'!

I am so proud of my honey. Let's just say it's been a while since he's voted. But this morning we went to an Early Voting site and cast our ballots! Woot woot! It took about 2 hours total. We arrived at the polling place about 10:15, and waited for the 11:00 opening.

This was the line when we arrived.



A couple of people were working the line with campaign information. One guy came over and chatted us up for a few seconds. I was all - please keep moving sir - I don't want to chit-chat with you. After he moved on, I checked my handy sample ballot which I had already marked with my selections and turns out he was actually someone I was voting for. I felt bad.



We finally got to the front of the line about 12:15 - unfortunately making Gary miss a lunch appointment - but in his words "this was more important." Here he is - seriously studying the sample ballot (not really, he was trying to make a phone call and I was trying to take a picture of us in line).



Last night we watched Obama's infomercial (for lack of a better word?). I must say that it left us both feeling that we absolutely have the right person headed to the White House. The enormity this moment in time hit me as I touch-screened Obama's name today. I paused for a second to let the feeling wash over me that I had just voted in one of the most historic elections I may ever witness in my lifetime.

...then I voted *gasp!* for a Republican for Governor - yep - I voted for McCrory - and actually a couple of other Republicans for lesser offices. Then a whole slew of judges, senators and congresspeople. Seems North Carolina is getting a bit of national coverage for the slanderous campaign Elizabeth Dole is running against Kay Hagan. She's an old bat and needs to go - so I did my part there too. I do love that warm fuzzy feeling I get after voting. Who says Dems aren't patriotic?

So that wraps it up for me - at least til Tuesday the 4th when we find out if America is really ready for change.



Barack Obama.

Peace.

Murder Scene

Well, not really.



Those pesky racoons!



Our garbage can has been sitting at the top of the driveway - full - for 4 days without a pickup. Patiently waiting for the big can to be emptied, I sat a few bags of trash on the front porch, assuming they'd be out there for a few hours, not 2 days. Last night the racoons came a calling, and got into the bag that contained the remnants of our Baby Back Ribs dinner from the other night. What you see here are racoon paw prints in BBQ Sauce tracked all over the porch! Rascals!

Saga of the Steps: Part 263

How happy are we?! Still no steps - but we now have the makings of a deck!



Go Martin! Go Martin!

Bliss!

As the weather gets colder with each passing day, I am more and more worried about our Kitty being outside. Unbeknownst to Gary (at the time) Kitty slept upstairs in my office last night. I could not bear the thought of her freezing little paws, so I coaxed her into the office, turned off the light and closed the door behind me.

She meowed loudly, begging me to let her out. At that moment, though, I realized she's a lot like a little baby. She doesn't necessarily know what's best for her. She doesn't understand that being cooped up in the office was for her own good. I stood there for a couple of minutes until her plea subsided. She stuck her little paw under the door to try to feel for something, bless her little heart.

I had a nightmare last night that someone was trying to abduct me - and I was aware, even in the dream, that that may be how she felt. Anyway...

This morning when I went up to check on her, I slipped into the room and sat with her on the floor for a minute, so she wouldn't just run straight out the door. She seemed fine, and nothing was amuck in the office. In my best cat voice I tried to explain to her that everything was OK, and she was much better off up there than outside and to try to relax. I don't know how much of an effect I had on her really.

She didn't exactly "dart" downstairs, but she didn't dilly-dally either. She went straight for the door and I let her out. Within minutes, she was back at the door, doing her little pawing thing, and so I think at that point she "got it".

I later set out for Pet Smart with the intention of buying a cat condo - a place where she could sleep and feel secure and warm. They had TONS of things to choose from -- everything from condos to beds to kennels to igloos to outdoor heating pads. It was really hard to choose, given that she's the first cat I've ever had.
Gary has pretty much relented and is allowing her to be inside to have her kittens - so the bed or whatever I ended up buying needed to be portable, too.



Unfortunately the condos were a bit pricey. I love the little furball to pieces, but I ain't payin' no $50 - $150 bucks for a couple of 2x4's wrapped in shag carpet just so miss kitty can be all stylin' and profilin'.



I ended up getting a cushy little bed with a hood on it for protection and privacy, and with a concealed zippered pocket of catnip. She was having no part in getting into her new bed though. I'm sure she's pretty much over me holding her (forcing her) down in various cardboard boxes lined with fluffy bath towels and sheets. But I keep telling her, "This is for YOU! You'll LOVE it!" (Sidenote: I wonder why all the tags on the cat beds at the store today featured pictures of little girls with the cats? Hmmmm....) I pretty much gave up in frustration after about 15 minutes of this and left her and her new bed outside for the afternoon.

Wouldn't you know - I went out around 3:00 and guess who was laying in her new bed, blissed out on catnip?!

Really?

A direct quote from Governor Palin on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight: "An elitist is someone who thinks they're better than anyone else."

It begs the question, Governor, what's wrong with this picture of your daughter?

If this is real, and I suspect it is given the recent $150,000 Extreme Makeover Alaska Edition, her little girl is carrying a $700 Louis Vuitton bag.

Friends, it is my humble opinion that little girls have NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER carrying expensive purses like this. NONE. This is EXACTLY what's wrong with this country. A ridiculous, obsessive sense of entitlement and greed.

To me, there is no difference between this little girl carrying this bag and the homeowner who makes $60K a year, but lives in a $400K house that's being foreclosed on. Or the CEO who has just taken a $12Billion handout from the government without forfeiting one cent of his $40 Million salary.

It's the bigger, better, more epidemic that has swept this country over the past 30 years, and where has it gotten us? It has led us to the most wide-spread financial devastation this country has seen in 80 years.

I'll admit, I love a beautiful, well made fine leather bag just as much as the next girl. But am I EVER going to shell out $700 for one? No. Not in a million years, actually.

Someone gave me a very expensive Coach bag for Christmas one year, a long time ago. I never really liked the shape or color of it - it just wasn't "me". But I felt bad about taking it back because I didn't want to hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to me, so I just never carried it. I ended up giving it to a friend several years later.

Even despite my life-long fascination with fashion and beauty, I've still never really aspired to owning hyper-expensive bags, clothing or jewelry. On the one hand I hesitate here, and think that maybe I've somehow limited myself, sold myself short - by limiting the things I believe I "deserve" in this life, and not striving for more. Have I done myself a disservice by not cultivating that sense of entitlement? The characteristic that seems so intrinsic in highly successful people?

Maybe, but I doubt it.

It infuriates me that Palin is all about portraying herself as a typical hockey Mom, living just like everyone else, but her kid is carrying a $700 bag. I wonder what Joe Six-Pack thinks about that?!

Tree

The city came out and cut this tree down the other day. We suspect it was too close to overhead power lines. They didn't ask us if it was OK to do so.



I thought this was an interesting perspective...



And another look at tree bark, inside and out...

Fall Flowers

I discovered some pretty little flowers around the yard today. They all receive direct sunlight for the majority of the day, which is why I think they are in bloom at this time of year.



These don't even look real to me, but they are!



This rose is well past its prime, but still a pretty shade of pink.



One of our Dogwoods is simultaneously changing colors and budding flowers. We don't remember it doing this in the past.

Progress!

For the past couple of days Martin came back to start on our back steps again! He's been flying a lot (he's a pilot for a private charter company) so he hasn't been able to tackle the steps for a while.



Let us get a refresh on his CAD design (Cardboard Aided Design):



Here you can see that some of the posts that have already been set:



The posts are set in approximately 5ft holes, then filled in with concrete.



Eventually we will have a smallish deck with stairs coming down with two turns. We're so used to using the front door now. It will be GREAT to use the back door again!

A Day In Winston-Salem: Part V - A Visit with Aunt Martha

By mid-afternoon, after the rain and humidity and in and out of the car and umpteen various buildings, I was pretty well worn out. My 4-inch thick-heel sling backs weren't exactly the smartest choice of footwear either, but I persisted. On my way out of town I stopped to see my Aunt Martha, who is my Dad's big sister, who is for all intents and purposes a life-long resident of Winston-Salem (or more specifically, Clemmons).



Aunt Martha and I had several rounds of phone and email tag before we finally got together, but what a treat it was to finally spend some time with her. She is our family's Historian. She has compiled a bookshelf full of binders filled with historic documentation on our family that goes far beyond "Wells". She has traced our family history through at least 10 different "lines" from child -> parents -> parents -> parents -> and so on for 10 generations or more. This is very interesting stuff to me. Part of my quest in taking a year off from work has been to reconnect with "my people" - and this kind of family lineage brings an entirely new dimension to that quest. It mainly comes from a place of wanting more of an identity beyond my immediate family. Like a big Greek family, or a big Italian family or a big Irish family. It just so happens that my big WASP-y family consists (at least on my Dad's side - and I would imagine it's pretty similar on my Mom's side) of mainly English ancestors, but also some German, some Irish, and a little bit of Scot. And we've been here for a really long time. And that's cool!

Aunt Martha is a past Regent (President) of her Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Membership in the DAR is through blood relation to a patriot who served in the American Revolutionary War. Because she is my father's sister (i.e. - they have the same parents - and lineage is through parent, passed to child) it means that I, too, am a blood relative of all the same people Aunt Martha is related to - because she and my dad hail from the same parents). Our ancestor who fought in the American Revolution is Edmund Williams. We are related to him through my Paternal Grandmother - who was a Williams prior to marrying my Grandfather.

It really puts life into perspective for me when looked at this way. I am directly related to a man who fought for independence of our country. It's something you hear about in obscure terms in high school and college history classes. But to say that my Great x10 Grandfather probably wore a deer-skin coat and carried a rifle and defended against the "Red Coats" - now THAT'S perspective on "where I come from". And it's an honor. To be related to someone who bravely served to gain independence of our country. I mean, if you think about it - Edmund Williams was probably a struggling farmer who was fed up with taxes and wanted to do something about it. Not all that different from today, except without all the modern conveniences.



But Aunt Martha's research goes much farther than this one patriot. We had another Great x? Grandfather who was in the Revolutionary War, who was killed at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. His name was Preston Goforth, and his name is visible on the monument atop Kings Mountain that memorializes the men who were killed there, fighting for their country. Every year on October 7, no matter what day of the week it falls, there's a special ceremony to commemorate the battle and to pay tribute to those who fell. And they get dressed up in period costumes to do it. I am going to go with Aunt Martha to that next year. In The Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt wrote of the Battle of Kings Mountain, "This brilliant victory marked the turning point of the American Revolution." And again, I am (we are) directly related to someone who died for that cause.

Digging still further, as it turns out, mainly (I believe) through our relation to Preston Goforth, our lineage also bears membership in a number of different organizations - including Daughters of the War of 1812, and Daughters of the Confederacy (we're Southerners, what can I say?). There are two more esteemed organizations that Aunt Martha is currently gathering documentation for membership in, that REALLY get me excited.

First, the Colonial Dames of America. This is an organization of women who descend from an ancestor who came to reside in British-America between 1607 and 1775, and whose services were rendered through holding public office, through military service or serving in the colonies in some other way. Now, I understand that many people regard these organizations as pure elitist drivel, and I get that. But the historical fact of our familial relations cannot be disputed, and I am honored, or more accurately humbled, to be able to trace my heritage to people of such courage, strength and sense of adventure!

The last of the organizations Aunt Martha is looking into is the Baronial Order of Magna Charta. Now this one is really something to wrap your brain around.

From Wikipedia: Magna Charta is an English legal charter, originally issued in the year 1215. The Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (mainly of his barons), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.

Magna Carta was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in the English speaking world. Magna Carta influenced the development of the common law and many constitutional documents, including the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. There were 25 Barons who were registered as "Sureties" to the document. The Baronial Order of Magna Charta is a lineage society with membership available to people who can prove blood lineage to one of the 25 Barons, or Sureties. And Aunt Martha is working towards this very documentation.

So in a crazy "cycle of life" way of looking at ones life - you can easily say, "so what?". Big deal - what's it good for now? But that's the thing. It's not that any of these societies can "do" anything for me - but it's a way to honor the past, and my family. It reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting called "Family Tree" - which I have broken all sorts of copyright laws to include here:



This painting has always held special meaning for me. Starting at the bottom, it starts with this grizzly pirate and his Iberian courtesan wife. Then moving up the tree we see several familiar depictions of generations, then we get to the top of the tree with this cute, shiny, squeaky clean little boy - which is pretty much a representation of "now". But don't you know this little boy spent hours playing "pirates" and "cops and robbers" with his little buddies - and didn't even know he came by it honest? I like how that makes me feel! A part of something so much bigger than me, so much larger than my immediate family, and even larger than my imagination can even fathom.

A Day In Winston-Salem: Part IV - Old Salem Architecture Survey

I only spent an hour in Old Salem at most, but in that time (and in the rain) I managed to snap a few pictures that turns out to be quite the survey of architectural styles in the village from 1766 through 1895.


This is "First House" which was aptly named because it was the shared living space of the first settlers in Salem in 1766. There are five buildings like this all in a row and they were vibrant even in the rainy mist.


This is Miksch House & Farm, which was the first single-family home in Old Salem, established in 1771.


Here is the house for the Boys School, built in 1794. I love the roof of this building. It should be noted that nearby (but not pictured) is Salem Academy, which is one of the earliest institutions for female education in the US, started in 1772. It demonstrates the Moravians' dedication to educating both boys and girls. My cousin, who is a year younger than me, attended Salem Academy for high school - and it remains an all-girls school to this day.


Belo House, so named for Edward Belo, a cabinetmaker turned Iron Merchant in the mid-1800's, represents the shift in Salem at that time from a congregation-based, or community-based control to a new era of individualism, private entrepreneurship and a modern business community. This is only the side of the house, the front is three times as wide as this. He was a very wealthy man and it is noted that the town agreed to allow him to build this home independent of the town because he could "more than afford the $3,000.00 cost to build it".


Cedarhyrst was built between 1893-95 by Dr. Nathaniel Siewers, who had grown up in Salem, but went away to Germany for Medical School. Upon his return, he hired noted New York Architect Max Schroff to construct this home. The design was heavily influenced by the time Dr. Siewers spent in Germany and his immersion in the culture of folk art, medieval castles and revivalist architecture, similar to that of the Biltmore house, but on a much smaller scale.


Last, a photo of "God's Acre", the final resting place for congregants of the Moravian Church in Salem. It is unusual not only in its uniform flat lying white stone grave markers, but also in that the burials are organized by choirs of the Congregation. Meaning, all married men are buried together, all married women together, all widows together, etc. A beautiful, peaceful place indeed.
The entrance arch reads "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" and the sign next to the entrance reads - Salem Moravian Graveyard "God's Acre" 1771 - Please be reverent and respectful of this special place - Salem Congregation.

A Day In Winston-Salem: Part III - Old Salem: A Brief History

The village of Old Salem is a "living museum" of the colonial settlement, originally established in 1766 by the Moravians. Moravians are members of a Protestant Christian denomination first begun in the year 1457 in the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Moravia - which now geographically make up part of the Czech Republic. The first Moravians to come to the new world settled 500 miles north in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Later, a group of 15 male members headed south to a 100,000 acre tract of land the church purchased from Lord Granville, 1/8-owner of land in the pre-colonial Carolina province, and called it Wachovia.

They first created a temporary settlement on that land in 1753, and called it Bethabara. They lived in an abandoned cabin until they were able to locate a proper area for the permanent settlement of their central village which was to be Salem, established in 1766.

The Moravians were noted for their advanced agricultural practices, but ultimately focused on skilled trades, rather than farming, to support their town. Today, the town's preserved and reconstructed buildings, staffed by living history interpreters, present visitors with a view of Moravian life in the 18th and 19th centuries.1

span style="font-size:78%;">1 Historical notes from the book "North Carolina Architecture" by Catherine W. Bishir

A Day In Winston-Salem: Part II - Old Salem Treats

After I left Grant's office I stopped by the bakery in Old Salem to pick up a few loaves of Moravian Sugar Cake and some Morvian Ginger Cookies, favorite treats only available from Winkler's Bakery.



They still bake the way they did in colonial times - in a wood fired clay oven.



They still dress the same way too.



This is the sugary treat in all its yeasty, gooey goodness:

The loaves of Sugar Cake come wrapped in wax paper lined with butter and sugar to keep them moist.

Here is a wafer-thin ginger cookie that, despite its diminuitive size packs a powerful ginger flavor and snap!

A Visit to Winston-Salem: Part I - Lunch with Grant

On Friday I drove up to Winston-Salem, NC, with an itinerary to have lunch with my dear friend Grant, to see my Aunt Martha, and to pick up some Moravian Sugar Cake from Old Salem. I left Charlotte about 10am in a steady, cold rain - which continued through the entire day and the drive back making for a white-knuckle experience for me and Barbie. BTW, Grant was the one who came up with the name "Barbie Dream Car" for my Miata.



Grant and I worked together briefly in 2000 for 6 months. In that short time I knew I had a kindred spirit in Grant. We hit it off swimmingly and have remained good friends ever since. Grant is a tour de force in the hospitality/hotel world and embodies all the characteristics of a great leader, AND a great entertainer.

At lunch we HOWLED with laughter at some of the crazy antics we got up to back in the day. Over a yummy French Dip at the Winston-Salem Marriott's JW Steakhouse, we talked about how things have changed so much since then (only 8 years ago) in the way we do business, conduct meetings, and conduct ourselves. We chalk it up to having to be grown-ups now, and taking work a bit more seriously when you're a "senior" member of the staff compared to being one of the younger "kids".

If you've ever heard my "Big Duck" story - that was with Grant one weekend when he came up to DC for a visit. I must preface this story with the fact that we had had much too much to drink before hand, as was always the case when the three of us got together (or two of us in any combination) and we were already making all sorts of merriment prior to arriving at the restaurant.

It was a trendy bistro in Cleveland Park (a hip but well-heeled neighborhood in DC)with our cohort MaryBeth. I ordered a dish called "The Big Duck" which elicited more than a few snickers from the table as I mustered my most sophisticated tone through a vodka haze, giving my order to the server. MaryBeth followed with her order of some kind of non-descript fish dish, and Grant ordered the Beef Tenderloin.

MaryBeth's dinner arrived at the table first. The server presented her with a platter topped with a large silver dome. What he unveiled was a massive WHOLE FISH - including the head with its eyes still intact and open, fins and tail - baked and presented taxidermy style - sitting upright on its fins as if swimming through a stream. It was very dramatic and caused an uproar of laughter and amazement from us.

Next was my dinner - the "Big Duck" - which turned out to be A WHOLE ROAST DUCK - which was presented to me also on a platter with a silver dome. I was stunned at the enormity of my dinner but reveled in the fact that they also brought over a chinese butcher block and a very sharp cleaver - whereby the server proceeded to cut away at the duck until all the good meat was carefully laid upon the accompanying miniature crepes, brushed with hoisin, layered with the cucumber slices and scallions, and rolled into little morsels of pure heaven.

Simultaneously, Grant's tenderloin was presented to him and at this point, based on my and MaryBeth's large dishes, we collectively held our breath as the server revealed Grant's dish - thinking it would be nothing short of a whole cow's head - reminiscent of the disembodied horse head in Godfather II. It wasn't that big, and it was from the correct part of the cow's body - although I recall it was a formidable portion nonetheless and we roared further at such theatrical displays! We still agree that this was one of our best and favorite meals of all time.

Later that night after dinner, desserts and more drinks, MaryBeth drove us back to the hotel where we were staying - where she also happened to be employed as the Associate Director of Convention Services. As we rounded the driveway to the porte chochere in her old Volvo (which she poignantly named "Revolver"), she ran up on the curb with a thud and a scrape - bouncing us all around in our seats - and yet implored us to go have one more drink before going to our rooms. At that, Grant's sensible side took charge and called it a night. Boy those were the days.

I doubt he remembers it, but I recall that Grant and I made a pact all those years ago that if neither of us was married by the time I turned 40, he and I would get married. Surprisingly, despite all the fun we have and the way we get along so great, I'm really not his type. And of course I have my Gary now - so Grant, I hereby release you from the chivalrous gesture of saving me from being a spinster in three years. On second thought, how about we just move it up to when I'm 50?
Love you to pieces. Your Princess.

Spa Day on the Cheap

In my quest to spend as little money possible these days, a day at the spa is not exactly what comes to mind when trying to be thrifty. True enough, I can do my own nails and toes pretty well - and I do them myself most of the time, but today I thought I'd try out The Aveda Institute, which is a cosmetology & esthetology training school here in Charlotte.

My friend and waxing specialist Elizabeth at Carmen!Carmen! is an instructor there for budding estheticians, so based on that I thought I'd give the place a try. A few days ago I pulled up their website to see pricing - and was pleasantly surprised at the low costs of spa services - relative to the high-end salons where I typically have hair, nail and skin services done. It is a school, and the people doing the pampering are students, but I figured it's got the "Aveda" name and reputation on it, so it MUST be good. Right?

With moderate to fairly high expectations, I sat down in the spa pedicure chair and dipped my feet in the warm foot bath. The pedicure girl sorta winced and said, "oh... not yet." She hadn't drained the water from the previous customer yet. Shudder. Gag. So that's pretty much how the rest of the appointment went. I was getting a pedicure, then a manicure - and TWO HOURS LATER I was outta there (but for $26 bucks).

I'm thinking twice about going back for highlights or a hair cut, ya think? Seriously, I MIGHT go back for a series of facials b/c at $25 apiece compared to $70+ at my regular salon, that's a big savings. AND unlike nails and toes - where mistakes are clearly visible - aside from burning my skin off with a heavy hand of alpha hydroxy acid - it's pretty hard to "mess up" a facial. Isn't it?

Moral of story: While you don't always get what you pay for, you always pay for what you get.

Afternoon Sun and Long Shadows

Late this afternoon I sat on the porch and watched the sun get low in the sky. We have some artful ornaments in the yard, peeking out from the boxwood hedge, glowing in the light.



My shadow, sitting on the porch swing with trees in the background.



Kitty gazing out into the yard between slats in the banister.



She's waiting for a snack to hop by.