Four Score

First off, I have some excellent news: I am going to be a park ranger at the Abraham Lincoln Home National Historic Site!!!! Ranger Tiff is back. The chief ranger called this evening to tell me the good news. I'll go sign some paperwork next week, then hopefully I can start working early in March. Hoooooray! I am very excited.

Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, on the eve of his 200th birthday, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is holding an overnight vigil in his honor. We're not crazy enough to go spend the night there, but we did go to the museum this evening to see the special Lincoln documents that will be on display until 8:00 tomorrow morning. It was soooooo cool! We got an up-close look at the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and the Thirteenth Amendment.














Abraham Lincoln signed the Thirteenth Amendment on February 1, 1865, but it did not become law until December 1865--eight months after Lincoln's death. There's something special about seeing the actual documents he wrote or signed. It establishes a certain connection with him. It was so cool to read the words in Lincoln's handwriting:

"That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave their last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY--Lincoln's 200th birthday. I plan to head to his house bright and early, then I'll go get some things stamped with the special Lincoln Bicentennial cancellation at the Old State Capitol. I'll have to try to be home before everything shuts down when King Obama arrives to steal Lincoln's spotlight tomorrow evening. Just kidding--I won't go there, though I have plenty to say about it :-)

Greg and I will be going to bed very early tomorrow evening because early early Friday morning we will embark on a fun Valentine's/President's Day trip to South Carolina to visit Sarah, Joel, and Eliza! We are so excited. We've got quite the fun trip out there planned--we'll stop at a number of Civil War battlefields including Stones River, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and Kennesaw Mountain. We'll then spend three fun-filled days with the Agates and will drive home through Kentucky on Tuesday. We'll be sure to visit Abraham Lincoln's birthplace on the way home. We can't wait to see Sarah, Joel, and Eliza!

Speaking of Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, tomorrow a ceremony will take place there to officially launch the four new penny designs. The first penny--which will enter circulation tomorrow--features his Kentucky birthplace. Then throughout the rest of the year they will release the three other designs. So keep an eye out for the new pennies. Here's wishing you happy Lincoln dreams tonight!

Putting a Stamp on History

This is a great week. There is Lincoln stuff going on 24/7. It's pretty fun to be right in the middle of it. Yesterday morning I went to Springfield for the First Day Issue of the new Lincoln stamps. I was one of the first people to line up outside of the Old State Capitol Building, and at 9:00 they opened the gate and allowed the crowd to go inside and purchase items featuring the First Day Issue cancellation. Then it was time for the official stamp unveiling with the U. S. Postmaster General. My favorite part of the whole program was when the 114th Illinois Volunteers (a Civil War reenactment group) presented the colors. They started out downstairs at the Old State Capitol, and you could hear their drummer echoing through the whole building. Then they started playing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as they entered the House chamber. It was really cool. There were about a million people there, so I headed out as quickly as I could after the stamp unveiling. It was getting pretty warm (and smelly) in there with all of those people. After the stamp ceremony, I walked over to the Lincoln home, then I met with the director of a company called Springfield Tours. I am going to be a tour guide for them over the summer which should be very fun. The tour I'll be conducting is called "Mr. Lincoln's Springfield Bicentennial Walk." It will take place on Friday and Saturday evenings. It should be a fun way to earn some extra cash.

For the last two evenings Greg and I have been able to attend some special Bicentennial lectures at the Lincoln Museum. Last night we saw for the first time the totally awesome "Bicentennial Bike" which is on display in the museum lobby. It's so cool! Yes, that's solid copper on the wheels.

Last night we heard Richard Carwardine speak. He is from England and wrote the book Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. He gave a very interesting presentation about Lincoln's perception of the world, and the world's perception of Lincoln. I even got a book signed by him! Tonight we heard a really cool lecture by Daniel Epstein who wrote the book Portrait of a Marriage about Abraham and Mary. It was very refreshing to hear a respected author talk about how much the Lincoln's loved each other. Lately it has seemed that everyone is talking about how Mary was crazy and made Abraham miserable and how he always wished that he had been able to marry Ann Rutledge. I've never bought into that idea, and I was glad to hear Epstein's presentation tonight. Greg is a good sport to go along with all of this Lincoln stuff ;-)

Lily just walked into the room dragging the belt from my bath robe. How did she get that? We had to buy some baby-proofing things for our doorknobs because somehow she's figured out how to open doors. She's so funny!

Liberal Pelosi-Reid

When I saw Lindy's cute picture of what a baby boy Barrett would look like using makemebabies.com, I couldn't help but try out the website. I have often wondered what a baby would look like with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi as its parents--ta da! Here he is. I didn't even ask for him to be in a duck suit--that's just how the computer made him :-) I'm pretty sure Harry and Nancy would name him Liberal and call him "Lib" for short. He would be one scary dude. Poor little guy.

Yesterday I had an excellent visit to the Abraham Lincoln Home. Prospects of getting a job there are looking very promising. They are going to let me know their final decision next week, but they all but told me I was hired yesterday. And, it turns out that the job they are considering me for will last for one year instead of just six months. The job will also have the possibility of being renewed at the end of the year--depending on the park's financial situation. As the supervisory ranger took me on a private tour of the house yesterday and we talked about what my jobs will be when I work there, it was kind of like I was walking around in a dream. I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I was awake. How cool will that be to work at ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOUSE!!! Every day I'll get to climb the same stairs he did and tell people about our greatest President. I will let you know when I receive the final word, but I'm quite confident that the job is in the bag. Tonight Greg and I are going to go out for his belated birthday dinner since we are both feeling much better now. We're planning to go enjoy the seafood buffet at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Springfield. Yum!

28 is Pretty Great!

Hooray! Today is Greg's 28th birthday, and we celebrated by rocking out to his new birthday present: Rock Band for the XBox 360. We started a band called the Obamanations. Greg plays the drums and I play the guitar. This evening we won a jet so we can now perform all over the world. Good times. Greg got to stay home from work today because he hasn't been feeling well--nor have I. We think he has the cold/flu bug (thankfully not the stomach flu), and I think I'm getting a cold. Playing Rock Band helped us both feel better. Then we had some yummy birthday pie. The only birthday candles I could find in Athens were called "sparkling candles" (complements of the Village Market). Yes, they sound dangerous, and when they started shooting off sparks like 4th of July sparklers, we figured it was time for Greg to blow them out. We like to live dangerously around here.

Today I got a call from the Abraham Lincoln Home. They said that I'm on the top of their list for both positions I applied for! I am going to meet with them tomorrow, so everyone keep your fingers crossed that I can get a job there. That would be a great place to work. I contemplated wearing my Abe Lincoln "Would I Lie to You?" t-shirt tomorrow, but Mom and I decided that might be a little much. I'll save that shirt for Lincoln's birthday next week.

Super Yummy!

Yummmmmm. Yesterday Greg made some delicious eats for the fun Super Bowl party we had at his boss Rich's house after we got home from church. He made some delicious crab dip and some lime-marinated, bacon-wrapped shrimp. My job was to pull the tails off the shrimp--which, several years ago before I went to New Orleans and learned to like shrimp, would have made me sick :-) But it was actually kind of fun. This shrimp appetizer was especially good--it was a BIG hit at the party!