A Week of Celebration

Wow--what a week it has been! On Monday I officially turned 25, and even though I had to work (and got a parking ticket for parking 10 feet away from a fire hydrant instead of 15 feet), it was still a great day. Greg and I went to dinner at a really fun place called the Chesapeake House Seafood Restaurant. It is located in a cool, historic house right by a golf course, and the food there was delicious. I had some raspberry encrusted salmon with crab stuffed shrimp. Then we went home and had some birthday ice cream. I especially enjoyed Eliza's renditions of "Happy Birthday" that she sang on the phone!

The rest of the week has been crazy-busy at work, but I am grateful that I don't have to work today or tomorrow. Things are going to be pure madness at the Lincoln Home for the next two days. Today is the official kick-off for the Springfield Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration commemorating not only the Fourth of July, but Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday (they did celebrate that back in February, but the Fourth is a good excuse for more parties). This evening Abraham and Mary Lincoln will be leaving the Lincoln Home at 5:00 p.m., then they will take a carriage down to the Old State Capitol where they, along with the mayor and governor, will announce the beginning of a giant party. The park is going to stay open until 11:00 p.m. tonight! They'll be showing a movie on a giant screen in the neighborhood, and as I said, I am grateful to have a couple of days off :-) Greg and I think we'll go downtown and check things out tomorrow though.

Something really strange happened the other day at the Lincoln Home. I was giving the 4:40 p.m. tour of the house, and as I was in the front parlor talking about how Abraham Lincoln accepted the nomination to run for President there in 1860, a giant cold chill went up my spine. Then, when the group was over in the sitting room, I could have sworn I saw someone climbing up the stairs (but we were the only group in the house at the time). And then, when we finished up in the kitchen, I told the group that they could exit out the back door. A gentleman went to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. I went over to the door and found that it had been locked--from the inside! There's an old deadbolt on the door that we never use. It's located on the inside of the door, so there's no way that the last ranger in the house could have accidentally locked it after they left. And if someone in our group had pushed it closed, I would have noticed. It was really strange. Hmmmmmm. The rangers have told me that abnormal activity at the home seems to pick up around holidays.

Speaking of holidays, tomorrow we get to celebrate the Fourth of July! I think it's no coincidence that the Civil War battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg both came to an end on the 3rd and 4th of July in 1863. That was the major turning point of the Civil War--even though it would drag on for for another year and a half. On the morning of July 4, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued an official statement which read, in part: "[The President] especially desires that on this day, He whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remembered and reverenced with profoundest gratification." I hope that we as Americans never forget the divinity of our history and the importance of our future. The colonists could not have won the Revolutionary War without God's help, and in so many of the other crucial moments in our history, God's hand is clearly evident. Unfortunately it seems that the moral fabric of our country is coming unraveled these days, and the principles upon which our country was founded are being blatantly ignored in the highest echelons of our government. But, as our country--the great republican experiment--has already survived so many calamities, and has come through victorious when our democratic society has been tested, I am confident that the United States of America can overcome the current threats to our freedoms and values--as long as enough Americans will remember the wonderful heritage we have. As Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg:

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the 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."

We're Off to See the Wizard . . .

. . . the wonderful Wizard of Oz! Yesterday Greg and I met the real Wizard of Oz: St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. It was so cool!!! For my birthday weekend, Greg took me to a Cardinals game (one of my very favorite things to do), and we just happened to be there on the evening that Ozzie Smith was signing autographs. We had to be at the stadium pretty early because only the first 150 people in line were guaranteed autographs (and Ozzie is a pretty popular guy). It was SO hot outside (which is funny because at both of the other games we've been to, we were freezing). We ended up as numbers 51 and 52 in line. By the time we got up to the table, I truly thought I might pass out (from the heat). We had already finished all of the beverages we brought with us, and I started feeling a little wobbly. When I was finally there right in front of Ozzie, all I could think of to say was, "Are you hot, sir?" :-) He was really nice. He smiled and said, "Naw, it's not too bad with this fan blowing on me." I should have thought of something more profound to ask him--like, "Can you still do your famous back flips?" But the heat had gotten to my head. It was so cool to meet Ozzie!!!

We enjoyed dining on water and snow cones.









Our seats were right above the Cardinals bullpen, so we got to see Yadier Molina . . .








. . . and Adam Wainwright warming up.





















It was an absolutely beautiful evening at the ballpark. Unfortunately the Cards lost the game to the Twins (3-1), but luckily they redeemed themselves by winning today.












Since I have to work tomorrow and on my birthday, Greg, the animal children and I decided to celebrate early. On Thursday night we opened presents. Greg and the animals gave me some awesome baseball cards! The coolest one is an Albert Pujols card that has pieces of a game-used bat, jersey, patch, pants, and sock! And today Greg even made me a delicious birthday cake while I was sleeping in. We have had such a fun birthday weekend and are looking forward to a little more celebrating on Monday. Thank you Greg! And thank you to everyone who has sent cards and presents in the mail. Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday to Lindy today!

Melting

After last winter when I was always freezing, I never thought I would get truly warm again. But . . . I was wrong. It's been as bad as Mississippi in August here! For the last few days, it's been nothing but sunshine, humidity, and temperatures in the high 90s. The heat index has been around 105 degrees in the afternoon. 105 degrees + polyester pants + grouchy visitors = grouchy Tiffy :-) Adding to my grouchiness was the fact that our park superintendent has ruled that rangers can no longer park in the Lincoln Home parking lot (thinking that this will make room for more visitors). So we have to find our own parking somewhere downtown. Not only must we walk very far in the heat, we must also walk through the ghetto! In fact, 11th and Cook Street (sort of near the Lincoln Home) was recently named the 13th most dangerous neighborhood in America. Oh great. Luckily I've got my pepper spray and pocket knife--both of which we are not supposed to carry with us (because our superintendent is kind of a uniform nazi, and these items are not officially part of the NPS uniform); but if I have to walk through the ghetto I'm not going to do it without some defenses. I have found a way to effectively hide my defenses in my pocket. I call it my pocket of protection.

Anyway, after walking in the heat the other morning and getting all sweaty and gross before work even started, I was a little grouchy. But then, I was assigned to take someone in a wheelchair on a tour of the house. We take people with wheelchairs on separate tours because of the location of our chair lift--which is behind the house. As soon as I met the couple I would be taking through the house, my grouchiness immediately melted away. They were soooooo nice! It was a husband and his wife who was confined to a wheelchair. They were from Wisconsin and were probably in their mid-50s. The wife was a huge history buff, and she said it had always been her dream to visit the Lincoln Home. I took them through the first floor of the home--which usually just takes about 10 minutes, but they were very interested in everything, so we spent about 40 minutes going around to the different rooms. Then I got out our binder that shows pictures of the upstairs rooms and took them on a virtual tour of the second floor. They enjoyed it very much, and they were so kind and appreciative. I couldn't have enjoyed it more, and they helped me remember that not all visitors are mean and swear at you :-) Then today when I got to work, I had an e-mail from the superintendent saying that he had received an e-mail from them. Their e-mail was the nicest, kindest, most sweet letter I have ever read! Superintendent Sanders said he is proud to have me on the staff (even though he thinks my name is Stephanie--but that's okay--it sounds similar). I love nice people.

This afternoon I got a little sick to my stomach, but after drinking some water and sitting inside for a few minutes I was okay. It was either something I ate for lunch--or maybe the fact that I was wearing dark green polyester in 100 degree heat. You might wonder why the heat/humidity here would bother me after spending two summers in Mississippi--but in Mississippi people seriously go at a slower pace (because they know they'll die of heat stroke if they don't). Even at Natchez NHP, the pace was about 87% slower than it is at the Lincoln Home (we could even sit in the rocking chairs when we weren't busy). So when you combine the madness of the Lincoln Home with 100 degrees and 90% humidity, you get a lot of hot, sweaty, grouchy rangers. :-) But tomorrow is my last day of work for the week, on Friday Greg and I get to go to a Cardinals game in St. Louis, and I am still happy about those nice people from Wisconsin, so no more grouchiness for me!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I am lucky to have the best dad in the whole world. He is very wise and kind, and he also makes a wonderful grandpa. Dad is good at everything, and I love all of the times we've ridden horses together, played basketball, or played catch in the backyard. As I was waiting in the car for a train to pass by the other day, I was remembering when Dad used to have "VIP" days for us kids. He would spend the whole day with one of us doing whatever we wanted. I remember one time I wanted to go watch the trains at the Provo train station. We waited there all day for a train, but one never came. What a good sport dad was to wait all day! Even though a train didn't come, I still remember that as a really fun day that I got to spend with my dad--just talking and eating ice cream (two of my favorite things to do). Thank you for everything, Dad! And I also have wonderful grandpas too!

For Father's Day, the animal children and I gave Greg a picture of all of us that he can take to work with him :-)

We've had some pretty wild storms here lately. On Friday evening Greg and I were in Springfield when a terrible thunderstorm blew through. Once again the streets were covered with several inches of water, and there was so much lightning and wind. We both got soaked! When we returned home, we found many large branches on the ground, so the next morning I filled up the fire pit with the storm trailings. Now we can have a good fire (and some good hot dogs).

Yesterday while Greg was golfing, I went on a little outing to Jacksonville, Illinois, located about 30 miles west of Springfield. They were having "General Grierson Days" to honor their very own Civil War hero: Benjamin Grierson. Benjamin was part of an important raid that took place at Vicksburg, Mississippi! He is probably the most famous person ever to come from Jacksonville, Illinois.

Ah, here's our kind of man :-) It was such a fun day! They had so many people there. It was a Civil War lover's heaven. There were reenactors everywhere, and they had all of these little, fun sutler shops set up where you could buy Civil War goods. I had some delicious BBQ for lunch along with some homemade root beer.

And I enjoyed the plastic limbs outside of the hospital tent :-)

They even had the cavalry there! I have decided that sometime when I have a lot of free time and money, I will buy a horse (I already have a saddle) and a Civil War uniform and join a Civil War reenactment cavalry.

I then went to a few antique stores and got lost in the cornfields (it was Weezer's fault! She's my GPS). On my way home I saw this beautiful scene out of the window. What a fun day!

Sweet Seven

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Camden!!! I can't believe that you are seven already! It seems like just yesterday that we went to the hospital to see you as a brand new baby. You were so sweet and cute--and you just keep getting sweeter and cuter. Thank you for being such a fun, wonderful niece. Uncle Greggy and I love you very much!