CARdinals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAMDEN!!! I can't believe you are 8 years old already! You were such a sweet little baby, and you just keep getting sweeter each year. We are so proud of you, and I can't wait to see you next month!

On Wednesday, Greg and I had a fun trip to St. Louis with our good friends David and Teal. We are very sad that David and Teal are moving to Atlanta at the end of the month, so we are trying to fit in as much fun with them as we can before they leave. Our day began at the Pink Elephant Antique Mall on the way to St. Louis--Teal and I had been wanting to stop there forever, so this was our day. The antique mall had many interesting things, but the decorations outside were what made it really intriguing.

Then it was off to Grant's Farm in St. Louis! I hadn't been to Grant's Farm since Mom, Dad, and I were in St. Louis a few years ago, and Greg, David, and Teal had never been there before. It was so much fun! We got to see many exotic animals and we enjoyed the beautiful setting (although we could have done without the intense heat).

Our (well, at least my and Teal's) favorite part was seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales! They are SOOOO beautiful, and we even saw some cute little (actually not so little) babies. They are such powerful, beautiful horses, and they have quite the setup there at Grant's Farm. The farm is on land that once belonged to Ulysses S. Grant and is now owned by the Busch family. After Grant's Farm, we had a delicious dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, then it was off to the stadium for the Cardinals game.

Though it was a warm day, it turned into a perfect evening for baseball. David and Teal are big Phillies fans, and we had planned to go to the Cardinals-Phillies game in July, but since they'll be gone by then and they are fellow baseball lovers, we thought it would be fun to catch a game while they're still here. The Cardinals were playing the Mariners, and we almost got to see an Albert Pujols home run, but then they decided that it wasn't really a home run. The Cardinals ended up losing the game, but it was still really fun to be there.

We enjoyed trying out our new camera at the game. Now that's what I call a zoom!! We could see Albert in great detail. After the game was over, we returned to the car, which was still locked but . . . we found the contents of the glove compartment and center console dumped out. Uh oh. We realized that someone had broken into the car, but we couldn't figure out how. Thankfully none of us had any valuables in the car, but we couldn't figure out why they didn't take the GPS or Greg's phone. When a police officer came to talk to us he said that they were probably just looking for guns. Oh, great. He also explained to us that the thieves have a way of getting in through the lock and disabling the car alarm. So that was creepy, but luckily the car and all of our stuff is okay (except we need to get the glove compartment fixed--it was locked, and the thief pried it open). So the whole thing turned into quite an adventure!

And then if the car break-in isn't disturbing enough, I went to work on Thursday to find the following memo from the National Park Service director, Jon Jarvis. Funny that we didn't get any memos like this from Fran Mainella or Mary Bomar (who had both been appointed by President Bush). So get ready to be disturbed:





MEMORANDUM

To: National Park Service Employees

From: Director Jarvis

Subject: National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month 2010

The month of June has been designated as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. This designation is meant to recognize the impact of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals have had on Amerca and the word. The international theme for this year is "One Heart, One World, One Pride." This theme will provide numerous opportunities for dialogue and promoting a better understanding and appreciation of the struggles, significant accomplishments and contributions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals to this Nation and the world.

President Barack Obama his proclamation dated May 28, 2010, designating the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, states, "LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the fabric of our national life. From business leaders and professors to athletes and first responders, LBGT individuals have achieved success and prominence in every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, our friends and neighbors. Throughout my Administration, openly LGBT employees are serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before us--the brave men and women who marched, stood up to injustice, and brought change through acts of compassion or defiance--we have made enormous progress and continue to strive for a more perfect union."

The National Park Service joins President Obama and the rest of this Nation in celebrating LGBT Pride Month. I believe that observances should be times for the reaffirmation of our struggles and determination to change attitudes and heighten the understanding of the LGBT individuals and their experiences. So join the National Park Service and me in observing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month by participating in programs and observances in your area."

No thank you! What is becoming of our country?

The End of the World

Does this not look like the end of the world? It felt like the end of the world. Yesterday afternoon Greg had to go to Athens for a funeral, so I was at home with the animal children. It had been raining on and off throughou the day, but at about 5:15 Greg called to say that he was on his way home and there were some black clouds coming. I looked outside and could see some really, really dark clouds. I turned on the Weather Channel, but there were no warnings, so I went back to whatever I was doing. Then Greg called back and said that the clouds were looking really crazy--kind of like a tidal wave.

So I went out in the front yard and saw THIS!! The storm was moving so fast. It was completely calm outside, and all I could hear was a low, constant rumble of thunder. There was lightning up in the giant cloud coming at me, but it wasn't raining or anything. So I just stood there and watched this freaky, tornado-dropping-looking cloud fly over. Greg got home just as it passed over the condo. Then . . . the rain came. Behind that cloud was a heck of a thunderstorm. The wind was blowing like crazy, and there was thunder and lightning everywhere. It was the weirdest thing--seeing that wall of a storm come over, and immediately behind it was crazy weather. The only thing I can think of to compare it to when it was coming at me is a flock of dementors from "Harry Potter." It was really scary, but at least the world did not really end.

Front Page News

We made the front page of the State Journal-Register yesterday! Well, at least Albert D. Cashier (aka Jennie Hodgers) did. She was a Civil War soldier from Illinois who was a woman but posed as a man to join the Union Army and lived as a man for the rest of her life until her true identity was discovered when she was in a car accident in 1910. It is quite the interesting story, and the journalist from the Journal-Register who interviewed (and filmed) me the other day was so intrigued with her/him. I was very surprised to see that our interview turned into the front page feature story! Hopefully the publicity will draw a good crowd for my programs tomorrow and Saturday.

On a random note, as I was driving home yesterday, I saw an undercover police man in a mini van!! That is really sneaky. He had pulled someone over, and there were the blue and red lights flashing in the front and back windows of the very inconspicuous mini van. It looked more like a family car than a police car.

Lincoln Home park ranger Tiffany Bowles

Home Improvement

Now that Greg is done with school for the summer, we've decided to get to work on some things we've been wanting to do at the condo. The first change was quite simple, but it makes a big difference! We have Mom and Ikea to thank for this idea--changing the cabinet door handles in the kitchen. Mom saw an Ikea add that featured dark kitchen cabinets with neat brushed silver handles. When she and I were at Ikea, we checked out the cabinet handles, and it gave me some really good ideas. So, I removed the 1980s decorative metal things behind the original white knobs on the cabinet doors, replaced them with some stylo brushed silver handles, and bam--new kitchen, just like that! The cabinet doors were nasty where the metal stuff had been, with years of gunk built up in there, but Greg and I cleaned, polished, and stained those areas so the doors look better than new.

Project #2 was a storage shed. The one problem with the condo was that it didn't have any outdoor storage for bikes, etc. So, we found this cool little mini house and spent last Saturday assembling it. It is really nice, and perfect for the things we needed to store outside (including our new grill that we got for summer cookouts).

We have also been cultivating some tomatoes--my favorite fresh vegetable. We had two of these "Topsy Turvy" upside down tomato growing apparati hanging outside, and they were both doing so great. But, unfortunately one of them had its trunk snapped by one of the storms, so we'll have to re-plant that one. But the other one is going gangbusters, and I think we'll have some tomatoes very soon. Our problem with a garden last year was that the bunnies ate everything--but when it's above the ground, we're good to go. Now we just need to finish the main floor bathroom . . .