bits of my weekend: Alexandria old town and a parade

Kenyon is taking a nursing class in Alexandria. He kept telling me how wonderful their downtown is, so I accompanied him this weekend.

I spent the first couple of hours in a coffee shop working to complete the Women and Girls health and wellness status report. Since starting my new job I haven't had as much time to work on it. While in the coffee shop I learned that I picked a good day to come to town - this was the day of the annual St. Patty's Day parade. I hadn't been to one of those in years! This was a favorite annual event when living in Kansas City.

I watched a bit of the two hour parade. Mostly I people watched and wished I'd thought to bring my camera as some of the costumes were unbelievable.

When the parade was over and the crowds started to clear, I browsed the shops in old town. I loved the mix of local, international and chain stores. The people were pretty mixed too - I lost count of the number of different languages I heard that day. I got caught up in a book store when Kenyon called to tell me his class had ended. Somehow it was already after 4pm.

We met up near the area where we parked the car and decided to have dinner at one of the restaurants in old town.

It was a fabulous day of productivity, celebration and relaxation. However, seeing things from other countries and hearing other languages had my mind wandering to the people I have met in foreign lands and my heart missing the life I once lived.

just Sheri, still in transition

a second vehicle

Now that I have a job and will be commuting about 20 miles each day, we were in the market for a second vehicle. Our number one criteria was fuel efficiency. Number two was that it fall in our price range. Number three was that it would be nice to have some space to put stuff, especially as we anticipate setting up house in the near future. The two may seem contradictory.

Thanks to the wonders of Craig's List we found a small, hybrid SUV that met our needs and some of our wants. The seller gave us a fabulous deal and I now ride comfortably to and from work each day.

just Sheri, unexpectedly riding in luxury

visit to Gari Melchers Home and Studio

On a recent Sunday Kenyon and I took a tour at the Gari Melchers estate. It is a beautiful older home from the 1920's. Gari Melchers was a portrait artist...and apparently a pretty good one.

It costs money to go in to the home and art studio. Since we have not received a paycheck in months, we didn't do that part of the tour. What we did do was the FREE guided tour of the grounds on the estate. The tour is guided by volunteers and there are a couple of tours like ours scheduled throughout the week.

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon...being outside in nature, on a walk, and learning about things I had no knowledge of before. I learned about indigenous vegetation and wildlife...and also about natural elements that were introduced from other places like Europe. But, the best part for me was the insight on what life was like in those days.

There was a carriage area in the front of the house with a cement stoop to let the ladies off. The designated garden area was HUGE. Why? Because that is what it took to produce enough food for their family. Because this man was a sought after artist they had a big and beautiful house and other amenities like ice.

Where they got the ice is the most interesting story to me. It's source is a nearby creek. It was obvious they had created a pooled area kind of like what happens when beavers build a dam, but this was man-made with stones. In the winter they would lay out slats of wood and let the water freeze, then stack more wood on top of the frozen water, and so on and so on, until they had layers of ice. Before the ice melted, they would come out with a ice saw and cut it in to blocks then store it underground. They would serve this treat at parties because ice was considered a luxury item.

Walking the grounds I kept thinking about the value of self-sustained living.

just Sheri, intrigued by sustainable living

Quotable Quotes: problem solvers

“There is a great difference between worry and concern. 

A worried person sees a problem, 

and a concerned person solves a problem.” 

~ Harold Stephens

is there such a thing as an unattractive pharmaceutical rep?

My new job is located in a hospital. All day long there are pharmaceutical reps walking in and out of the building pulling their black rolling bag of product behind them.

The thing I have noticed is that everyone of them, male and female, look like they stepped out of the pages of a magazine. It leaves me wondering, is there such a thing as an ugly pharmaceutical rep? Would their job pay as much if their appearance wasn't resembling a model?

just Sheri, an inquiring mind wanting to know