Who thinks the Bill of Rights is a pretty darned good thing?!

A business trip took me to Philadelphia last week where I was able to play in history.  Although, flying there might fall under playing with nature.

I arrived Sunday late afternoon, in time to scout out the area for how I wanted to spend Monday morning, before the meeting started in the afternoon.

My hotel was within easy walking distance of several old, beautiful Catholic churches and Independence Hall.

The oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia, founded by Jesuits.

Thanks to music practice I was able to go in.



I was hoping to be able to go to daily Mass here on Monday. The Mass time didn't fit my schedule, but I was able to go to Mass in the chapel at St. Mary's Convent at 7:30 am, which was a perfect start to my day.

After Mass I found a bagel shop at the corner of 5th and Walnut, where I studied my map and fine tuned my plans.  I picked up (free) tickets to tour Independence Hall at 11:30, then headed to the Constitution Center.  Anyone who knows me knows I am seldom early.  I had a good half hour before it opened, so visited the Liberty Bell.  I hadn't planned to stand in line to go through security to see the Liberty Bell.  I expected it looked like its picture.  The line was short and I had the time, so I did.

Liberty Bell with Independence Hall in the background.
(My cell phone doesn't do well with light/dark contrasts.)

At the Constitution Center I watched a program that was a combination of oratory presentation and an audio visual show, presenting what lead up to and the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  After the show, I, and several school groups, walked through the Constitution Center museum.  I got to vote for my favorite president (George W. Bush). 

I toured Independence Hall and a small building next to it that housed the House and Senate for the 10 years that the federal government resided in Philadelphia.  That was cool - getting to see where John Adams was inaugurated as the second president.

The picture above is the room in Independence Hall where the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.  Most is a replication, but the chair at the head table is the chair in which George Washington sat as he presided at these meetings.

You learn this stuff in grade school, so it's familiar, but I really appreciated the opportunity to be reminded of where our country started and the price that many have paid (and continue to pay) for the freedom we have .  (Hence, the movie quote from "Field of Dreams" that titles my blog.)

I also saw Ben Franklin's grave, the house Thomas Jefferson rented and in which he drafted the Declaration of Independence, Christ Church (Episcopal), and the house in which Dolley Payne Todd  lived before she married James Madison.

As often seems to happen when I travel for work, I was there over a Catholic Holy Day - Ascension Thursday.  I was able to go to Mass at 7 pm Wednesday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Holy Trinity Catholic Church - the second oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia.

 

Before we left for the airport on Thursday, we had time to tour the Philadelphia Mint. 

 

What I did learn, while playing in history, that I didn't know before, or had forgotten?

John Adams was our second president (pathetic, I know).

Our Navy was started in order to protect merchant ships from pirates.

The War for Independence was supported by France and Spain, and financed by the Netherlands.

The federal government was located in Philadelphia for 10 years (1780 - 1790, I think).

The Liberty Bell's name has nothing to do with the War of Independence but with the Abolition movement and women's rights.

Not all colonies supported religious freedom.  William Penn, in Pennsylvania, adamantly did.

If there is a letter on a coin, it identifies in which Mint the coin was made.



 

How to Build a Tree House

   First close your eyes...take 5 deep breathes and let them out slowly...now picture a place that is peaceful and enjoyable...a place that has wonderful memories. This is a tree house. Cindy has learned a number of relaxation techniques and one she has named a 'tree house'. Taking yourself to a place you have been (or a place only in your imagination) where you are at peace. This works especially well at night when you are trying to go to sleep after a stressful day. We have a number of tree houses and will ask each other at night "are your in your tree house? Where is it...describe it to me." It works...try it!


This pic is over our bed reminding us of tree house memories.



Mom painted this...I like to go fishing here in my dreams.



Another painting of Mom's...this is my dream house.



A favorite tree house is Harney Peak in SD!




What a view.

Cindy in her tree house




Dubuque...Dene' and Tyler's place is definitely a tree house.

We had the privilege of staying at Barb and Jeff's (Tyler's parents) condo in Naples for a tree house experience. Yea!

 

Tree House!

Tree House!

 

So go to your tree house...it's the place to be!

 

See Dene's tree house here.

 

See Ashley's tree houses here.

 

 

 

Something I learned this week

I wanted to write Mike's blog on this week's topic, but he insisted on doing it himself, so I wrote my own.

Part I by Mike:

I like to think of myself of being a patient person...and a great golfer. Neither one of these things are completely true. First of all, I don't golf, except on my I-pad and I'm getting better on that. When it comes to things that need to be repaired I have very little patience to let things work themselves out. Maybe because I am a paid professional when it comes to repairing copiers but that doesn't translate to all home repair projects. We had some water come through the ceiling in our spare room down stairs last week after 2 1/2 inches of rain in a couple of days. My first thought was to cut out  a chunk of the ceiling to see where the water was coming in from then start tearing into our deck we just had installed last summer and fix the dang problem (sorry for the strong language...just breath). A little common sense took over and I called another paid professional to come over and give me a second opinion. He showed up today and I found out that cutting into the ceiling and tearing up the deck is not the best option. So I learned that patience may not be easy to come by but it can save you from a bigger headache later.  Now do I have to be patience with the squirrels too?

 



The very rare and elusive Eastern screech Squirrel.

After much patience with 2 weeks of cool, spring weather, our tulip tree bloomed.

Part II by Cindy:

Things you don't like to hear your dentist say......

Tuesday morning I went to the dentist expecting a quick, routine small filling.  You see where this is going.  My dentist said, "I told you this tooth has multiple cracks."  (All of my teeth have some level of cracking - I can't distinguish specifics.)  Followed by, "I don't think I'm going to be able to just drill this." 

I broke out with shingles the day after the last partial crown she did for me.  When I told her that at my next appointment, she didn't find it funny, but I don't know that it was completely coincidental.  It was stressful.  It was the first time I'd had my heart start to race with the Novocain shot.  I thought I was headed for a panic attack.  You know what causes most panic attacks?  Fear of a panic attack.  (I just made that up, but this much is true....)  I'll spare you the recap of the rest of the experience!

I got over my initial reaction to what we were about to do, reasoned with myself through the Novocain racing heart beat and kicked into my 'breath deep and slow' routine.  And, it worked!  I counted to five as I breathed in, then counted to five as I breathed out.  Pretty soon I was okay and realized I was no longer breathing deeply.  Just like when I have trouble relaxing to fall asleep.  Head for the tree house and breath.  Next thing I know I'm dozing off and am no longer breathing deeply.  (Some times it's longer than 'next thing I know' but it works for me!)

As I was concentrating on my breathing I realized what a blessing I didn't know this was going to happen - until it happened.  I wasn't worried ahead of time.  I also reminded myself what a blessing I can go to the dentist, unpleasant as it might be, and keep my teeth.  You may be asking yourself, "so what did she learn?!"  It wasn't really a new learning, but it reinforced that no matter what the stressful situation, breathing will help me get through it. 

I did learn a totally new thing this week at work - how to add a line to a bar graph in Excel. But, how would that blog take more than one sentence?

 

 

Keep breathing!  And check out what Dene' has learned.

Favorite Places

                                   My favorite thing about Lincoln?





                       Is it the leaves?


Is it the moon?                               

 




 








                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                             

                                 Is it the snow?    

                                                                   

        

Goodness no!

 

 

 

 

It's the memories we have made living here these last 15 years.

 Here are just a few.

 

 



Must have been kiss a pirate day.




Drama.






More drama.

 

Speech was some of our best memories.



Yea.



With cousin Whitney.



Lot's of band concerts.




I'm not really sure?

 

 

Dene' with 3 of her cousins who all are
taller than she is now.

 

Best friends.

Good looking girls.

Sweet secrets.

Two amazing young men.

 

Trying to be serious :)

 

 

 

Memories are my favorite thing about Lincoln.

 

 

 

Check out a special place in Dubuque and Denver.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Eastern Screech Squirrel

This blog is to let everyone know how much we enjoyed Mom, Dad and Sherry's visit down here...AND to squelch any rumors you might hear on the news that a new type of squirrel/owl has been found in Nebraska.

We went to a few parks bird watching, played cards in front of a fire, ate a lot of popcorn and had a wonderful time. Woohoo.

Now to quell any rumors.

I see him.

I really do exist.

Last time Mom and Dad were down here we saw an Owl living in a box in our spruce tree in the back yard.  I was able to get this owl to stick his head out by rubbing some twine against our shed in the back yard. It sounded like a wounded rabbit (sorry for that piece of information). Since then I have been keeping an eye out for him/her to come back. So yesterday I went into the back yard and tried calling my owl out. And sure enough I saw a furry little head stick out of our owl box. So I ran back to the house to get Sherry and Mom to come see the owl. Now I have to admit, I wanted to impress Mom and Sherry, who are avid  bird watchers, to let them know I know my birds too! They came out with their binoculars and I started calling the owl...up comes the head. I see Sherry  whisper something to Mom and they both try suppressing their laughter then start heading back to the house. I ask them if they are impressed? Sherry says she has seen squirrels before. Sure enough, it was a squirrel that had taken up residence in our owl house. Ok...a rookie mistake...I do know the difference between a squirrel and an owl. My Dad promised me he wouldn't tell anybody about this little episode but if he had promised me that the sun wouldn't come up tomorrow it would have been about the same thing.




Where is that screech squirrel?



This is how to bird watch.

 

 

 Cindy has a saying..."Don't believe everything you think".  Who says there aren't Great Eastern Screech Squirrels?

 

What's Cooking?

  Dene' and I wanted to blog about something fun and good we cooked this week.  (Go see what's cooking in Dubuque and Denver.)  So early in the week I cooked ribs on the grill and made sweet potato fries. Yes Frannie, we are keeping the bones and will bring them out next month. It is spring and time to grill every chance we get. And Mom, Dad and Sherry are down here visiting so that means cooking my famous chicken on the grill. I am including two of my favorite meals for the week...am I cheating on the blog? Yes...but it was tasty!





The taste of summer.




Break out the grill!

May your Spring be yummy! 

Alleluia and Happy New Year

Happy Easter to all. The Church observes 40 days of Lent and during that time refrains from saying (or singing) Alleluia. And now we are celebrating 50 days of Easter and we get to say Alleluia every chance we get. The Happy New Year? Well Alex and Ashley taught Michael to say "Happy New Year" and he still says it...it goes something like this, "good-nite...luv you...happy new year" or "goodbye...happy new year". So just as Easter is celebrated more than just one day, a Happy New Year is always welcome.

And welcome to Dene' and my new tradition of blogging together each week. Click here to see Dene's blog.  If anyone wants and feels the great pull of blogging please join us...we would welcome one and all :)

We were blessed with both families being in Lincoln for Easter. The activities ranged from watching basketball (a lot), playing board games in front of  a fire, taking turns cooking some of our  favorite meals and just hanging out and enjoying each others company.

You can't have too much cuddle time.

For being in Nebraska we struggled getting enough
 wind to fly this baby but Michael enjoyed watching it CRASH.

Somebody is ready for bed.

The best aunt and uncle you could ask for.

With enough popcorn we can watch basketball all night!

A little father and son time.

 

 

 

 

Here is Liam chatting with great grandpa.

Liam looks like he is sitting in a giant pile of bubble gum...the "boppy"
seat works about the same way...you're stuck in it.

 

 

 

 

 

Liam loves his big brother.

 

 

 

 

Dene' and Tyler will be moving to North Carolina this summer
to continue their ministry in FOCUS.

 

 

 

 

Alleluia and Happy New Year.