Clinton, Edwards, Obama in our living room

This coming Monday (June 4) Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama will be in our living room with a group of prominent religious leaders discussing their views on faith, values, and poverty.

OK, actually they'll be at Lisner Auditorium at GW, but tickets are sold out. Thanks to CNN's live broadcast, their larger-than-life selves will also be on our living room wall from 7-8 pm.

While conventional wisdom says it is risky to talk about religion and politics in polite company, we thought it would be fun to do just that after the broadcast. What does our faith have to say about poverty? Should poverty be a political issue? Should our faith inform how we vote? Once we answer these questions, we'll move on to world hunger. And then be done by 9:30 pm.

If you are interested in taking part, please give us a heads-up so we can plan accordingly.

Details:
Date: Monday, June 4
Time: 6:30-9:30 pm
Place: Our House
RSVP: to us via blog comment

Light Fare and Refreshments

For wider context on the broadcast please follow this link.
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.P07&item=pentecost07_candidates_forum

And now, live from Paris....

Paris and Washington have a lot in common...they were designed by French people, have a lot of political activity and museums, and have tall, well-lighted structures around which people gather. Oh, and they are both prone to violent May thunderstorms too. We thought our best chance at visiting the iconic Eiffel Tower had been rained out, but after a long dinner, the weather turned in our favor and we made it down to the tower just in time to catch the last elevator to the top.

While there is much in Paris that is similar to DC, there is also a lot that is different. As Woody (of Cheers fame) says, "they have a different word for everything." So, in order to compensate for the seemingly familiar feeling this little video-with-English-narrative might give you, we've rotated it to the left (they are a bit left-leaning there). OK...we didn't actually rotate it to the left, YouTube did that for us and we couldn't figure out how to undo it. But how did they know it would be so appropriate?

Davies Family

While traveling, Mr and I got to spend some time with friends in the United Kingdom; Tim and Greta. They used to live in DC, and are good friends of the Mr. I hadn't really spent much time with them before our trip, but we had a lovely time with them. It was great to be with people who welcomed us in at a heart level. Friends who immediately opened their home, family, friends, food, and spirits to receive us. It seems that we all realized in our time together that the reality of life is hard to describe in e-mails, i-chatting, and phone conversations. This made it even better to be together. To see one another face to face.

Since Tim and Greta moved they have grown their family to 5 with three sweet daughters. They each have very welcoming spirits. Macy even at 3 days old was letting us take her around town.

jet lag

Mr. and I made it back last night. It seemed late and early all at the same time. When we landed the sun was just about to set, but it had been raining so it was also a bit cloudy. This was a good clue to the time of day we were entering; dusk. What should we do with that? Well, we should get our cars first; both parked at ArchInc. and waiting patiently for our return (in a nice safe suburban environment where thieve's do not break in and steal...I suppose that means I was storing some things on earth, I will work on that later) By time we got home it was dark, night, time for sleeping. But then the rush of being home, in a place that brings comfort and seclusion, just like we Americans need: individual space, we weren't so tired.

We opened the door expecting loads of mail in the way at the entry floor but there was just a few things from earlier that day. Ah, the Gazelle had come over and sorted some of our mail and left it nicely on the table. This clicked something in my mind, I had asked her to look for my 'passing' letter and to let me know if it came...only if it was a pass that is. (she hadn't let me know, but maybe she didn't look?) I scurried through and found the good things, you know like bridal brunch invites, cards from moms; the hand addressed stuff. Then I found it at the bottom, nicely placed on it's OPEN side and I knew at once that Gazelle had not told me. I slowly pulled out the two pieces of paper, my eyes were darting back and forth looking for that one word....oh yes...FAIL...there it was. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The letter had a little note that has the possibility to help me study for my next exam.

*interior layout

WHAT????? I didn't pass INTERIOR LAYOUT????? You are smoking crack! This is the part of the exam I felt SO GOOD about. This is the part of the exam that I do EVERY day. This is the part of the exam that I had mastered. YOU oh wise one of the freaking NCARB world are telling me I didn't pass???? AND on top of that you are telling me I FAILED over two months later when I don't even remember what was on the exam? AND you don't even give any more info than that?? Now I just have to realize I failed and start studying again...but study what, where were the mistakes, how could I do it better next time? I must of really f'd it up if I didn't pass, but I was sooooooooooooo sure.

I woke up this morning at 6:30 - which is always a serious chore...more serious for Matt than for me, because he practically has to push and pull me out of bed every morning. But not on jet lag day. Nope, mr. sleeps. I woke up thinking about my FAIL. At first it didn't really bother me. I mean I had just travelled from Paris and London, I can't let this silly little FAIL bother me. But now I am angry. Then I started thinking about how I am just going to kick the crap out of the rest of these exams.

So now, in my jet-lagged-state-of-mind, I am going to get my study material and start studying. One Fail is enough!

It is a rainy day today!

Paris
Light showers 54d

London
Scattered Thunderstorms 50d

Washington DC
Scattered Thunderstorms 72d

A good day to travel, I think?

Back in Paris

The last two days we have traveled the French countryside. What a beautiful place! We got our car...and started driving. We made it to Vezeley, Ronchamp (to see Notre Dame de Haut by Le Corbusier), Chablis and a lot of Burgundy inbetween.

We are back in Paris and have a great hotel room. We took a walk to the Louvre and stoped at a little bistro for dinner (a cheeseburger and a lovely Bordeax).

Lots of Paris left to see. Check out some of our photos down to the right.

Paris

It turns out that when you log in to blog in Paris, Blogspot automatically translates its website into French. So if this message gets translated into French, please know that it is not my translation, wee, wee?

So, seeing as how we are in Paris, we have better things to do than blog, so...adios...or a voyer.

Next stop...Ronchamp.

at long last

Finally, the arrival of this young lady will let us put our travel plans into motion!

Way to go Greta!!

Welcome to the world Macy!

See you all on Saturday.

today i wish....

I was somewhere else!

Just because....

Two Truths and a Lie

Just the other night I got to thinking about cooking something new, so I thought up a cool new recipe that would involve some tasty ingredients...then I whipped it up and surprised Mrs. with my creativity and culinary prowess. I called it sausage shepherds pie with sweet potatoes and squash. Now that's a unique idea if I do say so myself.

The meal was fantastic! There was a wide variety of distinct flavors, yet they each complemented each other exceptionally well. It was like Julia Childs went to an Irish Pub and took over the kitchen...I mean the resultant dish, not what I looked like while cooking.

I am a lucky man to have the Mrs. around..we get to enjoy some fine cooking!

Who needs AC?

A local independent HVAC contractor apparently stopped by last night and decided that Rhonda would get more air flow and be cooler if she didn't have a driver's side front door window.



Now a Saturn has different thermodynamic properties...a large hole in the back seat passenger window is more appropriate for this model.

first and second

Tomorrow is the scheduled day for exam number two. For me that will be Building Technology. A fun little exercise consisting of 6 different vignettes (building section, structural layout, accessibility/ramp, mechanical and electrical plan, stair design, and roof plan.) The total exam time is 6 hrs...so it should be a great day!?

And for those still wondering, I have not heard if I passed (or failed) the first exam. It really should be any day now!