I was fortunate that the
husband was able to be in Washington D.C., for the Holidays! And do you know
what that meant? It meant I packed up the boys, a Christmas tree, a frozen ham, crock pots
and my china....crammed in the family van and took a 900 mile road trip to DC
to be with my beloved! (although he was deployed overseas, he & his team were in DC for the holiday break - yet not allowed to leave the city)
The trip took two days as we headed into a snow storm (of the century) on the way there taking I-70. Only in the last 18 miles did it get overwhelming with the traffic of DC, snow banks and the navigation system not taking into account the hilly neighborhood areas trying to get me back to the main road when I missed my turn because the snow drift was higher then the sign or the exit was closed because that's the only place they could put the excess snow! I have now been exposed to "somewhat controlled skidding" down an icy hill lined with parked vehicles on each side ....in an overstuffed large vehicle...and I don't like it! LOL
It was wonderful to see my baby. He had lost some weight, but still looked like his handsome self. Jaw set with determination, unflinching hazel eyes, warm lips curled in a smile when we pulled up. Oh....I found myself falling in love/lust with him all over again! His eyes too got moist as we fell out of the van to get our hugs from the man who tries so hard to provide for his family.
He took us to his hotel room and I was surprised to see several framed 5x7 pictures of the family in the room. We put the Christmas tree up that evening and it occurred to me I didn't bring ornaments. Hubby fixed that with items from the hotel room such as popcorn and fresh cranberries! The entire family strung the popcorn & cranberries for garland, added candy canes and clipped red/white birds & pine cones ornaments to the tree. Gold bows & red balls plus a homemade aluminum foil star on top helped. It turned out pretty festive! It still had some empty spots so later I picked up some cute mini teapots and mini china dishes from the Martha Washington china patterns at Mount Vernon when we took a tour. The tree was complete!
Even better then the tree was Hubby's "stocking" plan. He used his military desert winter socks and sewed a ribbon on the top of them with fishing line! He then stuffed them with beef jerky, Hershey kisses, cash and a military (RMO) coin! The morning of Christmas, the boys were thrilled with their stuffed stockings saying..."This is much better then toy gifts under the tree!"
As fortunate as we were that the husband could have Christmas in Virginia, there were other military members there as well...without the chance of going home, or their loved ones coming this way. They were stuck in the hotel until it was time to head overseas after the holidays. So, as the wife of the new chief of this department, I couldn't let them spend the holiday without a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day.
The husband and I set about getting a small feast ready from our hotel room for the military members and reserved the hotel dining area in the afternoon for them. A turkey was cooked, a spiral ham in a crock pot, nuked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans with bacon, stuffing, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and Hubby's fresh cranberry relish. My china service for 12 was just the right amount and I even utilized my Christmas present from Hubby, two red cast iron covered pots. The only thing I forgot was a Christmas tablecloth! Oh, I'm kicking myself!!!! Well, that and not getting pictures!
Anyway, it couldn't have turned out better even if in my own kitchen back home! I was able to meet the men & women Hubby works with. Great folks! We spent a few hours with tables pushed together ....drinking wine....talking about what they had been doing and plans to travel the capital over the weekend. Even my nephew who has lived in the DC area for 10 years made the trip across town and enjoyed our Christmas feast. I'm so glad he could come, because he was able to answer all questions about the area including metro stations and various tours. Plus, I noticed how quiet it was since hubby "outranked" them and they wouldn't speak until spoken too, so unless I kept the conversation going....nothing was said! My nephew took the pressure off of me since he was a civilian...and nothing held him back from talking when he wanted too! After all, we were just Aunt and Uncle Ette to him!
A few days later, the nephew took the boys to the monuments and a shopping mall. I'm so glad he did because there was no way I could have walked it in my condition. Dan LOVED the mall. He bugged us for days to go back. We never go to the mall back home so this was something exciting for Dan. Somehow, that kid walked out with a winter hat, two pairs of skinny jeans, new shoes, two belts and a red belt buckle with his initials!!
New Year's night, we asked the military group over to our room to socialize around 8pm so if they wanted to be somewhere at midnight, it wouldn't interfere. It was mostly shop talk as everyone was focusing on the mission to come. I had made a turkey-potato-corn chowder in the crock pot, with a loaf of fresh bread and tea. I'll be the first to admit....I wanted to show off our Christmas tree! Ha!!
I left DC on January 1st in the morning, and the roads out of the capitol were practically empty. I was making great time all the way to the mountains in Pennsylvania...and then things slowed down considerably as we had icy conditions, snow flurries and the salt trucks weren't out yet. At five in the evening, we were only as far as West Virginia. I stopped at the Cabela's super store to stretch my legs and ended up purchasing a cast iron dutch oven with legs and the lid can double as a griddle!
Then as it became dry and FLAT on I-70, we pushed on to southern Illinois and arrived after midnight. (I spent the hotel money at Cabela's!)
I went straight to bed...as did the kids. As a matter of fact, the car hasn't been emptied YET! The boys will have to do it. I can't lift anything and I'm just staying home and detoxing from all the chips I ate yesterday!
I'll call the husband later today and thank him for being such a wonderful host to us. He did so much for us and he did it cheerfully!
I loved this visit.
We needed this visit. And he did too.
The trip took two days as we headed into a snow storm (of the century) on the way there taking I-70. Only in the last 18 miles did it get overwhelming with the traffic of DC, snow banks and the navigation system not taking into account the hilly neighborhood areas trying to get me back to the main road when I missed my turn because the snow drift was higher then the sign or the exit was closed because that's the only place they could put the excess snow! I have now been exposed to "somewhat controlled skidding" down an icy hill lined with parked vehicles on each side ....in an overstuffed large vehicle...and I don't like it! LOL
It was wonderful to see my baby. He had lost some weight, but still looked like his handsome self. Jaw set with determination, unflinching hazel eyes, warm lips curled in a smile when we pulled up. Oh....I found myself falling in love/lust with him all over again! His eyes too got moist as we fell out of the van to get our hugs from the man who tries so hard to provide for his family.
He took us to his hotel room and I was surprised to see several framed 5x7 pictures of the family in the room. We put the Christmas tree up that evening and it occurred to me I didn't bring ornaments. Hubby fixed that with items from the hotel room such as popcorn and fresh cranberries! The entire family strung the popcorn & cranberries for garland, added candy canes and clipped red/white birds & pine cones ornaments to the tree. Gold bows & red balls plus a homemade aluminum foil star on top helped. It turned out pretty festive! It still had some empty spots so later I picked up some cute mini teapots and mini china dishes from the Martha Washington china patterns at Mount Vernon when we took a tour. The tree was complete!
Even better then the tree was Hubby's "stocking" plan. He used his military desert winter socks and sewed a ribbon on the top of them with fishing line! He then stuffed them with beef jerky, Hershey kisses, cash and a military (RMO) coin! The morning of Christmas, the boys were thrilled with their stuffed stockings saying..."This is much better then toy gifts under the tree!"
As fortunate as we were that the husband could have Christmas in Virginia, there were other military members there as well...without the chance of going home, or their loved ones coming this way. They were stuck in the hotel until it was time to head overseas after the holidays. So, as the wife of the new chief of this department, I couldn't let them spend the holiday without a Christmas dinner on Christmas Day.
The husband and I set about getting a small feast ready from our hotel room for the military members and reserved the hotel dining area in the afternoon for them. A turkey was cooked, a spiral ham in a crock pot, nuked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans with bacon, stuffing, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and Hubby's fresh cranberry relish. My china service for 12 was just the right amount and I even utilized my Christmas present from Hubby, two red cast iron covered pots. The only thing I forgot was a Christmas tablecloth! Oh, I'm kicking myself!!!! Well, that and not getting pictures!
Anyway, it couldn't have turned out better even if in my own kitchen back home! I was able to meet the men & women Hubby works with. Great folks! We spent a few hours with tables pushed together ....drinking wine....talking about what they had been doing and plans to travel the capital over the weekend. Even my nephew who has lived in the DC area for 10 years made the trip across town and enjoyed our Christmas feast. I'm so glad he could come, because he was able to answer all questions about the area including metro stations and various tours. Plus, I noticed how quiet it was since hubby "outranked" them and they wouldn't speak until spoken too, so unless I kept the conversation going....nothing was said! My nephew took the pressure off of me since he was a civilian...and nothing held him back from talking when he wanted too! After all, we were just Aunt and Uncle Ette to him!
A few days later, the nephew took the boys to the monuments and a shopping mall. I'm so glad he did because there was no way I could have walked it in my condition. Dan LOVED the mall. He bugged us for days to go back. We never go to the mall back home so this was something exciting for Dan. Somehow, that kid walked out with a winter hat, two pairs of skinny jeans, new shoes, two belts and a red belt buckle with his initials!!
New Year's night, we asked the military group over to our room to socialize around 8pm so if they wanted to be somewhere at midnight, it wouldn't interfere. It was mostly shop talk as everyone was focusing on the mission to come. I had made a turkey-potato-corn chowder in the crock pot, with a loaf of fresh bread and tea. I'll be the first to admit....I wanted to show off our Christmas tree! Ha!!
I left DC on January 1st in the morning, and the roads out of the capitol were practically empty. I was making great time all the way to the mountains in Pennsylvania...and then things slowed down considerably as we had icy conditions, snow flurries and the salt trucks weren't out yet. At five in the evening, we were only as far as West Virginia. I stopped at the Cabela's super store to stretch my legs and ended up purchasing a cast iron dutch oven with legs and the lid can double as a griddle!
Then as it became dry and FLAT on I-70, we pushed on to southern Illinois and arrived after midnight. (I spent the hotel money at Cabela's!)
I went straight to bed...as did the kids. As a matter of fact, the car hasn't been emptied YET! The boys will have to do it. I can't lift anything and I'm just staying home and detoxing from all the chips I ate yesterday!
I'll call the husband later today and thank him for being such a wonderful host to us. He did so much for us and he did it cheerfully!
I loved this visit.
We needed this visit. And he did too.
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