boss of the moss.

so the long awaited day at the golf course, finally arrived. after arranging a 7:45am carpool pick up friday morning, i hopped in the car prepared as i would ever be, toting along stephen's clubs and fully prepped with the popped collar and all.

upon registering at reston national, i tried my hardest to orient myself to such strange surroundings. with 144 golfers signed up for our corporate event, people were buzzing around, locating their cart out of the 72 lined up to go, warming up at the range or grabbing a quick breakfast at the clubhouse. the air was full of excitement and anticipation - let the games begin!

fortunately my team of 4 was pretty well arranged with various levels of player expertise and talent. and being dubbed the captain of "captain's choice", i had the distinct honor of picking the best shot... which was NEVER mine, but it's all good.

seeking the critique of others, i was pleasantly surprised that i had a beautiful swing (thanks to stephen!), but i needed to work on hitting the ball right... instead of always topping it or digging up huge divots well behind the ball. ooops. i think i was only able to send the ball 70 yards at the farthest, but at least it went straight! hopefully as time goes by, my drive will only improve in distance and power. however i do think it would be in my best interest to take some actual golf lessons!!!

but the good news is that my short game did improve measurably throughout the course of the day. thanks to some super helpful tips from our team's star player and not to mention one of accenture's head government senior execs. ;) after just a few simple pointers from breck, i soon earned the title "boss of the moss" with my well played putts on the green. i was relieved that at least i could contribute success somehow!

overall we came in 8 over par, but i was pleased with my progress. it really couldn't have been a better day - the weather was just gorgeous - no humidity, high 70s and not a cloud in the sky. and reston national is a beautifully manicured course. by 2:30pm everyone wrapped up their rounds, grabbed some free bbq and settled in for the mulligan raffle and awards ceremony. woohoo for free opm hats and working for america totes! lol

by 4:30pm, the place had cleared out, but of course the accenture team just couldn't let a whole keg of yuengling go to waste... besides, everyone knew I-66 was a parking lot full of traffic anyway - why brave it now when in just a few hours it would be clear? so 6 of us made ourselves comfortable in the most conspicuous place possible (between the entrance, driving range and first hole - ha!), while enjoying free cold beer and light-hearted conversation as the sun slowly set on the ultimate casual friday.

reflections on war.

about a week ago, stephen found out his good friend, john mccary, had been asked to join a panel of other veterans for the pre-screening of ken burn's most recent documentary - the war. capturing the sacrificial stories of the greatest generation through the lens of 4 american towns, this documentary series, being 6 years in the making (totaling 15 hours of footage!), held its private screening debut yesterday at the historic lincoln theater. so off we went to see what all the fuss was about....

in short, the excerpt we were shown was very real and very personal and thus very moving - definitely an enticing foretaste of the full documentary. this seven-part series begins on your local pbs channel this next sunday 9/23 and extends into the week. we definitely plan on tivo'ing them all and purchasing copies for our veteran grandfathers.

however the most interesting part of wednesday night was the panel discussion that occurred after the projection reel stopped. with only a panel of 3 - each a veteran representing different wars in our country's recent history - it was fascinating to hear the various perspectives spanning world war ii, vietnam and iraq. hard questions resulted in rare intimate answers that were so revealing to the similarities of war across generations. with about 30 years between each of the panelists, the passing of time proved an enlightening reflection of how the necessity and consequences of wartime service are digested by the soldier individually and the nation collectively. i truly wish there was a transcript of this resulting discussion - it was pretty amazing.

afterwards, we linked up with john and decided to hop a block down on u street to grab dinner at alero. he truly did a phenomenal job portraying his experiences in iraq during such a controversial time. especially when paired up with the other honorable gentlemen on the panel! dinner proved to be just as enjoyable... between john's endearing extended family, noted journalist, jane arraf, who knew john during his days in iraq, and jane's friend, kamala, a very personable foreign service diplomat, it certainly made for quite an interesting evening all in all.

ready or not.

for those unaware, september is national preparedness month...among other things. meaning, it's a time for all of us as a nation to examine our resources and ready our selves for the unexpected disaster - whether natural, chemical, biological or nuclear. hey, you never know.

the fall after stephen and i got married i took it upon myself to get informed and prepare our newly formed rodriguez household for the worst. i spent a couple weeks building up our emergency/survival kit and fine tuning our plan of action. meanwhile stephen thought it would be hilarious to make me watch "the day after" to heighten my over zealous efforts. genius.

however, it's two years have past since i have touched our 4 small plastic containers and food/water supply. but to make sure my comprehensive stock is still up to snuff, i can't think of a better time to re-evaluate my resources and adjust my tactics. now i'm pretty sure we're cool on the food (10 year shelf-life!), but i better check on those spare batteries - oozing acid, yuck. who knows, maybe in the next two years my kit will actually come in handy...god forbid.

so since all this is in the forefront of my mind, i wanted to bring it to yours.

the question is, are you ready?

sssaturday sprints.

-shop-
while stephen braved the long scooter ride down to the south alexandria dmv to *finally* secure his motorcycle license saturday morning, i headed out to leesburg to do some SERIOUS shopping. jk - actually i needed to return a few items, but while i was at the outlets, i just had to look around. and it's a good thing i did. i managed to get out of banana republic with a pencil skirt and super cute red polka dot shell for a mere 83 cents (no joke) thanks to a huge sale, $40 in returns AND a 15% coupon. yipppeeee - i knew stephen couldn't blow his top over that! the purchase would have been historic, but i don't think anything can top the time i scored $90 tweed flats for a penny (i heart dsw). i was feeling so good that i have to admit i did splurge a bit on a smokin' hot pair of paper denim & cloth skinny jeans at saks... hey, saving 70% is still a great deal! fortunately stephen agreed :P

-shower-
after rushing home and changing out, i grabbed my favorite baby shower gift and headed out to vienna to see a long lost (and very pregnant) friend. it's been over 3 years since i have last seen karla after she accepted a job with USAID that took her over to metropolitan cairo. there she met a former egyptian soldier and the predictable played out... first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes ??? in a baby carriage! due to US regs she and her husband had to return to the states for 90 days surrounding the delivery (45 days before and then after) which was great news to all her state-side friends and family! i have to say, she looked amazing - glowing really. unfortunately though i had to leave early after 2 hours and rush home, again, to pick up stephen....

-sarah-
because we had dinner plans in baltimore with our favorite sister! after only being in her digs for 2 weeks now, she was well into being settled and welcoming visitors. so we made the 40 minute drive up 95, looped around the harbor and made our way up to the johns hopkins hospital complex...only after cutting through the ghetto 'hoods that envelop the campus. reminiscent of my penn days? you bet. once sarah jumped in, we headed back down broadway to the harbor for some delish seafood at bo brooks. while sarah and i settled on the legendary maryland crab cakes, stephen tackled 4 large steamed crabs. lucky him, our super resourceful waitress showed him the ropes when it comes to eating these crustaceans... the native baltimore way - no mallet, no knive, just some adventurous fingers needed! i have to say it was quite entertaining, if not exhausting, just watching the process. after dinner we drove around, orienting ourselves to the city and getting lost in federal hill trying to find the strip of so-called yuppie bars. we ended the evening back at jhh at sarah's room in the circa 1970s reed hall - typical residence for many first year med students. uggh. but she did it up right and the tiny space was quite cozy with an a-mazing view of the downtown cityscape to the west. way to go girl.

go on. be a tiger.

i consider myself smart cookie, but there are just some things that have to be taught. this weekend it was golf. having never picked up a club in my life, i allowed myself to be signed up for a golf tournament my client is hosting for a charity fundraiser. paired up on a team with the top partner on my project, i have to admit my hands clam up with sweat with the just the thought of making a royal fool of myself on the green. what was i thinking??!!

with the tourney only 2 weeks away, i knew i better get my butt in gear and practice practice practice. fortunately, my hubby is an amazing teacher in any subject he knows well - which is a many. i brought up the idea of heading out to the range friday evening, and he jumped for joy. finally, our interests aligned! so we packed up his clubs and headed to east potomac park , just south of the jefferson memorial, and home to the oldest mini golf course in the united states. the golf and tennis facilities there are really nice, easily accessible and reasonable in price (shocker).

for $12, we got two buckets of 51 balls and found a spot in the driving range. with painstaking patience, stephen explained the form, stance and swing, step-by-step. as i flubbed one ball after another, he never once got frustrated but continued to pin point my areas of error. elbow straight, lock it. grip loose, wrists cocked. hook your fingers, align your thumbs. knees bent, lean forward. arms straight, follow through. and most importantly... head down, relax; head down, relax; head down, relax. arrrgh - who knew hitting a ball could be so complex?!

after while i started to get the swing of things and i was able to send the balls a-flying - *almost* reaching the reagan national planes taking off and landing over the potomac. yeah, right - although the ascending/descending planes certainly made a pretty backdrop, if you can ignore the roar of the engines. :P as the sun set on our efforts, i was starting to feel more and more relaxed about my upcoming golf event.

we returned this morning to practice that swing once again, except this time we hit from the 2nd level. at this vantage point, you could not only see the washington monument to the right, but the top of the dome of the jefferson as well. very nice. with the sun beating down upon us, i took my hand at swinging solo without stephen's constant critique and affirmation. i think i've got the 9 iron pretty much down, but i definitely need to work my way up to the drivers.... what a frustrating and rewarding game this is! you change one thing in your stance and it can throw everything off.

i still need a few more practice rounds at the range, but at least now i feel confident that i won't completely embarrass myself out at reston national. and the even better news is that we're playing captain's choice, and i'm slotted with the highest handicap, but why do i feel like i have something to prove? it's like i want to turn into tiger overnight...with all the glory of his 60th pga victory! somehow i must have taken accenture's slogan "go on. be a tiger." to heart. afterall, this tournament is technically work-related. ha!

fortunately, my favorite teach keeps me straight - i'm just a beginner to game that haunts all who play. just relax, have fun and you know you'll be coming back for more, he says... oh boy, what have i gotten myself into?!

summer's end.

labor day weekend - there is only one thing to do in my mind...hit the beach. it's your last official chance to squeeze the final sunshine drop out of summer and not lift a pinkie. because once the holiday has come and gone, it's time for serious business. school starts and traffic comes back with avengeance (ugh - 50 mins to go 2 miles!), no more casual fridays from home (lunchtime = pooltime), and the happy colors of the season are packed away until may (buh-bye lilyp). yes, with september comes some serious changes.

so this year steve and i did it up right in sandbridge with our gdc community group. just south of touristy virginia beach, this spot provided the perfect backdrop to relax into fall - with good friends, great times and even better weather. thank goodness no tropical storm ernesto rained our parade this year! renting out a perfect beach house, called "paradise found", the 12 of us crammed in for some high-end weekend fun.

the beach itself was fantastic - even in spite of the unsightly pipeline dividing the beach, busy drudging up the the ocean floor. apparently sandbridge has one of highest erosion rates highest in virginia! sandwiched between the atlantic ocean and back bay national wildlife refuge, this place is definitely a sand-bridge. whew. often called the "outer banks of virginia" we were all a little skeptical in the title, but it was close enough for us.

cozied up on the fine grain sand, with the sound of the surf and the cool breeze blowing off the ocean shore, i was happy as a clam. slathered up in some spf 4, i scored myself a gorgeous golden tan (me, tan, minus the burns? finally yes) as i sped through the junior-high-required-reading-list classic - catcher in the rye. quite controversial, but it was time i finally read it - being my kid brother's favorite book, he generously lent me his copy. between chapters, i joined the gang in playing bocce ball and evan's custom-made UT longhorns/WF demon deacs cornhole game. life is good.

steve on the other hand, skipped the sunscreen and coated himself in oil, frying himself in the sun (yes, even he can burn) while playing soccer and football in the sand. however, the real disappointing part of the weekend was when stephen finally convinced me to get into the water (those waves were huuuuge!!!), and i lost my 3 week old burberry sunglasses to the sea forever. so so sad - shed a tear for me :(

but all sins were forgiven as we ended sunday evening with some yummy grilling and two very eventful rounds of telephone pictionary, consisting of pregnant men, steve raving (or cross-dressing?) in germany and varying interpretations of the word "morning glories". man, we're just hilarious, aren't we? by monday morning, reality began to sink in as folks prepared for the long trek back to dc. we stayed through the afternoon, soaking up the bright cheery surroundings and planned our "escape route" back home...

we had avoided most of the traffic coming down by leaving at 830pm on friday, spending the night at the in-laws since they were on the way. it was sarah's last night home as she packed up and braved her newest adventure. she started her child life specialist internship today at johns hopkins university hospital - one of the top programs in her field! we are so proud of her. since we were not able to help out with the big move, we wanted to at least see her off. and that we did, making the last hour of our final leg of the trip saturday morning after we said our good-byes and good-lucks.

on monday, we followed a similar plan, stopping in hampton to shower off (no more sand!), visit grandmuzzie and grab some grub, before making the long hike home. instead of venturing up I-95, we took the back roads of route 17 along the rappahannock river and made exceptional time. all in all, we ran into minimal traffic the whole weekend - what a feat - and averaged out to about 4.5 hours each way. the trip couldn't have been better, nor us luckier.

we finally arrived home by 9pm last night and tried to prepare ourselves for the switching of gears that the tuesday after labor day always brings... eh, but september isn't so bad afterall. the crisp winds of change bring a promise of a new day to conquer, a new leaf to turn, a new season to embrace. so as we say farewell to summer, we greet fall with refreshing expectation.

ferocious franklin.

catnip or greenies? who knows, but SOMETHING is causing franklin major poopie bloopies in the litter box lately - twice in one week so far. one thing's for sure, a long haired cat plus loose stools does not equal a pretty picture (or smell, for that matter). yuck.

of course, stephen discovered frankie in his super soiled state while i was busy cat-napping in our way too comfortable bed. being as conscientious as ever, he decided not to wake me from my beauty sleep and tackle the mess himself. yes, you guessed it - hooray for the dreaded BATH TIME!

now, call us crazy, but we've given our little lions the dunk many times before - but with any 25-pound animal, it does take the concerted effort of two very devoted people. between the rushing of the faucet water, getting soaked to the bone and sudsed up with kitty shampoo in addition to the necessary rough handling, it's tough going. but this time, frankie hit his limit... you would too after 15 mins! of such torture. so what would any self-respecting pussycat do? all but bite the hand that feeds him, i'm sure... all except, that is, our ferocious feline, franklin.

that's right- he just chomped down with those razor sharp fangs of his straight into stephen's right hand, sinking deep into the fleshy meat of his thumb pad. an action quite surprising in fact, considering he's the loverboy of the two and well, his breed name does say it all - copperfield the casanova. so you can only imagine stephen's cry amplify as the beast tightened his grip by shaking his head like a shark (attack of jaws!) to ensure a solid grasp. clearly he was FED UP. ouchie ouch!

after such a rude awakening, i couldn't help but to calmly assess the situation at hand - riiiiight. with franklin hovered in the corner, dastardly dripping wet, and stephen yowling over the sink holding onto his bloody hand as if it had been bitten off entirely, i didn't know quite where to begin! as he recovered from his state of shock, i disinfected the puncture wounds with some hydrogen peroxide, bandaged it up good with my handy dandy first aid kit to stop the bleeding. nurse laura to the rescue. now somewhat collected, we dashed out the door to the ER while frankie air-dried and cooled-off out on the balcony - poor poor thing.

of course, fully expecting an all night wait at the hospital, i just HAD to make a quick detour, much to stephen's bemoaning, to the closest wendy's for my usual #1, plain with cheese, combo - trust me, you don't want to see my mood with severe hunger pains! after returning to my senses, we made a straight shot across the potomac to georgetown university hospital and rolled in the emergency room waiting room with plenty of reading material in hand. we were prepared.

with only 2 other couples before us, it was still an hour wait before we were able to come back into the ER. and then another hour to actual see a doctor, get cleaned up, bandaged and boosted with another round of tetanus vaccine. all in all, stephen was a trooper, and we definitely did the right thing in coming in... in fact we ran into a fellow gracedc'er back in the ER who was one of the attending physicians on call that night - dr. morrell. once he saw stephen's hand and heard the tale, it was all seriousness in explaining all the potential complications of infection if those horse-pills of antibiotics weren't taken regularly! eek.

however, once we returned home and freed franklin from his remorse through a little reconciling cuddle, life normalized and the balance of power was restored. or at least, let's hope. oh what a night.