Razzleberry's World

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New Job and Turkey Day 2008

If I hurry and post an entry I will at least be able to say the I'm posting once a month.

I've started my new job. I work for a company called SAIC (see SAIC.com for details) and they have me contracted to the Veteran's Administration for a big project working on the health and administrative data repositories for veterans all over the world. My title is Communications Manager (or Communications Lead - depending on which Org chart you look at). I facilitate communications between the SAIC project people and the VA people. I also oversee 4 Technical Writers on the project.

I have a cubie on the 4th floor that has a window - how I lucked out and got that since I an a Newbie, I'm not sure, but I like it! I can look out and see construction on the new building next door and I can look down and seen a little creek running between the buildings and if I look to the right I can see the valley. I took some pictures with my phone and they didn't turn out to be spectacular, but I'll post them any way.

Also, yesterday was turkey day (Thanksgiving) and I was rather sick with a cold/flu that I came down with the evening of my first day of work. I know, my timing sucks! But the family had a great get together. See Cerra's blog for pictures and details. (http://blog.cerrastuff.com/).

This is my cubical and the view from my windows:

I confess - I'm a terrible blogger...

I confess!!! I am a terrrrrrible blogger. I haven't posted in a month - or more. There is so much going on in my life right now that I haven't taken the time to sit down and chronicle any of it.

Forgive me, my massive reader base.

I also confess that is difficult for someone who is a very private person like me to open my thoughts to anyone - let alone the thousands who must read my blog!!!!!

In the past month I've had my oldest sister pass away; made another trip to Boston to very successfully complete the contractual work with the State of Massachusetts; gone on a delightful shopping and eating trip with Cerra for her birthday; been informed that I need to look for a new job because I won't have a job where I now work by the end of October; paid off our house; started looking for new employment; and a few other things.


Things have been a little hectic….

Boston

I went to Boston, Massachusetts last week for business. I really like that town. It has a feel of history about it. We were mostly trapped in meetings all week, but there were a few forays into the town... and I had a spectacular view from my hotel window of the city. The pictures aren't great because I was using my phone to take them.

We went to the "North End" one evening. quite a touristy area with an emphasis on the Italian. We ate at a place called the "Dolce Vita" and it was very, very good food. There were a lot of little gift type kiosks around a large square - I think it was called "Hay Market".

I took a little walk along the "Boston Commons". It was very close to my hotel. The Boston "Theater District" was also quite close to us.

We also had one of our afternoon meetings sitting on park benches over looking a little beach to Boston Harbor that is near the offices we were visiting.

Another meeting was at a large medical center and the view from the conference room was pretty good, too.

I may be going back in a couple of weeks. I'll try to take more pictures.

The July 13th Birthday Bash!

We celebrated 2 birthdays on Sunday, July 13th … Hailey’s and Whitney’s.

It was a warm – no - it was a hot day and we all gathered in the shade of the fence for the festivities.









It was a "swinging event"








Hailey is glad everyone came to help her celebrate.

Paul is practicing his rendition of the song "Stop in the Name of Love"

More bears and a “Kitty” from the trail cam!

Clyde has identified at least 9 different bears at his camera spot… plus other assorted visitors. Some of them seem to enjoy posing for the camera.

There's a Mama and her cubs.

There are also younger bears that are beyond the cub stage. I think of them as teenagers.

There is even a rabbit who is turning brown again after the winter is over.

And here is the "Kitty"

Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July. (I know, I know I'm late... Anyway... )

Happy Birthday AMERICA!!!

I was very awestruck by the sight of the original "Old Glory" in the Smithsonian. It was a piece of history that I didn’t realize had even been preserved. It was so enormous and so threadbare that it was in a special sealed room with special lighting. It was so fragile that no one was allowed to even take a flash picture of it because the lighting could deteriorate it even more. As people filed by it, they were speaking in hushed tones – if they spoke at all. This was the flag that inspired the national anthem – the song that binds us all together for that one moment in time when we put our hand on our heart and sing with a tear in our eyes because we love our country.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's day to all of the great Fathers in our family and among our friends.

Clyde received a delightful card from his son, Colby who is currently Serving with the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) in Afghanistan. Click on the URL or click below it to view it here.

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/share_view/8ysH4s15lMQoAJ8HFW3eumKz

Don't send a lame Father's Day eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

Kids of the 80's - Mullets and Tie-Dye

Who said you can't look utterly cool in a mullet?

I won't mention any names with these photos but I'll bet you can guess who the kids in the pictures are. (Hint: Look at the group photo in the 5/23/2008 posting.)

This is proof that you can be a 'stud' in a mullet.

Post Script to the Bear Posting

Here are a couple more pictures to go with the bear story.

This is the big bear paw

And this is the big bear picture taker!

A really big bear!

Clyde’s quest for the ultimate wildlife photos has taken his trail camera into the bear’s backyard where we get a good look at the bear’s back side... Just need to figure out how to get him to turn into the camera better.

It’s a really big bear... really, really. In fact it looks like a fur covered Volkswagen.

And did I mention that it is a really big bear?

Luckily it showed up about 8 hours after Clyde and his friend, Otto, set up the trail cam, so he didn’t come face to face with it.

He began all of this when he became curious about if there were bears in that part of the wilderness and he found out that indeed there are.

Did I also mention that I don’t think I’ll be going on any wilderness hikes with him again?

Spring Flowers in my World

Spring is leaving and, sadly, the daffodils are gone, too.


I'll bet this little fellow misses them a lot.

The Magnolia bush has lost its flowers and gone to just green as well. But it was pretty when it was blooming, too.

... but the irises and roses are taking their place and they are making quite a showing.

Most of my roses are miniatures. So delicate...

Hopefully the little petunias I planted will grow nicely too.

Memorial Day 2008

Today is Memorial Day and I was reflecting on my Father. He was fiercely proud of his time in the Navy during WWII. I loved to hear him tell his “War Stories” when I was a child. I used to climb up into his big chair with him and coax him to tell about this one or that one - even though I’d hear them all many times before. He was a great story teller.

He was on a ship in the Pacific for most of his time in the Navy. He told of an instance when their ship caught fire when in a large convoy. The entire convoy couldn’t stop for one ship and so they were left to put out the fire and try to get back to port as the rest of the ships sailed on to their destination. His ship was lost for 6 month at sea and my mother didn’t know where he was or what had happened to him during that time. He later told of how they battled the fire on the ship and worked to make repairs so they could get back to safety before they were spotted by the enemy and destroyed.

He also told me of the time he woke up in a morgue with a tag on his toe because they had thought he was dead. I never did get the entire story to this one, but I believe it had something to do with shore leave and getting hit on the head or something. I’m not sure if he knew the entire story himself – and he even if he did, he never told all of the details to his little daughter.

My Children

Look at the beautiful people that are my own sweet children. I plan on using this blog to earn a little side cash by NOT publishing really embarrasing Pictures of them at 'Family get together's' if they pay me enough. :)



I also have a fantastic husband that should be worth a little cash, too, in the blackmail department. Well, not really, he would be far more daring than I'll get on this blog.

Anyway, tomorrow is my birthday and I will be very, very old. But who cares. Life is good. My eldest son has already called me today to wish me happy birthday!