Long-time listener, first time caller

Erin was inspired to share her archival tips during the "Whatever" show on Martha Stewart Radio on Sirius. She spoke to Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt about her tips for clearing space while keeping memories. Click here to hear her on-air experience (MP3, 76 seconds).

Merry Christmas

Anatomy of a Christmas Card

1) Twice a year the grounds of the White House are opened for the First Lady's Garden Tour. We were luck to be in DC on one of those weekends - this was in October. (Earlier post here)

2) Erin samples the wine at one of the vineyards on our inadventent "Sideways" tour of wineries in California back in May.

3) We helped Disneyland celebrate their 50th anniversary during our trip to Southern California. Erin's mom was there on the first day it opened in 1955, cementing the Disney connection that runs deep.

4) Mr. French takes a break while biking through DC to pose in front of the anti-communist China rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

5) Cyber shows off her Christmas haircut.

6) Having lunch on the Pacific on Catalina island off the California coast back in May.

7) Our visit to Anacapa - an island refuge off the California coast.

Erin communicates with the penguins at the Georgia Aquarium and tries to blend in by dressing like them..."Mommy?"...

The penguin portal is a good idea, but be prepared to crawl on hands and knees to get out there...

You'll not see a larger tank anywhere else than at the Georgia Aquarium - here's just a portion.

This is a live dude that looks like seaweed.

Jellies...

Penguins are cute even when just standing around.

You have to see the Beluga Whales to appreciate their majesty - there are four of them at the Georgia Aquarium.

We had dinner (thanks Wolfgang Puck) in one of the ballrooms. One window of the ballroom was the Beluga Whale tank, another window was the large tank with the huge whale sharks Norton and Ralph. The lighting inside the ballroom changed color and provided a very peaceful spot to watch the whales and fishes as you were dining.

We had the opportunity to visit the new Georgia Aquarium when Erin's office held their Christmas Party there. Here, Erin gets lost among the tropical fishes.

"O Christmas Tree..."

The final product...

Erin lit the Christmas Tree today...

Cyber taking it all in.

how'd another cat make it onto the blog??? wheeze...sneeze...sniff...choke...

A tribute to the Acura Integra...a moment of silence please...

See - he's fine. No kitties were harmed in the making of this blog...

Stiff Kitty? I was just getting ready to pull out my old copy of "101 Uses For A Dead Cat" for an afternoon of fun, but I caught him snoring. He found a warm place at our front door. Cybie had no idea.

Cybie sometimes sits upon my desk and looks out upon her realm - the queen of all she surveys.

The graveyard was well stocked this year.

Ghouls abound...

Halloween 2005 at 5150. Who's real? Are you scared?

Ghouls took over the car this year and held an impromptu Pirate Party.

The 3661s came by and helped set up and tear down this year's Halloween display.

The pro bull riders are tough and the threat of injury looms with every ride.

They had transformed the hockey rink from the previous evening into a bull riding arena with a few dozen bulls on hand.

In the evening, we learned that the Pro Bull Riding competition was in town at the MCI Center, so we stopped by to see the best riders in the country ride the meanest bulls.

After biking, we stopped by the Natural History museum...

We rode by the Vietnam memorial...

In Georgetown, we rode by some nice outdoor cafes and stopped at Nick's Riverside Grill and ate by the Potomac...

After Gravelly Point, we rode past the airport and then headed out to Georgetown...

Da plane...da plane...

We rented bikes again and rode out to Gravelly Point, which is a park right next to the Reagan National runways. We watched some planes land and takeoff.

We went up in the tower of the Old Post Office building and got some great views - it was a very clear day.

The American History museum had a collection of early personal computers - I had owned a couple of the ones displayed (though not either of these).

I had a chance to speak to some distinguished guests while in DC...

The Children's Garden has handprint impressions of presidential children and grandchildren...

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

They should have set up a photographer there to take everyone's XMas card photo...

In 1993, the Clintons installed a jogging track around the driveway in the South Lawn (they also installed a hot tub, though we weren't invited in for that). The track is a spongy material like you might find on a modern track.

The Oval Office...

A view of the West Wing...

The rain held off while were were touring the White House grounds. It's a tradition for each president to plant a tree (or trees) during their term, and the lawn is full of plantings going back many, many administrations.

Luckily we happened to be in town on one of the two weekends each year that the White House grounds are open for the First Lady's garden tour. We were able to tour the grounds and as you can see, get right next to the building. We could even see into the Oval Office, just a stone's throw away, but the Secret Service guys weren't letting anyone get too close.

The weather started getting cold and damp...

We spent some time at the Air & Space museum -- they had just opened a re-worked exhibit on the Wright Brothers, which was very good.

Justice looms large at SCOTUS...

Erin explores the highly marbled Supreme Court building.

Friday morning we visited the daunting Supreme Court building, which is quite amazing. Though court wasn't in session while we were in town, we did attend the lecture they give and were able to sit in the courtroom, which was quite an honor.

Marine One lands at the White House...rooftop snipers watch...we tried not to make any suspicious movements...

Erin and others watch the activity at the White House. It started turning a bit colder...

We walked in front of the White House - about as close as you can get nowadays. After we were there about a minute, the security guards ushered everyone away, clearing the area and moving everyone way back. Figuring something may be happening, we hung around for a while. We could see that people from inside the White House were lined up on the driveway. We thought we spotted Marine One in the distance, but after 15 mins or so, it never came. Someone next put 3 square, wooden "X" marks on the front lawn. Then there was a bunch of siren activity and a motorcade arrived at the White House. The motorcade was greeted and a bit later the helicopter Marine One appeared and landed on the front lawn. After a bit of greeting, Marine One took off, flying directly over us and off past the Washington Monument, taking "W" over to Andrews AFB to catch Air Force One for his trip to California for the Reagan Library Air Force One dedication.

They did have some cats...

The next day we checked out the National Zoo a bit - they have some Pandas. The zoo rivaled the Montgomery zoo at times - and that's not good.

After the USNA tour, it was time for cocktails on the water, and then a water taxi to the Chart House for the evening.

On Yard at the USNA.

The chapel at the USNA was amazing...

Then we rented a car and headed out to Annapolis. Took the tour of the Naval Academy.

Had a good dinner in Alexandria...it could have been at Gadsby's Tavern...or not...

G. Dub's mansion at Mount Vernon.

We rented bikes and rode from Alexandria to Mount Vernon - about an 18 mile round trip. Great bike trail.

Alexandria was pretty...and turns out to be haunted. Seems like every little town we visit is haunted. We took the ghost tour that evening to find out more about it.

The next morning we Metro'd over to Alexandria...

We capped off the day by heading over to Georgetown - shopped and had some dinner and a movie.

Our Magellan keeps us on track.

We spent a lot of the next day on Capitol Hill. Took a Capitol tour from the office of our representative, Tom Price.

The sun goes down during cleanup of the mall after the MMM.

We spent the day at the new Air & Space (Udvar-Hazy) museum, which is a shuttle ride away from DC, next to Dulles airport. Tooks lots of shots of all the planes. The building is a huge hanger the size of more than 3 football fields. We saw and walked around the Enola Gay, Concorde, Space Shuttle, and SR-71 Blackbird, among dozens of others. You can walk under, over, and around the planes - we spent the day there and had a great time.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise...

We took a Monuments By Moonlight tour that drove us through DC to view the sights at night and also stopped at the Lincoln, Korean War, FDR, and Iwo Jima memorials.

Abe.