Working Girl!

This was a week of work, work, and some more work!! I got to know my cubicle quite intimately!! I finished the preliminary outline for my lesson plan and finally got a chance to meet some of the curators who gave suggestions for objects to use within the lesson....

Highlights of my week include:

A random moment where we get an email announcing "Objects out of Storage" display...For 1 hour during lunch, some of the Smithsonian treasures are out on tables with curators there to share stories. I've learned a lot about how museums work! The Museum of American History has over 3 million items collected.....only around 2% are on display!! It takes lots of funding to get items out onto the floor for visitors! So from time to time....they will ask random curators to create a mini-display and give them a folding table to sit in the hallways and share....It made me a little sad for them, b/c the exhibits that are funded are beautifully lit and have major visual impact....seeing these knowledgeable people sitting in folding chairs behind boring fold out tables made them seem like the misfit toys....but their treasures were AWESOME....I thought of several people while i was viewing the items and I wished all of them could have shared it with me! The first table held treasures my mother-in-law would have flipped for! Belgium handmade laces from the 1800's.....colonial samplers from the 1700's....beautiful....and then I thought of Melissa when I came upon the most amazing quilt made in the 1800's that was 3-D with owls and peacocks stuffed to make them stand out (pretty sure there is a technical quilting name for that....)....then I came to the table my sister-in-law would have loved! She collects Madame Alexander dolls and would have been entranced with a display of Dorothy Heizer dolls. They were American Fashion dolls made in the 1930's which demonstrated fashion from the 1700's up to the 1920's! The detailing was INSANE on the clothing and the painted faces were just beautiful....they doll figures were made out of crepe and wire...incredible....Then I enjoyed perusing a table of women's suffrage movement banners, pins, political cartoons (I hope they find funding soon-this display was GREAT)...and then got to the table many of my friends who love shoes would have enjoyed! A history of shoes from the 1700's through the 1970's.....very enlightening....and I wondered what women with big feet did in the 1700's..b/c when I see shoes of that period.....the women must have been in intense pain, b/c these shoes were SMALL!! The last display was of a Civil War field printing press....never thought about how all those dispatches got printed and sent so quickly!!! Now I know!! Small travel sized printing presses.....By lunch, these treasures were packed up and stored again...who knows when they will see the light of day....

GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!! AND AMMO TOO.....AND JEWELRY.... Okay....just kidding about the jewelry part....(those of you who've seen the commercials will get this joke)...but there were Jeweled guns! I got to see Benji Heaven, when my supervisor took me to visit the weapons curator and his storage room (see pix on Facebook!). I saw every type of gun IMAGINABLE...and some I've never even imagined! I felt sorry for this poor curator b/c I was the wrong audience for his enthusiasm! I was duly impressed at the collection...but as he rattled off more and more names of, details of, loading techniques of....I was lost....my boys would have asked a million great questions, but all I cared about was who OWNED the gun....people details I love.....weapon details...not so much...but I gamely nodded and enthusiastically oooed and ahhhhed over each bayonet, sword, knife, rifle, musket, sidearm...etc....I think the only thing i didn't see was a cannon....room is too small... :-)

By Friday...I had seen enough of my cubicle and it was time to go home...After last week's stress, emotion, and travel...I was WIPED!

Saturday.....Eve the Artist invited me to go to her Zumba class at her gym-The Ritz Carlton hotel's LA Sports Club....she gave me a three day pass...I agreed to go....then she tells me it's a 1/2 hour 2 mile walk to get there....so suited up for exercise, I take off...in 91 degree heat...by the time i get to the gym.....i'm sopping....Eve has ridden her bike and meets me there....we head into Zumba....I've never been to one before....those of you who know me, know that I'm a low-impact kinda girl....but I gamely belly danced, african danced, and salsa danced my way through about 30 min....when Eve the Artist couldn't keep up (she goes to like 90 exercise classes a week, and rides her bike everywhere), I was pretty proud of myself for hanging with her!! So we hit some exercise machines and then I was done! I headed back the two miles to the apt....still 91 degrees outside....if I didn't lose at least 5 lbs....then something is WRONG....by the time i crawled up the hill to the apt. steps, made it into the lobby... thought i might die of heat stroke, so I sat in the lobby for a bit waiting for my heart and lungs to join my body again.... After collapsing for a bit, I cleaned up and dressed for an afternoon at the Portrait Gallery....WOW!! So much there!! 3 floors, but i only had time before closing to hit most of the 1st floor....there will be several repeat visits! The American History portraits were of COURSE my favorites...Wayne would have loved the Benjamin Franklin portrait-he's a HUGE fan! I was very intrigued by the sadness in Robert E. Lee's eyes, and wondered why I could only find William Clark's portrait, but not Meriwether Lewis'.... At closing time I headed across the street to try out a restaurant recommended by an office mate. Zatinya's....WOW, WOW, WOW!! Mediterranean and so good....I had hummus, baba ganouj (I'm addicted to this stuff), and roasted red pepper with goat cheese....GOOD olive oil with balsamic, and FAB variety of kalamata and greek olives with little peppers....served with the most amazing thin, thin pitas that were heated and puffed out, so when you tore them open, little steam puffs of yummy breadiness wafted everywhere....so wonderful....with a limoncello cocktail...lovely way to end the day...

Sunday was spent on boring mundane stuff, but also some sleeping late and laying around to make up for the last two weeks of whirlwind....Now I'm planning my next week! And looking SO forward to Xan getting here on July 3rd!! I'm wishing my Benji could come too, but this will be a fun Mommy/Son trip before Xan heads off to college in a year...He's going to tour some campuses while he's here and play at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival! Have a great week Blog-Followers!!