Purim Party

The festival of Purim is a great time for families. Everyone dresses up in costume. For the past two years we've enjoyed ourselves at Congregation Beth Shalom, but this year was much more special, as for once, we had a family too.

In case you're wondering about Abi and Robin's costumes..they'd just flown in from London....

Hyacinth completed her costume with a waxwork from Madame Tussauds...
R'Av Yo shook his booty....
This little chick was finger lickin' good.
"I told you, there's nothing in the bible about dwarves."
"No, but there's definitely something about Pontius Pirate!"
"I'm the one who rules this synagogue!" The Rabbi lets a little power go to his head.
"How much is tonight costing us? This is the biggest bill I've ever seen!"

Homecoming

Sunday will be my birthday. Last night Grumpy surprised me with an early present - our children all the way from London! It's the first time the four of us have been together in our American home since August 2007!

Facts or Fiction?

I never cease to be amazed about Naperville's role in the world. Today I was told that it played a part in a classic Carpenter's song. You know, Sing, Sing a Song? Well apparently the famous "la, la, la, la, la," accompaniment was sung on the record by children from Beebe Middle School. So far I haven't been able to confirm this, so feel free to tell me if you have the definitive answer. Here are some other facts about Naperville that may not exactly be true, but if they're not, they should be.
1. The 1948 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to someone who once drove through here on his way to Chicago.
2. The trees at the Riverwalk pump out anti oxidants that eat fuel emissions from nearby cars.
3. Johnny Depp first decided that one day he'd star in Pirates of the Caribbean while playing on Centennial Beach as a small boy.
4. The musical about a farming community, Oklahoma, was originally going to be called Naperville, but the name didn't fit the music.
5. Mahatma Gandhi was a bus boy at Indian Harvest.
6. Mayor Pradel was a cheer leader in high school.
7. The Bermuda Triangle is a place where people mysteriously disappear when something bad happens to them. The Naperville Triangle is a place where people suddenly appear and wonderful things happen to them.
8. Elvis Presley still performs nightly at Pfeiffer Hall.
9. A Naperville man always wiped Louis Armstrong's forehead when he sang Wonderful World.
10. America the Beautiful was composed under a tree in Naperville's Central Park.

Hospital Harmony

A friend who was recently in Edward Hospital, Naperville, tells me they play Brahms Lullaby over the public address system every time a baby is born. Cute idea, but why stop there? Here a few more suggestions..

Orthopaedic dept: Wide Eyed and Legless.
Cardiac dept: Anyone who had a Heart.
Ophthalmics: I can see Clearly Now.
Liposuction: Fat Bottomed Girls or Shakira's Hips Don't Lie.
Carpal Tunnel surgery: I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Circumcisions: My Ding a Ling.
ER: All Right Now.
Rehab: Walking Back to Happiness.

Evan Lysacek: The Icing On The Cake

I can't help but notice the irony. Coming from a country which is always the underdog in sports, not only am I now living in the most successful country in the Winter Olympics, but the very city who bred one of the gold medal winners.
I must admit I'd never heard of Evan Lysacek until a couple of years ago when I saw him walking in a local parade. Some sort of skater I thought.
But last night the entire world was in no doubt who he was. He took gold in the nail biting final of the Men's Free Skating competition.
Within seconds it seemed half of Naperville was on Facebook marveling at the outcome. Everyone knew someone who was either at school with him, at nursery with him or once served his mom in Jewel.
Naperville being what it is, it should come as no surprise that we have bred an Olympian, more than the President of the country himself doesn't come from here.
Only half joking, I called for a ticker tape parade to welcome Evan home, even though he now lives in L.A. So it came as no surprise at all to see this statement from Mayor Pradel:

“The entire Naperville community is looking forward to expressing our congratulations to Evan and his family. We hope to get him back here in the near future, so we can provide him with a police and fire escort to welcome him home. I will then declare ‘Evan Lysacek Day’ throughout Naperville and present him with a key to our city. We are so proud of him!”

Dream On

You'll notice I've told the story of our trip to Washington D.C. mostly in pictures. There's a reason for that. Although it has many landmarks and is the political centre of the country, it doesn't have the heart that many other U.S. locations have. The South, for example, is famous for its culture and food. Alaska is famous for its mountains and bears, which I'm sure we would have seen if it wasn't raining all the time we were there.
I'm not saying Washington has no heart (although some may dispute that!) but it's harder to discover it in a weekend than other places that wear their hearts on their sleeves. We never met any locals. Much like London, it's somewhere where business is done and tourists flock, but certainly the downtown area doesn't seem to be where people actually live.
It was truly amazing to see the Lincoln Memorial and the Capital building etc, but I wasn't as moved as much as I thought someone living the American dream should be. What moved me most were the videos in the Newseum about the people who tell America's story.
To me America is a Mardi Gras parade, New York on fast forward, Paula Deen's laugh, the waves crashing on the coastlines of Maine. Above all, it's the diversity of a world population who see it as their promised land.

By George!

Join us for a little stroll around Georgetown, the oldest part of Washington DC.








This is Billy Martin's Tavern, a local landmark. Many presidents have eaten there, and it's also the place where John F Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier.

Read All About It

The Newseum is Washington's homage to the media, so it made a fitting place for me to spend Valentine's Day.
This is part of the Berlin Wall. The story of the east west divide dominated my childhood, so it was extraordinary be able to see and touch it.
Here's a piece of the west side
and this the east.
The museum has collection of iconic newspaper stories from all over the world. While we are celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary, it's odd to see a photo of a famous couple who married five months after us. Their marriage turned out less happily, of course.

The Newseum has a moving tribute to the journalists who covered 9/11.


All TV news reporters have to start somewhere....
Some very apt souvenirs in the store, but here's something I certainly don't want...

Capital Gains

Looking just like a wedding cake, the Capital Building looks spectacular against the crisp blue sky. There's still a lot of snow, but it's definitely thawing. Mind you, another couple of inches expected tomorrow...

Happy New Year!

Today is not only Valentine's Day, it's also the Chinese New Year. With this in mind we popped along to Washington's China Town.

Presidents' Day

You don't have to be in Washington long before the power starts to get to you. Here Grumpy gets some practice in being president.
But finds it all goes to his head.

Pop Culture

Anyone can go to a museum to see ancient artifacts or wonderful paintings, but there's no where else you can see these! Here are Dorothy's ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz and Fonzie's jacket. Heyyy.

Bon Appetit!

I'd like to say we popped into Julia Child's kitchen while in Washington, but it's actually set up in the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

On The Tourist Trail

Join us on the tourist trail. This is the inside of beautiful Union Station.


A sweet version of the White House. This is the gingerbread version made for Christmas.
Even Bo the dog is there, although I hope he's not this big in real life!
The Capitol Building
Jefferson Memorial
The Ford's Theater, where President Lincoln was assassinated. Hope his family got a refund on his ticket...
Here's a familiar sight. An English double decker bus. Not actually the nicest way to travel in the freezing cold...bbrr.

Winter in Washington

When Grumpy said we were going to the Mall, I thought we were in for a little shopping! Turns out the Mall in Washington is five miles of open space between the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial


Catch!
The really White House. Much like Graceland, it's actually a lot smaller than you might think.
The only way it up - the Washington Monument. Strange, it doesn't look a bit like him!
Over 40" of snow and counting. This has been the snowiest winter in Washington DC ever.