No. 70: Go to a Presidential Library

No. 70: Go to a Presidential Library 

Wow! Actually accomplished something on my list for a change.

Last weekend while I was in Texas, I attended a wedding in Dallas with many of my High School traveling friends. We had Saturday morning free and Martha Anne suggested a trip to the George W Bush Presidential Library. Hey! Visiting a presidential library is on my list, Number 70 to be exact.  So we went.

I wasn't sure what to expect...a museum? A library with books? Boring?

Me, the library entrance, 

and a beautiful Texas day.

Museum most accurately fit the bill.  As a bonus there was an exhibit on the First Ladies and their accomplishments.

In the beginning, the most a Presidential spouse could hope for was 

recognition of her "Hostessing" abilities. 

Gotta start somewhere. 

Lady Bird Johnson made life more beautiful.

She reigned in the highway billboards and sowed wildflowers.

The world can always use more beauty.

Laura Bush was a teacher. 

I love this quote. 

Allison, Kathleen, and Martha Anne watching a movie 

on the First Ladies. 

The change and inspiration these women have brought about in their unelected position is amazing. (I'm waiting for a First Man so the exhibit can be changed to First Spouses. I'm also waiting for our current First Lady to do SOMETHING. Or maybe not. Maybe she is doing us a favor by not doing a thing.)  Thrust into the limelight, they became style leaders, opened up our eyes to addiction and mental illness, made breast cancer a subject that could be discussed rather than brushed under the rug and beautified our nation.

Fully inspired, we headed into the permanent museum exhibits.   While I'm  a Texas girl, I wasn't a huge fan of George W.   Truthfully I didn't think he was that smart. At least he did have the brains to surround himself for the most part with people who were smart. That helped. I was proud of the way he handled 911. And he was and is a good person.

The exhibits are fun.  Interactive. Educational. In his eight years as President, George W. dealt with a lot.

His most Presidential moment was his response to the 911 terrorism attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.

Wow. 

Steel from the Twin Towers. 

Just this in the middle of the room.

So powerful.

Some of his other highlights included Medicare Part D which is the Senior prescription drug plan, creating three national marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean that protects almost 200,000 square miles of aquatic life, his relief for AIDS which has saved lives and helped prevent the spread of that horrible disease, and his capture of Saddam Hussein.

He had his failures too. Those weren't exactly the focus of the library.

There was a wonderful film of his daughters talking about their life with a Presidential father. Bush is a family man and it was nice to see that aspect of his life. His dogs were highlighted. Loved those Scottish terriers.

Was he a great President? Probably not. But he did the job as best as he could. I love this quote and wish our current President would read it.

Respect.

Earned, not a given.

Easily lost. 

My favorite part of the library? 

The Oval Office. 

I got to sit at a reproduction of Bush's desk. Complete with the magical red button. 

Don't I look comfortable and in charge? 

Sign me up. 

I've raised teenagers,

I'm sure I could run the country. 

We finished the day with lunch at the attached cafeteria. Just like Disney World, the library empties into a gift shop and there's a restaurant near by. A winning formula.  Café 43 had surprisingly good food and it was a wonderful way to end our visit.

Me, Martha Anne, Allison and Kathleen 

Great friends,

great day,

great visit. 

No.70 is in the books.

Home

Home is where I am....


Back in March of  2017, just when the house was ready to go on the market, the nice staging lady suggested an upgrade for the master bedroom bedding. Somehow she did not feel the threadbare quilt that covered the queen bed conveyed the "upscale, cozy, homey" atmosphere that the price we had put on the house warranted. I hightailed it to the store and bought a fluffy comforter, pillow covers and in a spontaneous moment threw in a pillow that was embroidered with one word:  Home.   I was hoping for some subliminal advertising. See this bed? Doesn't it make you think of YOUR NEW HOME?

Subliminal advertising.

Bunny came in, saw the new bedding and glared at me. "Take this back. We no longer have a home."
There might have been just a little anger at her house being sold out from under her.

Never the less, the house sold, the bedding was packed up and brought to Colorado and Bunny survived the summer and eventually returned to school in Mississippi.

Loved that gray stripe. 

Carlos loved it too.

Perfect place to wipe the mud off his paws.

The bedding stayed on my bed until the comforter was ruined by Carlos. His dogged attempts at catching gophers rendered the quilt mud stained and no amount of washing would get it clean. I dug up an old down comforter, an even older duvet cover and remade the bed. The "Home" pillow was unscathed. It remained front and center.

A different duvet. 

A silly little three legged dog. 

And a pillow that says "home" 

A couple of weeks ago, while making the bed (a morning ritual that ensures I will come home to at least one clean room) I plopped the "Home" pillow in place and stopped. It hit me. That pillow IS home. So am I.

I just spent last week in Texas. It was fun to see my friends, lovely to visit with my mother, fabulous to go shopping, delightful to see some new art.  It was also overwhelming and frantic and hectic. So many cars. So many people. So many crazy drivers.

About the third day into the trip I was ready to go home. Not Texas home. Colorado home. Home where my things are and where Carlos is and where the fun neighbors live and where my work fills my weeks. Home where the mountains loom out my front door, where Mina plops into my lap as soon as I sit down, where the deer graze on the side yard.

This view. 

I'm still giving myself a year to fully decide "Should I stay or should I go?" That was a deal I made with myself when I moved up here full time. A year to get a job. A year to make friends. A year to put down roots.

I'm about halfway through the year.
The worst part of the winter is over. Spring is teasing, although surely there will be one more snow.
And more and more, this is looking and feeling like home.