Ornaments

So I'm not much of a collector of things.  I don't tend to go out of my way to seek out things of a like kind.  My sister?  Pigs.  Hundreds of pigs, from small statues to wall signs to gigantic plush animals.  I remember, one year, she asked me "What do you collect?"  I said, "I don't think I do?"  She insisted that everyone must collect something, so what did I love?  When I couldn't answer, she decided it was wolves.  I collect wolves. 

Okay.

For two years, she got me wolf-related collectibles for Christmas, birthdays, etc. They're nice things, and they're up on display, but I don't collect wolves.  I'm sorry.

Looking though the curio cabinets, it would appear that, maybe, I collect bells.  I have a fair number of them, some brass, some silver, some porcelain.  I also have five or six elephants, but, to be fair, three of those came my way via my husband's late grandmother.  So, not really a collector there, either.

The past week or so, though, has found me seeking out Christmas ornaments.  Not just any ornaments, but ones with special meaning or ones that commemorate places we've been.  Now, I've done this here and there for years, and have a fair number of ornaments that carry some special meaning to me (plus, of course, the ornaments my Mom gave me, some of which belonged to her Mom, but that's different).  I've gotten three ornaments in the past couple of weeks--one from Mount Vernon, and two from the White House gift shop (one from 1996, because it's pretty and the Clintons were in residence), and one from 2009 (the Lincoln commemorative which was also the year our President was inaugurated). 

But it gets worse.  I just discovered a beautiful 1st Battle of Manassas ornament online.  Very close to my heart, because we've been to the battlefield AND we live in Bull Run.  But wait, there's more!  I just found a gorgeous 1987 Independence Hall ornament for only 12 bucks on eBay.  Now, these aren't bulb-type ornaments, they're not round and easily broken.  These are the flat, 24 kt gold overlay types, and I need to be very, very careful, because I think I've just discovered the joy/hell of wanting to COLLECT things. 

Dang. 





2009 White House Ornament commemorating the 200th year since the birth of Abraham Lincoln (and the year of President Obama's inauguration!).







1996 White House ornament, grabbed it because it's gorgeous AND because the Clintons were in residence!



2009 Mount Vernon, because it was the most lovely one there, the cheapest one there (only $6.99!) AND because it was Barack Obama's first year in office

The collection, thus far.

What Better Time for Mount Vernon?

The niece came out on Thursday night (niece-in-law, actually, but she and her husband have been together practically half their lives), she had business in DC but flew out a day early to spend some time with us.  We're mega-low on money, but we haven't seen family in over a year, and we couldn't just sit at home and stare at each other.  We thought about going to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where she's never been and had expressed interest in, but then she mentioned that she was already planning on going with coworkers the next day.  So it seemed silly to take her there, even though she said that would be fine.  I knew she'd never been to Mt. Vernon (I knew because I'd asked), but I was iffy on the cost (fifteen bucks per person, sixty bucks for the load of us).  Tommy and I talked, and decided that, dammit, we were going to take her because . . . well, because.

I went online to check the hours and, surprise, surprise, it's HOME-SCHOOLER day!  Knocked 23 bucks off the bill, which was great.  Plus, our beautiful niece treated us to breakfast at the little diner we've become enamored of, so the day wasn't so disastrous, though, even if it had been, it would have been worth it to have a good day with her. 

Learned some cool things at Mt. Vernon, bought a pretty little Christmas ornament (marked down to $6.99!).  Sadly, that purchase inspired me to hit the White House gift shop site when I got home and order two more ornaments, which were NOT marked down.  Goodness. 

I know it's a 2009 ornament, but I fell in love with the look (and it's the year our President was inaugurated)!

The hiking about Mt. Vernon was a bit tough on me (we did the full walk-about, down to the shores of the Potomac, around to the tomb and slave quarters, and then up through the forest trail).  About 3 1/2 hours of walking, and the plantar fasciitis and back pain were, at times, troubling.  Not the fasciitis so much at the time--that was later, after it'd had a chance to seize up.  The grounds were amazing, the heirloom sheep and cows wonderful (and sweet--I love petting sheep, go figure), and the company marvelous.  We were the last ones through on the mansion tour, which gave us time to dawdle and really enjoy. 

It was a sad night last night, though.  Disappointing.  Not going to go into it much, other than to say that sometimes it's a real eye-opener, hearing what people consider wrenching or devastating.  To have suffering a lifetime of being ostracized, tortured, outcast, rejected, loudly and cruelly publicly ridiculed, and terrified of social situations from dating to just walking through a grocery store because of how people react to how your body looks compared with not having cool clothes?  As someone whose mom used to sew our clothes from patterns, the results having uneven legs, uneven hems, and crooked zippers set into hideously garish floral fabrics, I've suffered both bad fashion and being condemned by society for how my body looks.  Believe me, the fashion grief doesn't even begin to compare.  On the one hand, I'm relieved--if that's the worst someone's suffered on the social devastation front, that's wonderful!  On the other hand, if that's the only comparison to be made, there's no common frame of reference in this at all.  It's not a huge deal, but it is a bit hurtful to think that what I've gone through is being compared to the pain of having a cheap wardrobe. 

Here are some pictures from Mount Vernon.  I'm glad we went when we did--it got super cold today!

Red Devon heirloom cowses

The Mansion

Washington Family tomb