Bucket List Alert!

I have this ongoing mental list of things I'd like to do before I die...morbid, I know...and it includes experiences like: hot-air balloon ride, see the Grand Canyon, go to the White House Correspondents Dinner.  Ok, that last one was only added because I'm dating someone that knows someone that got a press pass once and I'm crossing my fingers the budget cuts don't prevent him from getting a press pass again because I've already secured my spot as his date!!  I digress.

So about a month ago I had the joy of crossing an item off my bucket list: Go to Medieval Times.  Ever heard of it? No?? Well, it's a large indoor arena where the audience is treated like lords and ladies watching a jousting tournament, eating dinner with no utensils and going along with the general merriment.  It's outstanding.  If you have kids, bring them.  If you don't, bring a friend.  Oh and just in case you were worried, they have a full cash bar.  Cha-ching!

So the following pictures are from the evening's "games".  I can't decide if it was the company I was with, the bottle of wine I had or the general splendor that made this such a magical experience but I'd like to think it was a little of everything ;)

When they dimmed the lights, I couldn't tell who was cheering loudest, the kids everywhere or me.
Yes, I was *that* excited.

They started with a cute intro of how horse + man came to be.  Such talented horses!!

There was a bunch of annoying interruptions from the lame "King and Princess".
Less bad British accents, more entertainment of the equine kind, people!

I think this was the bad guy.  We booed.  I may have been a little over enthusiastic with that.

Then they split the arena audience into "lands" and assigned us all a knight for the tournament.
Ours was the red knight, who we affectionately called Some-Dude-From-Baltimore-Who-Was-Clearly-Of-Asian-Descent.

This was our server boy, Joe (and Red Knight photo-bombing).
The kid had clearly partied a bit too hard the night before and subsequently lost his voice.
What came out was more like pre-pubescent squeaks.  It was classic.

There was some good old-fashioned, medieval smack talking.

Then they all lined up and pair by pair, faux-jousted! For real (not)!

Red Knight was kind-of a Bad-ass!

We cheered.  A lot.  Drunkenly.

There was a final faux-duel on foot to determine the official champion of the tournament.  It's like the WWE of the jousting world.
Red Knight won!! 

I went Medieval and all I got was this stinkin' blog.

It was all pretty wicked.  I hope you get a chance to go sometime, really.  It's hella expensive but worth every penny and most people will probably only go once.  I mean really, how many times can you watch faux-duels and drink too much wine??  Wait, I want to do that all the time.  Lets buy some more tickets!

Just call me Grandma

For those of you who don't know, I am now in the 30-35 category of demographics, as I turned 30*something* last September.  Since I moved to Charlottesville, I've been noticing how old I've been feeling and I'm getting concerned.  (Now, I'm sure some of you will gripe because I shouldn't be talking about being 'old' and being 30-ish in the same sentence but my 10-year-old self would disagree.  I have now lived what could be argued as 'a lifetime'.  People could say, "She had a good life," because I'm old enough to have made a life!  *sigh* Well that's just a depressing thought.  I digress.)

Almost 9 years later, my job as a dental hygienist has finally started taking it's toll on my body.  Hunching over patients all day leaves me physically exhausted, my trapezius muscles are hard as rocks, my neck is chronically pissed off and my elbow/wrist inflammation is in a constant state of awareness.  I believe in prevention (prevention is my career, is it not?) so I've even visited a Chiropractor regularly for the better part of 8 years trying to avoid this fate....I think I would've been dead in the water by now if I hadn't.  Ps- Have you hugged your hygienist today??

So on top of the neck problems, I've acquired back problems from learning how to golf (I try to smack the ball like Phil Mickelson but even if you got him drunk as a skunk, blindfolded him and made him use a stick instead of a golf club, he'd still hit the ball WAY better than me), and when I work out at the gym (I try for 4x a week) my joints definitely do not work like they used to....cue: Glucosamine/Chondroitin auto-refill plan? I mean, what gives??

I've also been realizing how much I grunt/groan every time I get up from laying, sitting, driving, etc.  Not just a little grunt, mind you, it's like a hippopotamus just surfaced from the water and hoisted itself up an embankment onto dry land.  I can't seem to help myself!  I swear groaning helps in the 'getting up' process.  I could be wrong.

Recently, I discovered the beauty of the....wait for it.....wait for it....heating pad.  It has seriously done wonders for my muscle's relaxation.  Sad, right?  I actually waited forever to buy one because I thought they were expensive (I'm not cheap, I'm just frugal) until I glanced at them at Wally World and saw one for $11.  MINE!

That same weekend, my roommate came home from a shopping spree at a fancy lingerie store to find me sitting in my bed, on my heating pad, like a hospital patient....and this has become a regular ritual of mine ever since.  I'm 30*something*, going on 95.  Yep, just call me Grandma. :-/

AAUSS

I just received the coolest package I think I've ever gotten.  Here's just little (ok, long) back story...

First of all, I try to practice humility in all aspects of my life (yes, yes, sometimes that's way easier said than done), especially regarding volunteerism.  I don't choose to do things for others to win accolades from anyone, in spite of this blog post.  I know if I want to lump myself onto Santa's 'good' list, then giving of yourself is just something you do.  For no other reason than that.  That said, finding organizations that align with things you already enjoy doing or hold dear in some way, make the perfect places to volunteer your talents.  I happen to have had multiple connections with the military over the better part of my life and have a very high reverence for those individuals who choose that life of service, for whatever reason they so desire.  That said, I found the organization AAUSS (Adopt A US Soldier)....and the story begins.

It's a fantastic, non-profit organization that, through whatever means, aligns individuals in the states with a service member deployed overseas.  You can request a man or woman, if you have a preference,  or a whole unit if you have a large group of people wanting to contribute together.  Basically, you provide your support, through whatever means you have, to create a little bright spot in the day of a service member who may or may not otherwise be receiving anything from friends/family.  I was given the email and postal address of a Sargent in Afghanistan named Chris.  He, and his unit, did receive stuff from friends and family in the states but when you're over fighting for your country, there's no such thing as too much support.

I started by emailing him, asking him if he needed/wanted anything and just making some small talk to see what he might enjoy.  After a few weeks, I put together a care package with mostly random goodies I picked up at the grocery store and the Dollar Store...I mean, I'm not made of money here.  I also included lots of toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouthwash.  Gimme a break, I'm a dental hygienist for pete's sake!  (The USPS gives you a small discount on their flat rate boxes for sending to APO/AE addresses, FYI)  After he received it and said he loved it, he also said that he shared a lot of it with his unit buddies, as they all do for each other.

Box #2 was similar random goodness, like the first box, and I was told that his friends grabbed most of it for themselves, leaving him with one box of hot chocolate and a DVD disc I burned the HBO series Game Of Thrones on.  Well in my world, that's all I'd need to turn a bad day into a good day anyway! :)

The third box was right before Christmas and I filled it to the brim with homemade goodies - careful to not include anything that could melt (deserts get hot, who knew?) or get nasty before it would arrive in two weeks (nope, I did not put green fuzz decorations on those Peanut Butter Blossoms) and sealing everything as air tight as I could get it.  I lined the inside of the box with wrapping paper so it would feel like Christmas in some small way.  Again, from the sounds of it, sharing was the order of the day.  Never did hear if anything had spoiled but, lets be honest, those dudes probably just ate everything without a second thought. 

Then Chris told me that he had something for me and was going to send it out soon!  Let me just tell you, that was an anxious wait.  Where could someone over in Afghanistan possibly have gotten a gift, anyway?  I was imagining opening a box of sand or pulling out a dirty boot.  Yeah, I have an active imagination.  Then, today, MY BOX ARRIVED!  I was so excited/nervous/curious that I could barely contain myself.  Here's the moment you've all been waiting for, the contents of the box:

The complete (Season 1-6) How I Met Your Mother sitcom series on DVD (I had mentioned in an email how much I LOVED that show) and, possibly the coolest gift I've ever received, an American flag with a certificate stating that the flag had flown on a helicopter during a combat mission on January 13th, 2013.  Amazeballs.  The certificate is signed by my soldier, Chris, who was the co-pilot!  Indescribably awesome.

I never went into this thinking that I'd be given anything in return, in fact, the AAUSS website warns that some soldiers are out on missions frequently and are unable to respond to emails or send letters of thanks, you just have to have faith that they're receiving your support.  I just got lucky.

That's the thing about all this (and giving back in general) it's not about you receiving anything at all, it's the Lord working through you to earn the blessed life you've been given; and when you're at your most selfless, you end up receiving a lot more in return.

Adopt your own US Soldier: Click here to show your support!