prosodic

It didn't become real to me until we pulled up to a guard shack and a member of the Secret Service checked our IDs. That's when my stomach dropped. Once he checked our IDs against the guest list, he directed us to the parking lot. From there, we boarded a shuttle bus. In a short while, we were here.



We were given a ticket with our names on it to hand to the official White House photographer. (This is why you'll see no photo here of us with the Bidens - we have to wait until it's processed and emailed to us...48 hours.) At that point, we ended up in a line that snaked around the wrap-around porch. There was Christmas music and a beverage station set up serving hot cider. The Red Cross was there with blank holiday cards that we could fill out for the deployed troops.

We seemed to be in line for ages. At one point, I snuck into the house to find the restroom (I wasn't the only one). The restroom was incredibly posh, as you'd probably expect. The paper towels even had the Vice President's seal on them.

We moved up and up and up through the line. At one point, I came around a corner and saw Jill Biden. Someone was obstructing my view of Joe, but then that person moved and there he was. I might have had a mild freak out at that moment.

Next thing I know, someone is taking our ticket. Someone else offered to take my purse. We heard our names announced, "MSgt. Lance Johnson and Mrs. Karyn Johnson." Jill Biden reached out and took my hand and thanked me for coming. Then Joe, the man himself, approached me and came so close that we were almost nose to nose. He thanked me for coming. He looked at Lance and said, "Hey Buddy! Good to see you! Thank you for your service." Next thing I know, his arm is around my waist and he pulled me close for a photo. I remember being kind of stiff and thinking that I probably looked awkward and tense, but it was too late. The camera clicked and we were shuffled off (someone handed me my purse as we left). Lance told me later that he wasn't prepared either. I can't wait to see what this photo will look like. We're probably going to look awkward as hell, but everyone we talked to had a similar experience.

Once we moved into the reception area, my legs started shaking. So badly that I almost had to sit down. I ran into another spouse that I know from Lance's squadron. We made a little small talk and she indicated that the breakfast buffet was in the adjoining room.



Coffee! Blessed coffee. Quiche, scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, pastries. A separate table with platters of assorted cookies. Servers with trays of mimosas and bloody marys...other servers coming around with tiny sausage biscuit sliders and tiny grilled cheese sandwiches.









We stayed for a bit and talked to Lance's co-workers. I had 3 mimosas and may have accidentally spilled some of the third one on the Bidens' beautiful hardwood floor. We were only supposed to stay for an hour - every attendee had a scheduled time to be there and our scheduled time was 9:30 to 10:30. But we ended up staying for 2 hours.

When we finally decided to leave, the shuttle bus was waiting. We were handed a parting gift:



Awesome glasses, but I kind of wished I had gotten what was passed out to the kids. All the kids who attended got a plush version of Champ, the Bidens' German Shepherd. Super cute.

I consider the day a success. I was not rendered incapable of coherent speech. I did not trip, burp, cough, sneeze, or drool in front of the Vice President. Lance admitted to me that he was also worried about making an ass of himself, but thankfully we didn't really have time for that. It happened so fast.

I guess I'm back to doing Meetup Sunday again. Same thing as last time - potluck lunch at the winery. Though I would assume they're moving it indoors, since it's now cold.

And since I just RSVP'd and it is tomorrow and I want to use what I had on hand:

- Chickpeas? Check.
- Pureed pumpkin? Check.
- Lemon juice? Check.
- Olive oil? Check.
- Garlic? Check.
- Spices? Check.

Thusly, pumpkin hummus (my own recipe, adapted from 2 other recipes):

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 c. pumpkin puree
3 TBSP. lemon juice
1 TBSP. water
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 tsp. cumin

Combine all in food processor. Add olive oil until you have the consistency you want. Sprinkle with smoked paprika.



I'm bringing a box of crackers I already opened and didn't really like (Town House Flatbread Crisps - sea salt & olive oil flavor), but they actually go really well with this hummus. I may stop at the store on the way there though, and pick up some additional crackers. I don't want to bring the box of Wheat Thins that Lance has been snacking on.

By Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

I based this off a chicken wing recipe, modified it to chicken breasts (since the husband hates chicken wings), and it was crazy good. Smoky and sweet, with wonderful flavoring from the smoked paprika (a new-to-me spice).

In a gallon size Ziploc bag, combine:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper

Add 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast (or hey, if you want bone-in with skin, so much the better. This recipe was originally for crispy, flavorful skin anyway). Zip bag closed and shake until the chicken is well coated. Let it hang out in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

I had 3 rather large, thick breasts. I baked them on a foil-lined baking pan for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Your mileage may vary.

While the chicken was baking, I made the roasted red pepper creme. This involves a tub of original flavor Philadelphia Cooking Creme. Scoop out about 1/3 of the creme into your food processor. Add some roasted red peppers from a jar - whatever amount you want according to your tastes. Pulse until well blended and a saucy consistency. (Note: I made it as soon as the chicken went in the oven, so the creme was room temp by the time the chicken was done.)

And that's all there is to it. When the chicken's done, let it rest a few minutes so it stays juicy, then slice it and spoon the creme over the top.

I served this with egg noodles (mixed with the remainder of the cooking creme and some dill) and peas. Definitely making this again.

My guest post on the Military OneSource Blog Brigade is up:

http://blog-brigade.militaryonesource.mil/2012/08/28/guest-blog-making-friends-when-youre-kidless/

Ever since we moved here, I have been searching for good walking trails. Preferably wide trails that are paved, gravel, or planked. Reece and Blitz picked up about half a dozen ticks between them at Flag Ponds. The trails there were too narrow with too much tall grass along the sides. King's Landing here in Huntingtown didn't have much of a trail. American Chestnut Land Trust trails are also too narrow and difficult to navigate with dogs. Dunkirk District Park has some paved jogging paths, but they're not particularly scenic and the main attraction there (for us, anyway) is the dog park. I have only walked the dogs around those paths to cool them down after a game of fetch.

Today, I drove to Chesapeake Beach. Honestly, I don't know what took me so long to drive there. It's about 6 miles away and getting there couldn't be easier. I didn't even need my GPS. Anyway, I thought I'd try the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail, which spans 39 miles through 3 counties. Obviously, we aren't ambitious enough to walk the entire thing, but I covered probably 2 miles today with the dogs. Had I gone earlier in the day when it wasn't so close to lunchtime, we would've walked a few more miles.

The trail is a boardwalk where it goes over Fishing Creek (a small channel off of Chesapeake Bay) and it is paved when it's on land. It's also wide and goes through a lot of very nice scenery. I imagine there is good wildlife watching, too, if one happens to be there at the right time. I wasn't, or maybe I was distracted too much by the dogs to notice. All I really saw was a grasshopper on the trail. No turtles, birds, fish, or frogs.

The trail was kind of hard to find. I heard it was near the water park, so I aimed the car in that direction, turned down the road that runs alongside the water park, and found a sign for the trail next to an apartment complex. I parked at the "Tot Lot" - a public playground right next to the apartments. I asked, and I was told I could leave the car there without problems. One of the mothers at the playground told me there was a different parking area I could use specifically for the trail, but I never did find it. All the parking right by the trail entrance was permit only. No matter...where I parked was only a short walk from where the trail started.

Anyway, here are the photos I took during our walk. I love, love, LOVE this trail and I'm so sad I didn't find it sooner. I will be coming here a lot with the dogs. And Lance is looking for good places to jog. This fits the bill nicely.


The beginning of our walk


Fishing Creek from an area called the Forest Canopy


Looking back toward the Chesapeake Beach town center


Where Fishing Creek meets Chesapeake Bay

Made this to take to a potluck barbecue that I went to last night. It was DEVOURED.

I combined parts of 2 different recipes for sundried tomato bread because I didn't want to go out and buy additional ingredients. Lucky for me, the result was delicious. This bread is perfect for making sandwiches - it wasn't nearly as dense as a lot of bread machine breads tend to be. I made a parmesan herb dipping oil to go with this - which quickly disappeared - but someone else started eating this with spinach dip and said it was really good.

In the bread machine pan, add ingredients in this order:

4 tsp. olive oil
3/4 c. + 2 TBSP. water
2 TBSP. snipped dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)
3 c. flour (I used half bread flour, half all-purpose)
1/2 c. parmesan cheese (I just used Kraft)
1 TBSP. sugar
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. yeast

Make sure the yeast and water have no contact with each other as you're adding ingredients or it'll ruin the bread. Set the bread machine on the basic bread setting for a 1.5 pound loaf.

Note: When I made it, the dough didn't spread out in the pan, which convinced me that the bread wasn't going to turn out. It pretty much just formed into a ball inside the pan and baked that way. So if that happens to you, don't worry.

Here's a picture I took on Sunday of one of the many barns in Calvert County, Maryland. I look forward to snapping many more barn photos, and photos of churches, too. The churches here are old and cool - many of them surrounded by old gravestones.