Memorial Day Weekend..

B and I should know by now that our plans never go quite as imagined. We had a big camping weekend laid out in our heads and headed to Shenandoah right after work on Friday. We had all the essentials from wedding gifts and a big shopping spree at Sam's Club (B finally let me get a membership... BAD IDEA :). We packed up the Gooser and all of his toys and hit the road. We arrived at Skyline Drive only to discover that every campground in VA was full. We were bummed and headed back to Lynchburg. In Lynchburg we played with all kinds of ideas from going to DC for Memorial Day to Nashville to the Outer Banks. Ultimately we arrived at a weekend of cleaning, golfing (and lessons for me!), getting my clubs regripped, picnic, and Smith Mountain Lake. We also decided to bottle cap our TV stands...

Goose in his riding spot. He loves Billy. It doesn't matter how much I play with him, buy him toys or walk him, he is Billy's boy.

He never makes it long... the boy is a napper.

We found a really cute brewery... Blue Mountain Brewery on our way back down the mountain.

Instead of the camping, we got my clubs regripped and went golfing...

I made Billy walk, and it was not the best idea...

We had steaks marinading for the camping trip so we decided to take Goose to the park and grill out.

Finally, I got to start my bottle cap project on my TV trays. This is the first one, so it looks a little rough; however I am sure the rest will look better.

Grace in Small Things

1) Realizing I do have a voice in Washington, DC.

2) Opportunities slapping me in the face.

3) The sense of pride I felt at the NA-YGN conference - not just pride in my company, but pride in my generation of young professionals in the nuclear industry.

4) B's commitment to our family and willingness to put his schooling and career on hold while I pursue my goals.

5) Goose peeing everywhere and annoying the sh*t out of me every morning - yet loving him all the same.

NA-YGN Conference

The past couple days I have been in Washington DC for an advocacy conference for the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN). Billy stayed in Lynchburg to hold down the fort and take care of the baddest but cutest dog.

I arrived Sunday and we had the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Chairman, as well as a couple other CEO's of various utilities speak with us. That night we had a reception with an open bar, and overall it was a lot of fun.

Below are Will and Rolando, a Chemical Engineer and Electrical Engineer, respectively from AREVA.

Monday we had seminars on costs of new nuclear, waste, and my favorite, supply chain. The supply chain seminar received the top spot because it consisted of a panel of VPs from the TOP THREE (AREVA, Westinghouse, and GE). The men were really impressive and it brought about a huge sense of pride to be there representing AREVA.

For lunch, the AREVA representatives from the Lynchburg, Bethesda, Fort Worth, and Charlotte offices had a luncheon with Jacques Besnainou, our US President. He had an infectious personality and really values the youth in the company. He even offered to write a check immediately for our advocacy efforts if we proposed a budget!

That night, after another open bar, rubbing elbows with all of the big wigs in the nuclear industry, and appetizers, we decided to hit a Thai restaurant for some socializing and excellent food!

Tuesday morning we had meetings on the Hill with various Congressmen from our state. I listed myself as a North Carolina constituent since I do still submit absentee ballots despite living in VA. I will never consider myself a Virginian. Anyway I was the lead for my team of 5 and we started in Rep Kissel's office and ended in Senator Hagan's office. It was truly a valuable experience because I now have the confidence to do the same types of advocacy on my own. Not to mention, just being on the Hill turn me into a pleasant optimist about myself and my country.

Below is Carrington, who was on my team and who also informed me that someone with his exact name (J. Carrington Dillon) is on the national terrorist watch list. Hahahahaha. He said we probably weren't going to get into any of the Congress buildings with him in our group.

My team is below... we had representatives from Shaw Group, Westinghouse, EPRI and AREVA.

The entire NC group...

My Charlotte AREVA folk...

<3 Keith Olbermann <3

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Grey Goose Martini, Straight Up!

I do not have any great pictures from the AWESOME weekend in Raleigh weekend before last, but I will share what I have...

We got there Friday night and ate a late dinner at An, a French-Asian fusion restaurant. We shared a sushi appetizer and I had the soft shell crab for dinner. It was fabulous combined with white wine and pre-dinner specialty cocktails.

After dinner we headed to the only 5 star hotel, The Umstead Hotel and Spa, in North Carolina for a martini or two. A man that was from Garner who knew my dad was playing music there. He was singing the Jeff Buckley song Hallelujah when we walked in and a wave of emotion just overtook me. It was so beautiful and perfect to be with my mom listening to that song and enjoying a "straight-up" martini (only complete if you stick your thumb up while ordering).



Saturday morning we went on a bike ride all together. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures, but it was beautiful and I enjoyed every moment. After about 5 miles of hills, my mom kept saying, "That's it. I am not going any further! I don't want to come back over these hills." Then a mile later we would see her pedaling up the hill to catch up. Hahaha. She is such a trooper considering she was in a cast only a few weeks ago after her wreck.

After that we rushed to shower and get ready for BEERFEST!!! We had a blast. I ran into Jennifer Smith Bissette and Jay Bissette. We actually contemplated choosing a route (only pale ales or stick to one region); however once we got going we threw that out of the window. My mom got hit on a bunch, which was pretty funny, and she bought my sister and me these awesome "Sin Here" posters.


Of course the past week has been filled with nothing but GOOSE love. I adore him! He is going to be huge and I am sure I will scream "I am going to kill that dog" a hundred times, but it will be worth it!





Saturday Billy and I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, and it makes me so proud to see Billy in his element. We were in charge of casing all windows and doors. The picture below shows what basically took place the entire day... Billy working his butt off while I stood there and offered "advice".

Meet the Newest Arrington... GOOSE!!

We finally found him! After searching for a couple of months for the new addition to our family, we found him last night. He was born on March 16th, a beautiful accident from a full bred 150 lb Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) and an English Pointer mix. He was the biggest of the litter, of course, and he wasted no time devouring treats and puppy chow when he got home.

We got to meet his mom and dad when we went to see if he was a fit, and they were both very well tempered.

I always wanted to name a dog Moose, but when we took him home, Moose just didn't fit. Billy and I thought perhaps Goose would fit since we love to indulge in Grey Goose, Goose was Top Gun's wingman, and there was true grey goose intimidating the puppies when we met him. The other option was Maximus Decimus Meridius, and of course we would call him Max... however Goose just seemed to fit perfect.

Anyway, behold Grey Goose Arrington, aka GOOSE!!!

The cutest is to watch Billy with "his boy".

Don't be a jerk

Apparently certain lurkers don't think I am using the term "grace" correctly in my "Grace in Small Things" posts. Take it back to English 101, you will remember that some words (homographs) have multiple meanings... in fact most do! Plus, my name means Grace, so I do what I want.

grace

[greys] noun, verb, graced, gracing.

–noun
1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.
2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.
3. favor or good will.
4. a manifestation of favor, esp. by a superior: It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled from school.
5. mercy; clemency; pardon: an act of grace.
6. favor shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity.
7. an allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied: The life insurance premium is due today, but we have 31 days' grace before the policy lapses.
8. Theology.
a. the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
b. the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
c. a virtue or excellence of divine origin: the Christian graces.
d. Also called state of grace, the condition of being in God's favor or one of the elect.
9. moral strength: the grace to perform a duty.
10. a short prayer before or after a meal, in which a blessing is asked and thanks are given.
11. (usually initial capital letter) a formal title used in addressing or mentioning a duke, duchess, or archbishop, and formerly also a sovereign (usually prec. by your, his, etc.).
12. Graces, Classical Mythology. the goddesses of beauty, daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, worshiped in Greece as the Charities and in Rome as the Gratiae.

–verb (used with object)
14. to lend or add grace to; adorn: Many fine paintings graced the rooms of the house.
15. to favor or honor: to grace an occasion with one's presence. —Idioms
16. fall from grace,
a. Theology. to relapse into sin or disfavor.
b. to lose favor; be discredited: He fell from grace when the boss found out he had lied.
17. have the grace to, to be so kind as to: Would you have the grace to help, please?
18. in someone's good (or bad) graces, regarded with favor (or disfavor) by someone: It is a wonder that I have managed to stay in her good graces this long.
19. with bad grace, reluctantly; grudgingly: He apologized, but did so with bad grace. Also, with a bad grace.
20. with good grace, willingly; ungrudgingly: She took on the extra work with good grace.