Let’s see – where should I begin?

First off – Birthday greetings go out to Mike who is somewhere in his thirties today. He wouldn’t tell me how old – only that I was still older.

In other news…The weekend went extremely well. Well – that is except for when I was ritually savaged by someone present – but we won’t talk about that here since that wouldn’t be very nice…

Oh – and perhaps we can forget about the fact that I had to announce about the Space Shuttle during the meeting. Seems like I’m always having to be the one to announce things like that. Other than that – and the fact that my jaw was about to head south with a lovely flare up of TMJ – it was great!

No really. It truly was a great weekend. I cannot say enough good things about the historians with whom I met on Friday and Saturday. There’s not one of them that I wouldn’t invite back in a heartbeat! We had some incredible discussions about the historical content outline for the USS Monitor Center and got a lot of great advice from experts in the field. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to really get into a historical discussion – it’s been awhile. It felt like the good part of doctoral comps again – but this time it meant even more.

I also have to give kudos to Judy – our content developer – for kicking some historical butt. She was great in the in-depth discussions. I hope she had a decent time in the wilds of Tidewater Virginia for the rest of the weekend. It must have had some sort of impact on her – she said “Bye y’all!” when she left…..

Anyway – that’s enough for that.

But I did want to say something about my friend Jeff, who defended me against the savagery again today (that’s right – it happened again). I owe him big – even though he said I didn’t, since that’s what friends are for – but I need to give him a big thank you for being my knight in iron armor today.

So for those of you who know Jeff – please go worship him now. For those of you who don’t know him – be happy in the knowledge that there are some really nice people existing in the universe. If you find one – go buy them a drink – because they deserve it.

In even more news – Jim had the sad task of telling me last night that an old colleague of mine passed on yesterday. She was quite old at 17 and probably very tired.

She was Elizabeth the Ship’s Cat at Jamestown Settlement and she had been there since before I worked there. She was the most compact, most personable, most universally loved ginger tabby that ever existed. I swear she’s in the photo albums of thousands the world over. Her eyes matched her fur and she got her name honest – her ruff and her colour rivaled that of Queen Elizabeth the First, for whom she was named.

You know, Elizabeth almost came to live with me at one point when folks at the museum weren’t sure about whether they should be concerned with the budgetary needs of a feline employee.

That’s when my grandparents stepped in.

Now what you have to understand is that they never once met Elizabeth. But they knew how special she was and they loved her from afar. So they sent food, supplies, and paid her vet bills while I worked with her.

That’s partly why I cried so much when Jim told me about her last night. I’m guessing that’s why I’m all teary right now. Because I’ve found that when you hear something sad, you cry for that – but for other things as well.

So Elizabeth – this is for you. And for my Nannie and DeDaddy. I hope that they’ve finally met you in person now. They love kitties, so you should be fine.

Fair winds sweet kitty.