The Washington Post had an article about the smart fortwo.
Life in the Cute Lane
To Curb Fuel Costs and Emissions, SUV Drivers Downshift to Stylish, Super-Compact Smart Car
By Simone Baribeau
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 18, 2008; Page D01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071702945.html
On Saturday, July 12th, 2008, I saw the last show on my schedule from the 2007-2008 theatre season. I saw Disney’s The Lion King at the Kennedy Center. This was most likely my biggest year for seeing shows and included shows at the local high school, a community theatre, and several professional theatres in Washington, DC.
This year, I saw the following shows:
To Kill a Mockingbird - Freedom High School - October 2007
Nutcracker - Warner Theatre - December 2007
My Fair Lady - Kennedy Center - January 2008
Kiss Me Kate - Freedom High School - February 2008
Annie - Warner Theatre - February, 2008
Play it again, Sam - Chevy Chase Players - March 2008
Hairspray - Warner Theatre - April 2008
Curse You Jack Dalton with Vaudeville Review - Freedom High School - May 2008
History Boys - Studio Theatre - June 2008
Mamma Mia! - National Theatre - June 2008
Lion King - Kennedy Center - July 2008
Friday, July 11th, 2008 was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A stores. They were giving out free entrees to anyone who came dressed as a cow. Their website said that if you come as a cow from head to hoof they would give you a free combo meal and if you just had a partial cow look, a free entree.
I was out shopping on Thursday and saw a children’s towel with a cow head and decided that would make a good costume for Cow Appreciation Day. I wore it to Chick-Fil-A at lunch and got a free sandwich. I decided I needed to go a little further and tried again at dinner. This time, I added a sign, and white sweatshirt and pants. This time, I got the free combo meal.
I think more people were dressed as cows at lunch time. Both visits, I saw older teens with the cow costume pieces from the Chick-Fil-A website taped to their shirts. It was fun going out as a cow. I will need to do it again next year.
It was also customer appreciation day at 7-eleven. They were giving 7.11 ounce slurpees for free. It was small, but hit the spot on a warm summer day.
I went to Kings Dominion this past weekend. Many people know that I have a season pass to Six Flags and try to visit theme parks often. Kings Dominion is about 100 miles south of where I live. It is bigger than Six Flags America, but it is also twice as far, so I don’t go there as often. This was actually my first visit to Kings Dominion since 2006.
It wasn’t my idea to go to Kings Dominion. The other weekend, as we were leaving a picnic for the YFU exchange students, one of my students mentioned that a few others were planning a trip to Kings Dominion and asked if he could go. I had two students this year, one who likes going on rides and roller coasters and one who didn’t. Last fall, we went to Six Flags America and Busch Gardens Europe. The one went on one roller coaster and said he wouldn’t go on another.
Since my one student who didn’t like roller coasters was leaving early, I said that my student could go, but that I would come with him. A few days before the trip, I spoke with the host mom who was taking the students to Kings Dominion. She was planning to get there early and have a chance to have breakfast before the park opens. Since I always have to plan my trips around my dog, I said we would get there a little later (but still before the park opened).
We got to Kings Dominion about 30 minutes before the park officially opened. We met at the hotel just outside the park. The group was a little smaller than expected. It was just one student from Maryland, one from Richmond, my student, and myself. The one mom was just dropping the boys off and said she had some errands to run and would come back at 7:00pm.
We went to the park. The boys rode the hotel shuttle and I drove my car. I had tickets for myself and my student, but the two boys didn’t have tickets. They lucked into some free tickets from someone who had a few extra corporate tickets that were good for that day only. They were a little confused when I walked up. They said someone gave them the tickets, but they wanted to go to the water park also. I told them the water park was inside the main park. So we went inside.
Kings Dominion has a new roller coaster, Dominator. We decided to do this ride first. The line wasn’t too long and it was a fun coaster. The water park didn’t open until after noon, so we had time to ride the coasters. The park wasn’t crowded. A few of the more popular rides had lines, but most lines were short. Around 3:00, we had finished going on most of the coasters and decided to go to the water park. One of the students needed to buy a swim suit which he quickly did.
The water park was a little more crowded and the lines for the slides were about 20 to 30 minutes each. The water park is long and narrow. The worst part was walking bare footed on the hot concrete. There really must be a way for them to have paths that don’t burn your feet.
At 6:30, we called it a day and changed out of our swim suits. After leaving the locker room, it was clear the weather was changing. The winds had picked up and the temperature dropped a few degrees. The one mom called me on my cell phone and said that a storm was coming. I told here we were on our way out and would be back at the hotel in 15 minutes. We stayed at the hotel for a while to talk and let the boys say, “Good bye.” After hitting the road, we ran into the storm. I was glad that the weather had held out all day until after we left.
The school year is coming to an end. Last August, I welcomed two 15-year-old foreign exchange students into my home. I had big expectations of the activities we would do together. On Sunday, the first student left and in two weeks, the other will leave.
I was going through the pictures I took over the past year to create a CD that I could give the boys before they left. I had been disappointed that we hadn’t gotten to do everything I had hoped, but after seeing the pictures again, I realized that we did do a lot of things together.
I believe in eating three meals a day. That begins with eating breakfast in the morning. I don’t eat a big breakfast, and I never have. I have something quick and simple for breakfast before leaving home. Lately, I have been tired with my current breakfast choices and have been looking for something different. I am not sure what I want.
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