Tag: Air & Space Museum

“My way’s not very sportsmanlike.”

Sara Mazariegos

Rob Reiner. I cannot believe this happened. I wanted the news to be untrue and wrong, but unfortunately it’s true. He directed so many movies we all love. Luis and I still need to see Spinal Tap II… It feels like only yesterday that Rob Reiner was on all the talk shows promoting it. Not only was he not that old yet, no one should die the way he and his wife did. It’s just awful.

In his honor, I wore my Princess Bride shirt that my sister gave me for my birthday this year. 😢 We watched When Harry Met Sally as an impromptu memorial holiday movie on Monday. We’ve been thinking about him and his family and all of his friends this week.

Hanukkah has been very tragic so far this year.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. On the 14th, we went to the special, airplane hanger part of the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. We saw the Enola Gay (we each saw it a long time ago, when it was crammed into the other facility) and several other cool old planes. We also saw the Discovery space shuttle and a docent was in a live video chat to answer questions, so Luis asked about the heat-resistant material and the emergency exit markings. It was very cool. We also did a motion simulator of flying, which scared me a little because of the claustrophobic conditions. I kind of liked firing the plane’s gun at the “bad guys” but I didn’t like whenever the simulator moved…

I don’t think I’m ever gonna go to space or be a pilot, guys. Sorry.

Holiday Get-Together. Last Friday evening, we went directly from my office to my best friend Kat’s holiday get-together. A few of our other friends were there, too, and it felt very much like a college hangout, in a good way. Kat made dinner and then we chilled and watched the newest Knives Out movie. I may have fallen asleep in a few places, but I’d been awake since 7 am! It’s always nice to spend time with friends. It’s harder to do so now that we’re older and we all have jobs and lives of our own.

I’ve been friends with Kat for twenty-four years. 🤯 Our friendship would be a young adult, if it was a person.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Do you ever start reading a book and it takes a bit for you to get into it and care about what’s happening? When I first started reading The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, I was a little lost. The main character is such a (heh) cold person, and he says a few highly judgmental, bigoted things within the first 20 or so pages. But then I started being interested in what was happening. He’s a spy, and he’s living this life that’s made up for his mission. He even goes to prison. It’s kind of intense. I’m interested in seeing the movie version after reading the book.

I started reading it because it’s cold outside, so the title matches. But it’s not actually about the cold at all. Well, it’s The Cold War. And it’s also a term for being a secret agent. You “come in from the cold” when you’re finished. I didn’t realize that I’d seen a related movie before, about George Smiley (a mentioned but so far unseen character in this book.) I saw Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy over a decade ago. But the name George Smiley jumped out at me. That’s pretty fun. It’s hard to forget a name like that.

I like spy and mystery novels when they’re well-done. I’m not all romance 24/7. Just most of the time. 😄

It’s confusing these days.

Sara Mazariegos

Last weekend was really fun. The party for Luis’s mom was great, and he made an awesome video with a bunch of his family members wishing his mom a happy birthday. Then he made a speech and it was so cute. I may be biased, but my husband is amazing. 🥰  Then the next day, we went to the Air & Space Museum and spent a few hours looking at the updated exhibits. I had a margarita in a can! I did not expect anything like that to be available in their cafe. Next month, more new exhibits are opening, including one that features Amelia Earhart. Just more reasons to go back again. We still need to visit the one in Virginia, too. That’s where they’re keeping Enola Gay these days.

Luis bought me a copy of the library book I was reading, so for a brief period I had two nearly identical copies of The Ex Talk. I’m reading my own copy now. My used copy is a retired library book, so I went from reading one library book to another. This one’s cover is laminated! I love owning old library books. They tell stories of their own.

He also got me a copy of Ashley Poston’s new novel, Sounds Like Love. I love her covers. Whoever designs them deserves extra points. I’m planning to read her other gorgeous novel, A Novel Love Story next.

We’re getting together with my family on the 4th of July. We always go see them and have food and watch the DC fireworks celebration, and then we set off a few small fireworks in the street outside the house. It’s always been about spending time with family for me, more than patriotism, really. It’s especially like that now.

I’m just grateful for a day off.

My writing is progressing well. I’m writing a little over a chapter a week, so I can really feel it coming along. I’ve also started thinking ahead and putting fun ideas in my outline, so I remember to actually use them. I’ve definitely thought of things to do and then forgotten about them, in the past. The first time I wrote this story, back in 2020, I didn’t even have an outline. It’s come a long way.

I was reading The Ex Talk last night and bits of it were aligning well with my story’s themes. I thought, “Yes! This really is a perfect comp.” It’s relatable to my life, too. I found this book just by searching for romance novels with workplace conflicts. I’m so glad I found it.