It was, hands down, the most polite group of tens of thousands of people I've ever encountered.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
A real update (with pictures!)
Gird your loins....this is a long one.
Washington is hot and sticky, and tomorrow promises to dawn cool and sunny and I think today is going to be the last day for sure that I can go to work without a jacket. I have been quiet on many fronts lately with absolutely nothing of excitement going on other than usual life-stuff. I am doing this deliberately, as I need to slow down, to heal, and to love those I love and not worry about anyone new right now.
It is utterly exhausting to be somewhere new all the time. One thing I've noticed this past year as I move into hitting my one-year mark of being here (seriously?), is that I've done an abundance of talking about me and small-talking. As I've settled into a new groove with new coworkers and new friends and new everything, it's been the SJ show as I answer questions like "What brought you to Washington? Tell me about your family. Where are you from? What do you like to do?" all the time. Dating wiped me out in that I got so tired of giving my little bio and talking about movies or whatever the hell. Can't get too deep, can't get TOO personal. But don't be too shallow, show some depth. But not too much. Same with new friends I guess --go easy, go light. Keep it simple, SJ.
Well -I suck at that after awhile. Luckily I've developed some good friendships here and a great repoire with my coworkers as we all share a slightly off-beat and colorful (sometimes crass...okay, often crass) sense of humor. But over the last several weeks that have turned into months, I find myself visibly relaxing in many ways. My stressor events are over. Now its just on to the holidays and I'll be traveling alot and going to parties and just having fun with it.
My parents were here two weeks ago. I scored tickets through work for a White House "Garden Tour" which I assumed meant we'd get to see a bit of the grounds. Um, no. We were at the White House front door. My parents LOVED it.
Here is the view with your back to the White House:
The Rose Garden:
The West Wing:
Michelle Obama's Garden:
Leaving...Goodbye Obamas!
It was a beautiful day. My friend went with us, and we walked and walked around and couldn't have asked for better weather.
I am almost done with my christmas shopping, if everyone can freaking believe THAT! All 9 of my nieces and nephews are done, and I've got my Dad's present too. I have more to get, but I like having a chunk of it out of the way. Its so hard traveling around for the holidays and I inevitably will have to run to Walmart for my mother at midnight on Christmas Eve and grab up stuff for her to give away. She haaaates the holidays so she always puts it off and then panics.
It will be the first Christmas without my grandfather, and that will sting. I'm not sure how holly-jolly we are going to be, all things considered. It will be my first without my grandmother too, although she hadn't been "present" with us for a few years. But still, we won't make that trek to the nursing home and search her blue eyes for recognition of us. I miss them both every day. Every, every day. What a summer this was. I am so glad it is over.
I have my first date tomorrow night since August. I am slightly looking forward to it, as he is a deep thinker of a guy and a reader, as well as outdoorsy and I like that. I say "slightly" because you just never know how these things are going to go. We're going to dinner and I assume call it an early night.
Saturday morning, I'll be rallying with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert with a few friends --I can't wait! I love that I can walk to these huge events in fifteen minutes. I am not looking forward to the mess of out-of-towners crushing the national mall, but oh well. We're planning to pack some coolers and make a day of it.
Sunday I am volunteering all day at DC Central Kitchen...time for me to start giving back to this community that for now, for better or for worse, I am a part of and it is a part of me.
Oh! I got a new kitten. Her name is Allie (for Alpha) and she and Charlie have developed an intense love for each other, well, as much intensity as a neutered/spayed relationship can have. It's hilarious and its been fun to have another little creature in the house to take care of --and with the amount of shit the shelter sent her home with such as parasites, botched spayings, etc-- she's been a tough one to take care of. She's good now. Here she is in her kitten cuteness:
At first, we had a rocky time:
But now, they are BFF. Here they are simultaneously looking adorable....and creepy. I leave you with this.
Washington is hot and sticky, and tomorrow promises to dawn cool and sunny and I think today is going to be the last day for sure that I can go to work without a jacket. I have been quiet on many fronts lately with absolutely nothing of excitement going on other than usual life-stuff. I am doing this deliberately, as I need to slow down, to heal, and to love those I love and not worry about anyone new right now.
It is utterly exhausting to be somewhere new all the time. One thing I've noticed this past year as I move into hitting my one-year mark of being here (seriously?), is that I've done an abundance of talking about me and small-talking. As I've settled into a new groove with new coworkers and new friends and new everything, it's been the SJ show as I answer questions like "What brought you to Washington? Tell me about your family. Where are you from? What do you like to do?" all the time. Dating wiped me out in that I got so tired of giving my little bio and talking about movies or whatever the hell. Can't get too deep, can't get TOO personal. But don't be too shallow, show some depth. But not too much. Same with new friends I guess --go easy, go light. Keep it simple, SJ.
Well -I suck at that after awhile. Luckily I've developed some good friendships here and a great repoire with my coworkers as we all share a slightly off-beat and colorful (sometimes crass...okay, often crass) sense of humor. But over the last several weeks that have turned into months, I find myself visibly relaxing in many ways. My stressor events are over. Now its just on to the holidays and I'll be traveling alot and going to parties and just having fun with it.
My parents were here two weeks ago. I scored tickets through work for a White House "Garden Tour" which I assumed meant we'd get to see a bit of the grounds. Um, no. We were at the White House front door. My parents LOVED it.
Here is the view with your back to the White House:
The Rose Garden:
It was a beautiful day. My friend went with us, and we walked and walked around and couldn't have asked for better weather.
I am almost done with my christmas shopping, if everyone can freaking believe THAT! All 9 of my nieces and nephews are done, and I've got my Dad's present too. I have more to get, but I like having a chunk of it out of the way. Its so hard traveling around for the holidays and I inevitably will have to run to Walmart for my mother at midnight on Christmas Eve and grab up stuff for her to give away. She haaaates the holidays so she always puts it off and then panics.
It will be the first Christmas without my grandfather, and that will sting. I'm not sure how holly-jolly we are going to be, all things considered. It will be my first without my grandmother too, although she hadn't been "present" with us for a few years. But still, we won't make that trek to the nursing home and search her blue eyes for recognition of us. I miss them both every day. Every, every day. What a summer this was. I am so glad it is over.
I have my first date tomorrow night since August. I am slightly looking forward to it, as he is a deep thinker of a guy and a reader, as well as outdoorsy and I like that. I say "slightly" because you just never know how these things are going to go. We're going to dinner and I assume call it an early night.
Saturday morning, I'll be rallying with Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert with a few friends --I can't wait! I love that I can walk to these huge events in fifteen minutes. I am not looking forward to the mess of out-of-towners crushing the national mall, but oh well. We're planning to pack some coolers and make a day of it.
Sunday I am volunteering all day at DC Central Kitchen...time for me to start giving back to this community that for now, for better or for worse, I am a part of and it is a part of me.
Oh! I got a new kitten. Her name is Allie (for Alpha) and she and Charlie have developed an intense love for each other, well, as much intensity as a neutered/spayed relationship can have. It's hilarious and its been fun to have another little creature in the house to take care of --and with the amount of shit the shelter sent her home with such as parasites, botched spayings, etc-- she's been a tough one to take care of. She's good now. Here she is in her kitten cuteness:
At first, we had a rocky time:
But now, they are BFF. Here they are simultaneously looking adorable....and creepy. I leave you with this.
Monday, October 18, 2010
So many things to update you all on, but there will be time enough for that. I've had visitors for the last two weekends, and this past weekend, my father and step-mother came to see me. Last night, I needed to take the trash out. To do this, I go down a small alley behind my house. This disturbed my dad to no end --he hooked his flashlight on his belt and tucked his gun in his holster and we set out as though we were conquering a neighboring village. Me in my pajama pants and he with his gray haired swagger.
When we returned, he tried to tell me he was going to leave his flashlight for me. The dialouge went something like this:
Me: I really don't need a flashlight
Dad: What if your power goes out?
Me: I have candles
Dad: How will you see to find your candles?
Me: I just know where they are
Dad: But what if you don't?
Me: *smacks my forehead*
Dad can frustrate the life out of me sometimes.
They left this morning, and I came home to a still, silent house for the first time in awhile. I went to my bedroom to change clothes and found on my dresser--the flashlight.
There was a note underneath that he had hastily scribbled:
"Find your way home."
When we returned, he tried to tell me he was going to leave his flashlight for me. The dialouge went something like this:
Me: I really don't need a flashlight
Dad: What if your power goes out?
Me: I have candles
Dad: How will you see to find your candles?
Me: I just know where they are
Dad: But what if you don't?
Me: *smacks my forehead*
Dad can frustrate the life out of me sometimes.
They left this morning, and I came home to a still, silent house for the first time in awhile. I went to my bedroom to change clothes and found on my dresser--the flashlight.
There was a note underneath that he had hastily scribbled:
"Find your way home."
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Love is Patient; Love is Kind
When we were about...fifteen or so, she used to the writer. She still writes, of course, but now I'm the one with the love affair with words and a need to write. When we were 25 or 26, I gave her a pen with an engravement on it --and told her to tell the stories she was meant to tell. A couple years ago, she said that objective now went to me, and it was my turn to tell the stories.
We used to lay together on the floor. Sometimes my head would be on her shoulder, and we'd stare at stick-on-the-ceiling stars and torn-out pictures of Gavin Rossdale from magazines and we'd talk about the future. Our futures are wildly different today than what we ever dreamed they would be.
And at 29, we're still figuring it out. We have absolutely no idea what in the hell we're doing, half the time, but we know this--we know the other will always be there. We've kept each other in our lives, come hell or high water and sometimes, both was involved. She is a face that I know I will see for the rest of my life. I have no doubt in my mind about this.
From the minute I fell off my bike when we were kids, and she ran back to get me even after everyone else was riding away...we knew. It was us.
Yesterday, she pledged to love another with her heart and soul, forever. I gained a brother-in-law into a family I've had since I was 13.
Happy Wedding Day Andrea.
You and I forever. And so it was, and so it will be.
We used to lay together on the floor. Sometimes my head would be on her shoulder, and we'd stare at stick-on-the-ceiling stars and torn-out pictures of Gavin Rossdale from magazines and we'd talk about the future. Our futures are wildly different today than what we ever dreamed they would be.
And at 29, we're still figuring it out. We have absolutely no idea what in the hell we're doing, half the time, but we know this--we know the other will always be there. We've kept each other in our lives, come hell or high water and sometimes, both was involved. She is a face that I know I will see for the rest of my life. I have no doubt in my mind about this.
From the minute I fell off my bike when we were kids, and she ran back to get me even after everyone else was riding away...we knew. It was us.
Yesterday, she pledged to love another with her heart and soul, forever. I gained a brother-in-law into a family I've had since I was 13.
Happy Wedding Day Andrea.
You and I forever. And so it was, and so it will be.
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