the metro

Since I'm a minivan housewife from the suburbs, going to DC was interesting for me. Even though we DO have some rather large metropolitan cities near where I live, that hustle and bustle isn't a part of my daily life. So of course, getting from Point A to Point B in something other than my van was an experience.

The Metro (subway) in DC is interesting, although not particularly comfortable. But it IS efficient and fast. (see above!) We enjoyed the not having to walk part of riding the metro. But not much else.

This trip made me realize how much I like my van. : )

Of course the events of yesterday reminded me of our trip... and the safety we enjoyed while there. It's hard to believe that since we've been back from our trip there was a shooting in the Holocaust Museum AND the Metro crash! Wow! We need to pray for the victims and their families.

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On another topic... I can't get into writing right now. I'm tired and I can't get my thoughts straight. So I'm going to be taking a bit of a hiatus from blogging... although I have a feeling it won't be for long. But for now, I just need to rest and decompress a bit.

See you soon, friends!

quite a week

It's been quite a week.

Last week at this time, I was at the hospital with my dad.

As the days went on, he was getting worse instead of better.

It ended Sunday evening.

Monday morning we began the planning.

Yesterday was his funeral.

I'm so exhausted.

This has been my first minute to breathe in over a week.

Today I have to take some things to the lawyer so I can begin the work that's still ahead for me.

So it's not over. I've just begun.

even though I'm not the patient

I'm going to be taking a bit of a blogging break. I've had a few chances to check other people's blogs (with my iPod Touch) the past couple of days, but every time I try to comment, I get interrupted.

The reason I get interrupted is because my dad is in the hospital. It's quite an involved situation and I don't know how long this is going to be going on.

Today I was talking to one of his doctors that we've had a long relationship with. He is always so kind and takes such good care of daddy. But today he spent some time taking care of me, even though I'm not "the patient".

As he got ready to walk out the door, he gave me a huge, very caring hug.

I could smell his cologne on me for the rest of the day.

And it reminded me of his compassionate kindness toward me for the rest of the day. :)

Night at the Museum

My hubby took our daughter to see Night at the Museum right after it came out. I skipped out on this one, as I have a love/hate relationship with going to the movies. So anyway, they went to see the movie. She loved it. But as my husband says, it was ok. One of the big things in the movie is 'The Pile' of stuff gathered up by the bad guy. That pile is on display in the Smithsonian castle, which used to be their main building before they added on all the many buildings. Right now the castle basically serves as a visitor center.

So, if you're a fan of the movie, behold the pile.

Boo ate a Happy Meal (which she thought was gross, thankyouverymuch, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do in these kinds of places, ya know) and this was the toy.

She also got to see this.

There were little plaques up all over the place to point out things from the movie. I could go on and on. Fascinating, but way too many to mention. A fun thing for her since she saw the movie and then got to see 'the real things'.

when nature calls

One of the most exciting things for me to anticipate when we planned our DC trip was THE SMITHSONIAN. I could. not. wait. I had heard about it and seen pictures of it and knew of things I definitely didn't want to miss. But I was not prepared for just how big it all is. It's not ONE building. It's many buildings. And each one has a theme. One of them was The Museum of Natural History. So it was everything from rocks and crystals to bones and a million other things.

The crystals were very interesting and beautiful. And also The Hope Diamond is there. It's huge! And it was in a small case in the middle of an area and everyone crowded around to see it as it rotated on its pedestal. I was almost close enough to see it, and I kid you not, the man in front of me was TEXTING in front of the Hope Diamond! Annoyed the daylights out of me.. and then I got a funny thought... I wondered if he was on Twitter? I could just imagine it.. OMG Im standin in front of the Hope Diamond rght now! So big. Its just gr8! 2 cool! I think that funny thought was the only thing that kept me from being peeved at that guy for the rest of my trip! LOL

One of the more um... shall we say.. unpleasant aspects of any vacation is when nature calls. And it called in every museum we went into, thankyouverymuch. But just one trip to the loo came with a story that I knew right away was blog worthy! Are you ready???

As told to me by my hubby: So I'm in the mens room doing my thing and I overhear this dad talking to his little son. "OK. remember what we talked about... take your peepee out... lean forward... don't touch your legs to it (the potty)....don't get it on your shorts...."

Poor kid.... it's a wonder he could even go after that many instructions!

It was all my hubby could do to keep a straight face and keep his own shorts clean! And no, none of the men in the bathroom were making any eye contact, as I think they would have all busted out laughing if they had! LOL

DC at dusk

This is one of the first things I laid eyes on after emerging from the Metro (subway) on the mall in DC.

Nights in DC is simply stunning!

More to come : )

Can you guess?

Guess what! We decided about a month ago at the spur of the moment to go out of town. But it wouldn't be any fun if I just told ya where we went. So I decided to dig through my pics and find a few of the more odd shots and see if you can guess where we went.

Yeah, the shot is at an odd angle. I had to take the shot I could get!

I took this one in a hurry too... while I tried not to get run over. See my toe?!

And ... there was a lot of walking involved. A lot.

But sometimes this helped.

So can you guess? Or do you need more hints?