Museum Of Natural History

When Taylor was small we brought him to this museum.  He had a 'thing' for dinosaurs back in the day.  I mean he was crazy about them and could do a velociraptor impersonation at three years of age like no other!  

 Last time we were here Taylor got tired and bored pretty quickly so at 19, to have him actually read and look at all the exhibits was a great way to spend a few hours on a cold DC day.

 Check out all the color around Utah!  Yep...we had dinosaurs.

I could sit and stare at this for hours.

This was the seating for a short film on chimps.  Hee hee.

Photo of The Hope Diamond just doesn't do it justice.  I'm not a big jewelry gal, but this is pretty gorgeous!

So there was a "make yourself a neanderthal" computer program.  Line up your eyes and mouth with the design on the screen and click the button.  I posted this as my profile pix on Facebook for a few hours but took it down because it was creeping people out.  Can't see why!

Small South American orchid exhibit.  Gorgeous on a cold day.

Taylor wanted to walk down to the Washington Memorial before heading back so he could get some photos to send to friends.  I'm still trying to learn how to download photos from phone to computer so I'm still using my old fashioned camera!

I'm so glad that Taylor is here with us.  He's been looking for jobs and had his first interview a couple of days ago and is supposed to hear by Monday.  He also has a friend who got here about a week before Taylor did and is working as an intern at the Capitol.  They are both music lovers so have been to several shows at a popular DC venue called The Black Cat on U Street.  He misses all his friends but I think the city is growing on him.....

Inauguration 2013

First, let me say that I initially had no intention of going to the inauguration.  I hate crowds.  HATE them.  I get claustrophobic and want to run screaming from crowds.  Sitting in my warm living room watching it on tv seemed just peachy to me.  However, my friend Dalliss, who from the moment she found out where we would be living promptly had proclaimed she would be camping on our floor the night before said event so she could walk over, without even trying...she convinced me to go. I knew that if I didn't take advantage of this rare opportunity I would kick myself on behalf of Taylor as well.

In fact, the night before we ended up having a sleep over.  I had already told Dalliss and her daughter Jalene that they could stay, then Tom told one of his co-workers she could stay as they both had to be at work at 3 AM for the festivities.  So we spread out with beds, blow up mattresses & recliners and there was room for all.

Around 5AM sirens and voices acted as an early alarm.  I looked out the window and the sidewalks already looked like this!

We got up, readied ourselves with a little breakfast and warm layers before heading out to join the crowds walking to the Capitol.  We didn't leave our place until 8:30

 The streets were closed off so there was plenty of room to walk.  Lots of souvenirs lined the streets as well as an air of excitement as we got closer to The Mall.

News Agencies in Place

15,000 porta-potties in place

Exuberant volunteers lining the mall with happy welcomes

Robin Meade (in purple) reporting from amongst 'the people'

 We worked our way up the mall as close as we could to the Capitol.  You needed to have tickets for the spaces close up but we managed to get up next to the 2nd big screen.

Taylor, moi and Dalliss.  Jalene came down with something and didn't attend.

Love this dude checking out Taylor.  He DOES get second looks.

We were in front of the National Gallery and in an area that wasn't shoulder to shoulder.  We even had room to sit for an hour or so.  However, the morning had started out very pleasant but got progressively colder right before the ceremony started.

The volunteers came through the crowds with flags for everyone

 It was great to people watch, and people listen.  I got goose bumps just entering the mall area with such an air of excitement in a peaceful gathering.  A huge population of African-Americans in attendance and it was easy to get caught up in their anticipation of the inauguration of this particular president on Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday.  Once Obama started speaking it was like a revival with call and response from the audience.  A lot of "oh yeah", "amen",  and "yes sir" from all around us.

Well, then there was James Taylor!

No matter how you lean politically, you can't help but get caught up in the transition of power, the peaceful re-commitment to the people of this country and this brief moment in history in our nation's capital.

We headed out a little early as did a lot of people. For whatever reason....the introduction of a poet just invites people to leave.  The temp had dropped considerably and even with a foot warmer my toes were freezing. Dalliss split off from us to find her way to an open Metro to get back to Vienna and Taylor and I walked home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in our warm apartment with hot soup, grilled cheese (salad for me) and naps before the parade.  Tom got home around 4pm to watch with us and have dinner before having to head back to work at 9 PM.  Overall a great day and so glad we had the opportunity to enjoy it.

US Botanic Garden

As you can see the weather in DC has been grey, foggy and drizzling.  I know that sounds like paradise to Utahans right about now after their "Snowmageddon," but this is the type of weather that makes me want to curl up in a blanket, turn off the lights and go to a dark place.  Hence!  Taylor and I hit the Metro yesterday to go someplace warm.    First we had to check out the continuing Inaugural preparations.  I couldn't believe they had all these folding chairs set up a week before the event but maybe they needed them for the rehearsal which was held on Sunday.

 Right next door is the US Botanic Garden (which was our chosen destination) so we ducked inside where it's warm, humid and can make you believe, at least for a little while, that you're somewhere near the tropics.  They have all these cool replicas of the DC monuments and buildings made out of woods, plants, natural elements, etc.

 There were desert sections, Hawaii, orchid rooms, and much more.  There were folks comfy on benches reading, knitting and sketching.  Next time I need a pick me up, I know where I'm heading.

 Taylor has developed a keen interest in gardening (living off the land) so he was happy to spend the time there with me.  Wish he could find a job there.....learn while he earns money.  HECK, wish I could find a job there!

The jungle section was three floors up so you could look at it from different levels.  We walked over to Union Station afterwards and did a little book shopping at Barnes & Noble (which we found out is closing due to renovations) then just wandered around the shops until Tom joined us for dinner.

When we got home we discovered the power was out in our apartment.  Not the whole building, just a few apartments so we sat around in the dark and just talked.  With the big windows in our place a lot of light comes in from outside so it wasn't bad.  Tom gave Taylor a personality test by flashlight while I kept track of his answers then we all started to fall asleep.  The management was already on the power issues and made several stops at our place while they worked on it.  Tom and Taylor went to bed and I slept in the recliner waiting for them to come back then finally about 11:00 they got it up and going (along with heat) and all was well.

Birthday 55

The weather in Utah sounds horrendous with tons of snow and below freezing temps so we were glad Taylor's flight was only held up by 1/2 hour on Saturday.  Tom and I had spent the day running around the city.  First a 6 mile bike ride that wrapped up at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and then a metro ride to Eastern Market to buy my birthday present (a poster I've been wanting).  We also grabbed lunch at a place there that is always packed.  I had a fried green tomato that was yummy and Tom had a pricy crab cake sandwich.  Back on the metro to head to Columbia Heights where there is both a Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond just steps away.  A few more things then hurried home to drop things off before jumping back on the metro to head to Reagan National Airport to meet Taylor!

So glad he's joining us but I can tell it's going to take some getting used to having become accustomed to our "just the two of us" ways.  For instance, I set up the tv trays so we could watch the news (or in this case football playoffs) while we eat dinner.  Taylor promptly suggested we turn the tv off as it was "the greatest contributor to the downfall and demise of the American family".  Um.  Okay.  Looks like we might start eating at the table again.

Tom had to be at work at 3 AM Sunday morning for an Inaugural dress rehearsal and Taylor slept in so I headed to church on my own.  Great service which I'll address in another post, but stayed for the second service to help out with the Sunday school as they were short staffed.  Lesson was about Jesus healing the lepers and the kids were over the moon about placing red dots all over some cut out dolls so they looked like lepers.  Very funny, those little ones.

Tom got home not long after I did and we continued a discussion (with Taylor taking the helm) about updating our phones (we all have ancient flip phones) and getting rid of cable so we could get Netflix.  We put Taylor in charge of research on the topics and after he presented his findings I got on the phone with T-Mobile and called to look into their deals.  By the time I got off the phone with her we had 3 FREE Samsung Smartphones and had cut our monthly bill in half!  I guess it pays to have 15 years of clout with a company and a 19 year old who pushes you to move into the new century!

In our desire to see all of the Oscar nominated films we headed out to see Life of Pi.  I had read the book with my group in Utah and couldn't believe a film could be made of it but I LOVED it!  In contrast I didn't much like Django Unchained on Friday night.  Too long, too violent, too Tarantino.  After all the raw fish eating in "Pi" we had a hankering for sushi so powered through the fog into Old Town Alexandria for a yummy dinner.  Yeah, we played a little fast and loose with the fruit and veggie diet this weekend (Tom brought me a huge slice of "carrot" cake and I somehow justified it) but it WAS my birthday after all!

The rest of the evening was spent on the phone with family and enjoying all the Facebook birthday wishes from friends and family.  It was a great day!  

My awesome birthday dates

The New Year

We have never been into big New Year's Eve celebrations.  In Utah we have a few close friends over for a dinner and great conversation but they are out the door before midnight.  We put together a last minute date night and headed to Shirlington Village which is about a 15 minute drive.  No Metro access which is why, though it was at the top of our list of places to live we didn't end up there.  We loved it though because as we walked out of the apartment bldg. we looked at, we entered this lovely street full of restaurants, theatre, library, shops and a great movie theatre.

We ended up at a matinee of Silver Linings Playbook then walked up the beautifully lit street.

We headed home and cooked dinner, had our last Ben and Jerry's and watched college football.  We even stayed awake past midnight!

 2013 started off with a new diet.  Based on Dr. Joel Fuhrmann's Eat To Live it's basically fruit and vegetables.  We had talked about trying a vegetarian regime anyway so when a friend in Utah recommended this, we decided to give it a try for 6 weeks and see how it goes.  It has been going well so far.  We feel good, we're VERY regular and down 5 lbs.  Fell off the wagon a bit when we spent last weekend in NJ doing our rotation with Tom's mom but I had taken some food with us so I was able to stay pretty honest with the diet.