Catching Up

Mission Semi-Accomplished

My 1st trip to DC was fabulous! I was really sorry that the terrorists ruined Jeff & I's trip there in '01, because there was so much more I would liked to have seen. We did get to Arlington Cemetary where we paid a visit to our friend Todd, who has sadly gone there far too soon. We took a nice little hop on-hop off tour where we drove past the Capitol & White House, and we got off to visit the Lincoln Memorial (where we stood in awe of the Gettysburg Address and wondered why more schools don't take the time to really teach it- and what it meant), and to visit the Vietnam, Korea, and WWII Memorials. I was saddened by the number of names etched into the marble of Vietnam, I loved the humanity of the Korean Memorial, and the granduer of the WWII. On Sunday, we got up bright and early (so as to avoid the crowds at the Black Family Reunion Celebration taking place on the Mall) and went to The Holocaust Museum. Everyone should go at least once. It was heart wrenching and moving, and the only reason I wasn't more emotionally devastated was that I had studied it so much and had seen so many of the images before. However, I was sicked by new horrors that I learned of; and I learned a great deal more about the tragedy that befell so many people. On a lighter note, I had great tapas and the best sangria I have ever met, and I had Ethiopian food for the first time! We didn't get to see Jodi, but we did get Meg packed up and got everything shipped safely back to CA.

Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder

Last week Southern California had the kind of thunder storm you usually only see in the Midwest & East. I hadn't seen one like it since I was In college in Missouri. It was the kind where you hear the thunder rolling and when it breaks over head the whole building shakes. Lightening split the sky in jagged forks and licked at the ground. The rain came in torrents (reminded me of Hong Kong). No one in town slept, and poor Tenley had never been through anything like it. The thunder woke her up three times: she would wail and bury her face in her lovey, and then Jeff or I would go in and comfort her. The first time I went in, right after I picked her up we lost the power (which, by the way, totally freaks me out- too many movies where something bad happens right after that!) and she and I stood swaying in the darkness until the booming stopped. Eventually we closed her window and that seemed to help.

Water Water Everywhere

It had to happen. It happened to #1. It happened to #2 - twice. We're #3...so we were due. On Tuesday afternoon I trotted into the kitchen to make Tenley a little snack and the kitchen floor was covered in water. I checked the sink, but no - it was pouring out from under the base boards. I ran to the front bathroom, and it too was a lake. Ditto on the master bath. We had a slab leak. The pipes in our building are under the concrete slab, and at 40+ years old they're starting to have some issues. The end result was that we had no water in the place for 2 days and they had to rip out our master bath so they could jack hammer the cement and fix the problem. Hopefully we'll get a new shower & floor this week.