A perilous journey...

I attempted a feat today that many might not even try*. Let me explain...

Now that Chris and I are living in DC, we have to be a little more thoughtful about grocery shopping. We'll most likely do a Costco run every 4 to 6 weeks but we'll need the every day kind of stuff from a regular grocery store.

Fortunately, there's a Giant and a Trader Joe's within a half mile of my office. So we decided that today I would go to the store on my way home from work. We even created a list last night.

One of the items on the list...ice cream. Now there are a few important details.

• 10 mile drive from Old Town Alexandria to our house in NE, DC
• Santa Fe doesn't have working air conditioning right now
• the temperature peaked at close to 90 this afternoon

So what did I do? I didn't just buy 1...I bought 2 half gallons. The thought did cross my mind (only after I got in the car to drive home) that it was highly likely the ice cream would melt and drip all over the car. But, amazingly enough, it didn't...it did get a little soft, but no worries...they're resting comfortably in the freezer!

*This post is dedicated to Patricia. ;-)

A slacker catches up...

Boy...it's been quite a couple of weeks. Just wanted to catch everyone up.

• the pain in my ear (see previous post) finally did go away and I can now hear again out of my left ear.
• we spent a couple of days at the new house when we got back from Tennessee...that included 2 days that I actually went into the office to work.
• we drove back to Richmond last Wednesday to finish up work at the old house and hang out with friends.
• on Sunday we had our farewell service at Crosslight...what a tough day. We are so blessed to have been a part of the Crosslight family for six years...and we know that connection will continue for many years to come.
• Sunday after our farewell service we picked up the dogs, packed the cars and drove up to the new house...it was the first time the dogs had seen the place. They're still getting used to everything but hopefully they'll settle into their new routine soon.
  
• on Memorial Day we worked all day at the new house...unpacking and finding homes for things.
  
• yesterday was Chris' first day at NCC and my first real day back in the office.
  
• today...another day on the job...

That's the short version of the last 10 days. Maybe now that we're a little more settled I can get back into the groove of blogging...anyone want to place any bets on that? :-)

A pain in my ear...

On the flight home tonight, about 20 minutes before we landed, I got this excrutiating pain in my left ear. I don't know that I've ever felt anything quite like it. Tears actually came to my eyes.

A few minutes after we landed, the pain subsided but now I can't hear out of my left ear. It feels completely clogged and I have no idea what to do. Every time I yawn I hear this kind of crackling noise. Don't ask...

We're in bed getting ready to go to sleep. I'm hoping that when I wake up it will be back to normal. We'll see.

Had a good time but it's nice to be home...that sounds weird...tonight will be our 2nd night in the new place. And we have a busy day tomorrow...lots to do!

The big bash...

Tonight was Roni's 55th birthday party. It's easily the biggest birthday bash I've ever been to. The most interesting part is that the biggest surprise was on us.

Roni's favorite musical artist is Hal Ketchum. And believe it or not, he performed tonight at the party. Chris' parents managed to keep this a secret, even though I figured it out earlier in the evening before he performed...just call me Detective Lora.

You may not know who he is, but he's quite well known in the country realm and is a member of the Grand Old Opry. Even though Chris doesn't much care for country music, we both really enjoyed his performance. His fan base just grew.

After the concert we got to meet him and each guest received a signed CD.

Me and Hal (he's pretty easy on the eyes)

It was great to see family and friends that we haven't seen in a long time.

Tomorrow there's a brunch for all of the out of town guests, so we're looking forward to having more time to visit with people.

Hal performing.

Chris' parents during the concert.

Another Hal picture.

I should have some more family pics tomorrow after the brunch.

My vote does count...

Ever since we decided to live inside the city (DC), I've been thinking about all the aspects of my life that are about to change...and there are many.

• going back to work in the office 5 days a week (can we just say I'm going to have to buy some new clothes?)
• having to walk the dogs for potty time and the fun that ensues (no back yard anymore)
• getting used to using a security system (it talks, "the system is armed, please exit now")
• taxation without representation

There are more, but I'll stop here. The last bullet is really what this post is about. I'll extrapolate on the others later.

I've been obsessing over the fact that once we officially move to DC, my vote won't count. Someone asked me if that fact had ever bothered me before. My response? Not really because it didn't really affect me. Selfish, I know. It's not that it didn't bother me necessarily, it's just that never really spent much time thinking about it. Again, because it didn't affect me.

Anyway, I've talked to multiple people about this lately...most of whom live in DC. And it wasn't until last night that I actually learned that my vote really does count...at least in a presidential election.

We were talking to my father-in-law last night at our family meet and greet and he told us that DC does have electoral college votes. I was surprised and not really sure because no one else had bothered to share that information with me (nor had I bothered to look it up...until now). I don't know if people don't realize it or they just didn't think it was worth sharing...but it definitely is.

So, DC does have 3 electoral college votes. Now this doesn't help with other elections, but at least I know my vote will count in the presidential election...not that I'm feeling really confident right now about the choices, but that's beside the point.

Here's the info I found from the FAQ section of the electoral college Web site:

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How do the 538 electoral votes get divided among the States?

The number of electoral votes allotted to each State corresponds to the number of Representatives and Senators that each State sends to Congress. The distribution of electoral votes among the States can vary every 10 years depending on the results of the United States Census.

One of the primary functions of the Census is to reapportion the 435 members of the House of Representatives among the States, based on the current population. The reapportionment of the House determines the division of electoral votes among the States. In the Electoral College, each State gets one electoral vote for each of its Representatives in the House, and one electoral vote for each of its two Senators.

Thus, every state has at least 3 electoral votes, because the Constitution grants each State two Senators and at least one Representative. In addition to the 535 electoral votes divided among the States, the District of Columbia has three electoral votes because the 23rd Amendment granted it the same number of votes as the least populated State.

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Woohoo!

Missing the doggies...

We left Pebbles and Bam Bam at Brandywine Kennels for a week. :-(

We just figured with us going to TN for a few days and then spending a few days at the new house and then back to Chester for 4 days, it would be a lot of stress for them. So, we won't pick them up until Thursday and we miss them already.

I'm sure you know that we probably take more pictures of the dogs than anything else...they're so cute we just can't help it. You won't be able to resist these pics.

He's sleeping...and smiling.

A close up of his smile. Can you even stand it?

Pebbles snuggled up and sleeping in our bed.

Never thought I'd see that on a t-shirt...

Chris and I are in TN for my mother-in-law's 55th birthday party. After renting a car we had about an hour's drive to Tullahoma, where his parents live.

We were starving and decided to stop at Steak and Shake for lunch. Greasy patty melts, onion rings and milkshakes. Is there anything better?

Anyway, I happened to glance over at the people sitting next to us and noticed that one of the guys was wearing what looked like a company t-shirt. This is what it said, "Cripple Creek Taxidermy."

What more can you say about that? I know one thing...I'm definitely in the south.

The fun continues...

We made the big move on Saturday and the fun continues. I'm at the old house as we speak covered in paint and smelling like Clorox. Yes, painting and cleaning. Two of my favorite things. Not.

But it has to be done. We got two bedrooms painted this morning and we're really hoping it'll be a one-coat job. Time will tell.

Anyway, just a quick update.

Lollipop, lollipop...

Chris and I just took a load of trash to the dump...we don't normally do this, but we had a big piece of broken glass in the car (long story) and figured we'd load up and get rid of some stuff.

When you pull into the dump, you have to stop at the little booth and pay. Today there was an elderly man working the cash register. As he was taking our money, he handed Chris a lollipop and said, "This is for her."

"Thanks," I replied, taking it from Chris.

Can I just say that the dump is the last place I ever expected to get a lollipop?

Better late than never...

Despite my promises, I have yet to post any pictures from San Fran. Part of the delay was waiting for Patricia to give me access to the pics she took. Since I didn't get my digital camera until our last day there, I was dependent on her to make the shots for me.

While I really enjoyed San Fran (except for the work part), I can't imagine ever living there. Talk about hills.

Patricia came out and bunked with me...it was tons of fun. Thanks, pea, for a great time.

View from my hotel room at The Fairmont. How amazing is that?

Me at one of the 4 hearts in Union Square.

Another heart in Union Square.

Apparently this is some famous curvy street.

Trolley car headed up hill...that was a fun experience.

Cool knobby trees.

Golden Gate Bridge

Famous sealions at Pier 39.

If you know me, you know how much this scene freaked me out.

View of San Fran from a top one of the many hills.

Alcatraz from our boat. We wanted to do a tour, but didn't realize they get booked up so far in advance.

The last piece of the puzzle...

It's official...we have rented out our house. Whew...what a relief. We got the signed lease and security deposit yesterday. I can't tell you what a relief it is. And we really feel peace about this family. He's a military chaplain. We were beginning to get nervous (that's actually a lie because I've been nervous for a while now), but God knows exactly what's He's doing. We're so thankful.

The last piece of the puzzle is in place. Now it's just the actual move, getting through the month of May and getting settled into this new phase of our life.

I'm feeling excited, tired, scared, happy, sad, nervous and about a million other emotions right now. But despite all of that, God is good.

Mmmm...yummy styrofoam...

Chris and I drove up to DC today to pay our first month's rent and pick up the keys to our new place. I won't go into all the gory details, but the day certainly didn't pan out as we had planned.

We just got home a few minutes ago to find that one (or both) of the dogs found a small box of packing peanuts and...ATE THEM! We have a feeling it was Pebbles...she's famous for eating strange stuff. But without proof, we really can't be sure.

Hopefully they'll be okay...