Washington, D.C.
Wow, it's only been a week since I've posted, and I've been walking around feeling guilty all this time because I thought I was living my life without sharing it with my blog. I guess things HAVE been really busy around here. Here's a quick update:
D.C. Highlights:
Cedrick and I got to walk the Mall in the rain. Fun..wet..grumpy..
My phone screen decided to die on me, and I haven't had access to my numbers in almost 2 weeks. (Now I do, thanks to a new phone and a nice lady at Cingular.) It was kind of scary dragging someone else's child around a city without access to thier number.. thankfully, he had it memorized. I am so dependent on my saved numbers I couldn't have gotten ahold of his mom. It made me feel very alone to only have a few phone numbers in my head...
Also, Cedrick wanted to visit the Native American Musem. Call me an uncultured swine, but all I could imagine was those stupid Santa Fe designs on pottery... a whole museum full of southwestern desgins in pastel colors... however, it was one of the most worthwhile musems I saw. There were tons of displays on the modern culture and traditions of all kinds of Natve American tribes. I was really, really pleased. It's totally worth the visit.
Speaking of worth the visit, I was throughly disappointed that the Museum of American History was closed. They're re-modeling and will open in Novemeber. However, I didn't discover this until we were touring the Air and Space Museum, which Cedrick thought was awesome, and I was internally pouting about not getting to see Oscar's trash can or Dorothy's slippers... seriously, I felt incredibly shallow. Here I am, an educator, in this amazing science filled museum, and all I can do is be a little bit sad because I don't get to see Archie Bunker's chair. It should be duly noted that Cedrick had an amazing time and learned a lot, so it wasn't all a waste.
Tangent: Does anyone else remember getting Space Ice Cream? When my school used to take field trips to the Evansville Museum, we always bought Space Ice Cream (in three flavors- vanilla, chocolate and strawberry). I always loved eating ice cream like an astronaut, even if it tasted like a sweet, freeze dried brick... It used to be $2-$3 but now I see it for $5 a pack.. same product, but making Space Ice Cream must have gotten more expensive.
We also visited the Natural History museum, where I earned us a free trip to the butterfly habitat by lecturing Cedrick on the merits of reading signs. (I guess the guy thought I was funny, but I was just tired of the kid not paying attention and being too lazy to read for himself.) I got some killer pictures of the butterflies, which I am planning on hanging in my room. I mean, they're not professional, but they're pretty awesome.
I forced Cedrick to visit all the memorials. After all, what is a trip to D.C. without a stop at the Lincoln Memorial? We walked to whole mall, which is about 2 miles, in 90 degree heat. Bleh. However, it was cool to visit the new WW II memorial, even though I think it's a bit over the top. It is GIGANTIC, and although I strongly agree that the soldiers deserve respect and rememberance, this was very large. I was in D.C. when they broke ground for it, and there were posters everywhere asking Tom Hanks to "Save Our Mall." (I'm assuming that Hanks did something to raise funds for the memorial.) It does interrupt the flow the Mall and is just in the middle of everything. I'm unsure why it had to be so large or so prominent... but I am thankful that those men died to keep others safe and our country free, so I'll let them have thier giant memorial.
I also learned that I am very conditioned to ET culture. Way more than I thought. My accent was horrible, and I had to realllllly think when I wanted to talk like a Yankee. Also, everyone in Washington, D.C. is a size 0. Seriously. I felt incredibly large, and normally I am not that self concious. On our way home, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel, and I was ready to kiss the bacon grease soaked ground. I wanted to hug all the people in the "Old General Store" because they were normal or overweight. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb while riding the train.
I also realized, that for as much as I've had a crappy year, I've visited IKEA three time. Seriously, for a girl with a crappy paycheck, I get around! :) Thanks, God, for all the travel!!