Our dream weekend in DC

We're back home in State College after an awesome weekend in DC with Jeremy.  It's like a dream that we could just drive to see him.  The weather was just perfect for all the walking we did - 50's and 60's.  I have so many pictures, and I'll have to figure out as I write this post which ones to include here. 

Like I said in the previous post, we arrived at his place right after he got home from work between 9:30 and 10:00 PM.  He amazed us as he was telling us over the phone which streets to take, where to turn, etc. Dick said, "How does he know all this already after being here just a week??"   We found that not only does he already have the driving figured out, but the entire layout of the city.  On Sunday as we walked to Georgetown with one of his friends, Jeremy said, "The letter-named streets run East and West, the number-named streets run North and South, and the state-named streets are diagonal."  Tom looked at him and said,  "Really??  I've been living here since October and never figured that out!"  

First of all a picture of the condo building in which he lives.

 

He is temporarily staying with the brother of a friend, sleeping on a couch.  You do what you gotta do when you get a good job offer.

Across the street was the artsy hotel where we stayed, complete with a very delicious complimentary breakfast each morning.  If it had been warmer we could have enjoyed our breakfast on the lovely patio. I was going to take pictures of our room after we packed up our stuff, but I forgot.

On Saturday Jeremy took us to see the headquarters and warehouse for Regency Furniture.  His first job is to design a complete makeover of the headquarter's offices.  Then he'll move on to a redesign of the huge warehouse and the fourteen stores in the Baltimore-Washington area.  I couldn't believe how many people at headquarters and in the warehouse already knew him after just three days of work.

Here he is in his office, minus his laptop.  What this picture doesn't show is his drafting table set-up just to the right.

We spent a long time in the warehouse outlet looking at livingroom furniture.  I think I found what I want.

 

We went back to his place and hung out for a while.  Actually, I took a good nap. Then we headed out for a brisk. beautiful walk through Dupont Circle to an Italian restaurant, The Darlington House.  On the way we also passed the escalators that are used to get down to the Metro.  I was tempted to go down and back up just to use those huge escalators, but I didn't.

 

On Sunday we slept in, then at Jeremy's I made grilled cheese sandwiches and my yummy cream of tomato soup for lunch.  Tom, a friend of Jeremy's, who moved to Arlington from Tampa last October, came over and joined us for a LONG walk to Georgetown.  Wow, I haven't walked that much in a long, long time, and my feet were not too happy about it.  But the weather was just gorgeous, and the historic architecture of Georgetown, complete with brick sidewalks everywhere, was beautiful. I forgot to take my camera, so I used my cell phone, thus not quite as good pictures.

   

I liked this house that had a cupcake shop on the first floor.  It was painted brown with pink stars!

Enroute to the Potomac River we passed the very modern Swedish Embassy, which was interesting to us for obvious reasons.

We sat by the river for a while.  Across the way was the Kennedy Performing Arts Center and the Watergate Complex. 

 

 

We finished up with a visit to a mall, the Shops at Georgetown Park and a taxi ride back to Jeremy's place.  

Then it was time to say goodbye, which was  much easier than it has been for the past seven years, knowing it won't be months and months before seeing each other again.  

Our trip home went okay once we found our way out of the city.  Mapquest, Google Maps, and our GPS all ganged up on us and insisted on taking us a way we did not want to go, but we did not know enough on our own to disregard their directions.  We were home before 10 PM.  Still seems like a dream!   

 

 

We're in DC

It seems almost unbelievable that we left State College at 5:30 last evening, and four hours later we were with Jeremy in DC.

I was so excited yesterday that I woke up at 4 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. I wasn't sleepy on the drive last evening either.

I forgot one big difference from our normal Friday evening trips to Lancaster County in the past year. We would drive three hours to Reading, pick up Destiny, drive another hour to Manheim, sneak quietly into our parents' house so we wouldn't wake them up, and hit the sack.

Not so here. Jeremy had just gotten home from work when we arrived. After checking us into an awesome artsy hotel across the street from his place, we walked around the block to a restaurant called The Commisary. I got the BEST salad - Bowtie Caesar with Grilled Chicken.

Of course we had fun, but when I finally got in our bed at 12:30 AM I was out in no time.

I'll take lots of pictures today to post after we get home Sunday night.

Snippets from my day

Dick had off work today.  He had an appointment with the doctor this morning about his sciatic pain.  She upped the dose of his medication and gave a referral for physical therapy.  

While he was there he got a phone call from a car dealership in town where  he's had a job application in for several months.  They scheduled an interview.  We're eager to hear what they have to offer. 

We also had a brainstorming session with the pastor of Fillmore UM this morning about the possibility of starting a contemporary evening worship service.  

Then we picked up Austin from daycare.  He's always so delighted to see Pawpaw.  The cutest thing today was when Dick was playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on his harmonica and Austin started singing along!  Where was my camera??

We took Austin to a follow-up doctor appointment after his nap, and he spread his charm there.  His ears and chest are getting all cleared up, thank God. 

This evening Dick and I went to Houserville UM (very close to Anthony and Lori's house) for Ash Wednesday service.  I played piano with their worship team.  

We got home just in time for American Idol.  I was turned off and didn't watch it for several years, but this year, thanks to some of my boys and their texting to me about it, I am watching it again and LOVING it!!  The talent is absolutely spectacular this year.  

Jeremy had his first day of work for Regency Furniture today.  I'm eager to hear how it was.   We're hoping to go down to DC this weekend to see him.  

Gotta hit the sack now.  Lori leaves early in the morning for two days, so I'll be heading to their place first thing in the morning. 

When it snows in March

After Dick left for work this morning he called me and said, "Have your camera ready when you drive to Anthony and Lori's." I did. It was the most amazing sight, and I took so many pictures. I'm posting just a few of them, but please do click on them to get the full effect. We probably got six inches of heavy snow that clung to absolutely every twig.

Getting snow in March, especially after having had some Spring-like weather, can be very depressing. But you just can't help but be amazed at its beauty.

This afternoon Anthony played outside with Austin. They built a little snowman and went sledding.

 It was a perfect day for playing outside in snow, because the sun was so bright and warm.

Lori's mother was here from Long Island this weekend and left for home this evening.  I enjoyed spending some time with her this afternoon, but did not get a picture of her.  We get a kick out of trying to figure out which of us is Ma or Mom or Grandma or Nana or Jean.  We're both Jean!!  

This evening I practiced with the worship team at Houserville UM.  I'll be subbing for their pianist at their Ash Wednesday service this week.  We had a great evening together. 

And praise the Lord, I had an entire day with no headache!!!

A WONDERFUL retreat weekend

I had a WONDERFUL weekend at Camp Hebron with the women from Erisman Mennonite Church.  Since the church is located near our home town of Manheim, I had connections that went way back with many, many of the women. And even many of the ones I did not know, I soon discovered I had connections with.  

The Sylvan View Retreat Center at Camp Hebron is such a lovely, cozy facility. 

Gina Burkhart, beautiful mother of five, was the speaker at the three sessions.  Her theme was friendship.

And of course, I led the praise and worship.  There's something really special about women's voices harmonizing together, and I purposely let off on the piano from time to time just to hear that beautiful sound.  

Lots of laughter and plenty of tears.  Such a beautiful time together.

One of the people along on the retreat this weekend was my friend Elta.  She and her husband bought a farm near Camp Hebron several years ago and have turned the house into a retreat center which they rent out.  It can sleep 21 people, if I remember correctly.  On Saturday afternoon Elta took a number of us on a tour of Creek Haven. 

On the kitchen table was a scrapbook filled with before and after pictures.  A LOT of work went into turning this neglected, outdated house into a lovely haven.  

 While I had a wonderful time this weekend, I did struggle with a dreadful headache much of the time, as I have been for over a week.  I'm wondering if I have a sinus infection left over from the cold I had a few weeks ago.  After lunch today I debated trying to nap on one of the couches in the retreat center before driving home (it was POURING raining).  Then I decided instead to go to the truck stop that is just a few miles from camp, and take a nap in the car.  

When I got there I decided to check Accuweather on my phone.  I discovered that in State College the rain would be turning to snow by 3:00.  So I bought a cup of coffee and some munchies and hit the road.  It was horrible driving - windy, driving rain, followed by sleet and then snow.  I was sooooo glad to get home. 

We're practically having a blizzard.  But I don't even care.  At this time of year the snow won't stick around for long. 

Actually, I remember a number of snow events the week of Penn State's spring break.  Maybe this week I'll post some of those memories and pictures.

Not a fun drive

When I left the gas station near State College last evening at 5:15, I knew what to expect. Penn State students were leaving campus in droves for Spring Break. I hit stop-and-go traffic before long. It took me an hour to go fifteen miles, so of course it was dark for the rest of my trip to Camp Hebron. For some reason I was dreadfully sleepy and my head was pounding. I was beyond thankful to finally arrive at 7:45. It felt like midnight to me.

Seeing many friendly, familiar faces among the women from Erisman Mennonite Church, and a fun game of Bingo soon had me feeling all better. I'm looking forward to a great weekend of fun and inspiration.

My thoughts are with Jeremy today. He is making the trip from the Tampa area to DC with many torn emotions. How well I can relate!

Now I need to see if I can find some place in this retreat center that has good enough reception for me to publish this.

Tupperware potty and cardboard gown

I've been keeping really busy this week.  In addition to my regular routine I'm preparing for a weekend of leading worship for a ladies' retreat at Camp Hebron near Harrisburg.  

I took several really cute pictures of Austin today, but my computer is acting weird about saving them right now.  So I'll show you the funny one I took, not of him, but of his "work".

I think he must have been putting the teddy bear on my Tupperware pitcher to go potty!  This is how I found it!

Later at Anthony and Lori's he discovered a collapsed cardboard box with the recycling stuff.  He had a different idea of how to recycle a cardboard box.