Our Nation's Capital

http://www.nps.gov/fdrm/memorial/memorial.htm

I just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. This ended up being a celebration of my one year as a Federal Government employee - what a fitting place to be, huh? I've been enamored with the town ever since doing an internship with the National Association of Social Workers in 1984. The Dean of the Michigan State University School of Social Work, and my parents of course, got me the gig for the summer. I was able to find housing at a "boarding house" of sorts called the International Student House. There I lived in a dormitory-type setting in one of the most sought after sections of D.C. I still remember the address: 1825 R Street, NW. I make sure to pass by each time I revisit the Capital.

Thanks to a longtime friend, of close to 20 years, I now have a reason to visit more often. My friend has a house there with its own stocked, or should I say overstocked, apartment. Yes, this last trip was more than I could have asked for. Food and beverages in the fridge, a full kitchen, workout equipment, a jacuzzi tub, and a comfortable bed. I was treated like a princess over the long President's day weekend! Fetched from the airport, homecooked meals and desserts, a tour guide and chauffeur at my service, great restaurants and curb service back to the airport.

We walked all over the place and that's one of the things I love about D.C. From my friend's house, we walked to the National Botanic Gardens to see the orchid display. They were absolutely gorgeous. We even found an orchid with my mom's nicknames: Mimi Lucifer. We then walked from there to Georgetown where we did a little shopping and had lunch. I also had a chance to visit the new American Indian Museum - beautifully built and well done exhibits.

While we didn't do it this trip, my favorite memorial is the FDR memorial. My friend took me there on my last visit to D.C. If you get a chance to go, go at night - once you are there, I won't need to tell you why.

So if anyone reading this plans to go to D.C., let me know so that I can shower you with other ideas! I hope everyone else had a terrific President's day weekend too!

1980 Blog? No Thanks!

Michigan Teens Nabbed!

I feel for the Grand Rapids High School students who got busted because of photos and articles that were posted on one of their blogs. I'm relieved that there was no blogging back when I was in high school as I did not need any help getting busted - I could do that quite easily without the help of the internet. But thank you Al Gore for inventing it anyway since I appreciate it so much now.

The photos were what got the students in trouble. And speaking of photos, there were some parents in my hometown that did quite well with photography pre-internet as well. As the story goes, some students headed off to the prom in their family van. Their parents tracked down the van at the high school parking lot and proceeded to take photos of themselves enjoying the beverages that were contained within. I don't particularly know what happened after that or if the whole story is just made up in my mind? Perhaps there is someone out there who reads this blog on a regular basis that can confirm or deny the story? Anyway, I always thought it was clever and creative punishment.

I don't recall being an awful child save for a few years in high school, but again, there may be some readers who can shed light on that? In any case, those few times that I was "awful", I was usually found out. Like the time I skipped school when I was a freshman in high school. A friend of mine, who was in middle school, was staying with us while her parents were out of town. We skipped school and went to her house. How was I to know that my mom would be at the middle school that day and happen to see my friend's name on the absent list. It was a long walk from my friend's house to the high school principal's office. I think I only skipped school a few times after that - just kidding mom!