College!

Friday was designated college night. We invited several of our co-workers and neighbors over for some friendly interaction. It was fun meeting new people, but I don't think I personally would have invited half of the people who were here. Let's just say, a few of them were *extremely different* than me, and we'll leave it at that.

Nobody woke up early enough to go watch the Cherry Blossom parade, but I did get to see a big chunk of it on tv before we left for the Newseum. In case you're a bit confused, the Newseum is an enormous museum devoted to the press. It constantly changes, as it has the front page of big newspapers from every state and from several other countries around the world. We spent over 3 hours in there, and we rushed through. My favorite parts were the 4-D movie and the Freedoms Wall.

The Newseum would definitely have been worth the $20 ticket, but enjoyed spending that money having a drink at The Willard Hotel's Round Robin Bar. Kristine and I enjoyed waiting in the lobby for Mercedes and Sean, as it is the lobby where Ulysses S. Grant coined the term *lobbyist*. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we enjoyed living history once again. After our cocktail, we ate at Old Ebbit Grill - a favorite of Presidents Grant, Cleveland, Harding and Theodore Roosevelt and still a popular meeting spot for political insiders, journalists, celebrities and theater-goers. The food was delicious!

After dinner, we went with Sean to his aunt and uncle's in Georgetown. It was great seeing a *normal house* where a real family would live out here. We had some great conversation and discussed what it would be like starting a family out here. Although there are definitely some downsides, I don't think it's as bad as everyone makes it sound.

My plans for this afternoon entail getting started on the plethora of papers I need to write in the next few weeks. The semester was a lot of fun when class work was minimal, but it's now time to get down to business so we can have fun in the end.

I apologize if you haven't heard from me in a while, but I hope you are all still enjoying reading my blog :)