Life in Washington, D.C.

I learned a lot this week during Shane's and my visit to our nation's capital. I learned that not all of the First Lady's were wives of the Presidents: one was a niece, another was a daughter, and still another was a wife of a different President (Dolley Madison is listed as Thomas Jefferson's First Lady and was married to James Madison--interesting, for sure). I also learned about (and saw) a fabled bathtub in which a senator supposedly froze to death in the early 1900s. In case you ever wander down there (ha ha), it's located in the basement of the Capitol under the Senate chambers. After about 20 minutes of wandering and asking numerous people where it is, you will find it in the back of a maintenance room after you crawl up and down steps and through a small space. It's all highly suspicious, but kinda cute.

I digress...I also learned that you don't have to wait in long lines when your dad's a Congressman. And that he can get you into really, really cool places that you didn't even know you were missing out on before. I also noticed that everyone (really!) wears suits everyday. That Congress is in session late into the night and that my dad works way very, very hard. That the country is run by 22-year-old interns. That everyone is important in D.C., even us. That my Texas legs are not used to walking as much as those people do up there. That Howard Dean is really short and that pink is a good color on Hillary Clinton. That the Astros are fun to watch, even when the stadium (Robert F. Kennedy) is old and run-down. And many other things, of course.

But mostly I learned that I am so thankful that I do not live in that world. I could have (or at least I thought about it). I almost went to law school. I also applied for teaching jobs in that area. I also thought about interning up there. But I am so glad I didn't. Because up there, life is run by the clock. And it's a clock that keeps ticking and ticking, and ticks quickly. This clock guides every decision you make: whether you can or can't go to church, how long you can eat somewhere, what time you get up and what time you go to bed, how long you work, who you talk to, what you do. And once the day is over, the clock starts again. Go, go, go. No breaks. No time to pray. And if you stop to breathe, then you get left behind (or defeated in the election as is often the case). It is a life I do not covet and even regret that some people (like my dad) have to live that way.

Even though down here the clock keeps ticking and I, too, live by it to an extent, I still have free will and the option to do things that I want to do WITHOUT looking at the clock for guidance and purpose. Down here, I hope the Lord determines my path. I try to fit myself into his time and purpose rather than him into mine. Though I love to travel and experience new people and places, I also come back home with a newfound appreciation of my own life, in particular, the relaxed, easygoing days I am able to spend in the here and now because I live in a place that is not quite so rushed.

Our First Swim

Elizabeth has liked the bathtub for a long time now. She even liked the kiddie swimming pool she swam in the weekend we met my nephew, Jackson Theodore Poe (What a cutie!). Well, Elizabeth didn't actually swim in that pool; she really just stood up in the water the whole time (her favorite thing to do in the tub lately, too), with the water up to her ankles, playing with the toys in her hands, and laughing all the while.

But finally today, she swam in a "real" pool. She and I went swimming (along with her grandparents and Uncle Zach) and had a great time. She loved the water and kicked and flapped her arms as I dragged her around the pool.


Isn't she cute?!!


She even jumped to me from the pool's edge and wanted to do it again and again, until she got too much water in her lungs and had to give a good long "Daddy burp" (That's what Shane likes to call those long, guttural ones!). I hadn't heard one of those in a long time. She was especially confused when I went under water, swam over to her, and then popped up out of the blue. She giggled when she figured out what was going on.

Hope you enjoy the pictures from our fun day. I have learned what a sweet blessing it is to have a child.

Even when moments aren't quite as sweet as swimming with my little tadpole. As in those times when she is more destructive (See Shane's blog as evidence of this) and stubborn (which we don't blame her for since she came by THAT honestly). :) These traits are still somewhat cute now but starting to get more dangerous. Yesterday I had to put her in "time-out" for grabbing knives out of the dishwasher as I was unloading it! I'm just glad she didn't get hurt. At least we are full of laughter these days. She sure does make us smile. I will look back on these times as some very sweet and happy moments. Oh, what a wonderful life this is that I'm living. I hope you have gotten your "word's worth" on this, my very first, blog post. :)

Kara