9-ish years later....

 The poem I just posted (called "Rain") wasn't really written today. I started looking through my old blog posts (thank GOODNESS I could find them...) and came across that unpublished one. I liked it but when I hit publish, it gave it today's date. Which makes sense, but I still felt the need to set the record straight about it. 

I am loving reading my old posts, remembering things about my kids and my life that I'd forgotten, and now I'm wondering - why on Earth did I stop writing in my blog? My best guess is that it's because I gave up on writing all together. You want to know what else I gave up on? Reading. I mean technically I still read (I am a member of a book club after all) but it's not NEARLY the amount of reading I used to do, especially when I was a kid/teenager. I think my abandonment of reading and writing are connected. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know. That's not a profound realization - a third grader could figure that one out. 

So...here I am again. I think I gave up on writing because the idea of putting a novel out scares me to death. I'm certain that my childhood trauma would come out in my writing, either directly or indirectly and I just can't handle that. But guess what guys? This blog is about as anonymous as I could hope for. I'm going to tell two of my previous cheerleaders that I'm writing again but for the most part I know I'm putting my words out into the ether and I've decided that's the way I like it! (Although if anyone does read this and feels compelled to leave a comment, it's more than welcome.)

Maybe I should briefly state what's new in my life. We are empty-nesters with 2 dogs (it used to be 3 but we had to say goodbye to Henry this year...and I still have trouble looking at photos of him). My daughter is married, my son is engaged and they are both out of college. Damn. A lot can happen in 9 years, right?

Oh - and we plan on moving to Colorado in about a year. I'm done with Texas (which makes me very, very sad to say but it's true).

I'll be back. Stay tuned.

Rain

Hiding from the rain
Waiting to live life...waiting
Afraid of rainbows.

Day 3 - Mamma & Daughter DC Trip

Sunday was our last full day in DC. We arrived at the Air & Space museum just a few minutes before it opened.

A&S has some really fun toys, and we enjoyed them tremendously. We're definitely a couple of science nerds. I've often regretted that I didn't major in biology and become a scientist. It will be tons of fun to watch Kathryn pursue her forensic science degree over the next few years. 

The A&S gift shop was AWESOME. We both purchased gifts for the men in our lives at that shop PLUS I bought myself Rosie the Riveter earrings (yet another feminist-themed moment in our vacation) and bought a NASA suit in a baby size with the idea that we'd dress our schnauzer in it for fun but one day it could become a cute outfit for a grandkid so it's TOTALLY fine and normal that I spent $30 on a gift for my dog. 

After A&S we crossed the mall to head into the National Gallery and really enjoyed soaking up the art. It was perfect. It's always amazing to see original Renoir and Van Gogh and be just inches away from the actual brush strokes. However, it's just as incredible (but in a different way) to see new art. One of the highlights for me was walking through the special exhibit on Bazille. A month earlier, I'd heard the story about Bazille on NPR (take a listen to it here - it's great). What a great way to experience the art! As soon as we returned to the hotel room, I played that NPR story for Kathryn. We ate a delicious lunch at the art museum before heading over to the wing with the modern art then returning to the hotel to rest before our evening excursion. 

I loved this piece of art - very fun and inspiring for me:

After our rest, our wonderful relative, Aunt L, picked us up and drove us to Annapolis for our final evening. What a gorgeous place. We wandered through the brick streets, admired the harbor and ate dinner at a French bistro. Heaven. 

Afterwards, she drove us over the Chesapeake bridge just to see it and then took us to see the Jefferson Memorial at night. We were all exhausted but so glad she insisted that we go see at least one memorial at night. If you know me, you know I'm a HUGE Hamilton fan so I was thinking of Daveed Diggs the whole time I was looking at Jefferson's huge statue.

The view of the Washington Monument was gorgeous.

After that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our final morning. We calculated that we'd have enough time to run by the FBI building so I could grab a photo of Kathryn in front of it since she hopes to someday work for the FBI. Yea for our awesome relative who made sure we ended our trip with such an inspiring site!