this place called home

For orientation purposes, the string of horizontal lights is the tarmac landing lights at DCA, past that is the Washington Monument whose glow is made more noticeable by its scaffolding these days. The bright orb at the edge on the right is Nats stadium, and the smaller dot about an inch to the left of that is the Capitol. All of these things look WAY cooler when not seen through the blurry lens of an iPhone, but you can't carry a real camera while running now, can you?

I'm a lover of routines. I've always joked that it's because I was raised Methodist, but the reality of it is that habits tend to impact your life in minute ways. My latest habit is running in the half hour before the sunset. I blame the fact that I hate the heat & I'm a wimp, but it doesn't hurt that that half hour or so is also one of the most beautiful times of the day.

About once a week I run pass this spunky older woman and her dog, Fenway, who I've mentioned before, and it's as if I know their story, their bond. Fenway is a loving and endlessly curious pup whose owner has full trust in her. She bumbles along inspecting and meeting whomever she deems worthy, and her owner just keeps walking (not in an abusive way, just in an understanding way) as if to maintain the aforementioned pace of their walk. Simply put, they are each other's family. Sometimes I come across Fenway & her owner as they're playing catch, utilizing a staircase & Fenway's endless energy. Other days Fenway is exploring the rocks, looking for interesting treasures and playmates. But always they're happy together, appreciating one another in their time together, as if equal friends more than owner & dog.

Lately, every time I've run through Oronocco Bay Park I've passed three old men sharing the same bench watching the water. One has a cane, another wears glasses, and the middle guy always dons the same dapper hat. It's clear that they've been friends for awhile, that they have a mutual respect for their friendship as well as their silence. They all just sit and watch the water and the ducks and the people together. And seeing them always makes me smile because in my mind they have a grasp on the importance of life and friendships, that sometimes just being in the company of one another is enough.

I've noticed that for two Tuesdays in a row a wonderful overlap has occurred: sailboats. It's almost as if all these people who own these graceful boats have reached an agreement to spite Labor Day's premature end of summer, as the first day I noticed was the day after Labor Day. I'm all for the petition if anyone asks because few things are more intoxicating to look at while panting running than 20+ white sailboats gliding out on the Potomac right in front of you. To you sailboat enthusiasts out there, I beseech you to keep it up. Please and thank you.

But the thing that I appreciate the most on my running path is the sight I get to look at on the tail end of every run. If anything can motivate me to leave my apartment in the sometimes sweltering humidity, it's the view of the Washington Monument & the Capitol across the Potomac as the sun is setting. It's being able to recognize when the Nats have a home game when a giant glow of lights can be seen to the right of the Capitol. It's watching planes take off & land overhead as they direct themselves from/to Reagan National Airport and imagining what all the people onboard those flights are coming here to see or do. Some are here for business, some for vacation. Some are fellow citizens, young and old, seeing our Capitol for the first time. Others are from foreign lands whose curiosity has led them to see what it is that America is all about. 

These two minutes of my daily run are the minutes that give me perspective, that boost my energy, and that make me smile. They remind me that this place is home for however long we live here. That this place is home for Fenway and her owner and the three old men and all the sailboat enthusiasts. That this place is a mecca for understanding and appreciating freedom in this world.

Today those two minutes will reflect on what happened in this neighborhood & throughout our country 12 years ago. After driving around the Pentagon from what seems like all angles on regular errands and trips, it's hard to think that something so atrocious could happen to a structure so mighty, but more than that, that it could happen to our home. For me, 9/11 happened half a life ago & on a tv screen, but now that I live here, it's impossible to forget. But 12 years later, this place, our home, still stands for what it was built upon: its freedoms, and that is a beautiful thing. 

random musings from old town & hometown

+ I think I'm officially becoming acquainted with the local life. Case in point: while watching an episode of West Wing {second episode, second season} the other night, I recognized the diner where the scene was filmed. It's a neighborhood diner in Old Town that has since been changed from a BBQ joint to Greek, but that's not the point. The point is that I know. Gosh the embarrassing amount of pride I felt was on the level of gooby news you hear about hometown progress, and I haven't even lived here for a year. Now that I've admitted how nerdy & dramatic I can be, let's change the subject.

+ After introducing our guys to the wonder of Despicable Me this past weekend, I think Emily & I have made the case to see its sequel in theaters when it comes out this week. It's been awhile since I've heard 4 adults belly laugh as hard as we all did watching that animated movie. All I'm saying is as long as Agnes & her obsession with fluffy unicorns is still in the script, I'm golden. And just to spread the fun facts around, anybody else think it was hilarious to see "Bank of Evil, Formerly Lehman Brothers" over the door? Gets me every time, but probably because Lehman Brothers was founded in my lovely river city, Montgomery, AL.

+ Speaking of Montgomery, my recent brief stint in that fair city was nothing short of wonderful. Mainly because it tickles me pink that downtown has become so cool! Cool enough that we felt compelled to support the hometown team & buy two Biscuits t-shirts for ourselves & a Biscuits hat for a friend at the Biscuit Basket in Riverwalk Stadium. Sadly the one we bought wasn't a real biscuit hat {picture a cheesehead in the form of a biscuit}. #hometownpride

+ And why might you ask did I disappear for over a week after I said that I was coming back? We hit up Seagrove Beach with my former roomies {my parents} for a week. And it was awesome, other than the sunburned shins I managed to get as well as a frisbee induced skinned knee {clumsy Kat strikes again}. If I get my act together around here, I'll post some pictures of our adventures. Did I mention I reclaimed my honor at goofy golf... by almost 20 strokes? Boom. Roasted. Sorry husmate.

+ Finally, I'm in the market for any and all interesting documentaries to watch on Netflix. Every now & then I have this overwhelming itch to watch something incredibly involved & academic & possibly propaganda-esque that can quell my thirst for fixing all the world's problems. Lately I've watched documentaries on Arlington Cemetery & the Honor Guard of the Unknown Tomb {their jobs are intense, I kid you not}, the growing social divide between the wealthy 1% & the rest of us & what power politically they wield {this documentary has forced me to add Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged to my reading list just to be better informed of their argument}, & dramatic food movies that cause me to actually eat better & buy what seems like 80% or more of my grocery list from the perimeters of the grocery store rather than the maze of the middle aisles {for you foodies out there, a wonderful (& short) book to read is Michael Pollan's Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. Seriously, so good. Next on my list is his In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto}. So hey, any fellow nerds or people passionate about something that have some good documentaries up their sleeves, please give me suggestions to watch for my late night viewings! 

random musings for a friday

Imagine sitting in something only a tinge more comfortable than this for two months. Yeah...

+ Husmate got an email yesterday from Petco telling us that we have $13 to spend from the Petco Pals 5% back rewards program on a dog that we no longer have. Awesome....

+ In other news, the couch we ordered last month and were told would be here by February 4th is going to be delivered today! Hallelujah! I mean you can only sit in a Victorian chair for so long before it's just not comfortable anymore. Plus, it almost makes you feel like you're in a perpetual wall squat. And who really wants that? Did I mention that we have three flights of stairs and low hall ceilings? Yeahhhhhh... I can't wait to see the Pottery Barn delivery men work through that. But hey, they're professionals. No need to worry, right?

+ Husmate & I were minorly disappointed in the Downton Abbey season finale. I mean, really? What a Christmas Day downer, Brits... So to boost some of my spirit of sadness annoyance I have recently started watching Parks & Recreation on Netflix. I gotta admit, I'm surprised by how much I like it. And since husmate & I are still in our West Wing stage (who doesn't love that show??), I am patiently waiting for Rob Lowe to appear in Parks & Rec so I can imagine that this is just another part of Sam Seaborn's resume. I know, I'm weird.

+ Is it spring yet? Ready for these cold days whose temperatures appear to be below freezing due to the lovely accompaniment of the wind to go away. It's hard to motivate myself to go run along a river when it's all feels-like-24 outside. Blah. So here's my compromise, if the wind agrees to disappear, I'll agree to embrace the 30's and merrily run along the river. Do we have a deal mother nature? Please?

Random musings for a Friday

- Husband is ironing a shirt for work and the iron is making its typical steamy sounds (as in the H2O variety, and not the promiscuous kind), and I have this automatic need to say "Luke.... I am your father...." to which my husband continues with "Daddy???" We're a funny nerd couple, as if you didn't know.

- If you haven't gone to see Argo yet, GO SEE IT. While yes, I love a good movie, you will not catch me often these days headed to the local theater to shell out $25 dollars for this husband-wife team to see a newly released film (especially when the DVD release is on the verge in 5 months). All that to say, go see Argo in theater. It is incredible, and you won't regret it. Truly one of the best movies I've ever seen. For any who need a refresher on the plot, here you go:

- I read in an article today that 2/3 of all undergrads in American colleges and universities are in some sort of debt, AND that student loan debt will total over a trillion dollars. Wait, what??? You guys, this is a major problem. I also read that around 75% of senior administrators in those institutions think a college degree is worth over $25,000 in student loan debt. While I'm a huge advocate for higher education, if you're not getting a degree that will pay a decent entering salary... $25,000 is a big hole to climb out of. Something's got to give here people. You can read both articles on the subject here and here, and please note the beginning paragraph about the inflation of tuition versus the inflation of milk over the years (Disclaimer: imagine paying $15 for a gallon of milk. Sorry, I think I'm lactose intolerant...).

- So in case you missed the debate this past Tuesday, one of the best one-liners was Romney's "binders full of women." And while I'm not making fun of his intentions, his choice of words have caused a good bit of laughter in all the satire that has ensued since. And for the record, I love a good play on words. I mean let's be honest, one of my favorite movies to this day is Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, and my father and I still reenact the "Walk this way" line from the movie. As is the norm, I've digressed... The funniest reactions to Romney's line can be found in the customer reviews on Amazon for their binder selections, and one of my favorites happens to be this one. And the funny thing is... I read that one aloud to husband... and he asked if I wrote it. No, I did not. I'm not clever and gutsy enough to write a witty review on binders. But I did love the reference to Big Bang Theory with the Bazinga username. Kudos to you, fellow satirer (yeah, not a real word.... I know). And in case you were wondering, I already have our DVR set to record SNL just in case a skit comes to life involving binders and women...

- Fingers crossed that this time next week, Mississippi State will be 7-0 going into its game against Alabama (who will undoubtedly be 7-0). Helloooo, how cool would that be??? Hail dear ole State...

The cat's out of the bag...

Husband and I are excited to share that we were approved for the apartment we wanted, and come December, we'll be moving to Alexandria! It'll be quite different for us to live in a location where we can walk to almost everything we need/want, and we anticipate it to be a lovely change. Plus, in our new apartment, we can adopt a sweet pup without paying an arm and a leg (and an organ) to do so. Hooray, we can finally join the Couples with Pups Club! 

So now we are faced with the fun of deciding what's moving with us... yippee... You see, our new apartment is slightly smaller than the one we currently are in, so not everything is coming along for the ride. And one of the things that is certain to go is our sofa, which is to be replaced with a smaller one. 

Today I began looking at websites trying to get an idea of what should be our replacement sofa, and I came to the conclusion that form and function rarely coexist in a couch. Sofas that look comfy are just not very pretty, and the ones that look beautiful look incredibly uncomfortable. Alas, what to do what to do... So far we've looked at Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware, and they have some lovely choices, but we just want to make sure we do our homework first. I suppose we have a few months to decide, but we welcome the suggestions of other companies to consider!

(P.S. A little less than three weeks until our television broadcasts are free of political ads... Now that is also something to be excited about!)

Midweek Musings

I know, it's Tuesday so it's not quite midweek... but I'm allowing it since I'm including Saturday in my update. That makes it okay, right? Right. 

So Saturday was epic. Only in the sense that if you're a Mississippi State fan like husband and I are, you experienced something that hasn't happened in a looooongggg time (try since this married couple was in the 4th grade. whoa). MSU won its second game of the season against Auburn making them 2-0 (I know that to other teams, that's not a huge deal, but to us it totally is). And if you know me well, then you know that I grew up an Auburn fan (season tickets and all), so the win was extra special to this girl. 

This was also the first MSU-Auburn game that I've missed seeing in person since I was in middle school. While the rest of my family was in Starkville battling for a win (or a loss if you're my Auburn alum parents), husband and I were stuck up here trying to soak up the game as best we could from a mere 15 hours away. The best I could come up with was to buy these lovely mums to mimic the beautiful flowers on Starkville's campus.

On another note of this memorable win, Saturday was the first MSU game for this cute little boy (my sweet nephew)! As you can tell, Tyler came very well prepared for those loud cowbells, and his crazy Aunt Kitty is super proud of his school spirit at only 10 months.

Sunday was quite possibly the most surprising day of all. On our way home from church, husband informs me that he wants to go shopping. Um, can you repeat that? Surely I misheard you... This is a dream come true! So we drove to an outlet mall nearby and we (meaning I) picked out husband some shirts and belts and a total swoon-worthy sports coat (yes, I have an unhealthy obsession with menswear... No, husband's friends, I will not be turning him hipster or indie. His best interest is at heart, promise, even though I totally saw an Avett-like plaid vest in the store and joked about buying it for him...). This picture doesn't do the herringbone justice (blame the weird fluorescent store lighting), but doesn't husband look dashing in it? 

A total mom move to take his picture in the store, but the coat was begging
for its debut picture. Can you blame me? I didn't think so.

Also, we saw this impressive vintage car in the parking lot. Whoever owns this car must love it a lot because it looked to be in mint (clever choice of words, non?) condition... Looking at it, doesn't it make you want an ice cream cone? Or is that just me? 

Today's exciting bit of news was that the new Avett album, The Carpenter, came out. And yes, I'm already listening to it over and over again... No shame.

Ah, it's nice to see artwork that isn't as frightening as the last cd.

And finally, today husband and I are joining a local gym. I'm strangely excited about it, even though I haven't done any regular weight training since high school sports. So fingers crossed I won't do anything embarrassing or awkward (but let's be honest, it's most likely inevitable)... You're welcome, husband, for being such good entertainment.