V

I was pleased to have visitors this weekend from my very own family! My Mom & Dad and one of my brothers and his wife came clear out here for the memorial day weekend to be with us. I really love having my family around. I hope they had fun, too. We realized even more while they were here how much there is to do and how much walking there is if you are trying to see sites in DC. It's impossible to see everything in detail in a couple of days but it can still be a great time. Thank you so much for coming.
It was so hard for me not to just want to show them everything I could think of and tell them all about what I've been up to here. I don't want to make it all about me; here look at this, have you seen that, did you see what I have done here, etc. It sort of feels like when you're a little kid and someone new comes to your house and you find yourself showing them all of your toys and your favorite chair and how you can do a somersault and your just being drawn into doing it by some mysterious force that you can't explain, like gravity, or a black hole. Every once in a while I would recognize that I was being pulled into it since I was so excited to see people I have cared about my whole life visiting and I wanted to show them a part of my life that it felt like they didn't know anything about. Then, sometimes, I would remember that I wanted them to actually enjoy being here and that I also wanted to know how they are doing. I miss them already but am very glad they could come.

We saw a large number of things, some of which I have already seen and some of which I have not. For example, at Arlington Cemetery I have seen the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but I have never before heard the bugler play there. And I have walked past the Botanic Garden near the Capitol but never actually been in to see all the amazing plants. Honestly, I never really thought much about plants and so the thought of it didn't really spark my interest. But I really liked it. There is such an amazing variety of plant life. I really liked seeing the cacao tree and all of the cacti and so many others.
In work last week, it is getting interesting since my co-workers are coming up on their last week or two of classes and preparing to be done with language. I think they'll do just fine. I am keeping up okay, but could really use a lot more work. I am really trying to kick in a review of things I should have a lot more solid so they flow.
V is for visitor.