Blogging by Day

Yesterday, I did something weird.

I wrote a blog during the daytime hours.

I felt like I might get in trouble for blogging at work. It does limit me slightly - like, I don't get to use made up words or rant endlessly about hating morning. That might actually be good for me...

Really though, blogging is a totally fun work task to have.

If you want to, you can read about my other life where I hold myself out as a quasi-responsible adult type who does work and uses real words here:
National Council For Adoption: An Invitation to the Capitol

If you're feeling especially nice, comment or subscribe to the blog. It will make our Director of Communications smile. You know it's fun to make people smile...

If you want to make me smile, call your Members of Congress and tell them why you love the Protecting Adoption and Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Act of 2012.

Yikes-A-Bee

Remember yesterday how much fun I was going to have this summer? I'm still doing that! Some of it, it seems I have to do more quickly than other parts though.

It seems I better get on that movie projecting posthaste. It seems life is out to crash my party a little. Stupid life. You can't steal my party - literally. I'm doing it anyway.

So, I found out this morning I have to move. I have to say, I'm a little heartbroken. My lease is expiring and my landlord is not renewing so that they can renovate.

Objectively, I understand this. My little house is full of character. The charming sweet kind and the "a little rough around the edges" kind... They could certainly charge far more if they put a bit of love into it.

I'm not currently a fan of this objective part of me though. I'm crabby. I don't want to be reasonable and understanding. I'm pouting and you can't stop me. I like it here. I felt settled. I decorated. I'm cozy. I have memories here and now I must abandon them.

Yikes-A-Bee! Frickety Frack! Alas and alack. Boo.
(These words want to be swear words when they grow up, but I'm pretty sure they'll be bullied and never make it. I'm always for the underdogs though - even the words... The "real" curses seem somewhat lacking in creativity and vocabulary. What's the fun in that?)

So, I suppose I should stop whining and be proactive now. Spend some time on craigslist now - the source of all cheap housing... And the message boards and and and... All those places I tell interns and friends of friends who are moving to DC. If you have any leads on good deals, good roommates, near Old Town preferred, please shout it out. Maybe something better is coming my way?

I suppose I should start putting things in boxes soon too. I hate to pack.

Sigh. Shmerg.

Wisdom Begins With Wonder

This summer, I'm going to be fun. I'm going to drag myself out of bed on weekends and explore the world. In my dining room there is a canvas with an awesome green tree that says: "Wisdom begins with wonder." love that. I need it. I could use some more wonder. I'm going to do new things and repeat old favorite happy summer things. Learn new things. Make new friends and spend time with old ones. Make memories. Be occasionally, appropriately childish.

I'm not going to hibernate. My mood lately defaults to hibernate. And it doesn't help that DC is a terrible, wonderful place to spend the summer. Why didn't our forefathers have the insight not to build the nation's capital in a humid swampland? Didn't they know about the misery of wearing business attire in a swamp?

Still though, there are a million fun things to do here and near. I'm going to do them ALL. Ok, fine that's crazy talk. I'm going to do some of them though. I'm going to pry myself away from my friend the box fan and his favorite Uncle AC and live life in places where sun shines and sweaty humanity smiles at each other and lives and learns and wonders (and tries not to stick to one another.)

I picknicked today. And last weekend. And hopefully again. Maybe at Roosevelt Island? I haven't been back since a visit shortly before I moved here. Crazy...

Host a movie night - projected in my backyard. Complete with home popped popcorn and really cold drinks... Exciting new development: my neighbors (whose wall I project on) painted their house. This is excellent. You can't project on red brick, but you can project on putty colored brick. No convincing a stand to stay up in wood chips. No trying desperately with considerable tape to make a sheet stay up. I love my new neighbors! Additionally, they're totally friendly and have already spoken to me FAR more than the others did in a full 2 years. I should totally invite them over to watch a movie on their wall. It only seems fair...

Camping. For real. In a tent. I just need a tent. Anybody have a tent I can borrow? I think I want my own tent actually... Where am I going to keep a tent? Hmm. There's just a little more space under my bed... Also I  need mosquito spray. This is possibly more important than the tent...

Fire. And food on a stick in the fire. Hot dogs. Marshmallows lit on fire and blown out black? Yes. (I have zero patience.)

Agua fresca. Watermelon? Canteloupe? Strawberry? Yes and yes and yes. I tried this last summer and it should be a tradition. Yay. 

Not get a(nother) ridiculous sunburn I always do this. I don't burn that quickly. I almost always bring sunscreen. I almost never put it on. Dumb. I'm grown. I need to grow on out of this stupidity.

Roll down a real hill. I warmed up on a mound last weekend apparently. I'll have to get the hill police to approve a real hill for me it seems...

Beach! Virginia Beach? Delaware? Somewhere... Walking. Napping. Reading. Maybe sand castle building? 

Take a top down, hair in the wind, music far too loud, roadtrip.

Write my name in sparklers.

Homemade popsicles. Someone told me about red wine and chocolate popsicles recently. Fruitiness will also definitely happen. I think red wine & chocolate must also be tested though...

Stroll through some pleasantly chilly, not yet visited museum on a hot, humid DC afternoon. I should probably save this for August. I feel like I'll have plenty of days to choose from though. It was already 105 one day this week. Help!

Fly a kite. Blow bubbles. Throw water balloons. Do cartwheels (is this even still possible?). Spin around in circles until the world spins. Play. Summer is the most appropriate time to reclaim a little childhood.

Ok, that's a reasonable start to the list. I don't want to get out of control. Better to overachieve than fail when it comes to fun.

Bring on the wonder.

Noncommital June No More!!!

I'm sort of annoyed with me lately.

I feel like usually, I'm a work hard, play hard kind of girl.

Lately, I've been a tired at work, won't commit to play kind of girl. My friends are all: "hang out with me". I'm all: "we'll see..." I hate that. It has gone so far though, that a friend and I decided that noncommital was my theme for June.

Whoa. Too. Far.

I've been busy some, but that's not everything. I have been travelling for awesome weddings! And we had our conference at work last week. I have a love/hate relationship with conference. No, now wait. Not hate. That analogy takes things too far. Maybe I actually have a love/exhaustion relationship with conference. I love the people. Love the learning. Love the making connections between people who can be more awesome together. Love all the stuff that works together to find families for children. But I most definitely get for really real tired from all that loving action.

Wait. I have totally derailed from the point of this post. What? I'm rambling? Nobody is shocked? Yeah, me either. Eek. Back on task! Here we go...

The weddings and conference and travelling were legitimate busy causing, distance from normal life creating, distractions, but some of this might just be my own slacky, slacker fault. If I could just get on my game at work I'd KNOW when I would have free time because I could count on myself to finish things and get on with my life. I don't though. I'm so tired I don't trust myself and I won't commit to doing the things that are refreshing and don't exhaust me. This is a bad cycle of unrefreshing. Boo.

I don't have any of those good excuses like spouse, children, recent life trauma, natural disaster. I am only responsible for me in a normal state of being. I should be better at it.

I'm going to be! Sunday I had semi-spontaneous fun lunch with friends. THAT is going to be the pattern breaker. So. There. Pattern broken. HA! It is summer and I am going to be outside and with fun people and doing the 80 trillion fun things DC offers.

Bring on the summer fun. I have all these things I want to do this summer... Summer bucket list! Hmm. I should publish that list. Fun accountability! Totally. Summer Bucket list post coming SOON. Do you have any awesome summer fun suggestions? Put 'em in the comments!

She felt safe...

I got to go to another wedding this weekend and it was awesome again. And it was - against all odds - for another of my favorite people. Two weeks in a row. My life might be more fun than yours. I'm sorry.

. 

It was amazing in completely different and equally freakin' awesome ways than the previous week's events.

The bride was my law school roommate - she put up with me for three intense years and in all our up close and personal she remains one of my all-time favorite people. She makes me laugh harder than almost anyone and 5 years after law school we find ourselves on opposite coasts, but I feel as close to her as ever and she still knows more of my secrets than just about anyone and is a rare safe place that hears what I say and hears as much in what is left unsaid. She always responds with love and wise counsel and understanding and without a glimmer of judgment. In review, I'm rather fiercely attached to this girl.

So, I was fiercely grateful with how generous she was with her time while I was there during what was - obviously - the very busy week of her wedding. I got to do all the amazing wedding events - and I'll get to that, but I also got to tag along on errands, meet the major characters in years of her stories, eat her favorite pizza, see a glimpse of where she grew up, and stay up talking too late and being roommates with my girl one last time before she belongs to some strange man. What a gift to me in a week where she ought to have been entirely on the receiving end.

About the strange man... I'm a fan. I'll admit I was worried - I'd never met the strange man. I trust this girl more than just about anyone and she doesn't make major life decisions lightly. So, when she told me she was engaged I was initially a little surprised, but not too concerned. Still though, just in case, I had to worry. It's what I do. What if I didn't like him? I might have needed to punch him in the face a lot of times or kidnap her. And I hate it when I have to break laws on vacation (and I was too sore from the bachelorette party to make any swift violent actions or quick getaways, but that's all you need to know about that...). Luckily, I think my brief moments with the strange man showed him strangely perfect. I watched him watch her across the room and it was precious. He treasured her and she deeply deserves it. He knew her well enough to tease her extremes into balance kindly and he makes her laugh. More importantly, I watched her look comfortable and feel safe when he was near and I decided I wouldn't commit any crimes at all. (It seemed easier not to fight in heels anyway.) I'd just  cheer him on because that much care should only be celebrated and if I could see it so quickly, then he just might deserve her. I'll just have to dedicate the coming years to getting to know him more because he has become a part of her forever (and, accordingly, mine).

The wedding was perfection. It was completely them. I could see the ways they'd taken careful efforts to honor and include their families and loved ones in things. A judge they both know well performed the ceremony. They threw a great party, not to throw the best party, but so all their loved ones left smiling. They took care of everyone right down to the details of having crayons and toys for the kids. Dinner was from one of their favorite restaurants and a local bakery made the (amazing!) cake. Predictably, the bride tried to serve the cake herself. Dear servant heart: please just this once be served! We talked her out of it - eventually... None of us said it that nicely - well, not me anyway... I swear it's just what I meant though! The bride even made breakfast in advance on Friday afternoon so they could enjoy a last meal with loved ones on Sunday before everyone left town. Their love (living Romans 12 style love) for each other and everyone present was evident everywhere.

Of course it was. That's just so you friend.

As we said good-bye on Sunday, she thanked me for coming - which sort of cracked me up. I mean, where else could I possibly have been while she got married? I told her I would have crashed her wedding without an invitation. I think I meant it. (I totally meant it.) How could I do anything but celebrate with this girl? Lucky for me I got an invitation. And my heart is still very much celebrating for you dear one. Even if you are kind of - well, as your former self would have said "pukey." 

It all made me think something I almost never think at weddings: "If I do this someday, I'd like it to be very much like this in many ways." Weird right? I'm so never that girl. In fact, in law school, the bride and another roommate planned a wedding for me. I think they'd given up hope on my taking part in this girly dreaming task on my own behalf... (For the record, they did a good job. I have held onto pieces of that plan. They knew me pretty well.) I blame my recent girliness on all the dressing up -the red heels and dresses and that especially wonderful girly necklace I've become weirdly attached to. It went to my head. I'm back in flats now, so it probably won't last. Still, in the midst of my happily independent singleness, the idea of partnering for life with someone that makes you laugh and feel safe is not without its merits. Not this week, but maybe someday. If I'm not busy...