Another Installment Of...

ZOOM ZOOM RECAP ZOOM ZOOM

Monday: The House was out of session this week (meaning: all the congressmen go home to do work in their districts), so it was definitely a slower week at the office. Bonus: When Congress isn't in session, we can wear street clothes to work! Niiiiice.

Tuesday: Went down to Crystal City again after work to play volleyball at the sand courts. It's an awesome group of people that we get together with, and we all play until we're so tired and sucky that it just isn't fun anymore. Which usually takes about twenty minutes. Just kidding. Twenty-five.

Wednesday: Normal day. Perhaps you don't know what a "normal day" entails for me . . .

• Wake up at 7:10
• Hit snooze till 7:50
• "Holy schnikes!"
• Skip showering
• Scramble to catch the metro by 8:10
• Arrive at work by 8:45
• Sort mail
• Read emails/news
• Answer phone calls
• Maybe do a Capitol tour if it's my assigned day
• Lunch
• Miscellaneous projects delegated by office staffers
• Inevitably deliver at least one document to Tom in the Rayburn building :)
• Organize constituent mail on Intranet Quorum
• Write letters
• Leave at 5pm if House isn't in session, 6pm if it is
• Home at 6:30
• Eat dinner
• Go on a walk/run/bike ride with Brock
• Watch two--OKAY, OKAY, four--episodes of "30 Rock" on Netflix

Thursday: Brock and I took advantage of our membership to Capital Bikeshare and biked down to the Lincoln Memorial after dark. Moseyed around the Vietnam and Korean Memorials again too, just for kicks. I ran my fingers along the names engraved on the Vietnam Memorial for the entire length of the V. It took me a good four minutes or so to walk from one end to the other. Feeling the names of thousands of dead literally brush under my fingers had a powerful effect on me. I am so grateful for our armed forces.

Friday: Woke up bright at early to hop on a bus to Valley Forge with all the rest of the Washington Seminar crew, minus Brock (he had a conference to go to for his internship on Friday, so he had to miss the trip). We stayed at an on-site hotel at Valley Forge--except it was more of a dorm than a hotel. A really creepy dorm that reminded me of that place in "The Shining."

For lunch, we were served cheese-less Philly cheesesteaks (don't ask) and had pudding for dessert. I skipped the mystery meat and just puddinged it up. Then we headed out on our tour of the grounds with our baller tour guide--an elderly man from Alabama named Murray. He had taught US history in high school for like thirty years and was so passionate about the Revolutionary War! I loved it. For photos, check out my Facebook album.

We came back and ate dinner (tacos! much better) and had a visit with Abigail Adams (as in, John's wife). No, silly. Not the real Abigail Adams. She's dead. This was just a lady who dressed up and pretended to be Abigail Adams. She was slated to talk about her life for an hour, but went on for over 90 minutes! I can't speak for my other Washington Seminar compadres, but I was Abigailed out way before then. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. My friend David was whispering and cracking jokes with some of his friends during her presentation, and she totally called him out on it and basically told him to shut up.

Actually, now that I think of it, that was the best part of the whole thing.

There was an ice cream social afterward, and a bunch of us got together and played Mafia. You know, that group game that you play with cards? It was way fun. Then I went to my creepy room--ALONE--and tried to fall asleep. But I was worried about the world ending the next day (THANKS FOR NOTHING, HAROLD CAMPING) and I also thought I was going to see a ghost because I swear the place we were staying at was haunted. My only company was a little stink bug who chilled out in my sink. I rinsed him down the drain so I could wash my face without having to stare at his little nasty body. But I'll be darned if that little sucker didn't climb back up the pipe and was sitting in his exact same spot the next morning.

I respect that, little bug. I respect that.

Saturday: Philadelphia. Started the day out at the National Constitution Center, and then saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Liberty Bell. Set off with the married couples down to South Street for some real Philly cheesesteaks at Jim's, and then made our way to Betsy Ross' house, Benjamin Franklin's grave, and a cute little ice cream parlor. Met up with the rest of the group for a tour of Independence Hall, and then grabbed dinner at a pizza place on Passyunk Avenue--which is probably the funniest-sounding street name ever.

Sunday: Officially survived the rapture! YAAAAAY. Brother Harding picked us up in the morning to head to stake conference, which was actually really good! Then we went to his house for a big Sunday dinner. He cooked it all himself and it was delectable. Penne pasta with chicken, spinach salad with a homemade vinaigrette, warm rolls, lemonade (with mint in the pitcher to make it look fancy!), steamed asparagus, and the option of either homemade mixed berry pie or cheesecake for dessert. JEALOUS?!?!?!!?!?

Also: Randomly found out that Brother Harding's son was my PLSC 328 TA about a year ago! His son walked through the front door and I was like "Hey. I know you."

ALSO: He served in the same mission as my brother.

Crazy.

***

I can't believe I've already been here for almost a month. Time is flying by and I still have so much to do and see! I may just have to move here. For real. I love being two hours from Philly, four from New York, and near beautiful countryside at the same time. Plus, DC is just a gorgeous, clean city with so much opportunity. I love it as much as I love Chicago, which is saying a lot.

Although I'm really missing my mountains.

Like, bad.

Actually, scratch everything I just said up there. I could never live in a place without mountains.