Weekend in our nation's capitol
On Thursday I flew from St. Louis to Baltimore to begin my weekend away. It started with promise as I attempted to give up my spot on the flight to Louisville/Baltimore for cash and prizes. It ended up not being necessary for them to bump me and off I went. On the flight out I managed to finish the book that I was reading - Ninja Soccer Moms, a passable mystery.
When I got to Baltimore, I went to get my rental car. The facility was two miles away from the airport itself, so I was told that I'd need to get back to the airport at least 2-2.5 hours before my flight to make sure that I dropped off the car on time. Once I got my rental I went to look for my hotel in the rain. Evidently it hadn't rained at all during September and Mother Nature decided to even things up this weekend.
When I was booking my hotel I looked long and hard at a Microtel before opting for the Quality Inn a little farther away. But as I sped away from the rental facility, I thought I was going to a Microtel. After getting lost several times I finally found the Microtel only to find that I was at the wrong hotel :( I left the hotel and managed to find the Quality Inn with relative ease.
The Quality Inn was a decent motel. The rooms were clean and the TV worked. However, at about 3:30-4:30 I was treated to an episode of White Trash Theater as some woman shouted and honked at the motel in order for her boyfriend to let her in. Finally either she realized that it was futile or he let her in. Either way I finally got some sleep.
I drove up to Philadelphia to see my cousin, Pat, and her husband, Kevin. They just gave birth to my second cousin, Kevin Broderick. Little Kevin is a cute baby and doing well. Big Kevin's parents were in, and Kevin's mother was quite happy to be holding little Kevin. Pat is adapting well to motherhood. I had a nice lunch with Pat and the Kevins before I took off for DC.
Pat and Kevin had started breastfeeding exclusively, but I was a little disappointed to see that they had opted to supplement breastfeeding with formula feeding, but I tried my best not to let it on. One of the things that they say at La Leche League is "Every parent is an expert on their own baby." I kept this in mind as I talked to other parents over the weekend.
I drove down to Washington from Philadelphia in the rain and dark to my cousin Margaret's house. Margaret had some complications during the delivery of her daughter Grace and ended up having a partial hysterectdomy. While I was there I got to spend some time with my Aunt Joan, my cousin John and his wife Lindsey, Margaret, her husband Nathan, and the star of the show Grace. It was neat to hold a baby that small again. I almost can't remember Oliver ever being close to that size. Margaret is doing as well as can be expected. She should find out soon what went wrong in the delivery room. I imagine that she'll either be okay with it or very very angry.
After dinner at Margaret's I went to Alix and Kevin's place. Alix and Kevin are some friends of mine who left the comfort of St. Louis to work for the government. They were nice enough to let me crash on their couch for a couple of days and entertain me while I was there. On Saturday I got up late and when they got home they asked what I wanted to do today. I suggested the Spy Museum. After a train ride we ended up at the Spy Museum, but it was sold out of tickets until 4:00. I didn't really want to wait that long, so we ended up going to see Serenity instead (good flick even for the non-initiated). Later we went out for Sushi and then called it a night early.
The next morning we went out so that I could buy a wedding gift and then I bought a book for the flight home. They gave me instructions on how to get where I was going. Even with a full set of written instructions I managed to get lost. Fortunately in DC you can't get that lost as if you keep driving in one direction you are bound to hit the Beltway, which I eventually did and got to the hotel where the wedding was going to be an hour ahead of time. I killed the time before the wedding watching football in the bar. God Bless the NFL.
The wedding itself was a nice affair. It was a very elegant Jewish ceremony. David and Jessica looked very good together. After the ceremony there was a cocktail hour where I got to spend some time with Aaron, a friend from high school, his wife Adina, and their baby Noah. I also got to spend some time with David's sister, Karen and her daughter. The dinner was nice. While Aaron and Adina went dancing I got to hold Noah. By the end of the night I was sure that I just wanted to go home and hold my own child.
Sunday night at the Quality Inn was uneventful. I was thankful that there was not a encore of White Trash Theater. I didn't sleep well regardless as I was afraid of missing my extra early wakeup call. I got to the airport and home with no fuss. Getting off the plane I had the feeling that it was good to be back home.
And it is.
When I got to Baltimore, I went to get my rental car. The facility was two miles away from the airport itself, so I was told that I'd need to get back to the airport at least 2-2.5 hours before my flight to make sure that I dropped off the car on time. Once I got my rental I went to look for my hotel in the rain. Evidently it hadn't rained at all during September and Mother Nature decided to even things up this weekend.
When I was booking my hotel I looked long and hard at a Microtel before opting for the Quality Inn a little farther away. But as I sped away from the rental facility, I thought I was going to a Microtel. After getting lost several times I finally found the Microtel only to find that I was at the wrong hotel :( I left the hotel and managed to find the Quality Inn with relative ease.
The Quality Inn was a decent motel. The rooms were clean and the TV worked. However, at about 3:30-4:30 I was treated to an episode of White Trash Theater as some woman shouted and honked at the motel in order for her boyfriend to let her in. Finally either she realized that it was futile or he let her in. Either way I finally got some sleep.
I drove up to Philadelphia to see my cousin, Pat, and her husband, Kevin. They just gave birth to my second cousin, Kevin Broderick. Little Kevin is a cute baby and doing well. Big Kevin's parents were in, and Kevin's mother was quite happy to be holding little Kevin. Pat is adapting well to motherhood. I had a nice lunch with Pat and the Kevins before I took off for DC.
Pat and Kevin had started breastfeeding exclusively, but I was a little disappointed to see that they had opted to supplement breastfeeding with formula feeding, but I tried my best not to let it on. One of the things that they say at La Leche League is "Every parent is an expert on their own baby." I kept this in mind as I talked to other parents over the weekend.
I drove down to Washington from Philadelphia in the rain and dark to my cousin Margaret's house. Margaret had some complications during the delivery of her daughter Grace and ended up having a partial hysterectdomy. While I was there I got to spend some time with my Aunt Joan, my cousin John and his wife Lindsey, Margaret, her husband Nathan, and the star of the show Grace. It was neat to hold a baby that small again. I almost can't remember Oliver ever being close to that size. Margaret is doing as well as can be expected. She should find out soon what went wrong in the delivery room. I imagine that she'll either be okay with it or very very angry.
After dinner at Margaret's I went to Alix and Kevin's place. Alix and Kevin are some friends of mine who left the comfort of St. Louis to work for the government. They were nice enough to let me crash on their couch for a couple of days and entertain me while I was there. On Saturday I got up late and when they got home they asked what I wanted to do today. I suggested the Spy Museum. After a train ride we ended up at the Spy Museum, but it was sold out of tickets until 4:00. I didn't really want to wait that long, so we ended up going to see Serenity instead (good flick even for the non-initiated). Later we went out for Sushi and then called it a night early.
The next morning we went out so that I could buy a wedding gift and then I bought a book for the flight home. They gave me instructions on how to get where I was going. Even with a full set of written instructions I managed to get lost. Fortunately in DC you can't get that lost as if you keep driving in one direction you are bound to hit the Beltway, which I eventually did and got to the hotel where the wedding was going to be an hour ahead of time. I killed the time before the wedding watching football in the bar. God Bless the NFL.
The wedding itself was a nice affair. It was a very elegant Jewish ceremony. David and Jessica looked very good together. After the ceremony there was a cocktail hour where I got to spend some time with Aaron, a friend from high school, his wife Adina, and their baby Noah. I also got to spend some time with David's sister, Karen and her daughter. The dinner was nice. While Aaron and Adina went dancing I got to hold Noah. By the end of the night I was sure that I just wanted to go home and hold my own child.
Sunday night at the Quality Inn was uneventful. I was thankful that there was not a encore of White Trash Theater. I didn't sleep well regardless as I was afraid of missing my extra early wakeup call. I got to the airport and home with no fuss. Getting off the plane I had the feeling that it was good to be back home.
And it is.
posted by mypetrock at 1:55 PM
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