Thursday, May 17, 2012

Part 3: My friends on the Metro

      In this post I would like to tell you about the people on the Metro.  Every day my train would stop at the Pentagon and every day I thought of how grateful I was for the soldiers (getting on and getting off) and their sacrifice.  It was always a good morning when I would see a friend from my ward waiting for the train as well.  A friendly smile can mean so much to one who is travelling alone.  After awhile I also started to notice other riders on the Metro that I would see almost every day.  This is probably due to my hobby of people watching.  There were three people that stood out to me in particular - Bob, Mr. Hayfever, and the German Professor.  Those are not their real names but that is how I came to know them.
      Bob was a pleasant young fellow, probably in his late twenties.  We never actually talked, in fact I don't think he ever even noticed me.  He was too engrossed in his music.  Whatever he was listening to every morning at 7 a.m., it must have been good because he would just ride along and bob his head along with the beat.  Therefore,  meet Bob.
      Mr. Hayfever and I would ride the Metro home from work quite often.  I hadn't ever particularly noticed him until the spring when all the trees were in bloom.  The poor guy had really bad allergies.  One day he didn't stop sneezing for at least two stops, so I casually brought up the topic of allergies and gave him the same honey remedy I suggest to everyone with allergies - just a spoonful of honey makes the allergies go away.  I saw him a few times after that day and he seemed to be feeling much better.
      Last but not least was the German Professor.  He was an older man who always studied German on the Metro.  He could have been a student or a professor, but he seemed more of the professor type to me.  Actually how I "met" him was quite funny.  When my BFF Annie came out to visit we went to the Spy Museum and while there saw a lot of little clips about being a spy.  One such clip was detecting suspects that were in disguise.  A couple days after she left, I was sitting there on the Metro and I noticed that the person sitting in the side seat in front of me was studying German.  I looked up and thought to myself that he looked just like one of the suspects from the clip in the Spy Museum.  I let my imagination run a little wild as I day dreamed about how being a German Professor might be his cover.  I never asked him though.  It didn't seem like a good idea. Hahaha

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Part 2: Spring Break

      Let us begin our tale of Spring Break on Friday March 30.  It was a beautiful half day and as soon as I possibly could I left school and went home.  It being the last day of the term and all there were quite a few students that stayed after school for an hour or so to turn in some last minute make-up work trying to save their grades.  All that grading that rolled in took a backseat to my TWS.  I had to write a paper for my professors about a 4-day lesson unit.  When I got home Friday night it was determined to finish it.  I worked and worked and typed and typed and listened to music until about 2 in the morning.  I still had about an hour left to go but I was exhausted.  So I went to sleep and woke up early Saturday morning to finish it.  by the time I finished the sucker, it was 24 pages long and 11534 words.  Yeah. That's long. Really long.  But I finished it and as long as I pass it I never have to do it again.
      Saturday and Sunday was General Conference which means I spent eight hours sitting on my bed watching conference on my laptop.  Between sessions on Saturday I went to the grocery store and picked up some supplies for a top secret craft project.  Saturday night after conference, I worked on my craft project.  An arrangement of pressed cherry blossoms in a frame for all the important women in my life.  My roommates failed at a few attempts at an April Fool's Day joke.  I guess the joke was on them.  One of my roommates rented a movie from Redbox and we watched it together that night.  Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with the second half of conference, more of my cherry blossom project, and a walk back to Redbox to return the movie.  This would start a tradition of renting movies that lasted for the rest of our stay in D.C.
      Monday my roommates Sarah and Kate and I went and did a little sight seeing after we mailed in our TWS's.  The others went to NYC for a few days so we stuck together and had great time.  On Monday we went to the National Museums of Art (modern and European).  We also discovered the Botanical Gardens, a beautiful little spot right in the middle of the hub-bub of D.C. but completely separated from the hub-bub.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we found a nice little table to sit at and enjoy the sunshine and have a pleasant conversation together.  We had sushi for dinner (I just had teriyaki chicken) and rented a movie from Redbox again. This time we got "In Time".  Tuesday we did what girls do best - shopping, in Old Town no less. We spent the afternoon trying on clothes and stopping in many shops.  We went home and rented another movie from Redbox. We got the one we wanted this time - "Footloose". AMAZING!!  Definitely worth the wait and several trips to Redbox.  Tuesday evening our other roommates came home and we all went to Kelli's soccer game.  Marie and I made up the entire cheering section. It was a fun game and when we got home I packed my bags to get ready for my flight home the next morning.
     Wednesday I spent the day travelling.  I made it home by 4 pm.  Had dinner and went to Provo to hang out with a friend after they got off work.  Jet lag was determined to slow me down but I wouldn't let it.  I went back down to Provo on Thursday and ate lunch with my friend.  Friday I went shopping with my mom and dad.  I got a new dress for Easter.  Saturday morning was Jackson's baptism.  I was beautiful and I was so proud of him.  I was really glad that I could be home to be a part of his special day.  Saturday afternoon we dyed Easter eggs.  We had our first spill ever on Woogie's new carpet.  It was amazing.  No one got upset or mad.  Everyone just got up and started helping and would you believe it, not a single drop of blue dye stained the beige carpet.  Sunday was Easter. It was a great day and we had dinner at my grandma and grandpa's house - prime rib and twice baked potatoes with strawberry cream pie for dessert, my favorite!  Monday I was at the airport by 5 and spent the last day of my Spring Break making my way back to D.C.  School would start up again on Tuesday, my last week.  The bittersweet-ness is already setting in.