The buddies laughed as they walked and walked and walked and walked....

      Sorry it's been so long but let me catch you up on what I've been doing.  I've been walking and teaching and walking and grading and walking and planning and walking. Did I mention that I've been doing a little walking?  You see, my best friend from high school, Annie, spent her Spring Break out here with me.  She flew in last Friday morning and as soon as I got out of school the week of walking began.  She and her uncle (Uncle Keith who happens to be in my Stake Presidency) picked me up from school and we went to lunch and then the National Zoo.  It was a beautiful springy day and it was so nice to see Annie.  The zoo was a blast! We laughed and cracked jokes and had the best time.  Then Uncle Keith took us to the temple so we could see it.  We got there just in time to see it in the most beautiful light that comes at the beginning of the sunset.  From the temple we went to Uncle Keith's house to stay the night, grabbing a few groceries on the way.  We dropped off our groceries and then went to dinner.  I had almost forgotten what real food tasted like.  We went back to the house and we got to hear some of Uncle Keith's stories about all the cool places he's lived (Mexico City, Brazil, Beijing, Thailand...) By about 10:00 we were all exhausted and a little after 11:00 we were all in bed.
       For the first time in 2 moths I slept in a comfortable bed in the most beautiful room. The windows in the room were on the east side of the house so I woke up around 8:30 to the sun shining on me, feeling perfectly rested.  Annie and I got ready for the day, had our breakfast and Uncle Keith took us to Mount Vernon.  The second time around was even better.  We walked around the entire grounds and had a grand time laughing with each other.  At one point the three of us got the giggles at something one of the workers said.  When they send you on tours of the mansion, they break you up into groups.  Well this particular worker informed us that they "typically break you up into groups of between 20 and 21 people".  We all waited until she was out of ear shot and then laughed at the idea of 20.5 people in a group.  After the tour of the mansion, Uncle Keith left us to explore the rest of the grounds and the museums.  Then Annie and I walked two miles along the George Washington Parkway Trail.  It's a pedestrian trail that goes through the woods between the Potomac River and the George Washington Parkway.  We called Uncle Keith and he met us at the 2-mile check point, picked us up and from there we went to Old Town.
      We did a driving tour first.  We saw all up and down King and Duke street and stopped for a photo shoot at the George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple.  Then we drove back to King Street and did a little shopping and had dinner.  After dinner Uncle Keith drove Annie and I to my apartment.  We took our stuff upstairs to my place and then walked to the grocery store for more food and brought it home.  Then we went upstairs and borrowed a mattress from the other girls in our group. We brought it back down to my apartment, got it set up and crawled into bed around midnight.
      Well with the long week of teaching beforehand, two straight days of adventure and Daylight Savings Time, I slept through my alarm and we missed my ward.  So we got up and walked to church to catch sacrament meeting with the ward that meets after mine.  Then we walked home and changed back into our adventure outfits.  We started our adventure by walking back to the grocery store to get the groceries that I left there the night before (oops!).  Then we jumped on the Metro and went to Arlington Cemetery.  We walked around there for a bit, watched the changing of the guard and two wreath laying ceremonies, and went to the burial site of JKF.  Then we walked back to the Metro and went to the Pentagon Memorial walked around there for a while and walked home.
      Monday I went to school and when the day was over, I walked to the Mall and met up with Annie where we continued to walk until Annie got pooped on by a bird.  Perhaps it wasn't very nice of me, but I laughed so hard.  She FLIPPED! She really doesn't like dirt or germs and that almost did her in.  We promptly walked to the Metro and came home so she could change her clothes.  A little while later her cousin Betsy picked us up and took us to dinner. Mmm! Pizza!! It was so tasty! After dinner Betsy took us to see Iwo Jima (the Marines monument).  When she dropped us off at my place we made plans for another outing Wednesday evening to see the Mall at night.  I was very excited for that!  We got up to my apartment and once again I collapsed.
      Tuesday I got early again and went to school.  After school I walked to meet up with Annie again.  We went home dropped off my heavy backpack and headed out for Old Town again.  This time we got to take our time and not have to worry about boring Uncle Keith with all our shopping. We walked up and down King Street, did some real shopping mostly for Annie's souvenirs and a lot of window shopping.  Then we came home and Annie helped me with my grading.  We tried to get to bed kind of early because we had a big ahead of in the morning. Annie was going to come to school with me for Pi Day!
      So we woke up around 5:30 and got ready for school.  We got to school and had a Pi Day party with my first period class.  Some of them thought that it was lame and that they were too cool for it but I think they're just being dumb teenagers.  They need to learn to have a little fun.  The rest of us had a grand ol' time eating pie, listening to a cheesy song about pi and I read them a children's book about pi.  I think the party went off without a hitch.  Second period was homeroom and they made waffles.  Third period I had planning period so Annie and I walked to Georgetown for some cupcakes.  Mmm! Clearly today is not about eating healthy :)  We ate our cupcakes and I walked Annie back to the Metro so she could go to a museum before going to meet up with Betsy for lunch.  Then I walked back to school and had another Pi Day party with my fourth period class.  From school, I went to my weekly seminar where we ate more pie since the majority of us are math teachers.  After the seminar I walked to the Metro and met up with Betsy and Annie for our nighttime tour of the Mall.  We parked the car and walked around the Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam Memorials.  Then we got back in the car and drove to the Tidal Basin where we walked around the FDR Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.  I got to see my very first cherry blossoms! They are so pretty!!  After our tour, we went to dinner, had another piece of pie and then Betsy took us home.  We walked in the front door of my apartment at 11:45 (fifteen minutes before midnight), kind of late for a school night, but it was SO worth it.
      By Thursday morning I was starting to feel it.  All this walking and burning the candle at both ends and in the middle was starting to wear me out, but I wasn't throwing in the towel yet.  I still had Annie for two more days and I had to make the most of them.  Thursday I got observed by my supervisor again. She said that I keep improving which made me really happy. After school I walked to the International Spy Museum and met Annie for our last full day of fun.  We crawled in air ducts, took a couple forbidden pictures, walked some more and laughed a lot.  We stayed until it closed and then walked to the Metro and came home.  We cooked dinner which we were too tired to eat and crashed around 10:30.
      Friday, I woke up telling myself I only had to make it to 12:30.  I had fourth period planning so I was going to leave school at lunch to see Annie off.  One of my students from third period pushed my buttons and I almost went to get the principal to handle the situation, but we got it resolved and the period ended.  I've never been so excited for the weekend in my life.  My sanity was slipping through my fingers and I had had all that I could take.  I needed a break.  I ended up having to stay through lunch to help students but at least they were the nice ones.  When I got my chance, I booked it out of there! I met up with Annie at the Mall again.  We walked to the Metro and went home so she could finish packing.  Then I saw her off to the airport, went back to my apartment and took the rest of the weekend off.  I posted a few pictures of our week, took it easy and went to bed extremely early (9:30).  I slept straight through the night until 8:30 the next morning.  Feeling well rested again, I woke up got ready for the day, put on my St. Patty's Day socks, and got to work.  I did all my laundry, cleaned my room, and spent the remainder of the day grading papers while watching movies.
      Today was the first time I left my apartment since Friday.  I went to church, came home, read a little Narnia, went to lunch at the second councilor in my bishopric's house, came back home, put on my sweats and resumed the lesson planning and paper grading.  Well folks there you have it.  The week of walking and laughter.  It's been the most intense week I've had out here, but it's also been the most fun.  I think I'll give my feet some time before I do that again though.  I have 9 school days left to teach and 29 days until I come home.  The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to burn bright but I've got miles to go before I'll have everything done and be ready to come home.