children mentioned and seen...

I have finally finished undigging from the final week in June, a week that included my blogoversary, Advocacy Day, seeing four bloggers, going to the beach, and stripping amongst kosher beef. An explanation in pictures...

Wednesday:

Woke up and went to meet Lindsay on the farm to pick blueberries.

Drove back towards home to meet Lindsay and Karen for lunch. Decided it would save time if we changed into our bathing suits at the restaurant for the splash park we were going to after we ate. Forgot that I had marked up my breast when I found the lump until the ChickieNob started calling out, "someone has written on my mommy's boobie! Someone drew on my mommy with a Sharpie! We don't draw on skin!" Thankfully, she never noticed the fact that I had Meghan's name scrawled across my breast a few weeks ago.

Went to the splash park and splashed our hearts out.

Ran home and jumped in the shower. Tried to make myself look presentable because I was meeting Cassandra at a conference center which had the vibe of Bohemian Grove. Wondered as I drive through the campus if Cassandra is secretly part of the Illuminati, which would explain the great questions she asks for Thoughtful Thursdays. We went to get Starbucks so I could drink coffee and stare at her glossy glossy hair. It is like out of a Pantene ad. She is exactly as you would expect from her blog. Smart, funny, and inquisitive. I had a great time and wish we could have had a full day together.

Went home and collapsed.

Thursday:

Woke up and again tried to make myself look presentable. Josh went to drop off the kids and I drove to meet Josh so we could go downtown together but I could have my car later. Decided halfway into the trip that I needed to pee. Decided 3/4th of the way into the trip that I needed to pee so badly that I would not reach Josh with dry underpants. Pulled off in park and peed in a port-a-potty. Tried to look as if it were normal to stop by a park in business attire without a child and pee in said port-a-potty.

No pictures, thankfully.

Got downtown to Advocacy late. Met up with my fellow Marylanders. Felt like the weakest link in our group which included fellow bloggers, Body Diaries by Lucy, Two is a Family, and My Nest, Someone Else's Eggs (which are not the people featured below).

Ran by Julie's table to say, "hey, I'm feeding you tonight." And then swung back in the room when I found out Marisa was there! Could not have been more excited to meet her face-to-face after watching her inject videos numerous times. It was pretty damn emotional to get to hug her.


I'm not sure I can sum up how it feels to enter the Senate office buildings. Well, I can start here: there is an entirely different vibe in the air right now than there was for the last few years. It's not just because I'm happier with government. It was just a remarkable (as in, everyone was remarking on it) difference from the way people smiled at you in the hallway to the feeling that you belonged in that space--that as a citizen, you have a right to ask your elected officials to help you.

Our first appointment was at Ben Cardin's office. We met solely with staffers. My first meeting was definitely my best meeting. I felt like the staffer heard us and we articulated the message well. I tagged along to Barbara Mikulski's office just because I love her and wanted to soak up the vibes of being near her even if she wasn't in the room.

I met with the staff for a congressman from New Jersey as well as Donna Edwards. All in all, it was an incredibly powerful, emotional day. Thank you, Resolve, for organizing it.

Jumped on the Metro and headed to pick up the kids, sitting next to a very chatty teenager who wanted to tell me the story of her trip to Washington for about 12 stops. Doesn't notice that I am merely nodding at her with a glazed expression on my face. Got off, grabbed the kids, raced home, gave them a meal while I cooked, tucked them in, and then went downstairs to collapse for five minutes before Julie came.

Meal: Salad. Pasta with kalamata olives and fresh mozzarella. Pizza di Patate. Chocolate chip cookies. Conversation: salty, fizzy, sweet, and surprising.

Josh learned a new word from Julie: anhedonia--which is the inability to derive pleasure from pleasurable things.

Julie tried to steal my plates. My beautiful plates given to us by Josh's grandparents. It has since been a week so I can't remember why we took this picture or why we thought it was funny...but it was...at the time. And we hadn't even cracked open the bottle of wine she brought. So this is life...sober.


It was wonderful to get time again with Julie, but like last time, it was just too damn short. She is the type of house guest who would not smell like rotted fish after three days (or however that saying goes). In fact, I am quite sure that if you kept giving me liquid and food, I could have sat there indefinitely (oh...and I guess a little sleep). She is just fascinating and funny and exactly like a human version of her blog.

These pictures made me realize that I am so freakin' short. After dinner, Josh drove her back to the Metro, but she missed the last train so he took her into Bethesda. In the meantime, I did a frantic clean-up and load of laundry because the next day, we left for Vampire Weekend at the beach.


The rest of the stories and pictures coming tomorrow...