Back from Washington

And it was too much fun. Abigail and I got up before the birds on Sunday, watched the sunrise from the plane to D.C., then spent the entire day with Samuel. We got some breakfast from McDonald's, which was my vote, it was far to nice out to sit inside somewhere....and we headed to the beautiful national park on the Potomac. We sat in the shade and sipped coffee and solved the world's problems, we walked on the trail and took pictures. We found a nice grassy place to sit and take our shoes off, just enjoying doing nothing, and catching up. Abigail was in Norway for an entire year, it was the first time she and Sam saw each other since she got back. (Sam so nicely took care of her car for her for the year). We headed to the hotel, which was only a five minute drive from the Army base, checked in, then walked around town to find something for dinner. Abigail and I decided on Five Guys, which is a burger place that makes the patties from fresh ground beef, and cuts their own fries. Sam opted for a tortilla place. We also stopped at a local coffee place for iced coffees to go....we took it all back to our nice air-conditioned room to get out to the 93 degree heat. We didn't turn on the t.v., we just talked and laughed and enjoyed each other's company.

We brought Sam back to base thinking we would see him for lunch on Monday, but he wasn't able to have an official lunch...they were doing rehearsals....in the Old Guard/Honor Guard, they practice practice, practice....Abigail and I didn't know this until noon, that he wouldn't be able to see us, so we hung around the Marine Memorial, and walked in Arlington National Cemetery for a bit.

We left around 1:00 and arrived home at 9:30....it's a long day, but pleasant. We had beautiful weather, and don't seem to run out of things to talk about.

Today I have to bring Sonja to physical therapy. I need to mail things and make phone calls and plan lessons. Paul and Margaret's fiancé, Adrian, installed eight new windows on Saturday. They are white vinyl, so I want to paint the trim white. The Abigail and I watched some home decorating shows after bringing Sam back to the base the other night, and talk about making me hate my awful house! Not really hate, but you know, makes me itch to buy chalk paint and fix things up.

Another summer is coming to an end, and once again, wah. Only three of our kids are heading to public school, Evelyn Joy, Suzanne Eleanor, and Sonja Kathleen, all in high school. The warm lazy days were warm enough but not lazy enough. I want more nights to grill in my bathing suit, sipping a light beer in bare feet I want corn on the cob a few more times, and watermelon! More spontaneous trips to the beach, no, I'm not ready for them to start school.

But I will say this: I am sipping my morning coffee, and yes, it's pumpkin spice.

I do like autumn. In central New York, it means apples, crispy mornings and sunny afternoons, chilly rainy days, and those wild windy days that strip the trees bare. The smell of those crunchy leaves, the long shadows, the foreboding of bitter weather...I do love it.

I took my walk this morning, yay me, Suri came with me and was a very good girl on the leash. Our new puppy is darling, all five pounds of her. She isn't housebroken yet, she likes pooping in here. The girls have been taking turns having her in their rooms at night, Evelyn took her out four times during the night to potty. It takes time, but Labs catch on quickly, I'm hopeful. Our old Duke doesn't like little Sunny much. Paul and I had a talk this morning, we're going to give him a little more time. He still enjoys life, it takes so little to make the old boy happy. Just look at him and he thumps his tail.

My laptop is broken, the screen was iffy for a while, but no one broke it while I was in California. It just magically broke all by itself! Now I'm blogging on the iPad that Aaron gave me for my birthday...it has a nice wireless keyboard, but I haven't figured out how to put pictures on the blog with it yet, don't laugh. One of these days.

For the first time in a long time, I have no trips planned! I do have other plans though, like kitchen remodeling...painting cabinets and resurfacing the countertops, painting the living room and foyer....fitting it in is challenging...but it's fun...sort of.

Ah well, things to do....