Turkey Day

Thanksgiving was, as they (some people at least) say, off the hinges. I feel a little guilty about not going home, like perhaps I need to do a better job of being a son and being committed to family things.

But, the weekend was awesome. Between Wednesday night, and Sunday morning we hardly slowed down, except to sleep here and there (like on the Metro).

We visited

• Thursday Night


• White House (from the fence)


• WWII Memorial




• Friday


• Holocaust Museum


• Islamic Center (my first time in a Mosque)


• Lots of embassies (we walked by them that is)


• National Geographic Society's Explorer's Hall (we talked to the security guards at clsoing, that is)


• International Spy Museum (only the gift shop; tickets were sold out)


• Chinatown (had dinner here, yum!)


• National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial




• Saturday


• Air and Space Museum


• National Gallery of Art (some of us)


• National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden (some of us)


• American History Museum (my first time here)


• An Ethiopian restaurant in Adam's Morgan


• A ghetto mall in my hometown


• Little Italy in Baltimore(yum!)


• Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Plus random places when I misdirected us. :-) We are masters of the Metro now. There were lots of memorable quotes, one of which I will share here:

Stated in front of the White House, with P having a female Chinese accent.

P.:  They have security cameras here, yes?

N.:  Yeah I'm sure they do.

P.:  So, be cool.

Go Outside

Go outside and check out the stars tonight.

I'm going away for a few days. Don't break anything while I'm gone.

Old CD for the trip - Stellar Kin Save the Changes

New CD for the trip - Caedmon's Call Chronicles

May they get me through DC alive.

And Then There Were None

Ten years ago, I:
1. Was twelve
2. Lived in a town of ~ 300 people
3. Was a Little League catcher

Five years ago, I:
1. Was weighing the pros and cons of various colleges, trying my best to figure out which one I needed to go to
2. Was enjoying a life of comfort with my friends at my high school and across the great state of Kentucky
3. Knew with little doubt that I would study computer science in college

One year ago, I:
1. Was enjoying life in Maryland
2. Stayed busy enough I didn't think much about how out of touch I was with people at home
3. Can't tell you

So far this year, I:
1. Thought a lot about my future
2. Improved my guitar-playing skills (even some barre chords now!)
3. Can't tell you

Yesterday, I:
1. Can't tell you
2. Talked about the beginning
3. Left my cell phone at home, went to the wrong house, but successfully maneuvered through College Park to the correct destination

Today, I:
1. Can't tell you
2. Received a hug from a two-year-old
3. Made a late-night run to Denny's with friends

Tomorrow, I will:
1. Drive to Richmond
2. See Jenny and Susan, hopefully
3. Find a place to sleep, hopefully

In one year, I will:
1. Have decided what the next step after graduation is for me
2. Probably still be uncertain about my future
3. Realize that some of the things I worried about in the past weren't quite so important after all

In five years, I will:
1. Smile at how much I worried about what I would do after graduation
2. Be older and wiser, wise enough to marvel at that which I do not know
3. Be as old as one of my brothers is now. He just got a “real job”; I have plenty of time to figure that out!