Back from D.C.

Mike and I got home from Washington D.C. just before midnight Wednesday night. We had a really great time! I wish we could've spent another day. We did manage to do a lot considering we had such a short amount of time to do it in. We did a lot of really fast walking in order to get everything in that we wanted to see. I'm glad we did but my calves were sure paying for it yesterday. Our flights were great and everything went really smoothly. Our hotel was only about 3-4 miles from the airport. We got on the metro at the airport so we could take it to our hotel. When our train passed the stops for the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery, it about drove me nuts because I wanted to hop off right then. We checked in to our hotel and everything was perfect. Our room was on the 10th floor and had a balcony that overlooked the Potomac. We could see the US Capitol building and the Monument from our window. That was VERY cool! We cleaned up a bit and then headed back down to the metro station to catch a train to the Smithsonian. We went to the National Museum of Natural History. I *needed* to see that Hope Diamond. It was SO beautiful! I blazed by the rest of the jewelry really quickly. I would've loved to have been able to play with that jewelry. What beautiful pieces! We also had a look at some really neat rocks and dinosaur bones on the way out. We didn't get too terribly close to that US Capitol building as it wasn't at the top of our list of things to do, but we did see it from a distance and that was good enough for us. We really wanted to go to the National Aquarium but didn't have enough time. I thought for sure that they'd be open until at least 7 or so but they close at 5. Oh well...maybe next time. So we plugged on towards the White House. On the way we saw some really neat things. We finally got there and it was just like I pictured it would be. I still can't decide if I like the front of it better or the back. I think the back. And yes, those are guys you see walking on the roof with guns. After we finished gandering at the White House we went to see the Lincoln Memorial. I really liked that Lincoln Memorial and have wanted to see it ever since I saw it in my history books when I was a kid. When we were walking along the side of the reflecting pool in between the Monument and the Lincoln Memorial I was a little surprised. I had envisioned the reflecting pool being really clean and pretty. Instead it was dirty and merky with hundreds of ducks in it..lol. The War World II War Memorial was on the way to the Lincoln Memorial so we stopped there for a minute. It seemed like the walk to the Lincoln Memorial was never ending. There were tons of people sitting on the steps and while we were walking towards it I wondered why. After we got up to the top of those steps I realized it was because they were too exhausted to go on and needed a break. So down we plopped to have a little break ourselves :). After we left the Lincoln Memorial, we headed down to the Korean War Memorial and then on to the Vietnam War Memorial. By the time we finished up there it was starting to get late so we decided to head back towards the Metro Station and catch the train back to our hotel. We thought about eating out but were too tired so we ordered a pizza and had it delivered to our room instead. We spent some time out on the balcony looking at D.C. after it got dark. I was trying to imagine myself living there but just couldn't picture it. I guess that's because I've live here for so long. It's really different up there. We both slept really well that night. Mike got up early to get ready for his interview so I got up with him too. I didn't want to sit at the hotel while he was gone so I decided to take the metro back in to D.C. so I could go to the National Archives. I hated to go by myself but I REALLY wanted to see the Declaration of Independance and knew if I didn't go I'd regret it. Mike walked with me to the station and then he headed for the place where his interview was going to be. It was only a couple of blocks away. I was really surprised when I got off at my stop. As soon as I got out of the station, the National Archives were just right there. I was worried that I'd have to go looking for it. I had to wait for them to open for a few minutes so walked around a bit. I noticed that the Robert F. Kennedy Sept. of Justice building was right next door. That was pretty neat. It was getting close to 10 so I headed back over to the Archives and got in line. I was a tad bit lonely but better to go alone than not to go at all. I know Mike wanted to go but there just wasn't enough time. As soon as I got in a through security I headed straight for the Rotunda. I knew I wouldn't be able to see much in there but I *HAD* to see the Declaration of Independance, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. I'm SO glad I went! I LOVED seeing those in person!!! I knew Mike was probably gonna be done with his interview soon so after I saw them I made my way out. I did get to see some other neat documents on the way out. I headed down to the shop ang got the kids a copy of the Constitution and a few other goodies. Mike called to tell me he was done so I headed back to the station. I asked him how his interview went but he wanted to tell me when I got back to the hotel. By the time I got back to the hotel it was already 11. We had to hurry and check out because we needed to be at the airport at about 1 to catch our flight to Milwaukee and we still wanted to stop by Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon since they were both on the way to the airport. As soon as I got back to the hotel he had our things ready so we checked out and headed back over to catch the metro to the cemetery. Wow. That cemetery is a lot larger than I ever could have imagined it to be. We had planned on going to see the Tomb of the Unknowns and watch the changing of the guard. I was really disappointed when I realized we couldn't. It was a 20 minute walk from the visitor's center to the tomb and we didn't have time because we had to get to the airport. :(. I also wanted to see where JFK was buried but again, we didn't have time. The place is just gigantic! We did walk around for a bit. While we were walking along we noticed that someone was be taken to their final resting place by soldiers riding horses that were pulling a wagon. I wondered about that person and who they were as they were coming by. I still wanted to see the Pentagon so we headed back towards the metro station. As we were walking away from the cemetery I noticed a portion of the Pentagon was right in front of us. It was so neat! Mike didn't know what it was but I did as soon as I saw it :). We hopped on the metro, the Pentagon was the next stop. I'm not sure what part of me thought that I was gonna be able to see the whole thing...lol. When we got off the metro we were at the Pentagon. The metro runs underneath it and when we came out we were just there. It was really weird! I only got to see a fraction of it but that's better than not seeing any of it at all. I thought for sure I was gonna get to see the whole thing when our plane took off but as luck would have it we were on the side of the plane where we got to see the Capitol, Monument, Memorials and all of the stuff I had already seen. The stinking Pentagon was on the left side. *sigh*. And just to rub it in, the pilot came on to tell everyone that those who were sitting on the left side of the plane were getting an amazing view of it It took everything I had not to hop over someone's lap. Anyway, I couldn't take any pics of the Pentagon where we were at because there were a lot of signs that said no pic taking allowed. It was really neat to see all the Generals and such walking around. The flight back to Milwaukee was good and I was really looking forward to landing because my good stitching friend Jodi was coming to the airport to see me. We had a really nice visit and I'm really glad I got to see her again :). Our flights to D.C. and back were really good. The only thing I didn't like was flying over Lake Michigan. I *REALLY* don't like flying over large bodies of water. We flew on Midwest and I have to say, American was my favorite airline but I really did like flying on Midwest and plan to use them again. We got an arline/hotel package off of Orbitz and I was really impressed with them to. They called my cell phone several times to give me flight updates. We got both of our tickets and the hotel for the price we would have paid for 1 ticket directly through an airline.

Anyway...I'm sure you're wondering about Mike's interview. I'm not going in to a lot of details because I've already typed a novel here, but in a nutshell it went really really well. There were 3 men that interviewed him and they all really liked him. They even talked about who's team he would best fit in to. It sounds really good for him and they told him that he'd be hearing from them very soon. I know I've been anxious the past year to find out where we'd be in the future and I'm really excited for him. If this is what he wants then I really want him to have it. I however am feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Hopefully he'll hear something soon so I won't have to keep wondering. I guess it just didn't seem that "real" to me until after he had the interview.

Today is Friday so that means it's time to pull my fairy out! Hopefully I'll get some more of her wings done. I picked up National Treasure so I could show the kids and Mike where I was at the other day...lol.