Eagerly awaiting visitors

This Wednesday, my great friend Jana and her family are coming to visit. They're moving back to CA from NYC. We don't get to see them often, but they're the kind of friends who are always your best friends, whether you see them every day, or once a year.

We've always had good fun together. Jana and I met at Georgetown where we both went for Masters Degrees in Russian Studies. Even in a vast sea of people that was Georgetown, our program was pretty small. There was a great cast of characters in our program, and we spent two years intensively studying, both Russian studies, and the human question. Living in Georgetown was great, especially the age we were when living there. We thought we knew so much, but looking back, I'm pretty amazed we survived and have done as well as we have.

A renewed faith in humans

As I was hurriedly driving Hayes to baseball practice on Sunday morning (yes, baseball practice at 9 am on Sunday and Father's Day), I was wondering what could possibly be causing traffic on Braddock Road.

I got stuck in the middle of an intersection, so I pulled into the far left lane. Then I noticed the Fairfax County Police vehicle on the right side of the road. I said to myself, OK, maybe there's a fender bender. Breath, no biggie, you're not that late. And I waited. All the traffic was stopped, but the light was green. That's when I think sometimes life should come with subtitles, so I could understand what's going on around me. Curious.

Then I see the same Fairfax County Police Officer, stopping traffic, holding out his hand, risking himself on the other side of Braddock Road, trying to stop traffic with his hand. What is going on? Why is everyone stopping? Why is he risking his life standing in front of oncoming traffic? My lane begins to move. Thank God I selfishly think, now I am going to be late. But as I slowly drive past the officer (yes, I realize the irony that I too am slowing everyone down because I have to know what was holding us up). There, rustling in the tall grass on the median, heading across the west bound side of Braddock was a mommy duck and her ducklings. The Officer had stopped the traffic so they could safely pass. Yes, it was inconvenient. Yes, I was late. But, you know what? So what? How wonderfully thoughtful was it that he pulled over to the side of the road, stopped the traffic, and helped this mommy duck and her babies safely cross a road that would have otherwise ended in their demise.

I smiled to myself. Then I told Hayes about what we had just witnessed and noted that there are still some good people in this world. I hope that goodness rubs off on others, and especially, that I remember seeing this happen, and I hope Hayes remembers it too.

My new job at WMATA

Last Summer, when gas prices hit $4+ per gallon, I finally realized after nine years of dueling with the traffic to get to work that I should take advantage of the metro area's excellent mass transit system. There's a bus stop one block from my house in either direction that goes to the Pentagon. From there I can either walk or take the metro two stops to my office.

By and large, my experience has been very positive. Although not always on time, I get to work on time, I don't have to sit and crawl on I395 with 1,000 of my closest friends thinking "they really say the traffic in LA is worse." Now that is not to say that I haven't had many metrobus adventures, but last night was the most interesting so far. The bus driver was a substitute, not a new occurrence, but usually the sub has some working knowledge of the route. For this driver, it seemed, it was her first day in the area and she had NO idea how to get to where we needed to go.

When I got on the bus, I thought, uh-oh. It's Friday and I really just want to get home. In a move that was probably more self-preservation than an attempt to be helpful, I sat toward the front and proceeded to be the human GPS for the bus driver. I told her that I could only take her so far and hoped that there would be some other helpful passenger who would be able to guide her through the rest of the route. When I finally reached my stop, I gave her as many directions on continuing the route as I could, and stepped off the bus. I'm pretty sure another passenger, also probably thinking of their own abilility to make it home, moved up and helped out.

Hilary Clinton said it takes a village. I truly believe that.

Trying to figure out where to start

So, I've been wondering what blogging is all about, what purpose it serves, and why people do it. It's kind of like trying to figure out why regular everyday people "tweet" on Twitter. There's not much about every day that seems interesting enough to catalog. But, as I say that, I feel, I'm really just being cynical. Perhaps it's a good way to remember what our lives are like.

I've been on facebook for over a year now, and what I've learned is that I really have forgotten a lot. Before I forget too much more, I thought maybe there's a way to preserve it. Maybe while preserving it, my experiences may help others, or at least I may be validated learning that others are experiencing the same things I am.

So, here goes. My first official blog post. Not sure if I will add many more, but, it's a start. My life experiences come from my job, my husband, my children, the rest of the extended family, and a rather eclectic assortment of friends, but most certainly not necessarily in that order. I'm a Mom, I'm a wife, I'm the COO of an Association. I've got 3 great kids, and next Saturday will mark my 16th wedding anniversary. My husband in Brian, and this 4th of July will mark our 20th year together. My kids are Hayes (12), Dylan (10), and Quinn (7), two boys and a girl. I'm originally from upstate New York but now live near the Nation's Capitol.

I'm guessing that my posts will be topic related, driven by a specific experience that for some reason, I don't want to forget. Stay tuned, we'll see what occurs to me first.