1. In high school, on a student council service trip, we passed by a tattoo parlor. Our council president started to name off things that each of the individual council members could have tattooed, like the girl who was also on swim team could have a nice jumping dolphin tattoo’d on her ankle.
For me, it was the word “Anal” (as in -retentive) written in gang lettering on my stomach.
2. One of the attorneys I work for is married to a federal judge. Yesterday, the Judge stopped by the office, and I was able to catch him up on Josh’s post-clerkship job interviews. When I named one of the firms still in consideration, he paused and carefully chose his words to describe the working atmosphere there: high-octane and sweatshop.
I came home and relayed this to Josh, who retorted that isn’t the first time this firm has been called a sweatshop. I told him that if he goes there, he should get one of those inner arm tattoos in fancy script of the word “high-octane”.
Leaving work on Wednesday night, I started to walk towards downtown. Driving towards New York Avenue on H Street was a middle aged gentleman in a mid-90s Volvo sedan. He had all the windows down and was blasting some sort of Latin beat. It was heavy on the maracas.
I looked closer and saw that the sound is coming from a real set of maracas that he is shaking along with the beat of the music. He continued to shake after the light turned green and he drove away.
Confidential to Dad:
Happy birthday!
Thank you for coming to visit me (and Josh) this weekend. That meant a lot (to both of us).
Thank you for still being my parents at age 29. Sorry the workload has not decreased with time, but I hope the job is more enjoyable now that we can all drink together at restaurants.
Two weeks ago, Bradley came to visit for the first time since I’ve moved to D.C. And next weekend Mum is visiting for the first time. This makes Dad the last to visit.
I think he’s holding out for my wedding.
The timing of this visit meant that Bud was the first McMahon family member to see Sparkly, the Engagement Ring in person. This was just par for the course in our sibling relationship. Not only did we share a bathroom growing up, but he also helped me pick out my prom dress at Dillards.
He said he would NOT visit any wedding stores. But we did pop into my church and visit two potential reception sites.
After exhausting his limited patience for wedding related site-seeing, we visited my favorite Smithsonian. Bradley tried out a potential career post graduation: big rig mail delivery.
I finally made it to the Air and Space Museum after being in D.C. for two years. No one else who has visited wanted to go there. We spent a lot of time at this museum, along with all the other three to six year olds visiting D.C.
The weather in D.C. for June and July has been hotter than I’ve ever experienced here. During Bradley’s visit, a heat wave rolled in with the highest temperatures D.C. has seen in 80 years.
That’s always the best weather to truck out to BFE to see Thomas Jefferson.
On the last night, we had drinks with some of my D.C. friends who I think Bradley enjoyed finally meeting after hearing all my stories. It was a really great way to cap off our week of togetherness.
Rest of the photos can be viewed here.
