weekend recap, february 10

1. jump | 2. capital day | 3. cal's office | 4. opening ceremony | 5. close up | 6. salad days | 7. river walk | 8. cal's chex | 9. cheers to a friend

The first thing I did when I got up this morning was check the forecast for Richmond. It looks like a big snowstorm building for central Virginia, and oh, I hope! Let's face it. I'd like it to move a little east too, but I really want it for Cal. Not sure he'd really get to get out and play in it, but nothing beats that excitement when you're a kid, right?

Neel and a colleague had to give a presentation for a grant in Richmond on Friday, so I tagged along with them to pick up Cal. They headed off... somewhere and I took my book (This one, Petra, you didn't miss a thing. I think we'd talked about it in the comments.) to the General Assembly Building (that's the main office building for the capitol) and hung out. The room the parents wait for their pages in is in a committee room and they streamed the senate session in that room. I didn't catch a sight of Cal while I waited, but there was a peanut gallery of lobbyists working on their laptops in the darkened room who would occasionally shout out, "That's bullshit!" to something a senator said.

So I grabbed Cal, just as Neel got done, and Cal (looking terribly grown up and official) introduced me to one senator after another before taking all of us over to the Lieutenant Governor's office. The session had just ended for the day, so the LG was in his office and he took a few minutes to show us around! This is the space where Cal works every day, and we were so touched that the Lieutenant Governor spent some time with us. I know Cal was proud to show off for sure.

Oh, and so you noticed how I captioned that one photo (#3) "Cal's office," did you? Well, the pages do a Mock Senate near the end of the session and Cal ran for LG and won! So I like to think we were standing with the LG and the LG-elect. Right? Right.

But man, my kid is worn out. Slept on the drive home and took a three-hour nap once he got here. After school on Saturday, he napped for another hour and a half and went to be early Saturday night. It's a lot. The work is a lot. Keeping on top of school is a lot. And enjoying all of his new friends is a lot. And balance is hard to find when you're a teen. I want him to soak up every single second, but I don't want him to get sick.

I know this whole post has been full of mama-bear pride, and I'm sorry about that. How can I help it when we ran into his Latin teacher on Saturday and (even though she thinks he's spoiled) she told us that Cal has actually brought his Latin grade UP from last term?

Good kid.

five things, february 7

1. I think this ad, for a roommate in a neighborhood in my hometown is one of the funniest things I've read in awhile. What do you think Neel? Are they medical students?

2. I think that while Erin and I commiserated over JK Rowling's shocking, no IRRITATING, revelations regarding Harry Potter and Hermione Grangier, Stephen Colbert, it seemed, does not agree with us. (wink)

3. I think I'm SHOCKED to learn that so many bloggers are introverts! Shocked, I say! Seriously, that's worthy of an NIH study, don't you think? I so appreciated all of your insightful comments on that score. I've downloaded this book, and I'm really interested to dig deeper into better understanding. I'm starting to think it's pathological in my family.

4. I think I have such mixed feelings about these darned Olympics. You've heard what a hot mess things are over there, right? I mean every day there's a new revelation, and we haven't yet seen a half-naked Putin riding a horse or a lion or whatever yet. Toothpaste explosives. Stray dog executions (we have to whisper that one around here). Don't even get me started on the human rights issues, including their horrific record on homosexual rights. And have you see this? It's a compilation of tweets from journalists detailing the horrific living conditions. Hilarious. Sad, but really funny too.

And yet, the Olympics. And not just the Olympics, the WINTER OLYMPICS. My all time favorite. I lovelovelove them. Every single event is entertaining to me from the opening ceremony to the last spray of snow from an ice skate blade.

What to do? Well. We're going to watch. How can we not? I can feel all the things I feel about Russia (and Neel's even a little worried about the terror threat), but I can still support our athletes and even let myself enjoy doing it.

5. I think I want to start a series called "Politicians I Admire." (Yes, I know, it'll be a short series.) As Cal grows more and more serious about this business (He's learning SO much.), I want him to know that not everyone is a corrupt scumbag. That there are good men and women out there who are doing hard work for good reasons. Have you guys heard about Creigh Deeds? He's a Virginia state senator (which means that Cal is working with him right now) who ran for statewide office twice and lost (most recently for governor, four years ago). He was in the national news late last fall when he was attacked with a knife by his mentally ill adult son. He nearly died and his son, Gus, did die, from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

A horrific situation and a horrible story, just heartbreaking. What Senator Deeds has done in the ensuing months is, to me, nothing short of amazing. He got back to work. He got himself involved in changing laws that protect those who suffer from mental illness. And more importantly, he started talking. AC360, 60 Minutes, Deeds faced the cameras and told the story. He told the story of his son's decline into mental illness and of that horrible day. Mostly, he talked simply of Gus, and how his son was more than his disease. You can see the CNN story here.

Cal sees Senator Deeds every day. He says that there are significant visible scars on his face and one of his arms seems not to work well. Sometimes, in the middle of a committee meeting he'll just start weeping. I'm so proud to know that this man is representing our state. That my son gets to work with him and maybe bring him lunch once in awhile. I'm proud of the work he's doing on behalf of all of us. This man is who more of our politicians should be.