First overnight away...

Well, this week marked another milestone in mine and Luci's lives (Jason's too).  I had a business trip that took me to Washington DC for 2 nights.  I have to be honest...the closer the trip came, the more I didn't think I could do it.  It wasn't that I didn't trust Jason...I knew he would take super care of our precious girl.  I just didn't think that I could stand it!  What if she thinks I've abandoned her?  What if she forgets who I am?  What if...?  You get the picture.  I was a neurotic mom!  But, I decided to act like a big girl and just do it.  So, Monday at noon I took Luci to daycare and boarded a plane for DC.

It was my first trip to our nation's capital and I got to see some amazing sights!  The hotel I was staying in was within 5 blocks of all the monuments, the capital building, and the White House, not to mention all the Smithsonian museums.  So Monday evening, a friend and I took off on an exploration of the monuments by night.  Beautiful!  We walked to the Lincoln Monument (always been my favorite in pictures) and it was a spectacular sight at night!  We looked out over the reflecting pool and saw the Washington Monument and the Capital Building lit and glowing in the night.  Then we walked through the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.  We saw the Nurses Memorial, glimpsed the White House and saw the Capital Building up close.  The light was still lit at the top of the Capital Building and the flag was flying on the House side indicating that the House was still in session that evening.  Wonder what they could have been talking about at 9:00 on a Monday evening?!  We saw the Supreme Court Building and caught a glimpse of the houses on Capital Hill.  The historical significance of all these sights was overwhelming!

 

The next day I sat through a workshop (the real reason for the trip) on how to write accreditation reports for our college...fascinating (but seriously, I did learn what I needed to know...I think!).  As soon as the workshop was finished, we set out to take in as many Smithsonian museums as possible.  We had 2 hours until they closed so we made a run through the American History Museum and saw the ruby slippers from one of my all-time favorite movies, Julia Child's kitchen, an awesome Lincoln exhibit, and the famous soda fountain where an integral part of the civil rights movement took place!  There were other things too as we ran through the museum but these were the highlights!

 

 

We then headed next door to the Natural History Museum.  Here I saw enormous dinosaurs (felt like I was  in the movie Night at the Museum), fossils, life-size mammals from all over the planet, the Hope Diamond (I'm asking for that for Christmas!), and a gigantic crystal from Crystal Springs, Arkansas.  This crystal was head and shoulders taller than me.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, at home, Jason and Luci were taking care of each other.  They played.  They chased.  They wrestled.  They read all her favorite books.  And, she ate like a little pig...so I'm told!  I am so thankful that Luci has such a caring and doting father!  I am also very thankful for my wonderful mother-in-law and my fantastic mother!  Nana came and stayed with Luci on Tuesday and Grandma stayed with Luci on Wednesday!  This way, Jason didn't have to worry about driving Luci to daycare and leaving work early to pick her up.  She has never stayed there past 4:00 and we didn't want her to have to this week when her life was already going to be different.  It completely set my mind at ease to know that Luci was being loved and taken care of here at home by some of the people that love her most! 

We all survived; it was a good, productive trip and now things are getting back to normal!  Hopefully I won't have to be away overnight too often but at least now I know I can do it!