Sanity Returning

We still have a pumpkin to carve, so I’ll have to write quickly today.

Another busy week has passed. Josh survived all of his projects and papers and presentations and exams. I guess all of that boils down to the fact that we have survived half of the semester! That’s good news for all of us.

I checked something off my list of things to do in Philadelphia this week that I have been dreaming about for a year. Inside the conservatory at Longwood Gardens there is a secluded little spot where I have always wanted to sit and read. Every time I walk past that spot I envision myself sitting there for hours on end reading while surrounded by beautiful flowers, heavenly smells, and the sound of a running water. Funny enough that idyllic scene doesn’t have much resemblance with my life at present. This week, however, I had a stroke of genius! I realized that if we took Little House on the Prairie with us on our next Longwood adventure that I could read to the girls in my dream spot! Sometimes your dreams just need a little adjustment before they can come true. We had a lovely trip to Longwood Gardens this week enjoying the Autumn leaves, the crisp air, the harvest displays and reading time in the conservatory! We were enjoying ourselves so much they had to come ask us to leave because the garden was closing.

This was a busy week for the Wharton Kids Club. Thursday was the Fall Bake Sale and Friday was the Halloween Party. We participated in everything, but it was so nice not to be in charge. I was on the WKC Board last year and was in charge of the Halloween Party. We have passed the board responsibilities on to the First Years now, which meant that I could trick-or-treat with my kids, talk to whomever I wanted, leave before everything was cleaned up, and enjoy myself while I was there.

The girls were so excited to trick-or-treat at Daddy’s school--the much heard about, rarely seen mystery place where Dad spends his time. Kate has the trick-or-treating routine down to a science now. Most of the kids trick-or-treating at the school were young or shy and didn’t say much. Kate walked right in to the offices and in a nice clear (but polite) voice said, “Trick-or-Treat.” She even drew applause in the administrative office. Kate was a meerkat and Jane was a giraffe. If that sounds familiar it’s because that is what they were last year. When I asked Kate what she wanted to be this year she said a meerkat. I thought that was the best idea I’d heard all season. We recycled the costumes and the girls and the parents were as happy as could be.

Kate and Jane are very into legos right now. The Philly fairy delivered a set of duplo legos as a welcome back to Philly gift this Fall and they have been a big hit. Kate is really good at looking at pictures and making things. Jane is more into tall, skinny towers of single legos stacked on top of each other. After completing a group of several towers Jane turned to me excitedly and said, “Look, Mom, I builded Philadelphia!”

One morning as Kate and I were eating breakfast she told me she had dreamt about Sleeping Beauty. “Oh, that’s great,” I said and then she told me all about her beautiful princess dream. I then told Kate that I had dreamt about George Washington and Alexander Hamilton all night. She looked at me with her eyebrows knit in a sympathetic expression and said, “I’m sorry. That’s so boring.”

I did two things this week that I have never done before: (1) I transferred buses, and (2) I attended a rally in Washington, DC!

Number 1 (not terribly exciting, but a big deal for me): This week was the height of the Halloween traffic terror so the girls and I took the bus to Wharton for the Halloween party. We had to transfer lines, which I have never done before. I had to ask how to transfer. The bus driver looked at me like I was the dumbest white girl she had ever seen, but we made it! We kept our parking spot on Meredith. And now I won’t be afraid to transfer buses next time.

Number 2 (pretty exciting, indeed): Yesterday the Woodford clan piled into the car and headed to Washington, DC to attend The Rally to Restore Sanity! Next time we attend a rally, which will probably be never, we will know that we should leave REALLY early. Traffic was horrific and even the metro was backed up, but we eventually arrived on the Mall. We felt a little better about being late when Jon Stewart, describing how the normal, good, hard-working average people of this country work together to make life happen, said, “Most Americans don’t live their lives as solely Republicans or Democrats, but as people who are just a little bit late for something they have to do.” The National Mall was packed. There were people up in trees and on top of police cars and, my favorite, on top of port-a-potties trying to see and hear. We stuck to the edge of the crowd with our double stroller, but it was fun to be there and read signs. Here are some photos of the crowd, of us once the crowd had cleared a bit, and some of our favorite signs. I’m sure you can find anything you want to know about the rally on the internet.