Hello, friends. It's been a long time since I've blogged. So many life changes have taken place. I don't think I've written anything since before Elsie was born. Not sure why.
So, most of the changes that impact my life are a result of Ely's ever changing life. He was in Huntsville working on his Master's degree and working for the police department. Then, in August, 2012, he was hired by Regions Bank to work in their IT department. In November, he bought a foreclosure home and proceeded to have a lot of work done on it. I believe him finally moved to the house in March, can't really remember when. In September, he got a call from the State Department telling him there was an opening and he had 24 hours to make up his mind and would have to report to DC in two weeks.
I'll never forget that night. He came over and discussed with Lee and me and we went over the pros and cons. He had wanted that job for about three years and I think we had all figured it just would never happen. After much thought, he went in to work the next morning and resigned. Two weeks later he was living in an apartment in Falls Church, VA provided by the government.
Three weeks into the class there was a Flag Ceremony at the Foreign Service Institute where Ely found out that he would be spending the next two years in Cairo, Egypt. This was his first choice, so he was very pleased. Lee and I flew to DC to attend the event.
We got to do some sightseeing while we were there, too. We toured a couple of the Smithsonian museums. I think one was Natural History and one was Aviation. Visiting museums with Lee is not something I really enjoy. He reads every little placard and it takes forever. I'm happy to just stroll and look at things and move on. I guess my most memorable exhibit was the Hope Diamond. Wow!
Oh, we also visited Mount Vernon. I had a sinus infection and lost steam pretty early on, so I sat in a rocking chair looking over the river while Ely and Lee toured the whole property. Maybe I can go back one day and finish it.
Because of his training schedule, he was not able to come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This was the first time he wasn't with us for a holiday. So, as a Christmas present to myself, I flew to DC the day after Christmas and spent a week with him.
My flight was uneventful, but I waited about 30 minutes for my luggage to show up on one of the six carousels. I finally was headed over to the baggage office to inquire and there was my suitcase sitting in front of the office. No telling how long it had been there. Then I had to go out and get help to get my Smart Pass for the Metro. By the time I finally got to Ely's Metro stop, the shuttle for his apartment complex had stopped running, so I had to walk. Ely claims it's only 3 blocks, but I counted 6 and it's all uphill. Got to the complex, got the key and made my way to his place. He was in class, so I decided to watch a little tv and nap on the sofa. Well, I tried every remote control I could find and nothing I did would turn on the tv. I finally texted Ely to find out what to do. He called me back to tell me I had to speak to the Xbox in order to watch tv. So, I did that and it was nice enough to turn on for me. I think I watched for about 5 minutes before I fell asleep. I was so tired, I didn't even hear Ely come in the door.
On that first night, we took the Metro into DC and saw the Christmas tree by the White House and then the one at the Capital. It seems like we walked for miles and it was very, very cold. I had some new boots on that day, which, unlike Nancy Sinatra's, were definitely not made for walking. My feet were killing me about half way through the night. The next day I found a giant blister on the bottom of one foot.
