In Which I See Columns

FREEDOM!!! I am all done with students!!!!!

So I went exploring the national arboretum, which is smack in the middle of a rather skeevy neighborhood in northeast D.C. The arboretum itself is quite nice, though not as big as the one in Chicago, I think. Unless I missed bits of it, which is possible. It does have something no other arboretum has: columns. Big marble columns from the original capitol. Standing in the middle of a field. I had to go back to the car to get my camera, I was so struck by it. Who's idea was it to erect a circle of marble columns in the middle of a field? It just seems so out of place.

I also saw the Anacostia River. Now I can say I've been there. There was also a collection of bonsai trees. How do they keep the trees from getting big?

In Which I Love Gummy Bears

Apparently, my current mental capacity is that of a 5-year-old. I have less than 2 weeks left of school, am averaging 5 hours of sleep a night, and am just plain tired. Teachers around the country know exactly what I mean. We are all in survival mode. In order to make it through to the end, I am watching things that make me happy. It started off as nature documentaries and re-runs of Bones, and has gradually deteriorated to old Disney movies (I love The Apple Dumpling Gang) and the Muppet Show, and now I have deteriorated to The Gummy Bear Song. I watched the YouTube video five times today alone.

Several months ago, my sister introduced me to The Gummy Bear Song. I dare you to listen and not smile. I mean, it's a green, animated gummy bear wearing a pair of bright yellow men's underwear, singing techno-pop. What's not to love? And, to make it even better, you can listen to it in Spanish, Czech, Swedish, Hebrew, Irish, Hungarian, German, French, Brazilian, and Slovak! It's also a great song to listen to while working out because it's just the right tempo. I have it twice on my iPod, once in German, and once in English. I'm a bi-lingual gummy bear lover. Gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy, gummy bear.

In Which I Am Crafty

I spent today at the annual Occoquan Craft Show. Occoquan is a small, picturesque, historic town on the Occoquan River. I've never been there before, but I will have to go again. There are a lot of cute little shops and restaurants. There is even a shop called The Polka Dot Diva. I love polka dots; I own 4 polka dot dresses. Disappointingly, the shop had more diva-related merchandise then polka dots.

Even though the weather was in the 90's, it was worth the discomfort. There were all kinds of artisans and creative displays. And free samples..... yum. The first Fair food of the season always tastes the best. It was a lot of fun to walk around, see the displays, listen to the musicians. On the way out, we stopped at Mom's Pies, where I got a delectable piece of almond chess pie. It was a really nice way to unwind from the week, and get a little preview of summer. I took pictures, but I misplaced the cord to connect my camera to the computer. When I find it, I will post them.