It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We have a NEIGHBOR!!! It's official, there is someone living in the apartment next to us! Some of you might find this post to be a bit strange but you just haven't been following the story. Our next door neighbor has successfully alluded us for the past month. However, tonight we were triumphant...our neighbor could live in hiding no longer. Tonight I heard a noise outside our door, peering through the peephole I saw a vision, a vision of the neighbor next door, half of the neighbor next door to be exact...what it's not a large peephole. This is exciting news because not only do we have a neighbor but we have one who appears to be a girl about our age...It's not the 40 year old man looking for a roommate to share his fully furnished studio (thankfully) or twin Matthew McConaughey look-a-like brothers (sadly), but while nothing is out of the realm of possibility it does appear it's not a "Crazy" or a "Scary". Stay tuned to hear if we ever actually converse with the allusive girl next door.

A Day with the Executive Branch

When I accepted an internship in the big D to the C (I know I'm ghetto) I didn't really expect much. I'll be honest, my professors at Union made it a point to instill a lack of expectations in us in regard to internships. I moved up here thinking this was an opportunity of a lifetime (and it is) but that I would simply spend most of my days standing over a copy machine with short breaks for filing, getting people coffee and runs to pick up lunch (if I was lucky). Well, for the third time in my life, I was wrong (alright so there is a possibility that I've been wrong a few more times, but it's my blog I can say what I want...the comment section is for you). Wednesday proved to stray FAR from these original expectations.

As I rode into work on the Metro I thought about what I was doing this time last year, ahh yes, Senior Seminar. I then thanked God I am not doing that now, again. There was excitement in the air and with every drink of creamer, I mean coffee, I could feel the excitement growing. I already knew this was going to be a fun day, a day I'd thought about for a long time. Yes, this day was going to be the first day I would get to hear the President speak in person. The President was giving a speech to his appointees and I got a hold of tickets (yes this is plural, Jodie went as well)!

The speech was amazing, and I'm not bias at all. Andy Card (the Chief of Staff) introduced him and the President gave an impromptu speech for 45 minutes (without notes, a teleprompter or the involvement of his speechwriters). It was great. He began by welcoming us. He said, "Some of you are here because I've appointed you and placed you into positions to serve this country. Others of you are here because I'm here." Jodie and I looked at each other knowing we both had a little bit of her granny in us...the part that chases famous people around attempting to see them anytime we can. Next year though I hope to be able to walk out of my office, past the certificate on the wall stating "Rebekah Johnson Political Appointee by President George W. Bush" and into the assembly. I don't anticipate not having at least one friend who's snuck in under the radar and is there because he's there.

Wednesday morning I thought that was where my adventure that day would end. Wrong again (yeah, yeah there's a fourth time for everything...I think). Jodie left to catch the Metro and I went back to the office. Israel Hernandez, a co-worker, was being sworn into another position. There was a lot of security around and I remembered what Dr. Evans (a Political Science prof. at UU) told me one time, if you see something like that, something big is about to happen so walk to where it appears the front is and look as if you are on a mission (this is a bit of a Becky paraphrase). That's exactly what I did. I went to the DOC auditorium and found a seat. Upon sitting down I found out that Andy Card was also going to make an appearance at this event along with (eat your heart out Brennan) the FIRST LADY!!!

She spoke briefly and held the Bible Israel took his oath on. Afterward there was a reception where I hoped to meet Mrs. Bush, she would realize she liked me which would lead to numerous dinner invitations to the White House, Camp David and the Ranch. However, (I'm sure this is what happened) something came up and Mrs. Bush was unable to stay for the reception. But, I'm confident there will be another time and her leaving did not weaken my excitement in the least.

You know, everyday is a reminder that God's plans are always greater than our own!

I'll try to make my posts for frequent, but until next time we can pretend I'm hobnobbing with the West Wing crew (Martin Sheen is nowhere to be found)!

Triads

A Note from the author: For those of you still holding onto bitterness toward CLU Class, get over it. The class didn't count against your GPA, Mrs. Hopper and Mrs. Tignor are nice people and besides Susan Hopper (at some point) was reading my blog. If you can't get over your anger and still find satisfaction knowing you burned your CLU book, you probably should stop reading now.

Triads...for those of you who attend(ed) Union the term triad is familiar. It takes you back to College Life at Union (CLU). It's the half-semester introductory course required by the university where the only determining factor of passing or failing is if you show up for class everyday or not. Triads were a part of this "journey" your "guides" (Mrs. Hopper and Mrs. Tignor) took you through. Simply stated, you got into a group of three and expressed what your greatest accomplishment was up to that point, we could also find examples in our book to look over from CEO's and Executives. My group (yes I'm naming myself the ruler of the triad) basically laughed and mocked each other's accomplishments (this continues to the present day), but we didn't stop there we also mocked those found in our books as well. (I know this seems heartless, and I have been called Dream Crusher before, but the triad is still strong, CLU did not break us.)

One man, that still comes up in conversation, formed his own tribe, named himself chief, fought a four year war and came out victorious. Well, for me last weekend was much like this executive's accomplishment.

I was...Cinderella, Spiderman, a dog, a cat, a superhero throwing fire on the bad guys, a Power Ranger, a monster, a bad guy, an airplane, a cheetah Girl (rescuing the patrons of K-Mart) and Daisy Duck. I barked, meowed, made strange shooting and flying noises with my mouth and had the police called on me. It was rather eventful to say the least. It also involved a very cute three year old, my niece. My parents brought my furniture along with a shameful amount of personal items I've accumulated over my 22 years of life up from Georgia last weekend, and they surprised Jodie and me by bringing along Tatiana, my niece.

When they left and I was thinking about the weekend, I thought about my triad...I know we've all established that I'm a dork....but I wondered if one day Tatiana would be in a cynical triad sharing her greatest accomplishment of saving the world from bad guys, defying gravity and scaling sides of buildings while maintaining the class and beauty of Cinderella. I think though, there will be cause for medication if at 18 she's still shooting people with fire....for the time being, I'm willing to be on either side of the law for her little adventures.

Trash Day

So, there's something I feel I need to share...don't be frightened this is not some sort of dive into the depths of my soul or a bitter/sorrowful testimonial. Alright, don't get me wrong, I LOVE our new apartment, it is amazing! However, there is one place we (Jodie and I) do not love...the trash compactor or what we've come to call, the vortex of nastiness. We put off venturing to the vortex of nastiness until it's absolutely necessary. So, while we will accept monetary donations you bring when you visit, you simply taking out the trash will suffice. We're working on a toss and run system where we get the least amount of exposure, but we're up for suggestions.