A Capitol Fourth of July...

After a bit of an emotional roller coaster, racing around all of Northern Virginia with my boss hitting a large number of festivals, parades, and town events I headed home. As I drove the hour back home to Arlington I decided I didn't want to spend my first Independence Day Night living here sleeping or watching it on tv. Part of the reason why I am content moving as often as I have and that I love all of the cities I have lived previously is that I have taken every opportunity and every bit of time to enjoy what that city had to offer. In this case, this meant jumping in the shower and on the metro into DC that evening - despite my legs throbbing from running so much throughout the day. I literally sprinted almost 6 miles that day - and I felt every step in my lungs and in my calves.

I called up DeEtte who was at the roof party for the Heritage Foundation with her mom and Annie - I met up with them there. We contemplated briefly heading down to the mall to fight the crowd and get a closer view, but then decided to stay and watch from the roof. We enjoyed food, an open bar, and ice cream while we waited for the last of the sun to go down. It was great to see friends, some people I work with, and watch the fireworks with such a great view. The weather was perfect - we literally had a great view of the capitol and down towards the river to the fireworks with the Washington Monument as a reminder nearby. We had a view of all of the shows in the VA/MD/DC area in a full 360 view - we stuck around much longer than the main show by the monuments to enjoy the evening and the last of the smaller shows.

I'm really glad I made the extra effort to spend time with the girls and to enjoy the holiday. It really made me appreciate not only our great country, but all of the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I really am blessed to live here in Virginia with friends all around and to have the job that I have. I'm looking forward to sitting on the steps of the Lincoln or Jefferson monument next year or maybe a venture up to Boston to sit on the Charles with the Boston Pops fireworks. It'll all depend on what I'll be doing next year.