In Eckleburg's Eyes - 1/21/2009, Part 2

News & Notes from Monday, January 19th, 2009, Part 2

-After our day in downtown DC, JTH and I took the Metro back to King Street. Since we were parked in her neighborhood, we felt we had nothing to loose by knocking on LMM’s door. We took off our gloves and beanies to try to appear less intimidating in case her roommate answered the door. She did.

-Angela Green (AJG) opened the door (I cannot accurately say she greeted us). She was startled by our presence. After some discussion and properly identifying ourselves more than once, we were admitted. Thankfully, LMM was home!

-It was great to see LMM. We sat with her on her bedroom floor and caught up as it had been some time since we had seen her. She invited us to her wedding, on June 20th in Tennessee. Though her family is from Ohio, her parents recently bought a vacation home on Norris Lake so she still has ties to the area. Her fiancé is a missionary to southeast Asia named Ryan. The California native is currently living in Austin, Texas. LMM had been packing all day to move there the following week, hence she did not receive our phone calls. She will work there for the time being but the couple plans on heading back to the mission field in 2010. Her eyes lit up as she talked about and to Ryan in our presence. We were happy that she was so happy.

-Regarding lodging, her roommate opposed allowing visitors to stay in the home. She would not even permit Ryan to stay there when he visited. Amazingly, LMM called neighbors from down the street. They were away (like many smart locals) and LMM had a key to their home. After LMM vouched for us, they agreed to let us use their home which was within walking distance of the Metro. We were pleased. With JTH involved I could honestly say we would leave their home cleaner than when we arrived. Sadly, I am unaccustomed to prayers being answered sd quickly.

-LMM wished to buy her neighbors groceries as they would also be providing Ryan with lodging soon when he came to help LMM move. We thought the least we could do was pay for the groceries. So LMM directed us to a Wal-Mart across Alexandria. The Wal-Mart (not Super Wal-Mart) did not carry the skim milk the neighbors liked so we headed to a close Giant Food Supermarket. The ubiquitous Barack Obama was there as well in the form of this cake!

-In addition to the groceries, I left our hosts a box of Kellogg's Hannah Montana Cereal for good measure. Despite the fact that they appeared excessively healthy, I felt they would appreciate the gift. Who wouldn’t want a box of Hannah Montana Cereal?

-We then headed back to 110 Rosemont Avenue where we would be spending the night. Having not eaten, I had bought some wraps and deviled eggs at the Giant Food Supermarket. They were terrible! I highly don’t recommend them.

-With that, we were in for the night, at least until 4 am when the Metro reopened as part of its special Inauguration hours.

-Finally, Monday was my mother’s birthday. I missed seeing you Mom!