Living in DC for the past few months has been terribly exciting. We arrived as the campaigns were really heating up and our neighborhood was buzzing. Our first day here we met one of our very nice neighbors who offered to sign us up to vote right on the spot. She was definitely eager but never rude about it, and we kindly told her that we had in fact already voted in Colorado. She liked us from that minute on. (-: We're so responsible.
Election night was of course exciting and the city was out all night. We, on the other hand, called it quits around 10 and fell asleep. It was a working day. We were tired.
Excitement built as Tuesday approached. Really everyone in this town was soaring--Republican and Democrats alike. Sure everyone had a 4 day weekend and who doesn't like that, but also everyone was genuinely excited at this historic event. Cashiers at the grocery stores were much perkier and again, our neighbors extra friendly. It kind of felt like living in Vail. Everyone is on vacation and continuously happy. The tourists rubbed off on everybody and it was a good day.
We went to a lovely party in this fabulously historic house on Monday night. President Truman had spent some time at the house due to his Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, living there. There was history all around us, the food was great, and Eloise happily played with the other children until 10pm! Who can believe it? She loved singing patriotic hymns around the piano, and Alex loved that they came out of a 1982 Episcopal hymnal. It was lovely.
We stayed home on Tuesday and watch the coverage all morning. Right after President Obama was sworn in, Eloise went to nap, and I made a quick and spontaneous decision. I headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register our car. I knew it was risky. I knew the traffic would potentially be wretched or that they could be closed. I ventured out thinking everyone else was on the mall, how could be in the streets? Boy was I right! Woohoo! It took a mere 30 minutes to complete my task! Dare I say record breaking? Nobody was there but me!
So thank President for being so incredibly popular that you did the impossible-you cleared out the DMV. And, thank you Dad for working tirelessly to get us all the paperwork we needed. Thank you also to the Japanese men at the auto station for not charging us a second time on the $450 inspection. The only soreness I still feel is for the state of Maryland. Do you really have to gouge your new residents of $780 to transfer our registration? Seems a little high for me. Welcome the Republic of Maryland. We're here to stay for a while.
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