Monday, July 30, 2007

frame of reference

After examining a $5 bill, Charlie pointed to the building on the back, "What this?"

"It's the Lincoln Memorial."

"Made out of Lincoln Logs?" a look of hopeful expectation on his face.

"Uhhh... (long pause, as my brain scrambles, "aha, a teaching moment and I could use our chart of Presidents, look up some photos of the site on the internet... oh, forget it, he is 3, he will learn this, but not today.")

"Yes, made of Lincoln Logs sweetie."

I have a feeling that next year when we move to DC and go see the monuments, there is going to be one little boy disappointed when he sees ol' Abe surrounded by granite.

3 comments:

Michelle said...

We're supposed to go back to DC next summer, too. I plan to wait for housing, and I'm sure we'll have to wait, at Fort Belvoir. My husband thinks we'll be there for a while - maybe 5 years - so I want one of the big, new houses they'll be finishing up this spring. Do you know where you want to live? And you'll have to do the Army 10 Miler in October, of course...

kat said...

Ten miles! Are you kidding! The longest I have run in ages is 4 miles yesterday, but it is muggy and hilly here in Maine(that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

I don't know where we would live; Montgomery Co. and a townhouse on Capital Hill have been tossed around as ideas. We would be there for our last 3 years and the kids and I would be spending 1/4 of the year in Maine, more the last year we assume. After all, I have a farm to get established: chicken and sheep flocks to establish and berry bushes and an orchard to plant. Not to mention a house to build (perhaps out of Lincoln Logs?). Perhaps you could give me some pointers. I don't think we qualify for Army housing, though the houses you described do sound delish!

Michelle said...

Belvoir takes any military assigned to the DC metro area. There's only one neighborhood I would recommend there, though - and it's a brand new one, so the wait might be a bit. We'll talk after the new year. There are neighborhoods near Belvoir and near the Metro line (husband going to the Pentagon?). Some people opt for Maryland because it's cheaper or farther out from the city so they can have some land...but I like having the commissary and the military community.

A swank townhouse in DC would be sweet...if you happen to have a spare $3 or $4 thousand a month above your BAH to spend. Seriously, those townhouse on Capitol Hill sell for millions of dollars. Bill and I have gazed wistfully at them on more than one occasion.

And yes, you can do 10 miles and you'd smoke me for sure. If I can do it, anybody who can run 5K in close to 20 minutes can do it. And now you have over a year to get ready...well, if you have a baby in that year it might be tough...