Play, Play, Play

Sunday

We gave about 4 minute talks in church because there were four speakers before us. Then we attended our other meetings and had our friends Shawn and Sarah over to dinner.

Monday

The wife of the 2L who lives nearby (Stacy) invited us to go with her and her son to Colonial Williamsburg so that her almost-two-year-old could run around there. It was fun to get to know her and to learn more about what law school will be like since they have a year's worth of experience already.

Tuesday

First, I rode with two expecting mothers (Nancy and Kathleen) to Jamestown to meet three other moms (Stacy, Hailey, and Amber) and wander around the fort. It's older than Williamsburg and, to be honest, there isn't as much to see. There was a sign that said, "This was the home of so-and-so . . ." in front of a lot. Houses are rebuilt in Williamsburg, but some things are just marked in Jamestown. Of course, there was the church and the fort and there was a statue of Pocahontas which would have been a great photo-op if I'd brought my camera. They also think they may have found the very first well built in the settlement (does that mean in the colonies as well?). Also, we went by the museum. Nancy and Kathleen had already been there so I kind of browsed it quickly, but I would go back. The most interesting room was one in which they attempted to recreate faces using skulls they had found. A plaque shared what you suppose about the people from what they knew about the faces. For instance, there was a European woman who was in the fort, and she had been missing most of her teeth for quite a while before she died. They explained that we see this as a sign of poverty (can't afford a dentist), but in their day it was a sign of wealth (could afford sugar). Interesting, huh?

Second, in the evening we attended a birthday party thrown by the woman (Timi) who collected names at the 1L Partner Program last Monday. It was her husband's birthday. The couples in our year are awesome. One of our friends (Liesel) proposed a party game called "celebrity." It was a great ice-breaker. I am looking forward to more socializing with this group in the future. (After we got home, Patrick went to play basketball at the church. They play every Tuesday night at 8:30. He has always wanted a group that was so consistent and at a time that he could attend, and finally it has happened. He comes home sweaty and happy at night. And since it starts around Caleb's bedtime. I end up with a couple hours of "me" time. So everyone wins.)

Wednesday

We stayed home and rested. After all the playing the day before, Caleb hadn't gotten a decent afternoon nap and he fell asleep at the party, so we had just worn him out. I thought a little stability and familiarity for a day would do him some good. We did have our friends Shawn and Sarah over for dinner in the evening. It was good to see them. They are our neighbors. Shawn is just starting school too, so we've all been busy this week.

Thursday

We stayed home most of the day. The morning was amazingly productive: I did laundry, vacuumed, wrote a really important letter, found the mailing address for that letter, got Caleb down for two naps (a short one in the morning and an unexpectedly long one in the afternoon), read my scriptures, exercised, and played with Caleb inside and out. In the afternoon, my friend Melissa came over with her little girl and we had a "play-date" of sorts. Rachel is eight months old, so she and Caleb are sort of at different stages, but they are fun to watch together because I think their temperments are similar-- both explorers, both pretty happy kids. It was good to get to know Melissa better too. It turned out that both of us had started studying American history on our own, so we decided we should do "school" together or something. I'm not entirely sure how that will work out, but it will just be fun to share what we're learning if nothing else.

In the evening, we went to a tour on campus. Three of our couple friends were there, so it was fun to have some friends in the group. One of them had a little girl, so she and Caleb were friendly with each other. She's a lot more chill than Caleb and was content in her stroller much longer, whereas Caleb wanted out of the stroller every time we stopped. It was okay though. Patrick's sweet and isn't all that interested in the history stuff here (not compared to me anyway), so he watched Caleb crawl around in the dust and dirt and I got to listen to the tour guide(s). There was free food at the end, which we were excited about, until we reached the room and it was very nice and not kid-friendly (in the sense that it would have been difficult to get through the line and eat while having a baby among us without making a disaster). So Patrick grabbed me two cookies and said good-bye to our only set of friends who made it to the end, and we headed off to trek back to the law school. All in all, it was a fun event, even if we didn't get the benefit of the free food that we had anticipated. It focused especially on George Wythe, the first lawyer in America. I need to read more him; there seems to be a lot to know. He taught both Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall, so that should show just how much influence he's had on our country without most people even knowing it.

Friday

Well, we'll see. The day has just begun. Sadly, the dog upstairs appears to have been left by his owners and he is howling over us and will probably continue to do so all day. At 10:30 last night, I believe the five-year-old threw a temper tantrum that involved lots of banging and lots of screaming. And to think, she looks so cute when we see her during the daytime. Anyway, we may go swimming, and we will certainly play.

Saturday

There is a LDS grad student get-together organized by Stacy. We will meet the other students in their various years of study at W&M, and in their various programs. It will be good to get to know people a little better, and to meet those that are in the other ward since there are two in the area.

Then in the evening, Patrick's friend Joe is coming over for homemade pizza and videogames. We just learned last Sunday that he was in the area. Patrick hasn't really spent much time with Joe since before his mission, but they were good friends back in Wisconsin. So Patrick is pretty excited.

Summary

We are so busy, and we seem to have the ptential for more friends than we can handle, but, hey, we'll try our best. :) There are just so many good people here. We are looking forward to knowing them better.