Church Bells

Today we went for a lovely walk over to the National Cathedral - mostly just so we could get out of the apartment, but largely because we live only a few blocks away and have never taken the time to go look around, and I felt kind of pathetic about that. And so we went and enjoyed the pretty architecture (for a wannabe Notre Dame it really is quite nice), flowers and occasional butterflies. On the way home we were serenaded by the strains of church bells from the Catholic Church across the street. All in all a wonderful way to spend a not-entirely lazy Sunday afternoon.

Lessons learned

So my in-laws are in town for a couple of days, and Zach and I are busy trying to be good hosts. So far I have learned a few important things...

1. We do not know DC nearly as well as we think we do. Several interesting turns will be made to find a giant museum. We will drive past our turns and then realize that oh of course that was the street we really meant. That cute little sandwich store that I know exactly where it is... uhm apparently my memory may be a little fizy.
2. Wandering around looking for the cute little sandwich shop that is just a block away...hmm, maybe in the other direction...no wait, over there...uhm...lets go ask someone... Yah. That isn't all that fun when people are hungry and hot.
3. Tourists ruin everything. They make long lines, crowded museums and probably somehow make the weather hotter and muggier. (We and any and all relations that come to visit us do not count as tourists of course)
4. Offering use of a car for a "couple of errands" to carless city dwellers who live at the mercy of their feet and public transportation will result in several hours at IKEA and a giant Costco run. I'm sure they enjoyed it?
   
5. We spent most of last week making our apartment absolutely spotless. I drove Zach crazy rearranging things over and over again, and freaking out over teeny tiny details. Only 10 minutes will actually be spent inside said apartment.
6. All in all, I really have good in-laws. Even with things going less than perfect and Zach and I being less than perfectly organized, its still just good to spend time with them. So far we have zero judgmental comments or looks, or subtle criticism or any of the other things that tend to bug people about their in-laws. Just fun stories and conversation and otherwise enjoying each others company. And really, based on all my past interactions with them I expect all those good trends to keep right on going. We still haven't spent a huge amount of time with each other, still definitely in the get to know you stage. But I'm still surprised how overall comfortable I am with them, how much I enjoy spending time with them, how much I care about them. It's like their family.