Milestones

 I began this blog after the youngest left for college, Jim & I began to schedule day trips and weekend trips now that we had so much time to ourselves.  You do find quickly there isn't quite as much time as you thought, taking advantage of our great location we found plenty to do.  Now that the youngest has graduated from college we have reached the next level of empty nest.  This isn't always a physical empty nest but a mental empty nest.  Also I feel I should comment on the term "empty nest" I didn't realize some people feel this is a negative term and it has even been used as a "syndrome".  I thought this was more of a milestone in life, yes there is some melancholy but also celebration of the accomplishment of raising children.  This has been my "job" with my team mate the super supportive husband and amazing kids, I love my job.  I realize it never ends, I feel we were handed an intensive project and have completed the project so now it is time to see it in action.  If called upon for advice, a refresher or help we're there "all in".  However we will do our best to keep our mouths shut unless asked.  We never know what twists and turns life has in store for us but I am a big believer in "seizing the day" since we don't know what tomorrow brings.   As we enter into this phase of empty nest, we are doing  house repairs we have been waiting to attack but still planning our adventures.  The wish list is long so finding ideas won't be as hard as fitting them into daily life.  College graduations are emotional in so many ways and usually a hectic couple of days so it is a bit of a roller coaster ride. We are here to enjoy the ride.

Graduation Weekend:

 

We had some down time on Friday before  Baccalaureate so we visited the Library of Congress which in our 9 years of spending many weekends in DC for some reason had missed.  It was just a short walk from our hotel, "The Phoenix Park" a small Irish Hotel that we choose every chance we get.  http://www.phoenixparkhotel.com/  The Library of Congress is worth the visit if you are in DC-- great architecture, Jefferson's books, the map room, no tickets, no charge just the routine security.

Then we were off to Baccalaureate at The National Shrine by Catholic University.

We had a great time at Bistrot du Coin http://www.bistrotducoin.com/ always a good spot for a meal, we found this on one of our first college visits its a frequent stop.  

Graduation from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 2011:

The rain stopped during the ceremony although I think by then the graduates were pretty wet.  

DC has so many great spots to eat at!  We had a quick lunch at the "Dubliner" always a favorite and connected to our hotel.  http://www.dublinerdc.com/  Weather was good so we enjoyed an outside table and glad we did as the rest of the weekend was rainy.