virginia - part II

So the good parts:

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Super fun friends and neighbors. Yay! We know lots of happy friends and I can get together with them often with Isaac, just not Dave (sniff :( )

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Dave's job! He has some good flexiblity and it's a perfect match for while he's in school. They're very understanding.

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The 99% of our family that's here (or visits often) and the fun casual family get togethers which we could never really do a lot of living 3000 miles away. I've travelled a ton while we've lived here and seen nearly every relative I have at least once!

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Dave's school. Other than Stanford & Berkley, which we couldn't afford the whole package with me staying home, GWU is the very best place for Dave to study Intellectual Property Law. His professors are friends with Eric Holder and are actual Judges in Federal Circuit courts. He can do mock trials at real courthouses and the whole thing is just really inspiring.

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That we can live well and I can stay home with Isaac at this phase of our lives. If both of us worked and Dave also went to school, no one would ever be home with Isaac and we would eat take-out and live on a mountain of dirty laundry & dishes. We're able to have a semblance of home life that actually wasn't possible in Seattle (too $$$).

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The wildlife. Wow! Soooo cool. Turkeys, Blue Heron, Butterflies, Woodpeckers, Deer, Beavers, Hedgehogs, Bunnies, Foxes, Bears, Hawks, Owls, Dragonflies, Damselflies and much more! All seen regularly in my neighborhood. (Of course, I used to regularly see Black Bears, Cougars, Coyotes, Bobcats, Eagles in Seattle)

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Choo Choos. Isaac is absolutely obsessed, and there are railroad crossings EVERYWHERE. It's always a surprise and a joy to see a real CHOO CHOO! And we can hear them in the distance at night.

So--it's all good, yes? Yes?

NO! As I said earlier, I hate it here. Yes, hate. Probably for the mere fact that:
a] IT'S NOT SEATTLE and
b] It's East of the Rockies
c] It doesn't rain 8 months of the year
d] It isn't listed as THE LEAST SUNNY city in the country

Therefore, in my mind, it's as brown and dry as Arizona, as windy as Kansas, and there is no shade to be found. In other words, it's an abyss of nothingness. I know! Strong words! Who knew geography was so important to me!?

The following are all ridiculous and stupid things, but given my whole outlook on Virginia, they're things that I've noticed and find entertaining (irritating?!!).

The ORANGE LADY:
When we first moved here, we were intrigued by the fact that the local news WAS also NATIONAL NEWS because DC is a Federal District. That was very exciting. Combine that tidbit with the fact that the first 50 stations on the cable dial are either news channels or local access channels and you see quickly that NEWS is very very significant here in the region. Then, a sight accosted our eyes as we innocently tuned in to my FOX DC. It was THE ORANGE LADY. Also known as Julie Wright. I don't know whether or not Julie even does a good job reporting the traffic because I was completely and utterly distracted by her appearance. ORANGE. Glow-in-the-dark ORANGE. And, no, it wasn't my set that needed adjusting. Everyone else on the staff at my FOX DC looked perfectly normal and the white shirts looked white. Methinks Julie indulged a little too much in the self-tanner. YIKES!

The JACKED UP Evil-Genius Traffic Lady:
I need to find a picture of this woman--and the set backdrop she broadcasts from. Just wait.

The Fitz Way:
I am sure this man is an excellent business person and a pillar of the community. I know he probably does good works and employs a great deal of people and provides very valuable services. That said, he does embody a quintessential regional-ness. He is the quintessential Maryland man. And, there is a crusted-over quality to his persona. I am sorry. There just is. Unfortunately none of his commercials are on-line. You just have to trust me on this.

Enough with the VANITY LICENSE PLATES already!!
In the State of Virginia, one can choose from over 150 different license plate backdrops, some of which even express political messages. From the innocuous, like 'Educate Our Children' to the highly-charged, 'Choose Life.' If that weren't enough of a platform to express yourself, you can also choose the words that make up the actual plate. So you get the array from the obvious--IMSOCOOL, to the indistinguishable--URSOHI or whatever. Whatever. I'm a design purist, so I vote for simple and I just wish that people didn't have to express themselves quite so much. But then, there is just the plain bizarre and ridiculous...

What I like to call "The Faceless Flautist"

Combine all of this with people's proclivity towards bumper stickers around here, and you have quite the assault of messaging, just driving to work everyday! When Dave and I first saw this one, we thought there was a predator on the loose trolling the streets for small children. YIKES!