It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

Lots of changes in my neighborhood.

 It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?... 

(Fred M. Rogers, 1967)

Just a quick glance at what its like in my neighborhood.  Can you see the red arrow on the photo?  That's where Ed and I live.  Not the utility pole, but the condo building.  

All the new construction just down the street is something interesting to look forward to.  There will be restaurants and an new movie theatre to look forward to.  (Along with a whole lot more condos and apartments and traffic.) 

On a positive note, I'll be happy to have another shopping area within walking distance and it will be great to have walkable eating establishments too.  

AND - it will help increase the value of our condo!  Yay!

 
It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...

I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

What Inspires You?

This is my inspiration shelf in my office. 

 What keeps you inspired? It isn't always easy to get yourself mentally geared up and ready to spend the day in an office.  A while ago I happened to see a photo of Amanda's office someone posted on Twitter, and it was so neat and cute!  Even had a pretty lamp.   

By contrast, my own office is admittedly cluttered.  I seem to have a lot of "Stuff".

My Inspiration shelf in context of my larger space. (Photos are clickable for better view.)

I imagine we all suffer with some form of what I'm describing here, whether it is an office setting or some other setting.  I spend inordinate amounts of time here in this 10 x 10 office.  It is huge amount of my waking time and a lot of the time I have energy.  

Do you ever get home from wherever and feel too tired to appreciate your home, or too tired to do the things you might need or want to do at home?

I have dreams that in retirement I will still have enough energy left to enjoy the things and people I love.  I hope I don't spend my most productive energy here in this 10x10.  

Well, given this mindset, I have made one small change.  

I've stopped taking the Metro to work!   

Not much, you're thinking?  Well, I didn't think it would impact me so much, but really it makes a huge difference.  I'm so much more happy arriving at work in 15 minutes instead of 30.  I arrive dry in the rain, calm and not sweaty in the heat and humidity.  It is AWESOME to know that if I need to, I can just step outside and get in my car and drive home.   Is it independence?  I'm not sure, but I really like it.  

Downside:  I lose the supplement that paid for Metro.
Upside:      Parking is free at my agency here. 

Downside:  Have to wash the car much more often.  
Upside:      Keeps Ed busy.

Downside:  Have to buy gas.
Upside:      It is only a 4 mile drive.

July ~ Flying by already

Devil's Tower - Wyoming July 2003

We're past July 4th already here in the big city of North Bethesda.  I'm posting photos from our trip to South Dakota, back in 2003, before we moved back East.
We didn't do anything exciting this July 4th, except get a new bed.  Our first king sized bed, and our first Tempurpedic bed.  So, we will see if we like this experiment.    

Ed in South Dakota, 2003, July

Our daughter and son-in-law Todd have reminded us how much fun it was to travel in the U.S.A.  Can't believe it was 2003 when we did this trip.  Seems like it was just a little bit ago.  Where did the time go?  Can it really be that we were there 10 years ago? 

Mt. Rushmore, SD

In my head, I had written the story of this trip, but I don't see it anywhere.  It was before this blog.

I had broken a tooth in the Denver airport on the flight to Rapid City, so I found an old dentist that was willing to work on the July 4th weekend, and he fixed my tooth.   Great guy and neat to talk to. 

We saw the most awesome fireworks there, it was beautiful.  We had so much fun, I liked the Pigtail bridge highway (I think you have to be there.)  Pigtail Bridge on Iron Mountain Road in SD
Anyway, it was fun to see and to drive.  
We loved Custer State Park.  I remember this is where I first saw Reidel wine glasses.  They had some nice wines.  We had a great dinner at the State Game Lodge
and stayed in the State Game Lodge Motel adjoining it.  We drove through

Ed on the drive through Needles, SD 2003

Needles - lots of granite to see.

We visited Wall Drug Store (I bought a rose gold ring) and got to see the Badlands.  (Lovely, like delicate artwork.)

We drove through Deadwood and saw the setting for some movies, some casinos too.  Lots of beautiful America.   We got to see a lot of animals also.  

My favorite bear - In the drive-through animal park!