The first week

Hello!!

Our first week was quite a doozy!!  We moved in on Thursday the 20th with great help from the neighbors as I said before.  Friday was spent shopping for household necessities (like a desk and lamps).  Saturday and Sunday we unpacked and organized.  There were thunderstorms and humidity.  :)  

Monday we got lost at the Pentagon.  We were trying to get to the Metro station so we could buy our smartrip passes (permanent, rechargeable metro passes), but since it was a working day, we couldn't park.  So a cop gave us directions to the Pentagon City metro station and we got totally lost trying to get into the parking lot!!  It was at the mall.  So we had to pay to take the metro to the pentagon so we could buy our passes only to return to the pentagon city metro...lame.  We had to buy something to validate our parking, and Jesse needed a suit, so he bough t a very nice suit.  :)  We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets and found it interesting that the "American Fries" were fat...french fries are generally skinny, aren't they?  Social commentary, anyone?   

Tuesday we began the day at the DMV.  I was able to get my driver's license, but Jesse wasn't because he didn't have a passport or birth certificate.  So he had to call his mom to have it sent over.  He got his DL on Friday.  We weren't able to re-title the car and register it, either, because in order to not have to pay the state tax since I didn't pay for the car when I "bought" it from Mom, I had to have a paper notorized.  I have done that, but haven't had time to go back to the DMV since.  I will hopefully get to do that on Thursday.  After the DMV we went to the address we had for SS, but there was no office there.  poop.  So we were starving and cranky and drove over to a Starbucks we had passed.  I went to the bank next door and got the letter notorized and then joined Jesse for a caffeinated beverage and a bagel.  We went to the Citibank to add me to Jesse's account, but ended up opening a new checking account because his ex-wife is still on Jesse's checking account and he would need her signature to add me...and we all know that isn't going to happen.  After the bank we found another branch of Soc Sec and waited for 2 hours amongst the most interesting group of people...my name change took 5 minutes.  We got the heck out of there and when I got home I had my breakdown.  The stress finally caught up with me.  

That night at 6pm there was a meeting at school I needed to attend.  My first attempt to get into downtown on my own...I missed the bus.  So Jesse drove me to the metro station and I made it with 3 minutes to spare!  The good thing about my commute is that the bus picks me up right outside my apt, the line ends at the Pentagon metro station, and 3 stops later, I am at the front door of my building on campus.  :)  The bad thing is that I have to take a 30 minute bus ride to go the 5 miles to the Pentagon.  So my commute takes 45 minutes.  :(  On the way home from the meeting I missed the bus at the Pentagon and had to wait for 30 minutes for the next one to arrive.  Ugh.  But i talked to my advisor about all the research going on and I'm going to be one busy lady!!

Wednesday was a much more successful metro experience.  I arrived at orientation on time, but these were my thoughts as the day began.  "feeling ery lonely & nervous & not sure I'm going to fit in.  Also nervous about the amount of work... =/  But success on metro and I met a nice girl named Lindsay at the bus stop.  It was really moving to glimpse the graves at Arlington on the bus & metro...I hope I am never desensitized to that."  Some good quotes from the orientation include "You look better in person than online or on paper" --Interim Dean Reum and the Dean also quoted Ted Kennedy (whom he knew personally and even taught TK's son to ski!), "Public health's responsibility isn't to always be right, but to always be respectful."

I met my program-mates and was intimidated at first, but felt better as the day progressed.  Thursday I had TA orientation with the other Grad Assistants.  They are all nice and I'm glad I have at least 6 other people to start out classes with that I know to an extent.  Thursday after orientation Jesse was going to meet his mom's cousin Millie and her husband Paul for dinner in Maryland.  I decided I wanted to go, but Jesse was already en route, so he told me to go to the Anacostia metro station and he would pick me up...now I was told to never go to Anacostia because it is not the nicest part of town.  Jesse got lost and asked for directions and they asked if he had his bullet-proof vest...so I waited at the metro station for 45 minutes reading the newspaper by the metro station manager's booth.  No one bothered me.  I finally walked to Jesse's car because there was a fire and the trucks were blocking the road.  We made it to dinner and had a really good time with Paul and Millie and Paul's sister Chrissie.  She lives in Arlington so we are going to get together in the future.  :)  The trip home was a lot easier, but we did get lost again.  We are going to hit up Border's for some maps.

We spent all day Thursday and Friday together (cleaning up the labs in the building on Friday).  We had a great lunch out together and I'm excited to start the program!  

Yesterday we hung some pictures and I put everything away in the new dresser we built Wednesday night.  We are now box-free!!  We have a free storage unit in the basement that is great.  

Today we are going to church and then to Arlington National Cemetery, which I'm sure will be super busy because Ted Kennedy was buried there last night.  We are going to take advantage of this place we live in!!!

Come visit soon!!  Love, me.