I’ve been celebrating a lot of time-based milestones this past week.  Hetta turned 4 months old – 1/3 of a year!  Colin and I celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary – yes we’ve been dating for almost a third of our lives!  And yesterday, our family convened on the national mall to watch President Barack Obama take his oath of office and honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King and all that he challenged our country to become.  Reflecting on these past fews days, I am reminded of how important it is to take a step back from all the clutter of our daily routines (to do lists, deadlines, appointments, et cetera) and celebrate milestones.  Below I’ve chronicled how my family chose to celebrate this past week, but I thought I’d begin with a few questions to inspire you to dust off your proverbial dancing shoes and start some celebrating of your own:

• Nearly 1 month into 2013, what learning has this new year already offered to you?
• Did you set a new year’s resolution or intention?  What are you committed to doing in 2013?  What positive impact will you have your community?
• What celebrations do you already sense on your horizon based on your current focus and momentum?
• Is there anything else that you hope to be celebrating by the end of 2013?  What will you choose to do or change in order to reach those objectives?
• What might you do to help prompt your friends/family/community to get out and celebrate this year too?

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Hetta’s 4 month birthday: Swimming!

Hetta’s 4 month birthday coincided with her Dad’s day off from work so we decided to get out of the house and do something fun.  DC provides free access to public pools to residents and I’d ordered our girl a swim suit so off we went.  Henrietta didn’t cry once.  Mom and Dad demonstrated their skills at bubble blowing for her, bounced her up and down the pool, and even showed her how she could put her whole head under water.  Our brave girl came through like a champion.  Dad got to get in a few laps and Mom got to hop in the hot tub.  All in all a very good outing.  Think we are going to make swimming a part of our regular routine.  Yea!

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10 Years Later: Still Dating

Last month my Dad toasted my Mom at exactly 7:47pm – the very time he had proposed to her 40 years prior.  So yeah.  I come by celebrating all kinds of relationship anniversaries honestly.  I have to admit that Colin and I have really enjoyed taking Henrietta everywhere we go, so although we were knew we were about to mark a decade of dating, neither of us was motivated to have a big couple night out.  So the day came and we didn’t have plans. (Ahem, this may also be the reason that the most recent photo of me and my hubby sans anyone else is from before the baby was born.)

But we celebrated the day in our own way.  My Dad, in town leading a field trip for 20 high school students, called that morning and needed some help running errands.  Off we went.  As we dropped my Dad off to meet his crew at the Spy Museum, we took advantage of being downtown and had a nice lunch.  We ate at a slow pace.  We enjoyed one another’s company and Hetta’s smiles.  And since the Portrait Gallery was in the neighborhood we took a post lunch stroll through the third floor galleries.  It was spontaneous, low key, filled with beautiful art, delicious food, and lots of random running around with the best company.  If that’s not a fitting description of what makes our relationship so great all these years later, I don’t know what is.

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4 More Years: The Inauguration

Like so many Washingtonians, I don’t make it down to the mall nearly as much as I’d like to.  Even though it’s but a few subway stops away.  Even though our 5 mile run loop takes us right passed the White House.  Even though we always have a blast when we go.  (See Portrait Gallery outing above!)  But sometimes even we know it’s time to get out of the house and down to the mall and the presidential inauguration is one such reason.  It took friends and family coming in from out of town 4 years ago to show us that the event is not to be missed.  The energy is amazing.  The act momentous.  It some how seems hard to believe that it’s only happened 57 times.  As terrible violent acts in our culture seem to be on the rise, I don’t take for granted that our country is still able to peacefully transition or maintain power of this most senior of offices every four years based on the outcome of our general election.

This year was special because of the people around us.  Colin and I headed downtown with (a very bundled up) Henrietta and my youngest sister Julie.  My Dad (see high school field trip reference above) had scored tickets for his students and in the process for us so we were right in the thick of the action.  Believe it or not as we exited the metro among the throngs of people and made our way over to the ticket entry point, I ran into a close childhood friend of mine.  Together we all wended our way into the masses hopping fallen fences and pushing through bushes along the way.  Next thing I know I look up and see my Dad and his students.  Take a look at that photo above and you won’t be surprised to hear that we weren’t banking on running into him.

While I enjoyed hearing the actual oath, snippets of the President’s speech (had to do a stealth diaper change at this time too), and musical performances by James Taylor, Kelly Clarkson, and Beyonce, the best part of the day was just being with family and (even though at times overwhelming) being in the middle of so many people who cared enough to show up.

About 4 hours after the event ended, we were still making our way home through the mellifluous crowds.  That’s when a pedi-cab driver cruised passed us advertising, “Denounce your faith in democracy and get a free ride.”  Tired though we were, we chose to keep walking.