Priscilla of Boston

Just Kidding! Landon would kill me! I can't believe you thought I would do that to her...

Charles, if you clicked this link, you're in trouble... No peeking until June 13th.

Summer Reading Progress

I finished "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult yesterday (sobbing on the couch). Every person I've spoken to since I've finished it (started it, actually), I've figured out a way to bring up this book. It was so good. It's about a family that has a young daughter diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and they conceive a child artificially who's genetically matched to the daughter in such a way that she is the perfect donor (blood, bone marrow, cord blood, etc...). This second daughter spends her whole life living according to her sister; everytime the sick daughter is in the hospital, the younger daughter ends up there as well. She's limited in what she can do, what sports she can play, when she can travel, until she sues her parents when she's thirteen for medical emancipation. This way, her parents no longer have control over whether or not she is a donor for her sister. The book follows the trial and the impact it has on the family, as well as flashes back to the difficult decisions the family has been faced with over the years, including the impact having a sick child has on a marriage and on siblings. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character, which takes such talent, I think. To have so many first person perspectives and different view points and write each character so well. The moral and ethical dillemmas are tough social issues to deal with and so interesting at the same time. Everyone read it, especially if you're a sister, but even if you're not. I loved it.

Since I'm spending some time in Savannah this week at the beach and on the boat, I'm onto the Nicholas Sparks book which is almost always set with a marshy Carolina backdrop.

Who learned geometry anyway?

Here's what happens when four people with 3.75 college degrees between them (and a combined grad school degree that's 2/3 law and 1/3 PT) try to figure out just how far it is from 3rd base to 1st base while watching the Bulldawgs play in the College World Series over burgers and beers. "What's that equation you use to figure out the sides of a triangle?" "One half the base times the height." "No, it's A squared plus B squared equals C squared." "Okay, so there's 90 feet between each base..." "Will that work for this?" "What's the kind of triangle where two sides are equal but third isn't?" "A right triangle?" "No, I think it's an isosceles." "What's the sine and cosine thing we used to use?" "I think that's just for figuring out angles, I don't know about the length." "So, if these two are 90 then... what's the square root of 16,200?" After much debate and cell phone calculations, we came up with something between 127 and 128. Turns out, we were right! According to the old reliabable Wikipedia, it's 127.2. I'm still screwed when my kids starts high school... Hope you know your theorems, Ty, because this lady will be of no use! I'll just have to call Charles, Landon, and Harris to reunite our little geometry group.

P.S. Go Bulldawgs!! Who knew college baseball could be so exciting? If we win tonight, we're the national champions! Stay tuned.

My Housewife Summer

As some of you may know, I finished my first year of grad school last month-- the year that everyone says is the hardest and if you survive, you'll do fine thereafter. I'm in Marymount's Doctorate of Physical Therapy program and I managed to survive Clinical Neuroscience, Gross Anatomy, Disease Pathophysiology (among others), and FAR too many hours in the cadaver lab at GW Hospital exploring the body of a woman we fondly referred to as Magna. (On a side note, some people disagree with "naming" your cadaver and think of it as a sign of disrespect, but I think that if someone GIVES YOU their body and you spend as many hours carefully taking apart their body as is necessary to fully learn the human anatomy (a very intimate process, I think), to give them a name is a reminder that this IS a person with a name and a family, not just an age and a cause of death (which is all that you're given) and collection of muscles, nerves, and bones.)

Anyway. So, the first year was TOUGH. And I'm great friends with all of my fellow classmates and have great respect for my professors and all of those in the PT field. But May 2nd could NOT come faster, especially since in the month of April we had an inSANE amount of tests and papers leading into finals. My mind was already in June, when my body was six weeks behind. So I had my summer plans all laid out before me: do nothing. No work. No papers. No cramming. No research. And Tyler kept saying, "Are you sure you don't want to work? Are you sure you're not going to get bored?" (Which is code for, "Are you sure you don't want to earn any money to help pay the bills?") But I insisted that I'd worked my patooty off enough to fully earn a nice, long vacation. Even my professors were telling us, "This is the last summer you'll ever have- take advantage of it! (The next two summers I have clinicals)

So, the first six weeks flew by-- we traveled to Atlanta, NYC, and Dallas in a very short period of time. I even put in a good fourty hours at my old job, where I occasionally pop in when they need me (much to The Hub's delight). I was driving Tyler into work in the mornings for a few weeks, so the pleasure of sleeping in was even denied me! But finally, for the last couple of weeks, I have been able to fully enjoy what I call my Housewife Summer. I threw a bridal shower for my friend Julia last week, complete with fresh flowers, ladies in summer dresses, and bite sized desserts (made from scratch, of course). I've been able to sleep in, watch The View, fold laundry, go to the gym, and lay by the pool. How's that for being a housewife, eh?

I WAS starting to experience the slightest amount of a teeny tiny bit of a smidgen of a sliver of boredom, though, so today I went to the bookstore (Sorry, it was Border's-- not a quaint little shop on the corner where I probably would've choked on the price of Nicholas Sparks paperback anyway). I walked in with purpose, knowing exactly what I'd come for ("My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult), but all my defenses failed as soon as I walked in and got a whiff of that great paper and coffee aroma. One hour and an armful of books later (they were buy one get one half off, I had to) I checked out. So here's what I got: "My Sister's Keeper" (started reading it while I was baby-sitting one night, before I found out it was being made into a Cameron Diaz movie), "Pillars of the Earth" (at the recommendation of Oprah, first book I've read at her suggestion), "Under the Banner of Heaven" (at the rec of my sister, it's about Mormons), and "Nights in Rodanthe" (Nicholas Sparks, saw the trailer for the film and had to read it before it came out). I'm going to the beach this weekend and then onto Savannah for a week to hang out with the fam, so I'll be able to put in some good solo reading time. Nicholas Sparks is great, mindless, sappy beach reading, and I'm already 100 pages into "My Sister's Keeper" (I can't figure out how to underline on here), so I may have to make another Border's trip soon. I'll let ya know how it goes... Happy reading kids!

-The Housewife

Paying Our Respects

Tyler and I attended Tim Russert's wake yesterday evening to pay our respects to he and his family. It was held at St. Alban's School where his son Luke attended school for thirteen years. We got there around 7 pm and the wake had been going on since 2 pm, so we started to get a little nervous once we parked because we didn't want to be the ONLY people there and we didn't see that many people walking around in the area. Apparently, we just had great timing. We were able to walk right into the school and join the line. Once inside, we did have to wait in a pretty decent line, but after about five minutes of waiting we looked out the window and a huge line had formed, wrapping around the building.

The school was very pretty, exactly what you'd picture a prominent, Episcopalian all-boys school to look like. The hallway where we were waiting was lined with arched, stained glass windows and plaques from the early 1900s; it was something straight from a Harry Potter movie. The sidewalks leading up to the refectory (where we were) were lined with flowers and we were handed a small card once we got inside that had a picture of Tim on it with his birth and death dates, and a quote that read, "No exercise is better for the human heart than reaching down to lift up another person." The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi was on the back.

Once inside the dining hall, Tim's casket lay in the center of the room with lines passing on either side. Flowers rested on top with a card sticking out reading "Love, Coco & Luke." Various family members stood throughout the room greeting the visitors in line and Luke stood at the end of the room where the two lines merged and he greeted every person that came through (apparently Tim's wife was there earlier, but understandably needed a break). I was SO impressed with this young man and the composure and maturity he's shown in the last few days. I thought it spoke volumes to how he was raised and I just kept thinking, "His dad would be so proud of him."

I was pretty composed until the woman behind me broke down while speaking with his niece. She asked how his father ("Big Russ") was taking it. Apparently, Tim's brother, her father, passed away just two months ago, so Big Russ lost two of boys very close together. So now I'm crying but I didn't have a purse or any tissues, so I was trying not to get out of control. The card with his wife's pet name, his impressive son, others in the room who were clearly upset...it was almost too much. We were about three people from Luke when he turned and thanked everyone for coming and exited to a small back room. I didn't blame the guy and I was almost relieved because I did NOT know what to say to him. And I felt so silly for crying, while all of his family members so composed and gracious to everyone. There were tables lined up outside of the hall with paper and pen to leave messages for the family, so we left a short note. Tim would probably have been embarressed by all of the fuss, but honored by the turnout.

On a lighter note, a fun distraction was seeing all of the big wigs that were there. Maria Shriver cut me off in line, Wolf Blitzer and Bret Baier came in together, and John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry were in line with us. I was impressed with Maria Shriver because she just walked right in without any security or entourage. John Kerry is very tall and very tan and his wife has a LOT of hair. St. Alban's is right next to the National Cathedral and the sunset was gorgeous last night. The colors reflecting off the building were SO pretty. I was really frustrated with myself when I realized I'd left my camera at home. Oh well. We live here, we'll be back...

Holy Hurricane Batman!

So every morning when I wake up, the first thing I see when I pop my little head out from under the covers (and mumble about how I hate mornings) is this big gorgeous tree that grows right in front of the window our bed faces.  And every morning my thoughts go something like this, "Grunt. Too bright. Sleep. Orange juice. Man, what a great tree."  BUT, right next to Great Tree is Dead Tree.  I thought for awhile that it was just a late bloomer, but alas by April I realized it probably wasn't going to be joining Great Tree in its category of greatness.  And each day as I walked by the Dead Tree, I realized more and more just how dead it really was.  The bark was falling off, it was starting to split at the top...it was dead.  So now I start to worry, "If Dead Tree decides it needs to keel over, it's coming straight through our window or onto the balcony which is not fun."  T and I even talked about it, "If that tree falls, it's coming straight for us."

So, cut to yesterday.  It was a nice day outside but around 3 o'clock these huge black clouds started to roll in and I got kind of happy.  I'd run my errands for the day, gone to the gym.  I had nothing to do, but stay inside and enjoy a great summer thunderstorm.  So I was standing in front of the kitchen sink and I look up and Holy Crap, out of nowhere, those black clouds had turned into a full on, monster, I'm-going-to eat-you-hurricane.  Crazy rain flying sideways, crazy wind.  It was like Hurricane Dean, Jamaica style.  I was half expecting the Wicked Witch of the West to ride by my window with Toto peeking out of her basket (I know, that's a tornado reference.  But it was REALLY windy). So I immediately run to the balcony to see how Dead Tree is holding up and sure enough, Splat.  All over the sidewalk at the foot of our building.  Luckily, it wasn't structurally sound enough to keel over and crash through a window, it just splintered into a thousand pieces and fell.  So goodbye Dead Tree.  Now I can enjoy Great Tree in all of its splendor and not have to worry about broken walls or windows.

That's a lot about a tree, huh?  But it was a big deal yesterday.  The Day the Dead Tree Fell.

Mrs. Kathryn Way Grassmeyer

So, I just ran downstairs to grab the mail and as I was sorting through what we'd gotten, I found a piece addressed to me from the Social Security Office and I sort of thought "Uh oh" until I remembered I went to the SS office last week to officially change my name. Duh. But talk about a quick turnaround! I sat in line at the office longer than it took for them to mail me my new card. So you're now looking at Mrs. Kathryn Way Grassmeyer. Tada! I can finally go get a new driver's license. AND, now when I go pick up a prescription and they ask me for my last name I don't have to fish through my memory to figure out what name I used at the doctor. You get funny looks when you crinkle your forehead and stare at the ceiling when they ask for your name....

Tim Russert

Though not avid viewers, Tyler and I frequently tuned in to "Meet the Press" on Sunday mornings and are always following the latest on politics here. We probably didn't realize just how much we liked Tim Russert until we learned of his passing on Friday afternoon. We followed all of the coverage on Friday night (we're real party animals...) and were so saddened to think of his wife, son, and father who were left behind to grieve.

We were sure to tune into "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning and boy...it was tough to watch. The broadcast was a great tribute to his life and career, but it wasn't until the end that we were really taken. In the three years that I've known Tyler, I have only seen salty water drip from his eyes (I don't think I'm allowed to use the word "cry") ONE time, which was on our wedding day. But when they went through the montage of pictures of Tim growing up and spending time with his family, then closed the broadcast with a clip of Tim from a previous Father's Day saying how much he loved his dad and how proud he was to be Dad to his son Luke....Man, you would have thought we'd just lost our OWN dads by the way we were boohoo-ing.

Fortunately for Tim's family, he lived his life in such a way so that everyone knew what he loved and knew who he loved. There should be no doubt in their minds that Tim loved them, bragged on them, and spoke of them always and with the highest regard. He will be missed.

The 62nd Annual Tony Awards

Before I'm off to bed-- Tyler and I just finished watching the Tony Awards... Four things:

1. I LOVED the reunion of the original cast of Rent.

2. Kudos to Laura Linney for finding a dress the exact same color as her skin.

3. I was happy to see Jim Norton win best actor in a play. Didn't have a clue who he was, but it's always nice to see the older nominees win...

4. Now on my "must see" list are South Pacific and Xanadu, joining Mary Poppins which has been on the list since its debut and may stay there until my husband cooperates.

Pleased to meet you!

So here it is...my first blog. Some may say I'm a bit late jumping on this bandwagon-- it HAS been more than a decade since Al Gore invented the internet. I'm Kate, a twenty-something newlywed living just outside of Washington, DC in Arlington, Virginia with my husband Tyler. I was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, graduated from the University of Georgia and have been living in the DC area for more than two years (verging on native in this city). I'm currently attaining my doctorate in Physical Therapy at Marymount University.

This rambling collection of my thoughts and observations is being initiated for several reasons. First, I'm on a four month break from grad school and my husband is graciously pretending not to care that I'm choosing to not contribute to the family income. But I'm six weeks in with nine weeks to go and I'm already teetering on the edge of boredom (don't tell!). Second, I was an avid journal-er as a teenager and little by little, over the years it became less of a priority to me. Judging by the last six or seven years, I'm not sure I'll ever take the time to consistently write about my life and my feelings, but I desire SOME record of my life, for my own personal reflection at the very least. Third, I've been noticing that since college, I've been living my life with less awareness. I wake up, do my thing, think my thoughts, eat my food (important), go to sleep, and repeat. Would I take the time to record my thoughts, observations, and feelings, I'm hoping I would be encouraged to continually take more notice of them and avoid the whole robot thing. So here we go....

Application for Exclusive Membership in FKT... Friends of Kathryn & Tyler.

Yes or No...
1. Do you have any opposition to watching a minimum of 16 hours of college football every Saturday between the months of September and November?

2. Do you expect us to wake up before 9 am and do any form of physical activity with you?

3. Do you have any opposition to drinking wine?

4. Do you laugh at all Sonic commercials and baby E*Trade commercials?

5. Do you ever coordinate your outfits? (Answer no if you want to stand a chance.)

Pick One:
1. Morning church or night church?

2. Cold Stone or Marble Slab?

3. Georgia Bulldawgs or Nebraska Cornhuskers?

4. Beach or mountains?

5. Glen Beck or Keith Olberman?

In 3 sentences or less...
1. Please describe your experiences with the game Scene It.

2. Please describe your typical Friday night.

3. Please explain your feelings regarding the timeless classic, "My Cousin Vinny."

4. Please explain your feelings about helping friends move, shovel snow, and get to the airport for early morning flights.

5. Please describe your ideal weekend road trip.

Please feel free to add anything you feel might be relevant or helpful to this application.

We have approximately 4 slots available and you will be contacted within 2-3 weeks with feedback. Thank you for your interest!