It occurred to me after my last post that anyone who read that Riley is a black lab-golden retriever mix might envision some sort of golden, blackish...i don't know. He's not. He looks like a black lab, but the people at the adoption center said he was a mix. He's my baby boy. Being a doggie-mommy the third time around is much easier than the first two times. With Jenna, when I was in sixth grade, she was only 8 weeks old when we got her. She cried all night for a few weeks. Riley sleeps through the night, knows lots of tricks (sit, lie down, shake, spin, fetch, and he knows to go in his crate when we tell him... and he even pees on command. Now that, my friends, is a talented dog). Mysti, who I got when I was in 8th grade, is a Yorkie, so she was really tiny when I got her. We had to regulate her food intake like crazy becuase she was so small, and she was diabetic, and the day before we picked her up, she went into a diabetic coma at the house where she was born. So both of my first two experiences with raising puppies were stressful and difficult, but I love Jenna and Mysti sooo much. (Of course, I had already been taking care of my two other dogs when Jenna arrived: Finney and Max). Riley loves his toys and likes to snuggle. He just discovered the the office chair beside the computer desk spins. He got halfway on it, and started spinning around. And seeing him on the hardwood floors makes me laugh because he slides across them farther than he walks.

Now...about D.C. We went up to D.C. last Thursday, and we visited American University that afternoon. Everyone says that when I walk onto the "right" college campus, I will have an AHA! moment, and know once and for all that I was meant to go to that college. I haven't had that moment yet (I've only been to see four...) but I had what I guess is a quazi-AHA moment at American. (And of course, I would love living in D.C.) One of my favorite things about American is their history department and course offerings-- my favorite class that I've seen so far is one that is held during the summer. It is a study of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the students actually travel to Japan to hear victims' testimony and visit the sites. How cool. Another great aspect of being at one of the D.C. colleges (AU, GWU, and Georgetown) is that if you are enrolled in one of the colleges, you can take classes at any of them.

Anyway, while in D.C. we went to the History Museum, Ford's Theater, the Spy Museum, ChinaTown, and toured the monuments. We also visited the house where Lincoln died and toured Georgetown. The funniest moment on the trip was when we passed this pair of elderly couples on the sidewalk (two men, two women who were probably in their eighties). One of the women, apparently the one in charge, was yelling at the men and pointing at them one at a time, saying "You didn't follow instructions. And you (turning to the other) didn't follow instructions..." that was all I heard...but it was quite the sight.