THE WEEKLY READOUT

June 15, 2011

Dome tour, decorations, darn hot weather…and MJ’s birthday

VIP to help the VIP’s: Monday KA gave a dome tour, a privilege customarily reserved for Congressman. She did an excellent job, climbing over 380 stairs from the Capitol Crypt up to the dome.

In true KA fashion, when a slot became available on the tour, she quickly thought of whose day she could brighten, and made a phone call. Our friend Cristi jumped at the opportunity, zipped across town, and reportedly was beaming for a full two days. A “once in a lifetime experience” she reportedly called it.

Sprucing up the Satterthwaite’s: Clint can hardly believe how good he has it. Granted, when you move from a bachelor pad, you don’t come with high expectations when it comes to décor. So it has been with some amazement that he has watched our little one-bedroom apartment turn into a home.

As a final touch to the effort, last week KA set out to make curtains. Not only did she succeed, but a pillow came from the effort as well!

A very important day: There are few people in the world who-- in making their birthday wish, would acknowledge to themselves that all they want for their birthday is attention. Fewer still, who would say as much out loud.

Thankfully, we’re related to one of them! MJ celebrated her 27^th birthday in style, with rice and beans (Clint’s recipe), amazing Café Rio chicken (made by KA) as well as a whole spread of food, and an amazing night of entertainment. Suffice it to say, rice and beans weren’t the only thing Clint had cookin’.

We loved celebrating with MJ, and wish her a very happy birthday.

Escape from work: To truly make the most of her birthday, MJ went shopping, and KA—being the loving sister that she is, couldn’t help but support the cause. They found some serious deals, including the last dress of its kind on the East Coast. Yup- just ask KA how she knows that. . .

Relaxed Friday: After a great dinner at the hip Busboys and Poets Café, we shared pie, ice cream, and a lot of stories with MJ and our good friend Miranda. Nothing like spending a summer night on a screened-in (ie bug-free) porch.

To the races: Saturday we awoke early to go for a ride down to Mount Vernon on our road bikes. The morning was still cool outside-- a significant departure from the high nineties we had been experiencing all week! We were pretty bummed then, when just as we turned the corner to park our cars and get out our bikes at the trail, a torrential rain storm came out of nowhere. We couldn’t help but laugh as the rain pounded on our windshield, leading us to question why we had tried at all.

Luckily, the rain left as quickly as it came, and before 15 minutes had passed, most of the standing water had run off, allowing us to have a great time. It was no Tour de France, but we moved pretty well!

Friends and Games: Both Saturday and Sunday we were able to host friends at our house for dinner and games.

Saturday was Clint’s sister Cami Jo, as well as Hannah and Neil, and their adorable baby Gideon. Sunday, Alan and Marci came by for a teriyaki chicken feast, then a round of a game called Like Minds. We love our friends, and really enjoy when we can have them over to our house!

REST OF THE WORLD:

Can’t beat the heat: As previously mentioned, a heat wave swept across parts of the country, and bore down particularly hard on the East Coast. Tuesday saw Washington D.C. tie the record for the hottest June day ever with a sizzling 102 degrees. Yikes.

Strained relationship: CIA Director, and Secretary of Defense designee Leon Panetta wrapped up a disheartening visit with Pakistani military and intelligence officials last Thursday, less than three weeks after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had gone on a similar mission seeking to repair the damaged U.S.-Pakistani relationship. The frequency of such high level visits suggests all is not well between Washington and Islamabad. Such trouble becomes all the more problematic when considering the significant role Pakistan plays in a region where the U.S. is heavily invested, and where such much stands to be lost.

JUST FOR FUN:

Matching: KA Showed up to work on Friday and noticed that she was matching with one of her co-workers.

We’re so good to each other: It has been suggested that we can be competitive with one another. So let it be said. It was then, really impressive when we ended a nine-round game of Quiddler…with the exact same score. Odds are, that’s not a very common thing. We’ll just take it as evidence that we really love and care about each other!

Oh, and for you doubters out there, we even took a picture of the score sheet—crazy, huh?!

Dome Picture: Clint happened to photograph KA while she was up on the dome and he was on the ground below. It’s not very high resolution, but to help, Clint says she’s the cute smudge on top!