The three stooges, in front of Monticello.
Last weekend (and this week, for that matter) was non-stop and a lot of fun.
After saying our goodbyes, Matt and I departed ways until Thanksgiving. Amanda, Amy, and I piled back into the truck and started our remaining drive to Virginia.
It was a long drive, especially since I had to do all of the driving, but of course the girls kept me entertained the whole way. We got into town around 7 o'clock and after unpacking the truck and realizing we didn't have immediate internet access, we were both starving and ready to get online.
Against our better judgment, we stopped and ate at the first place we found, Taco Bell. About an hour later, we were all regretting the decision and I subsequently made Larry and Shemp undertake a solemn vow that we would never commit such a cardinal sin again, at least not in one another's presence.
Using my GPS (and a lot of U-turns later), we found a Walmart and grabbed the essentials. (You know, cereal, fruit, milk, cinnamon rolls, and a wireless router). I had done some basic research on the things we wanted to do Saturday, but had counted on using the internet that came with the apartment to do some final checking upon our arrival.
... Of course, you can't get online with just a router. Rats, foiled! I think Wade may've laughed at our web access ignorance, and I felt stranded. What is it about being able to check your email and look up the weather online that makes being away from home more bearable? I don't know what it is, but I can tell you that I went up to Comcast and picked up my modem as soon as the apartment office told me where to go!
Monticello from the back.
Saturday, we toured the beautiful Monticello. This time, I actually got to go into the house. Let me just say that if you're ever in the area, I really think you should take the time to tour Thomas Jefferson's estate. It's really beautiful and the guides do a very good job of bringing it all to life by giving you some of the history of the house and the man who built it.
Jefferson was a brilliant man. Like many literate people of the age, he was mostly self-taught. He had an enormous library (and even sold it to the US government at one point to dissolve some of his enormous debt). He was an academic and founded the University of Virginia so that others could have a higher education. He was a brilliant writer, politician, botanist, student of architecture, and much more. He was also an extreme micro-manager. He was obsessive about everything on his estate, taking scrupulous notes and monitoring every single tiny aspect of the entire enterprise.
Me and Jeffs
The two things I cannot admire about Jefferson were his lifelong indebtedness and ownership of slaves. Even though he was in debt, he kept remodeling his house and spent according to the lifestyle to which he was accustomed. After he died, his slaves were sold for much more than the value of his entire property. He only freed five of his slaves in his will. Jefferson was strongly against slavery, calling it, an "abominable crime," a "moral depravity," a "hideous blot," and a "fatal stain" that deformed "what nature had bestowed on us of her fairest gifts." However, he owned them his entire life. I think he viewed them as essential for his survival. He was so deeply in debt that he probably never freed them all because of how valuable slaves were. Why he had this lifelong conflict of conviction and personal reality, we'll probably never really know.
After Monticello, we stopped for a quick wine tasting at Jefferson Vineyards, just down the road. Perfect weather for a tasting and tour, too!
Wine tasting, anyone?
Since the weekend, it's just been me and the "boys". I think they're adjusting to being apartment dogs. It's been a big change losing our large fenced in yard and resorting to leash walking, something we're learning how to handle as efficiently as possible. We're all three also learning to get used to all of the creaks and movement noises associated with living in an apartment.
The only times I lived in an apartment were our stint in Japan and the first summer Matt and I were married. In Japan, it was especially hard to get used to being quiet all of the time as a family of five that had always had our own (separate) house. You could hear the neighbors practicing the piano or a wife fussing at her husband for coming home too late, so I know they could hear whenever the three of us girls became embroiled in a cat fight.
Who here hasn't done a barrel stand?!
The apartment is pretty nice though. I really don't have any complaints about it. It's more space than I need (room for visitors!) and is pretty new. It's up on a foothill with a beautiful view and lots of amenities.
My first week on the new job went pretty well. Thankfully, they were able to get all of my paperwork done and accounts set up moderately quickly and I even got time to dig in and start doing some things. The people are all pretty friendly and I think it's really going to help the time fly by quicker staying busy and being in a work environment with good people.
The biggest adjustment for me has been getting used to being on my own. I've never lived by myself, let alone lived completely separated from friends and family. It's been exciting and scary all at once. I'm not so much feeling lonely yet because I haven't had any free time on my hands, but I am definitely having waves of homesickness. I've noticed that I have gotten choked up or teary-eyed in the afternoons or on the drive home a few times, for no apparent reason.
I really think I wouldn't have any issues if I had been able to bring Matt with me. It's been hard being apart, and it's just a week in.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? :)
Who wouldn't miss these characters?
