My Big Day in Arlington

Now that I've decided to enjoy each day between now and when the baby comes, instead of feeling guilty about how little focus I have at work, it's a big adventure to plan something fun and exciting. This morning I spent a good deal of time working on a weekly calendar of local events that baby Naegle and I can go to. This included things like breastfeeding support groups and local sing-alongs at the public library. I also decided I would try my hand at creating our own photo baby announcements and so I got some ideas at this very cool site MonkeySee.com.

Given how gorgeous the day was, I was determined to spend most of it outside. I've been wanting to see a local park in Arlington, called Menotomy Rocks Park. In all I walked about 4.5-miles and spent most of the time relishing the sun on my face. Occasionally, I would pull the headphones out of my ears to enjoy bird songs as well, but I must admit I enjoyed catching up on a couple of This American Life podcasts. I walked through some of the most amazing old neighborhoods of Arlington, with many houses dating to the 1800's. On my way home from the park, it was clear that these streets were very old, the cobblestones had simply been paved over. Here's an example of what you would find on the sidewalks (I couldn't find out when this might date to or anything about the company, unfortunately).


The park itself was gorgeous, a little woodsy, hilly oasis in the middle of the city. Here are a couple of pictures. Notice the two rocks just full of turtles basking in the sun. It was absolutely amazing to take a walk through the woods on such a beautiful day.



Note: I apologize for the bad pictures, I didn't feel like lugging our large SLR around, and so these are all with the point and shoot.

I stopped at the crafts store on my way home to get materials to try out making a baby announcement, which will be tonight's project (unless having a baby is tonight's project). I figure if that walk didn't induce labor, than the whole walking thing is complete nonsense. Of course, beyond the walking, I was just happy I could tie my own shoes to leave. I've included a perspective shot to demonstrate what it is I see..you'll note that feet are not part of that. You can see Domino waiting on the landing to run to the door to stop me from leaving however.