Let's see...I celebrated my birthday last week with a homemade BD cake that my three youngest grandkids decorated...so you can imagine...8, 6 and 4 yrs. My prized gift was a funkie ink pen, which the 8 yr old gave me. It is one of her prized possessions, but being the warmly generous person that she is, she loves to give away her possessions to people who express an interest in them, which I had done a couple of days earlier.

Friday I went into D.C. with a friend. She came in from WV and I from PA. We met at the Shady Grove Metro station. Walked to the boarding house Lincoln died in, and went across the street to see Ford's Theater...learned a lot there, the Ranger spokesperson was great in telling the story...saw the box they Lincoln's were in. Then walked to the Natl Archives...such a silent, somber place to visit. It is like being in a chapel or someplace reflective like that. Then the Metro to Arlington Cemetery to watch the guard change at the Unknown Soldier grave...another somber thing to witness...but incredible. Oh, yes, we did also visit the Natl Portrait Gallery in Chinatown...where all the president and first lady portraits are, and other exhibits.

Sadly, the Natl Museum of American History is closed until 2008. So, we didn't get to see Dorothy's shoes or Archie's chair!!

Back to watching grandchildren all week...normal week that is.