JL's Visit

JL came into town for a training. It was so fun to have her all to myself for a few days (after her training.) She stayed in Old Town Alexandria so I joined her there and what did we do? SHOP! :) It was so fun to wander around Old Town without a plan and with as much time as we wanted. The first night it was really windy (40-60 miles and hour gusts), but the next day it was beautiful.
I loved this hat. It makes me want to go back and buy it, but really where would a wear it?
The Torpedo factory is kind of like an art studio where people sell their art. We wandered around and looked at several artists studios and wares. It's a cool venue.
Of course if you haven't been to Eastern Market then it is the perfect thing to do on a sunny day. We wandered around and looked at all the vendors goods. I bought two bracelets, a ring, and a necklace. I only go there when people are visiting because otherwise I would be broke. :) There is just such fun jewelry.

They had these very fun animal hats for sale. They were just so adorable! JL is sporting a lion. She's so cute!

Here is another cute hat and other things they were selling. Such fun things!

JL and I took a tour of the George Washington Masonic Temple in Alexandria. I had never been even though two of my best friends lived near it for probably about six years.

JL posing with George Washington. I think JL is a lot cuter.:)
This is the only picture that George Washington posed for--for the Masons. He told them he would only pose for the picture if they would paint him 'warts and all.' We learned a lot of things about him. He had scars all over his face from (I think small pox he had as a child), he has a scar from his nose to his chin on the right side, he had fake teeth that were painful so he often did not wear them, he had a huge mole on the left side and would wear high collars because he thought people focused on the mole more than him. It was very interesting.
We went up into the tower for a view of Alexandria and across the river-Maryland.
This is one of the rooms in the Masonic temple. Evidently this is really a memorial to George Washington and to the Masons. So most of the rooms are more for show. This is one room that one of the types of Masons study in. Of course they couldn't tell us much so I'm not really sure what they do here. Our tour guide, Brian, said they tell each other Bible stories and talk about what they mean to them today.
This is on the steps of the Masonic temple. You can see JL's hotel just behind JL's head. We liked that the Masons purpose is to become better people and to contribute to their community.

I loved having JL here!

On a different topic, I have 'shedded' 8.4 pounds so far and have a bit to go. It feels good to make progress even though it feels so slow. My doctor said it's normal for my size and age. Really there isn't much going on in my life. I need to plan a trip!