Benedict XVI

I don't know if the visit of Pope Benedict XVI has been big news in the rest of the country. Living in Washington we are always surprised at what seems like a big deal to us and is barely on the radar of friends and family outside the Beltway. But even if your local news isn't running 24-7 papal visit coverage this is, really, a big deal. The last time a pope came to Washington was in 1978, I think. I tried to look that up but I don't have time for lots of googling right now. John Paul II came to the US five times in 26 years, anyway. This was Benedict's first visit and most of you probably know that after spending a few days with us here he left for New York this morning.

Our family really had good luck in the ticket department. Every diocese in the US got tickets to one of the stadium masses and our parish had 65 that went into a random drawing. We only won one but, somehow, they found three more for us. The Mass was a long morning: we left at 6:30 for a 10:00 Mass that lasted two hours. But it was a great time. The kids did really well. The new Nationals Stadium here in Washington is very nice--it's only been in use for a few weeks--and we had fantastic seats so we were able to people watch down on the field. We saw the priest who baptized Margaret briefly (he lives in southern Virginia) and an old friend from the National Shrine who had the job of master of ceremonies for the Mass. Joseph loved seeing the procession of bishops all in red. Most of all it was wonderful to see the Holy Father in person and attend Mass with him. Here are a few pictures of his arrival in the stadium and the general set-up of the Mass:





We were also offered, at the last minute, tickets to get onto the CUA campus to view the Popemobile ride between two different talks Benedict was giving. We were pretty tired after being out all morning and getting lunch and getting home but we wanted to try to get a closer view of Benedict and we knew that the campus atmosphere would be very festive and fun and we wanted to be there with our friends. It was a pretty good party and our closest friends were all there. Lots of kids were running around and Joseph and Margaret got to play outside. We were all gathered on the lawn outside the National Shrine and many had brought guitars and drums. Benedict came by and Joseph got a great view from atop Daddy's shoulders. My view was a bit obstructed but we still saw him pretty close and had a great time visiting with everyone. I was holding Margaret in a crowd so I couldn't also get a picture of that sighting. But Margaret had a great time playing with our friend Emily.

Margaret at rest

My mom suggested I take a picture of Margaret sleeping so that you could all see what she actually looks like. But the last thing I ever want to do is risk waking Margaret so I'm not going to do that. I searched my photo archives and found two in the last month where she was keeping relatively still.

Done again . . .

Eric finished the big revision/footnote adding stage of the dissertation last night. Can you tell?



Update: Graduation is no longer possible for this May but we are hopeful that the defense can still occur before summer break (Eric will officially graduate in October). He has an interview week after next at one school and we are quite hopeful about prospects at a second school. They are both on the East Coast.

Anyone need a babysitter?

It's great to know that whenever the next baby comes along (which, by they way, is not happening in the next nine months) I'll have two enthusiastic volunteers for carrying the baby in the sling:

Favorites

Joseph has finally gotten the concept of "favorite." People ask him all the time what his favorite of something is and he usually responds with a blank stare or with whatever he's doing at the moment. Today he announced a favorite of something so I asked him for a whole list. Mostly for my own future amusement, here it is:

Tea: Mint
Ice Cream: Chocolate
Color: Purple
Fruit: Oranges and Grapefruits
Vegetable: Tomato (yeah, I know it's really a fruit . . .)
Meat: Lamb
Meal: Oatmeal
Drink: Water
Cookie: Chocolate
Nut: Walnuts
Person: Daddy
Animal: all the animals, but especially jaguars, cheetahs, lions, frogs, and turtles
Place to go: Kennedy Center
Game: Candy Land
Book: Where the Wild Things Are
Song: Zoodle Song (from "Philadelphia Chickens")
Thing to Watch on YouTube: Swedish Chef (from the Muppets)
Instrument: Trumpet
Favorite Relative: Brett (Brett isn't actually related to us but I'm sure he would be honored with this distinction. I recently asked Margaret what her sign for Brett was and she made the same sign she uses for Mommy, Daddy and Joseph, so I guess both kids are confused.)

So there you have it. And here is a picture of the kids being turtles.