Back on the Dating Scene and Living the Good Life

I am really enjoying Washington, DC. The city has so much to offer: great restaurants, so many parks, museums, and monuments. It is expensive, though. I took the Foreign Service Written Exam last month, but I did a lot of guessing, so I don’t know what to expect. I guess I will have to wait and see…

I am going to teach summer school the month of July. Lately I have been attending some trainings and trying to get together the supplies. I will be responsible for teaching the 3rd-5th grade Young Scholars summer school program. “Young Scholars” is a term used to describe students who show academic potential and motivation, but they lack the home support, language, or resources. The YS program aims at giving these students an opportunity to enrich and challenge their minds. I am really looking forward to it! We will be learning about archeology and how to interpret artifacts. I am going to try and get back to St. Louis for a weekend this summer.

I still really love my job. The kids are absolutely fantastic, and the people I work with are also really great. The population is so diverse. My students are from Korea, China, Vietnam, Lebanon, El Salvador, Honduras, Pakistan, Bolivia, Philippines, the USA, and even a full-blooded Native American. And our school has students from over 100 countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, and North Korea. It really is a special place.

There's a pool in my apartment complex, and I can’t wait for it to open Memorial Day weekend! I just dropped off the form to get my pool pass... hooray! The weather is getting much nicer… still the crazy weather of spring, but we’ve had several days where the temperature has reached the 80s.

Things had been on the rocks with Simon for a while, and we finally decided to come to a mutual agreement to see other people. I know it's the best in the long run, but it is very hard now. This is definitely not where I thought I would be at 29. But, I am trying to jump back into the dating scene... and I put my profile on Match.com. It’s been fun. If nothing else, it’s nice to get out and experience more of Washington, DC. I have had a few dates, and so far I have found at least one guy I really like. Bachelor #1 has been a lot of fun. Bachelor #2 didn't work out. Tomorrow I will meet Bachelor #3 for a first date.

I recently started running and have been running for the last 3-4 weeks… nothing too major. I have a slow pace, but I have been building up endurance. I try to run 2-4 times a week. On weekdays, I run about 2 miles through Arlington, and on weekends I run with Rachel and Jason. We have been running from Pentagon City to the Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, which is about 3 miles. Last Sunday we ran 5 miles!



Sunday April 23, 2006, I ran my first race, a 5k – the George Washington Parkway Classic. Proceeds benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of greater Washington. My only two goals were 1. to finish, and 2. to try and pace myself to run the entire race, rather than a sprint-walk-run-walk. It was a huge success, and I really felt good afterwards. I am trying to now train for the Capitol Hill Classic, a 10k race in support of the Capitol Hill Cluster School. We'll run through Washington, DC on May 21st. This area has a lot of runners!

And… I just signed up to go sky diving in a couple of weeks with Rachel and some of the other diplomats in training. I am getting a little nervous but excited!