A DC Pea?

Hi, LP. You're seven weeks, two days old tonight. Since you came into existence my weekends have been very lazy-- I fall asleep on the couch at least once (and sometimes twice) every day. Daddy and I hope you're doing OK in there.

Tonight I've been fretting about where our family should live when you're born in December. I grew up in Beaumont, Texas, and I think I had a really good childhood. Mom, Dad, Will and I had a really nice house in a really pretty neighborhood. I had all kinds of friends around all the time and got to ride my bike all over the place and roam around and explore. We had pool parties and cookouts in our back yard. I lived down the street from both sets of grandparents and got to see them and my ten cousins pretty much every week. I got to spend summers and weekends at a beach house near Galveston, and it was so much fun. Daddy thinks the Texas beaches are pretty lame because he grew up by the pristine Florida beaches, but to me it was paradise. I went to summer camp at Laity Lodge in the Texas Hill Country (maybe you can go there someday!), and it was so awesome. I went to All Saints Episcopal School and I loved my teachers and my friends and my classes. I can't say I have many complaints about how I grew up-- it was pretty much perfect until my parents split up when I was thirteen (that's a story for another day).

Even though I liked growing up in Texas, I fell in love with Washington pretty from the start. I first came here when I was seventeen and I was part of a program for high school kids who were interested in politics. I'll never forget coming up out of the Dupont Circle Metro (such a huge escalator!) for the first time. First of all, it was snowing (a rare occurrence in Beaumont). But also, it was so beautiful and exciting! There were people everywhere, and there were so many cafes and restaurants and shops around. The houses were these amzing old brownstones-- I'd only seen those on the Cosby Show. I went to Georgetown and was shocked-- I'd never seen a real college campus before, with gothic architcture and ivy-covered walls and ancient buidings. I was hooked. I wanted to come up here and work in the government-- it felt like the center of everything. I was lucky, because all those dreams I had in high school pretty much came true-- I work on the floor of the U.S. House now!

I think DC would be a great place for you to grow up, LP. There are dozens of museums on every subject under the sun. You'd learn so much about this country and its history, since all the monuments and government buildings would be in your backyard! The area is really beautiful, and there are people from all over the world and from all walks of lfe here. We could visit New York City and Charlottesville (the town where I went to college-- one of my favorite places ever) and Shenandoah National Park and Jamestown, PA where Daddy's family comes from. You'd know both Republicans and Democrats (where I grew up there were only Republicans) and you'd have the chance to go to some great schools. The only thing is, though, we wouldn't be close to any family. You wouldn't know your grandparents like I knew mine. You might not have as nice a house as I had. since everything is so much more expensive up here. Daddy and I might not get to spend as much time with you as our parents did, since we'd both be working and would be spending a lot of time commuting back and forth on the highways. I just don't know if all those things make me change my mind. Should we go back to Texas?

I'm sure Daddy and I will figure it out-- enough fretting about it for one night. Keep growing in there, LP!