Bonus Points

The kids may drive us around the bend and up the wall and through the woods and down the hatch from time to time, but they really are divine pleasures to have around. I mean, how can you ever get mad at a two-year-old when he goes up to our spouse, out of the blue, and says, "You look pretty, Mommy!"
I mean, sure, that won't work in fifteen years when he's busted curfew, but for now, it's amazing to watch. We went up to the Marina at Bolling AFB (who knew it had a marina!) to see some old military friends before three of them leave this summer. Ideal location, with a park and path on the side of the Anacostia River, watching airplanes take off from the other side, helicopters flying 300 feet off the wavetops, boats going by, and the Washington Monument just off in the distance. Ryan loved watching the planes roar by, at one point even waving at a jet and saying "Have a good tri-ip!"

Although the boss has tried to take things off my plate so the transition of my imminent absence goes smoothly, each day is staying busy with little things, short-notice taskers, short little meetings. I eat lunch at my desk with the hope of getting to the gym, but that still only happens about half the time. Yesterday, my boss asked me to review a document and forward it to three people with his compliments.
So I forwarded it on, adding:

Mary, you have a nice office. Lynn, you're one of the two best Deputy Division Chiefs I've ever had. Mr. E, your facial hair is robust and impressive.

Moral: forward your own damned stuff.

Because I didn't get to the gym, I took Ryan for another bike-n-trailer ride around the neighborhood, though one stretch was on a relatively busy street (albeit with a nice wide area to the right of the white stripe that we'll call a bike path for fun). I was whooshing down at about 30 mph, cars whizzing by, wind rushing past my helmet, so I couldn't hear how Ryan was reacting. Until I got to the bottom of the hill, and I heard,

"Go, Daddy, Go!"