mile 1 - 331

I'm not sure if I can really count that first chunk from New York to Virginia as part of the official road trip, but I am because I want to claim that I started at the Atlantic Ocean and went all the way to the Pacific. So there.

A couple things about moving that I didn't realize: it is the tenant's responsibility to have the water, gas, and electricity turned back on. Oops. That took a couple days, but once it did, I felt like I won a big prize!

I unpacked all of my stuff and put it in the room it would live in, but not until my mother arrived did everything settle into place like it was meant to be there all along. It's her job and it's no wonder. Because she's pretty good at.

My handy work. Her handy work.

Click here if you feel comfortable viewing more pictures of the inside of my apartment.

Now, my mom did not just come to Richmond to help me make my apartment my own, but I will say, she might have been more excited than I was to get her hands on it. She and my dad came up to celebrate the Re-Edaissance with their favorite daughters.

Well, their only daughters really.

Bear with me for this explanation.

September 6, 1954 was Labor Day. On that very day, baby Eddie was born.

(I just happened to have this picture of a picture. Not on his birth day, but at least a little Eddie. He's the boy. In the middle.)

Fifty years later on 9/6/04, Eddie turned fifty. But what made that fiftieth birthday so special was that it was also Labor Day! Go figure. The day was christened The Edaissance and it was celebrated in a field full of friends, games, music, beer, etc. (Sorry I have no photo available at this time.)

Another six years passed, and Eddie turned fifty-six. (I know I'm blowing your mind with the way time works.) Again, on Labor Day! So 9/6/10 became the Re-Edaissance.

The man himself. Potential Christmas card.

It was not the same blow-out as the original, but it did involve some friends, family, beer, Putt Putt, Tears for Fears, and new T-shirts.

One of the best things about Putt Putt is how you get to choose which brightly colored ball you would like to represent you. I chose the hot pink because when I was a kid, we used to sneak onto the Diamond Head golf course and find the balls in the pond. The favorite one I ever found was hot pink.

At The National. Surprisingly good show! If you are not familiar with Tears for Fears, I recommend checking out this or this.

If you need more visuals, help yourself.