HS Day at the Capital

What collosal waste of time. We could have gotten more out of it had we put more effort into it but that didn't happen. So, it's partially my fault but I still get to gripe.

Let's start with the 35 mile drive through a blizzard. The roads were clear when we started but quickly became snow covered and it was still snowing so driving was treacherous.

Finally, we got there. I swung by the capitol complex only to find that all the parking spaces are reserved for the legislature, the legislature full of able bodied men and women who could easily catch a shuttle from the parking lot a couple blocks away. I, on the other hand, had two small children, two not-so-small children, a trumpet, a drum, a bag full of music stands and a grouchy attitude. I circled and circled. I attempted to parallel park my van in a too small space. I called my wonderful husband and told him to forget meeting us b/c I was going home. From several blocks away (at work), he found us a parking space. The parking attendent assured me I didn't need to worry about the orange bag on the meter... so I didn't.

We still had quite a trek through the blizzard-like conditions. Adam carried the trumpet. Ryan carried the drum. I carried the bag of music books, drumsticks, and very heavy music/drum stands. Evan ran ahead and ignored my calls. Matthew moved like a snail and begged to be carried. I had to give in and carry him b/c he was so very slow and it was so very cold. I'm pretty sure I pulled something in my back when I picked him up.

We made it inside, dumped our instruments off with some friends who were manning a display and went to watch the legislature in action. We sat in the gallery of the WV State Senate. They spent too much time introducing people and then got down to the business of referring a gazillion bills to committee. If even half of those bills become law, it'll be too many. Do we really need every aspect of our lives regulated by the government? I think not.

We had to leave before they started anything interesting. We collected our instruments and headed downstairs for the rally. Dh met us to watch the boys play. We heard a couple speakers, watch some homeschoolers do poetry recitations, and then the band played. That was the best part of my day. The band was great.

I wanted to go on some tours when they finished with the rally. There was a capital tour and a tour of the governor's mansion planned. But we hadn't had any lunch and the boys were whining. I wasn't about to give up my parking space to go out to lunch so we just packed it up and headed home.

Oh yeah, I got a parking ticket, too.