Sister Little Arrives Safely

I took the subway to the airport, Washington National, to meet Kaye's plane last evening. It was a beautiful day and so she had no trouble on any of her flights, the one here even arriving about 20 minutes early. Her pretty little self moseyed off the plane towing her (what else? - pink) carry-on roll along, declaring "Let's party!" and "Now THAT's the way to travel!" the minute she was close enough to speak. I agreed, "Let the fun begin!!"

We rolled on out of the Northwest Terminal straight onto the shuttle to the Main one and through there to the Metro, where it took a few minutes for a Yellow Line train to show up, but the weather was so beautiful we didn't even care. We changed seats when we were getting close to the Potomac so we could see the river as we crossed it on our way to Gallery Place, where we switched to the Red Line for Van Ness and home. We were going to have dinner at Arucula once we got back in the neighborhood but got distracted by Delhi Dhaba on the way to the car, so stopped there instead to chow down on Indian food, the "Superior," a tasting dinner that features two different appetizers, two vegetarian and two meat entrees, as well as mango lassa, a creamy, cold yogurt and mango drink which goes well with the spicy food, and a side order of lamb biryani, which we needed like a hole in the head. Even after we stuffed ourselves like little piggies (TayTay, take the back of your hand and tap it gently to the bottom of your chin several times and you will know what we felt like after we finished eating), we stilll, of course, had two huge cartons of left-overs (which we don't mind, because it means we don't have to think about what we'll have for lunch tomorrow.)

We finally waddled to the car and drove the rest of the way home, where S.L. promptly collapsed on the couch, until the door bell rang and we had a visit from my little friend Charlotte and her mother, Anja, and sister, Ella. They had just returned from Las Lomita Dos and had seen the light on and the screen door open. Charlotte met her match with S.L., who recognized a kindred soul immediately, so it was fun to watch the battle of wits between them while snuggling tired little Ella, who folds into you like a warm blanket when she cuddles.

Everyone is looking forward today to the imminent arrival of Sister Middle (aka, Carey), who will make the Sister Triumverate complete. S.L. and I will head to Union Station later this morning to meet her train, the Capitol Limited, which should arrive around noon. We'll have lunch there, maybe wander around a little, I suppose, and then come back here for a rest, refreshing, and dinner before we go to the Kennedy Center (or Senator, as Sarah calls it - the Kennedy Senator, "my favorite Senator") to hear the National Symphony Orchestra and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, for which I scored free tickets on the Chevy Chase Listserv yesterday. How lucky was that!? Sometimes I feel like I just hold my arms open, and the universe fills them with presents. I feel a little sad that Dad isn't here, that he never had the opportunity to hear her, but I'll hope he's on our shoulders this evening. He'll be, of course, as always, in our hearts, the man who gave us all so much, including an appreciation for classical music, and me, along with my wonderful mother, four siblings, including these two wonderful no-longer-baby sisters whom I've adored since they were born.