1. I think the very first thing I have to do is thank you for all of the wonderful comments and questions you left on Cal's post yesterday. He can't wait to answer each one of them, but his mother made him because we got home late from a baseball game last night and there's homework yet to be done. We'll work on it over the weekend, so check back Monday to see his heartfelt thanks and answers to any questions you may have had.

2. I think one of the best things about my day yesterday was when my drive home from dropping Neel at work was slowed by a beautiful white duck who took his (her?) time crossing the road in front of me, changed his mind halfway across and waddled back again. I think it was ruined by the guy in the huge truck who couldn't wait 30 seconds and had to speed around to get past me and scared the duck. Thankfully he didn't hit it. What a jerk! Was it really necessary? We both got stopped at the same stop sign, so it wasn't like he got anywhere any faster than me. Jackwagon. To cheer myself up, I've watched this video over and over again.

3. I think yes. It was my birthday this week. Possibly one of the most unceremonious birthdays I've had in awhile. We spent the day in Richmond, so all eyes were on Callum, and that's okay. Some years are like that, I guess.

4. I think was the one of the weirdest things to happen to us in awhile. We checked in late to our hotel Thursday night, and had a room high on the 8th floor with a view of the capitol. Neel left our keys with the valet for them to park the car. We'd been in the room awhile, all changed into jammies, when Cal called from the window, "Papa, can you come here real quick. Someone's in our car." So Neel pulled his pants on, shall we say, super quick, and bolted downstairs as fast as the super-slow elevators would take him. The clerk who checked us in was asleep at the desk. Cal and I watched the whole thing from our window. Neel stride across the street to the car, the guy in the car (it was the valet) jump out of his skin, Neel tear open the door and yell at the guy in the car. Those of you who have met Neel may have a difficult time imagining this. After Neel came back inside, he woke up the clerk at the desk, and uh, explained the situation to him.

We worked it all out the next morning (and didn't pay for parking, by the way), but: creepy, weird, and strange.

5. I think I can speak for both Christine and me that we're having such fun continuing on with #perception_collection. We're going to showcase some of your photos on Monday, and in the meantime, keep 'em coming! Every day you're inspiring me and pushing me. It's been great!

photo credit to Wes Notham, the LG's son

Wednesday, April 23, marked the reconvene of the General Assembly of Virginia. The GA votes on the Governor's vetoes of bills, and the pages come back to work for one more day. I can't believe when I met these pages back in January that we'd be as close as we are today. We all became really close because we live together and work together, and I thought I'd tell you about what it's like to be a page in the Senate of Virginia.

All of the pages live together in a hotel in downtown Richmond, about a 10 minute walk from the capitol. Every morning my alarm was set for 6AM. I was always worried about oversleeping, so I set the alarm on our hotel room clock, my phone and my roommate's phone. The alarm on my roommate's phone always went off first, waking us up. As soon as we were showered, dressed and ready to leave (usually around 7:15) we'd have to get checked out by Mr. and Mrs. Snow, our hotel chaperones. Sometimes this would mean waiting in a long line of kids before writing our names on a clipboard to say where we were going.

We had three options for breakfast. Arby's in the hotel. Starbuck's in the hotel, or the cafeteria in the General Assembly Building, called Merriwether's. For the first weeks or so, we'd go to Starbuck's, then a lot of the boys started going to Merriwether's, mostly because Starbuck's is so expensive.

The walk to the capitol takes about 10 minutes. At all times, we have to travel in a group of 4 or more, for safety. We usually dreaded these walks because we were there during a cold and snowy time of year. Most people entering the General Assembly Building have to pass through security, but the pages have access everywhere and the Capitol Police let us pass freely.

Once in the General Assembly Building, we descended a flight of stairs, hung up our coats in lockers (coats must always be worn if it's below 50º), and entered the Page Room where there would be a schedule for the day written on a large white board. This schedule told us our jobs for the day and also listed the soup and sandwich of the day. Each page carried a notebook to write down all important information, including lunch. Often a senator would order lunch and would ask to know what the specials were.

My job was the same every day because I was selected to be the page for the Lieutenant Governor and he was my priority every day. I reported to the LG's office at 9 each day, but would leave the Page Room, along with another page, at 8:45 in order to stop by the post office and collect any mail for the LG. On the way to his office I also had stop at the Capitol to pick up the Journal. The Journal was the list of bills and presentation's for the day's session. One Journal went to the LG and one to the Majority Leader. I only picked up the Journal for the LG. Inside were pink notes telling the LG who to call on for certain bills.

From there, we'd head to the Oliver Hill Building where the LG's office was located. I'd tap on the window to let one of the LG's aides know that we were there so he could admit us into the secure building from the frigid cold.

In the LG's office we had a wide range of jobs. Sometimes we'd make lists of important people in the Commonwealth or work on a map of iconic places in Virginia. This kind of work wasn't like homework that you get in school, but it actually helped the LG's office accomplish its goals for the Commonwealth.

photo credit to Senate Page Program of VA

Because my job required me to assist the LG, I was on the floor of the Senate every day. This meant I had to eat lunch at 10:45 every morning! I did this because we never knew how long a floor session might last, and if we waited, we might never eat! One session lasted five hours! At 11:30, we'd head to the floor of the Senate. I was located on a bench next to the LG, so if he ever needed me during a session (which he rarely did) I was there to help.

When all the senators arrived on the floor (usually around noon), the LG gaveled in the session. Every day he would welcome visitors into the gallery. A green sheet was printed for each visitor that listed their name, occupation and organization (pages type these sheets). It also listed the senator who represented them. Early on the LG came to me and said that it was hard to find the senator's name on the sheet, so he asked me to write the name of the senator for each sheet in the upper right corner. This would make it easier to see.

I got into a system of writing down the names and delivering them to the bench, and we were pleased with how it worked. One day, the Deputy Clerk of the Senate asked what I was doing and I explained our system to him. Well, yesterday, when we returned, I delivered an introduction to the LG, and the Dept. Clerk turned to me and said, "Look what we did!" I saw they were now printing the sheets with the names typed up where I used to write them.

I was happy to see they had adopted our system. It truly made me feel like I had made my mark on the Senate of Virginia.

If a senator needed a page, they pressed a button that signaled that they wanted one. Since my responsibility was the LG, I did not take requests from other senators, like for lunch, unless they specifically asked. I always wished I could do this more because it's a bonus to get lunch for a senator since they tip you!

After the session ended (and they would last anywhere from 30 minutes to five hours ), we'd go back to the Page Room. I'd get a snack and then be a stand-by page. This meant that I'd only do a job if a senator's staff called the Page Room to ask for help. This happened all the time! Some things we might do would be answering phones, working the visitor's round-about, delivering mail to the governor's office and other duties. If we weren't on an assignment, we'd be hanging out and doing our homework.

There's so much more that happened after our work day that I'd like to share in detail, so I think I'll share it in another post. Thank you for letting me tell you about our program, and if you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. I'd love to answer them!

five things, april 25

a day in a page's life {still + life}