My Worst Nightmare

There are few things that make my blood boil more than people who are pro-life. This does not meant that I don't count some pro-life people among my friends, but it does mean that we do not discuss the abortion debate when we're together. It is one of those things that I will never change my mind about. I believe that all women should have the power to choose what they do with their bodies. It's that simple. I believe this strongly and passionately. This does not mean that I cheer every abortion performed. I don't. But I want to know that I can have an abortion if that's something I feel I need to do for whatever reason. I want to know that every woman in America has the power of self determination. This is a free society, or at least it is supposed to be. Women should not become second-class citizens.

So yesterday on my way to work, I had to wade through streams of pro-life demonstrators as they flooded off the metro. There were probably thousands in sum and I came into contact with hundreds. They were perky little girls with hoodies that said things like "Abortion is America's Hidden Holocaust" on them. They were middle aged men, they were mothers and sisters and brothers. They looked really normal if you could ignore their "End Roe" signs. But as I walked past them, bumping into them, being shoved by their sheer numbers, I felt panic. All of these people want to take away my rights. They believe in what they believe for their own good reasons, but most likely they don't realize the consequences of what they're attempting to do. Back alley abortions, unwanted children, the marginalization of women... the list goes on. I wanted to go home and put on my walking shoes and hold my own demonstration... I know some pro-choice people did just that. But instead, I went to work, leaving it up to other people to decide on this issue that I care so much about. My own inaction was really my worst nightmare.

Odds and Ends

It's been a while. Not because I haven't had things to blog about... but because there's never a good time to do it. Lots of things have been happening this month.. below a few of the highlights.

1) Recently, Neil and I were walking home one evening when we saw and heard a street musician. He was a white man with a brownish grey beard and was probably between 45 and 60 and he was playing a guitar hooked up to an amp. As we approached we realized he was singing Johnny Be Good. (Note; I love street musicians. In college, I did my final photography project on street musicians. I spent weeks roaming around the city taking pictures of musicians wherever I could find them and dropping money in their buckets or violin cases. As a result of my affection for street musicians, I usually smile and have generally warm happy feelings when I see a street musician.) The man looked very dirty and worse for the wear, but I was still excited as we walked by him. The lyrics we heard are a follows: "He never ever could really read or write/But he'll fuck you in the ass..."
Neil and I were both completely shocked. I did a double take and then walked as quickly as possible away from Mr. Skeezy Street Musician. As soon as we were about ten paces away, we started laughing uncontrollably.
(my apologies for the swearing, but it was central to the story.)

2) Not too long ago I ran into a friend from elementary school on the street in DC. We exchanged phone numbers and that was that. Tonight, I went to dinner with Kate. She called and invited me out and her other friend from high school who I also know (or knew) was in town. To top it off, Kate has a friend from law school who went to Northwestern with me and while we didn't know each other, we had tons of friends in common etc. So the evening was spent reminiscing about high school, elementary school and college intermittently. It was great and while I had been apprehensive about having dinner with people I hadn't spoken to in ten years or more, I really enjoyed myself and relished the opportunity to reconnect.

3) I think I am becoming more Jewish. I know that sounds strange... but here goes. I work for a Jewish nonprofit. While it isn't anything I ever pictured myself doing, I have really been enjoying it and from the minute I had my interview, I knew it would be a good place to work. However, when I accepted the job, I told myself that I wasn't going to let myself get sucked in. I would not attend services and I would not feel obligated to become more observant than I want to be. (basically, I am not a religious person.) However, being here and working in a Jewish office, I have really begun to appreciate some things about my religion. My favorite friend from work is Orthodox and incredibly observant and at first I couldn't even wrap my mind around that. I did not understand how someone I have so much in common with could be so incredibly religious when I viewed that kind of extreme observance as oppressive. But I am starting to understand it. There is something so incredible about the community... about having Jewish community around you, about celebrating things with your friends and family etc. Today, I had lunch with my new friends after they went to services and it was great. We basically just hung out all afternoon talking and eating and enjoying each other's company and because it was Shabbat, there were no distractions. Nobody had anything better to do than to sit around in that apartment and talk. I am not going to become orthodox, I probably won't even begin attending services regularly, but it is really nice to understand, at last, a little bit more about Judaism and community and what religion can be that is positive...

Loss

I found out this morning that my friend, ballet teacher, piano teacher, mentor and a source of considerable inspiration died on Christmas Eve. He definitely has one of the best obituaries ever. Something tells me he either wrote it or gave specific instructions about what it contains. The world is just a little bit worse now that Zsolt no longer lives in it. But, he made a lot of peoples' lives a lot better for having lived.

Zsolt, I will miss you...

ZSOLT of Santa Fe died Dec. 24, 2005, after a long illness. He was a lifelong humanitarian, a monkish poet and good friend. A citizen of the world, he grew up in Boulder, Colo.; London; and Quito, Ecuador, and resided in Boston, Paris, San Francisco and Bern, Switzerland -- making Santa Fe his primary residence for the past 21 years. He is survived by his parents, Barbara and Alan Robb; recent housemates, Michael and Galen; and many other people of all ages who befriended and adopted Zsolt into their families. In lieu of sending flowers, take a few moments to read a passage from the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, or listen to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. A celebration of life is tentatively planned for Jan. 8, 2006.

Brand New

It's a brand new year. 2006 seems like a good number to me. I like the way it looks. I like that it's an even number... there just seems to be something friendly about it, something appealing. Anyways, so far, this year is going well.

It started off in a somewhat drunken stupor, as all new years should. This year, Rachel and Brian were in town and we went to a party at one of Rachel's Dartmouth friends' houses. Neil and I actually knew Johnny from a few winters back when he lived in Santa Fe and interned at a magazine, so it wasn't completely weird -- we weren't surrounded by strangers. Anyways, we had a great evening of laughing, talking, standing by the fire and just enjoying the last hours of 2005. Sometime after 3 a.m. and shortly after I noticed daylight in the backyard through a window in Johnny's house (the fire got a little out of hand), we headed back to our apartment where the four of us ate french toast and went to sleep at 4. I cannot remember the last time I went to bed that late and it felt great.

The next morning, we met a group of people from the party at our favorite breakfast place, The Waffle Shop. The Waffle Shop is the kind of establishment that was built at least 50 years ago and when it was new, I am positive it was a shining beacon of modernism in the heart of the city, but hasn't been REALLY cleaned since opening day. I am not saying it's a dirty restaurant...the food is cooked in a clean environment, but the diner itself has not really been kept up. No changes have been made, no improvements, no deep cleaning. The food, however, is amazing. I believe they make the best waffles I have ever had. So, 2006 began with good company and an amazing waffle.

After brunch, we went for a walk on the National Mall and the weather was amazing. Neil even wore short sleeves. The walk was followed by a satisfyingly long nap and later I watched a cheesy movie. It was a great way to spend the first day of a new year. Here's hoping 2006 is as good as I think it will be.

Overthinking

In my daily perusal of the New York Times online, I came across a most interesting op-ed column that suggests the whole New Years Eve self reflection thing is a bit self-destructive. In fact, the article really says that we shouldn't think too hard about ourselves ever. While this might be going a bit too far, I found myself agreeing with the assertion. I am always so much happier when I take action, decide to do something or be something than I am when I sit around thinking about what I should do, who I am, how to live my life better etc.

The column quotes Aristotle who said, "We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage." This quote reminds me of the presentation I attended in Albuquerque where the woman said that according to studies happy people are risk takers and all you have to do to become a risk taker is take a risk. That advice is part of what made me decide that moving to DC was a good idea and I feel more courageous because we did it.

For my whole life since at least fourth grade, I have spend some time on the final day of the year to reflect on the past year and write resolutions for the new one. I will probably do this again this year, but with a little less gravitas. No reason to overthink it, apparently...

Desperation for Attention

Apparently, the student who said he was visited by the Department of Homeland Security after requesting a Mao book, was making it all up. This is disturbing and it seems as though he did it merely for attention. So, my anger from last week at the government was misplaced, and that's a relief, really. Like one of the student's professors said, it is safe to check out library books. Thank goodness.

But, I would like to point out that pre-Bush, had I heard a story like that, I would have immediately known it was made up. It might have even been laughable. But in today's environment, it was so far from far-fetched that I didn't bat an eye as to it's credibility. Hmm.

Meanwhile...

Christmas has come and gone. I am one of approximately six people worldwide (yes, I know that's an exaggeration) who had to go to work in an office today. I know all the retail people are slaving away at cash registers, but office workers, by and large, are just crawling out of bed. On my walk to the metro this morning, I felt like a crazy person because DC had become a ghost town. I passed approximately 2 people between my door and the metro station. Normally, I probably walk by at least 100 people each morning. The guard in the booth at the entrance to the building has the day off and everything is eerily quiet. I get the day after New Years off and will sleep in with reckless abandon as revenge for having to work on this dreaded day.

Amazing Abuse of Power

It was only a matter of time after moving to DC before I started my relentless political blogging again... here we go.

A co-worker sent me a link to this article today about a student who received a visit from the friendly Department of Homeland Security because he requested a book by Mao through a university inter-library loan system. This is so wrong on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin.

I find it deeply disturbing that even materials in an academic context are reason for suspicion by the federal government. I also find it disturbing that the government might know what books I have been checking out and that now I have to think, when going to the library, about whether or not the titles I'm checking out will be on a watch list. There goes that good old American feeling of freedom. With all the news lately about the president and the authorized spying on private citizens without warrants, I feel like I am living under a government that's moving away from democracy and our Bill of Rights and toward dictatorship.

Jealousy

The other day, Neil and I were at one of our favorite restaurants and we came across a foreign language social group. A bunch of people were milling around with name tags speaking different languages. Their name tags specified the language they were there to practice and we watched as they paired off, stopped speaking English and got down to business. Really, it was pretty cool -- a great idea. But I couldn't help but to think they were all really nerdy. Now I wonder if that was, in fact, the case, or if I'm just jealous that they all speak a second language and I don't.

Wow

I can't believe he took responsibility! I don't like him any better, but this is still a good thing he's done. When was the last time 43 admitted he was wrong???

Snow

It is really amazing how, in a world filled with so many unpleasant things, on some mornings, we wake up and everything is covered in sparkling white crystals. This morning, I got to make fresh tracks in the snow as I walked across the mammoth suburban parking lot I cross each morning. Normally, I think about what a waste of space the big chunk of asphalt is. Today I thought about how awesome the snow was and how satisfying it was as it crunched under my shoes.

Welcome to the Coke side of life...

That is the new slogan for Coca Cola. I am sure their commercials are amazing and inspirational and will make me feel the need to drink their cola to be cool, but what a lame tagline. Couldn't they come up with anything better?

It's supposed to snow here in DC tonight and have sleet and icy rain tomorrow. They are even talking about possibly not opening the office in the morning, which would be great. My mom and dad arrive this afternoon (before the storm is set to hit). There's something I really love about having family around when it's cold and snowy outside.

Last night, Neil and I cleaned our apartment and it was nice because a) we now have a clean clean apartment and 2) it took about 1/3 the amount of time it used to take us to clean our house. I kept wandering around wondering what we'd forgotten to do, but then, we had extra time and got to drink some wine and talk about Neil's lunch at the White House. That's right, he went into the heart of enemy territory and had lunch with a White House staffer that ran the campaign in NM in 2004. I'm currently reading Full Disclosure, and the White House Mess is mentioned quite frequently, so I am fascinated by the whole thing. I'm a tad jealous Neil got to go, but I can wait until there's a less evil administration in office.

Things

1.) I still have no idea why people from all over the world are viewing my April 2005 archives. I will admit that it was a good month for blogging, but who are these people? If any of you read this, please please comment and tell me what's so interesting there. I removed the naked man painting...Is it the worst haircut contest winner?

2.) My parents are coming to visit this weekend. We're going to a Red Wings game and to the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree (which happens to be from New Mexico this year). I am sure my mom and I will also find some way to squeeze in some shopping. Anyways, we're all ready for them now that Rachel and Brian tested out our air mattress.

3.) This past weekend an Indian food restaurant opened beneath our apartment. We've been watching them build it for weeks. The restaurant is on street level and we live on the sixth floor, but on opening night, our whole apartment smelled like Indian food. I like Indian food, I like how it smells, but not on my clothes and in my bed. Really, it's a smell that is only good when you're hungry. I think they fixed the problem, but won't be sure until they cook again tomorrow at their opening night. Apparently last Saturday was just practice. I was packing our boxes in my head when I first started smelling it, but the people on floors lower than us were REALLY up in arms and ventilation system modifications were made. So my fingers are crossed that I won't be plunged into a spicy smelly existence come Wednesday.

4.) Also this past weekend, after a trip to Eastern Market, I recognized a person passing me on the street and discovered that it was Kate Mayer, my old friend from elementary school in Santa Fe. In fact, she was valedictorian at her high school senior year and made history for giving a speech about all the problems with public education in NM. They banned student speeches after that. It was great to see her and on a broader level, to see a familiar face in my new city. As it turns out, Kate works in a building right next to our apartment building.

5.) And finally, last Friday, Neil and I attended a formal holiday party for Northwestern alumni living in DC. I put on my black strapless cocktail dress, Neil his Italian suit and we went to a hotel near our apartment (Hotel Washington) where we were directed to a ball room all decorated in purple balloons and purple banners. It was a little more school spirit than I had experienced in a while and a little more awkward cocktail conversation,too. But we had a great time. We saw a few people we knew from school that we didn't know were living here. Perhaps most importantly, we ran into Nadia, our friend who was a couple years behind us in school and dated one of Neil's roommates. We had completely lost touch with her and it was great to catch up and, for me, to find another girl friend to hang out with in D.C. So here's to awkward alumni functions.

It is absolutely freezing here and there's even some snow on the ground. Here we go... East Coast Winter...

Number 5,212 that I love my iPod

I love my iPod because if I wear the headphones on my walk to and from the metro in the mornings and evenings, I can't hear the occasional crazy homeless person who screams at all the people who walk by. When I do hear these people swearing and yelling at me, my adrenaline kicks in, my heart races and I feel sad as well as scared. With the iPod, I know they're yelling, but I can listen to Death Cab for Cutie instead and keep walking.

House Guests Are Fun
Just because we downsized from our 3-bedroom house to a 1-bedroom apartment, didn't mean we'd be stopping our grand tradition of house guests. Last week, Rachel came to an Anthropology conference and stayed with us for most of the week and on Saturday, her husband Brian drove from NC to pick her up and hang out with us for the weekend. We had so much fun! All my fears about being overcrowded were unfounded and it was really great to have some really good friends visit. We went to the new bar/bowling alley in our neighborhood, attended an open house at a way-too-fancy hair salon and got free drinks and hair stuff, ate pie at Kramer's Books, walked through a flood of Andre Boticelli fans in the metro, ate sushi, went to Eastern Market, toured the Museum of the American Indian...etc. It was a great week and weekend.

Who are you people?

Ok. So normally I get about 15-20 hits on my blog a day, over the last couple of weeks I have noticed that I'm getting hundreds of hits a day and they are all starting on the page from the April archives where I have pictures from my trip to Italy. One of them, which I have removed, was of a painting in the entry of a house that showed a man without clothes. It was a little more graphic than I can explain here because I am not interested in hundreds of people going to this page daily any time soon.

Anyways, the people viewing my pictures from Italy were from all over the world (Egypt, Serbia, France, Italy, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Finland etc.) All I can imagine is that my blog is the subject of someone's e-mail forward? In any case, while I am all for blog traffic, it's a little creepy that so many people I do not know have been browsing my vacation photos. The other thought that crossed my mind was, "What if they are all making fun of me?" (I think this question mainly came up because I am paranoid and a little narcissistic.) Whatever the case, that many people going to a page buried in the archives cannot be good. I'm hoping the removal of the photo will make them all go away so that my family and friends and occasional random strangers are the only ones frequenting this blog.

Ten Years!

Yesterday I found someone I hadn't talked to in almost ten years. I had been wondering about him on and off and had looked online a few times, but nobody I knew knew where he was or what happened to him. Yesterday, I got an e-mail from him and I was elated. I had no idea that reconnecting with him would make me so happy. My whole life I have had this need to keep my friends close. I like to know where people are, what they're up to, how to call them if I want to chat and I hate losing people. So finding Patrick was a really wonderful thing and knowing a little bit about what he's been up to all this time makes me feel a tad more complete.

Multitasking

My friend Rachel and I just decided that the word "multitasking" is really a way of saying "getting absolutely nothing done."

Packed

In the spirit of being exciting city people, we have a packed weekend coming up. Rachel and Brian are visiting. Tomorrow night we're going to the new bar/bowling alley that is opening down the street. Friday is the formal Northwestern alumni holiday party, Saturday is hang out with Rachel and Brian day. I'm really looking forward to all the fun.

Adventure Test

My friend Britten sent me the following quote today and it confirms that moving to D.C. was, in fact, an adventure. I had been saying it was all along, but now it's official:

"The test of an adventure is that when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself, 'Oh, now I've got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home.' And the sign that something's wrong with you is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having lots of adventure."

--Thornton Wilder

I am happy to say, that I have not yet returned to my apartment after work and thought about how I wish I was out having adventures. Every day is still an adventure. Now the problem is (and I think this is what Mr. Wilder was getting at)that eventually what's adventurous right now will become something ordinary and I will long for adventure again. And once I come up with a new way to have an adventure, I will, at some point along the way, wish to be back in my cozy apartment in D.C. But this is just the nature of change, really. We resist change just as we crave it. I suppose the challenge is finding ways to continually create adventures for ourselves.

Aahhh

There's nothing like a four-day weekend to make going back to work on Monday dreadful. In spite of the pain of waking before the sun was fully up this morning, I really enjoyed the Thanksgiving vacation. We went to our friends Ben and Robyn's apartment for Thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious and fun. Also, it was much better than making some Thanksgiving sides at home and just having Neil and myself to eat them... that was the alternate plan until we got invited to Ben and Robyn's.

Earlier that day we got to spend time with our friends Topher and Lotus who were in town visiting Topher's dad. It was great to see them, even if it was a brief visit.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was the best day ever. I say this because my husband actually suggested we got to the mall where I got a much needed new coat, and then willingly went to two movies in a row. I can't think of many better activities than attending two movies in a row and I hadn't done it since college because Neil isn't a movie freak like me. Also, normally, trips to the mall are not Neil's idea, but mine and then I feel like I'm torturing him the entire time. In any case, Friday was perfect.

Saturday was also a lot of fun. We had lunch at the Native American Museum because they have authentic Native American Cuisine including Navajo Tacos (although they call them Indian Tacos) with green chile! I am a big fan of Navajo tacos which basically consist of fry bread covered in beans, tomato, lettuce, cheese, onions and green chile. At the museum, however, they have a buffalo chili on top which includes beans and then the rest of the ingredients. I was wary of the chili since I don't eat much red meat and especially not buffalo, but it was really good and I felt like I was at home (almost). After lunch, we walked to the Washington Monument to find out about going to the top, then we walked around the White House (or the large perimeter that surrounds the White House) When were at the closest point, the police cleared everyone out and closed the street. We waited for a while to see what was going on but the only clue we got was that one officer asked the crowd of gawkers if anyone had left a CVS shopping bag behind. So maybe it was a suspicious shopping bag? It was strange, there were at least three men with long photo lenses in the crowd taking pictures, but who knows what they were of. Neil and I got too cold so we left. It was curious to say the least.

After that we went to the zoo where we saw both adult pandas, but not the baby. We also saw a hippo up close (a first for me) and some other animals, but Neil was freezing so we left the zoo and went home.

On Sunday, we went to the top of the Washington Monument (cool, but not amazing), locked ourselves out of our apartment (thank goodness the front desk guy has a key), and took a four-hour nap (nope, I am not kidding).

All in all, it was a great weekend and it helped us to feel a little more like DC is home.

Observations upon being in DC for approximately three weeks

1. On F street near Chinatown, there is a green official-looking street sign right below the F Street NW sign that says Fun Street in a fun font. Neil and I sometimes skip while crossing Fun Street in order to induce fun.

2. On one of the longest escalators ever coming up from the Dupont Circle metro, a sign says "Hold Handrail on Escalator" or something like that. So I put my hand on the rail and stood on the escalator only to notice my hand moving forward faster than the rest of me. I though I was imagining it until I was almost touching the butt of the woman in front of me.

3. Every morning, I have a 15-20 minute walk from the metro stop in Maryland to the building where I work. I get to walk by generic suburban strip malls and then through a giant parking lot. It's not a glamorous route. To make matters worse, every morning I walk by a Starbucks that I can't actually get to because along the sidewalk is an iron fence. The fence is low and if I were wearing jeans and sneakers, I could surely hop it, but in work clothes, I'd be crazy to try. To walk around the fence takes an extra 7 minutes because it wraps along the sidewalk and then curves with the driveway. I would plan ahead and leave home early if it guaranteed coffee, only, once I get to Starbucks and around the fence, there's often a line so long that I have to leave without getting any coffee. Of course, the glass on the doors is always in a glare when I'm on the outside of the fence trying to determine if I should make an attempt. Most mornings, I take a big sniff of the caffeinated air outside the Starbucks and walk along the fence drafting letters in my head to the fence owners about putting in a gate.

Moving in, Moving on

We arrived at our new apartment building in the morning on a Friday. I had scheduled the move in at least a month prior, and yet, they didn't have us scheduled. So, we had to beg them to let us into the loading dock. Eventually they did and our movers showed up and took all of our things out of the truck, up the elevator and into our apartment. Overall, it was really smooth. A hamper handle got broken along with something else, but I don't even remember what. None of our things were dirty or otherwise damaged. So, perhaps, driving our stuff across the country in a Penske truck (like turtles, our whole house on our back) paid off.

Unfortunately, our landlord had not cleaned the apartment prior to our arrival as promised and it was gross, but within two days, we had a cleaning crew come in and clean and the landlord paid. We went to Ikea with the truck and bought small furniture to facilitate storage. We built the furniture (two bar stools, one wooden chair, one desk, one cabinet for the bathroom, one glass cabinet for art, one wooden shelf unit for a closet and one metal shelf unit for the pantry) and unpacked everything by Sunday evening. If we didn't know already, this experience was proof that both Neil and I are very anal. All of the other people we talked to about the move looked at us like we were insane when we said we'd broken down the final box on Sunday afternoon. But regardless of possible insanity, we felt great once we were all moved in. (I mean even the art was hung on the walls...)

Our apartment, even if it's half the size of our house in Albuquerque, is awesome. We somehow have enough space and it doesn't even feel crowded. Add to that the fact that we get lots of natural light and the dogs seem to like it a lot. Also, we have a great gym and a roof deck with pool, and a party room with a pool table and a movie theatre and so on. We really like where we live. The neighborhood, Chinatown/Penn Quarter, is awesome. We're about five blocks from Ford's Theatre and the house where Lincoln died (I am a big Lincoln fan) We're blocks from the Smithsonians and even closer to the National Archives where we can visit the Constitution and Declaration of Independence whenever we feel like it. We have a big multiplex theatre nearby as well as several live theatres. There's an Ann Taylor Loft and an Urban Outfitters (two chains that do not yet exist in NM)just down the street. It's really exciting.

We're still exploring the neighborhood and making new discoveries. Last night we ate at Wok 'N Roll, a Chinese and Japanese restaurant in the historic Mary Surratt boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators are said to have hatched the plan to assassinate Lincoln. Our building adjoins to another condo complex called the Clara Barton because it's built above the original house where Clara Barton set up her office for missing soldiers. They're restoring it right now and soon it'll be a museum. Being surrounded by so much history is really fascinating.

At home, in New Mexico, the history was different. I was immersed in different stories. Pueblo revolts, conquistadors, the Apache trail of tears. Growing up, I thought of the New Mexico history as my own. But, I also thought of U.S. history as my own. In 5th grade, I made my parents take me to D.C. so I could see everything -- the Star Spangled Banner, Ford's Theatre, Mount Vernon, the Constitution...And now I live here, a new place with its own history -- a history that I identify with, too.

New Life

I am back and I have a new life!

First of all, the gala dinner at my old job on my second to last day of work was awesome. I still don't know the totals for what we raised, but I think it was at least $26,000 if not a little more. People showed up all dressed up and the food was awesome and the entertainment was great. Before I left the next day, my boss told her that one of the long-time credit union movement people told her it was the best credit union event in the history of the state, which made me feel really great. In addition, I am just thrilled to have raised so much money for the hospital.

So after the great event, I had one more day of work. I actually cried when I left the office for the last time. It was surprising to me... I knew I was sad, but I didn't realize how sad. Apparently I set all the women off crying too, and it continued on well after I left. Ugh. That night, we had invited friends to meet us at Q Bar (a cool bar popular with the political crowd and the media) between 9 and 11 to say goodbye. We got there at 9 and nobody was there so we felt like losers, but shortly thereafter, a ton of people showed up. Everyone from our city council member friend and his wife to a state legislator, to people from Neil's work and our personal friends. It was really nice to see everyone one last time and it felt good that they all took the time to show up. I did a bad job of inviting people from my work (i.e. forgot to send a mass e-mail) and felt dumb about that, but at least I had the opportunity to say goodbye to all of them the previous week.

The weekend was spent packing and saying goodbye to my family. We went to The Melting Pot for my early birthday that Sunday night, which was a lot of fun and one of the first times we were all together in a long time when we've laughed and felt comfortable. I am grateful for that for sure.

The next morning, the movers were an hour and a half late, but then did an awesome job loading or 16-foot truck. It was almost completely full and our house was empty and we locked the doors, loaded the dogs into the cab and drove away.

The first night we stayed in Oklahoma City with Sophia, a friend we met thought Neil's work in El Paso who is working at a TV station in OKC. It was great to see her and she was sooo nice and let me take a bath in her big tub. Our dogs were the worst behaved that night and barked on and off throughout the night which made me feel soooooo guilty. Sophia was really nice about it, I still have a feeling we should send some flowers.

The next night we stayed in Memphis with our friend Mary from college who we hadn't seen in five years. On the way there, once we were officially in "the South" I actually saw a confederate flag hanging on the side of the freeway. That was a completely weird experience. We also saw the Clinton Library in Little Rock (but didn't go in). Mary lives in a really nice house in Memphis and we got to go to dinner with her and her boyfriend, Michael, who was really nice. Then we stayed in her guest room and the dogs were quiet and the bed was so comfortable. I wished we could have spent more time catching up, but we had to leave early for our longest day of driving the next morning.

Our final night was spent in Chapel Hill, NC where Rachel and Brian live. We were overdue to visit them and check out their new home and meet their new dog, so it was great to be there. The following day, we hung out for the morning and got to see some of Rachel's favorite places and take a tour of the UNC campus. I was struck by how beautiful North Carolina is and what a cool community there seems to be in Chapel Hill. Also, Rachel took me to the coolest art store that sells toys that are art. They all look like Japanamation characters, but come from all over the world. (I did a terrible job describing that)

That day we drove to D.C. and stayed in a hotel and got ready to move in the following morning. Overall, we drove about 2,200 miles in four days. It was a good road trip, but there wasn't enough time to see what we were driving past. In spite of enjoying our time on the road, I'm glad I don't have to drive back anytime soon.

Stay tuned for -- The Move In...

It's been a while...

I'm back. Maybe only briefly, but here I am. Sorry for the silence lately. Here I am with only 2.5 days left of work, a whole house to finish packing and a new life waiting for me on the other side of the country. It's been possibly the most stressful few months of my life, but I am hoping it all pays off soon.

We start our cross-country drive (in a moving truck) on Monday and are due to arrive at our new apartment at 9:30 a.m. Friday. On the way, we're staying with friends in Oklahoma City, Memphis and Chapel Hill. It should be fun. I actually think that as soon as we get our belongings packed into the truck and drive away from our house, I will be able to take a deep breath and begin to enjoy myself.

Right now, however, I'm thinking about the gala dinner taking place tomorrow that I'm the co-chair of. We're set to raise about $26,000 for the local children's hospital in one night which feels pretty good. I just hope everything goes well tomorrow night. It is scary being responsible for such a big event. Plus, all the attendees paid quite a bit to attend so they need to enjoy themselves. Needless to say, I am nervous.

Anyways, I promise there will be more inspiring blog posts soon.... hang in there...don't give up on me yet