An ambition, I've found, can lead only to failure.
The trip to DC is now past tense and am back to daily grind. My flight got in around midnight and instead of having the next day off as I had plan, I actually had to work. A valuable lesson in daily schedule maintenance has since been emphasized.
Overall, the trip was all the things I had assumed it would be: productive, eventful, and a breath of fresh air. I spent my first in town with C. Brett. We killed time watching procedural crime dramas before hitting the town for dinner and a couple beers at a dive bar near his apartment.
The next day was the start of the conference and I checked into my hotel bright and early so I could spend a small chunk of my day navigating the area for interesting places to patron and such. I got in touch with both C. Brett and Bill to start the process of making plans for the three of us to meet up. Bill had already made plans for the night so I told C. Brett I would meet up with him and a couple of his coworkers once I was finished for the day. And that, my dear readers, is when the whole trip took am exciting turn...
Although I do not remember drinking all that much, I found myself passed out on the Metro around 2:50am. Better yet? My handbag (complete with wallet, driver's license, credit/debit cards, and cellphone) was nowhere to me found. I retreated to upper level police area for a ride to my hotel after stumbling around the platform and hopelessly peering in to all of the cars I could manage. If you've never had the great fortune of losing your identity while in another state, I reccomend it. Thankfully I have had a pretty smooth go of getong everything replaced.
I finished up the conference and headed to Georgetown to stay a couple of days with Bill. It wasn't like we could do a whole lot in my condition but I was able to make my job interviews with Bill's guidance.
Bill and I were able to make a date with C. Brett my for my final night in town. We went to a pizza joint/liquor store(?!) for dinner and capped off the evening back at C. Brett's, watching a movie and making s'mores using his fireplace. Call our trio anything you'd like but please refrain from calling us uninventive.
Since my flight home wasn't until much later in the day, I had a large portion of the day to kill before braving the chaos that would be boarding the flight home sans any form of identification. I had some money wired and the only thing left to do was visit the infamous steps fearured in The Exorcist and to drop some major coin on Georgetown's M Street. I am happy to say this mission was successful due to stops in Urban Outfitters and MissSixty. Troubled economy be damned!
The airport security situation I had been bracing myself for turned out to be only mildly irritating (and unfortunately no strip search was required). I chalk it up to luck...or possibly a 90lb white girl isn't the most intimidating figure to homeland security?
I am definitely looking forward to this upcoming Halloween weekend. I'm joining Dennetta, Andy, Dan, Melinda, etc in some downtown shenanigans. In rare form, I actually have my costume completed prior to day of. This year I will be hitting the streets as the original Converse-wearing hipster: Punky Brewster. Genius, right? I must give Bill all of the credit for that inspired idea.
My birthday is also right around the corner (Remember, remember the 5th of November...) and I have no idea what to do to celebrate outside of voting the day prior. Usually I would sweat this kind of thing with unbecoming intensity but I suppose sereneness is a part of approaching old age. Besides, that weekend is Dennetta's birthday and housewarming soirée so I'm not anticipating a complete bust.
All of that prose brings you up to speed....