DC in Sept

Back in mid-September I went to Washington, DC for a long weekend.  I was having high fatigue and pretty severe joint pain, so I didn't get to see as much as I'd hoped.  It was still a good trip!

Cooling my feet in the park's stream

The first couple days were spent near Dulles, where I relaxed while my traveling partner worked.  I didn't bring any business clothes so couldn't sneak into happy hour networking even if I'd wanted to.  Instead I hung out in a nearby park :)
















Then on to DC proper, where the hotel was next to the convention center.  This was during the Congressional Black Caucus--good vicarious fun.  So many people happy to see each other, talk about issues important to them, and most importantly to party!  At the end of the CBC convention, President Obama spoke at a dinner.  I was able to see him leave the venue!

I very much enjoyed the National Gallery of Art.  My Flickr album has some terrible photos of my favorite paintings.

I highly recommend taking a Capitol tour through your Senator's office.  It started by riding the special Congressional train linking the Congressional office buildings to the Capitol building.  Then a tour around the public areas of the Capitol, along with some history.

Afterward I sat in on a House debate--lo and behold, they were discussing defunding Planned Parenthood.  Let me tell you, being silent was a real challenge!  Debbie Wasserman Schultz earned my respect that day.

On the last day I saw a couple more Smithsonian museums, then walked back to the hotel.  I got lunch takeout in Chinatown and picked up a few kitschy souvenirs.  After that it was time to catch the airport shuttle and head home.

A Birthday

Last weekend was my birthday, I am a shocking 39yo.  No, I'm not sure how that happened either.  But so far I'm liking it: I have more confidence, plenty of life experience, and can happily ignore bad or annoying advice.  Be grateful I'm not your aunt, I'd be telling you to go talk to that boy: he can't know you like him if you don't talk to him!

It's not a birthday without cake.  I got drinks with a few friends during the week, had a party with family on the day, and saw a couple other friends as well.  A well spent holiday.

Mmmm, cake

"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm." H D Thoreau  (I used to have a copy of Bartlett's, with favorites bookmarked.  This was a more recent acquisition however)

World Arthritis Day

It's World Arthritis Day.  Autoimmune disease is huge, and nasty: Type 1 diabetes, Crohn's, RA and psoriasis are all caused by the body's immune system mistakenly attacking itself.   There are at least 80 autoimmune diseases, and they affect at least 23 million Americans--that's more than heart disease, and 2.5 times the incidence of cancer!  That figure only includes statistics from 24 AI diseases.  The true figure may be closer to 50 million, or 15% of the US population (AARDA).

But autoimmune disease is largely invisible.  While it ravages your insides you are left with your soft human shell intact.  And ill people do their best to appear normal.  Think I "don't look sick?"  That's because you don't see me on the days when I can't change out of pjs or leave the house.

There's more that I'd like to say but fatigue and brain fog are making it difficult.  Instead of pushing myself further I'll sign off now.  Maybe that will say enough.