A day in the life

I woke up, got out of bed, but didn't drag a comb across my head. Not enough hair. I did go downstairs and had a cup, and then went to the Lollygag for the Cure. Each year, a group of friends all walk to celebrate life, and in memory of friends or loved ones lost to breast cancer. It is a huge event, more than 70,000 this year. We met up at 7:45 at the East Wing of the National Gallery - located here.

The morning started out completely gray, nearly foggy. It was muggy but not yet hot. The haze stayed around until about 9:00 or so when the sun finally burnt it all off. We walked 5 kilometers; Lisa T ran the course this year. You go Lisa!

It was 10 AM before we all finished: it was the lollygag for the cure, not the walk, not the race. Everyone was going to get together for noshing but I had to see an apartment in Georgetown at 10:30. I got there just as the guy was opening up the building (near 27th and Q NW), and all of the apartments were the best I've seen in terms of what I want. I got an application and need to fill it in this weekend.

From there I walked "home" (near 9th & S NW), and along the way, got breakfast at McFU, and saw another open house. This was a completely renovated building, really nice, but a little outside my price range. Went home and did some laundry, and by 2 PM went to two more open houses. One was a basement apartment in the Dupont Circle are, really nice, but it had many people looking at it. Still I will put in an application for that one as well - it really had everything I need.

The other apartment was similar, but updated and way overpriced, $600 per month higher. By now it was scorching hot. I went to Trader Joe's to get groceries, came home, made the bed, and took a nice long nap.

The weather in the day in the life: typical global warming Washington. It got up to 98F or 36. It was hot and I spent much of the day walking around in it. The high on Saturday matched the record that was set in 1999.

It was pretty sunny all day, once the haze burnt off. I was wearing a tank top so now I have this cute tank top sunburn.

After the nap, I woke up and remembered that there was a Cyndi Lauper and B-52s concert tonight at Constitution Hall. I checked craigslist, made a few calls, didn't reach anyone. By now it's 7:30 (the concert started at 6:30; the startup was Tegan & Sara, then Regina Spektor) and I doubt I'll get to see anything. I text the lord of the universe and he calls me. We're just catching up, talking about our days in the life, and I get a call on my mobile. One of the craigslist people called me back; he's at the concert and has the extra tickets still. V understands that I need to go: I'm there in time to see the B-52s and Cyndi. Fave lyrics:

B-52s: Roam ... "Around the world the trip begins with a kiss"

Cyndi: Girls Just Want to Have Fun ... "I want to be the one to walk in the sun"

They both played new stuff and classics. The True Colors Tour is the name of the event, and it's a fund raiser for the Human Rights Campaign. Cyndi looked incredible; Fred did too. The concert had an incredible ending. When Cyndi went offstage after her encore, everyone is still clapping and cheering and hooting. Then all of a sudden, this giant balloon comes out of one of the entryways near stage left, just a few feet from me. Then another, and another, and more, and soon there are twenty or more giant balloons all bouncing around the concert hall. It looked a little like this (photo from another concert), but there were DOZENS of them:




Everyone who performed then came out and sang "Everyday People" ... what a great show! Thanks to everyone who played! Thanks to the craigslist guy! You made my day!

Apartment hunting

I've been back two weeks today. Time has flown by. Between the 50-hour work week and catching up with friends, I'm looking at apartments. There are a few websites I'm using to help:

craigslist - free classified ads, simple search feature
apartmentratings.com - great site where tenants rate apartments and their managers
apartmentshowcase.com - the online version of a monthly magazine of apartment ads put out by the Washington Post
apartments.com - a commercial search website, affiliated with the Washington Post. Yucky search feature.

There are some real estate and rental management websites that I've been using as well. I've probably seen 12 or 15 places. I want a place close in, but I've already eliminated Capitol Hill and Waterfront. Focusing now on Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, and Woodley Park.

Between it all and visiting my brother in the country north of Baltimore, I have not had one day to myself. It's all good, though. V and I talk pretty regularly. I've gotten some nice reimbursement checks related to my shoulder surgery. The weather is getting a little sticky, but hey, it's summer in Washington.

The good thing about work is working with two interns in our office. It makes my day. Today we went to a seminar on the Hill about food security. It opened their eyes. Jim McGovern led the seminar, which was attended by Jo Ann Emerson, Earl Pomeroy and Jerry Moran.