Back from Washington (DC)

I meant to blog from our nation's capital, but frankly, I just couldn't muster the energy. It ended up being a very good conference, as good as we'd hoped, which was a relief. But I also had events to go to every night, which meant that I just didn't have the cycles to do anything fun. At all. I stayed pretty much within a 5-block radius of the hotel. Didn't even get to the Mall--what a travesty! Well, OK, there were two incidents of pleasantness. One was a fine meal the day I landed at Central Michel Richard. We were seated next to the kitchen pass-through and watched the chefs putting finishing touches on very "structured" platings. The other was a step back into the time machine, set for 1976--drinks at the National Press Club with a work friend and a couple of very old school reporters, one of whom had been the Voice of America. It was fun relaxing on the naughahyde sofa and taking in the scene, generations of reporters hanging out and drinking (including our host, who sloshed down four pints of Guinness while we were there). I also did something I've never done before: I flew home the day the conference ended. That last day was a very long one (one that also started with one of my headaches, too) but it was a smooth flight, thank goodness. We actually landed a half-hour early, didn't have to wait long at baggage claim or for the shuttle to the parking garage, and naturally there was no traffic at 11:00 at night. It was great being back home. I did go into the office for most of the day on Friday, but I felt really ready to enjoy this long holiday weekend.

PA Gals, Marin Headlands
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

Which got off to a great start yesterday. I met the Point Arena pals at the Marin Headlands for a walk along the coastal trails. It was an incredible, spectacular day--clear and warm, even right on the ocean. We had a lot of gabbing to get out, which was very nice and continued over lunch at a restaurant in Sausalito. Since I had been too beat for a date night on Friday, M and I went up to Healdsburg yesterday evening for dinner. We had consulted the list of "best restaurants" I keep on the fridge before leaving and settled on Barndiva. It was definitely a splurge, but oh we had a long, wonderful, flawless meal. They were out of tables, so we sat at the bar, which we agreed is something we both enjoy, chatting with the personable barkeep and other patrons. We strolled around the square after dinner, feeling like tourists, dreaming over the house listing posted in the windows of real estate offices. He purchased Twain's "Roughing It" at the local bookstore, and I'm sure I'll be picking it once he's done since I've apparently lost all motivation to choose my own reading material.

In other news, I took Veronica to the vet last week. She's officially 20 years old now, and had started really showing her age--losing weight and becoming very unsteady. As it turns out, she has hyperthyroidism, so she wasn't able to process her calories properly, which is why she's been losing weight. We've been giving her half a pill every day, and the change has been remarkable! She's already gaining weight and is much more active. I did feel a bit like a bad kitty-mom--I had thought that she had lost the ability to retract her claws, but in fact, a couple had just become overgrown, one so severely that it curled around and pierced her foot pad. So she also came home with a bandaged paw that didn't help with her mobility and was pretty gross when combined with a few trips to the litter box. But that's all healed up now, and she looks as though she'll be around for another 20 years.

Today M and are continuing a Memorial Day weekend tradition today--house cleaning. We used to get the carpet shampooed during this weekend since odds are the weather is warm enough to dry them quickly and we had three days to move everything out and then back in again, but since we don't have any carpeting now, hooray!, we'll be doing a thorough cleaning of walls, floors, and other items that we tend to ignore regularly instead. That should set us up for a quiet day tomorrow.

I know that this is the holiday of remembrance, but right now I'm feeling very thankful for the wonderful life I have in a very beautiful part of the world.