Cherry Blossoms 2011

Cherry Blossoms are here! Brenda was in town and we walked around the Tidal Basin taking in the beautiful sights! Thanks to Brenda for these lovely photos.
Here we are in front of blossoms/Tidal Basin/Jefferson Memorial in background...
I stood by Paddles the beaver, and stuck my hand out and said "stop!" for a silly photo right as a group of Asian ladies was walking by... they all jumped thinking I had yelled at them! Completely embarrassing... totally something I would accidentally do...
Here we are at the Jefferson Memorial.
Washington Monument!
More blossoms...So pretty!

Jon in DC

Jon stopped by DC on his way to NY to visit me, and we had a grand old time. :)
Kennedy Center was a lot of fun. I'd never been to the terrace before on top, it gave a great view of the city and river. We walked around some interesting exhibits, lots of diamond jewelry that was pretty, and then this pillar- which I thought looked like jenga blocks... like the biggest game of jenga ever! Poor sucker that lost that match!
We checked out the National Cathedral on Sunday. I like our services better (we sat through Mass) but the building itself was beautiful!
Love being tourists...

I like this

I like whales, blue, and sparkly skies.

The biggest rental car you've ever seen

I got in a stupid accident and my car's been in the shop for awhile, so I got a stand-in SUV. This is the behemoth they gave me. The darn thing doesn't even fit in parking garages! I've had several turn me away. Poo.

I asked politely for 6 days to get a more manageable SUV that was still an SUV (not a "car") and my results were... nothing. So today I DEMANDED a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which they had PROMISED ME from the beginning and every day since but never delivered, and miraculously for some reason, demanding made one appear. I may need to re-evaluate my negotiation style. But regardless of that, here's the Jeep in all her beauty. I like red.

Ferris Day take 2

We spent a big chunk of the day hanging out at National Harbor, oddly enough around this interesting statue called the Awakening.

I didn't get a shot with everyone, but from L to R there's Courtney, Kristine and me.
Jimmy and Kristine.Ben.
Andrew was there too.

Birds

Babysat these three little treasures for a week. Okay, they're quite feisty and fly all over the place scaring everyone, but mostly they just love to be on your shoulder... or head, which is where they'd usually land after flying all over the room.
From L to R we have Mitten, Puddy and Butters is the yellow one. I particularly liked Mitten, doesn't she look so nice?

And then a real treat... at work, I walked into the courtyard, just missing some sort of bird presentation, when I saw an owl in a dog carrier. When the owl people saw me looking they asked if I wanted to hold him. Okay! This was really really cool.
Owl's are the coolest! Look at his big ole orange eyes! So beautiful. They said it's an African Eagle owl.

Dooown the Rabbit Hole

Yesterday, much to my dismay, the retractable string that fastened my security badge to my pants snapped. I now have to carry my badge or keep it in my pocket. This was all fine and well, until I went to use the restroom this morning. Big sign on door said "Closed for Renovation" and since it's the only restroom on the floor, I stepped into the stair well to head to the floor below. Realizing, as the door slammed behind me, that the only way to get out of the stair well was with a security badge. A quick examination of all my pockets confirmed my worry- I did not have my badge. I felt suddenly trapped! But then a sign on the wall said "Exit 1st floor" with lots of red arrows pointing down. So instead of waiting for who knows how long for someone else to use the stairs (or banging on the door like a moron) I started walking down... and down... 4th floor... 3rd... 2nd... and then instead of there being a 1st floor, there was a strange turn in the staircase. And where I would have expected the 1st floor exit, there was a tiny door with a lock! I felt like Alice in Wonderland!Knowing this couldn't possibly be the end, I continued down further- where I luckily found a real 1st floor, followed the red arrows as they snaked round this sketchy hallway, and landed at a regular sized door that said:

Exit: ALARM WILL SOUND if you open this door

If you ask me, that doesn't sound like an exit at all! But a big DON'T DO IT.

Conclusion:

My only regret is that Johnny Depp did not appear. It didn't take me long to run back up to the 5th floor, where I had decided to wait until someone used the stair well. And just as I was a floor away, I heard a door open! Free at last! Upon reaching my desk, I used a binder clip to attach my badge to my pants. Special thanks to Louis Baltzley, inventor of the binder clip, for hopefully saving me from all future encounters down the rabbit hole.