I'm still standing

While it is true that I am still standing after an awfully intense week last week, I suspect that feeling like a true survivor will probably not happen until after April 14th, which is when this project is slated to end. That day cannot come soon enough.

This weekend was lots of fun though. After our deliverable was presented on Friday afternoon, I made sure that I headed straight out the door, so that I could get an early start on the weekend. Good friends, Vicki and George, were coming in on Satuday, and I had some seeerious housecleaning to do.

For the first time since I've moved, I finally picked up the living/dining area enough to snap a few quick pictures, to appease those who have been asking to see some.

The couch looks kinda weird and faded there...but it isn't at all...it's pretty much a bright, primary red. Oh, and while I'm at it, let me post a quick shot, showing off the lovely housewarming gift for the bathroom from my sister - thanks again for the shower curtain, bathmat, and towels, Les :-).

Okay, so anyway, back to Friday. Ah yes. I tidied like a big girl, took a quick nap, and put on some fancy clothes to meet a friend out at a Georgetown martini bar we both wanted to check out - Blue Gin. We were not disappointed - the drinks were oh so yummy, the service was great, and while we got there early so we could chat and catch up while the night was quiet, by midnight there was quite a crowd.

On Saturday, I met up with Vicki and George to check out the cherry blossoms downtown. They are SO beautiful. While the crowds down there can be a total pain in the ass, I must say that I actually think it's worth it to be down at the Tidal Basin with the many thousands that flock here at this time of year. Once you have seen the trees in bloom, being down there at any other time of the year just doesn't compare.

The Smithsonian Kite Festival is a part of the annual cherry blossom celebration, and it was a do-not-miss event on Saturday as well. It's just an amazing sight - hundreds of kites in the air around the Washington Monument. Vicki and George teased me a little walking around, because I got a little nervous about kites crashing into me (tangentially related to the birds and balls fear). Luckily, there were no kite-hair encounters of a traumatic kind. Anyway, people really get into the whole thing, which enhances the people watching opportunities down there as well.

Today, we met up with another college friend for lunch. I may have made a slight faux paus when I told this friend that I thought her 8.5 month old son, Sean Charles, looked like Pigpen from Peanuts....but I kid you not, he had this halo of hair at the back of his head, that totally reminded me of Pigpen's little cloud of dust. I clarified that I wasn't calling her kid dirty...but I'm not sure she really believed me :p

Rounding out the weekend, I drove out to see another college friend, Sherlock, who just moved to the area. I am so, so, so excited to have her so close, and since she's moved into a beautiful mansion of a home, I expect to have a bedroom all to myself and to spend lots of time out visiting her and her husband. Yay for new friends moving to the area and reversing the 2007 exodus :-)

Okay - time for bed. It's going to be another long week.

Seriously...

Okay, okay, I know I really shouldn't use this thing just to whine, but seriously.

It is 10:55pm, and I have a call in five minutes with my project manager. To review the data analysis, charts, and slides I've been working on since our last call at 8pm earlier tonight. During that call, we were reviewing the things we had been working on since the 8 hours that we spent at the client site from 8:30am - 4:30pm.

I am not a kid who can function on no sleep. April 14th cannot come soon enough.

Still alive, but barely

I'm so lame. Like beyond lame. This isn't even going to be a fun post. I'm merely writing it, so that I can prove that I'm still alive.

After I recovered from last weekend's leprechaun-oriented celebration, it was back to the grindstone for work. We had a minor crisis on Tuesday (career limiting event narrowly averted--I'm not even joking), and it was ridiculous hours for the rest of the week.

This weekend alone, I've had three conference calls for work totalling over six hours...and probably double that amount of work to take care of on my own. Oof. I haven't worked these kind of hours for a while...and I really never was a fan in the first place.

Our first deliverable is due this Friday though, so hopefully I'll resurface soon...

I'm so slack...

and not really into picture taking...but since Ash just shared this one with me, I figured I'd post a shot of our super-fun spring Saturday. And yes, I did sport "Ithaca is Gorges" all day :-)

Hello, Sunshine

This weekend was amazing! Last weekend, my friend won* tickets to Shamrockfest, which is a huge St. Patrick's Day festival, with something ridiculous like over 50 bands playing, and thousands of people there to have fun, listening to music and drinking green beer. All week, the weather report indicated that the weather would not be favorable for the festival, but when I woke up on Saturday morning, I was so excited to see blue skies and sunshine. It ended up being a thousand times nicer out than I expected, and being outside all afternoon listening to some fun party bands and doing some serious people-watching was a blast. It felt like the official kick-off to what is already lining up to be an awesome summer.

In other news, work has been kicking my ass lately. I'm on a local project for another month, but the client site is practically in College Park, which is probably one of the least accessible locations from where I currently live. Last Wednesday, it took me two hours to get home...and we're talking a distance of about 15 miles. Ugh. I don't usually complain about traffic in the area, but that's because I have been pretty fortunate up to now in being able to avoid most of it. Game over on that one, apparently.

In addition to the horrendous commute, the workload is pretty high right now. I've been logging 3-5 hours after I get home at night, just to keep up with the project manager's schedule, which feels pretty intense compared to what I've been used to lately. I am enjoying the project though, so that's good.


*negotiable

i <3 google

So you know how I google EVERYTHING? Now I don't have to wait till I get home to do it!

Google Mobile is amazing and will basically text you information in response to a query sent to 466453 ('GOOGLE' on most phones). Restaurant locations, flight times, word definitions, currency conversions, word definitions...I'm giddy at the thought of all this information at my fingertips.

Omg, and I just checked to see what it would do if you text the word "movies" and an actor's name. And yea, it texts you back a list of all the movies that actor has been in, courtesy of imdb.com. This is so brilliant. Thank you, Google!

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Laundry update

Bizarrely, some of the clothes have come out doll-sized...and others unscathed. I'm a little annoyed...but even more confused.

Anyone need some athletic socks for their Cabbage Patch doll?

Sunday miscellany

So part of the graduation to a big-girl apartment has involved a novel washer-dryer unit, which I'm told is "very European." It's not stacked, it's literally a combo-unit, and frankly, prior to this morning, I've been afraid to turn the thing on. My fear did not abate when I busted out the instruction manual to familiarize myself this morning and read this warning, "NEVER USE THE APPLIANCE WITH BARE FEET."

Ummm...huh? I mean, I wasn't planning to push the buttons with my toesies, but I gave a solid 60 seconds worth of thought to trying to identify the potential consequences of loading laundry and soap and pushing the On button in bare feet. Coming up with nothing, I decided against putting on socks and shoes, and I'm pleased to report that I've survived...so far.

I'm presently battling a sinus infection, which is a total bummer, because it's been a pretty weekend here in DC. I think the infection is retribution for my wild child celebration of the big move last weekend, so I suppose I can't complain too much.

I did finally feel well enough yesterday and today to check out the gym in the complex. It's much smaller than my old gym, but it still has those nifty flat screen TVs attached to each piece of equipment, so I was able to get my Celebrity Rehab and Rock of Love fixes while doing my cardio. Whew.

Time to check the laundry.