Long time no update! Special apologies to my sister, since I told her last night I'd update right after my shower, and then I promptly forgot all about it. I was tired last night.

Our trip to DC was lovely. The $2.50 bus was well worth the price- no problems getting there or back. Our friend Joe put us up at his lovely apartment in Bethesda, and let us eat chips and watch bad movies on his Roku.

We spent one day out in Virginia- first visiting my old house and favorite store (the Variety Store, a magical place straight out of some old movie), and then going into downtown Old Town Alexandria to walk around, look at old houses and churches, and eat seafood. I got my wish- my dinner was a bowl of butter with lobster floating in it. M had a bowl of cream with lobster and scallops floating in it.

Day two was spent roaming The Mall- started at the Capital, stopped at a few museums (I visited my old pal, the Hope Diamond), went by the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. It was about 95 sticky degrees all day, but we managed to survive it.

Twinkie survived the trip, too- boarding didn't seem to scar her too deeply. She's back to her usual haunts today- running around the house like a maniac, sleeping next to me on the couch, giving me kisses with her nasty dog breath. Yay! It's weird how used you get to having a dog around. Whenever I'm separated from her, I realize how often I anticipate a dog's actions. We go in the apartment, and I wait for a dog to run at me. A knock on the door- I expect to hear barking, and I open the door with a foot out to prevent a dog from running out. I go around keeping my food and valuables out of the reach of some invisible dog. I think I'm going to be one of those people that always has to have a dog.

Coming soon: my annual post-birthday list of favorite entries from my 26th year.