Catching Up

Two weeks ago I left on the Amtrak Regional to travel down to Oxon Hill, MD (via Alexandria, VA) for a conference (SAS Global Forum.) It's hard to describe what SAS is. It used to be a statistical analysis system, but has grown into almost a way of being over the years. That said, I'm pretty much "old school" - SAS is the tool I use to do my job, which is statistical analysis and reporting, and it's pretty cool. The conference is a four day event, at which I was presenting two posters and one half-hour talk (three papers in all.) I was also taking a Sunday class and acting as a session coordinator for one of the sections in the conference.

Spring had clearly arrived in Alexandria before I did!

Having researched my trip carefully, I had reserved a seat on the water taxi from Alexandria to National Harbor. Once I arrived in the very cool "retro" train station in Alexandria, I took my printed sheet of walking directions (thank you Google!!!) and set off down King Street, luggage and poster tube in tow and trusty Canon in hand. While there were no cobblestones on King Street, it is very beautiful and evokes a sense of history. A few miles later, I arrived at the banks of the Potomac and set off on the next chapter of my adventure.

National Harbor is kind of a "manufactured" community, not unlike Orlando. (Perhaps not coincidentally, Gaylord also has a convention center in Orlando.) It is still a work in progress - but shows promise of being a fun destination for both convention-goers and locals looking for an outing for the price of a bus ride or water taxi. The view of the convention center from the water is stunning.

Once I'd arrived and deposited my stuff (with a huge sigh of relief!) I met my roommate, and then some new friends in the All-American Sports bar (when you are in the mid-Atlantic, March Madness is a BIG deal!)

Pawprints on our hearts

It's amazing how attached you can become.

Mini Cooper Swimming Pools

This long, hard, cold winter has taken a toll on the roads and sidewalks in New England. I've never seen potholes this bad - not only Mini Cooper swimming pool sized, but some big enough to swallow a VW Bus. We've learned to dodge the usual suspects on the way to work, but still get surprised by new ones developing here and there.

Still, some of our neighbors clearly have a sense of humor - when life gives you frost heaves in the brick sidewalks, build a troll bridge!

gMom times two

Just a few months ago I posted an ultrasound photo of my firstborn - and now, the ultrasound photo of her soon-to-be firstborn. I am happy to be a gMom times 2....

St. Patrick's Day Countdown Clock

Seen at the Thirsty Scholar last weekend! Check out the official Countdown to St. Patrick's Day clock on the upper right in the movie below.

I've also gotten solicitations from Guinness(tm) to make St. Patty's an official holiday. Last year, I answered the call and was invited to send pictures of myself/friends enjoying Guinness. My photo of red ruffed lemurs in the Dublin Zoo (real!) with little pints of Guinness (photoshopped) were rejected!!! [The timing of the request for photos was around the infamous Dilbert strips regarding bosses as drunken lemurs - well worth a Google!]

So sad. I did, however, truly enjoy Dublin, the Dublin Zoo, and the Guinness plant tour in 2007. . . .

Hope?

You wouldn't know it by the snow currently on the ground, but signs of spring were evident in the Northeast last weekend. The trees have a kind of sunlit fuzziness about them, signalling a change from stark branches. Buds are showing on the bushes, the view of lamps are obscured by leaves, and I even saw a few crocus fronds pushing their way up through the winter detritus.

And yes, beach volleyball is on!

Recycling Irony

Cambridge is fairly advanced in the science of recycling. Our DPW is "linked in", and I get regular recycling updates by email. We have arranged for a recycle paper toter for our little dead-end street that all residents share - great for taking care of the piles of newspaper and junk mail that build up. We have little blue bins in which to put our containers. We have little green compost pails to save our compost, which we can deliver to the Whole Paycheck or DPW Yard. The DPW Yard has places to recycle plastic bags, books, scrap metal, and almost everything you can think of - with a couple of "hazardous" waste days a year.

I myself have a strange attraction to those reusable grocery bags. We probably have about 20 now, waiting in the back of the car for a trip to Shaws or Whole Paycheck or Trader Joe's. I had to control myself and declare a moratorium. Then CVS sent me a FREE one in the mail. The hardware store has them in the checkout aisle. Temptation is everywhere!

I ended up succumbing recently to an offer by the Boston Globe for team-themed reusable bags. Not being a basketball or football fan, I chose some Sox and Bruins bags. The irony? They arrived carefully packaged in PLASTIC BAGS!