unforth | Business as Usual

Well, I'm back from Bloomington, and installed in my apartment. It was a really nice trip, and I'm really glad I went.

I headed out to Washington on Thursday, met up with

sapphohestia, and we finally figured out how we were actually working out the plans. She had to go to work on Friday, and we were meeting up when she finished. I headed over to the National Gallery of Art, where I had a wonderful time - I've wanted to go there for ages - and took lots of pictures of the paintings. About a third of the museum was closed, unfortunately, so I couldn't see the British or the American art, but I didn't mind, because I could see the Italian, the Dutch and the Impressionists. Yay! I particularly loved their Rembrandt's - 2 whole rooms worth! - and getting to see Lady Writing a Letter, which is an important painting in a book I just read, Chasing Vermeer.

We headed out of DC at 4:30, and got to Bloomington at 3:30 AM, and I was reminded forcibly of just how much I like driving at night and just how able I am to stay awake when there's loud music for me to sing along with.

Bright and early the next day, I woke up and chatted with

moonartemis76 about her plans for the wedding. All in all, I did shockingly little the entire weekend - I wanted to see people, but I was too tired and too out of it to make the effort, so I guess it's going to have to wait until next time. I had a really nice time, though, and it was great to spend time with people who I did get to see.

On Monday morning, I picked up my rental car, and loaded it with stuff, including the Jonie dog. We drove back to DC - by way of Athens - and then on Tuesday I drove up to my dads. It was nice to get to see him - and pick up even more of my stuff - and we made plans for next week to meet up with the rest of my stuff and so that he and his wife can see my new apartment.

Other than that, things are kind of okay. My cold has flared up again, and I spent pretty much all day feeling sorry for myself. I did play a bunch of Guitar Hero 2, though, which was fun, and Jonie and I have begun to frequent the dog park near my apartment. The pup has already made some friends there, and I've met a couple of people too. It's nice, though the standing out in the freezing cold for 45 minutes to an hour ain't all it's cracked up to be.

It took a lot of work to get all the stuff in the car upstairs, but I've pretty much gotten it straightened up in here. It'll take a bit more work, but I even hung up a few pictures, which I love so much. I'm having trouble planning where to hang them, though, because all of the larger pictures are still at my dads, and I don't have a ladder yet. Dad's bringing his ladder when he visits next wek, and with that I'll be able to do a bunch more, yay! Meanwhile, my luck remains constant (general good luck, but bad luck in little ways) in that the ceiling in my living room began to leak. It's a small leak, and it's got my trash can under it, which is adequate, but it's just enough to be mildly irritating. The maintenance guy is supposed to show up sometime today, but he hasn't yet; I'm not sure when I should pester them again. Thankfully, nothing got damaged, and I noticed it was dripping almost immediately - if it had started while I was away it would have been much worse.

Meanwhile, the RFP I've been saying would come out yesterday still hasn't been released, which is also rather irritating. On the plus side, I'm concentrating on getting less sick. It seems to be working, kind of, in that I feel better than I did yesterday.
That's life, I guess. ;)