Coffee from a Cardboard Cup

I can’t believe it has been less than a week since I got back to DC! I went from catching up with mom and dad, doing some serious shopping to a crazy week at work. Since I was only here for a week, I packed in a lot of meeting, presentations, etc.

I don’t even know how my husband is doing because I have hardly had the chance to speak with him all week with the 6 hour time difference. He doesn’t really believe in long emails, so I am at a loss. I did Skype with him a bit around midnight his time last night. Unfortunately, I had been facilitating a meeting since 8:30 that morning, so I was a bit unfocused by that point. pretty much every night this week ended with me asleep by 9:30 so I haven’t been able to catch him up on my stuff either.

Halloween was fun on Wednesday though. That was the one evening I got out of work relatively early. Brian and I came back to his place and handed out candy to the few kids that came by (I am staying in Brian and Jessica’s basement – it is a nice little apartment with a fireplace – Thanks guys – we are so paying you back in Regensburg!!!). There were only a little over 20 or so kids the entire night, but it was fun. I liked to see some kids who were just out having a fun time that they seemed to have organized themselves. One poor guy had a paper grocery bag for his candy, and it was shredding by the time he got to the door. I went and fetched my cloth bag from the DFG (Deutscheforshungs Gemeinschaft) and gave it too him. We switched the bags out. He held on to the paper one just in case he needed more space for candy – smart kid.

The meeting I have been running for the past two days went well as did a presentation I made on Wednesday. Those were the main reasons for my trip this time. I have a lot of follow up work, but I will keep busy when I get back, so I am happy. I also liked that one of the people I had in my meeting was able to participate via Skype. She is on maternity leave with a 4 month old, but was interested in helping with this meeting. We got to see a little bald head pop in and out of the camera periodically. She was really well behaved and let mom do some great work. She was even dressed like a pumpkin for the first day. The other people in the meeting enjoyed her presence as well (they were prepared for the situation so it didn’t freak them out). I like the informality of the science community at times like this. I don’t think you could get away with that in the corporate world.

Now, I just have to figure out how to get all of my junk in my suitcases. In addition to the stuff I bought, I have a pile of things that I couldn’t fit in my suitcases last time, so I need to sort all of that out in the morning. Brian, Jessica and I are planning on taking it easy in the morning, walking the puppies a bit and eventually heading to the airport. I hate the thought of flying again, but I love the idea of being in my own bed. I have to admit that the air mattress I have had this week rocks though. However, the full body pillow is just not the same as Matthias

Does that make any sense??? I am so sleepy…..

We are just about ready to go. Unfortunately, we had to run around getting everything done with a hang over, which kind of slowed us down. It was worth it though, we had a nice party at work. Well, it started out work. It happened to be one of those days where there were parties all afternoon. Someone else (more important than me) was relocating after many years, and there was a big party for her around 2:30. So some of my coworkers and I started off there, and then went over to my bosses office where they had put together a nice spread. The rule was that no one leaves until all of the bottles are empty. Well, we did it – actually, it seemed to have mostly gone to me, but maybe that was just my perspective. Note the photo of the last ones left in the office before heading to the local pub – I always have my arm around someone in drinking photos! Matthias was thrilled to have someone as geeky as him to talk about his crazy Penrose physics!

The drinking did help me get up early this morning to start with organizing the random piles of things. I always get up really early if I drink a lot – I think it’s the sugar.

Anyway, the apartment is empty. It is nice to have a moment (on the floor) to reflect on the temporary nature of things. As I sit in this space, I have a clear memory of what it looked like up to a few days ago – it will never be that way again, and it will only be a memory for ever.

And now, Off to Germany!!!!!

Ok, they are not so secret, but you have to have a tour guide to see them. My friend Allyson, who works on one of the Sentate committees, offered to show us the Capitol last week. I have already been on 3 tours, but I learn something every time, and this was the first time that Matthias got to get the ‘behind the scenes’ tour. We started over at Allyson’s office and took the underground tram to the Capitol. (Matthias took the video below). The handsome gentleman in the photo is one of the 100 state statues around the building. The astronaut is just across the hall from the first woman elected Senator – she was also the only person to vote against WWII (she felt that the first vote of a Congresswoman couldn’t be a vote for war). I think they are fitting neighbors. There are some more photos from the tour here.

Anyway, we ended our tour gloriously with burgers in the Senate cafeteria! Then, as he must do each time in DC, Matthias headed over to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

For the past couple of days we are doing our best to sort out all of my crap! The place is a mess. Matthias is afraid that it won’t all come together, but I have no doubts! All of the important crap will surely go where it is supposed to go. I passed off a few things to my coworker Julian, and another coworker is taking a bunch of furniture on Thursday when we head out. Whatever is left will just have to be donated to the trash room/furniture exchange. I would like to goof off tomorrow, but I suspect we will spend a good part of the day in the apartment again!