The feeling here in Washington, DC is .... electric just doesn't give it justice. Dan and I are on SUCH a euphoric high right now - especially with some wonderful recent developments.

But to catch up first - a few people mentioned how much healthier I look in recent pictures (Rigel/MarkA) and I want to thank them. And a big part is that I do FEEL great these past two days. One week ago - um, not so much. See, I got out of the hospital last on Jan 2 and for a week, did fairly well. I mean, the first two days were a little tiring, but then from Tues through Sat (the 10th), I had great energy, was doing housework and getting all of the preparation done for the Inauguration trip. Then Sunday, I was a little tired, but also had some mouthsores (unusual little sore at tip of tongue, and two other sores near where I have rough tooth areas). I had my regularly scheduled doctor visit for the week on Wed as I was flying the next morning. On monday, didn't things were that big - and "I'm seeing the doctor in 2 days". But Tuesday morning, was feeling a lot more tired and the mouth sores were getting worse. So called first thing and the receptionist said "sure - come in at 2PM".

As soon as Doctor Spears saw my mouth, "Oh - looks like you have low platelets" and got my blood tested. Sure thing - platelets should be in a range of 140-440. Mine were 14 - and red blood numbers weren't good either. He gets on the phone and tells the hospital "I have a stat admit for platelet transfusion." Well..... um - this was about 3. I finally got admitted at 5PM - and finally go the platelets at 11PM (lol - wonder how long non-stat would have been). He also ordered after the platelets to give me two units of red blood cells.

Immediately I started feeling better (getting Dan to start calling me his "little vampire - a little blood and he perks right up"). Wed morning, Dr Spears looks at my new blood tests - says that I look really good and the numbers are now healthy, BUT - just cause I'm flying the next morning, he ordered one more unit of platelets ("stat" again of course - but this time I got the platelets around 10:30 AM).

So we got on the plane in the morning, and about 4:30PM eastern, landed in Baltimore. After a VERY long bus ride to the metro stop, we then took the metro to Union Station and walked over to our hotel (just a few blocks north of the Capitol building).

Friday - FRIGID with BLASTS of cold wind. But we went out in the morning to see the Smithsonian Castle and have breakfast there, then over to the Air and Space Museum. We had arranged through our Congresswoman a tour of the Capitol at 12:30. So after a quick lunch, we checked in and (as usual this weekend), TOTALLY lucked out. The tour of 16 of us - turned into just 6 as a group of 10 got their days mixed up and thought their tour was on Saturday. Made it a much more intimate group and we were all able to talk to Hillary, an intern in Congresswoman Matsui's office who was fantastic in showing us first around the brand new Capitol visitors center, then through the rotunda, up to the House Gallery (unfortunately they were not in session), and then through a few other rooms (Statuary Hall and the old Supreme Court Chambers). Got back to the hotel after that and IMMEDIATELY got into a tub of nice hot water and just soaked for half an hour. The wind - when it blows, its like it gets the cold deep into my hip and leg bones. Pretty much just relaxed for the rest of the evening, though helped out my work with a few small organizing items (crossmatching lists, etc).

Saturday, we met up with Sonoluminus and her husband, the "Other Joe". I have known Marie for 6 years and 3 months (or so) - since we met in The Sims Online and we've stayed friends since, mainly through AIM but this was the FIRST time we finally met. The four of us chatted for a bit before heading to the American History Museum for a while. Spent - oh, 4 hours there and still only saw about 1/3 of the place - fantastic gallerys and exhibits. Headed back to the hotel to rest up for a bit before dinner - we ended up going to Ruth Chris Steak House in Arlington. Didn't take too long to get to Crystal City (the area the restaurant is in and the name of the Metro stop for the area) - lol - but then we wandered through the complex trying to find the EXACT place of the steakhouse. We got there just 10 minutes late - so no big. I'd never been to a Ruth Chris before (though have been to Morton's which is similar) - we all had GREAT meals and just a lot of fun finally really getting to know each other. Dan and "Other Joe" both totally snapped together as two peas in a pod - they love to discuss politics as well as a wide variety of other item. Dan and I have also gotten Joe and Marie to start playing LOTRO recently, so we talked about the game quite a bit as well.

We slept in a bit Sunday morning and headed over to Union Station for the GetTogether, getting there about 10 minutes to noon. Immediately saw David (Lit'lBuddha) and quickly got to greet Sharon, Anna, Rigel, Marie and "Other Joe". The restaurant has an inside section as well as a few tables in the more main station portion. They gave us one of those station tables and at first, it was ideal as we could keep an eye out for Robbie who was running a little late (actually, he was there, he just didn't find a map or anyone he could ask where the Thunder Grill was at). Started with two plates of sampler appetizers for the table. Robbie was there soon enough and we ordered - VERY good food but... um.... service was a little... lacking. And then, after some initial great conversation (some that Dan monopolized at the beginning but then soon spread the wealth) - well, about midway through the meal, we get LOUD drumming and other.... wonderful music. It did die down a few times, but the music in the main station did distract from being able to speak across the table. After the meal was over, with Marie and Joe having to go (to drive back to North Carolina), and Robbie, Sharon and Anna also heading off - Dan, David, Rigel and myself ended up looking around Union Station shops a bit more, first the bookstore and then, as Rigel puts it, the amethyst started pulling me invisibilly toward their store. I fell in LOVE with the two pieces I posted pics on - and like I said, I have been looking for a nice amethyst dangler for my necklace for a while.

Sunday night, my work had a party at the Air and Space Museum - "Fly me to the Moon" California Gala from 8PM to Midnight. Dan and I went over and had a great time - especially seeing many friends that I hadn't seen in a few years. And amazingly for a political event, the food was GOOD and plenty. We didn't want to overtire me, so we took off about 10:30 and took a cap back to the hotel (only a $10 fare, inc the tip - not bad at all).

Today (Monday), we slept in. Our day's plan was to take the Metro to the Arlington station, go see the cemetery, then head over to the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, catching as well the Vietnam and WW2 Memorials. At that point, thought we'd take a cab back to the hotel. So - beginning of the plan worked out good - we had bagels in the hotel room, relaxed and then took the metro to Arlington. After a quick stop at the visitor's center, we went up to JFK's eternal flame and looked around for a while. Walked from there out of the cemetary just taking in all of the views - as we got closer to the Potomac, you can see the Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson Memorials all across the way (and took a few pics of all three in one pic). We also saw a TON of ice floes in the river which is not something we see in Sacramento.

Got to the Lincoln Memorial but the crown was a bit much, so just wandered down the mall, looking at the WW2 memorial, Washington Memorial and at the point we were originally going to take off - both of us felt good just a little hungry. So we kept on walking, looking at the buildings and people - grabbing hot dogs at a streetside vendor and just totally enjoying the day. The nice thing - where as Friday was bad with the winds, Saturday, Sunday and today were very mild as far as winds and the temps have been going up a little each day as well. Well - to cut to the chase - we ended up walking all the length of the Mall, all the way back to our hotel. And TOTALLY felt good - a little footsore but nothing that was chemo and/or lymphoma related. The hotel restaurant was a 30 minute wait for seating, so we headed up and ordered room service and just kicked back.

THEN I get a phone call. It's my boss - they have two standing tickets for the Inauguration that were not being claimed -- my boss asked "Did Dan and you want them"....

um...

ummmmm....

HELL YES!!!

Especially when we saw the seats - here is the seating chart and we are in the Purple Standing area. The other fantastic thing - the entry to Purple Standing is 2 blocks from the hotel. If we had gotten Blue Seating - comparable as to view - it would probably take us an extra 40 minutes just to get around to the entry area.

Yesterday - I would have said no. But considering what I could do today (without pushing it) - I think I can easily handle standing for 4 hours (from about 9AM until 1PM).

So - Dan and I are totally stoked, all ready and prepared and going to be RIGHT there to see the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama II. This is something that Dan and I have worked for - have hoped for - and now are going to see this ceremony that starts the next best stage of what we hope will be a long start of prosperity and peace.

But for now - lol - after writing all of this - BEDTIME. As soon as I can tomorrow, if I can put anything in words (or pictures), I'll update.