Week in Washington

On Tuesday morning my long week in Washington began. Before heading up 95 N, I attended a meet the press event at a hotel in Richmond and then was picked up by two coworkers to drive to Washington DC for the week. The purpose of the trip was the Virginia Bankers Association's annual Washington Visit. On the agenda for Tuesday was a board meeting and board dinner, on Wednesday we had a briefing by the leadership at the American Bankers Association and then we headed to the hill to meet with the Virginia Congressmen and Senators where I also happened to spot Andrew Firestone of The Bachelor fame (much cuter in person by the way).

Wednesday night was a delicious dinner at D'Acqua Restaurant with all the event attendees and Federal Reserve Board of Governor Betsy Duke who is also a past Chairman of the VBA. On Thursday, we had a briefing at the FDIC with the Vice Chairman and then a briefing at the Federal Reserve. It was an interesting time to be in Washington to say the least and I think the banking industry's voice was definitely heard. It really is fascinating to see the political process at work.

On Thursday afternoon, I walked around DC, had some lunch and enjoyed some quiet time alone over coffee while waiting for my good friend Andi to get off work. Around 3:30 I took a taxi to her house in Shirlington. We caught up for a little while before getting ready to go out to dinner for a going away party for a friend of hers. We went to a great new sushi restaurant and then to watch the end of the Oregon State vs. USC upset.

On Friday morning Scott, Amy and Kathy picked me up from Andi's and we headed to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to spend the day with Jeff's Uncle Rick. Rick has been in treatment for tongue cancer all summer. It was great to be able to spend some time with him and he seems to definitely be on the mend. Friday night brought us to Rick and Ellen's house where we met up with Jeff, and cousins Katherine and Andrew. To everyone's excitement and relief, Rick was also released from the hospital on Friday night and so he was able to come home to a house full of people.

On Saturday morning, Amy and I went shopping at the mecca that is Tysons for a few hours and then returned to get ready for Meredith Downs' wedding. The wedding and reception were very nice and Meredith looked beautiful! We also got to see Courtney, Paul and our nephew James at the wedding. Courtney was absolutely glowing and is showing a lot more than I thought she would be. James is getting so big so fast and according to Paul, he has begun talking, saying words like mama and dada and hi.

We left the reception pretty early to return to Rick and Ellen's house to watch the rest of the VT vs. Nebraska game in which VT was victorious. Jeff had promised me a dance party if we won the game and he delivered on his promise. More photos of that to come...

This morning we woke up and headed home with a quick stop at Ikea in N. VA and then to the new Trader Joe's in Richmond. Unforunately, my car had died on Monday night so we had to go pick it up and jump it. We plan to replace the battery tomorrow.

It is nice to finally be home and spend some alone time with Jeff and Ginger. And even better The Amazing Race started tonight!!!