Didja miss me?! DIDJA?!

Augustus sure did. :)

Well, DC was a phenomenal success - I walked at least 2 miles on Friday and didn't have much pain at all (until Saturday!) aside from cane hand pain. Riding the Metro back I sat there watching my right hand vibrating - I surely did some nerve damage, as my pinky still isn't working quite right. Small sacrifice, I suppose, for not having to wield crutches all day. I'm pretty sure that would have been impossible. As it was the biggest challenge was the Metro, more because of the crowds than anything - escalators a-plenty and elevators to boot! But people were by and large very kind to me, and helpful to no end, though perhaps to a fault when trying to get me through the revolving door at the Hirschorn. :D

I definitely felt for Christopher, who even at my normal pace habitually walks 5-7 paces ahead of me - I kept saying "I can't hear you, you're too far away!" Which, at his normal volume, is saying something! ;) He did point out, however, the one saving grace - that with my cane I'm at PERFECT museum strolling pace, so for the bulk of the day Friday I didn't even feel like too much of a pariah. I hit the National Museum of Natural History (walk-through butterfly room and 3D Imax Deep Sea experience!), the American Art Museum (ANSEL EFFING ADAMS! including a new favorite), and the National Portrait Gallery (AMAZING Women in Photographs exhibit and Recognize!, which put a huge smile on my face!).

The day before I left I randomly discovered a Shepard Fairey (my future husband) exhibit at a little gallery, which we hit on Saturday and was pretty much the greatest thing I've seen this year. I LOVE him! We also hit the FDR memorial (at Susan's recommendation) before the torrential rains came down - it was incredibly moving and oddly timely. Funny how history so faithfully repeats itself. We ate a lot of good food, drank a lot of good beer, and generally had an awesome time. Oh and I had Krispy Kremes!!! Can't get THEM around here! And miraculously won 4 pool games in a row, which I would have thought impossible. Sunday we went to Dulles Air and Space, not the most handicap-friendly place I've ever been, but insanely cool. I saw the ship model from Close Encounters of the Third Kind!

By far the best/worst cane-related incident occurred at brunch Sunday, when a small child in line ahead of us exclaimed not once, not twice, but THRICE "Look! That girl's an old man!"

I'll just let you sit with that one for awhile, because it pretty much blew my mind. :) In the moment I decided to opt for laughing and saying "That's by far the funniest thing anyone's said to me since I got this thing!" though of course after a time I got to stewing about it. "Look! That little boy's an asshole!" Harrumph. Funny, though! I guess?

It was really the first time I've felt incredibly self-conscious about my condition, which is actually kind of surprising for how paranoid I am. Honestly 99.9% of the time I'm just so focused on getting from one place to another that I don't even think of it, but his comment was pretty stunning. From the mouths of babes!

This afternoon I'm seeing Ali and John's "Voodoo Doctor", a chiropractic practice that specializes in Network Spinal Analysis - I can't wait to see what my spine has to tell them! Tomorrow back to the pool for the first time in a week and a half - I am DEFINITELY missing it something fierce. And Friday we see if I can still dance with a cane! :)