Stress Walking & Snow Flurries

I was completely MIA yesterday - sorry about that! I was only at work for about half the day due to a doctor's appointment (I'm fine, just routine stuff) but once I got home, walked and then joined my Mom to get groceries and eat supper...I just wanted to settle in and watch the Nationals game for a little while (they won!) before going to sleep. So I completely bailed on blogging yesterday...oops!

Last week started with a bang - or something like that - I had to go and get blood work done, which is pretty much one of my nightmares. Well, maybe calling it a nightmare is taking it a little far...but I don't do well with the taking of the blood. My Mom had managed to schedule her appointment for blood work on the same day/same time and so talked to me as a distraction - and happily, it worked and just like that, done and off to the next part of the day! Whoosh! 

When blood work combines with Opening Week of baseball....

Now that baseball is back, I try to orient my evenings around the games that come on TV; the Nats were playing earlier in the day and already into the 3rd inning once I got home from work. Thankfully with Spring in full swing, I have until almost 8 PM to get my walk in and so I ate supper and watched the game - intending to walk about 1.5 miles after the game. Well, the Nats kept tying that game up (against the Braves) and then in the seventh inning, one of the relief pitchers walked in a run that allowed the Braves to take the lead! Well, I was just beyond frustrated at that point (I get...perhaps a little too invested...) and so I declared I was going walking right then because I couldn't watch that nonsense and they better dig out of that hole before the end of the game - losing on Opening Day? No way! 

I was so frustrated, I ended up stamping my way along to the tune of 2.3 miles and arrived back at the house in time to witness Jonathan Papelbon come in at the bottom of the 10th to secure a Nationals win. While I'd been walking, my phone had kept me updated on the game and the Nats went ahead, so I was glad to arrive in time to watch our team take the win! I also proved to myself that apparently I feel more motivated to walk when I'm frustrated... I'd prefer the Nationals not be that source of frustration though...ha-ha!

Oh Spring - you aren't really supposed to look like this!

Watching some Wednesday night baseball - Watson was *silently* cheering for Michael A.

The work week passed without too much event - always nice when we're talking about work, right? I had to dig out my Winter clothes from where I'd packed them away because apparently Mother Nature didn't really get the memo that Spring is supposed to be well on it's way and the temperatures hovered somewhere around the upper 40's and lower 50's all week! Brrr!

Work silliness....

A snap from Thursday night's game - right before Harper crushed a homerun. Couldn't resist.

Friday was a fairly chill day at the office and when I got off, I went home and spent some time with Watson while watching a couple episodes of The Office. It's my latest TV show on the binge list; I'm only halfway through season three but it's just as funny as I remember it being! I joined my parents for dinner a little later into the evening and we visited with our friend Jennie and her son Jimmy for a little while before heading home. Because I'm something of an old lady...I went to bed around 10:30 and just relished the joy of not having to get up early in the morning. 

I also may have gotten in the bed early and prayed that the weather forecast would change because we were all set to go to our first Nationals game of the season on Saturday but the forecasted snow/rain and winds in excess of 50 mph were not very encouraging...

Saturday morning - perfect baseball weather, right?

Watson & I taking a Saturday morning ride in the snow flurries....

When  your friend is like - do you want this awesome Washington Nationals jacket for free? And you're like - DUH.

I read a couple weeks ago the statement: If the weather decides whether or not you show up, you're not a fan! Well, we were prepared to be fans on Saturday - in spite of the horrible weather - we headed for DC (after stopping at IHOP for brunch) in all our long sleeves, carrying jackets, hats, ear muffs, gloves and even a blanket. I figured we were in for a freezing game but my love for the Nationals kind of dampened some of the dread of freezing...but alas, we didn't even make it halfway to Vienna/Fairfax (the metro station) before getting the tweet that the game had been postponed until May 14th as part of a split double-header. Given that we were already halfway to the metro, we decided we'd head on into DC for the rest of the afternoon...and we did just that!

Freezing on the metro platform like...what....

We spent a large chunk of the afternoon at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery before catching the metro back to Fairfax and cruising around World Market and grabbing supper at Red Robin. The cold was pretty intense and the wind...oh my gosh...the wind was not to be believed! Driving back into the mountains from the big city, I just knew we were going to blow right off the road! Absolutely nuts! Also, I certainly never expected to have to put on my gigantic purple jacket to walk the dog in April - but when it's 28 outside with winds at 35-50 mph - you better believe I slapped that thing on! 

I took quite a few pictures while we were at the Gallery - so those are below - but know, there would have been so many more if we'd actually made it to Nationals Park. Ha!

The ceiling at the top of the Gallery...

My red shoes with the awesome floor...

This was once the longest room in the United States - so that's fun, right?

Modern Art - this thing had words spinning all around it....

Probably the coolest thing all day - the TV set(s) inside each state played things relating to the state. Example: Oklahoma was playing the musical Oklahoma! ha!

No clue - but the weird brown shapes kept randomly lighting up....

Gorgeous stained glass windows!

One of the things I really wanted to see at the Portrait Gallery was a painting of Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood - the picture was hung early in March to coincide with the premiere of Season Four of House of Cards and I wanted to get into the city and see it. I managed to walk right past it like a goofball before realizing that...there it was! Hello! Another really cool piece of artwork was the car tag piece...see if you can take a stab at what it says...

Looking good President Underwood!

I made it larger...what might it say?

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Oh look - the sun is still out - and it's almost 5 PM!

Cherry blossoms in the trees at the Gallery's courtyard...

Frank is everywhere in DC - it's almost like he's the real deal...

Of course - because the game was postponed - the predicted snow/winter mix from 4-8 never really arrived. The sun was out, the sky was blue...but yea, it was pretty cold. And like I said, the wind was crazy! I didn't get to see a Nationals game, but I did end up using the Nationals blanket on the way home to keep cozy!

This weather though...

Sunday we met friends for lunch at an Irish Pub for a late lunch - and I say late because while we arrived at 12:15, we didn't actually get our food until almost 1;30! Given that I'd chosen to eat the very healthy breakfast of a couple square of Ghiradelli chocolate...I thought I was going to die! Ha! I also made the mistake of ordering some Irish coffee as a starter; it was called the Coffee Nudge, and it only had about a nudge of coffee in it - it was strong and I only got about three drinks before I had to tap out. Empty belly + Irish coffee = nope. I spent Sunday afternoon watching the Nationals beat the Marlins and hunting golf balls with Jimmy before we headed to the Alamo to meet up with my friend/his Mom Jennie to see an advanced screening of The Huntsman: Winter's War to end the day.

It looks lovely. It was not.

Honey mustard dressing tastes so delicious...

Dancing to the Irish tunes in the pub...

I'm not entirely sure how these gorgeous blooms have survived the crazy weather...

Jimmy & Watson having some bonding time...

Movies! 

And now, here we are...already Tuesday afternoon! Happily, the sun has come out and the weather feels more like Spring. I hope it continues to feel more like Spring in the coming weeks; I don't know how much more of the crazy snow flurries I can take! 

Here's also hoping the Nationals continue to win - I need to keep up with the walking, just not as a way to alleviate frustration with my baseball team!