Saturday on Friday

So, Saturday. Last Saturday (just catching up!), I woke up early (for a Saturday, for me), at 10 and had two things to accomplish: go to Pentagon City (neighborhood of Arlington--there's a large mall and several other shopping areas there) to pick up a dress they were holding for me at Ann Taylor, and meet up with my potential car buyer and hopefully sell my car. They would only be holding the dress until 3, the car guy (Scott the bartender from Pat Troy's, actually) would be at my house at 1. A morning run to Pentagon City it was.

I took my bike on the Metro the 4 stops to Pentagon City because I wasn't sure exactly where the Ann Taylor was and bikes= getting around a whole lot faster. I made it to store, got my dress (ever so slightly too small, but if I swim more and eat less ice cream it'll fit by my birthday in May) and was about to head back via Metro, when I heard from Scott saying that something had come up and could we meet in the evening instead. Suddenly, my afternoon was wide open, it was 75 degrees and sunny and I was 5 mostly flat miles away from home, I had a bicycle and my regular commute route (Mount Vernon trail) was just down the street. I easily came up with Plan B. 

I stopped and got some lunch, then hit the trail and was back in Old Town in no time flat.  I was a bit of a spectacle on the trail for a few reasons:  the trail is full of "weekend cyclists" on the weekends--casual types out for a fun ride and Spandexies out for training. I was on a Dutch bike in a sundress and sandals and was very likely the only person out at that time of day using the trail to actually get somewhere. I was also, unbelievably, one of the fastest folks out there, which really surprised me. I'm usually on the trail with my electric bike, because that's what I use to commute to work. I've commuted on the Amsterdam many times before, but not since the fall. The Amsterdam is generally the scooting around Old Town/to friends' houses up to 5 miles away vehicle. I passed nearly everyone I saw, and kept up with a pack of Spandexies without breaking a sweat, until they stopped for a water break.  The hills/overpasses that gave me so much grief when I first started commuting (pre-electric bike)....I didn't even notice them. Literally, it wasn't until Monday when I was commuting home did I realize that I'd done that route sans-electricity easily on Saturday. My first few weeks of commuting with the Amsterdam, I pushed that bike up a few of those hills. How amusing.

Anyway, I was back in town before I knew it. The trail cuts through Old Town down by the marina, where there happens to be two competing ice cream shops across the street from one another (three if you count Ben and Jerry's, but I personally don't). I figured: pretty day, just got some unexpected exercise....ice cream (yes, even though I had just plunked down good money on a too-tight sundress). The ice cream shops also happen to be across the street from O'Connell's, one of Old Town's many Irish pubs (in case you've missed that fact in these pages). O'Connell's is a bit different from the rest--it's quite upscale, has no live music, lacks the drunken military dude contingent (for better or for worse...), has a proper restaurant that's not quite fine dining but is certainly in the "written about"/"destination restaurant" category, and is a (rare) rugby bar. As I was parking my bike, I saw someone I know from the parade-planning efforts who said "Hey, Catherine, you here for the rugby?". And it hit me: the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament! I'd been meaning to catch a game for weeks but I kept forgetting (largely because many of the games kicked off at 8am our time...). Ice cream ditched for rugby.

I stated for both the Ireland/Scotland match and the England/France match. I wound up getting drawn into a friendly group of rugby folks (mostly members of the various rugby clubs in the area, and many British/Irish expats), and had a grand time. One in particular was a friendly (and moderately pushy) Welsh woman selling raffle tickets for a fundraiser who insisted that I get involved with the Alexandria club even if I don't play. To that end, she thinks that I should get a ticket for the Rugby Ball (held at the French Embassy) in May. When I told her that I had no boyfriend and therefore one to go with she told me that I'd pull one there you silly girl. I told her she'd have to help me out with that and pointed to a few worthy candidates in the room, knowing that she's exactly the type of woman who knows everyone in the room and who you'd want on your side in date-finding. I'd be lying if I claimed that I didn't purposefully steer the conversation in that direction from the start. If this pans out, I officially have a middle aged Welsh wingman, which is awesome. We'll see where this goes.

I'd had a really nice time getting to know those folks (a few in particular) and wanted to stay and hang out, but I had my belated car-selling appointment. I went home, showed him the car and we talked about prices and the fact that his wife would need to come look and left it at that. We're going to figure this out next week.

After that, I headed to my friends Gabe and Mariah's house to celebrate National Corndog Day (yes, there is such a thing and my friends are the type of people who know of such things). They'd bought some really nice sausages from the farmers' market that morning, made a sort of pancake batter with something related to corn, I assume, and fried them up in a cast iron skillet on the stove. They were amazing. We made funnel cakes with the leftover batter, which was even more amazing. It seems unlikely, if I continue this way, that that stupid dress is going to fit by NEXT May, but it was worth it.

By 9, I was back on the bike headed to Old Town to meet up with my friend Mariel for some late drinks and general catching up. Neither of us lasted long (she had a headache, I'd had an unbelievably full day) so we called it a night at 11 or so.

This week, I kept up the busyness. This week, Congress was still losing its mind (the healthcare bill passed the House on Sunday, but the corrections had to be approved by the Senate, and the protesters got really frothy, even for them. There have been death threats and all sorts of nastiness happening. It's times like those where you really question the wisdom in the 1st Amendment (tongue in cheek!)). 

I bike commuted every day this week (finally!), including during a thunderstorm for the first time ever (the thunder was far away, no lightening risk!). I went to karate twice (and one private lesson), a French language discussion evening, my normal Wednesday happy hour, had a date (a nice one), and then tonight had dinner and a movie (Alice in Wonderland) with my friend Tammy. Busy. And loving every minute :)

Comments

[welshcyclist]

Glad you caught the tail end of the 6 Nations rugby, Wales didn't do very well, came 4th, I don't think there's going to be another Grandslam for us Welsh for awhile. Still I enjoyed the games. And hey you've got yourself a Welsh wingman, fantastic. Glad to hear your life is full and you're having a good time. Cheers.