Visiting Baltimore
I’m out of town traveling this week, as part of a plan from last year to visit my family a little more and keep an eye on my folks. It was mom’s birthday (the 10th) earlier this week, and dad’s coming up on the 14th, so a good time to visit and say hi. I’m also working here on site with our office in DC, taking the train down from Halethorpe to Union Station, then grabbing the metro over to Metro Center and our office near the Washington monument, White House, and the museums. It’s actually a nice walk from Union Station to the office and I was hoping to get plenty of exercise this week walking around the city, but the weather has been abysmal — in the 40’s with pouring rain.
I flew in Wednesday, and Thursday I already had stuff to do. My boss planned a photo-shoot to get some headshots of me, which were overdue. Most get them when they’re hired, but as I was working remotely and things got hectic with money, mine never got taken. So one overdue task is done! Generally I like my job and the pay is decent (though we could use a yearly wage), but it will be nice to have some nice photos of myself to market with in the future. My only regret is not bringing our stuffed orange tabby from the wedding to use as a prop — I fully intended to but just forgot to pack it, so no Jiffy in my photos.
The rest of the day was good, working with Josh, Jake, and Matt and catching up on what’s going on at the office, and then we went out for drinks in the evening. Coupled with the lack of sleep, cold, rain, and work, the three drinks I had proved enough to push my body into “potential cold” territory. I’m not really sick, I just have a slightly sore patch at the back of my throat, but oof, I ended up sleeping late today and then napping again to give myself a break. It feels easier at home where I have zinc lozenges, vitamin-C and nyquil if I need it, but my folks barely even keep fresh fruit in the house. I had a smoothie for lunch with some berries, protein powder, and almond milk I bought, so hopefully my body has what it needs to dispose of whatever invaders are lingering about by tomorrow.
I’m hoping to visit my old dojo next week. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but the opportunity hasn’t come up until now, and I honestly wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. I mean, I’m still not, but I think it’s overdue. For some reason, I thought I still had a uniform here along with my original black belt, but looking around my old room it seems it’s gone. Maybe I have the belt stored away at our apartment? Now I’m not sure… which is a bit worrying honestly. My parents of course have a right to clean their house and take care of it the way they want to, but it’s frustrating seeing them dismantle my old bedroom and essentially turn it into storage space for junk and empty furniture.
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Anyway, it has been a mostly quiet week. Unfortunately, after going out with Jake, Josh, and Matt on Thursday, the scratchiness at the back of my throat turned into an actual cold. It’s not that bad, and I have been taking some DayQuil to help deal with it, but it has definitely put a bit of a damper on the trip. I rarely get sick at home but I guess I don’t get out of the house to crowded spaces nearly as often. I also have zinc and monolaurin and other supplements to help my immune system if I feel I was exposed to something. Not so much here. I have been making smoothies with fruit and some veggies, which should help, and hopefully I’ll feel better by Tuesday.