A little loopy

It’s my last week in Washington and I’m officially down to the wire to get stuff done. I have a little list next to me that’s got more crossed off than left on, but it’s still substantial. Monday is going to be a big day.

As bad luck would have it, I discovered on Friday evening that there is a Chick-Fil-A in Foggy Bottom. This is on me; I have no idea why I didn’t think to search earlier. I’ve spent a lot of time in the area, but I tend to walk right out of the metro, and Chick is on the left. And Thursday evening, the evening before I had the brilliant revelation to search for a place, I was right in Foggy Bottom, leaving a get-together famished. I could have used a six-pack of nuggets, but I didn’t know.

Today I thought about going, but after a visit to the Library of Congress with some friends, we hit up the food trucks for lunch and that was just too much good. I mean, not enough food to forfeit swinging by Georgetown and stopping for cupcakes at Baked and Wired, but too much to think about another meal. There’s always room for cupcakes.

Since going to Chick is out of the question tomorrow, I’m planning on going both Monday after lunch (don’t judge: I’ve got two more appointments after lunch and will grab soup to take home) and probably Tuesday as my last meal.

It’s been a big week. Beyond fighting a cold and sitting through a class with talking head after talking head and the air conditioner set for what felt like like 52 degrees, I met some new folks and, most importantly for next week, got my passport back. My visa arrived last Thursday and I’m good to go; I even had time to run by the Global Entry place and get it registered, which was as big “cross off” on my calendar. No point in paying for the program if you can’t register the passport you travel on, right?

Fortunately, Florence has stayed away from D.C. and it looks like I’ll still be good to go on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, it looks like I might be flying into the path of residual rain. We’ll see how it goes. This past week I met several people headed to post who were leaving earlier and were a bit panicked. It’s kind of exciting that it’s all coming together.

I’ll be there until May 2020, inchallah. I hope all goes well. I’m not concerned about the situation in Baghdad; I’m concerned about me adjusting to a job and not being able to get away on a short trip every month. Instead, I’ll have long trips every four months or so. For me, that’s something to get used to.

It’s also a long time on the road at one shot, although not as long as I’ve been in DC this go-around. God bless Marriott, but I’ve hit my limit for hotel nights in a row. I’m in my third hotel room since August 12 and really tired of the same breakfast every day.

It’s not that it’s bad and I to vary it up, but you can only vary scrambled eggs or pancakes so much. This morning, instead of toast, I had an English muffin and tomorrow, if their Sunday menu holds, I’ll opt for a biscuit and gravy.

They also have the standard cereal option, although they don’t have what I find in most hotels, which is corn flakes. I’m not capitalizing that because I’m fairly confident that although Marriott appears to go with Kellogg’s, I seriously doubt some of the other places I’ve stayed in spring for the name brand.

They have some healthy option, Rice Krispies and Froot Loops. I don’t do healthy and Rice Krispies without marshmallows and butter taste kind of like sugary (because I add sugar) air, but crunchy. Which isn’t bad, but I decided to have a bowl of Froot Loops my first day here. I haven’t eaten Froot Loops since they added green, purple and blue and figured what the heck. (Looked this up: 1990s.) I wanted a little something sweet after the (likely from a powder) scrambled eggs, toast and sausage. I took a small bowl and crunched away, because milk in cereal is just gross. Use a glass, people.

And now I am a loopy addict. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve now eaten Froot Loops daily at as a little dessert after breakfast. You’re only as old as you feel. I don’t even bother with a spoon.