Long Time No Post!

So an update on what I've been up to over the past few months:

1. Advocacy Days with the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - I spent a day up on Capitol Hill meeting with staffers of several congresspeople. I got to meet specifically with people working for Carl Levin (senator from Michigan) and Jim Webb (senator from Virginia). I basically spent the day with a bunch of psychiatrists from the AACAP and we had a bunch of "talking points" we were given to discuss with staffers. It was pretty interesting to see how the process of lobbying works!

2. Washington D.C. Zoo!   I went with Kari to the zoo and had an excellent time. The zoo here is free! That is amazing to me. Although lacking penguins and giraffes, the zoo had an excellent display of big cats. 

3. Kate's Internship Graduation & Weekend of Fun! I traveled to Pittsburgh for Kate's internship graduation dinner. The dinner itself was nice, but we had the most fun on Saturday at a place called "Color Me Mine." At this place you pick out a piece of pottery (bowls/mugs/picture frames etc.), paint it as you like, and then they fire it up in the kiln. This was so much fun, and Kate and I had some pretty nice products when we were finished if I do say so myself!

4. Flag Football - I joined a random flag football team for the spring season and have had a blast playing. I've met some great new people and I really like being involved in a social league sport (it's not high competition by any means). Our team record is 2-2-1 and we have one more game before the playoffs. Unfortunately I have not scored any touchdowns though :(

Other Important Events:
-I am officially finished with the volunteer portion of my experience here in D.C. (working with kids who have diabetes). This means I will be working three or four days a week for the rest of the summer, and working on my dissertation the other free days.
-The wonderful air mattress I have been sleeping on (and blowing up every night before bed) has died. It was sad before, and now that I am sleeping on two foam pads on the floor, its even more sad. But don't despair, a replacement is ordered and on the way!
-This weekend I am heading to Miami to look at potential places to live. VERY excited for this and I will post some pics when I get back!