First- I got a new job! This has actually been in the works for several months, but I got an official "yes" about two weeks ago. Things are still in process, so I don't want to give too many details at the moment, but the gist is that I will be part of a small team providing a specific model of family therapy at several sites in the Baltimore area. I won't have an official start date until our whole team is assembled, but I think it will be sometime next month. I am very excited that I will actually be using my degrees soon!
My boyfriend Andrew also started a new job not too long ago, so we decided to celebrate both of our successes by going out to dinner last Saturday. At first, we were going to go the steakhouse route. Then, the temperatures plummeted and the DC metro area got hit with the freak early snowstorm known as #snoctober. Given the nasty weather, I lost all desire to put on a dress and we both decided that a pub would give us a better "first really cold day" atmosphere. The OpenTable app on my Iphone suggested a place called Hunter's Head Tavern. It looked awesome to me, so I suggested it to Andrew.
What I failed to realize is that Hunter's Head is down in VA wine country, a good 45 miles from Andrew's house in Alexandria. A less generous and adventurous guy would have put the brakes on this idea, but Andrew was game for making the drive. So we drove, through the oddly beautiful landscape of fall leaves and snow, until we got to the pub. Only when we pulled up the driveway did we realize that we had both passed Hunter's Head on previous VA wine country trips and really wanted to stop in. For that reason alone, we both agreed it was worth the drive. It didn't hurt that the food was delicious and the atmosphere was really fun.
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| The weather was awful for photos, so you will have to trust me when I tell you that we were standing in front of one of those old-fashioned red London phone booths. |
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| Foxes featured prominently in the Hunter's Head decor. |
The morning after our pub-travel adventure, Andrew and I woke up to find that the snow was gone and the sun had returned. This was excellent news, because Sunday was Marine Corps Marathon day! Late in the morning, Andrew and I went to Crystal City and joined my marathon coaches at mile 22 for the Annapolis Striders water stop. We were handing out several things, but the most popular turned out to be pretzels. They were so popular, in fact, that we were running out just a few minutes after Andrew and I arrived. Knowing the area, Andrew suggested that we make a 10-minute walk to a nearby Costco to get more. Thus began the Great Pretzel Trek.
The walk to Costco was complicated by the fact that we had to cross through the marathon itself twice. Once we pulled that off, Andrew realized that he had lost his Costco card. So, we waited about 30 mins in a crazy Saturday line so he could get a new one. Then, once we got into the actual store, we were told that they do not carry pretzels. I refused to believe it. What Costco doesn't have pretzels??? We walked through the entire store just to verify- indeed, no pretzels. We left in stunned disbelief and started walking toward a grocery store. About 10 minutes into that walk, we came across a Rite Aid and cleaned out their entire pretzel stock- 7 pounds! Then, we made the trek back to mile 22, crossed over the marathon again, and resumed our stations... only to learn that most of my friends from the training group had passed while we were gone. D'oh!
So, I had missed most of my friends, but the immediate gratitude from pretzel-hungry, exhausted marathoners made it all worthwhile. We had a great time handing out goodies and cheering people on. I was happy that Andrew had a chance to see what mile 22 of a marathon looks like- or, more importantly, what a middle-to-back-of-the-pack runner looks like at mile 22 of a marathon. Now, he is all ready for NYC!
As we drove home after the race, I checked FB and learned that all of my friends had amazing races. The first-timers finished strong and the veterans, Val and Noreen among them, all set new PR's. Congratulations, runners!
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