Well, last week had its ups and downs. ….I went to Washington, DC and met with some awesome women like Lisa Tate of WomenHeart and Diana K. of the American Diabetes Association.  The Omnipod DID require a bit more work in getting through airport security on the way to DC.  I had to step to the side and let them see the pod, they had to rub my hands with some kind of cloth (that apparently testing for something), and I had to answer a few questions.   The weather was relatively mild while there, so that was one check under “Good”.  However, getting around in DC requires lots of cab rides and I had one of the worst cab rides of my life on my way over to the ADA National Office.  You know it’s going to be a bad experience when you get into a cab and the cab driver repeatedly asks you, “Should I turn here?”  and then asks YOU to put the address of the location in his GPS for him.  Apparently, his vision was also poor, so driving in the 5pm rush hour with glare of the sunset, was horrendous.  I’ve never had the horn blown at the car I’m riding in so many times or come close to hitting so many other cars….and I’ve ridden in my share of scary taxis!  To top it all off, when we finally got there – 10 minutes late—the guy says, “What time would you like for me to pick you up?”  Ummmm…No thank you!

 

I learned a lot about the politics of the rail system on my train ride home.  (Yes, I decided to ride the train home since I have heard so many nice things about how relaxing it is and how much work can be accomplished using the free wi-fi on board.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know that ALL trains do not have wi-fi and the one that I was on DID NOT have wi-fi.  On top of that, we got stuck behind a broken down freight train for over an hour and a half and we were only 40 minutes from home!  I found out that CSX owns the track and Amtrak is little significance to them.  Therefore, Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight trains that make more money for CSX.  That was not a lesson I wanted to learn on my first train ride!

 

Although there were some not-so-great experiences over the last week, I still have a great deal to be thankful for.  After all, there is an awesome Conference and Walk coming up soon and it is coming together quite nicely!  All speakers have been confirmed, the walk route has been verified, and the prized for the top individual fund raisers have been secured—iPad, custom-fitted running shoes, an exercise bike, designer sunglasses, and a 2-night hotel stay.  If you haven’t registered for the Conference yet, you can do so here: http://www.diabetessisters.org/events/nationalconference/2012-conference-raleigh-nc.  If you haven’t registered yourself, your friends, your family, or your co-workers for the Walk, you can do so here: http://www.diabetessisters.org/walk.  Angela Hampton from ABC 11 will be onsite to emcee the Walk on Sunday morning!

 

Here's to a better week this week!