Today is a beautiful day!  Monday and Tuesday were really rainy and dreary here and this morning the sun is shining.  Today is also great because I don't have to haul anybody anywhere or sit in traffic for hours on end.  Last Tuesday I had to ride with Joey to work to get my first rabies shot and then sit in traffic for an hour on the way home.  Then last Wednesday George and I dropped Joey off at work and then went to the vet and then sat in traffic for an hour on the way home.  Thursday we had a mini-reprieve with our day trip to Annapolis but then Friday I had to fight traffic to drop the car off at the shop (stupid convertible top broken again) and then wait for an hour to catch the shuttle to the metro stop which is another half hour from my house.  Then Friday afternoon I had to take the metro to the shuttle pick-up, wait 45 minutes for that and then fight traffic on the way home from the dealership.  Monday Max went to the vet so we dropped Joey off at work and then fought traffic for an hour on the way home from his appointment.  Yesterday I had to go with Joey to get my second rabies shot, but first we had to pick up our friend James since his car was in the shop, which took an extra 45 minutes, then fight traffic for an hour on the way home, pick up Moe and immediately turn back around to take him for his rabies shot, which meant another half hour on the way there and half hour on the way back (traffic had thankfully dissipated by 11 am).  So today, when Joey's left for work alone it was wonderful!  I curled up with George and Moe under my warm covers and went back to sleep.

Tonight is the first send-off happy hour.  Our friend, Sujata, leaves Monday for post!  Even though she is the first to leave, none of us feel too badly for her, as she is headed to Paris.  And you should see the pictures of her 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, gorgeous apartment with marble and crown-molding right smack dab between the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysees.   I think that her rent is something like $5000 a month (not that she has to pay it, but that gives you an idea of how fabulous her new place is).  After the happy hour we are gathering at our friend Tom's house to learn how to shoot guns because tomorrow we're all going to the shooting range, which should really be an experience.  Especially since only two out of the eight of us has ever even touched a gun before (that would be Joey and Lee, who was in the Navy).  Stories to come...