Unsettling Plans

Let me paint a picture of what this week was supposed to look like, starting with Sunday night.

Evening of May 5, 2013: Meet H.M.O. and A.A.P. for a--as in one--Cinco de Mayo margarita at Uncle Julio's. The atmosphere and company were better than anticipated... so one turned into two or three or five. And drinks turned into dinner. And the night just got suddenly late.

May 6: (Monday mornings, following Sunday night activity, are pretty much my favorite. Not.) If M was still in the hospital recovering from this round of chemotherapy, I would visit him... after many, too many, weeks of not visiting. If M was released, I would recommit to my plans with A.L.S.--post-work dinner and drinks. In the chaos of Monday morning, I accidentally left my phone at home. Classic me. That led to frantic emails... and people waiting on me... and all-around discomfort. M was released, and I ended up at Cave Mezze with A.L.S. The evening was a refreshing one, as I had also not seen her in weeks.

May 7, 7:05 pm: Detroit Tigers/Washington Nationals baseball game at National Park with Boyfriend and my parents. It rained and rained and rained all day Tuesday... amounts enough to postpone the anticipated match-up to Thursday, May 9. This press release did not occur until my parents were sitting in my living room... where the option to about-face into outbound traffic was out. So we chatted--seemingly plenty to discuss despite having spent the majority of the weekend together, and made plans for dinner. (Note: This would make three straight days of eating out. I was a little on edge.) After flipping through January and February copies of Washingtonian's "100 Very Best Restaurants 2012" and "100 Very Best Restaurants 2013" respectively, we landed on Ray's The Steaks, just a mile and a half down the road from my apartment. The food was phenomenal... for there being only a single unlisted vegetarian option. It ended up being a nice night, albeit not the night at the ballpark we envisioned.

May 8, 2013: Dinner at Pupatella's with C.J.R., a dear college friend, mid-route in her journey from Charleston, SC to Wrentham, MA. Year two of pharmacy school for her and my 9:00 am to 5:00 pm job, has us on entirely different schedules, meaning limited phone calls since August, rare for the two of us. I am very much looked forward blabbering away at tonight's dinner. And all went according to plan this night - hooray!

May 9, 2013: The original plans had Boyfriend and me heading to Boston, MA to visit his parents. Aside from celebrating M.R.B.'s birthday (and Mother's Day), this trip will allot Boyfriend time to  collect his belongings... because after two plus months in Washington, D.C., he wants, debatable needs, more than the duffle bag that accompanied him on his one-way trip here and two boxes his mom has mailed.

But with baseball tickets valid only for the postponed game at the horrible time of 4:05 pm, Boyfriend and I intended on opting to use two of the four tickets purchased. I hated, beyond hated, the idea of them going to waste. It literally sickened my soul. And lest I fail to mention: These were good seats. The older I get, the more high maintenance I am about where I sit in stadiums. I used to be satisfied being in the stadium. Not as much anymore. Sigh. But mostly, I purchased decent seats because I wanted to do something kind for my dad--the Tigers being his team--after he did my taxes for me, among other things. The best of intentions came up dry. Like previously mention, this postponement cost him a nice dinner for four. And he would not be joining Boyfriend and I for the afternoon game as his work schedule is not as flexible as my Government one.

And then, just when I thought my tightly made plans had stabilized, they unravelled again. There would be no early bird departure for Boyfriend and my road trip to Boston in order. A final call to Nationals' Officials concluded with suddenly refundable tickets, we could now skip the game and hit the road following my 10:00 am meeting. This left Boyfriend to do essentially all the packing as the change came minutes before I had to catch the metro for a meeting an hour northeast of the city. To say this left me in a state of disarray is to put it mildly.

At this point, I need to get to Boston; where, upon arrival, a long relaxing weekend awaits.