Rooftop Decks and Stoli

This is 13th St. somewhere between Columbia Heights and U street on a beautiful Spring day. I love the variety that rowhouses offer, especially after growing up in suburbia. The one thing that DC doesn't get is that rowhouses were made to have a rooftop deck like many do in Baltimore. When are the residents of DC going to get with it?


Now the most important part of the post...introducing...Stoli (she's a Russian Blue):

Bubbs

Well, what can we say. Steph and I were blindsided by the death of our little cat "Bubbs" just this past Sunday. He was just under a year old. The immediacy and the shockingly sad way in which it all occurred was well...truly a tragic experience, as anyone who has had such a wonderful pet can certainly tell you. Anyway, I've been thinking about all the wonderful things that this little creature did and it really makes me feel quite happy that he was a part of our lives, because that's really what he was - a part of our family.

Where is the bottom???

So not to be a downer... but this whole crashing economy thing is really starting to get scary. I know I am very fortunate for many reasons, the biggest being that I am young and don't have a family to support or a 40 year retirement fund that is dwindling. But, I do have to say being young doesn't come without it's negatives as well and it certainly does not come with immunity to what is going on around us. Although I have been aware of what is going with the recession and have attempted to cut back and be cautious of my spending, up until now I have not been directly effected. Yesterday was a pretty big shock to my world as the day started with a meeting from one of our superiors preparing us for the idea that our office may no longer be in the comfortable position it was nearly a month ago. The day continued as people talked cautiously about what they thought may or may not be coming our way. Then at the end of the day a quick staff meeting was called where it was announced that 8 of our co-workers were no longer with us. I felt a combination of shock, guilt and fear. I have never been through something like this as many of my older co-workers have and I was pretty unequipped to deal with it.

All in all, we have to keep moving forward. My biggest fear is not knowing where the bottom of this downfall is and if things keep going the way they are I think it is pretty safe to say that no one is out of the woods yet. As for now- I am making some adjustments to be more prepared for the worst, but I am also counting my blessings and looking forward to good news. Things have to improve eventually, at least that is what history tells us.

This is an interesting map that I came across today that illustrates how people across the country are being effected by this crazy thing. It is hard to understand what is happening if it hasn't hit close to you- but as you can see this is serious, and it is everywhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html