I live in Washington DC, the classic Sring Break school trip site for people in states far away. Typically, this can get to you - you're walking around your home town and there are TOURISTS EVERYWHERE!!! (Yes, I know, DC is the capital city, etc., and I'm sure I would want to visit if I didn't live here, but you get cynical when you actually DO). This week, however, the School Trip Syndrome was a welcome one, as it brought to my home two RinkyDink regulars - Marvin and flyingcats.

We spent a great deal of time over the past few weeks figuring out when and where we could meet. Our first idea was the Smithsonian, although meeting there would have involved a complex system of pay phones, cell phones, and lots of running on my part. Once they both received revised schedules, however, we discovered that they both had lunch at Union Station today - Marvin at 11:30, and flyingcats at 12:30. We weren't sure that Marvin would still be around to meet flyingcats, but as I don't have school on Mondays, it was perfect for me. Marvin's schedule later got revised to lunch at 12:00, group picture at 12:30, and then free time for the rest of the afternoon.

Marvin arrived in DC just a few days ago (not sure exactly when) and flyingcats on Saturday. I talked to Marvin several times on the phone, and we decided exactly where we would meet, what we would be wearing, etc. I also talked to flyingcats yesterday and relayed the information.

Today, I left my house at 11:20 and took the bus and the metro to Union Station. I got there rather early, 11:47, but went straight to our arranged meeting spot. I lookd around a bit, and, not seeing Marvin, started going up the escalator so I could wander around (I love Union Station!). So I was going up, however, I saw Marvin sitting at a table only a few feet away from where I had been standing. So I went up the escalator, ran back down the stairs, and sat in the chair across from him.

We had a half hour or so to kill until flyingcats was supposed to arrive, so we talked about random stuff, and kept people from taking our third chair (lunchtime at Union Station gets CROWDED!!!) Right around 12:30, a huge group with meal-ticket type things (which flyingcats said she would have) arrived. We assumed flyingcats was in there (and they kept coming and coming and coming) so we kept an eye out for her... and didn't see her, and didn't see her, and idn't see her. Eventually I started getting up every few minutes and walking around the food court looking for her, even though it's impossible to find people in hugs crowds. She wasn't where she was supposed to meet us, either. A few of the reasons my brain came up with...

1) She was late.
2) Their schedule had gotten changed.
3) She was looking for us and couldn't find us, but for some reason hadn't gone to our appointed spot.
4) Her friends were scared of us and were keeping her away.
5) She had decided that she didn't care whether or not she met us and wasn't even trying.

I even ended up walking around the entire mall a few times. By 1:00, I was worried. By 1:10, I was sad. by 1:15, I was pouting and HUNGRY.

Marvin and I decided we should just go ahead and eat lunch, so he was going to wait at the table while I got food, and then vice versa. I was walking towards the Panda Rice Bowl, and had to go by a group of girls standing at the bottom of the escalator. It took me a moment to realize that that was our appointed meeting spot, and one of them was smiling REALLY BIG and coming towards me... and wearing a familiar green sweatshirt. We had found her! I dragged her back over to Marvin, and we all stood around and smiled and said hi and were giddy, and her friends looked at us weird.

We exchanged gifts (well, actually Marvin had given me his earlier, but same difference) at that point. I am, unfortunately, a rather picky shopper - I figure otu what I want to get for people BEFORE I go shopping, and then I don't get anything but what I want. I had been unable to find what I wanted to find, but gave my promise that they would receive it in the mail just as soon as I am able to find it. (*phew*) I also promised to send senior pictures once I got those (by the way, I will send those to anyone who wants, but I won't have them till late May or early June). Anyway, Marvin gave each of us a little glass and clay - I think - rose, which was SO perfect, and flyingcats had dolphin back massager thingamabobs and little baggies of Santa Barbara sand. I had taken along two print-outs of the RinkAward winners. flyingcats also took pictures of Marvin and I on her digital camera, and a video of Marvin.

At that point, Marvin stayed at the table while flynigcats and I went off to get food. I was in the longest line, so I got back just about the same time as Marvin did after he traded off with flyingcats. The next few minutes we spent eating (duh. It was really rather amusing, because when all three of us had motuhfuls of food, there was nothing to do but sit there and look at each other. So that's what we did, and then flyingcats or I would start laughing, which would set the other one off, and Marvin would get confused. This was repeated several times.

Once we had finished eating, flyingcats let me shoot a video - I got her and Marvin being weird. flyingcats took a video of me and Marvin which was boring, so she deleted it. We then ran around Union Station - did a video tour, but the disk went psycho so we don't have that anymore either. We took a few more pictures, and then flyingcats finally got a video of me that isn't boring and didn't go psycho. One of her teachers took a picture of the three of us. We got good at answering the "So how do you know each other?" question... we looked at each other, hoping someone else would field the question, until the asked gave up. It worked twice!

flyingcats ahd to leave at 2:10, which was soon after that, but we walked her to the bus, exchanged numerous hugs and sad looks, and then she was gone. Marvin and I walked down to the metro, chatted a little more, and then our trains (we were going opposite ways) arrived at pretty much exactly the same time.

So that was the end of today's RinkMeeting! It was much fun, and look forward to future meetings with whatever RinkyDinks happen to bec oming to the area soon (whichis actually many of them!)

Ki"FUN!"ki