Lazy Day

I slept in this morning until close to noon. I had a delicious scrambled egg omelet situation with cheese, bell pepper, tomato, and mushrooms for breakfast. After I finally stopped being lazy, I headed over to Catholic University campus to mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Jeff Frazee met me for mass and we went out to dinner afterwards at this mediocre Thai restaurant that doesn't deserve a linked recognition. It was so much fun to catch up with Frazee. He just got engaged a few months ago and is just starting a new organization called Young Americans for Liberty, very interesting.

Lincoln, Darwin, and Clarendon

This morning I woke up and moseyed on over to Best Buy in Pentagon City to buy a new digital camera. The sales guy was super annoying trying to sell me the dang insurance that costs half as much as the camera and an SD memory card that I already have. I ended up getting the PowerShot SD790 IS and I love it!

So after my digicam excursion, I took the metro into DC to meet up with Chris at the National Museum of American History. I had seen most of the museum, but the Abraham Lincoln exhibit just opened last weekend.

I also went through the America on the Move, Lighting a Revolution, and The Price of Freedom: Americans at War. My favorite things I saw today were Lincoln's top hat that he was wearing at Ford's Theater, Edison's collection of experimental materials to be used for filaments, and George Washington's camping chest.

After the American History museum, I showed Chris the Old Post Office Building, which is still my favorite view of the city.

The National Museum of Natural History was next to explore a new exhibit, Orchids Through Darwin's Eyes.

So I know that Chris and I are complete PT nerds in that we discussed osteo- and arthro-kinematics of the animals in the Bones exhibit for about an hour.

Osteology: Hall of Bones
Who has bones? Fishes, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals do. In our Osteology Hall you can observe a variety of vertebrate skeletons grouped by their evolutionary relationships. You can compare a human and gorilla, bone for bone. Count the number of neck vertebrae in a human and a giraffe. Observe skeletal features that are unique to reptiles or to fish.

Later in the evening we went out to a bar in Clarendon called Whitlow's. The place was packed, but we were able to snag a booth right when we got there. There was a cover band playing called Road Soda. They covered everything from Jay-Z to The Killers.. pretty wide variety of music that night and it was so much fun!

International Summit on Direct Access and Advanced Scope of Practice

Today I listened in on a conference call for the International Summit on Direct Access and Advanced Scope of Practice. This conference is on October 22-24 in National Harbor, MD and is sponsore by the World Confederation of Physical Therapy, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, and the American Physical Therapy Association.

During the call, many issues about the conference were discussed, including registration, programming, logo, and website development. I find it fascinating to learn how these conferences are put together. There is so much behind the scenes work that most attendees never have a chance to see.

In the afternoon, Chris and I visited Lisa McLaughlin, The Student Assembly Component Executive to discuss the student website and CSM PT-PAC events.

Friday evening, I decided to go shopping for a new digital camera, since mine went kaput during the inauguration. I couldn't find the one I liked tonight, maybe tomorrow. Chris and I are headed to do some touristy exploring in DC.

Johnny's Half Shell Happy Hour & DC Aggies Two-Step

Today at work was not as intense as usual. It's been nice to get some work done on my long term projects, though. We had a new student intern start, his name is Chris Beaudoin and he's from Regis University in Denver, CO and will be here for the next 3 weeks. We had an intern meeting this morning with Melissa Manzione, who is basically in charge of coordinating our schedules and activities. We discussed what I've been working on so far and what Chris and I both plan to work on over the next few weeks. Chris is more interested in the Payment side of the unit, while I'm more interested in the Advocacy side, which works out well so our projects won't really overlap.

I meandered into DC to check out the happy hour at my mom's cousin's restaurant. Her name is Ann Cashion and the restaurant is Johnny's Half Shell. Of course my mom told me about the restaurant originally, but I also read about it in my DC insider's guide in the 100 Free (or nearly free) Things to do in DC.

ECONOMICAL EATS AND CHEAP HAPPY HOURS
Eat organic at Johnny's Half Shell, where James Beard award-winning chef
Ann Cashion's mini-burgers and mini Asian tuna sandwiches are just $2.50 and her
fried oysters and gumbo are $6 each during happy hour.

So I went for happy hour, which is 4:30-7:30. Check out the entire Happy Hour Menu. My bill was under $20I had a Stella Artois, Barbequed Shrimp and Asiago Cheese Grits, and Half Dozen Charbroiled Oysters. All so delicious and reminded me of home. The greatest part about the restaurant is that there are old black and white pics of my family on the walls. Most of the pictures are from Galveston, TX and are of my great grandparents (Mom and Pop Pequigney) and my grandma (Mom Shepherd) and her brother (Uncle Bub) and sister (Aunt Margie). Ann's mom is Aunt Margie, who was my grandma's sister. I'll need Mark Daly genealogy master clarification on whether that makes us "second cousins" or "first cousins once-removed." The waiter was so very nice and personable, Kurt was his name. He showed me around the restaurant so I could see all of the pictures. Unfortunately Ann wasn't there last night, so I guess that means I have to go back again.. darn. I'm actually supposed to be going to a fundraiser there next Tuesday, small world.

After dinner, I met up with my new DC Aggie friends for drinks and two stepping at the American Legion Post #8. There's this great band that plays there called the Wil Gravatt Band. They played some Texas Country covers and I had a great time dancing with new friends. Some of the same people from the Howdy Hour were there: Kelsey, Alyssa, Carlos, Paul, and Parker. The bartender was slightly off. I asked for a Crown and 7 and he told me "no that's a terrible comination." He thought I wanted Crown mixed with Seagram's 7. Then after that confusion was cleared up, he wanted to give me ginger ale instead of sprite. The whole ordeal took entirely too much brain power for a patron/bartender interaction. I met this super sweet guy who ended up giving me a ride home, which was great since it was almost 12:00am whenever we left.

Bienvenido a Miami

Today was the first day back after a long weekend with not much sleep and I felt like I was in slow motion. We had a unit meeting this morning where we discussed mostly CSM issues. After the meeting I started sifting through my email inbox. This afternoon, I started working in National Student Conclave’s PT-PAC Late Night Event for the upcoming conference in October 2009 in Miami, FL. The conference hotel is the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami. So I basically spent the entire afternoon researching downtown Miami bars and restaurants. Not too bad for an afternoon of work. I’m going to bed early.. completely exhausted from the weekend!

Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America

I woke up at 5:00am this morning wide awake despite the fact that I may have slept only a few hours. There was a different feeling in the air this morning. Yes it was freezing, but everyone on the street was full of life - wishing eachother Good Morning and Enjoy your day and many were making friends with random strangers from all over the United States. Today it felt like everyone was in the same boat, ecstatic about what Barack Obama would soon have to say to the nation.

I made my way into the Ballston Metro by 5:30am and already the place was bustling and trains were passing by already packed. As I hopped on the metro to meet Scott and Jennifer in Crystal City, I found it impossible to keep a smile off my face. The energy around me was so overwhelmingly comforting.

I arrived at Crystal City Metro and bought the inaugural edition of the Washington Post and a Dunkin Donuts coffee while I people watched the hundreds of people bustling into the station. By now it was 6:30am. We had to wait for a few trains before one came that we could fit everyone: Scott, Jennifer, Sarah, Summer, Heidi, and me. Sarah, Summer, and Heidi flew in from San Diego to visit Jennifer and Scott - two PT friends of mine. Scott served on the APTA Student Assembly Nominating Committee the year before me and Jennifer is his fiancee - both PTs. When the doors opened at our destination stop, L'Enfant Plaza, we could barely squeeze onto the platform. For those of you from New Orleans, it was a crowd like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras or New Year's Eve. The crowd is actually moving you - you don't have much control of where you're going. It must have taken at least an hour before we emerged from the Metro Station. All the while people were smashed in like sardines, without a care in the world, just excited to be a part of history. The crowd randomly chanted throughout the trip "O-ba-ma" and "Yes We Can".

As we emerged from the L'Enfant Metro Station, the cold slapped us in the face and began to freeze our toes. Volunteers lined the streets to direct traffic and welcome everyone to DC. Firetrucks, charter buses, and vendors lined the streets along the way to the mall. I was sure we were too late to make it, but at 8:25am we staked our spot on the mall right under the 3rd jumbotron from the Capitol. Sunday's concert was replaying on the jumbotrons and everyone in the crowd was singing along and dancing to Garth Brooks playing Shout/American Pie/We Shall be Free, Usher/Stevie Wonder/Shakira playing Higher Ground, U2 playing Pride in the Name of Love/City of Brilliant Lights, and Pete Seeger/Springsteen playing This Land is Your Land.

The procession of dignitaries started with Congress, then former Presidents, then current President/VP, President/VP families, then VP and finally the man of the hour Barack Obama. The crowd's roar was progressively heightened with each announcement, however it was silent other than a few tacky boos with the announcement of the Bush families. I was shocked and hurt by the vast number of people so disappointed with the Bushes. A crowd of 1.9 million is something to hear, but a silent crowd of 1.9 million is eerie. The crowd was electric when Obama stepped out onto the Capitol steps. The ceremony began with Dianne Feinstein. My favorite quote from her: "Future generations will mark this morning as the turning-point for real and necessary change in our nation. They will look back and remember that this is the moment when the dream that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial finally reached the walls of the White House." Rick Warren delivered the invocation to a crowd with heads bowed, silently listening with the occasionl Mmmhmm and you're right and amens scatterd about the crowd. The invocation ended with the Our Father, amazing to hear so many reciting at the same time. Aretha Frankling sang My Country Tis of Thee beautifully. I watched as people in the crowd were drawn to tears. First Biden takes the oath, then Barack Hussein Obama stumbes through the oath with his hand placed on the same bible that Abraham Lincoln used during his inauguration. His wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia beaming next to him. The crowd erupted in cheers, with cameras and flashes, hugs and kisses, tears and laughter. Then President Obama gave his inaugural address. As expected, it was a message of hope and change. He was eloquently spoken, ever so classily pointing out the fact that we have many challenges that we face at this point in time. "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: they will be met."

After the speech we started on the heel-toe express back home. It took awhile to figure out our exit. As one guy said in the crowd, "Now I know what a red blood cell feels like," as we all tried to squeeze past eachother on the randomly blocked and barricaded streets. We walked from jumbotron 3 on the mall past the Washington Monument, past the WWII memorial, past the reflection pool, past the Lincoln memorial, over the Arlington Memorial Bridge, and to Crystal City. Yeah that's about 5 miles, but so much better than trying to cram back into the metro. It took, us about 2 hours to walk that far. I enjoyed the company today and am thankful that I had a group to share this piece of history. We at at McCormick and Schmick's and toasted to our 44th president. At 4:00pm I headed back to the Crystal City Metro and hopped back on the train home. The trains were still pretty packed along the way. On the train home I overheard a mom telling her son, "someday you will tell your kids that you walked from DC to Virginia after you witnessed history." At 5:00pm, I walked back in the door of my DC home, exhausted, but with no regrets. I'm so glad that I spent those 12 hours experiencing a piece of history, it was completely worth it and I'm looking forward to President Obama putting his plans in to action over the next 4 years.

Daly

Sunday Funday

In Houston, we have a tradition called Sunday Funday where we hang out all day Sunday and drink beers and watch football. Josh Pitts brought the tradition to NYC and that's exactly what we did today at his favorite NYU campus bar, Off the Wagon. They have an ingenious drink special on Saturday and Sunday afternoons called Beat the Clock. It starts at noon and ends when the bar closes. Pitchers at noon are $4.50 and the price goes up 50 cents each hour. This is the first bar that I've ever been to that has multiple beer pong tables set up and beer bongs at the bar, crazy!

Josh Pitts and his roommate Steven attempting to beat me at beer pong.

I went by Uncle Bub and Steven's again to visit before leaving and to take some pictures since we forgot to take them at dinner the night before. And let's be honest, who doesn't love hanging out at their swanky 5th avenue apartment in Greenwich Village?!

I completely lost track of time and missed my bus back to DC this evening. No worries though, since I don't have to work Monday for MLK day or Tuesday for Inauguration. I just got a new bus home on Monday morning.

It's up to you New York, New York

Today I explored the city! I woke up and planned my adventures, referencing the subway map. The NYC Subway is a bit more complex than DC, but I was able to figure it out nonetheless.

I found my way to Times Square and had a White Chocolate Mocha while people watching. I took a few pictures there, then headed to meet Bo Babenko for lunch. Bo was on the Student Assembly Nominating Committee the year before me, 2007-2008 and now practices at Star Physical Therapy in New York. Bo insisted that I must have Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn, so his friend George drove us over to Brooklyn after driving me by the touristy sites of Manhattan like Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the United Nations. We stood outside in the freakin snow for abot 15 minutes to wait for a table at Grimaldi's and it was completely worth it! The pizza there is delicious and Bo introduced me to Brooklyn beer, yum!

After lunch, I took the subway back into Manhattan where I walked around the streets for a bit and saw Bryant Park, The Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building. Then I explored the largest Department Store in the World, Macy's at Herald Square.

I met Uncle Bub and Steven at their apartment by Washington Square Park, where we had drinks and then walked to a restaurant around the corner called Village Restaurant. I had the Seared Tuna with warm mushroom salad and cabbage spring roll and I also tried a bit of Steven's Grilled Lamb Merguez Sausage. The food was delicious and I had so much fun visiting with Uncle Bub and Steven!

After dinner, I met up with Liz and James for drinks at Landsdowne Road, a rugby themed pub in Manhattan. And of course, I drank my new favorite, Brooklyn Lager.

Frostbite and traveling to NYC

This morning I decided to ride the metro to APTA for the first time by myself. I failed miserably at the point of the DASH bus. I got on the bus going the wrong way and by the time I realized I was not going the right way, I had to wait outside for a bus going in the correct direction for 20 minutes in 20 degree weather. I almost froze my toes off. I finally arrived at APTA at 10:00am, oops! Everyone had a good laugh at my fluke.

I had a follow up meeting with Mike Matlakc on PT-PAC issues. We're going to go ahead with the Captiol Corner idea for the Pulse newsletter every other month, with the first issue coming out in March.

also had a meeting with Monica Billger in Grassroots to discuss the current structure of the Student Liaison Network and what how we can better structure the beast. She was able to help me out with some ideas to bring forward to the Student Assembly Board of Directors.

Later that afternoon, I caught an Eastern Travel bus to New York City! The roundtrip ticket only cost $35 and the trip takes about 4 hours from DC to NYC. The bus left from Chinatown in DC, which was an interesting experience in itself. The bus really wasn't very full and it was pretty nice, just your normal charter bus.

I arrived in NYC at 10:00pm across the street from a 3-story H&M, so of course I went inside to browse while I waited for my cousin, James to meet me. We took a cab to his house on the Upper West Side. The cabs in NYC have interactive tv screens in them where you can watch the news or look at a map, pretty suave.

View Larger Map

James and Liz's place is awesome! I had a guest room all to myself while I was there, a serious luxury in NYC.
We went to dinner at a Thai restaurant right in the neighborhood called Land, so delicious! By the time we headed home, it was 12:00am and I was completely exhausted!

Health IT, Advocacy Toolkit, and DC Ags Howdy Hour

Today I met up with Andrew at Union Station to walk over to the Senate Building for the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Investing in Health IT: A Stimulus for a Healthier America. We stood in line for awhile and were one of the first to not be let in the room due to fire code. There was no overflow room, so we just came back to the office... so anti-climactic.

In the afternoon, I had a meeting with Dan McGill to discuss Student E-News and the APTA Facebook Page.

We discussed how to better utilize Facebook to communicate with students and how Student E-News could be utilized to communicate with and recruit student advocates for the Advocacy Challenge.

After that, I participated in a conference call with the panel creating the Advocacy Toolkit. The panel was quite complimentary of my contribution to the Recruiting Student Advocates and Social Networking/Blogging sections, which made my day!

Later that evening, I went to a bar called Carpool for the DC Aggies Howdy Hour. I saw Kelsey and Cody there and met a few new friends along the way. This guy had the best Obama shirt I've seen. I've got to find that shirt before I leave!

Meet and Greet Fundraiser & PQRI Conference Call

Today I attended a Meet and Greet with Justin Moore (VP of Government and Payment Advocacy) for Representative Brett Guthrie. Rep. Guthrie is a freshman U.S. Representative from Kentucky. The Meet and Greet was at a townhouse close to the Capitol. I would estimate about 15-20 people attended this Meet and Greet, most of whom represented various organizations. There was a period of mingling, followed by a short introduction and address from Rep. Guthrie, followed by another period of mingling and eating. The purpose is exactly in the title. It gives the different representative organizations some face time to meet and to greet the newly elected congressman. The meet and greet helps to raise funds for the congressman, so each of the organizations pays a certain amount of money in order to attend. The whole ordeal lasted about an hour.

In the afternoon I listened in on a Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) conference call hosted by CMS. PQRI establishes a financial incentive for eligible professionals, including physical therapists, to participate in a voluntary quality reporting program. This conference call was hosted by CMS in order to give updates and field questions from practitioners. Questions ranged from “how do I get started” to very instance-specific. Click on the PQRI button for APTA’s info on the issue. APTA will host an audio call on January 29, 2009 from 2:00-3:30pm.

Social Networking, Blogging and Recruiting Students

Below is the Social Networking, Blogging, and Student Recruitment sections that are currently works in progress to contribute to the Advocacy Toolkit.

Recruiting Advocates through Social Network Sites and Blogging


Social networking websites are online communities and provide a new way to interact for social, professional, and educational purposes. Social networking websites communicate and share information via online communication media such as email and instant messaging.

Social Networking Sites

Facebook is a popular free access social networking site where users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. Website: http://www.facebook.com/

Currently APTA has a Facebook Group operated by Student Assembly Board of Directors and a member of APTA staff. Upcoming APTA events are posted on a calendar of events for this group.

• The Discussion Board provides a place a place for members to post issues, questions, job listings, and roommates wanted/needed for conferences. The discussion board is a great place to post advocacy efforts or recruitment needs.
  
• The Wall: For immediate/time sensitive advocacy needs, a message can be posted on a virtual “bulletin board” which contains announcements from members.

Linked In is a business oriented social networking site used mainly for professional networking. Members of this site can post resumes, activity involvement, and join groups. APTA does not currently have an established group on Linked In. Website: http://www.linkedin.com/

• Potential use: As students begin to approach graduation, but are still interested in social networking, they are joining this website. It is considered the “professional” Facebook by many students, and may be an appropriate avenue for recruiting advocates.

Blogging

Blog is an abbreviation for web log, which is an online site where an individual or group can post regular entries in a journal-type format. Entries often include descriptions of events and progressive updates on a particular subject often combining text with images and links to other web sites.

• Current use: Students post blogs on everything from student life to clinical affiliations and APTA conference experiences.
• Current use: APTA has created a “Moving Forward” blog hosted on blogger at http://movingforwardapta.blogspot.com/ . This blog a place where APTA and its members can interact and participate in discussion on the latest topics related to APTA and the profession. It is a great vehicle to use for providing information about advocacy and recruiting others to join in APTA advocacy efforts.

Recruiting Student Advocates


The following information lists existing student programs or communications that could be used to highlight APTA advocacy efforts and recruitment needs through articles or other forms of online communication.

Student Assembly Website www.aptastudent.org
Student APTA members are automatically Student Assembly members. The student section of the APTA website and discussion board could be utilized to recruit student advocates.

Student Liaison Network
This nationwide network of students helps disseminate information throughout the entire Student Assembly. The Student Liaison Network is maintained through the Student Assembly Board of Directors and Nominating Committee.

Student Special Interest Groups (SSIGs)
Many state chapters have active Student Special Interest Groups who meet during state chapter meetings and/or state student conclaves. The network of SSIGs is maintained by a Student Assembly SSIG Representative, who is appointed by the Student Assembly Board of Directors each year. State SSIG contact information can also be found on most state chapter websites.

Student Assembly Pulse
The Student Assembly Pulse is a monthly newsletter that is sent out to PT/PTA students and faculty liaisons. The Student Assembly Director is in charge of the Pulse.

Student E-News
Student E-News is a monthly newsletter developed and distributed by APTA staff.

National Student Conclave
The National Student Conclave is the only national conference specifically for students. It occurs annually in October of each year and is a great venue to get your message out to students.

Advocacy Challenge
This is a new event challenging students to become advocates and make legislative visits to their legislators. This is a new program and not much information is available via the website.

Advocacy Resources - February 2009 Pulse Article

Below is the article that will appear in the February 2009 edition of the Student Assembly Pulse Newsletter:

APTA Advocacy Resources
Allison Daly, SPT
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

An advocate is someone who supports, promotes, defends, and maintains a specific cause or interest. Anyone can be an advocate when equipped with an understanding of the cause and armed with the right tools. Our cause is creating awareness of Physical Therapy and we are lucky to have a professional association that works to fortify us with the tools we need to be effective advocates for our profession. With the Student Advocacy Challenge upon us, the question keeps arising among students, “where do we begin?” The APTA has many resources for advocacy available on the website at www.apta.org/advocacy including: Legislative Action Center, PTeam, Advocacy Calendar, and Advocacy Toolkit. The Legislative Action Center is your quick ticket to advocacy. Here you can enter your information to find your congressmen, read more about current federal and state legislative issues, and write an email or letter to your congressman expressing your opinions. The Advocacy Calendar is a new resource that provides information on state legislative sessions, congressional recesses, and includes a monthly advocacy tip. The PTeam is a grassroots program that keeps members up to date on legislative activity on Capitol Hill through quarterly newsletters and requests action of members to contact Congressmen on pertinent issues through Legislative Action Alerts. A resource to look forward to in the upcoming months is the Advocacy Toolkit. This toolkit is a resource for all advocates that will include information on understanding the basics of Congress, the structure of APTA Grassroots, and creating/delivering an advocacy message to a legislator. This toolkit is currently in the development process. An introduction of the toolkit will be presented at CSM, with the full toolkit available to APTA members later this Spring.

Grassroots Advocacy Meeting

Today I had my first meeting with Monica Billger, Associate Director of Grassroots Advocacy. I’ve been working with her as a student rep through phone conference calls on a panel to create a Toolkit for Advocacy, but this was our first time to meet in person. She explained the current Grassroots Network structure, Legislative Action Center, Action Alerts, and Info Bulletin. The APTA Grassroots network is made up of the Government Affairs Committee, Federal Affairs Liaisons, Key Contacts, and the PTeam.

Government Affairs Committee (GAC) – appointed by APTA Board of Directors (BoD) made up of 5 members and 2 board members to facilitate grassroots involvement and make recommendations to BoD on federal and state government affairs policies, positions, and issues

Federal Affairs Liaisons (FAL) – one member is selected by each APTA Chapter and Section president to serve as link between component and GAC on federal issues (2 yr term)

Key Contact – have a personal relationship with Senators/Representatives in U.S. Congress and work to increase their awareness of issues the face PTs

PTeam – anyone APTA member can sign up to be a member of the PTeam. PTeam receives Action Alerts and Information Bulletins on issues and are asked to contact legislators on particular issues of concern

Monica also taught me about the ways in which the Grassroots Network communicates including Action Alerts, Information Bulletins, PTeam Newsletter, Legislative Action Center, and Patient Action Center.

Action Alert – call to action for PTeam members to contact Member of Congress about an issue

Information Bulletin – update sent to PTeam members on developing legislation impacting PTs and patients as it moves through Congress

PTeam Newsletter – background information of issues impacting PTs sent to PTeam members on a quarterly basis

Legislative Action Center - your quick ticket to becoming an active advocate. Here you can enter your information to find your congressmen, read more about current federal and state legislative issues, and write an email or letter to your congressman expressing your opinions

Patient Action Center – a part of APTA’s consumer website that patients can use to contact Congress

Advocacy Calendar - a new resource that provides information on state legislative sessions, congressional recesses, and includes a monthly advocacy tip

Museum of American History and the National Shrine

Today I woke up still feeling quasi-shitty, almost like a hangover, but without all of the fun the night before. I decided to Metro into the city again and attempt to the Museum of American History. I enjoyed this museum, but not as much as the Natural History or the Air and Space Museum. I didn’t get to spend much time in this one because I woke up pretty late and had plans to go to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Now the National Shrine is something to write home about! But first let me say what amazing artifacts were at the American History Museum including: Dorothy’s red sequined shoes from the Wizard of Oz, C3PO from Star Wars, the star spangled banner, the inaugural dresses of many of the first ladies, Kermit the Frog, a recreation of a family fallout shelter and Julia Child’s kitchen. After running through this museum, I headed to Catholic University via the Metro to see the National Shrine. I made it just in time to catch the last guided tour of the day, which was definitely the way to see the sights! This is by far the most extraordinarily beautiful building I have ever stepped foot in. It is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America, with over 70 chapels that flank the sides of the upper church and crypt level church. The history within the walls is unreal and I want to go back again and again to hear the stories of each of the mosaic pieces. Only two oil paintings exist in the entire building and the rest of the art is mosaic in the Byzantine style. I stayed for mass and found myself having difficulty paying attention due to the sheer magnitude and glory of the architecture and art that makes up this building. After mass, I wandered around taking pictures and found myself staying for an additional hour, enjoying the space around me. I will definitely be going back to the Shrine again before I leave.

White House, Old Post Office, and Museum of Natural History

Today I woke up and decided to go exploring the city, tourist style. So I took the Metro into Federal Triangle Station. From there I walked Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and back around the ellipse to the Old Post Office Building. I heard this building has a fantastic view of the city without all the lines of the Washington Monument. It was quite a view I must say until it started raining. The Old Post Office has some old bells that are only run for special occasions by a special bell ringing crew. They are rung for three hours at a time with no breaks for the ringers… considered moderate physical activity that is non-competitive and team building according to the posted info. Maybe I will start recommending bell ringing to my patients in the future. I wanted to keep walking the city, but the weather forced me indoors to the Museum of Natural Science. I am in awe of the way in which the Smithsonian Museums display artifacts. Each exhibit is so carefully thought out and well planned. I enjoyed the sea and oceans exhibit the most, but I wish they had more information on sharks. The did have a recreation of a megaladon jaw and comparison of megaladon teeth to great white teeth, which I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed the precious gems exhibit with the Hope diamond, Harry Winston treasures, and collections of stones/minerals/gems. Richard would have loved the dinosaur exhibit. I found myself spending the most time with the skeletons and bones sections of each of the exhibits. It’s so amazing to me to compare/contrast the skeletons of different animals to that of humans. It’s crazy how our skeletal structures are so similar, but have such key differences as well. After the museum I took the Metro back home, where I vegged out the rest of the evening watching Private Practice reruns. I started to feel super shitty and I think I may be allergic to the city… shocker.

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Conference

I took the Metro again today, but this time to Metro Station, where I met Andrew for the annual CCD conference. This consortium is a coalition of about 100 different organizations and associations that represent citizens with various disabilities. Today was the annual meeting and about 80 different associations were represented. It was so very intriguing to see the different activists in the room who live with disabilities, like spinal cord injury, congenital birth defects, blind, and deaf, just to name a few. Guest speakers included the Disability Director of Obama’s Presidential Transition Team, Kareem Dale. This man was so incredibly impressive to me. His list of accomplishments went on an on from graduation of Law school to starting his own firm. He spoke so eloquently about disability issues and the direction that Obama plans to take. He urged people not to get caught up in January 20 being a deadline for change, but the beginning. He joked about how difficult it was for him to get a ticket to the inauguration, and he’s on the transition team. The man will do a great job, as he is well versed of the issues and he personally understands the difficulties that people with disabilities face living with blindness. The next two speakers were Yvette Fontenot and Becky Shipp, both Health Policy Advisors for the Senate Committee majority and minority staff, respectively. I did not get much out of these speeches and questions. They seemed well over my head actually. We left after that section and I had the rest of the day off! I understand the importance of APTA being involved in this consortium, but there were definitely other groups that had more pertinent issues than ours. Citizens with disabilities are just one facet to physical therapy, while most of the participating groups actually represent citizens with disabilities. It seems more of a side organization for us, if I could explain it that way.

Daschle Hearing

Today I took the Metro by myself for the first time! I met Andrew at Union Station and then we walked the 4 blocks over to Capitol Hill.. this time not in heels. After passing through security, we walked the halls of the Senate Building to find the location of the hearing. I walked right by Bob Dole and barely recognized him. The line to get in was forever long and we ended up in the overflow room to watch the hearing on TV. The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee was the first senate hearing of the 111th Congress. The hearing was to consider former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services of the newly created White House Office of Health Reform. Senator Bob Dole introduced Daschle, Daschle then addressed the committee, and then the committee asked him questions. The discussion was about health care reform and the buzz words of the day were prevention and wellness. There was some talk about increasing funding to the National Health Service Corps to stimulate primary care providers and access to health care in rural and underserved areas. Daschle pointed out the 3 main problems with the current healthcare structure to be accessibility, affordability, and quality. The hearing was highly organized, with everyone staying on time. Many questions were answered, but the committee had many more questions at the end of the hearing, as you could imagine. After the hearing Andrew and I ate lunch at Capitol Grill. I had some chicken sandwich situation which was delicious! I took the Metro home and my car back to APTA, where we spent the rest of the afternoon drafting a memo on the hearing.

Minutes and Meetings

So this morning Andrew let me know that I was in charge of typing up the Government Affairs Committee conference call minutes. This is great since I’ve never taken minutes, nor written minutes, nor ever applied for a position where minutes were involved because I the idea of minutes makes me cringe. On the other hand, I was able to look up a few different things that State Affairs needed including info on Dieticians/Nutritionist accreditation and an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune on how Medicaid cuts will affect patients receiving physical therapy care. And of course I had some copies to make.

I had meetings with Sarah in Federal Regulatory Affairs and Justin Elliott/Angela in State Government Affairs this afternoon to overview each of their respective areas. I completely zoned out during the majority of Federal Regulatory Affairs. I guess I’m just not interested in that sector, but I have come to realize how thankful I am that someone at APTA is always working in that area so that I don’t have to worry about it. I’m definitely more interested in the state/federal affairs, PT-PAC, and Grassroots.

1st Day at APTA

I showed up kind of unannounced evidently. I was reminded all day long that I should have sent some follow up emails since October. Oops on my part! Everyone was really nice though and eager happy to have me there. The PT-PAC and State Affairs guys, Mike Matlack and Justin Elliot both remembered me from different events, which always makes you feel good. It’s nice to know that I’m not so forgettable J I spent most of the day fighting with the copy machine and planning what to do while I’m in DC. I found the DC Aggies website and emailed the president to see what kind of events they were having while I’m in town. I thought at least I’d make a happy hour. 20 minutes later I have 2 emails from Kelsey Walker and Jerri Ann Henry inviting me out for dinner and drinks. I met Kelsey and a bunch of her friends at a pizza joint for happy hour and am planning to meet Jerri Ann on Thursday evening. I had a blast with Kelsey and they invited me out this Friday. I heart the Aggie network! Interesting finding at dinner.. 1/3 of the girls are on eHarmony and New Year’s Resolutions were to fall in love and get married?! That is too much for me.

The Metro and National Air & Space Museum

I woke up today with a huge headache. Not sure if I am allergic to something here or if my brain is trying to escape from my skull. Nicole and I went took the Metro over to the National Air & Space Museum in DC. The Metro cost $3 roundtrip to the museum and the museum was free 99. I loved the museum, but only could handle half of it today. My favorite part was the old flight attendant outfits and requirements from the 1950s. I think it was American Airlines requirements that were posted. To apply to be a stewardess you must be 20-26 years old, 5’2”-5’6”, less than 135 pounds, and single. So it sounds like a stewardess was really just a model in the air.

I also tried out the local grocery store, Harris Teeter and I bought some local honey to hopefully help out with this allergy situation.

I love how everything here is so easy to figure out and the location of this house is so close to everything I need. Can’t wait to see what is in store for me tomorrow for my first day at APTA J

First Day in DC

Saturday 1.3.09 – Travel Day

I woke up in a panic this morning at 4:30am sweating thinking that I missed my plane. Mom took me to the airport to catch my 6:20am flight to Philadelphia, PA. I was feeling fine until I walking in the doors of IAH, and that’s when I started stressing. The bag check-in line did not move and the airline tried to expedite the passengers on our flight to a separate line, which just ended up being worse off. After the check-in line was the TSA line… even worse. At this point it was 6:00am and I thought for sure I would miss my damn flight. Through some act of God the line moved and I made the plane. The family I was with, however, ended up behind me and a few other passengers. As they boarded the plane, it became apparent that the airline had overbooked the flight by one seat. The family was bumped to another flight. All the while, I’m feeling pretty damn guilty that I took one seat that could have made the difference to them. As we take off I begin to think about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - the part where Brad Pitt takes entirely too long to explain the car accident. I keep thinking that I shouldn’t be on the plane, that I should have given my seat up to the family and that now because of my selfishness the plane is going to crash. I basically gave myself a mild panic attack. Then I started to realize that if the plane were to crash, wouldn’t I have done the family a favor? For some reason this thought calmed me down. The connection in Philadelphia was smooth. There was a Gap store in the airport there – crazy. What do we have in NOLA? Luck dog stand and pretzels. Arrival in DC to Reagan went smoothly as well. I hate traveling with so many bags, though – very stressful and I start sweating. I now am the proud month long renter of a red Pontiac G6… H-O-T-T-O-G-O the G6 is hot to go. It’s much zippier than my 4Runner and for some reason it feels longer or maybe I’m just lower to the ground and I don’t know the dimensions yet. I drove over to Nicole’s and got a tour of the house and area as well as met the roommates. I think this is going to be a great living situation! Everyone is super busy, so it seems like there won’t be much drama. It’s 4 girls and 1.5 baths though. Aich! So then I decided it was time to get my room together. I found an IKEA and ate there first… some sort of pasta with meatballs and Texas toast (yeah they still call it TX toast in VA). I’m not sure if I enjoyed it because it was my first meal of the day or because I was watching Mary Poppins while enjoying the meal. Come to find out IKEA was having a huge sale and I bought full size sheets for $4, pillow case for 99cents, a comforter for $19.99, and 3 towels for $6. My total was a whopping $31.00. Why is there not an IKEA in NOLA or BR?!

PS – My new favorite thing is iTunes Genius! I’m sure I’m late on figuring this one out, but I love it so much right now. It made me a playlist from one Jeremy Davenport song that includes Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Buble, Astrud Gilberto, and Louis Armstrong. It’s like Genius knows exactly what I want to listen to!