I should have done this earlier, but...

The inauguration tomorrow reminded me that I haven't posted pictures from my trip to Washington, DC and New Jersey in November. Although I had to go to DC for business, and though working 10 hour days isn't always fun, I actually enjoyed all of it. The US Capitol is an amazing place, and I had just enough time to visit a few monuments before and after work, and a couple of the museums at the Smithsonian before hopping a train to NJ to visit Dana and John. They are wonderful hosts and treated me like royalty! I saw so much in both places in 7 days I can't even list it all. Below are a few highlights:

The Lincoln Memorial and the WWII Memorial - photo taken from the top of the Washington Monument.

The Capitol

The Washington Monument

Princeton University Library - we also spent some time crashing a University chapel tour and visited some gargoyles on campus.

The site where General Washington crossed the Delaware River, which separates NJ and Pennsylvania (I need to reread some history...).

At the top of the Empire State Bldg., or as John so aptly put it, "the $20 elevator ride."

The wooden escalator at the flagship Macy's store - 9 floors!

Rockefeller Center

Lunch at the Original Soup Man aka the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld. Can you say "No Soup for you!"? I had the lobster bisque, and yes, it was probably the best soup I've ever had!

Radio City Music Hall and the Rockettes! For my birthday, Dana surprised me with tickets to the Rockettes Holiday show. It was wonderful!

Times Square - people everywhere!

The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

Geno's Steaks in Philly - famous for cheese steaks. We ate outside in 30 degree weather and snow flurries!

In NYC, we also rode the famous NYC Subway, ate a hot dog from a street vendor, looked at the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, walked through Wall Street, viewed the World Trade Center site, did a lot of walking, saw Alex Baldwin and Selma Hayek filming an episode of 30 Rock, and had a great day! I am looking forward to visiting again!

And the answer is....

Alrighty then. A few of you have asked for the answer to the previous post question.

All of these organizations are worthwhile groups and operate on a nonprofit status. They do meaningful work to meet a wide variety of needs.

What they have in common is that they have all sent me return address labels to try to solicit funds for their group! While I appreciate their good work, sending me return address labels will not incite me to send them money.

What types of labels have you received? Have you donated funds to a group because of the labels? What would convince you to donate funds to an organization besides return address labels?

501(c)(3)

I was recently checking some favorite blogs and noticing that few have been recently updated... probably because we were busy with holiday preparations. And, of course, I am guilty of that as well.

So, I'll start off the year with this question and see if you can guess the answer:

Other than all being charitable organizations (501(c)(3) groups as recognized by the Internal Revenue Service), can you guess what the following groups all have in common?

Disabled American Veterans
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Alzheimer's Association
Breast Cancer
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
University Alumni Association
American Diabetes Association
The Humane Society
American Lung Association
St. Jude's Children's Hospital
Omaha Home for Boys
Children's Cancer Research Fund
National Foundation for Cancer Research
Habitat for Humanity
Foundation Fighting Blindness

And, I pray for you a multitude of blessings to you and yours in 2009!