Bo Diddley put the Rock in Rock & Roll

When I left you last it was a really long time ago, and it is TOTALLY NOT MY FAULT because our network connection and phone were down for four days.  Also, I went to the beach.

Mr Diddly.  We aren't on a first name basis yet.  His mom calls him Bo.

JD and I went for a long walk on the beach and found a washed up dolphin.  Sadly, long past being saved.  Sniffle.

Joy had this game called Rummikub which I quite liked despite losing spectacularly.

Not losing as badly as me.  He looks smug, doesn't he?

Joy winning suspiciously well.  

John mostly is just playing to be nice.

I went to the beach, AND I saw a rainbow!

The Weeping Radish.  We stopped in for lunch.  The butchery was not obvious.  I hope they weren't butchering the cute goats out front.  I didn't see any goat on the menu.  But after my beer flight I might not have been reading that well.  The owner offered us some SPECTACULAR mustard to go with dinner, and we liked it so much we bought a bottle.  It's Lusty Monk brand.  We might have a mustard problem.

I love John and Joy.  It's a perk that they're at the beach, but I would have gone to Newark to see them.  (Not that they live in Newark.  They actually live (most of the time) somewhere super cool.  Newark is just the first awful place I can think of to go visiting.) They're fun and friendly and nice and all sorts of good things.  And awesome cooks.  We drank a lot of wine and chatted with Mr. Diddly and generally had a good time.

My ears started kinda hurting over the weekend, and they hurt rather a lot by the time we got home.  So I went to the doctor today.  I hoped I wouldn't get put on those antibiotics that make me sunburn.  The doc has hired a physician's assistant who appears to be sharp as a tack.  In a good way.  Turns out, I have TMJ.  Or I guess a TMJ flareup.  I already had TMJ and I thought it was being managed by my night time bite guard.  What had me so stressed out at the beach?  Were the scallops too good?  The happiness was too much to bear?  I laughed too hard?  That last is possible, actually.  John was cracking me up.

So now I'm supposed to take a lot of ibuprofen for a week.  She made me promise never to take it on an empty stomach because of some silly thing like "bleeding ulcers" or the like.  Sheesh.  I assured her that I would have a snack.  Also, I'm supposed to avoid chewy or crunchy foods for a week, ice my jaw, and... Shit.  There was one other thing.  This is what I get for not writing things down.  Oh!  Take antihistamines, in case allergies are contributing.

You know, it is quite uncomfortable to ice one's jaw.

I guess I'll be having a lot of oatmeal this week.  And tofu.  And other soft things.  I'm not really up on the soft food oeuvre.  I guess cotton candy probably isn't indicated.  It's delicious though.

PS JD called Verizon and our internet works again.  In case you wondered.

Good night, Chinatown

This morning JD got up in the dark and went to work.  Me, I stayed in bed.  I finally woke up after 8 and toddled downstairs for a leisurely breakfast of leftover blueberry pancakes.  I couldn't see any reason to wake Lori, so I left her to wake up on her own.  And she eventually wandered downstairs too.

Then we did something that I almost never do:  we went into the city to go to museums.  First we went to the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian, which was pretty awesome I must say.  Especially once we figured out where the exhibits were.  There were exhibits on modern American Indians, but also on indigenous peoples throughout the world.  Also, the "A Song for Horse Nation" exhibit is showing now.  There's a movie but it wasn't playing today, sadly.  Still, the exhibit was neat.  It talks about the history of the horse in American Indian culture, what changes the horse brought, and what they're doing now.  The Nez Perce are breeding a new Nez Perce horse from Akhal Tekes and Appaloosas.  There was a video playing which showed some of them, and they are some *nice* looking horses.  Very, very nice horses.  Also I was impressed that the guy on the video was in the "stallion field" - which was just a bunch of stallions hanging out together.  And they were no more nippy or fierce than your average band of geldings.  I know some breeds are managed this way, but I can't say that I've ever dealt with stallions in a group.  It's uncommon near me.

We thought it looked like a castle.

You know, I've lost track of what the hell this is, but it's pretty fantastic.

I'm pretty sure this is meaningful

Indians for the MTV generation

HORSIES!

This told a whole big story.  I can't tell you the story.  But I can tell you that all those rectangular hoofprints in a row indicates travel.

Loved this horsehead saddle.

Hello hello hello hello

Metro is so not sexy

I was starting to flag and Lori was a bit too, so we headed out to lunch.  We went to "Meatballs", a new restaurant in Chinatown.  You get your choice of meatballs (regular, lamb, crab, chicken, or vegetarian,) your choice of base (salad, grinder, pasta, minis (i.e. two small slices of french bread) or creamy polenta,) a choice of several sauces, "extras" of which I don't remember much except for fritos, and a side.  I got chicken balls on polenta with tandoori sauce and spinach cooked with garlic.  It was *fantastic*.  The price is reasonable for DC food, and the portions were pretty huge. I couldn't finish mine.  I hope the place stays open.  It deserves to.  They need more seating, though.

I can't tell if this really conveys how appetizing my meal was.  Just looking at it is making me a wee bit hungry again.  Also?  Thank you, restaurant industry, for starting to serve sauteed spinach everywhere.  I love you.

BALLS!  (The word meat is in tiny letters just above it.)

Lori's all happy and pretty!  Also, she loves spinach.

Refreshed and revived, we walked over to the National Portrait Gallery, which turns out to share a building with the National American Art Museum.  This led to some confusion, as we thought we were heading into portraits and we saw.. it's hard to describe.  Not portraits, though.  At any rate, we made it through two levels of the building before we were entirely pooped.  Both of us were getting kind of achy.  Walking all day is fine, but standing around kind of kills.  So I have no idea what the third floor is like.  I will say that my very favorite part of the museum was the Black List - a collection of photographic portraits of famous or important black people.  They were just really good portraits.  Maybe I liked them more because they're of people I've heard of, in the news?  Or maybe it was just really good photography.  Either way, I recommend seeing the exhibit.

Elvis is everywhere

Yeah, I don't know either.

Proof that obesity is not a modern problem.

You gotta love a military man.

Very fine stained glass.

JD got in touch and we decided to meet in Chinatown for dinner.  Lori and I headed outside, and immediately found a parade!  Or so we thought.  It turned out to be a brass band and a police car blocking traffic with its lights on.  I was a little disappointed that it wasn't an actual parade, but I was happy to sit on the museum steps and enjoy the brass band for a while.

You'll have to trust me, there's a brass band in this picture.

The temperature started to drop so I persuaded Lori to go to Fadó, an Irish bar.  (It didn't take much persuasion.)  We had appetizers and beer while waiting for JD to arrive.  After that we weren't much in the mood for an entree, but appetizers plus dessert seemed like a good idea.  :)

Lori is getting dubious of all this picture taking

Probably you would rather see the food.  Or the awesome bar.  Sorry.

It was a long day of tromping around in the city, but the weather couldn't have been better and it was great to get to see new museums.  Before we went I had a whole bunch of things I wanted to see (like the Botanical Gardens next door to the American Indian museum, and the National Building Museum) but I think I'm museumed out for a little while now.  Maybe next time I'll plan to go only for two or three hours instead of a whole day.  Shew.

Good night, Chinatown.

We went over the mountains to Grandma's house

We drove over to Grandma's house to see family which had come a very long way to see Grandma.  But they also agreed to see us.

On the way over we stopped at a convenience store for caffeine.  I couldn't resist looking around, as I now picture myself resupplying for a hike every time I go into a convenience store.

I think it's telling that a something-tini is right next to the Menage a Trois.  Tinis will get you in trouble every time.

Also the tiny Sta-Puft boy Bimbo scout treats looked enticing.  In whichever language.

Our weekend together immediately started driving JD nuts.

Okay not really.

Soon we were surrounded by family, some of whom were unfairly cute.

Is anyone else picturing him breaking hearts in about fifteen years?

And some who were unfairly cute and dangerously comfortable with technology.

Allow me to instruct you on the finer workings of an iPad.

I can also help you out with your iPhone settings.  Some adults have trouble with them.  It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Notice her turning her uncle into a goober with one flick of a helicopter.

We had a fabulous time.  The kids are definitely in the "I am so cute that you can't look away, and well behaved enough that you don't want to" stage.  Despite my Lyme-induced slackitude, I also enjoyed some grown up conversation time with the grown ups.

And then, we had to come home because we have paycheck addictions.

Yeah, that's what I think about that.

Non-poseur dancing baby

I discovered a previously unknown talent today. I can make a baby dance. David, who spent the first several days of our visit in an unhappy state of mild colic / teething, today felt much better. And he wanted to DANCE. 

Now, David can't stand up yet. Or crawl. He gets from one place to another by rolling vigorously. But if you hold him up he can push up with his legs pretty well. Other kids might use the opportunity to get into trouble, reach illicit items, or try to impress the girls by taking a few steps. David, however, is using his knee bending skills to boogie down. Seriously. The boy has mad skills, as long as he gets a little help. 

So I spent a large portion of today causing my nephew to dance. He totally dug it, as evidenced by his huge smile. I don't know about you but I am powerless to resist a happy baby, so we danced until my arms pretty much gave out. I bet his tiny little quads are sore too. 

I think that was the most dancing action I've seen since JD and I took a swing class. Yay for dancing babies!