Ten on Thursday: Things that Happened During My Three (Nearly) Blog-Free Weeks

Somehow, I’ve only written three blog posts in the last three weeks — my mojo has been almost entirely gone. But, as of today, it’s a whole new month, so I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. And, since it’s Tuesday, it seems that the best way to recap the past few weeks and move on is with a list of ten things I’ve been doing while not blogging.

[Yes, I know it's now Thursday -- thankfully, the alliterative title still works. I started writing this on Monday, intending it to be posted on Tuesday. See #10 to find out why it wasn't.]

1. I went to my 20th high school reunion. It was neither the most fun nor the least fun I’ve ever had.The best part, hands down, was having a chance to catch up with Dana, my high school best friend. The biggest bummer was that a bunch of people who I really would’ve liked to have seen only made it to the Friday night mixer, which I missed.

2. My first round of Arabic lessons came to an end. We liked our second instructor even more than we disliked the first one (which is saying something), so once our schedules calm down again — November-ish, I think — we’re hoping to retain him for more classes.

3. I’ve watched the first three episodes of the third season of Mad Men, and still find it to be one of the best things on television. I have a feeling there will, at some point, be a post or two on some of the issues it raises; in addition to being well-acted and beautifully designed, it also never ceases to be thought-provoking.

4. I helped my mom buy and set up her new iPhone. I think she loves it.

5. I saw a terrible movie, The Time Traveler’s Wife, with Joanne. Our evening was, however, redeemed by the tasty noodle dinner we had at one of Chinatown’s few remaining Chinese restaurants.

6. I ducked out of work a little bit early on a beautiful Monday afternoon and took in a Nationals game with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews. The highlight was the Presidents’ Race at the midpoint of the fourth inning, because in this instance, George, Tom, Abe, and, Teddy raced against faux sausages, challenging the  Brewers to bring their famous mascots along next time.

7. My friends Julia & Michael had a bowling party to celebrate their 45th birthdays. It was a ton of fun, but I was dismayed to discover that all my Wii bowling has done nothing to improve my real-life skills.

8. I had another fun day at Bethany Beach, this time guest-starring my nephews. When the riptides caused by Hurricane Bill forced sprite, Rudi, and I to push our day trip back a week, we ended up there at the same time as Brian, Jen, and the boys, so we decided to meet up for some quality time in the sand.

9. My friends’ families expanded — babies Hazel and Angela arrived to Jessica & Bennett and Rachel & Don, respectively. Both are, by all accounts, lovely and perfect.

10. I ruined my plan for a post every day in September when I woke up with vertigo on Tuesday which turned out to be the warning sign of a migraine. (Silly me; I didn’t realize that Monday’s headache was a warm-up, so my body had to kick it up a notch.) I spent all of Tuesday in bed, and have been suffering residual pain since, though today’s headache seems to be mostly sinus-oriented. Yeah, a migraine-allergy double-whammy — fun!

159-165/365: Too Much

Last week did not lack for action or activity, and I squeezed in about as much as possible. Of course, now I feel like I need a couple of days off to recover, or at least a scheduled naptime in my work day. Alas, I get neither, so I am just gonna have to plow through. (If your job has just ended for the summer, now would not be the time to gloat in the comments.) The upside of all this action — in addition to, y’know, the fun — is that I had plenty of pictures to choose from for this week’s Project 365 post.

June 8: Monday night I went to the first of three concerts for the week -- the double-bill of Andrew Bird and The Decemberists at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. This picture is of Andrew Bird playing the violin during his encore.

June 9: In Arabic class I learned how to write my name, and then spent twice as long photographing it as practicing writing it.

June 10: Massive thunderstorms were the defining characteristic of this year's Indigo Girls show at Wolf Trap. All of us on the lawn got absolutely drenched.

It is Good to be Home

I arrived in DC on Wednesday evening (in the midst of a thunderstorm). Although flying here was a bit of an adventure [think kid kicking, window guy up every 30 minutes to pee, turbulence, flying aimlessly to avoid said storm, then waiting an hour for a gate to open up], our time here has been sweet, fun, and even relaxing.

Thursday afternoon we took in a Washington Nationals game (the original three siblings, plus spouse and nephews).  The new stadium is quite nice; not at all claustrophobic (like Enron Field with the roof) AND it has a Five Guys!!  (What more can you ask for in a ballpark?) We had a good afternoon – it did not rain as predicted AND the Nats won. Then Chris came in Thursday evening and we had dinner at an old favorite in Falls Church (gotta love a place where Cider comes on tap!)

Friday morning I had excellent girl time with my college roomie and then a fantastic Greek take out dinner with Chris’s Georgetown buddy and family (most adorable 2 year old).  Then crashed with Sarah overnight and have just returned from Eastern Market!  I miss lazy Saturday mornings at the market picking up fresh produce, meat, and home made pastas.  Found a lovely photo vendor to add to our DC collection.  (I think we now have what we need to decorate at least one room.  This will make Amy in Houston happy.  She has threatened to stage an intervention in our barren walled home.)

We also had a leisurely fun lunch with the cousins from Pennsylvania.  They are headed off to the Mall to sightsee while we are on our way out to Virginia for dinner and to stay the night.  While we have been strolling about, reliving the good old days, mom has arrived with Little Venice from home for dinner

Tomorrow is family picnic day.  Then I will spend the latter evening with a Hopkins friend seeing her new home in Rockville. Monday we’ll be back in town for more fun then everyone starts to head back out as piecemeal as we arrived.

This has been a really awesome visit (and its only half done).  I can still navigate my way through DC with sufficient ease that Chris is is no danger of the hard sell to move back next week.  But it makes me feel good to see old friends, enjoy the hydrangea in bloom, and see that my favorite old places are just as I left them (and some fun new places have been added to explore).