Happy Birthday, Clare! or sushi at a strip mall

Happy, Happy Birthday, m'dear! A fun time was had by all at our first experience with duckpin bowling...


(Sorry, kiddoes, I must have fallen asleep while writing that one... This was from Nov 20.)

Comin' in from Los Angeles...

Joy! Sheila is here! Welcome to the East Coast, baby!

We sing. We dance. We steal things...

is the name of Jason Mraz's somewhat new album that I am totally loving. He is so flippin' talented. The fact that he is not more popular speaks volumes about the low expectations of the average music fan. I just downloaded the extended version, and it is really brilliant. OK, I'll stop raving.

I have had a super busy week with my mom in town. Although, I have to say that my apartment/refrigerator/laundry never had it so good. Every day this is the conversation I had with my mom.

Me: Ok, mom, have a good day - relax, read, go for a walk.
Mom: OK, honey, I will, I might just neaten up one little thing...
Me: NO! Don't do any work. Just chill.
Mom: OK, honey, I will. Do you need me to make you a lunch?
Me: No, mom, I am fine, I do this every day. Have a good day, and don't clean anything.
Mom: I won't. Have a good day...

Exit J. stage right
Lights down

Lights up

Me: Hi mom, what did you do today?
Mom: Oh, nothing, I just vacuumed a little and made you chili and did your laundry and got you some Windex and filed your papers...
Me: sigh

Yup, that's pretty much how it went.

Love you, mom! Thanks for everything! Next time I am finding you a sitter.

But we did have a nice weekend, even though I had to work every five minutes. We went to the Washington Craft Show at the convention center on the recommendation of Clare. Wow! Some of those things were truly miraculous. I love crafts because they are the culmination of necessity, tradition, and creativity. I hereby pledge myself to a more serious pursuit of quilting and sewing this winter. I got postcards, so next time you swing by me, remind me to show you. My favorite was this chick...

www.nataliamargulis.com/

Can you believe that is embroidery? If a man ever proposes to me, I don't want a ring, I want that yellow field with the blue sky and the sycamore.

I signed up for the "all new" open-to-contractors Goddard gym. 20$/mo! I signed up for two months, but probably a year after that if it isn't too crazy crowded after work. Bet you never thought I would belong to two gyms at once!

Grammar tip-of-the-day (I looked it up today and thought it was need to know for you.)

Compound nouns
When a sentence indicates joint ownership in a compound construction, the possessive form is attached only to the second noun:

Deanna and Brandi's vacation plans
Tim and Bethany's wedding invitation

Note that individual ownership is marked by a double possessive:

Courtney's and Mem's grade point averages

Tim and Bethany share the same wedding invitation, whereas Courtney and Mem each have their own grade point averages.

Mamma Mia!

Welcome to MD, Mom! And thanks to my brother, Brian, for bringing her down. I am looking forward to a few days hanging out with her. Now if only I can get her to try the Metro, we be all set.

We (almost) are finished with a grueling MODIS calibration. We just have one simple step tomorrow! This is the first time Ben and I did it without Roy or someone else. Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Phew. Now maybe I can stop waking up at 5:30.

Well, I am pretty wiped for the night. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Bella, Roodly, and little Natalie

Congrats to my friends and one time roommate, Bella, upon the arrival of her precious baby girl, Natalie. Mother and child are safe and sound.

Number of children that can call me 'Aunt Jenn' by virtue of a parent's friendship with me: 4
Of those, number that I have met: 0

Why the heck do you guys live all over the place?

I love it when a plan comes together.

I know this is corny and weird, but I love the A-Team. I love them for their corny fight scenes, crazy engineering sensibilities, and unfailing ability to always do the right thing for the old man and pretty young daughter getting picked on by the local small time bullies. Bless their hearts.

My PB - a ten minute kilometer

Ok, so it's not exactly record worthy. But I have been running a couple of times a week for the last two months (NB - when I say 'run' i don't mean it in the strict dictionary sense - it is more of a spirited walk/hop). Now, the one and only thing that I have in common with Oprah is that I *hate* exercising. I literally hate it. It doesn't make me feel good, it doesn't make me less stressed, it does nothing at all for my mood, etc. I hate every second of it, and the only thing that helps is distracting myself with music - and sometimes being outside on a nice day. So, basically, the fact that I finished at all is an A+ in my book. I am thinking about signing up for another one in a month or two.

Clare has helped so much! I really look forward to our semiweekly walks. That definitly gave me a quick start. I am kinda worried about what will happen now that winter is closing in. She did a kick-booty job at the 5K, too. Afterwards, we went to the Original Pancake House (good, but crowded!) for a gluten-free pancake fiesta. I didn't actually order them, but I tasted Clare's. Pretty good!

Back to the grindstone tomorrow. We have a tichy calibration this week - ugh. But I think my mom and/or bro is coming down later in the week. Yay!