The Library and Other Exciting Things

If you are actually expecting exciting things in this blog entry, I would suggest that you close your browser or move on to someone else's blog. But there is only one thing going on in our lives right now (well, Jason's been in Africa for ten days, so that's something), and we could go many moons without an entry if I wait until something exciting happens before I write.

And that one thing? School. I find it fitting that, ten years after I holed up for a semester in this intimidating library-version Wonder of the World, I am again drowning in books and library lingo. Last time I had Oxford's Bodleian Library at my disposal. This time, I am even more grateful than usual that the Library of Congress delivers practically to my desk.

In addition to wrapping up the thesis, this semester I am taking two classes:

1. The Last Generation: My Tuesday class is a lit class focusing on great writers of the WWII era...and for the past five weeks, that has meant reading war novels. And not just any war novels, but novels anywhere from 600-850 pages. A week. Please feel sorry for me. Actually, after weeks of literally sitting in the chair in our living room with cup after cup of tea, I am going to be able to come up for air this weekend--the next novel is only 153 pages. (Ha! It's like an article in the New Yorker!) And, anyway, the thing is that the books have been really good--especially the most recent, The Young Lions, by Irwin Shaw. It lacks the guts-spilling-on-the-battlefield of The Thin Red Line and The Naked and the Dead, sure, but it's got a good story to make up for that. And only 661 pages.

2. Literary Research: Originally this class was supposed to be "How to Write a Thesis," which you'll note would be a complete waste of time for me at this point. Instead it is really "How to Write a Literature Paper." Also a skill I will never use again (please tell me why NNU didn't offer this class in 1998), but, surprisingly, I don't hate this class. In fact, in some ways it allows me to indulge briefly in a decade-old fantasy of being a literary scholar, ala the characters in Possession. For example, I get to read Kipling's Kim for the class, and reading something by Kipling was on my to-do list. And I'm doing a comprehensive bibliography of Margaret Atwood, one of my favorite authors in college, which is surprisingly fun. Don't get me wrong, this project is going to be the death of me, but at least I get to go out in style.

Meanwhile, starting at 10 pm tonight, Week Five of the Sprint to the Finish will be over. I'm feeling pretty good about that. As of 1 o'clock this morning, Congress is adjourned until after the election, and I'm feeling pretty good about that, too. It's absolutely pouring outside my Thursday-morning work window, and I'm sitting here with a lovely cup of huckleberry tea, and, to top it all off, Jason is en route from Paris as we speak. Really, I couldn't be happier.

Middle Earth under the Stars

The reward for a day of studying on Saturday was a trip to Wolf Trap, the National Park for the Performing Arts, that evening with our friends Jeff and Deanna to watch Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We sat on the lawn eating picnicky goodies while the movie played on the big screen and a live orchestra played the score from the stage.

Soooo good. The music was phenomenal, the weather was perfect (you could even see a few stars, something I don't remember ever seeing in DC), and the movie (of course!) was as wonderful as ever. I loved it when the crowd spontaneously burst into applause when Aragorn came onto the screen the first time. My only disappointment is that we waited until the third and final movie to go to this event!

Bronco Nation

Dad started planning a trip to DC over Labor Day 2010 over a year ago, about the time he heard that Boise State would be playing its season opener at the Redskins' stadium against Virginia Tech. So on Monday afternoon, Mom, Dad, Jason, and I all donned our blue and orange and headed to FedEx Field in Maryland for the big game.

Ready for action!

With my friend SolaraJason, me, Mom, and Dad at the game.

I tried to warn my parents that there would be a lot a lot a lot of Hokies at the game--considering Virginia Tech is about three hours away and lots of alum live in the DC area. And, seriously, the stadium was rocking with maroon and orange on Monday night. But Boise made a pretty good showing, considering how far the fans had to travel. Hopefully the last person out of Boise turned out the lights--there were probably 8,000 to 10,000 BSU fans there, which made it a blast.

Blue tail-gating madness

We still like Brian, even if he's a Hokie!

We started off the afternoon with a tailgating party, attended by both Mike and the Governor, my former boss, which was fun. Then we climbed to the top of the stadium for a bird's eye view of the game. Dawn and Brian, who sported blue and maroon, respectively, and decided to call it a truce for the night, hiked up to say hi (they had way better seats!).

Mom and Dad with questionable BSU spud hats

Old office pic with the boss (Nate, me, the Governor, Brandon, Solara)

The game was a blast. The stadium was roaring, and the Broncos pulled out a win with a minute and nine seconds to go--my throat is still feeling tender from screaming so loudly! Such a good time, and so fun to watch with my parents and all my Idaho friends out here. I foresee a lot more letters, resolutions, and bills on the BCS in my future here.

Kaylyn, Ryan, Jeni, and Nate

Lots of blue!

While the game was the highlight, the other five days we had with Mom and Dad were great, too. We basically took a trip down our to-do lists, which was probably only marginally fun for them but made my life 1000 times better. Mom got projects done here that I wouldn't have dreamed of touching until January, and Dad helped Jason prune our out-of-control rose bushes and fix the trellis that had completely fallen over in, oh, June (it made us look like the neighbors with the couch on the front porch). I am so grateful! What a fun weekend!

Sprint to the Finish.

Ten years ago today I started my last year of school...I thought. This time, I really mean it. Yesterday marked the first class of my last semester of grad school. Today I submitted my (hopefully) next-to-final draft of my thesis to my adviser. It turns out that there is a light at the end of this long tunnel, people.

My friend Missy made me this awesome paper chain so that I can actually see the semester getting shorter. So sweet of her. It has been wonderful to have supportive friends who encourage me, offer to read my novel-length thesis and provide constructive comments (thank you, Andrea!), and can't wait to celebrate with me when I'm done! And then there is Jason. Do. Not. Know. how I would do this without him. Taking two classes in one semester is ugly for both of us, but his encouragement and willingness to make dinner means we will be ALL DONE by Christmas. Woo-hoo!

The Last Gasp of Summer

This past weekend was our last free weekend before school starts and life as we know it ends. Recognizing this, we spent the weekend sleeping in, totally relaxing, and just doing what we wanted...not at all. Actually, we spent the weekend shuttling painting and cleaning supplies between our house and the condo, which is once more available for occupancy. We like the idea of small improvements each year (or, in some cases, big ones), so this year we painted over the 2004-era faux paint with something more contemporary and, well, neutral. It looks beautiful. And, oh, how I miss our condo kitchen, which I lovingly scrubbed while trying to figure out how to smuggle the beautiful stainless steel appliances into our house without Jason noticing. Sigh.

Between trips to the condo, I tackled painting our spare room, one of the few places we didn't paint when we moved in three years ago. This was the classic case of a simple project blowing out of control. As we pulled the bed out, Jason said, "This light fixture is horrendous, let's get a new one." Then, as we brushed down the walls, I said, "We have to paint the ceiling in here, it is the color of dingy underwear." Then, as we taped the trim, Jason said, "We might as well put in new door handles..."

Four trips to Home Depot later, however, it looks new and sparkly. We moved the bed to a different wall, and it makes all the difference. I stood in the doorway Sunday night, exhausted to the point of whimpering, and said, "You're so pretty, Room, and totally worth all the work...I think." At the very least, we're both happy to have this project done before things kick into gear again!

My Favorite Things, August Edition

Although I go to Idaho four or five times a year, I always have the biggest adjustment coming back from my August trip. I was there for 12 days this year, and, even though I've been back for over a week, I miss the clean air, the crisp evenings, the space between things and people, and going to two movies in one day with my mom and sisters.

Today, however, August in DC is a bit of a treat. It is currently 73 and overcast, and I got to go running at lunch. And it made me think of a few other things I like right now (besides, of course, my favorite thing, recess):

1. This picture of the Bucher family that Cole sent me. I think Shaanti's hair is quite lovely and the dogs (Sadie and Tonka) don't look at all like spiders. Seriously, though, he's three, and he's already an outstanding artist. I think he's quite brilliant, in addition to being very charming and funny.

2. Getting to spend the night with Andrea for her birthday last week. She's waiting patiently in an NYC hospital for Baby Jane to arrive, and it was so much fun to eat takeout, drink tea, and just talk for nearly 24 hours. I also got to have an impromptu dinner with an Oxford friend who lives in the area--yay!

3. Claiming my house again. While all the traveling has been great fun, it was oh-so-nice to put my bags away yesterday, knowing that they don't need to come out again until November. I told Jason that it felt absolutely empowering to cook dinner in my own kitchen last night (barefoot, even! how anti-feminist of me!). I think he was relieved, as he's been doing more than his share of cooking this summer.

4. Being oh-so-close to the end of my thesis. Seriously. I am THAT CLOSE. (Unfortunately, "that close" seems to grow infinitely farther from "actually finished.")

5. Molly Wizenberg, whose book I loved last year, whose articles in Bon Appetit I devour, and whose recipe for kale has made it my all-time favorite vegetable. I am planning to make her French Chocolate Granola this week--because it's recess and, for one more week, at least, I can waste my time making granola.

The Ohio Forty-Eight

We had a short but really good trip to Ohio this weekend, squeezing as much as we could out of the 48 hours we were there. We flew in on Saturday morning, and Jason's family picked us up and took us to North Market in downtown Columbus. We perused the indoor market there (and tasted this wonderful blackberry salsa so good we had to buy some) and then walked around the farmer's market outside before finding a good Greek restaurant for lunch. Justin entertained us the whole time with the story of his very ill-fated camping trip the previous month, complete with a 1970's era motorhome that required him to slide under it to manually put it into park or drive and a long night on Lake Erie with a broken-down boat.

We went to Grandmom's for pizza on Saturday night, and then on Sunday after church we had a fun celebration for all the August events--Justin's new job (yay!), Jason's birthday, our anniversary, and Lynda's birthday. Lynda made a delicious dinner and got three miniature cakes to celebrate each occasion, including a delicious red velvet one in honor of our wedding cake five years ago! Such a cute idea!


We ended the evening with a gospel hoedown and ice cream social at Grammy's assisted living area--three bluegrass bands, three kinds of ice cream. Jason and Justin went to see their grandpa, who suffers from Alzheimers, and it was fun to spend time with both of his grandmas. Lynda starts school this week and Justin starts his new job next week, so we're glad we were able to slip in for the weekend before the busy season gets underway!

A Big Ol' Birthday

Of the many momentous occasions that happened during our float trip, one of the biggest was my dad hitting the halfway point to (gulp!) 120. On the one hand, if my parents are in their 60s, it really must be the new 45. On the other hand, my mom seems to have no qualms about taking advantage of the senior discounts at the movies. Yikes!



We had a peach cobbler celebration for Dad's birthday, complete with Cole's moving rendition of "Happy Birthday," when we were up at the cabin. My dad is awesome. He taught me to "take it to the hoop" and to (try, at least) to laugh at myself. He is my Louis L'Amour buddy, my long-distance car mechanic/garden expert/"how to do anything" guide, and the source of my love for country music. It is easy for me to understand what God's Fatherly love is like because I have a dad who loves me so much. Happy six-oh, Dad!

Lickety-Split, at the Cabin

At first I wanted to call this post "At the cabin, lickety-split," but that would be totally inaccurate. Wilderness is pretty and everything (and around Team Simpson, we are big fans), but it is really bothersome when you are trying to get from one place in Idaho to another and it turns out there are NO ROADS.

The whole gang at the cabin

The chaos that is "doing door prizes." I came away with a new cookbook and an iPod shuffle (yay!).

Basically, it took us a lot of driving to get from the float trip take-out point to the cabin. Challis, where we left our rental car during our trek down the river, is at about the same latitude as McCall, where the family was gathered for the annual family company meeting/get-together/door prize extravaganza, so we had hoped for a short drive straight west. But nooooo, we had to go south...and then north...and then south again...until we landed on Highway 55 just as the road gets windy and sea-sicky along the Payette River to head north for another hour. Good times.

Aunt Mel, Kim, Mom, and me

The girls with the bracelets Mom and Auntie Fay brought from Kenya.

All in all, though, we made it to McCall earlier than expected, in time to scrub the week off of us in hot, soapy showers and throw our damp, sandy clothes in the wash before dinner, in fact, and it ended up being a really lovely weekend. The weather was perfect (no rain!), we told stories about our trip while soaking in the hot tub under the stars, and we got to catch up with everyone in the Bunn family. Jason even did some more fly fishing--I realized after he left the house with Casey that I forgot to warn him that, if he was fishing with my brother, he was not coming back until the wee hours of the morning. Casey is my Gramps, and they are men for whom love of fishing has no end. Luckily for Jason, Kim was with them and brought him home not long after dark.

The cuteness that is Nephew Number Four.

Seriously, if there is one thing I'm good at, it is racking up cute nephews. Hi, cutie Coop!

My goal during my time in Idaho was to get Mason and Troy to recognize me as someone they might someday like. (Cole and I are good friends, and Cooper, well, he loves everyone, so I'm batting .500 right now.) I managed to win Mason over about halfway through the weekend, but, unless you were his now-beloved Uncle Jason, Troy was playing pretty hard to get...until Sunday morning, when we were about to leave. I came downstairs and he was playing with his dad. He looked up and said, "Aunt...Missy?" We have a win, boys! It was a long drive for a short weekend, but oh so fun.

5.

An anniversary in the wilderness is definitely, definitely better than one spent waiting for a delayed flight in the Chicago airport. Marriage gets better every year.

Actually, marriage does get better every year. Sometimes it amazes me to think about how much more I love Jason than I did on August 12 five years ago when we stood in front of the people we love and repeated our vows--at the time it seemed like I couldn't love him more than I did at that moment, but, after five years of knowing him more and more, I find myself amazed at how lucky I am that he picked me back then. Here's to the next five (and fifteen, and fifty)!

The River of No Return

Jason is not a camper, something that was made clear to me early on in our relationship. Considering the world from which I came, I'm not really an outdoorsman either, but last summer's reintroduction to camping and fishing left me with a desire to go fishing or hiking or (gasp!) camping in a tent that hasn't gone away.

Getting ready to fly in to Indian Creek on the smokejumpers' plane!

Forest Service boat in the whitewater

Jason fly fishing off the raft

So I was quick to get excited about the opportunity to do a five-day rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River with my boss this summer. It took Jason, who got to come with me this year, a little longer to warm up to the idea--the thought of spending five days in the wilderness on the "River of No Return" left him a bit trepidatious.

Heading into the canyon

Through the rapids

Native American pictographs on the cliffs

Happily, we both thought it was amazing. We spent a week with the Forest Service learning about the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area, forest fires, invasive species, and, efforts to recover salmon. Perhaps your first question, like Jason's is "What is wilderness?" Here's the short version--it is an area that Congress determines should be left "untrammeled by man," which means there are no roads, no cell reception, and no motors, mechanized equipment, or chainsaws. This is "leave no trace" camping at its finest...complete with carrying your toilet (affectionately known as "the groover") out with you!

In the Impassible Canyon

Actually, this was camping at its finest, period. The Forest Service partnered with Adventure Guides outfitters, who definitely know what they are doing when it comes to a multi-day raft trip. They set up our tents for us (immediately eliminating one of the things Jason dislikes about camping), hauled our stuff for us, and cooked us amazing breakfasts and dinners every night.

Our amazing guides/cooks/tent builders

Camping on the beach at Otter Bar

They also did a bang-up job navigating the river. Each day the rapids got better and better until, on the last day, we hit rapids that rank 4 on the scale of 1-6 (6 being unnavigable). While I spent most of my time on the boat working with the agency and outfitters, Jason, who turned 31 with a fly rod in hand, became a pretty darn good fly fisherman, improving his cast immensely and catching a number of trout, even in the muddy water. Even I caught a couple of fish with the new rod Casey made me--dispelling once and for all my (very un-Johnson-like) belief that you can't actually catch fish with a fly rod!

Actually catching a fish on a fly rod!

Classic Idaho Picture (slightly better than the groover...)

We also got to do a little hiking--my favorite hike was a scary boulder scramble up to some great Native American pictographs and a waterfall. Most of the trip was cool and rainy (we had some wild thunder-and-lightening shows from underneath the dome of our tent each night!), but on the hiking day the sun came out and warmed us up, so standing underneath the waterfall as the wind blew the water back and forth was pretty awesome. Plus, Jason had his first dip into a natural hot springs.

Cooling down in the waterfall

Fisherman and the Waterfall

I wish that our pictures could do justice to the beauty of the Middle Fork--especially the Impassable Canyon, which made up our last two days. Jason and I were looking at the pictures on the way home, and he said, "It just doesn't capture the grandeur of the place." So true. It was almost enough to make us think about going and buying a cheap tent, learning to cook in a dutch oven, and spending a night or two at the campground in suburban Fairfax County. Almost.

Un autre soir en Provence

We had not even stepped on the US-bound plane after our idyllic week in Provence before we were planning how to go back. And since plane tickets aren't cheap, we would have to find a way to visit Provence without leaving Arlington.


Solution: an evening of Provencial food and drink, French music, and boules under twinkle lights in the yard. We started to scribble possible menus on our drink napkins on the plane. Goat cheese and olives? Absolutely. Cote du Rhone reds and whites? We'd scour the stores. Planning was underway.

Of course, it took us a while to find a date where we and a few friends were available, so we didn't actually get around to this party until last weekend--and it's a good thing. The weekend before was over 100 outside, and the thought of spending time anywhere but our cool basement was almost unbearable. But the day of the party was absolutely, unbelievably perfect. And, to top it all off, Trader Joe's was stocked with bunches of lavender! I brought it home, and our whole house smelled like the market at Lourmarin.


The menu:
Herbed goat cheese and baguettes
Olives marinated in herbs de Provence
Tapenade
Cherries
Grilled chicken with herbs de Provence
Eggplant, zucchini, and tomato tian
Fruit salad with mint sugar
Foccacia bread
Plum tart or chocolate hazelnut tart for dessert


I have a thing for twinkle lights (see wedding, Christmas, college dorm room), and I think the party was just my excuse to put lights up in the trees by our garden. I usually bemoan the fact that we are missing a back yard, but with twinkle lights and folding chairs, we suddenly had a little fairyland. Between the food and the story telling and the amazingly perfect weather, we suddenly found ourselves still sitting around laughing at 11:30! Such a fun, fun party. And such a wonderful way to share our trip with our friends!

Oh, Happy Day!

It is the first day of August recess, and, mmm, it is just glorious. After a busy week last week and a possibly even busier weekend (turns out dinner for twelve is no joke), today all the glories of a perfect August day cascaded down on me. I'm wearing jeans. Traffic was light as a breeze. It is super quiet at work (good for cramming on the thesis), and it will be equally quiet for the next six weeks (six!). And, to top it all off, it's, like, 77 degrees outside. Humid--I was disgustingly sticky after a lunch-hour run--but over all absolutely fantastic.

I really don't know how all of you people with normal jobs continue to survive day after day without the oasis of August recess to look forward to. I really don't. How, for example, did Jason get up today and put a suit on, knowing he will be doing it every day until he retires? I have literally been waiting for this day since January 4th. It might be the number one reason I am about to celebrate my 9th anniversary on the Hill.

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, so check back for notes on Jason's mom's visit (I swear I posted on that, but I think maybe I got distracted by previous posts on going to the beach), the weekend when the weather was NOT so perfect, and our Provence party on Saturday. But for now, just one word: yay.

Political Sightseeing

We had such a fun time with Jason's mom while she was here--not only did we relax on the beach, but we spent some fun time downtown as well. Lynda had long wanted to go to the Capitol Grille, so, hoping to see a few Members of Congress or Senators, she, Jason, and I enjoyed some good calamari and steak for lunch on Friday. Then she and Jason ventured into the new Capital Visitors Center.

Tasty Lunch at the Cap Grille!

Walking through the Botanical Garden

On Sunday, Jason woke up with a nasty cold, so Lynda and I went to church and then decided to go check out Georgetown Cupcake, the DC shop that stars in the TLC show "DC Cupcakes." Ahem. Us and everyone else--I didn't realize that Georgetown Cupcake is now one of the hottest tourist attractions in an already pretty touristy city. The line was two blocks long! Lynda was on her way to visit a friend outside of Philly, so we decided to save it for next time. I've since discovered that a two block line is actually pretty short--and if people are willing to wait forever in the ridiculously hot middle of summer, I suppose there's no time when we could just walk in! We'll have to plan better ourselves next time...