Three!

I called Cole today to tell him happy birthday, and he said, "Happy birthday to you!" He is such a smart, articulate, funny little three year old. When we were in McCall last month, he and I were playing with Legos and he wanted to build "two towers behind a river." So, of course, he got his own little set of Legos for his birthday.

I totally stole this picture from Shaanti's blog because I love it--and Cole--so much.

Also, a shout-out to my Grandad, who turned 90 today. I think he is amazing, and we are really looking forward to celebrating with him this weekend!

September

It has been a week of fall loveliness. In my head I know that it is way too early to get completely sucked in by autumn, that September is actually not the beginning of fall in DC (mmm, October), and that I will regret it if I, say, put away my shorts and start pulling out sweaters and long sleeves.

But oh, I want to.

For most of the past two weeks we've had perfect weather--first, the temp is hovering right around 75, and for days the sun has been shining in a brilliant blue sky; second, there have been a couple of nice blustery, rainy days that called for my psychadelic wellies and candles in the fireplace and, of course, afternoon tea.

Isn't it amazing how much we all love fall? In September I always look back to April with disbelief that the coming of spring could have been anywhere near as fantastic as the coming of fall. Even when it's been such a remarkably nice summer, too, broken foot and all. There are just so many things to love about autumn, like:

* watching You've Got Mail, which Dawn and I did, babies on laps, last weekend. Love of this movie is on my list of things that I look for in a friend. We ate oatmeal cookies and talked between bouts of quoting the movie to each other--"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies." Ah, for a bouquet of sharpened pencils.

* football season, which officially started Sunday with a sermon which leaned heavily on Redskins analogies and then a terrible (and probably all-to-common) loss by said Redskins. Erg. The basement remodel seems to be getting bigger every day (Jason spent the weekend putting in new light fixtures and I spent it trying to convince myself that I do not hate the paint color I picked), but we totally got the TV on the wall and the system set up in time for the afternoon game.

* squash, especially that amazing squash-and-sage pasta recipe from last fall. I've been waiting all summer to make it again, and it's finally on the menu for this week! Yay! Also, soup. And roasting things. Mmm... We bought squash and sugar pumpkins at the farmers' market on Saturday, even though there are still tomatoes and raspberries spilling out all over the place.

* running outside again. In spite of the fact that I frequently mention going running on this blog, I am by no means a Runner. It is not in my blood--the only Johnson who likes to run is my sister-in-law Kim. I can't run fast or far, and I hate every step I take. That said, I do go running a lot, and it is infinitely more tolerable when the humidity disappears and the amber colored leaves start rustling on the path by our house.

* looking forward to finding out if our next niece or nephew is a niece or a nephew. I can't believe I haven't linked to Jenny's annoucement yet, but Troy is going to be a big brother in March (which, by the way, is the absolute best time to be born, if I do say so myself). Obviously, we couldn't be more thrilled, seeing as we have sort of a soft spot for those nephews of ours. It simply amazes me how much I adore them.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tomorrow is the last day of August recess. I know we are officially supposed to call it "August District Work Period" for all those morons out there who think Members of Congress are "taking a vacation" (and yes, if you think that, you ARE a moron), but "recess" sounds sooooooo much better. I honestly don't know how I am going to survive a whole 'nother 11 months until next August recess. Everyone (and by "everyone" I mean "all five congressional staffers who are not on vacation right now) is walking around in their jeans and flip-flips looking restful and suspiciously bag-less under their eyes. Going to work is absolutely fabulous during recess--it is seriously almost as good as going on vacation. Traffic is practically non-existent, and when I get there it's quiet and calm, my mail is caught up, my desk is so clean, and my coworker Nate and I have taken to having afternoon tea/coffee.

In the meantime, our district staffers are sounding more frazzled each day, and I think they are all ready to send the boss back to us. Poor Mike, he's the only one who doesn't actually get a recess.

So, apart from gliding around the office, talking about how much I love recess (seriously), in the past few weeks we have been:

• Obsessed with turning the blog into a book, thanks to http://www.blurb.com/. Okay, I have been obsessed, to the point where Jason recently told me I was not allowed to play the game "Civilization," because I would never be able to quit.
• Coaxing zucchinis to life. While the rest of the world is tying bags of unwanted zucchini on neighbors' doors and running, I am out in my garden every morning, assisting with some strange form of plant sex by transfering pollen from the male flowers to the female ones (I know, ew!). Apparently that whole "the world is running out of bees" thing is real--because our zucchini plant is not being pollinated adequately, the little buggers keep dying when they get about three inches long (same thing happened last year). I can't tell you how annoyed I am to be buying zucchini at the grocery store.
• Driving again. That would be Jason driving again, and we are both really happy about it. In fact, today he went to the doctor and can now get around with only an ankle brace on. Even though the first couple of weeks seemed to last forever, I really can't believe how quickly his ankle has healed. But seriously, I'd like to reiterate how great it is for him to be walking again!
• Not watching TV. It was a relatively TV-free summer, until we got back from Kenya and sitting in front of the TV was the only thing we could do to keep ourselves from going to bed at 7:30. But now that the family room remodel is definitely, definitely underway, we're having to come up with other ways to entertain ourselves in the evenings. Like blogging.

Unfortunately, in addition to recess coming to an end, school started tonight. Sigh. For the past three years, I've been carpooling with this fabulous girl, Becky, but she had to go and finish her class requirements, like, a year ahead of me, so tonight I had to head to GMU all alone for the first time. I missed her a lot. Plus, I felt really old. Not only were they celebrating the incoming class of 2013 (2013?!? that means I started college...12 years ago?!?), but my class is full of 23 year-olds. I'm probably ready to be done with school for a while again.

Basement Renovation, Part Three

My dad (George) came out last weekend to help finish the basement renovation project we started last summer. We moved heating pipes, hooked up a new baseboard heater in the family room, and prayed for no leaks (none so far!). We finished framing out the new wall, finished some electrical work, and put up drywall. We got it all ready for a professional drywall guy to come in to tape, mud, prime, and paint the walls. Thanks dad!

A completely renovated family room is right around the corner. Photos to come soon ....