Readers of the World Unite!

So, while the awesome moment of last week was this (long sought after, hard worked for, can-hardly-believe-we-pulled-it-off kind of legislative high...), and while I will confess to doing the happy dance around the office on Tuesday morning, there were a couple of other cool moments to recall.

This one came in the middle of a pretty mind-numbing hearing on Thursday. I sit through a LOT of hearings, but sometimes they end up being very cool. Like on Thursday, when Ken Burns spoke about the value of the National Endowment for the Humanities and country singer Trace Adkins spoke about the value of preserving Civil War battlefields (could listen to THAT voice all day!).

And like when Azar Nafisi testified on the value of the humanities, particularly reading. She wrote Reading Lolita in Tehran, which was on my Amazing Books List circa 2004 and actually jump-started another reading binge, after too long away from books. Her book is a memoir of life in Tehran, described through the tale of the illicit reading group she taught to women in Tehran. Austen, James, Gatsby...and Lolita, of course. I'd never read Lolita before, so I tried, and I honestly couldn't finish it. But I like knowing that I couldn't finish it.

Dave, our subcommittee clerk and fellow English major, said that he wanted to jump up and clap for her because she reminded him why he majored in English twenty or so years ago. I felt the same way. After she testified, my boss thanked her profusely and then told her she couldn't leave until she talked to his staffer, who had been raving about her book all morning. I was beet red but also grateful--got to talk to her briefly afterward, and she wrote Nabokov's quote about readers being free.

Very cool. Almost as cool as finally, finally getting wolves off the endangered species list.

Almost.

Then and Now

In late Fall of last year, we decided to create a "backyard." Our home's true backyard is filled by 3 giant homes constructed before we bought the house, so I suppose what we really created is a "sideyard," but we wanted one with a backyard feel. Between tearing out invasive vines, installing a new privacy and picket fence and laying new sod, we now have a "backyard" space worth the investment. Looking forward to future summer BBQs on the lawn! Here are two snapshots that show the change:

Summer 2009

Spring 2011

Facetime

For my birthday, Jason totally surprised me with an iPhone--I had literally been counting down the days until the iPhone came to Verizon, but I knew that the technological/corporative contract/deal-striking challenges were nothing compared to his unshakeable distaste for Apple and his commitment phobia when it came to signing up for a data plan (the extent of interactiveness on our lovely once-cool, rapidly-aging flip phones is texting. oooo.). I was fully expecting to wait another year or so (or until my phone actually died) before we could have a serious talk about taking our cell phones to the next level.

I love my iPhone, but I confess that I spend a lot of time looking at it...and not really knowing what to do with it. Why, for example, when I say, "call Jason," does it call St. Alphonsus' hospital? And why, honestly, does my phone have the number for St. Al's in it? Where is Kim's number? When I went to call her on her birthday, I could not find it in my phone, and yet the next day when she texted to tell me that Cole and Mason each sang "Happy Birthday, Aunt Missy," to her, her name popped up as if my iPhone already knew her. These are mysteries to me. But still, love.

And yesterday my love hit a new level when I tried Facetime for the first time and got to meet this little face in (sort of) person. Let's just be honest here, third children get the shaft when it comes to baby pictures...and therefore long-distant aunts get the shaft when they don't get showered with pictures of their newest nephew the way they did when, say, his oldest brother was born (though kudos to Shaant on updating the blog lately, from where I stole this picture!). But Facetime, mmm. I got to watch him coo. I got to hear him grunt. I got to see him staring at his dad and licking his lips. It was awesome.

I also got to see Mason put on his sweet helmet for scooter riding and have Cole tell me that "he didn't have much planned" for the rest of the night. Highlight of the weekend. Even Jason was enjoying my iPhone.

The rest of the weekend was relatively uneventful. Assured that we would have jobs and paychecks come Monday morning (though it was a close call on Friday night!), we had this lovely Saturday planned with where we'd actually canceled plans so we could just hang out together--sleeping in, delicious breakfast, reading until we got bored, maybe even a bike ride...and then we woke up to the State Department calling, and Jason ended up having to work until 3 (some crisis in the Ivory Coast, blah, blah). I was ungraciously and childishly cranky, but happily the sun came out today and I gained some perspective and we got to plant our garden--yay! I planted radishes this year simply because they are ready to harvest in 20 days--20 days! I don't know who will eat them in 20 days, but they will be coming up!

And We're Back!

Spring is back, that is, though no one has dared to put sweaters away or take out shorts. I'm getting tired of seeing my turtlenecks hanging in my closet and turning on my space heater at work.


Today was a nice relief from the very cold, rainy week we just had, and the trees are in full bloom! Love spring in DC (minus hoards of people and tour buses). I went on a run (sad, slow, out-of-shape run) after work today. I'd forgotten my iPod (tragic), so I carried my new iPhone that has, like, five songs on it. While the music was certainly lacking, I managed to take a few pictures of one of my favorite spring sites--since I only see it running and never have my camera on hand.


The little garden outside the Smithsonian Castle is lined with magnolia trees that are perfectly in bloom right now. It is like a fairy land. I wish I could eat my lunch on one of these benches every day.


Happy April!