Winter

Jefferson in Snow
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I actually thought it might be too late to post these pictures--in the last few days the temperature has crept up to fifty, creating visions of daffodills and tulips, and I actually ventured into a short-sleeved shirt yesterday. February is not quite over, though, and Winter has a few more tricks up his sleeves. This morning we woke to a "wintry mix," and by the time we got out of church at 11 a couple good inches of snow had fallen. The fence posts now have tall white stocking caps and the flakes are coming down in thick globs. Jason is humming about the weather outside being frightful, and I think hot chocolate might be in order.

So much for an early spring.

The picture of Jefferson was actually taken last week, after what we'd sort of hoped would be the last storm of winter. At least this storm is light and fluffy--last time the ice fell in sheets from the sky. It turns out a good ice scrapper can not only clean off your car but can also dig your tires out of ice. On one hand I'm anxious for a snow day, but it's gearing up to be a really busy week and starting it off without a Monday might not be as good as it sounds.

Okay, I'm off to do some homework before we go see "King Lear" tonight at the Folger Shakespeare Library (assuming the Bard is not inconvenienced by the weather). And, Andrea, your entry on grad school is coming shortly...

Hearts and Stomachs

A Heart for Missy
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Some romantics say Valentine's Day is for love and affection, yada yada. Other cynics say it's just a day made up by the card companies, blah, blah. Both wrong. Valentine's day is about food. Well, food, and red, and flowers, but mostly food. The way to all hearts is through heart-shaped victuals.

V-Day offered us a wide range of food choices: Saturday night we decided to beat out the Heart Day crowd, and we dressed up and went to Sequoia in Georgetown for dinner. Num. And on Wednesday I made a really remarkably good chicken piccata (apparently the recent Food Network addiction is paying off), served on fancy china and crystal. And then we swapped hearts--I got a box of chocolates and Jason got a raspberry pie. Awww...

Oh, and we also got "The Office" Season Two. Because it's even funnier the sixth time.

Fight, fight, fight!

Fight, fight, fight!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

For Christmas I got Jason tickets to see the Capitals play, and he hinted (not so subtly) that he wanted to sit so close he could almost join in on the fights. As you can see from this picture, we did indeed almost get to throw a few punches. Hockey is a whole new game when the puck and players are hitting the glass only a few feet away!

We had a great time at the game. Though the Caps lost (we must be bad luck), the game went into overtime and ended with a shoot-out--a first for both of us. As we poured out of the stadium and onto the Metro with the crowd it started snowing, ushering in the coldest week of the year. Perfect for hocky, I guess.

The budget, and other uninteresting tidbits

The President's FY2008 budget is sitting on my desk, staring at me in its ominous, 4-inches-thick way. So exciting. Like the rest of our life hence a) the lack of recent blog entries, and b) the fact that this one is about...the budget. Of course, "unexciting" does not mean bad. On the contrary, right now we are thoroughly enjoying the fact that we don't have anything to report (see summer 2006). In fact, Friday we went to a late dinner at P.F. Chang's with the Bakers and then basically holed up for the rest of the weekend.

The wind is howling outside the window behind me, and it seems like after a positively balmy January winter has arrived in full force. Luckily, even though the wind chill makes it 3 degrees outside, the heater in our office is finally fixed so it's cozy enough in here. I should say "fixed," because it really isn't working properly--last week there was no heat at all, and this week you cannot turn the heat down or off. Everyone else is sweating, but I think part of me is still frozen from working without heat for three weeks, so I'm still thawing.

In other non-news, I have been trying to get back into the swing of saying "I have homework." Blech. I mean, I have really liked my class so far (though five years out of academia has left my smart-speak very rusty), but that feeling of always having some assignment hanging over your head is not an old friend with whom I particularly want to resume an acquaintance. I've decided to start with self-discipline on smaller levels first: straightening up the living room before we go to bed each evening, making lunch to take to work, sending birthday cards on time. Perhaps if I can accomplish these small things I can also manage to finish my readings over the weekend. Until then, at least procrastination IS a good old friend.

mmm, cookies...

mmm, cookies...
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Whew, it's been a while since we posted! Since our last post, we have:
--worked
--gone to church
--been to the movies ("Good Shepherd," eh.)
--reread "Pride and Prejudice"
--played "Call of Duty 2"
--slept in.

It's been pretty exciting, lemme tell ya. Of course, as we speak Jason is in southern Sudan, so that's exciting. And I am taking advantage of his absence to watch a lot of "Friends" and leave dishes in the sink. And counting the days until Friday, when he comes home.

To help me pass the time, Mom hopped on a plane last week and came to spend the weekend with me. It was freezing and snowy here (first snow, nice change from the 70 degree weather last week), so we bundled up in sweats and blankets, made cookies, and stayed up late watching movies and admiring the new shoes we had purchased. I adore my mom. Yesterday I had to send her back to Dad, but we had such a great time! Unfortunately, I've now eaten all the cookies...

Of course, I'm currently interrupting my "Friends" marathon to watch the State of the Union address. I don't say that to elicit political commentary (please), but just to give a picture of the day here. The SOTU is like the Super Bowl in this town, and I had at least three party invites to watch it. I opted to stay home, but it always ends up paying off job-wise to have paid attention to the speech. Luckily, a few weeks ago it also paid off job-wise to watch the fantastic Fiesta Bowl victory by the Boise State Broncos. I sort of have a weird job, I guess...

Back to Life...

...go ahead, finish the song in your head, you know you want to. But "back to reality" has been the real-life theme around here the past few days. I am three days into my new job, which, considering my distaste for change, is going quite well. We are also three days into no longer having a clean house, not knowing what to make for dinner, and dropping exhausted into bed at 9:30 or so. Yikes! I long for the time, two weeks from now, when my body is adjusted to sitting at a desk and trotting in high heels and I'm not plagued with the uncertainties of being the "new girl." But of course then I will be starting grad school...

Otherwise it's been pretty uneventful around here, thus the lack of entries this week. We spent part of our New Year break dragging out the last remnants of our single lives and sorting them from "his and hers" into "ours." Take, for example, our CDs. No longer is there a box of Jason's early 90's rap CDs and a case of Missy's early 90's country CDs. (I'm not sure what it says about us as a couple when we only had to get rid of two duplicate CDs.) Now my Moby CD is residing next to Jason's Mike E, and Randy Travis shares a page with T-Bone. It is a bit disconcerting, really...

Belly-Dancing in the New Year

Decked out to Pary
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Welcome to 2007, a year marked by one question: should or should one not go to one's 10 year high school reunion?

Okay, so maybe the success of the entire year is actually NOT hanging in the balance of that one question.

We spent the last few moments of 2006 marveling at a superb belly-dance show at the Lebanese Taverna, where we participated in Mezza Madness (translation: eating kibbeh, fatoush, and hommos until very very ill). Between dances, we discussed the highlights of the year (travel to Abuja for Jason, rereading the "Emily" books and organizing the hall closet for me) and the possibilities for 2007. Jason does not believe in making new years resolutions, but here are a couple of mine:

1. Learn to make croissants. (A very dangerous thing to do if one cares about carb intake, alas.)
2. Read something by Virginia Woolf from cover to cover. (As opposed to the frightened, incomplete dabbling I've done for the past two years.)
3. Call my Gramps and write my Grandad. (The least I can do as a grateful grandchild.)
4. Take a dance lesson. (Belly dance? Ah, but my Nazarene hips simply cannot move that fast. Perhaps I can lure Jason to a ballroom class...)
5. Fly fish. (Just once, just to try it again. Who knows, maybe I'll turn out to be a Johnson after all!)

In the spirit of newness, I've given us a whole new look. Thoughts? Hate it? Love it? Also, the photo album is enhanced as well. Enjoy!

Christmas in the East

Missy tells me I should make a pre-New Years resolution and write a Christmas blog entry before the clock ticks midnight. Since we're heading out the door to Mezza Madness at Lebanese Taverna in less than ten minutes, here goes. We spent Christmas with my family this year in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Since I took the Thanksgiving week off work to travel to Idaho this year, I got stuck with the Christmas shift this year. So, we left the Wednesday before Christmas to make the 7-hour drive west across I-68, by far my favorite national highway. My parents packed an action pack 5 days for us, including a trip to the Longaberger basket factory (where Missy won a free basket and we both tried our hand at crafting our own), to Malabar Farms -- the home of famous author Louis Bromfield and the wedding site of Humphrey Bogart to his third wife, Lauren Baccall. One evening we traveled up the dark country road to Nashville, OH to take in the most auspicious house lights you can possibly imagine (signs of snoopy and Bart Simpson put most of us over the edge), ending with a drive-by live Nativity scene. The weather unfortunately was mostly grey and wet -- the snow seems to have located itself all in Denver this year. On Saturday, we visited some old college friends of mine, Jason and Erin Moorman (and daughter Grace, a loquacious 3 year old, especially with Missy), and Chris and Buffy Fleece and kids. Missy also attended her first Christmas Eve candlelight service. Christmas day was filled with turkey, gift-opening hilarity, and the traditional viewing of the classic film, Independence Day. Much more to say, but it'll have to wait until 2007. Happy New Year!

Christmas at the Concert Hall

Enjoying the Nutcracker, Washington Style
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

We got dressed up last week to take in a little Christmas in Washington, theatre-style. On Sunday night we went to see "The Nutcracker" at the Warner Theatre downtown (Jason's first ballet experience!). The Washington Ballet Company put a twist on the seasonal favorite by turning the characters into familiar figures from American history--the Nutcracker was George Washington, the Rat King was George III, and the dances included wilderness men and Anacostia Indians. It was a fun twist and we both had a great time.

On our way home we drove past the White House and decided to stop by to see the tree. There were lots of little toy trains running around the tree, and we traipsed (dress shoes and all!) around the Ellipse checking out all the state decorations and the manger scene.

The next day we threw on our fancy clothes again and headed to the Kennedy Center. The Choral Arts Society of Washington, in which one of Jason's colleagues sings, was doing it's annual Christmas concert. We went for the first time last year and really enjoyed it, so this year we made a repeat appearance. For me, it is still a little close to Crusader Choir memories... (or is that 'Sader Choir now?)

Okay, that's enough of pictures of Missy and Jason for now...

Major Tragedy Overted

Wow. Last night we somehow lost all the pictures on our memory card--to the tune of about 300. This included a ton of Christmas pics from the last week that we had not had a chance to download yet. Luckily, my husband is a computer genius and managed to slowly recover almost all. Phew!

Gingerbread Construction

A Finished House!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Jason and I were wary when the invitation to the Crossons' annual gingerbread house building party popped up on email. We both remembered all too clearly last year's party, how our house refused to stay standing; how, after the third collapse, Jason was either fired from the construction crew or threw up his hands and quit; how we weren't quite sure our brand-new marriage could withstand the storms of gingerbread construction. But last weekend we threw all caution to the wind and said, yes, we and our questionable cooperation skills would love to come!

And...success! Part pre-party internet research, part overt politeness to each other, part really good chili provided by Mrs. Crosson to keep us patient, we managed to stand up this nice little gingerbread home. And eat lots of marshmallows and M&Ms while we did so.

(Note: It is possible that our success was in part also due to proper delegation of tasks--Missy made the house and Jason took the pictures.)

We finished off our weekend by throwing our first Christmas party--mostly work colleagues and a few other dear friends. It was great fun, and we now know we can fit about 40 people semi-comfortably into our place. Let the partying begin... ?

Christmas Tree Hunting

Timber!
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

We went crazy this year and decided to get in touch with nature instead of just finding a tree at the local Home Depot. To our delight (and, it must be confessed, surprise), we had a wonderful time "tree hunting" and came home with a perfect little tree to decorate with lights and things. We also felt pretty pleased with ourselves at being able to get it in and up without a) displacing most of the furniture, b) tainting everything we own with sap, and c) failing to get it into the stand multiple times.

Our house is feeling pretty Christmassy now, and I actually ALMOST have all the gifts wrapped and under the tree (I'll try to get "Our Home at Christmas" pictures up in a day or so). I really have no excuse, as I have only had two days of work in two weeks. It is really remarkable how little one gets done when one is home all day. And it is really remarkable how relieved one is when one's husband gets home in the evening...

Cole-dorable

Cole-dorable
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I'm sorry, but this is too cute for words. It's like having a really sweet doll. That laughs. And cries. And poops (at which time he can be given back to his mother).

We went out to dinner tonight. When we left the house it was 72 degress outside and I carried my jacket. We got home about 20 minutes ago and it is now 55. Apparently the weather realizes that we cannot go get our Christmas tree tomorrow wearing shorts. I appreciate its sympathy.

Class of 2001

Class of 2001
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

"Our Trip to Idaho," Part 2. We left McCall and drove down the mountain, straight to Nampa and the campus of Northwest Nazarene University. There we donned nametags and shared hugs (and introductions of spouses) with my old college cronies. I must confess, I'd been looking forward to our five-year reunion for quite a while, and we had a great time. It was fun to see old friends and reconnect with people with whom I'd spent four significant years of my life. I loved the moment when, watching "Grandma Dave" take to the drums just as he did many times starting our freshman year, Amanda turned to me and said, "Yep, it's still funny."

After our reunion lunch we spent some time catching up with old friends--cheering on the basketball team at the homecoming game, discovering new coffee shops in Nampa, drinking tea and eating at Red Robin, adding to the collection of "Senate Pictures" and dissecting "Tess" during our "reunion bookclub," confessing that I've been reading other people's blogs, and reliving ridiculous memories. I've said this before, but it is so wonderful to discover that you still connect with people you knew in a past life.

Thanksgiving at the Cabin

The Family in the Prow
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Our most recent trip out west will have to be spread over a couple entries. According to our pictures (again, posted at the right), we should have a separate entry simply entitled "Cole," as he is the subject of about 90% of the pictures. I blame Granny, who stole my camera for a while. And Cole, for being the most adorable creature on earth.

We have added a few people to the family this year, and after all the hoopla and chaos settled down it seemed like Thanksgiving was a good time to take stock of things and, basically, count off. So we packed up, shipped out, and landed at the new cabin for a week of being together...in a calmer sense than we have all year.

The cabin, of course, is beautiful. It was like a dream come true to have us all there and all healthy (yes, it's been that kind of year). We had a really relaxing few days centered around Cole, and then the aunts, uncles, and cousins joined us for a festive Thanksgiving celebration. Deee-lish! This was my first Thanksgiving home this millenium, and I enjoyed every bite. And the leftovers.

As we curled up on couches with our full bellies Thanksgiving night, snow was falling softly outside the windows. I wished we could have stayed just one more day, but on Friday morning, Jason and I packed up to head to Nampa for the long-awaited five year reunion of NNU's Class of 2001...

Shutting Down Shop

Team Otter in the Capitol Dome
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Strangely, I find it hard to believe that this long ride with Team Otter is coming to an end. Today Congressman Otter cast his last votes in the U.S. House of Representatives. As he begins his tenure as the 32nd governor of the great state of Idaho, the rest of us are packing up shop and preparing to take a dive out of the nest--for most of us, this is the first real job we've held.

To mark the end of things, today the boss took the staff on a highly-coveted tour of the Capitol Dome. We got up close and personal with the Apotheosis of Washington and became intimately reacquainted with our fear of heights! DC law ensures that the Capitol remains the tallest building in Washington, so we had a spectacular view, despite the lingering haze from the morning. It has been an honor to work for this boss and a pleasure to work with these people. They have been my family here for the past five years, and I can't help feeling a little homesick when I think that we only have a couple days left together...

Someone This Way Flies!

IMG_0790
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

Another flight to and from Idaho--but this time it was Mom and Dad coming our way instead of us going theirs! They stayed with us last weekend, and we had a wonderful time--a few touristy things, like the International Spy Museum (Missy's pick for Favorite DC Spot), the National Portrait Gallery (recently reopened, and turns out there's a reason they named the metro stop "Gallery Place"), and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. Just a few weeks ago the new interpretive center and museum at Mount Vernon opened up, and we closed the place down on Saturday...and made ourselves hungry enough to eat a buffalo. We also went to a Caps game and just hung around some. Though Mom has made a habit of visiting me a couple times a year, recent family events have made it impossible for her to come since she was here with Grams and Gramps last November...and it's been years since Dad was here. It was wonderful to have them, and I must confess that, even though we will see them next Friday as we wing our way back west for Thanksgiving, I was a little sad to drop them off at the airport.

I am currently enjoying the first day of a delightfully long weekend. With the election behind us, my colleagues and I spent yesterday tossing papers. I think I filled the first dumpster by myself, throwing away five years of work (turns out I'm quite a paper rat, and an old intern stopped by yesterday to say hi and bemoaned that all the filing she'd done for me two years ago was sitting in the bottom of said dumpster). When I told Jason last night that I felt like I was afraid nothing would be left to show for my time in the Otter office, he suggested that I write my name on the wall--"Missy: 2001-2006." A thought... Now that Team Otter is actually moving on, after months of treading water, I am getting ready to move on too. Actually, I really should get moving on my novel, but unfortunately I decided to read all six Harry Potter novels again before I started. I finished book six a couple days ago, but I still find that when I close my eyes I am really at Hogwarts...

note: Jason really was part of this weekend, despite the picture. Blogger has refused to attach additional pictures to this entry, so go look at our flickr album for a more complete visual recounting. Sorry Jason!

Look who's going to Grad School!

Admission Letter
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I am pleased to report that Missy received her admission letter to George Mason University's Master of Arts in English program, with a concentration in Professional Writing and Editing. GMU is in nearby Fairfax, VA, about 11 miles from our home, and classes start in late January. There was never a doubt in my mind that Missy would be admitted -- she certainly has an exceptional writing style as often evidenced on this blog -- and I can certainly play the boastful husband. The best part is that as a Virginia resident, she qualifies for the much discounted "in-state tuition" rate, which make me think I paid way too much for my graduate education. I suppose now we might become GMU Patriot fans, which as those of you who follow NCAA action will remember, turned out a surprising yet stunning performance during last year's March Madness. Now if only the Redskins could play to inspire ...

Halloween

IMG_0751
Originally uploaded by jmsmall2005.

I have to admit, I was pretty excited for Halloween this year. No, we did not dress up as Napolean Dynamite or the Two-Headed Michael Scott, and we did not party raucously around the Beltway. Instead, we have been holed up in our little condo waiting anxiously for miniature ghosts, witches, and Elmos to come knock on the door. I have never had trick-or-treaters come to my door before. (Well, that's not entirely true, as a few came last year but I had not been planning to be home and didn't have any candy, so I had to turn all the lights off and hide. I watched through the peephole as little girl cursed our door in spanish. Yikes!) It was like an epoch in adulthood.

Plus, no cursing of our door, so we can expect a pleasant 2007.

On Saturday we went to Elizabeth's for her annual pumpkin carving party. The party was full of artists, and our little pumpkin (top in the picture) felt much less self-conscious once we got him home away from all the fancy pumpkins. It was fun to see Elizabeth, who recently moved back to town, and the night was blustery and sort of ghoulish. Dawn and I agreed that it was very Halloweeny. I was full of extra shivers, as I finished reading "Dracula" last week. Incidently, Jason would not let me read it a) before bed, or b) any time he wasn't home, as I once woke up screaming about vampires. But it was very good.

NaNoWriMo

Okay, Scott, you've convinced me: