Not funny

Around 5:00 this evening two Metro trains collided killing at least 6 and wounding dozens on the border of DC and Maryland. I was not on either of the trains involved, but I did feel the effects on my commute home in the form of delays. It wasn't until I arrived home that I found out what had happened.

Funnies

Lately, the theme around here seems to be humor. And I can't say that I mind! Allow me give you just a few examples:

- East Coast Flooding: A couple weeks back I was getting ready to go out to dinner for a friend's birthday and it was storming outside. I mean, REALLY storming. The rain was pouring, the wind was blowing, and the thunder and lighting was incredibly loud and bright. Tim hadn't gotten home yet and I was about ready to leave, so I called him to see where he was. As it turns out, he was standing on our upstairs neighbors' porch waiting out the storm rather than taking the time to unlock our door while getting drenched. Upon realizing I was home he jetted down the stairs while I held the door open to quicken his escape from the driving rain. After a rushed goodbye I decided to brave the storm in an attempt to get to the restaurant on time. I donned my trusty patent leather heels, grabbed my umbrella and threw open the door with authority only to realize that we had failed to notice something during Tim's rushed entrance (and my own an hour earlier). Our lower-than-ground-level stoop was rapidly filling with water!! The drain had become blocked by leaves and debris, and the pouring rain had nearly filled the entrance to overflowing - right into our house! Fortunately it hadn't overflowed yet, so I yelled hysterically at Tim to "get me something to bail us out"! Through fits of laughter, Tim (who had just stripped off his soaking wet clothes and was running around in his skivvies) rushed toward the bathroom. Thinking he was going to get towels (which would clearly do us no good), I shouted at him to get me a Tupperware from the kitchen (for use in my bailing plan, of course). At my request, he threw me a Tupperware container with which I attempted to bail us out. Meanwhile, Timmy had returned to the bathroom, grabbed the plunger, and met me at the front door laughing at my frantic attempts to keep our apartment from being flooded. Once I had realized that my plan was never going to work he stepped up and in just two thrusts sucessfully plunged the drain. The water was gone in seconds. Why hadn't I thought of that?! I am not so proud that I cannot admit his plan was much much better than my own. And, yes, we laughed about the situation for days.

- Politics and Baseball: A week or so ago Tim and I attended the 48th Annual Congressional Baseball Game. It's hosted at Nationals Park, and yes the Congress members play. It's Democrats v. Republicans and the Dems hadn't won for years. Tim got tickets through one of the offices he serves, so we got to sit with them and enjoy the hilarity. Though it seems like Politics and Baseball should not be mixed, the levity of it all seemed healthy, in a way. It serves as a physical and public display of the battle between the parties, and it gives everyone something to laugh about. I mean, the teams train and prepare for this game very seriously, but the spectators are in it for the fun. Unfortunately, many of the folks in the crowd were not so pleasant to sit with. We were chatted up by an annoying lobbyist, and the ex-Hill-staffers behind us could not have had more annoying and entitled conversations. Randomly enough, thought, Nancy Pelosi was sitting not far from us and she had something of a following - people attempting to get her autograph and snap pictures with her. Quite a sight to see - politicians as rock stars.

At the Congressional Baseball Game

-Live from DC, it's Saturday Night!: This weekend we had a little get-together at our place that turned into a bigger party than planned. We spent most of the night playing the game "21", a game where you make up the rules as you go along and have to keep track of them all. Anyway, as the night got later and later the game got funnier and funnier and we all ended up in fits of laughter:

Laughed so hard I cried

The boys and their chuckles

- Laughs on the Big Screen: Though we don't often go to movies in theaters ($10.75 per ticket is a bit steep!), I went to two comedy films this weekend with friends. The first was The Hangover which, though a bit crass, sent me into fits of laughter on multiple occasions. If you know me well, you know these kinds of movies (where humor stems from how messed up the situation is) drive me crazy. I usually spend the entire movie trying to figure out how to fix the problems rather than finding the humor in SNAFU. This film, however, was so ridiculous while remaining relatively grounded in reality that I couldn't help but laugh. The second film was The Proposal, which I attended with my new friend Laura (a friend of Amber and Aaron's who is now in DC and is now forced to be friends with me *winks*). While this romantic comedy portrayed a rather unlikely relationship, it was still a feel-good film with lots of laughs along the way. I was entertained, even if my mind was not in any way stimulated.

In other news:
- A still untitled film staring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson has been shooting in DC lately. The cast and crew spent two days on the street corner right next to where I work preparing for and then shooting a scene for the movie. I didn't get any photos of the movie stars, but was told on my way to Starbucks that I was in the shot and to "please keep moving". Who do they think they are, taking over our block then telling me what to do?!

- My little brother came to DC with his high school band last week and I got to see them perform (which was weird, given that I had never been on the audience side) and met up with them during their evening Monuments and Memorials tour. Daniel even got to stay with us one night! Man, has he grown up!

After the band's performance at the Old Post Office Pavilion
Two Thumbs Up for a job well done!

- My new friend Laura and I went to Georgetown Cupcake yesterday and stood in a long line to get my Key Lime and her Chocolate2. YUM! Expensive though they are, the flavor and presentation is worth every penny.


For more photos of the latest escapades in DC, click here.

Summer Song

I've found myself listening to this song a lot lately. Among other things, it has served as a pick-me-up when I'm feeling a bit down (read: when I get soaked by the torrential downpour on my way to work), and a great end to the work-day on my Metro commute home. After watching the music video, I also feel it's a super fantastic summer theme song, and I wanted to share the joy with you all. So, have a little listen if you have a moment for a feel-good tune.

National Zoo

This afternoon I spent nearly five hours at the National Zoo with two young ladies who had never been to a zoo in their lives! One of them is a friend of mine from high school who is here doing an internship with an Oregon Representative. The other is her roommate here in DC.

Aside from the fact that there were no penguins, polar bears or giraffes (my favorites), we had a good time!

The National Zoo - we had to pose out front, of course.

Our National Zoo would not be complete without our nation's "mascot"

A very playful "kitty"

Cute monkey

Giant Panda

Memorial Day Weekend

It's officially the end of our long Memorial Day weekend, and boy did Tim and I enjoy ourselves. Here are the highlights:

Friday we went to the Nationals-Orioles game at Nationals Stadium. It's a pleasant 15 minute walk from our house, and on Friday nights they have fireworks! The weather was perfect, and even though we lost in the 12th inning we still had a lot of fun:

Nationals Stadium - Home Run Nats!

The four of us enjoying our Friday evening in the sun.

Senators Sausages, where we got our over-priced park food.
I have to laugh at the names places get around here...

Yummy Bratwurst! One for me, and one for Timmy, I swear!

Saturday we got up early and headed out to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

the National Aquarium in Baltimore


Dolphin Show!! My favorite part. :)

Woah!!!

So cute!!

This little narcissistic guy cracked me up!
He loved the camera so I took multiple photos
and I still laugh when I look at them.

Beautiful jelly fish.
There was a new Jellies exhibit that opened the day we went.
We were the first ones in.

Kinda scary croc! Look at those beady eyes.

Lunch at an Irish place on the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Saturday night BBQ at our place.
Tim grilled yummy burgers and Kielbasa.
Anna and I did the guac, veggies, and fabulous chips with mango peach salsa.

Sunday we went to IKEA to get Tim a new desk (since the moving company never found the major pieces of our desk they "misplaced"). It was pretty comical (after the fact, but not during) to see the difference between how men and women shop. Timmy went straight for the desks and within 10 minutes had decided which one to purchase. Then, in his opinion, we were done. Meanwhile I inspected everything, trying to decide what to get since I had all sorts of plans for the apartment. We compromised in the end and got him a desk and me a bookshelf, a bathroom organizer and two cool lamps. A big thanks to Anna's boyfriend Grady for taking us to IKEA in his truck and helping us transport our purchases.

We also caught the National Symphony Orchestra's National Memorial Day Concert on the west lawn of the Capitol Sunday evening with a couple friends. It was an enjoyable combination of vocal, band, and symphony tunes as well as speeches by famous people like Colin Powell and Gary Sinise. Even a pacifist like me enjoyed the military-focused, patriotic-chill-inducing ditties.

After the concert

Today our landlords took us on a road trip to Annapolis, MD, home of the US Naval Academy and situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River. We took a driving tour of old-town Annapolis and enjoyed the boardwalk for a little while before returning to DC.

Tim and our landlord Marc on the boardwalk in Annapolis -
enjoying the sun, the view, cool drinks and the live music.

Our landlady Dale and I enjoying another bench along the boardwalk.

This evening we saw the Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in the Air and Space Museum IMAX. It was fun to see the film in one of the buildings where it was filmed, but the film itself was nowhere near as good as its prequel.

I think Tim was done having his picture taken at this point.
But here we are waiting for the movie to start.

And to finish the weekend off, we have been putting together our IKEA purchases. Sophie has tried to help, but has mostly just been cute while getting in the way.

Putting Timmy's desk together

Bathroom storage!! Or kitty storage??

I don't think I've had such an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend since 2005 when Tim professed his undying love for me and we began dating! (but that's another story entirely)

No Longer Unemployed

Yes, folks, it's finally official. I've been offered the Administrative Coordinator position at the Center for Democracy in the Americas! And, after a little negotiation, I accepted the job this evening. I will be starting on Monday after a very full week of Temp work this week.

On an entirely unrelated note, I found this video of Obama fairly amusing. Our president has a sense of humor and can make light of a variety of people and issues even during these hard times. I enjoyed his "stand-up routine" even though it's odd to see him joke around through an entire "speech". And speaking of our president, he was featured on the controversial cover of the latest issue of Washingtonian Magazine. I first heard about this cover during my second interview at the CDA and subsequently saw it at the grocery store. I guess all I can say is... I'm proud to call him my "new neighbor" even if he doesn't really qualify as a "neighbor" since his house is nearly a three mile walk from mine. (Yes, I Google Mapped it.)

Around the World via Embassies

On Saturday my friend Anna and I toured several Embassies through the Passport DC Open House program. We didn't make it to all the ones available to us, but we did enjoy several. Check out a few photos below:

Anna getting her Henna tattoo at the Bangladesh Embassy

Me getting mine done

Bangladesh Henna

United Arab Emirates - they weren't open to the public, but their building was the coolest.

See what I mean? Cool Building!

Malaysia, obviously!

Malaysia (they had a fun, cultural marketplace in their courtyard!)

Pakistan

Pakistan

Band playing at the Nigerian Embassy

Drummers at the Ghana Embassy

We also went to the Ethiopian Embassy and saw a traditional coffee ceremony, but I forgot to take a picture there.

I heard a rumor that the Embassy Open House tour happens on the first Saturday of each month, with a select group of Embassies opening their doors. I've not confirmed that yet, but I hope it's true, because it was a lot of fun - and it was free! I love my new hometown!

And speaking of my new hometown... we went to see State of Play on Saturday. Though I was not entirely impressed with the film, it was still fun to see parts of DC I have come to know personally on the big screen.

A DC Studio

Our apartment is not perfected yet, but I've had people bugging me for photos, so here they are!

This is what you see when you walk in

Looking to the left after walking in the front door

Looking to the right

More to the right, almost looking back at the front door/entry area.
Bedroom/extra seating.

The entire living room and bedroom areas, looking back toward the front door from the middle of the apartment.

The kitchen. The table and chairs on the left are left-overs from our landlords. Once I nail down a full-time job we will be getting a new table and chairs that fits our decor.

Kitchen sink and the only plants in our house so far (thanks mom!)

Sophie's "room" and the backdoor out to the back yard (with large map of the Chesapeake Bay)

Speaking of Sophie, you can see she's taken over the house... and has adapted well.

Happenings

To avoid an extremely wordy post, I've bullet-pointed a few highlights from the last week or so.

- MOVING TRUCK: Our stuff arrived on Friday (only two weeks late)! Only a few things didn't show up, and they only dropped off one box that wasn't ours. So, we're still waiting on pieces of Tim's desk so he can set that up, and we're filing a claim for damages to a few pieces of furniture. But, we are VERY excited to sleep in our own bed and to have all our stuff back! Pictures of our new apartment are coming. I am just waiting until we get our missing items and can finish setting everything up.

- TEMPING: Friday I began temping at the Stevens Institute of Technology's DC office, in the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center- the second largest building in the DC area (next to the Pentagon). It has been a convenient commute, and a pretty good job temporarily. I'm also temping at Madison Marquette, a commercial real estate company with an awesome 10th and 11th floor office suite. Temping has kept me sane, helped us earn a bit more cash, and allowed me to be patient and picky in the search for a full-time perfect/dream job!

- ENTERTAINMENT: Last Friday night we went to Catholic University of America to see a new musical titled "This is Not My Life", written by a friend of a friend. It was enjoyable and provided lots of laughs. Look for it on Broadway! ;) After we got sort of settled, we had a couple of friends over on Sunday for a BBQ. It felt really nice to entertain!

- EXCITEMENT: Tuesday we attended a reception in one of the House office buildings for the University of Oregon's outgoing President, Dave Frohnmayer. It was his last visit to Washington before he leaves office, and we met him personally as well as lots of other U of O alumni. We also met a distant relative! Upon meeting this girl named Tahira, she and I really clicked. We were talking and hanging out, then Tim came over and I introduced them. She mentioned that she was from Tillamook, and he was going to ask her if she knew the Hayes' from Tillamook (extended family). But then he realized her last name was Hayes, so he asked if she knew the Hayes family of Bend (closer family), and she said "yeah", and Tim says, "Like, Joe Hayes?". At this point I'm nearly shrieking from shock and joy. And Tahira says "Oh my gosh, that's my cousin!" Anyway... it was all very exciting, and now we're BFFs. *winks*

Mark, Tahira, me and Tim at the University of Oregon reception for Dave Frohnmayer

- JOB PROSPECTS: I had almost given up hope, but last night I got an e-mail from the Center for Democracy in the Americas requesting a second interview next week! It sounds like I will be going in on Tuesday for the follow-up interview. I'm ready to seal the deal. ;) I also found out a couple days ago that I did not get into the White House Internship Program. Oh well...

- RUNNING: My friend Anna and I are training for the Capitol Hill Classic 10K. The race is May 17th and we've got a lot of training to do. Given that I hadn't worked out for over a month when we got to DC, it's been a big tough getting back into running shape. But we're doing it one run at a time. Getting up at 6:15 AM to run before work is half the battle!

- SMITHSONIAN TOUR: Yesterday we went to the Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian Castle and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Both were much less packed than the American History Museum, and more interactive and interesting. Even though I'm more into Political Science than I am into hard Science, I found the Natural History Museum much more enjoyable. I've included a few pictures from our Saturday adventure below:

My friend the Penguin and I (Natural History Museum)

At the beautiful Smithsonian Castle (dang I'm white!)

This is obviously the thing to do when you come across a circle thingy

I hope you are all enjoying the sun, assuming you have Spring Sun!