Still Around

Leia and Paul...

Originally uploaded by cmoneill.

This last week has been kind of rough, since it just seems like there isn't nearly enough time for everything to get done. Between finals and migrating the geocoin site from zencart to ubercart, I've been very busy. I should be completely done on May 9th. My semester break is about 3 weeks long, so I may plan a little weekend getaway to go camping/caching in the DelMarVa area.

Last week, I managed to free up some time to go to the Reston Zoo with Tamara and Leia. In spite of several bus loads of elementary school kids being there, we had fun. They had the cutest day old baby goats in the barn, and the lambs had grown quite a bit since we went back in March. After we finished up at the zoo, we drove around Lake Fairfax Park. Both of the kids were quite tired, but managed to stay awake. They even held hands for a little bit, before Paul learned the hard way that you do not take a pacifier from a sleepy baby.

January Wrap Up

Leia in her mother's hat. This was one of those unexpectedly perfect shots, because she fell over 3 seconds after I took the picture.

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's almost February already. Between going back to college, entertaining kids, birthday parties, baby showers, placement tests... I don't really feel like I've had a chance to really sit still this month. Here are some random things I learned this month.

• When you need to entertain kids on MLK day and it's 15F outside, Chuck E Cheese is so not the place to do it. Our pizza came out long before we had a table. By the time we finally had a table, we waited another 15 minutes for them to remake the pizza, as the other had started congealing.

• Paul is old enough to be perturbed by drivers who think the laws of physics don't apply to them when it's snowing, because they have an SUV. "Mama... don't they know my head is breakable?!" was his reaction to seeing yet another SUV skid onto the sidewalk.

• On new babies - After holding a relatively new baby at Misty's shower, I discovered that 10lb babies get heavy after awhile. New babies also make their new big brothers guard their toys a little more jealously.

• Listening to 3 year olds trying to decide if the part of town by the NRA museum and I66 was part of "my Fairfax school" or Oakton was amusing.

• The English placement test was much easier than I expected. Most of the sentences on the test looked like they were written someone fluent in LOL Cat. I only missed two points, so I can take honors classes.

• I actually met another female Computer Science major. Most women I know who are in IT seem to be more on the management side, rather than the development side.

• Icebreaker games are interesting. I apparently look like someone who graduated high school within the last three years, as well as someone who likes history. Most people seemed surprised at the true statement.

• I actually like my speech class. Technically, it's more of a communications class, so we only give one speech.

• Everyone and their mother (ok, just Leia and Tamara) has a birthday in January. I think I won't get a breather on birthday parties until April.

• I did not fall after a 5 year absence from ice skating. However, I was wobbly and not very graceful. I blame the skates, which were a size and a half too big. Damn you early birds who wear size 8.5 and left me with a size 10.

Cowboy Mouth Pictures

Three C’s: Cowboy Mouth, Chinatown, and Cold

So last night, Tamara, Adora, and I went to go see Cowboy Mouth. It's hard to believe that I've been going to their concerts for 10 years now. We were front and to the far left, so we had a great view of JTG. He noticed Adora was having a great time and even handed her one of his guitar picks in between songs. It was a really great concert, and makes me wish Cowboy Mouth would come this way more often.

We got to meet the band afterwards. I'm still amazed that they really seem to enjoy hanging out with their fans after the show, with as many shows as they do. They still were just as nice as they were the first time I got to talk to them when they dropped by our radio station ten years ago. Unfortunately, there was another band booked for midnight, so the 9:30 Club staff were trying to get all of the Cowboy Mouth fans out of the building. We managed to catch JP and Regina outside, and they didn't mind posing for a picture with Adora.

We also talked to Justin Trawick, the lead singer of the opening group. I really enjoyed the set his group did and wished they had a little more time. They were all strings, with a violin, electric mandolin, guitar, and upright bass. He's performing in the National Mall next Sunday, so I think Paul and I will head over that way.

We had an interesting walk back to the Metro station. We didn't have a chance to eat before the concert, so we decided to stop in Chinatown for a bite to eat. It probably would have been faster to take the Metro back to Virginia and get fast food, since it took us forever to find a restaurant that wasn't 21+ after 10:30pm. We ended up at Tai Shan, which was a bit of a let down, but it had food and was right next to the Chinatown metro stop. After a quick change from red to orange lines, we settled in for the trip back to Virginia. Adora was pretty tired and nodded off before we got across the Potomac.

As for the cold, I'm not used to it being too much below 80 this time of the year, so I waltzed out of the house without my jacket. Oops. It was in the 60s today (brrr), so I guess it's time to get my winter clothes back out.

Congratulations are in order…

for Tamara and Andrew. It's hard to believe, but their little girl arrived this evening just before 10. For awhile, it was looking like she was shooting for a February birthday. Mama and baby are doing great. I'm looking forward to going to visit once everyone has a had a chance to recover from today.

Amy, thanks for keeping us updated today. Paul made it a little difficult to get to the phone today and by the time he was in bed, I was worried about waking everyone up over there.