A Visit from Kim and Bryan

Kim and Bryan arrived late Thursday night. I took the metro into DC to meet them and help them get acquainted with the metro system so they'd be all set to go Friday. While I was at work Friday they spent time at the Air and Space Smithsonian and went to see Arlington National Cemetery and the Changing of the Marine Guard that is posted at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. For dinner on Friday, we went to the all-you-can-eat meat place, Malibu Grill. Malibu Grill is a Brazilian Steakhouse. All the meat is cooked over an open flame on swords. When it is cooked, the servers come to your table and slice you off a chunk. Swords, cowboy hats and meat. Fantastic. While most of us chose to diversify and have some chicken, sausage, and ribs, Bryan wanted only the steaks. :)

Saturday, after a relaxing morning and breakfast at Amphora, we made our way south of DC to Mount Vernon-the home of George Washington. It was really really hot out, but we enjoyed our visit. Nam and I had never been to Mt. Vernon, so it was a good break from the typical touristy stuff (not that Mt. Vernon isn't a tourist trap too!). While we were there we took a 40-minute boat tour up the Potomac where we got a nice view of the Mansion from the river. Another plus was the drop in temperature that accompanied the boat trip! We also viewed the inside of the Mansion, which we had to stand in a long line to do. George Washington had a peculiar taste in colors, one room was powder blue and pastel green, another was a bright almost kelly green. The view out to the Potomac was gorgeous though, and its easy to see why he was so taken with the area. On our way out, Bryan found himself some metal soldiers and cannons as souvenirs.

Sunday, again after a nice morning at home, Kim, Bryan and I headed toward DC. We had planned and reserved tickets for a Duck Boat tour sometime that day. When we got to the office at Union Station, we booked our time for 4:30pm. We had some time to kill so we walked to Chinatown for lunch at this great Irish pub. When we got back to Union Station at 4pm, they informed us the tour had been cancelled because of an electrical storm that was rapidly moving into our area. We were really disappointed. Bryan did find another metal soldier at Union Station so he wasn't too bummed. Instead of our now cancelled tour, we decided to take the metro over toward the White House and walk around some of the monuments. We saw the front and back of the White house, walked down to the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the reflecting pool, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Korea and Vietnam War Memorials. Bryan appeared appropriately awed at each site, discussed D-day and the wall of stars at WWII, recounted Forrest Gump at the reflecting pool, and commented on the size of Lincoln and Washington. It did start to rain, but it was only a light sprinkle, certainly not an electrical storm. When we finally returned home, exhausted, Nam had a delicious dinner of Vietnamese Beef Stew prepared for us. Yumm-o.

Then yesterday Kim's congressman had arranged for the four of us to get a tour of the Capitol from one of his summer interns. Congress wasn't in session, but there were a gazillion people there anyway. We learned a lot of history of the statues, paintings, etc., and sat in the gallery of the House Chamber. The tour was really interesting with the exception of this one annoying woman. But I'll keep my feelings about her mostly to myself ;) After the tour we went to grab a quick bite then drove Kim and Bry to the airport.

I think if you ask Bryan his favorite parts of the trip were playing the Wii and playing with Nam (even though Bryan kept losing and Nam made him do push-ups). I think I most enjoyed our lazy mornings, snacking on cheese and fruit for breakfast will chatting. It was a fun visit, and I'm so happy to have played host!

I didn't clean my house

Yesterday I was supposed to go home from work and clean my house so it wouldn't be a disaster when Kim and Bryan arrive tonight. Things didn't go as planned. Nam called me at work to let me know that his boss offered us the company's tickets to the Nationals game last night if we wanted them. Far be it from me to turn down free tickets, especially those in the season ticket holders section (much closer then we usually pay to sit), so I left work a little early to get home in time to leave for the game.

First we changed into our fan gear, then walked over to the metro. It was 95 degrees out. YUCK. Since it was rush hour, the trains were running frequently and we hopped on right away. We had to make a pit stop in Ballston Commons to grab the tickets from Nam's other office. While we were there we took the time to thank his boss for the tickets. We try to thank him every time, hoping he'll see how much we appreciate it and keep giving us tickets. It's worked so far!

We hopped the metro again and rode the rest of the way to RFK. Inside the stadium it was so hot. There was no breeze at all. The game was great though, the Nats got off to a quick start, scoring 7 runs in the first 2 innings. We ate our fill as usual, italian sausage with peppers and chicken strips, and moaned about how full we were. Because the score was well in our favor, we left at the 7th inning stretch. For weeknight games that usually gets us to the metro station ahead of the crowds and home by 10pm.

All in all it was a fun night, but now I really must get home early today and clean my house!

Otakon 2007

Last week Nam and I treked up to Baltimore to joint the crowds of people making their way to Otakon, generally considered the 2nd largest anime convention in the US. Last years attendance topped 20,000. We only went on Saturday and Sunday, and chose both days to use the Baltimore light rail system to get into town rather then deal with the traffic and trying to park (Artscape was going on last weekend as well, and the streets of Baltimore were overflowing with both traffic and people). The light rail was a great choice, I was able to read several chapters of Harry Potter while we were traveling :)

Saturday was Cosplay day - where attendees are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite characters. Though usually people dress as characters from animes, manga, or video games, Cosplay day gives people license to break out whatever costume they have in their closets from Halloweens past. There was a kid dressed as one of the sand people from Star Wars, and someone from Stargate SG-1. Some costumes were elaborate, some were revealing, and some were just plain weird. I've added some of the better pictures below, but for the complete album see namandrobyn.shutterfly.com

Harry Potter!

Sarah and Rachel were in town this weekend and I got the chance to visit with them. The three of us decided to spend our time catching up with each other while trolling through Borders Friday night waiting for the release of Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows. Though we were all falling asleep by the time our group was called forward to finally get in the long line to purchase our copy, it was well worth it. There were a lot of cute kids decked out in their Hogwart's gear, and even more adults. I was even the first one to wish Sarah a happy birthday Saturday morning... I dropped her and Rachel off at the Metro station just after 1 am.

Though I was only able to spend that afternoon and evening with Sarah, it was great to see her and visit. She's geographically much closer now then she was in Iowa, but somehow we still have a hard time making plans to see each other. This short trip was definitely an incentive to do something about that.

And...I got my Harry Potter book. Even with Otakon this weekend, and spending most of Saturday and Sunday with crazy Anime lovers, I'm just over halfway through. I hope to finish it up right quick, so I can avoid the meanies who have finished already and want to spoil the ending.

Our Nine-Tailed Fox

Hinata has a brother! Welcome Naruto, an adorable beige tabby that we adopted from a rescue shelter almost three weeks ago at the perfect age of 10 weeks. The rescuers were excited to see our interest in the little boy, as they were concerned his two brothers would be adoped as a pair and he'd be left all alone. Since we were only interested in one more cat to keep Hinata company, and he had a playful spirit, he was a perfect fit for us. Just watching him tumble around the cage playing with a feather toy we knew he'd be a a great addition to our home.

He's adapted quite quickly, much faster then we'd anticipated. He's extremely friendly, even passing out on laps of our company. He chases Hinata all around the house, tackles her, and generally asks her to play. She stopped hissing at him after the first week, and now doesn't run away every time he comes in the room. Though she's still not back to her typical self, she's getting much better. Now if we could only get Naruto to quit messing with her when she's sleeping, and kicking her out of her favorite napping spots, we'd be all set.