Heard.... ("Jay's back!" edition)

...while discussing Val and Annie's recent visit to see Jay in Chicago
Val: Several things reminded us of you.
Me: Like what?
Val: There was this fountain that played music and we knew you'd know all the songs.
Jay: [singing] Da da da da da da da dum dum dum...
Me: 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky.
Val: See?

Twist-twist-twist-twist-mashed potato-mambo

Jules gave me the "Shake and Shimmy Edition" DVD of Hairspray for my birthday, and I am addicted. I've watched most of the extras two and three times and have even learned most of the dance to "Ladies' Choice." Unfortunately, the side effect is that I've had the song in my head literally for three days straight. I love Zac Efron, but it's getting a little old.

Heard...

...halfway through dinner with the family in Pittsburgh
Grandma: [looking horrified] Do I have to eat all these carrots?!

(We had a casserole, and she somehow ended up with four million carrots in her helping.)

ALRIGHT ALREADY

Apparently a girl can’t take a brief blogging break without disappointing her millions tens of readers. YOU CAN’T RUSH THE CREATIVE PROCESS, people. But I aim to please, so here I am.

Anyway. I’ve just come off of two fun-filled weekends, entirely different but both quite noisy. Last weekend's AU "family reunion" of sorts was jam-packed, and we visited nearly every museum known to man that isn't on the standard Smithsonian roster, specifically:

• The OTHER Air and Space Museum (Udvar-Hazy Center) out by Dulles, which is awesome. (It has a Blackbird! And a space shuttle! And other things.)
• The Newseum - I had been to the old one in Rosslyn, but the new, recently re-opened one is so much cooler! I could spend hours there. Among the museum's extensive collection of historical papers was one covering the 1925 Scopes trial. The paper in question? The Johnson City Staff-News, former rag of my hometown!
• The Spy Museum - I was expecting it to be overrated but…well. It was not, primarily due “Operation Spy,” an hour-long interactive extravaganza (!) where you become a spy and go on a mission. My hours of watching Alias paid off, though Jason started things off well by figuring out how to open a secret door. (The answer? Push.) Anyway, it was exceedingly fun and well worth the extra $7.
• Mt. Vernon - Honestly, it was a lot like any other historic landmark (Monticello takes the cake, in my opinion), except for the view, which is spectacular. Also, the peanut soup was quite tasty.

We also went to Zorba’s (obviously), spent large amounts of time wedged into my car, and ate a lot of food. And we talked a lot—generally all at the same time—though it obviously wasn’t very exciting because we nearly made Miguel fall asleep in his raspberry tiramisu at the dinner table. It was lively and exhausting and all the things that a good reunion should be.

AND THEN. This weekend, when Hanna (the hurricane or tropical storm or whatever) came to visit the area, I went to Pittsburgh for a Steelers game with my family. It was also quite loud, but fun was had by all. The weather was lovely, the Steelers won convincingly, and I discovered the joys of Nintendo DS Lite and the game “Brain Age,” which is addictive and awesome.

So now I am home, where I intend to stay for the foreseeable future.

Uh, duh.

Did anybody besides my mother notice the typo (now fixed) in the title of the post prior to the "Mavrick" one? Withdrawal. Yeesh. Clearly I should not be a smartass unless I check my spelling first.

So. How's that "No Child Left Behind" thing going?

Withdrawal

So. They were here. It was awesome. Now they are gone. It is quiet.

I shall write about it later, but for now I leave you (well, them, actually) with this: COMMIT, and MERGE!!!!

More later.