Tiring (but sane) day

Halloween (or in this case, the day before it) is the day when I officially prove I am no fun. I have zero inclination to plan a costume, and even if I do throw something together and go out, I usually find the madness around the day a bit disconcerting. At least you only have to throw on a green shirt to drink in extraordinarily crowded watering holes on St. Patrick's Day--this is all the inconvenience with much more effort.

And plus, today I am tired and Washington's transit system has fallen to pieces. The reason for both is, of course, the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

Did you watch it on tv? If so, you saw a lot more than I did several blocks away from where you could even see a jumbotron. This was taken from my oh-so-excellent vantage point:


At rare moments, the volume would be turned up just enough so that we could hear a few jokes (and Cat Stevens and Ozzy Osbourne sharing the stage was pretty special). But at some point we got bored of standing in the middle of huge crowd and not seeing or hearing anything. And that was the point where we fought our way onto the metro, returned to Home Sweet Rosslyn, and ate us some Baja Fresh (and this evening, saw some delightful Dhaka friends). The end.

This sign cracked me up though:

Bloody Thursday

Any day that starts out without breakfast in a doctor's office getting stabbed probably isn't going to go well.

Of course, I have a special aversion to getting my blood drawn because I have, given the reaction from every nurse or technician I deal with, pretty much the deepest veins of all time. This followed the usual routine--first I get the B team, they poke around my arm for a while (thankfully, no practice stabs this time), then they call in reinforcements.

So the A team comes in, a quiet woman with a clear sense of purpose. She is poking my arm with her fingers for about 10 minutes, and I am losing hope. But then it's go-time, and she sticks me with the needle.

I wait for her to tell me if she successfully got the vein when suddenly she bursts out with, "Trust in God and He will deliver." I nod politely. Again: "Trust in God and He will deliver!... I thought you would be my challenge today, but the Holy Spirit is here in this room. God is great!"

Um, check please?

And for all that, the day wasn't half bad. Things are really starting to come together in Chinese--today was one of those great optimistic language-learning days when I really got the feeling that I am going to conquer this language. And then we had a fun language class outing to get dinner at Ceiba downtown--yum. Made up for the ten hours of fasting before the doctor's office this morning :)

Yay, James put photos on this computer

So we get our three-year nostalgia photo after all.


And here is five minutes ago, on our balcony, commemorating another year's last warm October weekend:

Look, James sort of smiled! An accomplishment!

This is the last week he'll be smiling, considering he starts 7:40am Chinese class on November 1st...

Elbows and endives

Today I roused myself for a trip to Whole Foods. Let me tell you, I am not sold on Whole Foods. I am sold on Trader Joe's and will happily elbow the crowds to get what I want. But Whole Foods just feels like expensive chaos.

Not that there's nothing good to be gained from it--and we are certainly going to enjoy our Tuscan loaf and smoked trout spread. But I almost got killed by an old lady who tried to jump right in front of me from the next line over as I entered the line, because at Whole Foods, your current line is never good enough and a shorter line is always worth warfare.

Whole Foods is not worth risking your life, people. Listen to me.

I put together a baked french toast that we'll pop in the oven tomorrow before going to a friend's for brunch (but I used strawberries, not blueberries). Now I think it's time for some Bleak House watched instantly on Netflix. And maybe a frozen chocolate-covered banana that, I maintain, was not worth risking my life for.

Love, curry, and other things

Tonight we are making chicken in Trader Joe's masala simmer sauce.

This may not seem like much for news, but it's a big step for me. It's the first time I've eaten something vaguely South Asian since my return from Dhaka. I think we can say I've officially entered the recovery period.

In more ways than one. I was home sick with a really nasty cold today (have American cold viruses gotten crazy strong in the two years I was away? This hit me like a ton of bricks), and after napping for about three hours--three sweet hours of wallowing--I am finally getting some energy back.

Otherwise, life is good. Chinese is getting harder and more intense as we get beyond "Hello. What is your honorable surname? Mine is Hao. I am called Hao Kexin" (which I am, in Chinese class). To the point where I feel somewhat overwhelmed by homework every night.

This week was also our third (Third! Where did the time go???) wedding anniversary. Insert cute wedding photos, except I still haven't transferred them to this computer and am too lazy to do so now. Plus, by the third anniversary, you've probably all seen the cute ones already.

To celebrate we went to Sushi Taro for the omakase counter. And this, my friends, is the most important part of this post. If you like Japanese food at all, this is an absolute must. The food was incredible--the sashimi was excellent (I dream of the scallop, sweet shrimp, pike mackerel, and chu-toro), but so were the other things--a delightful appetizer of tofu, sea urchin, and fresh wasabi (which is nothing like the powdered kind you usually get!), a brick that opened up to reveal sea cucumber egg and squid bathed in ink, a plate of little appetizers that included a fish ball stuffed with chestnuts and covered in stiff green tea noodles so that the entire thing resembled a sea urchin... and yet tasted great. That and basically having your own personal chef guiding you through it all (who was friendly and young and unintimidating and very helpful)--plus a couple of carafes of sake to round out the night--made it an amazing night.

Of course, our first two anniversaries were spent in Dhaka, so it doesn't take much to up the ante. With all the amazing trips we took during those two years, somehow we never got away on our anniversary (though both years we had just come back from a jaunt somewhere).

The thing all three years have had in common? The good company! It's that which keeps me "worldwide available," in State Department speak--I couldn't do it alone, and I am so glad I don't have to.

Daydreams of Europe, part ii

Don't you ever just want to be French? Why do my clothes from H&M not look like that???

Maybe because they are not paired with Gucci shoes. Le sigh.

James's swearing-in was nice... brief. Very brief. Better than being too long, I suppose.

Listening to right now: amazing lectures on the Civil War. Fascinating stuff. Almost (but not quite) makes me want to go back to college.

People who are messing with me

That would be Kate Spade. Curse her and her marketing. But I found this little card tucked into the clutch I bought at the Woodbury Commons outlets, and in spite of myself I was charmed:

occasionally she dreams of italy.
she dreams of cheese shops, persnickety fiats,
and very fine leather goods.

I dream! Me me me! When do I get to go to Italy????

I AM THE WORST BLOGGER EVER.

But to be fair, I am not just abandoning my blog. I am also the worst unpacker of UAB ever, the worst organizer of new apartment ever, the worst doer of laundry ever... etc.

On the flip side, I feel like I'm doing plenty else! I went to Memphis for a friend's wedding this weekend, and this is all you need to know about that:


Ohhh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

Of course, the wedding was lovely, the bride was beautiful, BBQ I LOVE YOU.

Tonight I attempted to be cultural and visited the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria to see some artists' studios and galleries. At Scope Gallery I bought a lovely ceramic box by the potter Martin Karcher. Can I say I love ceramics? So pretty.

And, um, somewhere in there I am learning Chinese, or something. It's going pretty well... when you think about how six weeks ago I knew nothing, and now I know things--things that are in Chinese, no less!--well, that's pretty astounding.

A weekend in short

Somehow all my weekend plans fell through. And I am pretty pleased.

Not that I don't love to see friends. But it was time for me and the UAB to hash things out, just the two of us. Plus, a little trip to Bed Bath and Beyond was most definitely in order. I know there are people who live happy, fulfilled lives without a collapsible laundry drying rack, but they aren't my kind of people.

I am going to a wedding next weekend (very excited!) but realized I packed exactly zero dresses in my UAB. I vaguely remember now my thought process--I figured that, if I actually had cause to wear a nice dress during this year, wouldn't it be fun, once back in America, to go shopping? Yay for shopping!!!??!

Um, I didn't really envision this week. Or remember that weddings (the most likely event requiring a dress) are often in other cities, cities one gets to by airplanes and travel and stress. So yeah, tomorrow afternoon may require a mall expedition. Sorry, Chinese homework, you lose.

Well, I mean, I always do my homework. But somehow that great big block of time and focused energy I keep thinking is just around the corner never comes. To paraphrase the old saying, learning Chinese is what happens when you're busy dashing off workbook exercises and not making flashcards.