Playdate in PA

The below conversation occurred at 9:57 this am:

Doug: What ya doin??

Me: Trying to read through some of this documentation, but essentially I’m just getting a lot of listening done on my ipod (currently playing is Mean Girls by Sugarland) and emailing back and forth about Twilight with a couple people from work. Apparently after the conference in Georgetown I was added to their list because they found out I was a fan

Doug: are you gonna do an update to Haveabanditday???

Me: Give me a topic.

Doug: break down our weekend in PA.. And through in a little Twilight trivia HEHEHEHE

Doug: Oh and a little snippet on how much you love and adore your hubby hehehhe..

So without further ado, I give you our trip to PA last weekend in pictures, well, at least pictures of Sydney and Frannie's playdate since my loving and adoring husband forgot to put my camera case back in my purse last night and I am without thumbdrive to give you all the pictures from the weekend. Pray that I don't encounter Steven Tyler, Brad Pitt, or RPatz on the way home because how else will I document my wildest dream coming true?! Anyway :)

After work on Friday, well for Doug anyway because I was home enjoying my muscle relaxers after throwing my back out bathing Sydney the night before, we headed up to PA to visit some of his family. We stopped in Delaware for supper at Waffle House. Apparently their waffles are laced with Tryptophan.



Saturday morning Sydney and I got up early and headed down to visit Emily, my neighbor from back home who now lives in PA, and her daughter Frannie. This was their first playdate.



Frannie is 4 months older than Sydney but I swear they could be sisters. How cute are they together?











We had breakfast, did a little shopping at Carter’s (seriously if I lived within 10 minutes of Carter’s we’d have to file for Chapter 11, or is it 13?), then went back to her house for lunch and playtime. It was so great to spend time with them. I still can't believe we are mommies! It seems like just yesterday we were getting in trouble for playing too loud in front of her sister's window after they had just brought her home from the hospital, or getting our picture taken in front of birthday cakes (you know the ones with all the sugary roses!), or wearing our crocheted shawls my mom made all us girls. It's crazy how time flies.

Manic Monday

...I was kissing Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream.

And then I woke up to the realization that it's Monday. What's turning out to be a very busy workday. So here's a little teaser to tide you over.

Future first woman Heisman Trophy winner?



Oh, I also made these for one of my friends from the bus. Not quite as cute as Bakerella's, but still cute, no?

Annoyance of the day

I am normally very enthusiastic when it comes to Fridays for the simple fact that I will soon have two whole days that do not involve a commute into downtown DC. It takes a lot to bum me out when that is in my immediate future. However, a certain bank has managed to annoy me right out of my typical Friday happiness. I went to get some cash for lunch today, typically $20 because this particular ATM does not dispense $10 like the one in the gas station by the house, and when I go to choose the amount, it's not there. I had to look twice because every ATM gives you the option of $20, right? Right? Well, not anymore. My bank's ATM, at least the branch most convenient to me at work, now requires withdrawals to be in multiples of $50! Granted, I think I did see a $10 withdrawal option but I really don't want to have to do that twice to get money for lunch and possibly a couple of scratch offs at the convenience store if I so choose. And do you think they dished out 2 Jackson's and a Hamilton, or even 2 Lincolns? Nope, I got one Grant to spend for lunch, assuming the businesses around here accepted bills larger than $20. So there you have it, my annoyance for the day. And now my To Do List for the weekend:

Open account with a competent bank who won't require me to withdraw an absurd amount of money from ATM without fear of being mugged by the homeless population often found loitering/badgering people in the area. And Doug wonders why I hate to carry cash.

Tell me, what's your biggest annoyance of the day?

Cherry Blossom madness

Theory: Be at PSD when they open at 7:30, get my ID, jump on metro and be downtown early enough to stake out a curb to stalk Alex Trebek as Grand Marshall of the Cherry Blossom Parade.

Reality: Wake up to Doug saying, “So much for getting your ID at 7:30”, checking my phone to see that it’s 6:59am. Oops. So I got up, took a quick shower, got dressed, woke Sydney up, fed and dressed her and an hour or so later we were out of the house. We drove up to Andrews and went to the Navy side of the base where I had my picture taken after walking the 30 feet or so from the car to the building in 40+ mph winds. I desperately wanted to ask if they could just keep my old picture because really NOTHING has changed other than my weight, but of course I told them “Sure” when they asked me if that was still correct. Like I’m going to tell them to add 30 pounds? No thank you. Off to Metro we went.

The line for a fare card at Metro was insane Saturday morning. Apparently I underestimated the number of people who felt the need to go downtown to see lots and lots of trees. I ended up buying a smartrip card from a different machine with NO line which comes loaded with $5 and headed down to the train. Sydney talked to Tinkerbell the whole way there.



By the time we got off Metro, the parade had already started so we walked up a few blocks and cut over to the parade route. It was then that I came to the realization that everybody and their grandmother was standing along Constitution Avenue and wondered why again we were there. Oh, that’s right. I wanted to see the stupid trees too. We stood on the corner long enough to see a marching band go by before deciding that we were starving (2 bites of Sydney’s mixed fruit was all I had for breakfast that morning!) and needed to find something to eat.





Side note: Seeing these girls had me totally nostalgic over my flag twirling days. It also made me thankful our uniforms included pants and we didn’t have to worry about the wind and flashing everyone our no nos.

Anyway, up Constitution we went and what fun that was pushing a stroller through crowds of people not willing to give an inch when they weren’t even throwing out moon pies or beads! Eventually we cut back over to Pennsylvania and made our way through the Japanese street festival but I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough to eat sushi from a street vendor, so we kept walking. And walking. And walking. And what’s that? The Washington Monument. Yay.



Doug does a mean windy hair!



And lots of people looking at trees.



And more trees down at the Tidal Basin.









I suppose it was worth dealing with the droves of people to see the smile on Sydney’s face. She LOVED the flowers. Here’s Doug committing what is probably a felony picking a small bunch for her. Shhhhh. Don’t tell. We can’t afford bail money.



We left the Tidal Basin STILL having not eaten and made our way back towards the monument. We stopped for a breather.



And because we didn’t want hot dogs, we decided to stop at the American History Museum and pay an obscene amount of money for lunch in their café and the use of clean restrooms. Let me just say, that was $40 well spent for 2 cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, fries, and onion rings. I’ll let it slide that my stall was out of toilet paper and I had to make use of the seat covers provided since Doug had Sydney, the diaper bag, and my jacket which had a new packet of Kleenex in the pocket! While we were there, we decided to wait in line to see the new Star Spangled Banner exhibit (the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem).



I was feeling all patriotic until Sydney started protesting loudly. Apparently we were encroaching on naptime and since she was having nothing to do with sleeping in her stroller, she needed to be constantly on the move. So we cut out of the viewing line and headed back to the Metro, stopping for photo ops on the way. First there was the Capitol.



Then there was the garden outside the Smithsonian Castle. Even with the crowds here, it was serene. If you want to see pretty trees and avoid the madness of the Tidal Basin and Mall, come here!





Pioneer Woman I am not, but my intentions were good.



Hey daddy, Sydney wants you to plant a magnolia tree JUST LIKE THAT ONE in our front yard!

Another weekend To Do list

1. Renew dependent ID card if I ever want to shop at the commissary or exchange again - not that I'm a regular because it's more than a 30 minute drive to get there, but I like having the option.

2. Brave all the tourists downtown to watch the Cherry Blossom parade with Doug and Sydney - HELLO KITTY and Alex Trebek (this year's Grand Marshall)!

3. Bake more Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

4. Laundry - will it never stop?

5. Charge ipod - I need my Go Team to run. I never tire of them! If you have any more good running songs, please let me know.

6. Gym

7. Finish Bright Lights, Big Ass so I can start on Such A Pretty Fat - Jen Lancaster is a woman after my own heart. She had me at her very first footnote! Thanks sis for recommending these to me :)

And because it's Friday and I feel like sharing, I'm taking you back. Way back. To 1990. Here's a song that I haven't been able to get out of my head all week. Enjoy :)




What's that? You want to go even further?

Are you sure?

OK.

You asked for it.



Just remember, you only have yourself to blame if you cancel your weekend plans in lieu of becoming one with your couch and Duckie, Bender, and Jake Ryan!

A little lesson in Sydneyese

So I'm not sure where Sydney falls on the scale when it comes to number of words she can say now, but here they are, at least ones I can remember. Translating is so much fun!

1. Woof woof - That would be doggy in Sydneyese. Actually, it's most 4 legged animals at this point.

2. Ba - This is a tough one because it can mean a number of things. Most of the time she means ball, which she is now rolling, bouncing, and throwing to us. It can also mean balloon, binky, or Mr. Bunny.

3. Buh - Bird

4. Wawa - Sippy cup holding either milk or water

5. Rar - Her impersonation of a bear, lion, tiger, and/or dinosaur. Supercute!

6. Nana - Banana

7. Yumyum - This nana is delicious mommy!

8. Potpot - Potty or bathtub or climbing on her potty trying to get into the bathtub. I'm not sure.

9. Duck - She occasionally recognizes a duck and if she's in the mood, she will quack instead of woof woof.

10. Bowl - She has this one right even though she tries to wear them all as hats. Thanks daddy.

11. Puhpuh - I heard this for the first time yesterday when she was wearing my purple bowl as a hat.

12. Baby - It's never too early to prep her for becoming a big sis. And no, she is not expecting to be one in 9 months, though I am not opposed to the idea. Hmmm. Maybe I should put off the alterations on my bridesmaid dress for June just in case I need a tad bit more room :)

13. Sock - After much deliberation on our part, we decided that she wasn't saying another choice 4 letter s word, but was talking about her shoes and socks. To her, they are one in the same and she hates wearing both.

14. Mama - That's me!

15. Dada - That's daddy!

Theory

I think I am about to subscribe to the theory of always eat your dessert first. Why? Do I really need to further elaborate on this? I mean, really? Sometimes you just need that instant gratification that a turkey sandwich cannot give. And what better way to get it than skipping the soup and sandwich and going straight to the banana pudding, complete with mushy nilla wafers (the BEST part of BP in my opinion) that have been marinating overnight in the vanilla pudding. YUM!

Am I alone in my theory or can you support eating dessert first too?