Free The Mohitos!

Had a very nice day in DC. This morning we'd originally planned on going to a museum, but that turned into a late morning of jigsaw puzzles and Worms on the PS3. We got out just after lunch and went to the American History museum a few blocks away, where we did a scavenger hunt - found a scary red mask, George Washington's weird neo-Roman statue, Kermit The Frog, and a couple of things - and then visited the America on the Move exhibit. The kids loved it, and it succeeded at the twin purposes of both engaging them for two or three hours and helping tire them out.

A pair of 4-year-olds, if you didn't know, have a frightening amount of energy. More if they like each other, because then they're constantly egging each other on.

We ended with a visit to the gift shop, of course, where Aidan got a little model of a space shuttle; a Lego pirate book with some pieces in it; and the late Christmas present from my sister, a nifty thing that "drips" colored liquid down - like different types of oil or something. She'd gotten one before Christmas, but it was dropped and shattered before she'd gotten it to New York... So that was an eventual no-go.

Dinner was a lovely meal at Cuba Libre, a couple of blocks south of here. I have to say, the Vaca Frita was just... Oh. My. God. It was *amazing*. It was crispy and seared just right, but so amazingly tender it melted in your mouth, and spiced perfectly. Served over black beans, onions, peppers, long rice, and bacon... Just... Wow. The meal as a whole was great. Mixed meats on one appetizer (that chicken was great!) and mixed fried things (plantains and other things) on the other. The manager just adored the munchkins, and sat with us for almost 15 minutes while they both (separately) counted up to 100, and told her all about the pictures they were coloring for their various mothers and fathers. In fact, the manager gave us two free orders of ice cream for the kids, which was funny but very nice. :) My dessert was... Ummm, Tres Leches de Banana? Vanilla sponge cake soaked in a mix of banana creams; topped by chocolate banana mousse; and served with a caramelized banana. Quite nice.

I was very proud of Aidan, by the way. He tried the steak, pork, chicken, chorizo, toston, and fried plantains off the appetizers; the Yuca fries and bread (which, when served with its cinnamon butter, tasted an awful lot like French toast); some of both my steak and my sister's pork from the entrees; and then most of his serving of mango ice cream (when the waiter said they didn't have Strawberry)... And out of it all, the only thing he didn't like was my sister's pork.

Home in the evening, and the kids are in bed. I'm thinking about bed shortly myself. Flight in the morning, work (for me; school for the boy, of course) in the afternoon. Soooo, I'm out of here soon. But it's been a good trip.

Have a good night, all.

Yup, I'm gone...

I'm in DC. There was some doubt about this for a while; the snow came in (bastard weather!) and tried its damnedest to close Albany airport before I could escape. My 5:15 flight officially left at 6:05 because it didn't even take off from Baltimore to come north until 5:10 or something. I personally was on the plane by say 6:00, but we didn't pull away from the gate until at least 6:15. we then went to be de-iced, and got de-iced... And then sat there for another 20 minutes. When we took off they announced we'd land at 7:10 (a little less than an hour late). We actually landed some time after 7:30, and got off the plane after 7:45.

When we got delayed, Matt was kind enough to offer to come all the way out to BWI and get us. The reason he originally hadn't wanted to was rush-hour, which I don't at all blame him for. So he came out, and got stuck waiting 45 minutes for us. We did finally get here around 9:00... And Claire, of course, was immensely happy to see us. The two of them had a late night, maybe... But they're in bed now. And actually quiet! That's good. Well, it's okay. It's vacation of a sort. They can have a late night tonight and a late morning tomorrow.

We do have brunch plans, so everyone needs to be ready to leave at 10:45. :) Yeah, hardship.

Aidan, when the plane had landed, had a very nice conversation with the woman in the seat in front of us. Apparently, last weekend she had her six grandchildren (the oldest being 7) for a couple of days, and thought he was quite charming. She commented on his very intelligent questions. I thought it showed how smart she was...

If you haven't ever read up on Pastafarianism (or the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster), you should read up on it. I got more amusement than I should have out of that earlier today. I'm very tempted to ask my mother for a knitted flying spaghetti monster for my next birthday.

Pleasantly tipsy, very tired. Yummy Scotch. Going to bed. G'night.

Reducto Ad Teapot

Okay... I just, through Slashdot articles, found this for the first time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

I just broke down laughing because it was too funny. I love it.

Well, my car is legal again. I realized yesterday - driving home from my parents' - that I hadn't gotten it expected, and my inspection had expired at the end of December. I left home early to stop by a place near work and get it inspected... And of course the inspection took forever. I mean, it took over an hour, and I have no idea why. Honestly, I was pretty concerned it had failed - it's the longest inspection I've ever sat through, and I was just assuming there'd been some form of problem since it was taking so long to be released to me.

Ah, well, whatever. My inspection has now pushed forwards a month, which is nice. I suppose. It doesn't really make a difference, but hey - it's an extra month. Or something. With only a very minor risk of being fined for an expired inspection. >.<

Last year, I put reminders into my phone. This year, apparently I forgot. Maybe I should put them in now for next January? Yeah, that's the ticket...

Don't forget to never feed him after midnight!

My co-worker just came over, took a small plastic figure of a kick-boxer (it was a $0.25 prize from one of those plastic bubble vending machines at a diner, like 9 months ago?), and said "I need to borrow this for a minute." He then wandered off, was gone for 5 minutes, came back, put it down on my desk, and said "Thanks."

I'm intensely curious but entirely too afraid to ask.