House & Buffy: connected?

So, a couple times a week I stay up late to watch T.V. while I fold laundry. Right now, I'm primarily watching House M.D., Gray's Anatomy, and Bones. Particularly in House, I've been noticing that several actors who were regulars on the Buffy/Angel series have been cast as patients on House. Of course Bones has David Boreanaz as a main character, so I see plenty of him, and I think that Gray's Anatomy may have had a cameo or two by Buffy ex-pats.

In this week's House, the main patient was Marc Blucas, or "Finn", reprising his role as a sickly military-type. Other actors I've noticed from Buffy: "Glory", "Andrew", "Warren", "Dawn" and that's all I can think of right now.

Does this mean I'm a geek? More importantly, does this mean that one of the producers/casting directors for House liked the Buffy series?

Whaaaa? Odd photo find of the day.

I know that if Dash finds a sock, he'll put it on his hand and start dusting the T.V. (I have no earthly idea where this idea occurred to him, truly.) Now, if I gave him a sponge on a stick, like this little fellow has, would Dash try scrubbing a U-2 Dragon Lady? I do not know for sure, but he'll likely never have the chance to demonstrate.

Just to get an idea of the surface area this boy will have to swab to get this plane clean, here are the specs for the U-2:

Length: 63 feet (19.2 meters)
Height: 16 feet (4.8 meters)
Wingspan: 105 feet (32 meters)

Okay, yes, this is a photo I came across doing work-related research, but isn't it silly?

Equipping playtime

For the last several days, Rosie, Dash and I have been making a daily trip down the street to my neighbor's yard for some quality trampoline time! Rosie loves to see Emily, who at 9yrs, is the youngest of the three children who live there. We all scamper over to their yard, get Emily's attention (and I feel slightly badly that I'm dragging her away from her homework), and go out back to flop around on the trampoline.

Both kids really didn't like the bouncing at first, but now are addicted! Rosie likes to jump and fall (slapstick, with legs in the air), where Dash is just happy to giggle and run around at high speed. Something I've noticed yesterday about how the three are interacting: Rosie worships Emily and yells to her, "Watch me, Emily! Watch me!", while Emily is much more interested in Dash, calling with arms outstretched, "Give me a hug, Dash!", and Dash ignores Emily and just runs to me. Is it human nature to want to attract someone whose attention is elsewhere?

Also, I haven't told the kids yet, but our new playset is being delivered on Monday!! I'm sure that we won't even be able to think about assembling it untli the weekend, but how exciting!!!

Playdump.

When you're a parent, you learn about being flexible, because kids have their own agendas that often conflict with yours. When you try to coordinate with other parents, this gets compounded. For example, for the second time, I tried to organize a lunchtime playdate with four former coworkers (I know, "former coworker" just adds to the flaky mix) who all have children under two. They all live in NoVA like us, so it seemed to be a great idea! Nobody was available for the first date I tried to organize, so I thought I'd give it another shot. We all agreed on a date two weeks out, Saturday March 24; I had a book group meeting scheduled, but I thought that I could be flexible about their schedules if they were all available that day and so I bowed out of the book group. To make a long story short, nobody showed up. Again. AND, we didn't make it to the book group because AJS already drove out to PG County that morning to see his mother and didn't want to make another trip. Aside from that, we had all sorts of partially prepared extra food in the house (to accomodate our assumed guests: 8 adults and 4 kids) and didn't want it to go to waste.

Just to assuage your curiousity, here are the excuses: family one had to go out of town unexpectedly; family two had a sick kid, coughing and tugging her ear, so a doc appt interfered; family three, um, wife had to work (? lame.); family four, well, just forgot, haven't been checking emails, haven't been checking phone messages. And, we didn't even get a day's notice from them. AJS started shopping and cooking for the lunch the day before.

AARRGH. I think I'll let somebody else organize next time.

Dash's first sentence!

Well, if you don't count that it doesn't technically have a verb, he managed to string these three words together to get AJS to do his bidding:

"Nuk, pleesh, Daddee?"

What a cutie. But, we do need to wean him off his paci pretty soon—he's pretty much an addict. Sometimes he tries to fit two or more nuks in his mouth at the same time.

On to marketing: I'm a Board Member at the kids' daycare, and we're having a book sale with Usborne books, which really has a great selection of quality books! Dash and Rosie especially have enjoyed the touchable "That's Not My [insert possession here]" series. All sales at the Usborne Booksale link (specific to our CDC) support the Center's fundraising efforts.

Where did Rosie get her curls?

This question has come up many a time, since, for those of you who know AJS and I, we both have very straight hair and Rosie has curly-curls.

Here's a 1940s era photo of my Uncle Bob and Aunt Dot at a Connecticut swimming hole. Later in life, Dot wore her hair very short, so I didn't know it was curly; however, this old photo may reveal at least one genetic source of curls!

Well, really, I just wanted an excuse to post some old family photos that I scanned. :-)

1913 Sears House $683?!?

I just received this bit of clip art in an email today. This kit house was something unique and amazing. Sears Roebuck & Co. would send you the materials so you (and hopefully some well-trained friends) could build your own house. For $683 1913-era dollars.

I'm not a CPA, so I have no idea how that values out in today's money, but I don't think there's anything like this in 2007. It sounds like somebody's fantasy fiction.

In College Park, MD, my SIL's inlaws owned a Sears kit house that I think was just sold recently(w/i the last 5yrs)—it was in an historical register. I visited there once around 1998, but wasn't aware of its significance at the time; it looked and felt like any other two-story, single-family home.

Hangin' out

Well, part of my wish for the warmer weather came true yesterday: the landscapers came and cleared out all the leaves and dead brush; then, AJS and I drank some wine spritzers (woo!) and sat on the deck while Dash and Rosie frolicked in the yard. Dash was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time! They both played in the little house (which will need to find a new home when the playset comes) and slid on the slide. We supervised from the patio chairs. I am so glad they are becoming less dependent on us! (Yikes, will I regret saying that later?)

After reviewing the landscaper's work, I noticed that there were some grasses that were sticking out from an area near a cement walkway and wondered why the lawn crew hadn't cleared them. On closer examination, I found that said grasses were full of a large amount of dirt (about six square feet), most likely moved there by some extremely industrious ants. When I decided to get a trowel and move the dirt, I found that I had two very interested helpers! Two more trowels were found, but after a while, Dash scooped a shovelful of dirt into my shoes and we were done. On a related note, I was disappointed to discover that all our raspberry bushes had been completely removed, despite my specific direction to save them. [A phone call to the landscapers revealed that the bushes were not salvageable, i.e. completely dead, so we'll have to replace them. 3/16]

Maybe I'll actually try to plant more things this year, so we can eat what we grow. Important lessons for the kiddies!

NEW PLAYSET!!!

This is the playset that I just purchased today, online! I'm not sure of the delivery date, but the weather is getting warmer around here and I am itching for a nice playset with SWINGS! For some reason, swings are a hard thing to locate around here—local parks just don't have them. Liability issues maybe?

Anyway, I know Rosie and Dash and all of their friends will love it! Here are all the features:

Two playground-style swings, an 8-foot wave slide, ladders, monkey bars and a lookout tower
Front ladder doubles as a rock climbing wall with bolted-on handholds
Canopied, 4'-high playdeck is 54"L x 18"W
Setup dimensions: 17'L x 7'9"W x 8'4"H (Allow 6' safety perimeter around playset)
Easy Setup in 2 hours estimated time when 2 adults participate in construction
Includes pre-assembled ladders and floor panels for easy set-up
Fort Assembly has Pre-Drilled Holes
Safety handgrips at top of ladders provide added security
Customer is required to drill some holes for hand grips and to mount ladders and slides
Angled leg design increases stability
Set includes stakes to secure the play set into the ground after assembly

AJS got a write up on "Five Bites"!

Five Bites on Friday
For this week's installment of Five Bites, the mind behind monkeyerotica.com offers the top five sandwiches in DC.

1. The Big G Man at Mangialardo and Son

2. The reuben at Deli City

3. The roast beef at Hodges Sandwich Shop

4. The Ahab burger (bacon, bleu cheese and mushrooms) at Sign of the Whale

5. The New York strip sandwich at Stoney's

Have a top five you swear by? Or just five great things you've eaten recently? Five Bites is your opportunity to tell Metrocurean readers which dishes you're enjoying around town. Send your list and whether you'd like your name and a picture included to metrocurean@gmail.com.
Posted by Amanda at 10:53 AM

BTW, that's monkeyrotica to you.

Quote of the day

I belong to a designers' listserve where there was a discussion today starting with a designer who wanted advice about what sort of digital camera she should buy for an important client shoot of a home's interior. She thought she wanted a fish-eye lens and maybe a wide angle lens, but she really didn't know much about cameras.

A witty designer posted this quote:

“Amateurs worry about gear.
Professionals worry about money.
Masters worry about light.”

Heh. But seriously, if it's that important, HIRE A PROFESSIONAL.

AJS got fan mail for this quip on DCist.com...

"Increasingly, high home prices, declining public services, and serious congestion issues are pushing individuals and families out of suburbs and back into cities."

Because in DC, home prices are going down, public services are improving dramatically, and congestion is no longer an issue, he said, while waiting in gridlock on M Street on his way back to his $800 mil Foggy Bottom efficiency condo having waited in line at DMV for 4 hours.

You dcists always get the primo reefer. Who's your supplier?

Show of hands: If the District were going to blow up the Reeves Center [pictured] to make way for a multileveled Costco with a parking garage, how many would show up to protest and how many would offer to donate dynamite?

[17] Posted by: monkeyrotica

March 5, 2007 1:44 PM