Bonus

A couple of favorite quotes from the weekend.

"This is the worst day of MY life."
-- From a six year-old.

"Why are you going to get in trouble? You don't have a parent."
-- From a five year-old in response to why Brian had to finish something for work.

"Po-hantus" (for Pocahantus)
-- From a 22 month old.

We loved Iowa so much, we decided to stay an extra night. Well, in all honesty, it wasn't all up to us. United decided for us. We arrived for our 3:52 pm flight, which was delayed until 5:03 p.m. Of course, no update at the airport, but the United alerts sent us email updates. The delay would result in us missing our connection, not a problem since there are two more flights to Dulles. Wrong. They're both oversold. By more than 10. No availability for Northwest, Delta or American. So, instead of spending the night in a hotel in Chicago, an extra evening with the Special Ks is more than okay with me!

Packers Draft

Here are the picks.

2nd round, 36th overall, Kansas State WR Jordy Nelson.
2nd round, 56th overall, Louisville QB Brian Brohm.
2nd round, 60th overall, Auburn CB Pat Lee.
3rd round, 91st overall, Texas TE Jermichael Finley.
4th round, 102nd overall, Wake Forest DE Jeremy Thompson.
4th round, 135th overall, Central Florida T Josh Sitton.
5th round, 150th overall, Louisville T Breno Giacomini.
7th round, 209th overall, LSU QB Matt Flynn.
7th round, 217th overall, San Diego State WR Brett Swain.

I'm not sure anyone predicted Jordy Nelson as the team's first pick. Two QBs are pretty interesting too. They picked up much needed WRs, CB and TE. This was definitely an offense-heavy draft.

In the State of...no, not chaos

Where are we? Here are a few clues.

Flower: Wild Rose
Tree: Oak
Bird: Eastern Goldfinch
Rock: Geode

We are visiting two of Ellie's college friends this weekend. We are having a great time and even had a very successful restaurant outing with six adults and six children.

A couple of observations:

• It is a true testament that Brian can find a camera store in any location.
• He can always find something to buy in said camera store.
• O'Hare is still Brian's nemesis. There's no guarantee that gate checking your bag won't result in someone else grabbing your bag disregarding the slight variation in bag color, the business card luggage tag and TSA lock that didn't exist on their own. Somehow, it's all still Dayton's fault.
• It is always great connecting with friends.
• I realize how much I've missed the Special Ks since they moved last fall.

So, what state are we in?

No peeking.

*******************

Iowa

He's Still Retired

The Packers placed Brett Favre on the team's reserve/retired list this afternoon.

It's a First

Lots of first's tonight.

• First game for us at the new Nationals Park
• First grand slam in Nationals Park
• First time seeing a grand slam

The National's second baseman Felipe Lopez hit a grand slam, the fourth of his career and first grand slam in the new Nationals Park. The last member of the Nationals to hit a grand slam was outfielder Justin Maxwell on Sept. 11, 2007.

Lopez had a career-high six runs to help the Nationals beat the Mets, 10-5.

Packers 2008-2009

The schedule is out!

Mon., Aug. 11 Cincinnati Bengals
(Bishop's Charities Game) 7 p.m. ESPN
Sat., Aug. 16 @ San Francisco 49ers 8 p.m. State
Fri., Aug. 22 @ Denver Broncos 8 p.m. State
Thurs., Aug. 28 Tennessee Titans (Gold Pkg.)
(Midwest Shrine Game) 7 p.m. State

2008 Regular Season Schedule
Mon., Sept. 8 Minnesota Vikings 6 p.m. ESPN
Sun., Sept. 14 @ Detroit Lions 12 noon FOX
Sun., Sept. 21 Dallas Cowboys (Gold Pkg.) 7:15 p.m. NBC
Sun., Sept. 28 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 noon FOX
Sun., Oct. 5 Atlanta Falcons 12 noon FOX
Sun., Oct. 12 @ Seattle Seahawks 3:15 p.m. FOX
Sun., Oct. 19 Indianapolis Colts 3:15 p.m. CBS
Sun., Oct. 26 Open Date
Sun., Nov. 2 @ Tennessee Titans 12 noon FOX
Sun., Nov. 9 @ Minnesota Vikings 12 noon FOX
Sun., Nov. 16 Chicago Bears (Gold Pkg.) *12 noon FOX
Mon., Nov. 24 @ New Orleans Saints 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Sun., Nov. 30 Carolina Panthers *12 noon FOX
Sun., Dec. 7 Houston Texans *12 noon CBS
Sun., Dec. 14 @ Jacksonville Jaguars *12 noon FOX
Mon., Dec. 22 @ Chicago Bears 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Sun., Dec. 28 Detroit Lions *12 noon FOX

Jamba Juice for Her; Camera Accessories for Him

So to wrap up our weekend in New York, we visited the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday. You will probably remember my parochial view of art from previous posts. I did enjoy several pieces, particularly works by Alexander Calder, Vincent van Gogh and Vasily Kandinsky.

But what was my favorite thing about New York? Jamba Juice. On our way to Little Italy for a late dinner, we chased Jamba Juices, only to get to there just after they closed. (We were successful on Sunday!) Okay, so maybe it wasn't my absolute FAVORITE, but Jamba Juices are far and in between in the DC area, so it's a treat!

On Sunday, we went to electronic (and of course, camera) mecca, aka B&H. It's quite amazing. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it. There's a constant hum of bins whizzing to and fro along a system of conveyor belts. You are "processed" through a series of steps similar to the Seinfeld soup nazi experience. Select product to buy. Proceed to the cashier. Pay. Proceed to merchandise pick-up where the bin-whizzing culminates with your purchase.

New York

I had a meeting in New York on Friday and we're spending the weekend. My meeting was in Midtown, so we stayed in Times Square last night. We had dinner in a local diner and walked around Times Square. There are so many things that make it a unique place.

Friday and Saturday, we are staying at the Hilton in lower Manhatten. The view is literally across the street from where the World Trade Center Towers stood. It's always amazing to see the progress there. We had soup dumplings for dinner at Joe's Shanghai and walked around Chinatown and Tribeca.

Close only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Guessing is not always overrated. Take for instance, my NCAA office pool (AESFGANCAAMBCBT2008). [NOTE: I should mention, the non-gambling, not-for-cash, almost voluntary, in case anyone from the office stumbles upon this blog.]

Basketball is not a sport that I follow. At all. So I sort of worked backward. Assuming that the #1 seeds are there for a reason, I worked from that assumption. Much to my surprise, all #1 seeds did make it to the Final Four for the first time. Ever. There goes my theory. Fortunately, I picked Memphis in the final round. Unfortunately, I picked North Carolina to win the National Championship. Maybe next year, I will try the dart board approach.

Flippy and Modern

So I finally bit the bullet and went to a different hairdresser on Friday. Say, it isn't so! I know there are many a story on "divorcing" your hairdresser (see this one, which has eerie similarity).

It began so innocently, so simple. I needed a hair cut. Brian went to a very nice woman in a mall near to where we live. I never thought twice.

Many years ago, he eased his way to other hair cutting establishments. And, I have endured the anticipated, eager query of, "How's Brian?" as she passive aggressively cut my hair. Really meaning, "Where's Brian, and why doesn't he come here anymore, and what have you done with him?" I always wondered if there wasn't a little resentment and that's why my hair was never quite the requested length. I digress.

So, after several months of letting it grow to a length it hadn't been in years, I finally decided to take the plunge...at a salon closer to my office. My only requirements, I told the new hairdresser: shoulder length and I still need bangs. The result: I love it! Brian calls it "flippy" because of the layers and one of my colleagues commented, "modern." What does that say about the past eleven years? Again, I digress.

There are a few additional reasons I have dreaded changing hairdressers. One is that you always have to train new ones. It took many years (see high school through college years) to realize that Asian hair doesn't do anything but variations on straight. It's the Asian-hair curse. Just embrace it, stay away from drastic measures. That, and the fact that when you get a cut-straight-across-just-shorter, you hate to pay more than $25.

Well, it was definitely more than $25, but I justify it by the Membership Reward points I earned as this salon takes American Express!

Death by Blogging

In case you wonder why I don't blog every day...

From The New York Times:

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.
Read more

Just kidding, I'm sure it's just because I'm lazy! And, my life really isn't that interesting.

Two-by-Two

I know what Noah feels like. Okay, not really, but why do drivers in the mid-Atlantic area react to rain like it's the first time they've ever seen it? Seriously! It's rain. It falls from the sky. I'm pretty sure you've seen it before. And most likely, unless you're 16, you've driven in it before. And, I bet you even made it to where you were going.

I get cranky when the commute for 15 miles is 1.5 hours.