A Memorial Labor Day

I guess I'll post about our Labor Day. We went into DC to see some museums. I really wanted to see the Lost Treasures of Afghanistan at the National Gallery of Art before the exhibit closed, so we packed everything up and took the Metro to the Navy Memorial station.

This is what we saw when we stepped off the elevator:


Yes! The Navy Memorial! Also the Naval Band (I'm sure that's not the official name. Maybe something like the National Naval Band, or something), playing a bunch of neat-o songs. We stopped and ate lunch because all I ever do is eat anymore. I also used the opportunity to feed Ian cucumbers, as captured below:

I felt pretty classy until I went to throw away a yogurt cup and saw human feces by the garbage can. Then when I went back to the stroller I noticed a woman next to us who kept eying the stroller and sashaying closer. That's when we headed off to see...

The super buff guy beating a horse outside the FTC building! I took a picture for my friend Josh, even though he doesn't read this blog and will never see it. And just so you know, this sidewalk we were walking down was lined with benches that all had an overwhelming smell of urine around them. We decided not to sit and enjoy the day but to hustle off to see my exhibit. Afterward we headed next door and saw some kind of other stuff Jesse wanted to see. We also stopped and saw the impressionist rooms (you know, Monet, Renoir, etc.). Jesse wanted to get some cool pictures but by that time I was ready for my dumplings Jesse had promised we would get. We walked over to Chinatown and bought them and then walked all the way back to the Mall because there were no good benches. We finally stopped to eat in the Sculpture Garden. After that we decided Ian might be ready for bed soon, so we headed home and finished off the day by making manicotti. Well, actually I finished off the day by falling asleep at nine o'clock on the couch.

Here's a funny picture of Ian and Jesse.

It's A Good Thing

I normally drink a lot of water. Maybe four quarts a day, I dunno. It's really hard to get my quota on Sundays, though. Going without water for three hours makes me so dehydrated, and I hate drinking out of water fountains. The water is always too cold and hurts my teeth, and it's uncomfortable to bend awkwardly over and keep your hair out of the stream and try to not slurp a ton. Usually I get, at most, half of a cup before someone else is waiting, my teeth start screaming, or whatever. That is NOT enough water to last me three hours.

To make matters more complicated, when I'm pregnant I am approximately ten times more thirsty than when I am not. (At least that's what the pattern seems to be--we'll wait to form a firm theory until I've had a few more pregnancies.) Needless to say it is asking too much to expect me to survive through three hours of church without a good, solid drink of water. What I have to do is bring a 16 ounce water bottle to church. It's small and cute, and I just keep it in my purse until I need it.

For some reason Jesse thinks this is both embarrassing and eccentric. He reacts the same way that I used to react when my friend Kathy would sit down in the middle of the floor at the mall while we were shopping: Can't you wait? Are you trying to embarrass me? You are so embarassing! I don't get it--it's not like I'm carrying around a hip flask with rum in it so I can get drunk during church. I'm very discreet. I drink quietly and quickly. The worst thing that ever happens is that I drip water on my belly, and that's bound to happen with something or other.

I know Jesse is being ridiculous, so I ignore him when he starts whining about my water bottle, but it makes me question whether I'm getting more eccentric as I get older.

Tipping Makes Me Nervous

Are you required to tip if you get take-out from a restaurant? I would say no, but I was reading on Applebee's website that they have a designated server for take-out. That makes me think you should tip, because it sounds like they get server's wages, but the purpose of tipping is rewarding good service. I would feel like a jerk not tipping, but...I'm cheap. I'm not giving someone money to reward good service that was never there.

Tipping is awkward anyways. Not for sit-down restaurants; you know it's expected there. But for a haircut? It's their job--they get paid well! Or a shuttle bus driver? They only do as much as a city bus driver, but you don't see them getting tips.

I can see how trying to figure out if you need to tip would become an anxiety.

Oh, and just so it's clear, I go to a hair place where tipping is not allowed. Takes away the stress.

Mmmm...Ice Cream

Read this article here. I'm sure PETA's letter will be ignored, not only because the idea is disgusting and unrealistic (how on earth will enough obliging women produce as much milk as an army of dairy cows?), but also because PETA addressed their letter to the wrong people. According to my two second's worth of research Ben and Jerry sold their company in 2000 to Unilever. I'm unimpressed with PETA's unprofessional approach to such a pressing concern.

New Hampshire and Vermont

Jesse's mom, Karen, has much better picture of Vermont, but if I don't post this now I never will.

So...here it is! When we were in New Hampshire we went to the beach, Lindt Chocolate Factory, climbed a mountain, relaxed, and picked and ate a ton of cherry tomatoes. It was great.







While in Vermont we mostly just relaxed and investigated the little tourist shops in North and South Hero.




Then we came back to New Hampshire, hit the beach once more, ate some lobster, and came back to Maryland!

Surprise! Again!

Yeah, I'm pregnant again. I was kind of scared in the beginning because Ian will only be 19 months old when the baby comes, but now I'm really excited of course. I think I can handle it. I'm due in the middle of March, I think, so that means I'm a little over 15 weeks along. In five more weeks we can find out if it's a boy or a girl. I personally think it's a girl, but I would NOT be surprised if another boy is added to the Horrocks clan.

I waited so long to post this because something kind of unusual happened in the beginning and I wasn't sure everything was okay, but it's pretty obvious I'm pregnant in the pictures I will be posting from here on out so I decided to come clean. Plus it really struck home lately that I'm pregnant for two reasons: 1) I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby kick for the last few days and 2) I slopped a bunch of juice from the orange I was eating onto my belly--the ultimate sign of pregnancy.

And Nancy, Kathy's sister is pregnant too! It's fun to have someone else pregnant at the same time as you are so you can compare notes/horror stories.

Checking In...From Hell

We're back from our vacation, and DC has never looked so bad. I'll try to post pictures of the trip soon.

Shine-y New Phones

Our wireless contract expired, so Jesse did some shopping around and signed on with the same carrier (AT&T) but through a local company. For the same price we've been paying, we got 150 more minutes and free LG Shine phones. They're really nice, especially when you compare them to the free phones we got last time. We used to try to dial out, and nothing would happen. Or, our phone wouldn't notify us of a new voice mail. Sometimes they would shut off for no reason. Lately mine has been shutting off every time I got on a plane. It was pretty bad.

Our new phones came on Saturday (note: when you order a package, try to see if it's in good shape before you sign for it, even if the UPS guy is still holding it. I signed for the package and when he handed it to me it was all beat up and bashed in, and there was tape around the top that said "Do NOT sign for package if box is damaged". Whoops. Good thing nothing inside was damaged).
For some reason AT&T deactivated our old SIM cards as soon as we received the package. Unfortunately, they are imbeciles and didn't consider the fact that you have to charge a new phone for 24 hours before you get to use it, so we were without our phones for 24 hours. Jesse was pretty mad, but his was an impotent rage--he couldn't call to complain, so what was he going to do? He had a voicemail he needed to listen to but I finally calmed him down by convincing him it probably wasn't that important (how often do you get a message that you have to act on immediately?). Turns out it was important, though--it was the missionaries wanting him to give someone a ride to church. They came up to us on Sunday and said "Hey, did you get our message?" It was all I could do to keep from laughing....

So, anyways, the Shine phones are pretty nice. They take pictures almost as good as Jesse's digital camera (it's on the older side), and you can download songs. The only problem we've seen with them so far is that the instruction manual says not to talk on the phone while it's charging because it could short out or catch fire. Do they all say that, or are these phones special? I'm kind of curious because I often do have to talk on the phone while it's charging. Should I risk it?

Of course, now that I have a nicer phone I'm really paranoid someone will steal it. I guess with all things considered, our phone situation has maintained equilibrium. We got way nicer phones but they could catch fire or be stolen at any moment. Good thing we've kept our old phones around. Which still work as good as ever.