Our New Life

First Snow of the Season

Keith cheeses during the first snowstorm of the 2009 season.

The Mouse and the Treadmill

We're in pain. Lots of pain. Why, you ask? Last Friday Keith and I came home late from a movie to find a mouse run under our bed.

Simultaneously, Keith and myself jumped to save ourselves from the 4 ounce furry Mickey under the bed (under my side of the bed, of all places). Knowing that the gig was up, Mickey ran from under the bed, into plain view, and into the guest room. We both ran to trap him in the guest room with towels stuffed under the door. Like that's going to work.

Massive AOL Running Man

As you know, Keith and I work for an established internet company, which shall remain nameless. ;) A co-worker had posted these same pics to his blog, and I thought I'd follow his lead and do the same. Thanks Pat!

A couple of weeks back the Running Man was inducted into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame based on regular folks voting. To commemorate that, and the Running Man's 13th birthday, we came out onto the hot lawn, donned plastic parkas and formed a gigantic outline of this icon. If you look really carefully, you can see the real Running Man in the center of his chest. Oh, and I've pointed out myself as well.

It was hot, but thankfully not unbearable hot. I prefer the end result to the process though. Cool pics, huh?

Expecting Twins!

No, not Keith and I. (You've got to wait a bit longer for that. ;) A Mourning Dove couple has happily chosen my dead pot of herbs on our balcony to nest and birth their twin eggs. Keith discovered their presence last weekend when he went out onto the balcony. He was startled by a bird who flew away screaming a high pitched squeal and came in the house saying "Stupid bird!"

Upon closer investigation we realized that there were some twigs and an egg in the planter. We did some research online and figured out that they were Mourning Doves. The Poppa Dove takes the day shift sitting on the eggs and the Momma Dove takes the night shift. Since then the second egg has arrived. We expect they should be hatching any day now.

Even though Keith has dubbed them "squatters" and a "pain in the balcony", I do catch him checking in on them when we get home from work. Who knows? Maybe this is the beginning of a chance for Keith and I to get into bird watching.

Once in a lifetime...

It was cold... really, really cold. The lines were obnoxiously long; 45 minutes for the bathroom, an hour solid for food and hot chocolate. Finding friends (if you could get a call or text) meant lots and lots of walking through endless crowds of human beings. Despite not being able to feel ones fingertips, the National Mall on inauguration day was the hottest ticket in town. And frankly, there was no better place to be.

It kind of felt like a rock concert of sorts. People decked out in bedazzled Barack gear, revelers politely asking where we got that Starbucks from (only to be sadly disappointed to find there was at least 75,000 people between them and the java). Every color of our human rainbow, kindergarten-ers through depression survivors, disabled and non, and people from as far away as Australia were jam packed into a five-mile long patch of grass that separates the capitol from the Washington Monument. And it was then that I saw something that I have never experienced before in my lifetime...

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

It's a new year and we're back on the East Coast. Before I wax poetic about how much I love San Francisco and miss Cali, just thought I'd add one more reason why the West Coast is the best coast.

Nuff said.

Christmas Lights in Richmond

Before we left California, HGTV did a program about tacky Christmas Lights. They showed beautiful home grown light shows that would make the Rockefeller Center look like amateur hour. Originally started by my sister in San Francisco, one of our favorite holiday games back in Cali was to honor one holiday light disaster with the utmost accolade of the "It's Christmas Dammit" award. It looked like HGTV had quite a few contenders on that show. We simply had to take a look.

Turns out most of the lights they were highlighting were in Richmond, Virginia, of all places. This year Keith and I made a special trip out to go check out the hub-bub for ourselves. What an interesting experience that was.

Congratulations Barack Obama!

It's been almost a week and I'm still living on an exuberant high. I'm so proud of so many things; Virginia voted blue for the first time since the 60s, record voter turn out (especially for minorities and young people), this is the first political campaign I've ever donated to and America overwhelmingly voted for our first African American president. It really is a beautiful day.

For all those republicans out there that come across this post, don't be offended. Bush made things so bad for the rest of us that a democrat was inevitable. Add to that the impeccable resume of our now Commander-in-Chief and the unbelievable hope he has instilled, McCain never stood a chance.

The process wasn't as bad as people predicted. Keith and I left the house at 6am and snapped this shot around 7:15am. The line was long and diverse. I was kind of annoyed that they let people campaign so close to the door, but whatever. We listened to sob stories about ex-democrats who are concerned that they wanted to start a business 'one day' and if Obama won he would be taxed 'if' he made $250K. Seriously dude, start your business then come complain.

Fall is Here

Although we're still experiencing 80 degree days, according to these trees outside our apartment Fall has arrived. Only one short week ago the leaves were super green. I'm not sure us Cali kids will ever get used to this amazing spectacle. It's just so exciting.

The changing of the leaves is one of the great things about this area. Soon the stunning trees will be bare, and we'll both be complaining about below freezing temps. But for now Mother Earth is struttin' her stuff. Bravo!

Keith Discovers Art

A good friend of ours from work has the coolest hobby. She has spent the past year studying to be a tour docent at the National Gallery of Art in DC. She asked if we would attend her qualifying tour, which is similar to a final exam.

I had no idea that this was Keith's first time in any museum. What I loved the most was his incredible ability to create a story out of what he saw. One portrait was of two Indians, a king and a sculptor, admiring the sculptors finished work. Keith turns to me and says "He looks like he's saying 'It's ok but can you change this part?' and the other guy is mad." Sure enough, that's what it looked like.

Needless to say, more museums are in our future.

Robin