In Which I Find Food

I found a family restaurant! It's so exciting! Most of Northern Virginia dining consists of chain restaurants or ethnic restaurants. Not that I dislike ethnic food. I like it a lot. But occasionally, one wants to go to a diner on a Sunday for brunch. At the suggestion of a retired couple at church, a fellow-teacher and I ventured out to the diner. It was exactly what a family restaurant should be. It was clean, simple, homey; the waitress was a woman in her 50's with a lazy eye who joked around with us and brought us extra garlic bread. It had homemade garlic bread. It had a mix of Italian, Greek, and Mexican food, all suitably Americanized, and all cooked by two Mexican brothers who walk around checking to see if everyone's food is ok. On Sunday, they have a breakfast bar with pancakes, custom-made omelets, waffles, sausage, bacon, ham, and fried plantains. Really. I get hungry just thinking about it. I'll have to go once a week to support the business. It's worth the $10 just for the atmosphere.

Terra Cotta and Tying Knots

I went to the National Geographic Museum this weekend to see the terra cotta warriors on loan from China. They are the famous warriors found buried in a field in China. There are thousands of them. I don't have any pictures because photography was not allowed. I spent three hours looking at the collection of 25 statues. The artistry was amazing.

This evening, I spent an hour wearing heavy winter gloves, the kind with three layers of insulation that are so thick I couldn't close my hand into a fist. I wore them to attempt tying my shoes. It was really hard. The gloves simulate what it is like for someone with small motor coordination problems. I am trying to teach one of my students how to tie shoes. I also researched the easiest way to tie shoelaces. Did you know there are at least 17 ways to tie a shoe? I found several shoe-tying websites, but I like Ian's website the best. I did find a way to tie my shoes that is a bit easier than the traditional way, especially while wearing thick gloves. I also learned three different ways to lace up my shoes if I want to be cool.

In Which I See Pants on the Ground

As I was driving past the high school today, a group of 5-6 teenage boys were coming towards me. They were jumping on and off the sidewalk onto the street, playing chicken. One of them jumped out into the street about 6 feet in front of my car. I slammed on the breaks, and then started laughing so hard I cried. Th boy's pants had fallen down around his ankles. His friends quickly hauled him up onto the sidewalk and surrounded him, giving him the illusion of privacy so he could pull his pants back up.

Here is a link to the Youtube video of the song on American Idol called "Pants on the Ground". I don't watch American Idol, but my mother told me about the song (apparently the chorus at her school sang it at their concert yesterday). It is a song that reflects reality.

In Which I Am Sad

I am sad today. My violin is sick. It developed a crack on the top between the tailpiece and chin rest (for those who know string anatomy). I took it to the shop, and it turns out there has been deterioration in that spot for probably a couple years (I thought it was not sounding right, but assumed it was old strings or a misaligned bridge). I left it at the violin hospital to recover for two weeks, and hopefully it will be all better after that. And after I pay out for it. Violin illnesses are not cheap. And it turns out my health insurance doesn't cover sick instruments. Only sick people. Maybe it'll pay for mental distress caused by separation anxiety. My violin has never been away from the family for that long, not in 20 years. It's sure to be anxious and scared. I should have left a bedtime story for it. Or a little note reminding it that I am thinking about it. I could call every day to see how it's doing, but I think the shop would get annoyed. The shop also lacks visiting hours, so I can't visit my violin until it is all better. I miss it already, and it's only been 3 hours.

On a serious note, send money to feed the Haitians. There is a lot of devastation there because of the earthquake.

In Which I Bake Fun Stuff

Happy New Year! I had a relaxing and fun Christmas visiting family and friends. And watching lots of movies. I saw Avatar in 3-D, Sherlock Holmes, Young Victoria (I highly recommend), and a couple others that I can't remember off-hand.

Now I am back in Virginia, back to work, and it's ok. I got a hand mixer for Christmas (yes, I do like kitchen appliances for gifts, probably because I only have to cook if I feel like it). I bought myself a set of ramekins on clearance, and have embarked on cooking comfort food in small portions (because really, how much of a 6-serving meal can one person eat before they get bored?). So, I found a recipe for dark chocolate souffle on cookingforengineers.com and made it. It was easy and very very delicious. Melt-in-your-mouth chocolaty goodness.

In Which I am Snowed In

It's official. There is no school in Northern Virginia until after New Year's. The side streets have not been plowed, and are now a melty, icy, snowy, slushy mess that are nearly impassable to anyone without 4-wheel drive. Fortunately, the main roads are clear, so I got out to buy butter to make cookies.

For those getting into the Christmas spirit and also perhaps snowed in, Smithsonian Magazine published an interesting article about Handel's Messiah. this month. Here's the link:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-Glorious-History-of-Handels-Messiah.html

In Which School is Closed

School is closed tomorrow. It stopped snowing around 5 a.m. It was sunny and relatively warm today. I slept in until 7:45, then had a leisurely breakfast. It was great. Then I went out to dig out my car before the snow got too heavy and icy. It's a good thing I did. It took an hour to dig my way to the front of the building to the parking lot, then another 2 hours to dig out my car from the three-foot drifts in the parking lot. The neighbors all helped each other. Me and 4 men were out shoveling and digging out cars. Or with garbage cans. One has to improvise when one doesn't own a shovel. One of my neighbors is from Georgia, and man, did he swear up a storm! It's hard to dig out when you don't own a shovel. I finally lent him mine. It's a little red plastic one. I suppose it's better than a 1-gallon garbage pail.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local-beat/Snow-pocalypse2-79714462.html

Today it was sunny, warm, and in Buffalo, there would be school tomorrow. However, I suppose that the 3 plows owned by the State of Virginia can't plow all the school parking lots in 24 hours. So tomorrow, I will bake Christmas cookies, and maybe go see a movie. The kids in my complex are having a blast sledding down the hills and skating in the parking lot on the ice.