My tourist pals ...

The tourists are back. Lots of them. I have a love/hate relationship with tourists. It goes like this: I hate the obnoxious ones (the groups of 45 15-year-olds in matching neon t-shirts, for example). I love the non-obnoxious ones (the families in matching flag shirts, for example). Today on the Metro I sat behind a mom, a six- or seven-ish looking little boy and a four- or five-ish looking little girl. Their grandma sat on the row in front of them, and as we passed the Arlington Cemetery stop, she tried to explain to the little boy that President Kennedy was buried there. She asked him what he knew about presidents. He said he knew about President Applebee. His mom interpreted this as President Washington, chopping down the apple tree. He informed her that no, he did not mean the president who chopped down the apple tree, he meant President Applebee. Then he gave up and turned to his little sister, and said, "Mom, if she was the president, she would be the first girl president, right?" The mom replied yes, and said we needed a girl president to straighten things out in the world. Then the little boy said, "No, that would be a bad idea. A girl would say things that were uncalled for." He kept going, but unfortunately, I could not catch the rest of his theory ...

Happy Spring ...

I had a lovely St. Patrick's Day. This year, I had a shake that turned out to be even better than a shamrock shake. Really. It was not green, and it has no relevance to St. Patrick's Day or this post, except that: thinking about St. Patrick's Day made me think about shamrock shakes which made me think about the delicious marshmallow shake that I ate on St. Patrick's Day. And that reminds me that I have neglected to mention the winners of my limerick contest, and I am sure all of my many, many readers have been worried and anxious about this all week. So, without further ado ...

The winning limerick (conveniently keeping with my tardy theme):

There once was a girl who forgot
But truly liked limericks alot
The deadline had passed
"Take pity!" she asked
For my rhyming skills cannot be bought!
{By Niki}

And the winning six-line limerick (yes, new category this year):

Pink is nice, but yellow is better
Think baby chicks, stars or a fuzzy sweater
Traffic lights of red and green
Would not be the same with pink in between
So stick to your guns and go with your heart,
Yellow's your fellow, has been from the start!
{By Nana}

This limerick also reminds me to report that today I purchased an adorable little pot of yellow gerber daisies. They are sitting on my desk, and should take credit for enticing me to said desk to sit still long enough to type this post. Yes, I am pretty sure I have a case of spring fever. Or something else distracting. In sum: It is beautiful here. It is the first day of spring. And stuff like that ...

P.S. Question: What exactly does "water regularly" mean?! Daily?! Every other day?! Every three days?! Every week?! I want my flowers to live, so Mom and Nana and Holly, and anyone else who knows this type of thing, please comment.

Family fun ...

My uncle, aunt and cousins came to the capital this weekend. We walked for a long time, braved my D.C. driving (a very admirable feat) and saw Nancy Pelosi in person in the Capitol. Oh, and I, for one, had a grand time.

Oh, look at me ruining their family Christmas card picture. Sorry, guys. But I bet you could crop me out ...

Woman in black: Nancy Pelosi, in Statuary Hall in the Capitol ...

Unfortunately, the weather did not really cooperate this weekend. Today, however, it did. And everyone came outside to enjoy it. In two blocks in my neighborhood I saw: two people jogging in work clothes, one man doing push-ups and sit-ups on the sidewalk, and four boys playing with Nerf guns. And this sounds like the beginning of a counting book for three-year-old children, so I suppose I will stop for now ... but stay tuned for the winning limericks tomorrow ...

Spring, I think ...

In London, I loved the daffodils. They were everywhere, and they meant spring. Now, when I see daffodils I think of London. Here, I see these adorable purple flowers. Not sure what they are, but I am hoping they mean spring ...

A list, a friend, and upcoming excitement ...

I crossed off a few things on my to-do list (that one I have a love/hate relationship with) this weekend, thanks to a visit from my lovely friend, Nicole. We had a lovely time, doing lovely things, like ...

Visiting Ford's Theatre ...

Seeing the balcony (well, a replica of the balcony) where Abraham Lincoln sat ...

Taking a tour of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria ... and ...

Checking out the view from the top (nine stories tall).

Can you find the Washington Monument in this scene?!

Some other noteworthy items to report:

1. My spring break started today. Yay!! And what do I plan to do with my week of free time, you may ask?! Well, so far I have decided to a) do my taxes, and b) do some other stuff. I know, I am so exciting. But the day started off well. I got the following text: "Hope your spring break of 2010 is as great and big as even Big Ben." Which obviously reminded me that I like people who rhyme, I wish I could go to London for spring break, and ...

2. Today is March 1. And I am bringing back the St. Patrick's Day limerick contest. This year I am promising no prizes, but if I am feeling especially nice maybe I will surprise the winner with one anyway. Basic rule: send me a limerick by March 16th. For more about this, go back to this post and this one and this one (wow, I was verbose 1L year). I am too lazy to type the instructions again. But beware, those posts will make you hungry for a Shamrock Shake. So I should report that ...

3. I already had a Shamrock Shake this year. Yes!! I know, just when you read that I am doing my taxes for spring break and you thought I had a really, really sad life, you read this sentence and realize that my life is not sad at all, but in fact quite splendid ...