Friday the 2nd I watched the broadcast of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to Billy Joel. I didn’t embarrass myself too bad on TV, and they only caught me singing along once. I’m glad the show was almost as much fun to watch the second time. Billy Joel’s pretty awesome. Saturday we went to Shirlington (which has really changed), ate good Thai food and saw Diner with music by Sheryl Crow – really good show.
Weather in the 60s was an excellent to time to visit Dad at the beach Sunday – Nina enjoyed the pirate ship off the boardwalk, and shocked us by eating and enjoying red clam sauce. She also got her last Christmas present: an electric Loog guitar. We picked up some Bojangles takeout for dinner that night on the way back. We thought Nina’s new Sofia the First nightgown was great as she got dressed for bed all by herself Sunday night. Monday night we raced the clock to wash it as then she wouldn’t wear anything else. Sigh.
Saturday the 10th I took Nina to a friend’s birthday at Jammin’ Java with Gustafer Yellowgold. Nina really enjoyed the show to the point of running off to meet the man behind the music as soon as the show ended. When your backing band has Sam Bush, Sara Watkins, Don Was, and Buddy Guy, you know it’s gonna be a good concert, and the tribute to Emmylou Harris (later that day) did not disappoint. And I got to return the favor to Hannah (who had a great backup plan of dinner at District Commons when Founding Farmers didn’t work out).
Too bad a fun day Saturday was followed by a flu day Sunday. 104 degree fevers do not a happy child make. Jill stayed home with her Monday and Tuesday (but she went solo to her company’s annual party at L’Auberge Chez Francois Monday). I was home with her on Wednesday, discovering her education had been neglected. No more princesses, that day it was Legos, remote controlled race cars and the complete Dream Theater discography. Thursday Jill needed some Indian food, so I stopped at Mayuri on the way home.
Saturday the 17th was our annual trip to see Eddie From Ohio during their 3 night stand at the Birchmere. Very happy to see Pat McGee open (and get copies of both shows), and we got to see the Jewells and Joel at intermission. We didn’t stick around to say hi to the band, as we had missed our chance to get milkshakes during Diner, so we darted off to Crystal City so I could try the toasted marshmallow milkshake at Good Stuff Eatery (totally worth it).
Monday the 19th I had the day off and took Nina to the Building Zone at the National Building Museum. Too bad everyone else had the same idea and it was sold out for the whole day. Nina didn’t care too much as they left out some materials for kids to play with, she got to run around in an indoor space bigger than a football field and poke through the gift shop. The McDonald’s at Verizon Center was a hectic mess, but she enjoyed her lunch.
Saturday the 24th I learned a homeowner pro tip: answering the door in just a towel causes Jehovah’s Witnesses to leave immediately. Later that night was movie night at Nina’s school. The kids voted so we watched Frozen, of course. She finally made it all the way through (not a fan of Marshmallow, we had been fast-forwarding through his appearances). Sunday night I went to see Extreme perform their second album in Baltimore. Hard to believe “More Than Words” is 25 years old, but they still sound great. And I finally got to hear “Song For Love”.
Monday the 26th Jill and I went to see Robbie Schaefer try out a new weekly series of music and discussion called The Elephant Sessions. Saturday the 31st we watched Sleeping Beauty and ate Jill’s homemade popcorn and Nina watched the whole thing (minus a little fast forwarding during the dragon battle).
