all that jazz

my good friends mary mo and brandon came back to dc for a visit and wanted to go to jazz in the garden. ben and i were happy to oblige. the concerts have grown so popular that the sculpture garden, where the bands actually play, is usually full by the time the program starts.

so we went across the street to the national mall, where we had a nice view of the silver tree ("graft" by roxy paine) and the national archives and could still hear the musical stylings of the great time jazz band without bursting our eardrums or going bum-numb sitting on the concrete.

we rounded out the evening - and our bellies - with some chopp'd salads and rita's custard. glad we could see you, mary and brandon! touch hands...

rescue me - part 2

what happened to part 1, you ask? well, it's here. why didn't you see it before?  because i hadn't posted it yet. i have this thing about chronology...

so anyway, here we are, dangling from trees, putting our skills learned on the ground to use in the air. we learned how to rappel down, then how to climb back up, then how to rappel past a knot in the rope.

tali

steven, kim and tali

the other ben

the other ben and tali

annie and ben, sittin in a tree...

rescue me - part 1

last summer, whilst climbing at carderrock, we came upon a rather strange group. they'd yell lots of stuff then run face-first down the rock. we were awed. what are you doing? we asked. they told us. they're part of a mountaineering group that was certifying to go on longer rappel trips. we were intrigued. we signed up for their mailing list. then, this summer, several of us decided to join them.

larry and jon teach the class in 2 day-long sessions, going over knots, anchors, and ascending, descending and rescue techiques. because it's a free class and isn't associated with any organization, there's no official certification, but a list of skills we have to perform for them so they're comfortable with our competency level.

we anchored to trees to learn the ropes (pun totally intended) before getting vertical. next time we'll dangle from trees.

kim and teacher larry

all strung out.

ben 'splaining to teacher jon

ben doing...something

since it was cinco de mayo, nancy brought a surprise cookie monster pinata to celebrate after a long day of class.

the other ben kept cookie monster flying around so he was really difficult to hit.

ben took the reins when it was my turn, which might've had something to do with my direct hit.

what? that's what happens when you try to keep candy from me.

don't tell the kids.

i had a happy booty to ya, too

(some of) the loot: massage pillow, hanging jewelry organizer, flowers, pretty bow, olive oil soap, adorable shoes, and trans america.

there was also a snickers bar, but i ate it.

oh, and other lovely gifts that arrived via mail or internet after i took the picture.

i love those shoots.

ben pampered me all day: he came home from work early. AND demonstrated on me the proper usage of a facedown massage pillow. AND ordered pizza with toppings of my choice. AND drove me to young women, where, unbeknownst to me, there was a cake in my honor. AND read to me when we got home.

mother nature gave me a balmy 55 degree day, so i frolicked like these mice.

mother nicea always finds the cutest wrapping paper.

it's even reversible.

there were no candles to count. the young women asked me if i was turning twenty. i said yes, i'm turning twenty for the twelfth time. i'm pretty sure i did the math right.