museums in DC – Life Off Headset

Weekly recap + what we ate: Another round of unique things and frustrating things

I still feel like I’m digging out of being sick for a week, but it’s nice to feel like life is getting back to routine. Aside from some lingering crud and the occasional cough, I’m feeling better, though still very tired. I’m don’t know if the tired is just life or what. I’ve been trying to think of if I ever don’t feel tired? This might be something for me to track.

Anyhow, on weeks when life feels very routine, I like to do a round of “What make this day unique or special/ what made this day frustrating” in my journal. It’s a good reminder to me that even when things feel like a cycle of – sleep, wake, kids to school, work, sleep…. each day is different, even if in tiny ways.

Monday:
Unique: I took a nap in the afternoon before work. Still not feeling 100% this day.
-Reading in bed at night. I don’t often read in bed because the Husband often is asleep before I get into bed and I don’t want the light to bother him. This night, he had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs so I took advantage of having the bed to myself and read in bed.
Frustrating: The people in the parking garage that honk at me. The garage where I park at the current theatre is underground, which means there are lots of ramps to navigate. Some of these ramps are quite steep. Which, since I drive a manual car, makes me very anxious when the traffic is stop and go all the way out of the garage. So I tend to sit at the bottom of a section of ramp until the traffic is clear for a couple meters. That way I don’t get stuck mid way up the ramp and risk rolling backwards when I try to shift gears. People tend to honk at me when I do this. I get this – most people assume that stopping half way up the ramp is an easy thing, and I expect it is annoying to sit in a parking garage line and not have the car in front of you pull up. But I’m already a ball of anxiety getting out of the garage, honking tends to exacerbate my anxiety. Anyhow… I’ve started just waiting 45 minutes after work to leave so I don’t have to sit in the traffic.

Tuesday:
Unique: I didn’t have to work in the evening, so I sat and read my book after dinner. I wish this didn’t feel like a special thing, and was instead just an every day thing.
Frustrating: I should have had a conversation at work, but I didn’t because it was kind of a sensitive thing and the right moment didn’t happen for the conversation. It was frustrating because it was something I wanted to have taken care of and instead it continued to loom.

Wednesday:
Unique: An extraordinarily good pint of raspberries. I find raspberries a little hit or miss, and this one was for sure a hit. Sweet and firm and full of flavor.
– I went to visit a new to me museum – The Textile Museum. It’s across the street from the theatre and free admission. It’s a small, very niche, museum, which is sometimes the best kind. They currently have an exhibit about horse blankets and saddle covers. I loved seeing all the handwork. Like the exhibits on quilts that I’ve seen, I was struck by how no one knows who created these beautiful (and practical) works of art.

There was also an exhibit on sustainable fashion, which was fascinating. For example, this shirt below is made out of fibers made of pineapple leaves. The placard noted that different countries/regions have access to different materials, but globally, most of our clothes are made of the same materials, manufactured in a limited number of places, which contributes to a lot of waste and pollution. A lot of the sustainability ideas in the exhibit was about focusing on local efforts- whether it be natural resources or reclaiming/recycling fabric.

I stopped by the gift shop of my way out and picked up a few things: two napkins made from old sari materials, and this book on furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping things with fabric:

Also another special thing this day – my friend came over after work to do laundry – her machine is broken. We haven’t had a chance to hang out in a while since work has been so busy, so it was lovely to sip beverages and chat; she had a beer, I had some tea. She did some mending and I folded laundry. It was 11:30pm, but kind of the best kind of low key hang out to have with a very good friend.

Frustrating: We had a site visit for a theatre space at work and the parking near the space was a nightmare. I hate parking in the old parts of the city.

Thursday:
Unique – The Husband was out of town on a birthday trip with friends. He very rarely goes away by himself, so this was really unique. That evening, the kids and I went the the middle school STEM fair. I’ve never been to a science fair before – we didn’t do them when I was this age. It was so fun to see all the different projects and to realize that even the littlest spark of curiosity can be the seed for a science project. The 14 year old did an experiment testing different types of sugar for baking cupcakes. My favorite exhibit was one kid who compared catapults to trebuchets, even building one of each out of balsa wood and rubber bands.
Afterwards we went to a new to us Thai dessert cafe and had fancy drinks and Mango Sticky Rice Toast. It was all really tasty. The 6 year old wanted to lick the plate after we polished off the Toast. I told her she couldn’t lick the plate in a restaurant, but next time we could order it to go and she could like the plate at home.

Toast topped with condensed milk and fresh mango, along with sticky coconut rice, mango cream, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.

Also – it’s Peak Bloom! A whole four days earlier than predicted. Peek bloom is one of those things that happen every year yet still feels unique every time it happens. I have plans to go see the blossoms with the kids next week on Spring Break; hopefully they will still be there. (update: we did this and it was beautiful)

Frustrating – Started gathering my tax information for our accountant. Starting them is not the frustrating thing; having to do them in the first place is. I guess this might more be classified as “annoying” rather than “frustrating.”

Friday:
Unique: I went to the fitness room at the rec center and ran the treadmill and did 15 minutes of strength with dumbbells. I tried 12 lb. dumbbells for the first time since the 5 and 10 lb ones were being used, and it wasn’t horrible. Again, I wish going to the fitness room wasn’t a unique thing in my schedule, but it is these days.

Frustrating: A few weeks ago, I wrote about receiving a W-2 for a gig I was never paid for. Well, this week got an email from the company’s accounting people saying, “Oops you’re right. You weren’t paid. Here’s a corrected W-2.” To which my response was, “Okay, thanks. Can I expect to be paid for the job still?” To which the nice lady in accounting said, “Sorry, that’s out of my hands. Here’s another email address that you can write to to ask.” I don’t understand how people run a business this way.

Saturday
Unique/ different – We went to the Farmer’s market this day (again, another thing I wish were more routine and not unique). We bought some amazing pastries and also apples and veggies and empanadas. While we were there we noticed that there was a Black Family Health Fair going on – there were people handing out toothbrushes and they said all were welcome; the fair wasn’t just for Black families. So we went to check it out. There were lots of booths from various health organizations, but also some fun activities. There was a booth where you could make smoothies by pedaling a bike that was attached to a blender. That was fun. We also enjoyed the art/collage workshop that was led by educators from the Phillips Collection. Going to the fair was such a lovely spontaneous activity.

The prompt was to build houses to represent our insides and our outsides. I don’t know that we followed the prompt. Our outside was brick and the inside was very Zen. The educator tried to make some comment about how it represents how tough and strong we feel like we have to be on the outside.

The other thing that made the day special was that we didn’t have any sports activities. We’re between basketball and soccer season and it was nice to have space in our day to do things like impulsively attend a health fair, or take an afternoon nap, or have family reading time after dinner. As we were lounging in the living room with our books, the 9 year old said, “This was a really great day!” Agreed, little guy. I totally agree.

Frustrating- I lost my Yeti mug a few weeks ago. Last year I wrote a post on things I would replace immediately and my Yeti Rambler with Hot Shot lid was one of those things. So I went to the local Ace Hardware to get a new one… and the 12 oz Yeti rambler with Hot Shot lid is no longer part of the Yeti line up; it’s seemingly been discontinued. They have a new Rambler, but it is slightly larger and doesn’t fit in my hand as well. So frustrating. I don’t want the new version, I want the 12 oz Rambler with Hot Shot Lid that I’ve had for five years now. My options seem to be:

-buy it in hot pink. Apparently some Ace Hardware Stores still have it in hot pink. Hot pink isn’t really my colour, though.
-buy the 18 oz (or 10 oz) water bottle and the hot shot lid separately.
-buy the new Rambler and be annoyed every time I use it.
-scour eBay or other re-sale sites. But it would have to be a new one – I’d feel weird buying a used one.

I ended up scouring eBay and buying one there. I might actually buy two more just as back up.

Sunday
Unique/Different – It’s the last show of my current run. There is always a special energy knowing that you’re doing a show for one last time.
I found street parking right outside the theatre so I didn’t have to pay for parking since it was Sunday.
After the show, we went to a friends’ house for dinner. It was a beautiful spring/cups of summer evening and the sun was still up, so I walked there. After sitting all day, it was nice to stretch my legs. The trees are blooming and there were lots of people out on their bikes. It’s like people are emerging from hibernation.

Frustrating- I don’t think there was anything frustrating about the day. It was a nice Sunday – some family time, some work, some friend time, and I finished my book. It was a pretty good day.

Grateful for:

-Driving a compact car so that it is easier to fit into parking spaces and navigate city driving.

-Chatting with colleagues. I was working supertitles for my latest show, which means I get to hang out in the booth a lot with the stage manager and the lighting supervisor. There is something to be said about being able to have casual conversations about work things – we can problem solve and kick around ideas to explore without being in some meeting where it feels like we have to have the right answer right there. A lot of my administrative work can be done remotely, which I appreciate, but I also am really grateful for casual face to face time to chat with my colleagues.

-For the chance to run supertitles for this latest show. I really love running super titles. I mean it’s essentially hitting a space bar 1000 times over the course of a two hour show, but I find it really satisfying to lock in and concentrate on the music and what is happening onstage. I’m glad when my boss was looking for someone to run titles I spoke up and said, “I can do it.” And that my boss then let me.

-that I’m feeling better after my week of sick.

-That the 9 year old still loves playing with his toy planes. He has such a big imagination. And makes up stories and battles with his toys. Yes, he also likes playing MarioKart, but I love that if I leave him alone he will also get deeply immersed in imaginative play, zooming his airplanes all over the house.

-Perennials that come up year after year. I always forget that we have hyacinths along our front walk until they suddenly pop up, fragrant and cheery.

-This sign that I saw backstage. A good reminder.

Looking forward to:
-Easter Dinner. The kids gave up burgers, chocolate, and lemonade for Lent. (mean one kid gave up each thing.) I was going to make a big fancy Easter dinner, but then we realized that we should just have burgers, lemonade and chocolate dessert. I’m not sure what the chocolate dessert will be yet. Maybe I’ll also make a vegetable.

-Starting a new show next week.

-Visiting the Phillips Collection. At the collage workshop, we were given family passes to visit the Museum. They have art workshops the second Saturday of every month, so I’m looking forward to finding a time to go. I haven’t been to the Phillips Collection since before the oldest was born, so I’m eager to put this on our calendar.

-Bike/runs with the kids now that the weather is nicer.

-Just started this book. It’s set in a Red Lobster during a snow storm.:

What we ate:
Monday: Coconut Chicken Curry in the Instant Pot, recipe from New York Times Cooking, with rice and Paratha. Made before I went to work. I’ve made this before and everyone always loves it. I made a double batch, so there is some in the freezer ready for when I go back to work.

Taco Tuesday: Shrimp Tacos w/ cabbage, smashed avocado, sour cream, cheese, and salsa

Wednesday: Banh mi – take out. I was working this night and it was the night that the Husband was leaving for his trip.

Thursday: Lemon Miso Tofu and Broccoli Stir Fry a Hetty Liu McKinnon recipe from New York Times Cooking. I was looking for a way to use up some broccoli I got from the Farmer’s market and this recipe popped up. It was really bright and lemony and I loved it. I can see the sauce also being good on white fish. I would make it again, but maybe less aggressive with the lemon since the Husband doesn’t like things too lemony. (Except Lemon Bars. He makes and exception for those.) Vegan.

Friday: Pizza and movie? I had to work. The Husband was coming home this night, so I’m not sure what they ate or watched.

Saturday: Chipotle (for the kids – there was one next to the hardware store and the kids really wanted it; the 14 year old even offered to pay for her own); Leftovers for me (chicken and kimchi in a bowl). Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the Husband.

Sunday: Wings, salad, and fries at our friend’s house. Our friend is a genius with the grill.

Well, that’s the news this week. And now we’ll be into April. The weather looks lovely and almost summer like this week- a nice week for a Spring Break staycation with the kids.

What chocolate dessert should I make for Easter? When was the last time you ate something so tasty you wanted to lick the plate? And did you? Have you had any favorite items be discontinued? Visit any super niche museums lately?

Weekly recap + what we ate: Another museum, another birthday! And Snow.

Our world is blanketed with snow so thick and frozen that you can walk on it. We’re on Day Three of the schools being closed and they’ve already announced that they will be closed tomorrow (Thursday) as well. The kids were super excited. The six year old made this to do list:

For those who aren’t fluent in six year old pictogram, the list reads:
1. Build snowman
2. Throw snowballs at the snowman
3. Go sledding
4. Make snow angels
5. Build and igloo
6. Have a snowball fight
7. Shovel Snow.

The weekend featured the usual runs of voice lesson and a basketball game for the 14 year old. The two little kids were invited to a playdate so they didn’t come to the game. The 14 year old won her game so we stopped to get fries from McDonalds on the way home. Why are fries SO tasty? I had to work Saturday night, and took the Metro in, just in case the snow came early. The Metro costs $2.50 more than parking, and takes 15 minutes longer (though in rush hour, it’s actually faster to Metro). I figure the extra time and money is worth the stress I save from having to drive through the city. I got to read my book, and truth to tell, the walk to and from the Metro Station is always a welcome opportunity to move.

Sunday, we woke to several inches of snow on the ground, with more coming down. We hunkered, and shovelled a little. The two older kids and I walked down to the park- I live seeing it blanketed with snow. The snow was almost sand like, making it quite a workout to walk through it.

Sunday evening we had some neighbors over for dinner – our kids swim together, but since swim was cancelled, we thought it was a good opportunity to get together. It was a lovely evening- I made pasta with Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce, foccaccia, and we had bagged salad. Our neighbors brought cookies and cannoli. Afterwards one of their daughters introduced us to Imposter. Have you played? It’s loads of fun; there’s an app where everyone secretly gets a word (the same word) except one person who is the imposter. Then everyone goes around and says one word related to the main word, including the imposter who has to try to figure out what word to add without giving away that they don’t know the word. There was a lot of laughing.

On the bummer side, the heat at my parents’ rental went out o n Sunday and since the Husband and I manage the property for them, we were the ones who had to deal with it. Monday morning we managed to get our car out and drive over to their neighborhood. They hadn’t been ploughed out yet, so we parked two blocks away and walked up to the house with space heaters for the tenants. I dropped the Husband and drove back home, and I’m pretty sure I burned the clutch on our car getting it back home over the unploughed streets. (We have two cars, but the van does not have all wheel drive, so we had to drive the manual Impreza). Later that evening, we headed to the rental house to see if we could troubleshoot and open the faucets since we didn’t want the pipes to freeze; the tenants had checked into a hotel by that point. Given the lack of parking at the rental, the Husband and I decided that the easiest thing would be to walk over. So the Husband and I walked the mile there, some of it on the road since the sidewalks hadn’t been cleared. I pulled on my wool and silk underlayers, bundled up and it turned out not to be so bad of a walk. The streets were pretty quiet and the sun was setting and the snow was still white and smooth. As we turned the corner to the house, I looked up and it was golden hour. The Husband said, “At least the light is beautiful.”

We finally were able to find an HVAC company that could come out on Tuesday – most places were saying Wednesday or Friday at the earliest. The heating and gas were fixed, thankfully and we could all breathe easier.

Before all that happened, though… the previous Monday was MLK Day and we went on a family museum adventure to the Renwick Gallery. The Renwick is a Smithsonian museum dedicated to the art of crafts and handiwork. There is currently an exhibit called State Fair: Growing American Craft. It features work that was created and displayed at State Fairs around the country from the early twentieth century to today. I loved this exhibit. It was a great reminder that art is not purely the domain of the artists whose work hangs in the big museums, who have highly publicized exhibits. Art can come from the farmer’s wife, who collects fabric scraps and sews them into a beautiful quilt after the kids go to bed, or the insurance agent who takes up knitting as a hobby, or the art student who is just learning how to throw pottery.

I think this exhibit was one of the most diverse exhibits I’ve ever seen – it celebrated the work of people from a wide variety of cultures and races and backgrounds. While I was going through this exhibit, I thought of the Amish Quilt exhibit at the American Art Museum I had seen a few years ago and how all those quilts were made by “unknown.” I loved that the pieces in this exhibit all were able to credit the creators.

Some of my favorite pieces:

This quilt was made by Grace Snyder (1882-1982) of Nebraska. She learned to quilt when she was six to keep herself occupied while she watched the cattle. The quilt is made up of 87,000 small triangles. It’s almost like a Grecian mosaic.

Butter Cow! by Sarah Pratt and her daughters Hannah and Grace. I’ve never seen one of these before, and this made me super excited.

Hair wreath by Josephine Daly (1860-1939). This was made over the course of eight years, from **real hair.** I find this beautiful and creepy,.

Pyramid of preserves, canned by Rod Zeitler of Iowa City. . All I could think about when looking at this was, that’s a lot of toast. Also – are they going to eat it all?

Seed art by Linda Paulson. This is art made by gluing tiny seeds one by one. So meticulous – look at the detail!

I picked up a few things from the gift shop. I don’t often buy things from Museum Gift Shops, but more and more I’m feeling like since our museums are free, I should support them in some way. Especially these days. I got a hand made bud vase – I don’t like cut flowers, but a sprig of something or a single flower could be nice. I also picked up this this beautiful book of stickers:

How beautiful are these stickers? I almost don’t want to use the stickers, they are so gorgeous, but I think it would bring people a lot of joy to see them, making them perfect for including in mail.

Afterward the museum, we walked up to Dupont Circle and had lunch at our favorite cheap Chinese restaurant. When the Husband and I started dating, he worked within walking distance from this place and we would often meet here for lunch, usually ordering the same thing – kung pao chicken for him, chicken and green beans for me. We order all that along with orange chicken, combination lo mien, and Mongolian Beef. It was all so tasty.

After lunch, we walked back to the metro, popping briefly into Second Story Books to browse. I mean with this sign out front, who could resist:

In other news from last week, it was also the middle child’s birthday. He is now 9 years old! Happy birthday to this imaginative kid who loves stories and puzzles and thinking about life. You can always find him reading – he’s recently really gotten Plants vs. Zombies – playing with his swords and nerf guns. He likes making up adventure stories in his head and enacting them with his little sister. He loves to build, be outside, ride his bike, kick a soccer ball, and play Mario Kart. He doesn’t like practicing piano, being told to put his book down, or when his sister takes his Lego creations apart.

Grateful for (The Snowy Snowy January Edition):

-The people in Minneapolis who go out in the cold and protest and protect and bear witness to the sad and heavy things happening there.

-The beauty and quiet of a world covered in snow.

-people who clear their side walks.

-Snow plough drivers. Our street didn’t get ploughed until Tuesday afternoon, and boy was I happy to see the snow plough when it arrived.

-The magical alchemy that is baking – flour, levener, liquid. Butter. All that combines to make magical cozy things that comfort us by the mouthful. In addition to focaccia I also made M&M cookies (this recipe, really good!), and thumb print cookies (from Cook’s Illustrated – a little bland, TBH), which I made with pepper jelly and blueberry jam.

-That our heat works.

-That our Metro stop is underground. A lot of Metro stops in the suburbs are above ground, which makes it very cold when waiting for the train. Our metro stop and the metro stop at my work are both underground so I can wait for the train without being exposed to the elements.

-Hot chocolate. When we heard a storm was coming, I told the Husband we had to stock up on butter, eggs, and hot chocolate. These are the important things.

-the back up electric kettle. Last week, our electric kettle meet an unfortunate fate when someone tried to move the cart it was sitting on without unplugging the kettle. There was broken glass and tears. For as much tea as I drink, being without an electric kettle is DIRE. Luckily we had an old kettle in our basement that I pulled out. It’s not ideal – it’s plastic, for one – but it will do until we get a new one. OR… I’m really considering upgrading to one of these electric water boilers. It would be a splurge, but all the Taiwanese people have them – it keeps water at a constant temperature. How many times have I been late to work because I was waiting for hot water so I could fill my coffee mug and take it to go?

Looking Forward to:

-Cool Blogger’s Book Club! Reading The Age of Innocence. This is a re-read for me, but knowing how it end, has made some things in the first few chapters really pop for me. I stopped at our library’s used bookstore to find a copy, and there is was! I also picked up a few other fun things:

I got the Far Side and the Get Fuzzy for the 9 year old – they were two of my favorite Sunday comics when I was growing up and I wanted to share them with him. He reports that Far Side is “funny, but scary.” Upon re-reading it, I can see what he means.

-This is more of a “Some day in the future” rather than concrete plans, but when we were in Dupont Circle, II was thinking that I would love to take a child-free Dupont Circle Day some day. I do love spending time with my kids, but they don’t really do leisurely meandering. If I had a child-free day in Dupont Circle, I would go to the Phillips Collection, then spend some time browsing the various stationary and book stores along Connecticut Ave., and then find some tasty food or a refreshing beverage (Maybe from the Afghan Chai truck??) and sit on the circle and people watch. I think I will put this on my list of fun things to do this spring.

-Radishes. We had two bags of radishes passed along to us from our friend with the CSA – he doesn’t like radishes. So I’m determined to eat one a day so that they don’t go to waste. There are beautiful watermelon radishes that I’ve been slicing thin and eating with salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil for breakfast. There are also some black radishes that have a very spicy bite. I ate one sliced with salt and pepper and decided that I couldn’t eat them raw, so I cut one up and put it in congee. I might miso-roast the other black radishes.

-the kids going back to school. Monday was a grading day so we weren’t supposed to have school anyway, but now school has been cancelled through to Thursday because of the weather. On the one hand I’ve been enjoying the cozy time with the kids, and I dread going back to routine – it’s like having a second winter break.- , but on the other hand, it is really hard to keep up with the dishes and the house hold chores when everyone is home all the time.

-Just started this audiobook, a historical fantasy set in WWI; it’s just gotten a bit creepy…

What We Ate:

Monday: I was going to make Ethiopian food this day, but then I fell asleep after getting home from the Museum. So the Husband raided the freezer and assembled a dinner of dumplings, soup, and edamame.

Taco Tuesday: reheated the honey adobo chicken from last week. (I had to go to work this evening, so I wrapped some of the chicken in a soft tortilla and took it with me.)

Wednesday: Butternut Squash and Leek Za’atar Pie, Ottolenghi recipe for NY Times Cooking. I made this in an effort to use up some delicata squash, leeks, and chard that our friend had given us from their CSA when they were out of town. This seems like a fancy dish, because it’s all wrapped up in puff pastry, but it was actually pretty fast and easy to put together. Puff pastry makes anything feel fancy. I thought it was rather tasty – the kids didn’t care for the fact that I didn’t peel the squash beforehand, but once the Husband took off the skin (I was at work), they ate it. Made for good leftovers.

Thursday: Pasta and red sauce. Simple fast dinner for a night when I had to work and the Husband had evening plans.

Friday: The family had dinner out with a friend (I think they had burgers). I was at work. Can’t remember what I ate, probably leftovers.

Saturday: Pizza Hut (the 9 year old’s special birthday request) and The Music Man. The 14 year old got the lead in the middle school production of Music Man. I’m so excited and proud for her! Although after seeing the movie, she’s decided that Marian doesn’t make sense – she spends the first half of the show yelling at Harold Hill and then suddenly has a change of heart. It told her that that’s the actor’s challenge, isn’t it?
(I had to work. I think I had leftovers before heading to the theatre again)

Sunday: Marcella Hazan’s oh so easy famous Tomato Sauce w/ pasta, Turkey meatballs (This recipe, but baked instead of fried), potato and leek frittata, and salad (from a bag)

Hope those of you in the path of winter weather remain safe and warm. Here’s hoping there is sunshine and clear roads in your future.

Do you go to your State Fair? Have you ever entered anything into a State Fair? If you could, what would it be? What was your favorite Sunday comic growing up? What do you ~~panic buy~~ make sure you stock up for when bad weather is coming?

Weekly recap + what we ate: Jet lag, Art by Women, airplane films

Ouf, it’s been a rough week for re-entry. I have not been able to get onto a regular sleep schedule. I’m by mid afternoon, struggle to stay awake, and end up taking three hour naps and then staying up until 2am and then sleeping til 8am, which is pretty late in our house. Overall not good for my goal of improving my sleep hygeine in 2026. The house continues to be a mess, the kids run amok on their own in the morning. On the bright side – the six year old got tired of waiting for me to wake up one morning and packed her own lunch…

I did manage to go to work – definitely not bloggable these days – make dinner a few times, meet up with my Lenten (okay, I guess Advent/Epiphany) reading group this week. But other than that, it was a whole lot of sleeping.

Some good news (since so much of it is shit these days):
We found out which high school our daughter is going to. She got assigned to her #1 pick, which is great. The results are kind of based on home school/lottery/random assignments, so it was a little up to chance. The school she is assigned to is not actually our home school, but it is closer to us, which is nice – actually in most of the redistricting maps that have been drawn, it would probably be our new home school in the future, so chances are the two other kids will also go there. I’m excited because the school is getting rebuilt – so next year she will be at at a holding school that is a little far away, but the new building will open up her sophomore year. I can’t quite believe my baby is going to HIGH SCHOOL next year.

Speaking of my baby – it is also her birthday week. It’s been a little low key because her birthday comes so soon after the holidays that I’m always negligent at planning anything. Oh well – we’ll gather with some family friends and have cake, and I think we’ll plan something for her and her friends at some point. She’s on the fence as to whether she wants a big birthday party or anything, so we’ll see what she wants to do. But oh wow… This little baby made us first time parents and now she is 14!!!!

She was such an itty bitty thing! Born at 34 weeks, just under 5lbs – we were completely unprepared for her arrival. Some day I might get around to writing her birth story here.

And look at us now!

A Museum Visit– I went to a new to me museum – The National Museum for Women in the Arts, where aside from a few exceptions, all the art in the museum is by women or non-binary artists. The NMWA is in DC, but not a Smithsonian, so I did actually *gasp* pay money to go. It was well worth the $16 (They do have two free community days a month, and I was going to wait, but the exhibit I wanted to see was closing soon, so I figured I would just pay…. such a foreign concept for me. I feel so entitled.) I had known about the museum, though given all the free museums, this museum was never high up on my list of museums to visit. But during the last government shut down, when the Smithsonian closed, the NMWA was on a list of alternative museums to visit – they even had free admission for federal workers – and I made a note to check it out.

The exhibit that prompted me to visit was called Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, showcasing female artist from the time of the Dutch Masters. The exhibit was about to close and I didn’t want to miss it. 1600-1750 was such a prolific time for art, but all the artists you hear about from the time are men – Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc. I never thought to wonder fi there were also women artists, and of course there were. Many of them were sisters, daughters, or spouses of artists and they were mostly from upper middle and upper class families. The exhibit featured not just paintings, but also scientific drawings, book illustrations, and – most fascinating to me – samples of lace. The exhibit talked about how lace-making is such an art, but lacemakers are never credited by name or even known. It kind of reminded me of the exhibit of quilts that I saw at the Smithsonian a few years ago – the idea of handicraft as art, but art that does not credit the artist, likely because it’s done by women.

Another artform that was largely women’s domain was paper-cutting. It’s not really on people’s radar because the finished project is so fragile that it seldom survives to be passed down. Of course there are painting of paper cuttings, delicate mobiles with intricate designs. One papercutting adjacent work they had was this portrait – how amazingly skillful is that cutting?

I particularly liked the art by Rachel Ruysch – her paintings featured such detail and sense of life:

(Also – I just googled Ryusch, and she had ten children while being one of the most in demand still life painters of her time. I feel conflicted as to whether one’s identity as a mother should be part of an artist’s biography, but, man just thinking of her having ten kids is just as impressive as her paintings. Or maybe no – maybe she was a shit mom who left her kids with their nanny all the time. But still… she gave birth ten times. That’s kind of bad ass.)

After I saw the Dutch Masters exhibit, I wandered the other galleries – the main collection, was interestingly enough, arranged by themes (Red, Lavender, Domesticity), rather than by era. I thought that was a really interesting way to look a pieces in a larger context. I particularly was awed by these huge watercolor paintings:

Painting watercolours this large is amazing.

Then on the third level there was another exhibit called Tawny Chatmon: Sanctuaries of Truth, Dissolution of Lies, featuring work by Black photographer Chatmon. She embroiders her photographs with richly colored threads, making a striking textured visual. Her work seeks to reclaim objects that have been used to stereotype African Americans by restoring them to objects of meaning and significance. For example this photograph of a woman with a watermelon where the fruit is given a place of royalty rather than ridicule.

There is also her project “The Restoration” where she finds racist antique dolls and re-draws the offensively exaggerated facial features and dresses them in rich African textiles.

I left the exhibit awed by the courage and creativity Chatmon has to change the narrative that surrounds her. The whole museum, in general was pretty satisfying to visit. Highly recommend.

Speaking of consuming art– Here is a list of all the movies I watched on the plane on our flights to and from Taiwan, most of them foreign films. I like to watch international movies on international flights. I very rarely watch foreign language films at home, but something about being on a flight, being held hostage for hours – I don’t want to watch popcorn movies, I want to watch movies that feel a little challenging.

This is my strategy on international flights – I first go through the menu and favorite all the movies that look interesting to me. Some of my movie catnip: films set in Taiwan (or the country I’m going to visit), films in Mandarin (so I can practice my language skills. French also.), films with romantic story lines, films that say “Award winning performance”, films that don’t look too dark, heavy, or gory (I don’t need to watch violence on a plane… or ever, really), films with an ensemble cast on the poster, films with people looking happy on the poster, film with women and not just men on the poster, films that are set on planet Earth, period films, films that are less than 120 minutes long. Then after favoriting movies, I just see what speaks to me in the moment. I don’t put on a movie until at least an hour into the flight. I like to watch a movie with my meal, and then see what else I have time for.

Here are the seven movies I watched over 30 some hours in a plane to Taiwan and back:

*The Family Stone – USA 2005: This movie is on so many “Classic Holiday Movie” lists, but I had never seen it, so I decided to put it on. Let me tell you – The Family Stone will definitely not be on any of my “Holiday Movie” lists. It’s full of terrible toxic people, and not even in a good, fun to watch way. I mean aside from the one “Check all the DEI boxes” couple (gay, interracial, and Deaf), everyone is kind of just clueless and unkind, and that in and of itself feels cliched. Holiday movies are supposed to fill me with warm fuzzies and hope for humanity. I just wanted to read all these folks the riot act.

*OMG! Mom’s Big News – Malaysia, 2025: This movie is about a couple in their 50s, with grown kids who discover that the wife is pregnant just as they are planning for retirement. I thought this was a cute movie – funny, warm, and full of quirky characters. It kind of felt like a Hallmark movie in the best ways.

*Mumu – China 2025: A film about a Deaf man who works odd jobs while raising his six year old daughter (Mumu) only to have their life together threatened when his ex comes back for custody of the child. The movie starts out as a heartwarming, quirky almost-comedy about a father and his child, but then bam! Mumu turns real dark and becomes a noir thriller as the father, in order to make money, gets involved in an insurance fraud scheme that requires him to recklessly crash cars, and then… well no spoilers. (I do find with a lot of Chinese and Taiwanese movies they tend to have both light and dark moments. There is no one way to categorize a movie often.) Its the kind of movie that on paper sounds as if it will be peddling in emotional cliches – and it does – but the performances are so genuine and delightful, the relationships so real, that I was just sucked right in. Worth a watch if you can find it, I think.

Tic Talk – Taiwan, 2024: A teenage boy with Tourette’s syndrome dreams of being a singer and also of finding his mother. One day, he meets a travelling singer and hitches a ride on his truck, travelling throughout Taiwan and helping him with his stage and sound set up. The cynical singer and the shy teenager bond. A buddy road trip movie. I really enjoyed the music, seeing the life on the road, and seeing the scenery of Taiwan in this movie. Taiwan is a very outdoors country. This movie has catchy tunes and sweet performances.

Road’s End in Taiwan – Switzerland/Taiwan 2025: Swiss Damien receives a letter that his father – whom his mother had told him died years ago – has just recently passed away in Taiwan. He travels to Taiwan for his inheritance and meets Steve, his Taiwanese half brother. Damien and Steve embark on a road trip through Taiwan to find the other two people named in the will so that the will might be read. Yes, another Taiwan Road Trip movie, though this one travels down the East Coast, so a little different scenery. This movie was kind of sad and bleak (Spoiler – the dead father was NOT a good person), but I was pretty invested in the story.

*Montages of a Modern Motherhood– Hong Kong, 2024: New mother Jing struggles with balancing childcare, work, in-laws, and her marriage in this unflinching look at early motherhood. There were so many moments in this movie that I felt very deeply – the bone dead tiredness of having an infant; the sense of not knowing what to do coupled with undeniable instinct for what your child needs; the crying, constant crying. Watching it made me feel angry on behlaf of Jing, but also I felt so lucky that I had the post-partum support that I did. The movie is bleak, but also those first few months with a baby can be so isolating and intense that I’m glad this movie puts out there how hard it can be.

*A Family Knight-Mare (Sin cobertura – literally “no coverage”) – Spain 2025: Fed up with her family constantly being on their phones, young Rita asks a fortune teller at a Medieval fair to make their phone disappear. Before they know it, the family is transported to the real Medieval Times. Will the family be able to get home before they are stuck in the past forever? After watching two bleak movies, I wanted something lighter. This is the kind of family friendly live action movie that Disney used to make all the time. I thought it was entertaining, cute, and fluffy. Not the most memorable or subtle film, but still pretty entertaining.

Grateful For this week:

-The Bears having an unbelievable season. It makes the Husband really happy.

-The Husband for picking up the slack when all I could do was sleep.

-The people at church who acknowledged 14 year old’s birthday. At our church at the end of Mass, they take time to acknowledge birthday and anniversaries. The 13–>14 year old didn’t want to stand up, and instead sunk down even further in the pew, which I think the priest saw and realized something was up. He came up after and wished her a happy birthday, and so did a few other people. I think she didn’t want a public airing of her birthday, but the quiet individual wishes really made her smile.

-Good books and Libby. I just finished the Daughters of Shandong and could instantly have another book to read.

-Raincoats for the soggy soggy week we’ve been having.

-my colleagues at work.

-The now 14 year old. What a bright, kind, empathetic, unfussy human being she is. She makes me laugh by sending me silly YouTube Shorts, eats salad, looks out for her siblings, always tries to do the right thing and notices when people aren’t doing likewise, avoids drama, and is there for her friends. She likes cuddles, food, Coke, and music. I’m so glad she’s in our lives.

Looking Forward to:

-Bao buns. We went to a new to us Asian grocery store – a small little shop full of wonderful things. We were looking for a restaurant, but it was closed and this grocery store was next to it so we wandered inside, thinking maybe the restaurant was inside the grocery store. Well it wasn’t but the store was a little mom and pop affair so it felt awkward to just go in and leave again, so we wandered the aisles and picked up some fun things – curry puffs, canned rambutan, home made pork bao, tapioca flour, and some cookies for the kids. I noticed they have a boba counter in the back, so we’ll have to make a return trip some time!

-Fencing! We signed up the 8 year old for fencing lessons. He’s always running around with his light saber and Ren Faire sword, so we figured we should try to channel that energy.

-Figuring out how to get on a regular sleep cycle.

-My ~~goals~~ gentle aspirations for 2026. Two weeks into the new year and I’ve finally taken a moment to think about these things. I’m definitely of the “New year can start any time” school. I do think I need some adulting type goals, though – something financial. I need to sit with these for a bit and then maybe I’ll share them here.

-Just started this book. Interesting concept but pretty sad in the first few chapters:

-Listening to this audio book – Two of my catnips – Christmas Carol-inspired and Will Watt as one of the narrators! It’s pretty funny and charming so far.

What We Ate:
Monday: Half Price Burgers

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday – I made Tofu Chorizo from the NY Times Cooking. It was a little too spicy. Not sure if it’s worth my effort to make again – I have a recipe for soy ground beef that is easier and the family likes better. But otherwise we had tostadas instead of hard shell tacos, and those were well enjoyed.

Wednesday: Pasta with red sauce. I was supposed to cook this night, but I got home from work and fell asleep in our reading chair. When the Hsuband couldn’t wake me, he made dinner instead.

Thursday: Masala Chickpeas with Tofu and Blistered Tomatoes, from NY Times Cooking, served with Paratha (bought frozen from HMart and cooked on the griddle.) This was a huge hit. It was drier than I thought it would be – next time, I might add a can of diced tomatoes as well. Vegan (I used coconut oil instead of ghee.)

Friday: Pizza and movie night. Only we watched Indiana University football instead.

Saturday: We went out for Indian Food, the 13 (now 14) year old’s choice as her birthday dinner out.

Sunday: We went over to a friend’s house and they made pizza on the grill for us. We brought bagged salad and cupcakes.

Welp that’s some of what’s been going on here – hope you’ve had a great weekend and that the week ahead brings some wonderful things even when the big picture is bleak.

Do you have a method for picking movies on a flight? Or picking movies to watch in general? How many women artists can you name? (They sell buttons with this written on them at teh National Museum of Women in the Arts. I think I used to be just able to name Georgia O’Keefe and Frida Kahlo off the top of my head.. Now I have more!) Do you have any adulting financial goals? I need some inspiration.