A Visit from Mathgeek

I received an email this morning telling me that Sonnet87.com was renewed for another year.  I suppose I should write on the damn blog, huh?

I decided to not write about my time away from work because I partly used that time to begin a job search.  It’s not something that’s fun, it’s not coming to me easily, and I’m a little apprehensive at trying to move from my relatively well-paying if not mind-numbing job to something else in this economy.  I don’t think I’ll discuss the search too much on the blog, but if I do, I hope it’s in positive terms.

Over last week, my little brother Mathgeek graced us with his presence.  It was extremely good to see him; I know he’s been doing great at college, but it’s always good to have first-hand knowledge.  He arrived on Thanksgiving morning, having taken Amtrak’s red-eye equivalent to DC.  I was a bit astounded when I saw him: he’s thinner and looks a lot like Big Brother A these days (even in terms of dress and mannerisms—it was quite eerie to hear Mathgeek speaking and kind of see Big Brother A).  We took him home and he promptly crashed in our guest bedroom, sleeping for hours while IP and I read, wrote and surfed (well, I did the surfing).

When Mathgeek awoke, we put the lasagnas that IP had made the night before (bison and spicy Italian sausage varieties) into the oven.  IP prepared salads while I prepared garlic bread, both of us chatting it up with Mathgeek.  It must be said: Mathgeek and all his friends at school are huge geeks.  I mean, what do you expect for a kid who bills himself as Mathgeek?  Mathgeek is super enthusiastic about his new home and friends; I cannot wait to see this place, I have to admit.  I think it’s going to be an experience in supreme geek-titude, and I must witness it!

After dinner, we chatted for a while, then the lasagna, salad, bread, and pumpkin pie (what?) did its work—we all crashed.  Mathgeek wandered off to bed while IP and talked sleepily into the night, then turned in; everyone slept late and it was needed.

The next day?  Nada.  Mathgeek worked on his assignments (the infamous p-set), IP and I did some work (IP on his own things, me on the wedding and job hunting).  We did not venture outside once.  Considering Friday was gloomy, it was fitting.

The next day we hit the Parkside Deli, enjoying some breakfast fare (their French toast is so freaking good).  After that, we headed up to the Metro and made our way to DC.  We then spent the day walking the Mall and hitting the Air & Space Museum—and it was a perfect day to be outside.  Sunny, mild breeze, not cold at all.  We hit most of the major monuments, dropped by the National Academies to check out Eistein’s statue (only in the company of Mathgeek, I tell ya), got to see more of Air & Space than we had on our previous visit, and then headed to Gordon Biersch.  What family visit would be complete without GB?

Sunday was a low-key day as Mathgeek was heading back to school.  At 12:45ish, we dropped Mathgeek off and I surprised myself by crying a bit.  I never cry when family members leave after visiting—not that I don’t love them, obvs, but I’ve always felt overly protective of Mathgeek (I changed his diapers, for crissakes!).  My motherly instincts kick in around Mathgeek; even if he can be a little snot, I’d defend him to the death.

I feel I have officially transitioned into “You’re turning into your mom” territory.

But in all seriousness, the holiday weekend was great: good food, good times, good company.  Thanks for dropping by, Mathgeek!