Gooooooo Pope!

Pope Benedict XVI is in DC, which is causing a lot of excitement. Of course there are people just out to see him walking around the White House, riding down the street, etc. There are protesters, too. I saw two small groups yesterday. One was for separation of church and state. The other was anti-celibacy. (Specifically, for priests, but most of their slogans were not so precise.)

The happy surprise have been the papal pennants for sale on the street. They're the triangular, pseduo-felt things on a stick, that normally say "State" or "Steelers", but these have a picture of Benedict XVI. I'm still looking for pope-themed jerseys, bumper stickers, scarves, or beer hats.

The pope is holding a mass Mass at National Stadium right now, at 10AM. It's a beautiful, clear day. Makes me wish a little bit that I was a Catholic without a day job.

Where in the world is Carmen de Santiago?

She's in Paris, protesting China's hosting of the Olympics, about halfway through the article.

Red wine vinegar

I was making the shopping list this weekend, and I noticed our red wine vinegar has a sell-by date. What, I wonder, happens to vinegar when it gets too old?

Nine months old

Owen is nine months old today, and it's also Developmental Milestone Saturday:

a. For the first time, he managed to move forward on his hands and knees. He's been locomoting by army-crawl for some time now, and he would get up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth. But this evening, visiting Eric and Christy, he managed to take a few "steps" forward in the quadrupedal crawl. I didn't even realize it at first; I saw him do it, then a few seconds later asked, "Did he just crawl?" He had done, and did it again later, just to prove it wasn't an accident.

b. As much as I have liked Time for Bed, trying to read it to him since birth, Owen has disliked the book, often crying at the sight of it. Although we'd approached the halfway point within the last month, it was only last night that we made it to the end. Owen particularly liked the little girl on the last page, smiling at her, then turning his head to beam at me, "Do you see that?" Tonight, we read the entire book again, with Owen turning each page. Again, he smiled at the girl, then me. Then he flipped the book over, and we read it again.

In honor of Anti-Developmental Milestone Saturday, Owen is doing his absolute best not to fall asleep.