Happy Memorial Day!

Kyle, Liz and I took the totally awesome tour of the Capitol Building. Unlike last time I went, this time Congress was actually in session, and they let us go in and watch a little. In the Senate, they were voting to confirm some circuit judge. Following what was going on was a bit confusing (the Senate Rules are famously Byzantine), but it was nice hearing a few of the Senators give good wishes to Ted Kennedy. None of the Presidential candidates were there, but I was surprised at how many of the other Senators I recognized, my old Senators Feinstein, Boxer, Dominichi, Schumer, and even Specter, Webb, and that guy from Louisiana that hired the hookers. (That probably applies to most of them, but I think his name was Vitter.)

Then we went over to the House, which was mostly empty, but was far more entertaining as we watched a handful of them fight over drilling for oil in Alaska. It basically went something like this:

Republican dude: "Drilling good!"
Democrat dude: "Drilling bad!"
Republican dude: "I respectfully disagree with my colleague who is totally awesome in every way except in the way he is retarded."
Democrat dude: "I am honored to debate this issue with my colleague who is totally smart and popular and pretty, but on this issue is still a complete and utter tool."

It was pretty funny. They had charts and everything, but everyone was very aware of the cameras. Just kind of surprising that no one really said anything that wasn't already said like four years ago. Since coming to DC I am much more aware of the importance of having a good transportation policy (one that discourages driving and encourages carpooling and public transportation), yet none of these issues were addressed. Just a big paper fight for the TV. ::sigh::

Then we picked up David and went to see "Iron Man". Not knowing anything about the character, I enjoyed the movie, though I would have wished for a little more action and a little less of the origin story which was a little long. It all felt like a prequel getting us ready for the inevitable sequel when the movie will really start. Also, I can't say it enough times, but I HATE IT WHEN THE BAD GUY IS THE HERO'S BEST FRIEND. It is Hollywood's most favorite thing to do, and I always find it incredibly tedious. But whatever, at least Jeff Bridges is awesome. I even liked Paltrow, which was unexpected, although she has a stupid name and it bugged me every time they said it.

What was most fun about it was watching Kyle, who, shall we say, was *really* enjoying himself. When the friend saw the second suit and was all "Next time", Kyle practically started hyperventilating. Then when the other guy was like "Just call us Shield" I thought I was going to have to whip out my mad nursing skills to save Kyle as his eyes rolled back in his head and he started moaning. (To be fair, about three other guys in the theatre made the exact same noises.) Don't even get me started on the whole Sam Jackson thing, which was completely meaningless to me but made Kyle very, very happy.

Anyway, this was hardly "X-2" caliber, but was still a lot of fun. But I wish I could see more movies with my brothers. (Also, for the record, there is no one more fun to watch "America's Funniest Home Videos" with. Holy crap that boy can laugh.)

Since everyone left I've been working every day (to make up for the week I took off). As of Friday I've moved to working night shifts. I've been working one or, rarely, two nights a week for a while now, but now I'm gonna try all night shifts for a while, so's I can have my weekends off to play with David at Six Flags this summer. So far it seems to be going pretty well. My last shift, which when I signed up for a Saturday night on a holiday weekend I worried we would be understaffed and crazy busy, was actually one of the slowest shifts I've had. All four of my patients were like "i just want to sleep, so leave me alone for as long as possible." If you insist! I'm back again tonight, so we'll see how it goes. Just hope I can find a middle ground for my sleep schedule so I can still play with David and not just sleep all day every day.

We were walking by the Capitol last night, and there was some big holiday concert going on. It was far too crowded to tempt us over to try and watch, but we heard some awesome mezzo sing the National Anthem. Kind of fun to have that caliber of thing going on just a mile from your house. But we were too busy taking silly photos of each other. God bless digital cameras.