Lil' furry friend(s)

So a few weeks ago we found some presents in our kitchen! They were a total surprise and we didn't know who left them. But don't get too excited, it wasn't Christmas in July/August... they presents were of a different nature altogether. I recognized the mouse poop because I used to work in a lab with mice. If only these little guys knew what I did to their distant cousins (not to sound too morbid or anything, but hey, it was for science) then they wouldn't have been so nonchalant about masquerading around OUR kitchen.

Well, we immediately put all of our food that was out (bread, chips, cereal) in the cabinet which we ASSUMED was secure from the scurrying scoundrels. We hung up our kitchen trash (which had been on the floor and had nibble marks). Then we bought some rat/mouse poison (tasty green blocks) and put it in some dark corners so the mouse could eat and DIE.

We soon found that our cabinet was NOT the safe haven we thought it was. In fact, the mice/mouse was having a hay-day eating through our plastic bags and cardboard boxes and finding all the food it wanted! It was quite disturbing the first morning we found this out. Honestly, it made me want to vomit. The mice I am used to working with are clean and disease-free, in fact, they would die pretty quickly in the normal world because of their genetic mutations. But these mice are disgusting, dirty, deleterious and disease-ridden (there's some alliteration for you). So now all of our food is in the fridge, we wash all of our dishes before using them, and we are super careful about crumbs etc.

On Saturday, Henry's mom and sister were visiting and his mom happened to open our water heater closet which is in the kitchen. There in one of the mouse traps (left by the owner) was a little friend! I won't go into details (even though I think it's interesting), but the mouse was definitely dead. Hopefully it was just one...

Here is a haiku I've written in honor of the dead mouse:

You lil' mousey, you.
Nibbled our food and left poo.
Then your head got smashed.

Rest in peace.
(Maybe this picture is from mouse heaven.)

Tappenings

List of the latest (in no particular order):

1. CoCo Sala - Henry's work party at this swanky downtown DC lounge/restaurant. Fancy hors 'doeuvres + unlimited alcohol + chocolate = great fun. Even more fun when you are not drinking and everyone else gets hammered and then you can all dance to MJ at the end of the night! They gave us chocolates with BW | 10 (10th anniversary of the company) on them. Also, as you can see by this picture we: 1) like chocolate 2) have a gas stove and 3) recycle!
2. Hirshhorn - We both love modern art. This is one of our favorite Smithsonian's so far. Also nice because it doesn't take that long to go through the whole thing.
3. Holocaust Museum - Very memorable and well-curated. The reality of it all really hit me when the ID card I received was of a 22-year-old newly married young woman who did not survive.
4. Matchbox - Good pizza. Horrible service. We were never greeted, and spoken to rudely and glared at when we asked for a table. But good pizza. We like veggies.
   
5. Temple closed - Only to be realized after making the hour commute by metro and bus. At least they had a cool exhibit from the Hubble spacecraft at the visitor's center. And nature. The temple is surrounded by nature -- something that is hard to come by in DC.
6. Homemade chocolate chip cookies - Filled with butter and love, these goodies make a perfect breakfast any day of the week. And they disappear quickly.
   
7. Henry's interim review - Success! Henry is now CEO of Bates White. Or at least the best intern they've ever had (not an exaggeration).
   
8. Tori's poster presentation - On August 6th! Who cares how it goes, the poster looks pretty! Thank heaven for Powerpoint 2007's amazing default color scheme.
9. Family! - The Lefgren family came out to play before heading back to Utah. The kids were cute and we had lots of fun going to the zoo and just hanging out.

Here is Lucy saying "I don't want to wear shoes because I am a turtle and turtles don't wear shoes." She has a point, ya know.Emma and Tori swinging. We are girls because we wear pink shirts.

And these are boys. You can tell because they smell and wear blue.

Well, that's the latest update from the Tappens. 2.5 weeks of internships left (along with visits from more family) and then we're off to NYC for a week! And don't forget good ol' Provo, we'll be back there soon enough. Look out!

The Notorious HPT

This is the inspiration for the name of our blog. We proudly present Henry's graduation rap:

This video has over 37,000 hits on YouTube. That makes my husband a famous rapper! His rapper name is The Notorious HPT (Henry Potter Tappen). He can beat you up.... with words... or econometrics.

Go Fourth to the Capitol

Happy Independence (not dense) Day! That reminds me of a funny Andy Sandberg digital short.

We started off the weekend by going to Arlington National Cemetery and seeing the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also went to Georgetown Cupcake and waited in line for 30 minutes to buy a little bit of heaven. I do love chocolate A LOT, but the wait was a little bit ridiculous.

(We all know you're really just here to see me, so it doesn't really matter that Henry's left eye is cut off. Isn't the right side of his face cute, though?)

(I thought it was funny that they swung out their legs before they stopped walking, so I was soo happy when I caught this lil' pic.)

Random science fact: Did you know that they exhumed the remains of the Vietnam unknown soldier and identified him through his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)? mtDNA is inherited through the mother because the egg contributes the bulk of the cell (including organelles like mitochondria), while the sperm only holds DNA. Wowsie!

On the fourth we went forth to downtown DC and saw the big show.

(Random people we don't know)

(This is us looking up at the fireworks. They turned us into giddy, blissful children... no lies. I have a video with Henry exclaiming "WOW" with perfect child-like awe)

After the show, we were walking through the crowd to get to our bus-stop and we came stumbled upon a magical street performer.

But this was not just any street performer. And that is NOT Chairman Mao behind him (not a racist comment, but just a remark on the way I edited the photo). This guy was actually playing CLASSICAL MUSIC on the STEEL DRUMS. This guy was a mix between Marley and Mozart, Rastafarian-ism and Ravel, Dreadlocks and Debussy, Jamaica and Johannes..., sorry I just got on a roll there. I'll put up a video soon so you can see, and hear, for yourself (our internet is too slow and it won't upload right now).