end of NaBloPoMo

Well, today is the last day of November, so I don't have to blog every day now. I only missed one post and since I doubled up yesterday, I still did 30 posts in 30 days - definitely a record for Camp Crawford. The semester is coming to a close - two crazy weeks of class left and then finals. Today was my last day of sessions at the clinic - I'm going to miss my two kiddos and hope the clients I'm assigned next semester are as fun.

I should still post a fair amount in December -- we've got a lot to look forward to:

• this Friday is the Snowball in Cincinnati
  

• 11 days till the Rockettes!!

• on the 18th Pete gets his wisdom teeth out (finally!) - AND it's my last day of the semester!
• 19th is Audrey's Secret Santa party (Rachael - I'm supposed to extend an invite to you and Sylvain, call/email me for details)
• then, of course, the entire holiday season.

SOOOOO -- Stay tuned!!! Loyal readers, so glad you've stuck with me this month; New readers, welcome!!

holiday wrap-up (warning: many pictures!!)

Sorry the recent blogs have been short on pictures -- we had a computer with us in Pennsylvania, but I didn't pack my camera's docking station.

Thanksgiving morning we got up and drove to Honey Brook for the Turkey Bowl 5K - Pete ran 18:15 - which is not half bad since he's still recovering from his marathon! (I couldn't run an 18:15 5K if my life depended on it -- I finished the 5K in 37:01 and was pretty happy about it) We used our car to get to the race but Honey Brook is made up of several Amish communities - we saw a little boy at the end of his drive in the typical straw hat and gray suit - about 4 years old - precious! My mom loved the Amish community - their art, etc, it always makes me think of her.

Family began arriving at Aunt Susie and Uncle Joe's house around 4pm, we ate around 5:30pm. Different family members brought different things: Rich and Kim brought sweet potato casserole and cheese and crackers, Pamela and her gang brought pumpkin pies, Corky was in charge of the wine (surprise) - he special ordered this beauty several weeks ago:

He and Jack had to put it on the FLOOR to get it open!! It had a giant cork! (I didn't have any, but they say it was tasty) There were 38 (!) of us for dinner which Aunt Susie said was a low year - last year there were 55!! We had a really nice dinner - all the usual things: turkey, stuffing, pie, etc. Here is proof that we were there (prolly the only pic of us all weekend):
After dinner there was (of course) Rummikub.
Day after Thanksgiving was the shoe-shopping expedition I wrote about a few days ago, but we also visited the Tom Sturgis Pretzel Co. (america's first pretzel factory?) to get some snacks to take home.
THEN we went on a Christmas Tree Hunt!!! We were after two trees - one for Aunt Susie and Uncle Joe and one for the Shields.
It was a success! Jack cut down the tree for his family and Corky cut the tree for A. Susie and U. Joe.

Chris and Johnny carrying their tree.

Pete and Uncle Joe carrying the other tree.

On the way back we stopped by the Pagoda -- can you believe I've been going to Reading since I was a toddler and I had never seen it?!?!
So we saw it and quickly got back in the car because it was COLD. So....that was it! We had a great time, saw some family, flew home yesterday. Can't wait till our next visit!

only missed it by a few days!!

but alas, I did not blog yesterday, so I am not a NaBloPoMo success. However, I'll do two today to make up for it!

Yesterday was a travel day for us. We woke up in Reading, drove to Philadelphia, flew to Louisville, and then drove to Lexington. But before we came home, we went to Pete's 10th high school reunion! We actually had all afternoon in the 'ville as our flight landed just after noon but that was a good thing because I needed to shop for an outfit to wear to the reunion and a cocktail dress to wear to the Snow Ball this Friday in Cincinnati. So we got lunch at Whole Foods then headed over to Mall St. Matthews to get some new frocks. Lucky for us Pete's sister lives in Louisville so we headed over to her house after that to relax. We actually got to her house about two hours before she did but that was fine by me -- I needed a nap! (and, of course, Pete needed a run)

Here we are, all dressed up:

It was nice to meet some of Pete's high school friends -- I already know most of them since we're only in Lexington, but it was good to see some new faces. Most of us ended up in the hotel bar to watch the end of the Kentucky/Tenessee game (sniff). After that we went back to the ballroom, said goodbye to a few people, and headed home.

the way back time machine

Aunt Susie asked Pete when we got here if he would help her find some new shoes to wear when she exercises. And Corky wanted to get a new pair as well because he wants to start running to improve his cycling in the spring. So we headed out this afternoon to the Runners Shop where Uncle Richard got all his shoes when he ran in high school and college (he's fifty now so it's been a few years).

It was the craziest/weirdest/funniest place!!! Mind you Pete is in the shoe industry and I used to be, but even Uncle Corky and Aunt Susie and Christine thought it was QUITE the find. It seems they still have the original inventory from when Richard shopped there years ago.

May I present, Exhibit No.1..........

Pete purchased four, I repeat FOUR of these!! One in a coordinating pink that I modeled for a picture later in the day but it's saved on Pete's phone so I can't access it. They're all official New Balance Apparel circa 1992. Stay tuned for New Balance Representative's next quarterly meeting when Pete and his buddies will be wearing these to the formal dinner.

And to hear the owner of the store haggling with Pete over the price ---- it was great!

Obviously we had to go somewhere else to find them some (current) shoes.

Am blogging from my Blackberry in bed - suffice to say that our day was filled with family and food and festivities! Will try to write more tomorrow, maybe even post a picture or two!

we're here!

We made it to Pennsylvania safely, arrived @ A.Susie + U.Joe's around 7pm (a bit later than expected, more on that later). Of course the Tom Sturgis (?) Pretzels were out and the Yuengling was chilled. We dined on italian sandwiches and Utz potato chips - yum!! A.Susie even has fall-colored non-pareils!
So...our departure was delayed 2 1/2 hours from 1pm to 3:30pm - no biggie except that now had us arriving in Philadelphia right at rush hour. We pick up our rental car (a Kia Forte - blech!), check out with the gate attendant and head on our way. Traffic is bumper to bumper and slow moving. We exit from one interstate to another and suddenly there are PA State Trooper lights in the rear view mirror. My first thought was great there's a wreck ahead, that's going to make us sit in traffic even LONGER. Well apparently officer friendly had a light on his dash that he used to signal Pete (the driver) to pull over - at which point Pete realizes the headlights aren't on!!! So we wait for the officer, explain that we're driving a rental car, that we just landed in Philly and that we didn't know the lights weren't on (the lights on the dash WERE on and there was so much traffic that we honestly couldn't tell) - I drive with my lights on in the daytime, people! So he says okay, takes Pete's license and our rental agreement and goes back to his car. Have I mentioned that it's raining?!?! and rush hour!?!? We assumed he was just checking Pete's license to make sure there weren't any warrants and he'd send us on our merry way with a "Happy Thanksgiving!" Did that happen?!?! Of course not - he gave us a citation for driving without our headlights on after dark. oh well - live and learn - don't rent a KIA (sorry, em)
We're here now and dinner was great with just the four of us - tomorrow there will be 38 for dinner!!

YAY!! Break time!!

I'm done with classes!!!

...at least for the rest of the week. I have been SO looking forward to this break from school.

Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Philadelphia and then we're renting a car to drive to Reading to have Thanksgiving dinner with all my aunts and uncles and cousins on my mom's side. I've never been to Aunt Susie's for Thanksgiving before, but I'm sure it will be a good time.

Pete has found a race for Turkey Day in nearby Honey Brook, PA --it's called the Turkey Bowl 5K, I still haven't decided if I'm going to wake up early enough to run it (let's be honest, I still haven't decided if I'm even going to PACK my running shoes).

Things that must come on the plane: iTouch with Christmas tunes, Aveda Hand Relief, a few Peppermint Tootsie Roll pops.

I'm trying to think of something to blog about but can't because I'm distracted by my husband singing "all we want is to sleep in on Friday and maybe have pumpkin pie for breakfast" to the tune of Circle of Life from The Lion King.

....life at the Crawford's...never typical, that's for certain!

Tasty Treat

I've been working on my presentation for tomorrow for part of the afternoon and all evening. I took a short break to make dinner (bourbon salmon and salad) and Pete thought we should have a nice treat afterward!!



Yum! - a Tall, Nonfat (mine was no whip), Peppermint Mocha!! Now I'll definitely be able to power through and finish this thing!

Oops! Forgot to blog tonight - must mean the boy is back in town :)

Sweet Sweet Baby

Today was a BABY day!!! After work I went over to St. Joseph's to meet sweet Maddox Andrew who was born yesterday to my friend Stephanie -- he is precious!! I walked into the room, dropped my purse, took of my shoes, and crawled up in the bed with Stephanie!! I sat there and held Maddox for about 45 min!! He was darling! I could have stayed all afternoon. Big sister Amelia was asleep on the loveseat in the room so I didn't get to congratulate her on her new role in life, but I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. Thanks so much Stephanie (and Drew!) for sharing your new little man with me!!



THEN Rachael called!!! Today she and Sylvain had their 20-wk ultrasound -- head on over to her blog for the news!!


sigh.....what a good day....

Holiday Outfit

So.... I love this skirt.

I also love the sweater that goes with it: gray with a white ribbon at the collar. I want this to be my holiday outfit! How cute would it be with silver ballet flats?!?!?!

Problem: IT'S FROM THE GIRL'S DEPARTMENT!!!

So go ahead Annabelle, Amelia, and Audrey, have your moms get this cute outfit from Target, wear it to the reading group at the library and cupcake day at preschool -- I'll be the nearly 30-year-old pouting in the corner.

Furniture!!!

Our last sofa was delivered today, so all we are missing now from our original furniture order is the coffee table for the living room...we still need to order curtains, find an area rug and a piano, and hang some prints on the walls -- but this is serious progress!!!

I'll show the basement pictures first (because we've had the armchair, loveseat, and coffee tables for almost a month now)

this picture wall is on the left when you come down the stairs

Here are the living room pictures:

love, love, LOVE the pillows!

Sorry all the pictures are so dark (this is what happens when you take your pictures at night). And if you're Pete, seeing this furniture for the first time....yes I did move the bookshelf.

I've been busy printing these images

...for my therapy session tomorrow. My client is a 'tween' so I'm trying to use things that will be of interest to her, but I don't know anything about this stuff!

tonight's [i'm missing pete] activity:

it's just me and the mat... and the three mammals. the large and black mammal doesn't like DDR so she sought refuge in her crate while the music was on.

TODAY'S THE DAY!!

Chances are he's already finished by the time you're reading this....but today (starting at 7:30am CST) Pete runs the San Antonio Marathon and hopefully earns a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon!!! Pete has been training really hard and very consistently, so I'm hoping he does it -- but it couldn't hurt for you to be sending good thoughts his way!!

UPDATE: Pete is halfway done (13.1 miles) with a time of 01:28:37!!

2nd UPDATE: Pete finished with a time of 3:28:13 (overall, a really good time, but not fast enough to qualify for Boston and quite a bit slower than his goal). Boo. I spoke with him afterward and he said it was a crash and burn situation, and that he was totally exhausted. Our good friend Ed finished with a time of 7:08:20 and had pretty bad leg cramps. Pete said they were going to get cleaned up and then eat guacamole until their eyes turned green!

Google Analytics

Don't you just love it?!?!?

Some days I feel like a complete loser, but then I can check analytics and find out that people from 39 states and multiple countries have visited my little blog!! I don't have many followers, but I'm happy for the 536 of you that have dropped by so far this month!

(Pete was really pleased to find a little while ago on his blog that he had quite the loyal following from England.)

on another note....got my nails painted today... chose Lincoln Park After Dark. I'm loving the dark, short nails look. Hopefully next time they will have gotten this color:

Holiday Glow

(sorry 'bout the lack of high-minded blogs -- I've written and deleted two different holiday-themed blogs, but didn't feel quite right about them)

Hopefully you're not wanting a

high-minded blog tonight. I'm working on a good one for tomorrow but tonight will be pretty shallow.

I started using wrinkle cream this week.

I've had the good sense to use under-eye cream for the last 10 years, and a daily sunscreen for the last 15, but haven't officially used wrinkle cream until now. I don't know if it's graduate school or this decade of my life coming to a close but I am definitely starting to have a Tom Carter forehead (sorry dad, but you've got some serious lines). So last weekend I went to the mall and got some of this:

let's hope it works!!

maybe my life just isn't interesting enough to be recorded every day. unless you want to know about alternative and augmentative communication for those with traumatic brain injury and aphasia secondary to a cerebral vascular accident, I didn't have have much happen today.

maybe tomorrow will be more exciting.

No Emma Pillsbury on Glee tonight! ....but a good episode nonetheless...

Pete leaves tomorrow for his whirlwind trip around the nation:

Thursday through Sunday he'll be in San Antonio. Sunday morning he will run the Rock N Roll Marathon. (as will our friend Ed from church choir in his first marathon -- go Ed!!) Monday morning Pete flies to Naples, Florida for his annual New Balance sales meeting. He will return to Lexington next Friday evening.

WE'VE NEVER BEEN APART FOR SO LONG BEFORE!!!!

I'm a little nervous about being at home alone but I have a lot of schoolwork to keep myself busy and maybe will break out the Dance Dance Revolution and/or Wii Fit over the weekend. (also might get myself a massage and mani/pedi) The light at the end-of-the-semester tunnel is almost visible, just a few more papers and presentations until Thanksgiving Break!

melanie sent me the best link after reading my Glee post.....so if you're not already looking forward to its return tomorrow, see if this new blog will get you excited: www.wwepw.blogspot.com

bloggy blog blog blog

confession time:

-last night we made a pan of rice krispies treats and I ate 7/8 of them (Pete's calculation, surely not statistically accurate) - even now he says more like 3/4

-I just completed an assignment for CD 701 while watching an episode of Say Yes to the Dress

-stitches the vet told us would dissolve did not, so Pete cut them out with a nail clipper while Fi was sleeping

- I have no idea how I'm going to keep this blog going for another 3 weeks!

He's a Pinball Wizard

Last night we went to Newport (pretty much Cincinnati for you non-locals) to celebrate Sylvain's 30th Birthday!! Rachael pulled out all the stops and hosted an awesome evening!! We all gathered at Game Works for a pinball tournament and food and cake and prizes. As is fitting, Sylvain won the tournament - though I only got a picture of him playing air hockey - which he also won.

the birthday boy!

First round of the tournament, Pete was up against Joyce (Rachael's mom)

she definitely had the hometown advantage with the WHOLE family there to cheer her on,

but luckily Pete pulled it out in the end!!!

and Joyce was, of course, a gracious loser. :)

Then it was time for the delicious cake!! Rachael made beautiful cake pinballs!!

and last, but not least, were the FABU prizes!!!

(not pictured: bubbles, bouncy putty, grow creatures)

Happy 30th Birthday Sylvain!!! Thanks for including us in your celebration!

The Round and Round Chair

...has been resurrected!!!

The round and round chair has been around as long as I can remember (I'm certain it's older than I am). When my parents were moving from Texas at the beginning of my sophomore year of college, I came to Abilene to pick it up and we had it in our dorm room. I kinda think my brother was ticked that I got it, but we'll have to ask him (pete? any thoughts?).

I love reading in the round and round chair -- it's the perfect size to cuddle up in and read a novel, or a textbook. In our last house it lived in the t.v. room for a little while, and then in Pete's office when we got some 'real' furniture.

When we moved to this house it really didn't have a home anymore-- we got rid of all our college furniture and furniture that we inherited when we moved to this house. Except the round and round chair -- I couldn't part with it so it lived in my office when we first moved.

Then one day I was driving to work (via a new route) and passed by a store called Fabrications by M. I stopped in later that week to see if she could recover my favorite chair. She said sure! All I had to do was bring in a picture and pick out some fabric -- she'd call us when the fabric arrived and we could drop off the chair. When I brought in the chair I apologized for its condition - covered in dog hair (of Lord only knows how many generations of dogs), deteriorating from age, it wasn't exactly a nice chair to begin with.

BUT YOU SHOULD SEE IT NOW!!!! M just called an hour ago and I went to pick it up!!

So here's the before (when the room was lavender):



and here's the after(!) - in the now yellow room:


Don't you just love it?!?!?!

(I'm off to read all those articles waiting for me by the chair - hope you've been enjoying this lovely weekend!)

yipes!!

it's almost tomorrow and I haven't blogged yet!!

we just got home from Christa's birthday party @ Ben and Emily's where there was Apples to Apples and Karaoke -- my kind of party.

this blog won't be too long because I just realized I didn't email my supervisor my session plans for next week yet (she's supposed to have them by noon on Friday) so I need to write those ASAP.

Today was a busy day -- worked in the morning, got a haircut this afternoon (just a trim, still growing it out) and had our annual session with Melanie this afternoon! We didn't know if there would be any leaves left on the trees this late in the year but we lucked out and had a nice fall-themed session.

In 4-5 weeks we'll have proofs to share!!!

that's it for now, I'm off to drink some tea and write session plans -- tomorrow night is Sylvain's 30th Birthday in Cincinnati. It's pinball-themed and I'm excited! I might be blogging from by Blackberry so stay tuned!

The Leader of the Pack

We have two dogs, Hannah and Fiona. Sometimes their playing gets a little rough and we have to break up a fight. A few weeks ago their playing got so rough that Pete had to take Fiona to the after-hours emergency room and she got 5 stitches on her face (for which she had to have general anesthesia). So we were afraid we'd have to get rid of Hannah. We cannot have a dog that bites, it's just that simple. But we didn't want to get rid of Hannah, we love Hannah -- she's our first pooch! So we looked around online for a solution -- and we didn't thing that taking them to a once-a-week pet obedience class would work -- they only get rough at home (usually in the basement). Enter Barkbusters.
Kendra came to our home two (three?) weeks ago for an initial, 3-hour training session. By the time she left I was giggly and HANNAH AND FIONA WERE WELL-BEHAVED DOGS!!! It wasn't quite that automatic, but we are on the road to reprogramming their pack mentality. Turns out Han and Fi had sibling rivalry for head status in the household 'our pack'. Now they're learning that Pete and I (and any other adults around) are the leaders. The whole way the dogs are allowed to act around the house has changed -- we lead through doorways, we are the first ones to get to the door, we lead the way up the stairs, and they have to wait for us to give the okay. They can also Sit and Stay!!

Kendra is coming back on Wednesday for our next installment -- I think this time we will work on behavior in the yard and on the leash. There are no treats or choke chains -- just a verbal "Bahhhh" when they look ask though they might misbehave. Sounds so simple, but totally works! Carl (my father-in-law) arrived for a weekend visit while Kendra was wrapping up her session and he was astounded! He has already investigated Barkbusters where he lives in Sarasota.

I'll try to give an update next week after our follow-up session, maybe a video of them rocking out on their sit-stays in our still furniture-less living room.