Happy Memorial Day!

The kitchen still isn't finished, so I thought I'd distract from that by sharing details of our weekend.
Last night we went to a party on our friend Emily's parents' houseboat! We had a really good time: grilled some food, fished a little, played board games --all the fun stuff.

This morning was the annual Lexington Humane Society's Mutt Strutt, a canine event not to be missed. All sorts of people and dogs come every year to raise money and get a little exercise.

There were dogs like this

and this

so it was a well-rounded group.
I had to work at ten so I wasn't able to participate, but I went to cheer on my girl Hannah and her companion the cute redheaded boy.

That's the two of them leading the pack! They pulled out front for an early lead. Pete says Hannah lost most of her steam about 200 yards in (what can I say, she's an 11-minute miler, like me) but they came in 5th place and won an awesome award package.
Hannah was a patient girl and waited for me to come home before opening her prize.

She enjoyed her rawhide and we were excited for her to get a new ball and frisbee. That's it from Camp Crawford for now --hope you all had good Memorial Day weekend as well!

We may have started a little early....

Hannah and I only made it for half an hour tonight. We left the house around 7:15 and it was still pretty hot, last time we didn't leave until 8pm and it was a little cooler outside. I changed my interval today to running 3:30, walking 1:30 and then we walked for 7 minutes to cool down. So I ran for 21 minutes, walked for 16 --not too bad, but not as good as last week. I'm just hoping I can keep it up for another week or two until it becomes a habit.
On another note --Mom comes tomorrow! Yay! We can paint the kitchen white and then begin painting the town red!

50 minutes tonight!

That's right --30 running, 20 walking for 4.13 miles--Phoenix 1/2 Marathon here I come!

There's really no title that can do this justice...

Woo-hoo!

I just completed 40 minutes of run for 3 minutes walk for 2!! That might not be a big deal to you runners out there, but for me it's an accomplishment. I swear I could have gone another 5 or 10 minutes, but Hannah barely made it with me on the last set of running. Pete's on his way home from Louisville --he'll be so proud!

I like it when Carl comes to visit!

First thing this morning after breakfast Carl was all ready to head to Lowe's to get a new chandelier for our dining room. It was so nice to watch Pete and his dad working together on a project --and they kept going and going! They installed the new chandelier, fixed the screen on the back door, installed a grate to prevent Hannah from jumping on the door, AND fixed the faulty kitchen faucet!! I only wish I knew they were going to want to get so much work done --I would have thought up more things in advance! :)

Then, after the guys went to pick up pizza for dinner, Carl showed some interest in seeing our new gaming system. Yes, I was mad about the Wii at first, but we had an awfully good time:

Happy Birthday Carl!

Pete's dad Carl turned 60 today, and although he and Estelle were in Louisville all day doing various graduation/new house activities with Audrey and Andrew, we wanted to do a little something for him when they arrived home after dinner. Pete got a wonderful strawberry pie from Missy's and I managed to dig up some balloons and candles:

Sickness

Well, I was sent home from work yesterday afternoon because my sickness from last week seemed to have returned with a vengeance. I started feeling yucky Saturday evening and on Sunday was in pretty bad shape with a sore throat, chest congestion, achy body, stuffed up head...you get the idea. But I'm of the opinion that if you can get your head off the couch you're well enough to go to work. After three hours of me coughing like Typhoid Mary my coworkers disagreed, sent me home, and asked me to stay home today to rest and recover. I know this is not really blogworthy information, but it is amazing what one can get done when stuck at home all day. I finally finished the scarf I started ages ago! So here's a picture of me, ready to go for the next snowstorm in May.

And don't worry (Mom), I'm feeling much better this evening, all that's left of my symptoms is a stuffy nose and sinuses. Thank God for Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Severe.

Derby Day!

I was able to leave work early today so we could go to a Cast/Derby party out at Dick's farm in Georgetown. We were only there for a little bit but we had a good time! There was a hat competition, wine tasting, horses to ride, and of course the DERBY TO WATCH!

Ben, this is for you!

Let Me Give You The Low Down....

I was in CRAZY FOR YOU! We had an awesome, tiring, amazing 4-day run in the Opera House. I can't decide if I'm sad that it's all over --I'll have to let you know what it feels like to have my evenings free again in a few days. But right now I am definitely enjoying sitting on the back deck writing this blog and not rushing off to rehearsal. I'm sure I will miss it though, it was really fun to prepare for such a big event, and it went off with only a few hitches. The scenery and costumes were huge --a once in a lifetime kindof thing, and I am so happy to have been a part of it. I also met a large group of new people and we've got plans to get together for the next few weekends to celebrate various events --The Derby, a birthday, we'll have everyone over for a cookout sometime--so hopefully I won't lose touch with all the great people I've met and gotten to know.

There was a professional photographer who took some photos during the show, so maybe I'll have some of those pics in a few weeks. Also, there is a DVD being made, so we can let those of you who live far away borrow it if you'd like. Here are a few snapshots we were able to take backstage.

Me and Mary


Follies Girls Opening Number


My first costume of the night (I loved my gold-sequin tube top!)


We Can't Be Bothered Now!


Hello?!?!


We've Got Rhythm


Nice Work If You Can Get It


My Finale Costume


Me and Mary after the Finale

Internet Returns!!

Well, we've been without internet for three long days, but the cable guys finally fixed it this afternoon so I'm able to post about the many goings on at Camp Crawford in the past few days. I am still getting over strep throat, but thanks to penicillin I'm feeling better and if I drink enough Throat Coat during the day, I can sing pretty well at the show each night. I'm not going to post any show pictures until at least tomorrow because I haven't gotten enough good ones. So I'll write about the show when I post the pictures.

Right now, I just want to thank mom and dad for coming to Lexington and spending the day with me and Pete! We had a great afternoon --went to Wallace Station in Woodford County for lunch before heading out to Keeneland for a day at the race track. It was raining when we got there and looking like we were going to have a pretty miserable afternoon, but the skies cleared up and we were able to enjoy a few sunny moments! We also had quite a winning streak going, which always makes for a more enjoyable time. Dad cleared the most profit with $27 dollars on a $2 bet for Rogue Scholar to win.

I think mom had the most fun seeing the horses, she is, after all, still a kid at heart.

Mom and Dad in their matching Keeneland shirts.


.Mom watching the horses load, waiting for the race to begin.


And they're off!

After Keeneland, we went home and I took a nap before heading to the Opera house for the show. I had to be there at six, the curtain wasn't until eight. Mom, Dad, Pete, and five of our friends all came to opening night --thanks again guys! I think they had a good time, it's definitely a lively show from a visual aspect, and who doesn't love Gershwin? I don't have any pictures of me with my folks after show, but I'm sure if we beg/overflow his inbox with emails, he will send me one from his camera and I'll post it. After the show we came home and chatted for a bit before heading to bed. We were in for an early morning as mom and dad needed to to be dropped off at the airport at 6:30. But it was great to have them here, even for a short amount of time!

It's Finished!!

...well, almost. Enough that people can come over tomorrow and my parents can arrive on Wednesday and it won't be a big deal. We still have to set all the nail heads and fill the cracks with putty. But other than that, Pete finished the largest remodeling project he's undertaken yet for our house. I say Pete finished because, really, all I did was paint some panels last Sunday when I had the afternoon off. Otherwise, Pete did all the work each night while I was at rehearsal. Here are some pictures, let us know what you think!

A Fun-Filled Easter

Today was the first Sunday in I don't know how long that I haven't had rehearsal from 2-5pm. So Pete and I were pretty excited about having a whole day together! We decided to go to the early service at church so our afternoon would be free as well. We don't have a tripod so there aren't any picture of us in our Easter finery, but there is this lovely photo of Pete devouring a Peep:


When we got home from church it was too early to start on brunch, so we decided to take Hannah to the dog park to see if she could do any holiday socializing. She LOVES getting to ride in the car.

We were the only ones there for a few minutes but then Henry and his owner arrived, and, what can I say, it was love at first sight.

A little while longer Gus and his owner arrived, and he made fast friends with Hannah and Henry.



By the time we were ready to go, Hannah was as happy and exhausted as she gets. She went from this....


to this

in about 30 seconds.

So we went home and it was time to prepare our Easter lunch -- we were starving. Pete had gotten us a Honey Baked Ham on Thursday, so preparation wasn't a big deal. We ate that with some Hawaiian King rolls, steamed sugar snap peas, and some stuffing for Pete. I made a not-so-tasty Weight Watchers recipe carrot cake for dessert, but I put pink Peeps Bunnies around the border on the frosting, and those will improve anything. :)

After lunch we went to Home Depot to pick out the right shade of white so we could paint our beadboard and get going with our stalled dining room project. We decided on Ralph Lauren Petticoat White and got to work.

I borrowed a miter saw from Steve at work, so hopefully tomorrow we'll cut and install the new baseboards and then we'll really be making progress!

We had more ham (surprise!) for a light dinner and then we decided we needed to work off some of our Easter candy, and since it's so cold outside (see last post), we broke out the Dance Dance Revolution! Laugh if you want, but it's TONS of fun.

So that's it from Camp Crawford for Easter 2007. Hope everyone had a good day --and for those of you with kiddos, hurry up and send me some pictures!!! :)

I'm all for snow but...

Not on my tulips!!

In other news...

Josie and Hannah seem to have reached some sort of detante.

Hope your St. Paddy's Day Was Filled with Revelry!

Ours wasn't too exciting, but we did have a great dinner at Marina's house --corned beef, baked potatoes, cabbage--the whole nine yards! Then we went over to Emily's to hang out and play board games. Pete, as you can see, can always amuse himself.

I didn't have rehearsal tonight so Pete and I went to Wild Oats for dinner and then headed over to Home Depot to get more supplies for our dining room project. We completed another step this evening! Our baseboard has officially been removed. Let me tell you, it's sorta scary under there. But we were able to hold up the new boards and see what it will look like when it's all done!

Isn't this what we all want to be doing today?