Last few days...

until everyone rolls into town. I had a dentist appointment this afternoon after work, tomorrow we've got tickets to the philharmonic, and Saturday morning I've got the PRAXIS at 7:30am! Pete and I will have Saturday afternoon before the rellies start to arrive on Sunday.
We went to Sams yesterday and bought a turkey, a ham, and enough snacks to feed the all the hungry, hungry carters. We moved Hannah out of the office and into the living room. She sorta gets that her crate has been moved, but any time we tell her to go to bed, she still runs into the office and stands in the corner where her crate used to be!

I'm still struggling with what to do now that I've quit my full-time job. I thought I had it narrowed down to teaching or speech pathology, but then we met this dentist across our table at a dinner, and she thought I looked like a dental hygienist. I asked her if that meant overly talkative with straight teeth, but it put enough of a bug in my ear that I came home and looked at UK's program. There's a pre-admission conference in two weeks and I figure there's no harm in going. I might as well keep my options open.

Other than that, not too much going on around here --it's the calm before the storm.

I have the best husband EVER!!!!!!!!

Pete just surprised me with a mini-vacation for Christmas weekend........

WE'RE GOING TO SEE THE ROCKETTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never seen them before, I've been obsessed with them since I was about four, and now I get to see them LIVE. PLUS we'll have four days in NYC --I've been there before a few times, but I still haven't been up the Empire State Building or gone to the Statue of Liberty. I'm hoping we can see a show as well while we're there --maybe Jersey Boys? I'm so excited, I have to start making lists.

I'm not sure who's cuter

Hannah on her second-ever Halloween, or toddler Pete on his:

Bumblepooch vs Paddington Bear

What do you think?

It's bad news when it's Sunday afternoon and I'm bored/putting off studying for the Praxis because I make things like this:

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Balls

1/4C brown sugar
1/4C granulated sugar
1/2C light corn syrup
3/4C peanut butter
1 t vanilla
2C Rice Krispies

• Stir together sugars and syrup in saucepan; bring to a boil.
• Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter; mix well.
• Add vanilla and Rice Krispies.
• Roll into balls (Tablespoon-sized), place on wax paper.
• Let cool for a few minutes. Enjoy!

Yield: 24 balls (and a badonkadonk butt)

Confession:

Pete and I have now watched Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team for two years in a row.

Not sure what kind of parents we'll be....

So Hannah has had this issue with barking. Not just a little bark when someone walks down the street, but really obnoxious loud barking, jumping all around, etc. It's really a problem when the mail gets the delivered or the UPS man has a package to drop at our house (which, given Pete's job, he does every other day). Since we have family with little ones coming for Thanksgiving, we decided to nip this problem in the bud and get her a barking collar.

I picked one up yesterday after work and we put it on her right away, eagerly anticipating her first lesson. Well the mail had already come, so I went outside and rang the doorbell. No fooling her, she knew it was me and wagged her tail. Not to be outdone, Pete put on a baseball cap, went out the back door, then came around front and banged on the door really hard. I nearly fell out of my desk chair, but Hannah knew it was Pete and didn't really react.

Not 15 minutes later a stranger approached our door with some kind of flyer about a lost cat --Hannah started barking and I thought, 'at last! time for her to learn her lesson!' I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE ABSOLUTE TORTURE!!! Her whole body went stiff and she yowled and yowled --which made it shock her more --and all of the hair on her body stood on end...meanwhile, I stood in the corner crying, calling for Pete to make it stop. So I'm a big sissy who can't discipline my dog.

Now Hannah is afraid to even come in the living room, she won't lie in the sunbeam (her favorite thing to do) and she followed us around all night with her little ears tucked back.

Their Place on Earth

Today we went to our good friends' Carden & Courtney's wedding. They run a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm together in Henry county. Their wedding/reception was held at the Smith-Berry Winery near their farm, A Place on Earth. It was the nicest wedding ceremony! I didn't take any pictures of the ceremony because I was practically sobbing. We sat inside a barn that opened up onto a pasture with sheep in the background. Carden's parents together walked him up to the front of the area where we were seated, then Courtney's parents walked her up from the other side. Carden's dad's a minister so he performed the ceremony. Courtney's family brought soil from her maternal grandparents' house in California, and her paternal grandparents' house in Lexington. Carden's family brought soil from the two towns in Tennessee where his two parents grew up. They poured their soils together into this decorative urn while Mr. Willis spoke about the four families coming together for their wedding and now Carden and Courtney will have that soil to plant on their farm --it sounds hokey but was really moving. After Mr. Willis' homily, several family members read different poems, and Carden's brother Damon sang a song. Once the rings were exchanged, Carden's other brother and his wife sang a song while playing their guitars. Then Carden and Courtney exchanged their vows --which they'd written themselves --it was just so nice.
The reception was a potluck, and about 30 seconds into it, Pete and I were asking ourselves why we hadn't had a potluck --the food was so good!
All the flowers were from their farm --really pretty wildflowers. Courtney's mom made the cake --the wedding topper is from her grandparents' wedding cake sixty some years ago!

The lovely bride and groom

The music during the reception was from a bluegrass duo on guitar and mandolin. (I think it was a mandolin -you'd think of all people I could identify musical instruments, oh well) We sat with all of Pete's old friends from high school --it was a mini cross-country team reunion for them.

That's mostly it, I just wanted to share what I could of such a special day. I am so happy for Carden and Courtney and so proud of how they live their lives.

GAME DAY

Well, we might not have won the game, but we sure had a good day with it!

At 9:30am we went to College Game Day on campus
we saw some celebrity UK fans
Then we came home to prepare for our Gator Roast

It was such a nice day -we didn't want to waste it outside-so Pete moved the t.v. out of the guest bedroom and onto the deck!

A good time was definitely had by all --and 45-37 is really not a shutout!
(if you want a wordier recap, visit Pete's blog)

FALL = FOOTBALL

well, it does in Texas.....
Tonight Pete and I went to our first high school football game in Lexington --my first h.s. football game since Cooper's Homecoming my freshman year of college ('98). We went to the Dunbar/Lafayette game --crosstown rivals, so we thought surely a good game. The game itself was good --Lafayette won with a field goal in the last second, and the night was cool and crisp --great for being outdoors. But there was no halftime show! And the stands were practically empty!
The away team only has that tiny little area of stands--it made me sad, and homesick of West Texas football. And THEN, at halftime, the poor Lafayette team had to huddle in a corner in the grass --there weren't any locker rooms for the visitors!
That's not how it was for us in Texas was it? We still had a good time, so that's all that matters. Next Friday we might go to another local high school's game --any suggestions?

Now tomorrow is the BIG GAME. I can't write too much because I'm sure Pete will have something to say one way or the other, but I did purchase a pound of GATOR meat this afternoon and we are having people over for a Gator Roast. Look for us tomorrow on ESPN's College Game Day --I'll be with the crazy redhead wearing the curly blue wig ---GO CATS!!!

Well, I didn't get a new car today, but I did get a new washing machine! Yay for more cubic footage of washing space!

Whew!

I RAN FOR 48 MINUTES WITHOUT WALKING TONIGHT!!!
I usually listen to a combination of 80's pop, Outkast, and Justin Timberlake when I'm running, but I knew I wanted to take it easy today and was interested to see how I'd do with other types of music. I cued up my iPod and off we went --let me tell you, the Nutcracker followed by Swan Lake did not let me down! I don't own too many classical CDs, I'm thinking of trying Carmina Burana next.....what can I say, I'm a music dork. See my brother's blog if you need proof that it's genetic.

In other news, Josie peed on the sofa and Hannah's bed Sunday afternoon, our washing machine died while it was mid-cycle cleaning the sofa cushion cover et al, and my car died Monday driving home from HH Gregg where I was checking out new machines. So, needless to say, it's been a hectic week around here. We bought Josie a collar at Petsmart last night and are going to see if we can make her an outdoor kitty. We've heard of outside cats becoming indoor ones, but not the reverse, so wish us luck. She acted like this last year before her surgery (yes, we paid for our CAT to have surgery) and we knew if the behavior returned, we'd have to get rid of our beloved pussum. We dropped my car off at the shop this morning and they are going to run some more diagnostic tests on it tomorrow, but so far, nothing. I hesitated on getting a new machine so the repair people are going to come tomorrow to see if our washer can be fixed.

That's it from here --I'll keep you posted on any updates.

turkeyturkeyturkeyturkeyturkeyturkeyturkeyturkey

Just wanted to assure those of of you who are headed over for Turkentucky 2007 that we'll be ready. Pete (Carter) really threw down the gauntlet last year with the deep-fried turkey in Omaha. Pete (Crawford) and I didn't want to let any of you down, so today we purchased the necessary equipment.

Let's just hope we can figure out how to use it! We might call on the skills of Omaha Pete for assistance.

Last night we had Hope and Jeff's rehearsal dinner in Louisville. Pete had a work meeting in Louisville in the afternoon so he stayed up there and I drove up after work to meet him at the church. I called when I was 20 minutes away to double-check where I should go, and, using the directions Pete printed out for me I was in INDIANA for a brief moment last night....
Thanks to cell phones we got it worked out --Pete had entered the wrong destination address on MapQuest, and Louisville pretty much blends into southern Indiana, but still...

Finally!!

HOBBY LOBBY HAS OPENED!!!

If you've never been to one you might not understand the significance of this gift ---trust me, just drive down Nicholasville Rd and drop by, you won't regret it.

Weekend Recap

• Saturday morning I ran Race for the Cure and reached my latest running goal: finished a 5k under 30minutes with a time of 29:28 --yay!
  
• Saturday afternoon Hannah, Pete, and I met Emily at Oktoberfest --we ate cupcakes and went down the giant inflated slide
• Had Rachael & Sylvain over for a truly Grandma Prann-esque dinner: grilled pork loin, roasted pumpkin and sweet potato pilaf, grilled asparagus, and apple pie!
• Went BACK to Oktoberfest, met up with a whole gang of people, played Bingo, listened to bluegrass, drank beer (what's a Catholic fundraiser w/o alcohol?--interestingly enough, none of us are Catholic, but we all like a good time)
• This afternoon we saw Into the Woods at the Woodford County Theatre
• So far this evening we've eaten leftovers and Pete has quizzed me on my GRE vocabulary words

p.s. melanie was out of town this week, so I wrote the blog for mmp --check it out! I might have some more in the future!

mmmm...

I love it when I've eaten enough raw cookie dough to give myself a little tummy ache....

There are those that would have you believe that I'm not as crafty as my mom. (Probably has something to do with me being so organized.) Now I'm not anywhere near as ARTISTIC as my mom, but I can hold my own with a glue gun. I give you my latest project as proof.

Before: tacky shadow-box things found at TJMaxx


I bought four of them and turned them into:

a neat way to organize/display my jewelry!

Every year before it drains the pool, the YMCA hosts a Pooch Plunge--a special day for doggies to swim freely in the pool! We took Hannah for the first time this afternoon, she seemed to enjoy herself:

I don't know who had more fun --me or the dog!!!

Last night we drove to Louisville to have dinner with Pete's sister, Audrey, her fiancee, Andrew, and his dad, who was visiting from Florida. We got to see Aud and Andrew's house and their TWO puppies! Sadie is a dalmation/lab/pointer mix (all white and very soft), and Charlotte --the cutie --is a dachshund/chihuahua mix. I came home wanting to go to Petsmart to find a wee dog to befriend Hannah. Pete says we have to wait until the rabbit escapes.

Ta Da!

Hhyeyah!!(a la Dave Chapelle)

First Saturday Off!

Today was my first Saturday off in many moons, as I have worked retail for the past 5 years and 4 months. My last day at John's was yesterday so I have an actual 3-day-weekend! This morning we did the typical Saturday morning things for which I've been excited: Went to the farmer's market, ate breakfast outside Magee's with Hannah in tow, read the paper on the back deck, etc. I didn't want my day to go to waste, though; I thought my first Saturday should set an example for future Saturdays. I started on what I thought was going to be a near impossible project --window coverings for our dining room. I bought a book a few months ago, and on Thursday I bought fabric and Pete got me a table for the sewing machine. Thank God there haven't been many advancements in sewing machines, as best I can tell Grams' old 1970 Singer sewing machine is as good as one we could buy today. Anyhoo --I've already (almost) finished one window!!! I can't believe it worked. I'm going to be a super-homemaker now, maybe next week I'll re-upholster the yellow corduroy chair in Pete's office, then it'll be new pillows for the sofa --the possibilities are endless! Here are some pictures as proof:

The fabric --official color is truffle, it's a great dark chocolate brown

At my new 'work station'

Doesn't Pete make a great model?