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?

Since Pete's had no pictures.....

Here's visual progress of our one surviving watermelon --note the claw marks on its rind. How do we know when it's ready to pick? Please advise.

Shoes...OMG....Shoes

I bought a pair of brown oiled leather and a pair of black cabrio leather Dansko Professionals today. I have several pair already (in other colors), but figured since I'm leaving the shoe industry, I should have a couple in backstock.

I also ordered a shirt from Mini-Boden:

I realize this is a child's shirt, but how could I not get it?!?!? I can usually get away with a children's XL.....I'll let you know how it goes once it arrives.

Things to do when it's hot outside...

Pickle the peppers from your garden!!

I think we must officially be Kentuckians --we have purchased canning supplies.

NEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOB

I know that I start every blog stating that it's been a busy weekend ---but it really has this time!!! Friday started off as a big day at work with me giving my Two Weeks Notice at John's. I had an awesome job interview on Tuesday, was offered the job on Thursday, gave my notice at John's on Friday. Friday was also my birthday, so it seemed like a good day to make a huge change. Twenty-seven seems to be getting a little old to still be working the retail job I worked while I was in college. I love, love, love the folks at John's and I will really miss working there --it's been the only thing I've known for the past 5+ years, but it is definitely time for me to get started on a career path. So.....I'm the newest Office Manager/Personal Assistant for Melanie Mauer Photography! I'll only be working 18 hours a week, so I will have plenty of time to prepare for and take the GRE before heading back to school in the January. I also will be using the first few weeks to narrow down my post-baccalaureate options. The front runners are Speech Pathology and Elementary Education with Reading specialization. I also plan on looking at the programs at both UK and EKU to see which will be the most expedient and affordable.
Please, please, please go to Melanie's website so you can see her AMAZING work! She is as nice and friendly in person as she seems on her page, and I am really excited to be working in such a positive environment.
Friday night after work we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill with Rachael and Sylvain, then had chocolate mousse cake for dessert back at the house. Pete was VERY generous with his gifts getting me a Green iPod Nano and, for both of us --a speaker dock.

Saturday night we had people over to celebrate new job/birthday; we had both cheese and chocolate fondue, with all the dippers. Emily brought this great giant bottle of champagne, and we spent the evening playing Apples to Apples, Catchphrase, and Charades.

Today was the Woodland Arts Fair --we got a nice print, but --and I'm SO ticked about this --MISSED the booth with the Scrabble tile earrings! We came home and cleaned up our party remains, went to the mall so Pete could get measured for his tux for an upcoming wedding, then came home to rest for the remains of our Sunday.

First Real Harvest

Finally! Our tomatoes are ripe and ready to pick --look how many we got tonight alone!
We've had a lot of fun (and success!) growing several varieties of heirloom tomatoes in our backyard. In other news, our new sink/faucet/disposal was installed yesterday!!

Before

and AFTER!!

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?!?!?

A Midsummer Weekend

Thursday was Pete's 27th Birthday, and, if I do say so myself, I did a pretty good job at helping him celebrate. I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast --they're his favorite. (I had no idea Hollandaise Sauce involved raw eggs or I might not have been so generous.) I made Pete stay out of the kitchen all morning while I baked his cookie cake and secretly made him Chex Mix and Muddy Buddies. I finished decorating his cake in time for us to have lunch at Chic-fil-a and go to a matinee showing of the Bourne Ultimatum. After the movie we came home and Pete opened presents --nothing too special, the biggest surprise was a dispenser for his snackies PREFILLED with Chex Mix! Then it was off to Rincon for Pete's birthday dinner --we love our locally-owned Mexican restaurant. Rachael and Sylvain came over afterwards to eat cookie with us and enjoy the now-standard birthday fireworks.

That's right, it was a Scrabble cake!

The Birthday Boy

Friday night I came home from work and we ate a quick dinner before going downtown to see Paragon's production of Kiss Me, Kate! It's such a fun show and Pete and I knew most of the cast from Crazy For You, so it was an enjoyable evening.
Saturday I worked until 6, then went home to get ready for THE RACE. I'm not superfast like Pete, but I ran the whole 3.1 miles --no walk breaks! Pete ran it in 18:25 and I ran (jogged) it in 31:06. We cleaned up after the race and headed over to Rachael & Sylvain's house where they were having a little party.
Today was a pretty typical Sunday, lunch at the Co-op, trip to Target, I'm sure you have a similar routine. Rachael and I went to Mad Potter to finish some projects we'd started last week.

Rach and her beautiful vase

So that was our weekend. Tomorrow it's back to work as usual.

What a weekend!

Hot, Hot, Hot. It is SO hot in Kentucky right now, so what have we been doing? Lazing around our house being thankful for air conditioning and eating Dove Bars. Mmmm. Well, I ate a Dove Bar tonight, tomorrow night I'm supposed to run one of my last two runs before A Midsummer Night's Run on Saturday. We'll see how that goes. We had a pretty busy weekend, I worked all day Saturday--as usual --but met a girl from Texas, who currently lives in Chicaco, who shared some old friends of mine, it's crazy. Read all about our chance encounter at her blog. It's pretty amazing what a small world we live in. After work I finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I had pretty much abandoned Pete the past few nights, I would come home from work, change clothes, and start reading. Pete --wonderful as always--made dinner Thursday and Saturday night, and didn't mind at all when I scarfed it down to return to my reading chair. It was a good book, I found it to be emotionally exhausting, and now I'm a little sad that the series is over and we won't have any more adventures at Hogwarts.
Sunday morning we woke up early. Why you might ask? Because Sunday is long run day and I had a six mile morning ahead of me. I did it!! I ran six miles --I even got TWO blisters --truly the sign of a real runner, the need for Body Glide. After our run we came home and made a nice breakfast --Pete made himself some apple cinnamon waffles, and I had two Egg Beaters scrambled over an english muffin with strawberries and blackberries on the side. That's right --we have awesome breakfasts at our house --that's why Amy Dickinson calls it Spa Crawford. Well, that and the high thread count on our sheets. The rest of our day was pretty relaxed, lots of cleaning and laundry, a trip to Petsmart, etc. We closed out our evening with a game of Scrabble while watching Brothers and Sisters on TV.

New Record for Me!

I RAN 5 MILES TONIGHT!!! Yay! That's the farthest I've ever run. Pete is the best coach ever, I'm actually thinking I might be able to do the half marathon in January.

In other news, I forgot to talk about one of the best things in Florida. When Pete and I were in Venice, we went to the beach Tuesday morning. Venice beach is known for its shark's teeth, but ever since they started bringing in outside sand to restore the beach they've been harder to find. Pete had never found one before, and it was his one goal while were there. Grandma Prann was worried we wouldn't find any.....but BOY WAS SHE WRONG!!! WE FOUND A TON! After a little while I was thinking we had found some stash that someone had planted...here are pictures of our booty...we didn't just find tiny ones, either, we got some really good sized ones that Grandpa said were from Tiger Sharks.