Mutt Strut 2010

Bonnie wanted to look good when she strutted her stuff yesterday at the track, so she went to the groomer's for just the second time in her life.  As far as I know she wasn't blacklisted, but I can pretty much guess that she wasn't the lady's favorite client.  I know what it's like to give that dog a bath and blow-dry her hair, and it isn't pretty.

Note the dainty pink bow.  And for further note, Dee, when I say "Yeah, a shaggy look is fine", I would at least like you to pretend to cut some of her hair.  Just a little bit.  Because this, besides the bow, is probably something I could have done myself.  For free.

There was an 85% chance of rain yesterday morning around the start of the Mutt Strut, and a 95% chance later in the day.  We debated and I won, so we packed up our rain gear and headed out like fools who don't know when to come in out of the rain.

How's it looking out there, friends?

Brent is thrilled.  This is either because a.) it's pouring and Bonnie is going to make the car smell like wet dog or b.) I took this picture while trying to make a left turn at a stoplight. 

"Hey guys, ready to let the dogs out?"

"I tend to consider myself a one-man wolfpack." [in the cab of a truck]

"So, how about that ride in?  Guess that's why they call it Sin City.  Ha. Ha."

Can you tell we just watched The Hangover this weekend for the first time?  Timeless quotations.

The Sinders'!  And Charlie! 

It's raining cats and dogs out here!

 We made it about 3 minutes, just long enough for Bonnie to poo on the track and for the Poo Police to come screaming up in a golf cart and offer us a plastic bag.  My tennis shoes are still drying out.  But hey, ya can't say we didn't participate, and we at least got our t-shirt.  Happy thoughts for a dry Mini morning and a sunny race day.  The May Queen's favorite month is just days away....

 

#84 - Visit all the Presidential libraries

I was able to check another Presidential library off the Life List on our recent road trip to Houston.  We made Little Rock the halfway point on our way to see Purdue play in the NCAA regional game against Duke. 

The replica of President Clinton's Oval Office

Here I am in the Secretary of Defense's chair in the Presidential conference room, which is positioned to the left of the President's seat.

George Bush Presidential Library & Museum - College Station, TX
Jimmy Carter Library & Museum - Atlanta, GA
William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum - Little Rock, AR
Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum - Abilene, KS
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library - Ann Arbor, MI
Gerald R. Ford Museum - Grand Rapids, MI
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum - West Branch, IA
Lyndon B. Johnson Library & Museum - Austin, TX
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum - Boston, MA
Nixon Presidential Library & Museum - College Park, MD
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum - Simi Valley, CA
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum - Independence, MO


Phew, still lots of libraries left on that list!  The Michigan ones should be easy, but the others might take a little more work.  Why, oh why didn't I visit JFK's library when I visited Mel in Boston a few years ago??  It's possible that I still had a little bit of cool left in the summer of '08.  Gone now!  The library tour is ON!  If you're interested in joining me, I'm sure Brent wouldn't mind sitting out a library or two.  Consider it - you know you want in. 

The Weekend Update

Greetings, Blog Friends!  Hope you all had a nice weekend and are rested up to begin a new week.  I'm not quite ready to start another week and think another day, just ONE more, would be great.  Yeah, that would make all the difference. 

This past week was filled with fun plans.  On Monday night my friend Lisa and I met at Keystone for coffee while Brent went to the Pacers' game with one of his friends from work.  The ex-BKD Girls' Club met at The Cheesecake Factory on Thursday night for dinner.  Yesterday I went home for a hair appointment and to hang out with Ashley and my favorite pigtailed 14 month old.  My only pictures of this post were stolen from Ashley's blog...

We made Pioneer Woman's apple fritters...

And Ashley introduced me to Glee while we fried up our fritters.  Love it!  And I also loved making the fritters, a personal deep-fried favorite of mine.  As I said to Ashley, "I think I could stand here and fry things up all day!"

 
Thanks for the fun Saturday, Bigelow Ladies!  I wish we could do it more often!!


Brent, Adam and I started off the day bright and early this morning with the Bricks to Bricks 10-miler downtown for the last event of the week.  I ran the whole thing, and the best news is that if I keep my pace, I'll finish the mini under my goal time of 2:30!  I probably shouldn't jinx myself, because a lot can happen in those last 3 miles.  I could trip and roll around on the ground, get frustrated and give up, be run down by a pack of rabid 75 year old men wearing ankle weights (these are usually the type of people who pass me at the end) - well, you get the picture.  But the good news is that I at least think I'm both mentally and physically prepared to finally meet my goal.  And you know how I love to check off a goal. 

Before I go, I would like to congratulate the entire Smith family on the birth of the next generation of "Smith Boys" - twins Henry Michael and Eli Nicholas, born Wednesday.  They were a little early but are doing very well.  Welcome, Smithlings!
      

Let There Be Light

When Bob and Big Lou were here for Easter last weekend, Dad installed all our new light fixtures.  Goodbye, early 1990's gold plating!  We bought these on New Year's Day, and it was during the process of selecting said lights at Lowe's that I realized I was getting sick.  Sneezing eleventy billion times on all the other light fixtures tipped me off to this fact.  The next morning I was at MedCheck with the Swine Flu, so needless to say the light fixtures didn't get installed that weekend.  And my sincere apologies to anyone purchasing lights later in the day...hope you came through The Flu okay.

Without further ado...

Breakfast area before:

And after:

We replaced five in all, with another two upstairs in the hallway that are identical to the entryway.  All that's left is the chandelier in the dining room and then we're on to the bathroom lighting, which will require touch up painting.  I may not awaken that sleeping giant and leave well enough alone.

THANKS, DAD!

Hoppy Easter!

I love Easter.  It's one of my favorite holidays.  My favorite part is the church service - it's so exhuberant and triumphant.  I used to think the best Easter Sunday moment was the singing of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" with trumpets in the background, but that was before I heard the "Hallelujah Chorus" today at North Church.  We'd never done Easter at our own Indy church before, but since everyone came to us this year we got to go.  Wow - loved this!  The choir stood in the aisles at the end and belted it out, which really helped since the music they gave us had all four parts and was a tad bit confusing.

Both my parents and Brent's joined us for church and dinner at our house.  We had the traditional Easter fare - Honeybaked Ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, bread, deviled eggs, salad, coconut cake and key lime pie. 

A Cracker Barrel find from our recent trip to Houston - $0.99 each!  What a score!

I picked up the ham on Saturday and had to stand in line for about 30 minutes to get it.  I couldn't believe how busy it was...I tried to snap a picture of all the people in line without being a creep...not real successful.  There was an older gentleman in line the was just crackin me up.  First I had to hold his spot so he could shuffle outside to his car and get his cell phone.  Once back in the store, he proceeded to call his wife THREE times in seriously five to seven minutes.  The first time was to tell her that he was going to pick up something at Kroger.  The second time was to ask if she needed any of the ready-made sides.  The third was to say that he just didn't think they were ordering enough ham.  I thought, "He must be driving her CRAZY", but then his phone rang and it was her.  Four calls, under ten minutes in line.  Oh how I chuckled to myself.  Hey, I had nothing else to do. 

Man who doesn't know what he did before cell phones.

We held a modified egg hunt with Bonnie today.  I peeled the egg, let her smell it, then hid it in the yard.  She was so close to finding it but then heard another dog in the front and lost all focus.  She needed some help, but she finally found the egg.  We're easily amused.

                                                                           Success!