Fiesta Day 2010

Today was the high school's annual "Fiesta Day," where the kids get dismissed from class in the morning for a talent show followed by several hours of fun and games throughout and around the school. Last year the weather was terrible and we had to have everything inside, but this year got lucky with beautiful (if a tad chilly) weather. I worked the cake walk, and by "worked" I mean "stood around chatting with my friends and eating junk food."

Mike and his best friend Mark both won trophies at the talent show:



Mike's performance:



Mark's performance:



Annabelle and Mike's beloved AP US History teacher twirled knives while the judges tabulated their votes:



Long-time readers of this blog may remember 3 years ago when Mike won a trophy at the FKHS talent show with his madd circus skillz:

Double stage mother

The cast list is out for this summer's production of Bye Bye, Birdie, and it looks like I'll be a stage mother times two. Annabelle has been telling Mike for 2 years now that he is really missing out by not getting involved in the local youth theater program, and she finally wore him down. They both went to auditions Friday night and both got invited to callbacks on Sunday. Annabelle is going to be "Gloria Rasputin," a comedic, tap-dancing role, and Mike is going to be "Conrad Birdie," the Elvis-figure the show revolves around. This should be a fantastic summer!

Less than one month to go!

I can't believe that in less than a month, Mike will be graduating from high school. I went today to pick up the tickets for graduation, and he needs to be getting his announcements in the mail in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, there is still a lot of paperwork to be done for his Air Force ROTC scholarship as well as finishing up other scholarship applications. He is already signed up for freshman orientation on June 1 to June 3. We chose that early time slot because Fred will be here on R&R, so he can go with us and finally see FSU for himself.

There's a new blogger on the couch

Now that Buddy the dog has a roof over his head and good food to eat, he's moving on up Mazlow's hierarchy of needs and starting a blog. He'll be self-actualized before we know it! You can check it out here.

Mike reports that prom was a blast, as was the after-party at the bowling alley. We're having yet another rainy, dreary day today though, and it looks like it'll be Wednesday before it gets pretty (and warm) again.

It's raining on prom night

No, really, it is! In fact, here's the song to accompany tonight's post:



Here's tonight's weather forecast: "Damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a tornado with some storms." Now if that doesn't make you want to dress up in formal wear and head out for a night on the town, I just don't know what would.

Mike and his friends weren't going to let a little monsoon dampen (ha ha ha!) their plans though. They started off with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Louisville. Annabelle and I went up at 4 to reserve a table for 20 two hours later and had dinner while we waited. The kids started showing up in their fancy clothes at around 5:30, and I managed to snap one picture of Mike and his date Ashley before handing him the pager and heading for home:



Since I got home, I've been trolling around on Facebook looking for photos that friends have posted, and I found a few to borrow.

Here are Mike and his friends Ben and Mark looking sharp:



All the guys:



All the girls:



And Ashley and Mike in front of the fireplace:



I got a call a little while ago that they are on their way back to Fort Knox from Louisville. The prom runs from 8 until midnight, and then the post has thrown together an after-prom bash at the bowling alley that shook keep them busy until 3.

First day of summer

True, it's only in the mid-60s outside, but I had my last class for the semester last night, which makes today the first official day of summer for me! I'm using my new-found freedom to take care of a bunch of little tasks around the house that I've been neglecting lately (like feeding the kids, for example).

Annabelle and I have been watching Hoarders: Buried Alive lately. I'm finding it very inspiring for cleaning the house. I'm also getting into pre-move mode, where I want to go through everything and unload a ton of unnecessary junk. After 5 years in one place, we have a lot of that!

Tonight Mike is taking pictures at a track meet for the yearbook. Annabelle and I are going to have a "girls' night" with some friends down the street. I have made a Joghurtsahnetorte for the occasion. I feel like a domestic goddess.

I took a 2-month break from Pilates when it became too much to balance the commute to Louisville with homework and all the traveling we've been doing. I started back yesterday though, and it feels wonderful to be back. I'm going to try to make it up there twice a week through the summer. I'm also doing a spinning (as in biking) class twice a week here on post, and now that the weather is warming up, I'm putting a fair number of miles on the dog.

I will try to use some of my new leisure time to take better care of my blog!

"Does this bed make my butt look big?"

Um, Buddy, that's a CAT bed!

Who's your Buddy? Who's your pal?

For the past 6 weeks or so, my parents have been involved in high drama involving a dog named Buddy. Apparently Buddy used to live with a homeless man somewhere in the woods near their neighborhood. The homeless man died a year or so ago, and Buddy has been on his own ever since, except for a rather eclectic group of supporters who have been slipping him food and trying to catch him. Animal Control took up the case about the same time Mom and Dad got involved and issued an edict that he should not be fed, which drove Buddy's buddies underground. The time since then has been filled with high intrigue, involving lots of phone calls between sources and lots of quiet slipping into and out of a sinkhole. Abandoning him simply wasn't an option.

Mom got him to the point a couple weeks ago where he would take food from her hand:



Aside from that though, nobody has been able to get close to him until the other night when he sat down by my father and let Dad give him a hug! The next morning he was back to his usual touch-me-not stance, but then they wound up getting him into the fenced-in backyard of one of the supporters. They leashed him, took him to the vet, and took him home, where he promptly took up residence on their couch:



I love a dog story with a happy ending!

House warming gift to myself

I just bought this for the house in Kansas:



You would be amazed how hard it was to find such a thing. Tip of the hat to my friend Barbara for coming up with the perfect search term.

Annabelle says if I get the life-size cutout of Dorothy and Toto, she's never bringing friends home.

Random Leavenworth photos

It sounds like Mike did Greece and Italy right. He didn't bring home a single euro, and he didn't get one minute more sleep than he actually needed while he was there. The trip was amazing, and I can't wait to see his pictures and share some of them here. He's off at the gym right now though, working off some of that Italian food, so I'll content myself with putting up the few random Fort Leavenworth photos that I have left from last week. Annabelle and I walked around the historical neighborhood on our last evening there.

This is another shot of the action that is behind the houses on Grant Avenue (pool, tennis courts, etc.). I love the idea of having all that LITERALLY in my backyard:



Annabelle was charmed by how they ran the sidewalk around this big ol' tree:



Quaint gazebo:



Adorable little chapel:



Finally, here are the pics that the housing office sent just to give us a feel for what the historical housing looks like. I can't stop looking at these homes:

How 'bout a cup of happy?

Sorry I haven't checked in here since returning home. The past couple days have been a little rough. Annabelle had all 4 wisdom teeth removed Thursday morning and also had some work done to encourage a reluctant eye tooth to come on in. Life here is revolving around EZ Mac, applesauce, and Percoset (all for her).

The rest of our visit to Kansas was wonderful. Tuesday morning we had a tour of the high school, and it looks like they have a lot to offer in terms of classes and activities. Matters of fashion seem to be governed by plain old common sense, and Annabelle is excited about wearing jeans to school and even (gasp!) not tucking in her shirt. When we arrived at the school for our tour, we suspected that this might be a positive sign:



Other random happy things:

While we were in Kansas, we located our new Thai restaurant as well as our new coffee shop. Barista's Daily Grind is just outside the main gate to the post, in an adorable little building that looks like an elf house (drive-thru only):



Annabelle and I decided that the latte (sweetened with 4 packs of sugar) is absolutely perfect, especially since each cup is topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate-covered espresso bean:



There is fabulous shopping within a half-hour of post in 2 different directions. On Monday afternoon, we hopped across the river to Zona Rosa in Missouri. Then on our way home Tuesday afternoon, we stopped by The Legends in Kasas City for lunch. I got a kick out of this rather large turtle statue at The Legends:



And one more happy--Mike just updated his Facebook status to say: "Mike Taylor just landed in Chicago! I can sleep when I'm dead!" I think that means he had a good time?