Curtain call

Wow, I can't believe it's over. I figured up in the car last night on the way home that High School Musical took a good 30+ hours of my time last week, either in driving or waiting or (best of all!) playing chaperone backstage. Seeing how much fun Annabelle had with it made every last second totally worthwhile though!

Yesterday when we arrived for the matinee performance, there was a woman sitting in the breakroom knitting, and you know I can't resist chatting up a fellow knitter! It turned out that she was Denise Nolin, the understudy for "Ms. Darbus" and the cast member Annabelle had mentioned the other day as being so friendly and talking to the pep squad kids about her experiences in theater. She was very nice, and it was such fun talking to her!

After the show we stopped at the stage door for more photos and more signatures for her friend's poster:





We had several hours to kill between shows, so we crossed the bridge into Indiana, and I surprised Annabelle with a trip to IHOP. That might sound strange, but IHOP is a really big deal for us, especially since we don't have one anywhere close by. Every time I drive past the new Waffle House in Radcliffe, I give a bitter sigh and demand: "Why couldn't you have been an IHOP?!" We also wandered the mall for a while and then wound up stopping by Target for drinks and magazines, which we enjoyed in the Target parking lot for that final hour of free time.

When we arrived for the final performance, we heard the cast in another room singing the best version of "Happy Birthday" that I've ever heard. The birthday girl turned out to be the new understudy for "Sharpay." She brought cake out to the bleacher creatures and graciously posed for a photo:



At the matinee, Annabelle had been on the bleachers that were on the same side of the stage as my fellow chaperone and I. As a result, I couldn't really see her except for an occasional glimpse. For the closing show, however, she was across the stage from me, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was having the time of her life!

As the cast cleared the stage, I handed jackets, purses, and cell phones back to all the pep squad members. This put me at the tail end of the crowd backstage and separated me from Annabelle. As I was walking down the hall, I ran into Shaullanda Lacombe, who played "Taylor." I explained to her that Annabelle had been collecting autographs all week on a poster for a friend and that hers was one of the few she hadn't been able to get. I pulled out the poster and pen and asked if she would be willing to sign. Her response: "I'm honored to be asked!" and she very neatly signed her name and a personal inscription.

I caught up to Annabelle, who was saying goodbye to Denise, and told her that I had gotten "Taylor" to sign the poster. She was thrilled but pointed out that we still hadn't gotten "James" (of the most epic earthworm imitation ever) to sign. I said something like, "Well, you can't have everything," but Denise said, "You want James?! Stay right here."

She marched over to a nearby door, knocked firmly, announced "Woman coming in!" and went through. She returned and told us that "James" would be right out. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes Dante Russo emerged. He signed her poster and posed for a picture:



As Annabelle's souvenir t-shirt says, we do indeed heart Earthworm!

We loitered at the stage door one last time to say goodbye to everybody. As we were standing there, a little girl from the audience recognized Annabelle from the bleacher scene and asked her to sign her Playbill! I thought Annabelle was going to pass out from the thrill. I sure hope that kid saves that Playbill. It's going to be worth big bucks one day:



On our way to the parking garage, we chatted with a couple of the cast members:



Derek Ferguson, on the right, told Annabelle that he had no voice that day but still had to step up and play "Zeke" when a backstage injury lead to a little last-minute shuffling among castmembers. She assured him that he had been fabulous and that she never would have known if he hadn't said anything.

As always, the drive home was marked by Annabelle's glowing reports. This time was a little bittersweet though, knowing that it was the last time. She said then as she has said a couple times before that when she first found out about this opportunity, her main excitement had been over being able to put this on her resume. As it turns out though, that was a minor part of all the benefits. She knows now what it feels like to be under the lights in front of a really big audience with a group of people who are 100% professional in everything they do.

I get teary-eyed every time I think about how indebted I feel to the castmembers. We did not come across a single prima donna. There was absolutely nobody who was too busy or too important to stop to chat or to pose for a photo. Annabelle just about keeled over when I told her about Ms. Lacombe's response to my request for a signature: "I'm honored to be asked."

"She's honored to be ASKED?!" Annabelle shrieked when I told her in the car. "She's on her SECOND national tour, and SHE is honored to be ASKED to sign my poster?!" That just blew her mind. The entire cast and crew couldn't have provided her with a better experience or been better role models for an aspiring actress, and for that I can't thank them enough.

When we got home, Annabelle added her signature to Diamond's poster and packed it up to take with her to school today:



She said that yesterday was the best day of the best week ever. I count myself as lucky that she didn't try to stow away on the bus to Indianapolis, the tour's next stop. I also have to confess though that if she had, I'd have gone with her. She can sing her heart out on stages across America, and I . . . I shall hold the coats. Anything for show business!

Filler post

Oh, I hate feeling behind, especially when there is so much to talk about! I slept late this morning though and then spent a couple hours doing homework before taking off to L'ville for Annabelle's last day as a "bleacher creature." Today was fabulous, and I promise to post all details and some photos tomorrow!

A day off

A day off from theater, that is. Otherwise today was just as crazy as any other day, since it was Gold Rush, our annual big fundraiser here at Fort Knox. This was my third year managing the horse races, and I was once again pleased with my ponies. We brought in just under $2500, which is not chump change for a dozen plywood horses! I'll post pictures tomorrow. Right now I'm diving into bed!

More HSM

The show was great last night! Annabelle wound up going in with Fred for Act 1, which was fun for her but denied me the evil pleasure of imagining all the HSM moms gathering their wee ones close and shooting dirty looks at the solitary man in row L. Oh, and the theater was great about swapping our seats out for seats more in the middle, so whichever side Annabelle came out on, we would be able to see just fine.

Once again she really looked like she was having a fun time up there! I love hearing all the tales of backstage afterwards. She told me after the first night, "You aren't going to believe this, but there are middle-aged men back there dressed in black with beer guts and beards and they move stuff around on stage, and you never see them because you're not looking for them." Well, I looked last night, and I actually spotted one!

We hung out for more autographs and pictures after the show. We got "Coach Bolton":



(This came with an additional thrill because Ron Bohmer has also played "Phantom!")

Here she is with Ben Thompson, who played "Troy" last night:



And Bobby List as "Ryan":



And Arielle Jacobs as "Gabrielle":



We go back tonight and then for 2 more performances on Sunday. I get to be one of the 2 backstage chaperones, and I can't wait! As Annabelle says, I am indeed "really pumped about holding everybody's stuff." Anything for show business!

The bleacher creatures

As I and the other "pep squad" moms were loitering at the stage door last night, waiting for our kids to come out, a fellow walked by and asked if we were waiting for the "bleacher creatures." I thought that was pretty clever!

Annabelle and I got there ridiculously early last night, but I never know how long the drive will take. We were delighted to find that we could watch Act 1 over the LCD monitors in the lobby, so we hung out there for a while.

Just before intermission we walked around to the side of the theater and went through the stage door. That's where we met the rest of the pep squad and their parents. A stage manager came over to greet us and clue the kids in on what was expected of them. He was very organized and very friendly and made everybody feel at ease. Two parents get to chaperone for each performance (I'm doing tomorrow night and both shows on Sunday), but the rest of us had to leave.

Several other moms and I went back to the lobby to watch the show over the monitors but then our feet started hurting from standing around, so we snuck into the theater and sat down in some empty seats. It was unspeakably cool to see Annabelle come sliding out on bleachers with the other kids, and it KILLS me that I can't get a picture of it. Let me assure you that she sang and clapped and cheered and just looked like she was having the time of her life in general.

After the show, we met the kids at the stage door and took a group shot of the bleacher creatures:



Finally the rest of the cast started coming out, so we got in line for autographs. Annabelle is working on collecting autographs on a poster for a school friend of hers who is a huge HSM fan:



This is the shot though that would turn oodles of pre-teen American girls green with envy. Annabelle with "Troy" (Chase Peacock):



Fred and I have tickets for tonight. The plan is for him to go in on his own for Act 1 ('cause there's nothing creepy about a middle-aged man watching High School Musical all by himself!) while Annabelle and I hang out in the lobby. I'll deliver her to the stage door at intermission and then join Fred inside for Act 2. My only concern is that the pep squad is pretty far off to the sides, and our seats are also pretty far off to one side. If those sides are the same, we're not going to see anything. I'm taking a seating chart with me so that I can show the stage manager where we'll be sitting in hopes that he can place her with the group that will be most visible to us. Oh, wow, it's only been a couple days, and I'm already a pushy stage mother!

Go, Wildcats!

Some things I never expected to say:

1. I saw Disney's High School Musical last night.

2. With Annabelle.

3. It was pretty good!

4. Annabelle liked it, too.

When we went to Louisville to see Sweeney Todd last month, I passed the time before the show torturing Annabelle with the posters for High School Musical. Annabelle has long made clear her disdain for HSM (and its groupies), so it was fun to watch her squirm as I would casually say, "Oh, look, I guess you'll be wanting to see that one, huh?" But then something rather amazing happened . . .

I got a phone call from the director of Annabelle's Broadway Boot Camp program. He had been tasked with putting together a dozen or so local teens to appear in Act 2 of HSM as members of what they call the "Pep Squad," and he was wondering if Annabelle would be interested. I assured him that she would indeed be interested, while silently worrying that she might gag herself to death when I told her. I needn't have worried though--she has standards, but she's not stupid, and she can recognize a great opportunity when one presents itself.

Part of the deal was that all members of the Pep Squad got 2 free tickets to watch opening night from start to finish. So that is how we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the orchestra level last night (best seats I've ever had at the Kentucky Center, and they were free, courtesy of Annabelle!), watching the Wildcats do their thing.

Now, Disney makes a big hairy deal out of the fact that Pep Squad members are NOT performers. If they were performers, I would imagine Disney would have to be paying them union wages and all that, so instead they are members of the audience. Members of the audience who dress in red and white and watch about 10 minutes of Act 2 from movable bleachers onstage. Last night's Pep Squad seemed to be having a pretty good time though, singing and clapping along with the rest of the audience at the appropriate times.

Annabelle will be pep squadding tonight through Friday night and then both shows on Sunday. (Gold Rush is on Saturday, and I'm up to my eyeballs in that, so we took a pass on the Saturday shows.) Fred and I are going Thursday night to watch, and Friday and Sunday I get to be a backstage chaperone. I'm gonna be a stage mom!

Make sure you check Annabelle's blog regularly over the next few days, as I'm sure she'll have lots of exciting stuff to share.

Check back tomorrow

I haven't forgotten you. We've just been busy. Come back tomorrow afternoon. It'll be worth your while.

From the parenting files

A couple weeks ago, I decided to really crack down on getting the kids to rinse their dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher. It was going pretty well, but I noticed that if--God forbid--I were to leave something in the sink, then they seemed to take that as an open invitation to leave their own stuff as well. Now maybe it's a double standard, but I feel entitled to leave stuff in the sink if I so desire, because at some point I'm going to come back through and clean everything up. So I put up the following notice, and so far it's working pretty well (click the picture to make it bigger):

Wounded knee

I've got the craziest thing going on. For the past couple of days, my right knee has been totally stiff. It feels like somebody stole my joint in the middle of the night, Friday night to be specific. It doesn't really hurt, but it's making me walk funny, and THAT is making other parts of me hurt. I spent this afternoon treating it with alternating heat and ice, but so far I can't tell a difference:



(The dog's legs are all fine. She just welcomes any opportunity to spend the afternoon in bed.)

Again with the dog and the snow?

Hey, she's a cute dog, and this is the most snow we've gotten out of 3 winters in Kentucky!

What kind of mother . . .

. . . sends her children to school dressed like this on a snow day?



On second thought, don't answer that.

Blog365: I've got nothin' for you today

Perhaps you will accept an LOLcat in lieu of real content?

Winter reading challenge: update

Still making my way through the winter reading challenge! I finished Schuyler's Monster and In Defense of Food and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Both books serve up a certain amount of outrage though--Schuyler's story for how the school system can really let kids down and the food book for how our government has allowed our food supply to be turned into an endless supply of crap to the benefit of major food companies. I need some fluff, especially as I am continuing to make my way through the Russian stories book and, just between you and me, Russian stories have very little fluff. So I have officially added Sophie Kinsella's new book, Remember Me?, to my list. I got through the first couple chapters tonight while I was waiting for Mike to teach his swim lessons, and it looks really fun!

Updated list:

• Beneath the Surface
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
• Nicholas and Alexandra
• Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book
• Remember Me?
• Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter
• The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
• Stupid and Contagious
• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both

This 'n' that

Not much to report on from here. I spent most of this morning in a club meeting and met Fred for lunch when he came to rescue me by putting power steering fluid in my van.

This afternoon I took Annabelle up to Louisville for an audition for some summer musicals. She said she thought it went well--much better than last year's!

Mike started teaching swim lessons last night. Seems like only yesterday that he was the little dude sitting on the side of the pool, waiting for his turn to jump.

Don't forget to vote for Bryce Hollweg today!

Good cause

I got the following in my email the other day:

The contest for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award For NCAA Division I Hockey is continuing,and unfortunately, Army cadet, Bryce Hollweg, continues to be stuck in a distant #2 position:

1. Marty Mjelleli (St. Cloud State University) 43%
2. Bryce Hollweg (United States Military Academy) 17%

Here's an extract from the initial Lowe's news release about the contest:

"These ten names will be placed on the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award men’s hockey ballot for a nationwide vote beginning February 13 and concluding March 28. Fan balloting, available on the award’s official website, will be combined with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award."

Two main points: the voting will continue until March 28, and the balloting will not be the sole determinant of the winner. However, it does seem that an impressive lead in the voting would be hard to ignore.

Clearly, the St. Cloud students and friends seem energetic and well organized. Considering the voting pool we have to draw on, it will be ignominious, to say the least, if we can't win this one.

Let's rally the troops and get out the vote! Slogan: "A vote a day keeps St. Cloud away!"

Click here to vote!

Joe Gilbreth '49

I've been trying to vote each day, but sometimes it slips my mind. I figured if I put it on the blog though, I would be reminded every day and maybe some of you good folks would like to lend your support as well.

Go Army, beat St. Cloud!

I survived the weekend

Well, we're back from Owensboro, and we're currently enjoying some freakishly nice weather. It's 70 degrees, and we have all the windows open! Don't worry though--it's going to get icky again before too long.

So . . . getting back to yesterday! Annabelle's Broadway Boot Camp finished up. They focused on Phantom of the Opera this time around:



I took my camera and shot a couple video clips. Here is the gang performing "Masquerade" from Phantom (it's easier to keep your eye on Annabelle if you know that for most of the piece, she is paired up with the guy in the red pants):



And here is "Comedy Tonight" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:



This morning Fred, Mike, and I were up at the crack of dawn and out the door before 7 to go back to Owensboro for the last session of the swim meet. As we were walking in to the pool building, this kid ran by us carrying a folding chair. He didn't look familiar, but his mannerisms reminded me of a boy we knew in Germany. I said to Mike, "Doesn't he remind you of Bryce?" and Mike agreed that yes, he certainly did but what on earth would Bryce be doing here? Well, sure enough, it WAS Bryce! They are living at Fort Campbell now (which I knew, but I still never expected to run into them in Owensboro), and he and his brother were competing at the meet. Mike and Bryce were thrilled to be hanging out and swimming together:



Fred worked as a timer, so I hung out with Bryce's mom, Audrey, and her little ones. It was so nice to see them again!



Fred and Mike were Too Cool today in their finisher shirts from yesterday's 5K:



Mike swam the 4 events he was scheduled to swim and then got drafted at the meet to do the butterfly leg of a 400-yard medley relay. He was happy about that! The picture taking opportunities weren't very good at this venue, so mostly I just sat and worked on my scarf. I couldn't resist snapping one shot of him in the 100 backstroke, as he was in the lane nearest me and looking up:



It was a fun weekend but exhausting. I am actually looking forward to my nice "relaxing" upcoming week, full of meetings and projects and homework.

Miss me?

It felt really weird not to blog yesterday, but this is Blog365, not Blog366, so the 29th was a day of rest and silence. Annabelle and I contemplated blogging anyway but ultimately decided to go along with the game. We're back now though!

The weekend is halfway through, and so far we're all surviving. Mike had fun at his swim meet last night and is looking forward to tomorrow morning's session. He and Fred had fun at their 5K race. And we all enjoyed Annabelle's Broadway Boot Camp final performance. Pictures to come soon! But not tonight.

Crazy weekend coming up

This weekend is just going to be nuts, and it starts tomorrow. When the school swim season ended, Mike started swimming for the Dolphin team down in E'town. Tomorrow afternoon he and I are driving over to Owensboro for the first session of a 3-day meet (he's going for just 2 days). Owensboro is an hour and a half from here and in Central time, so we will probably be late getting home. He's going to be beat after swimming the 200-yard IM and the 500-yard freestyle!

Saturday morning, Fred and Mike are heading up to Louisville at the crack of dawn for the 5K run that is the first race of the Louisville Triple Crown of Running (10K and 10-mile races to follow later in March). After the run, they will zip home and shower and then we will all set out together to go back up to Louisville.

Saturday is Annabelle's last day of Broadway Bootcamp, and we will get to go to her open rehearsal at the end of the afternoon. While she is in class though, we will take Mike to get his hair cut and to pick up his new team suit.

Sunday morning we'll be up again before the sun to all head back over to Owensboro for the third day of the swim competition. Mike is doing 4 events on Sunday: 200-yard freestyle; 100-yard backstroke; 200-yard breaststroke; 50-yard freestyle.

I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait until Monday so that I can get some rest!

Snow day (but only for the dog)

We got an inch or so of snow this morning, but life goes on. Kids are at school; Fred is at work. I had to run Fred to the office after we dropped his car off at the shop, and when I got home, I couldn't resist taking Ginger out in the snow. Watching Ginger in the snow is about the only thing I like about winter!

First she had to contemplate the puffy whiteness, but then she took off running, doing her best imitation of a snowplow (clicking makes the picture bigger):



She found the snow very much to her liking:



And I found THESE, which give me hope that this stupid, stupid winter will be over soon:

Future lifesaver

Mike has started his lifeguard training and is eagerly looking forward to a summer of productive employment in the field of aquatic safety. My mom was reminding me today how nervewracking it was to watch him in his early swimming lessons, when he refused to jump straight out and into the water. Instead he insisted on turning around in mid-jump so that he landed facing the wall. We just knew he was going to crack his chin wide open, but amazingly enough he never did. He has come a long way since 1996:

What to blog?

Hmmm . . . I'm really stumped today. Mostly I hung out all morning doing schoolwork. Then in the afternoon I

• spent an hour and a half helping to move band booster crap from the old bandroom to the new bandroom


• hit Walmart for milk and cereal because our stupid commissary insists on being closed on Mondays


• returned library books


• mailed about a dozen different things (I HATE going to the post office, but I don't know why. Suzie, Karla, and Amy--you can all be on the lookout for mail now.)


• picked Annabelle up at the house and dropped her off at her piano lesson


• picked up Mike from school (he stayed late for band practice) and dropped him at the house


• turned around and got Annabelle from piano and brought her home


• picked up Mike at the house and drove him 30 minutes down to Elizabethtown for 2 hours of swim practice (ow, my aching back! sitting on bleachers for 2 hours is painful) and


• picked up soup and sandwiches at Panera on our way home for supper

Now I am going to:

• post this


• put on my PJs and


• go to bed

Good night!

Comment rescue

I really suck at responding to my blog's comments. I get so excited by a comment that I want to post a response that is worthy of it. Instead I wind up in some kind of comment paralysis and don't quite get around to it. And now with this Blog365 business, my posts are rolling off the front page so quickly that sometime a post disappears before I get a chance to respond to the comments!

About a week ago I posted a picture of Mike and his friend Dana reliving the experience of teen royalty as Mr. and Miss FKHS. My dad left the following comment: "Not sure who Dana reminds me of, but Mike looks like Sky Masterson, the softhearted gambler played by Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls." I've never seen Guys and Dolls, so I had to google to see what he was talking about. I think Dad is right:



All Mike needs is a hat . . . and 5 more lady friends.

Tea for two fourteen

Every month or so, the spouses from Fred's unit get together for what we call a "coffee." Tonight's coffee was held at the Gracefully Yours tea room in Vine Grove. Everything was really delicious, food and tea alike! I tried probably 4 different teas and went through at least a dozen sugar cubes. No early bedtime for me tonight!

Winter reading challenge: editing the list

I figured at the outset that my winter reading challenge list would undergo some changes, and sure enough it has.

	I got Michael Phelps's book, Beneath the Surface, for Mike for Valentine's Day, and he stayed up late a couple nights in a row and polished it off. He really enjoyed it, so I wanted to read it, too. It was quite good--I am amazed by the dedication of an athlete who talks about his CHRISTMAS MORNING WORKOUT. I wouldn't get up at the crack of dawn to eat chocolate or receive free shoes, but I enjoy reading about people who willingly sacrifice sleep to push their bodies through grueling workouts. (I also like a good Mt. Everest book, although I don't have the slightest inclination towards climbing it myself. Not even for chocolate or free shoes.)
	There's this one Indian restaurant in Louisville that I enjoy having lunch at because not only do they have good food but they also have a whole rack of People magazine that you can read while you eat. Today I was enjoying my lunch and catching up on Brangelina's winter vacation and George Clooney's love life, when I turned the page and saw a very familiar face. It was an article about Robert Rummel-Hudson's new book, Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter. I have been reading Rob's blog for years (and really should get around to updating it in my sidebar, since it is no longer called "Darn Tootin'"--it seems I am as bad at sidebar housekeeping as I am at regular housekeeping).
	I don't even remember how I got to Rob's blog in the first place, but by the time he was trying to raise money to buy Schuyler her first assisted-language device, I was hooked. I sent a small donation and have continued to read over the years, cheering like mad for all of Schuyler's successes. What surprised me this afternoon was how when I saw Rob and Schuyler looking out at me from the pages of People, I felt like I was bumping into old friends in the strangest of places. I'm not used to knowing the people in People, but I truly feel as though I know Schuyler and Rob, even though they couldn't pick me out of a lineup. My next stop after leaving the restaurant was Borders, where I was happy to find a copy on the shelf. I bought it and brought it home. As soon as I post this, I'm going to head for bed and get busy reading.

So here's the new improved list:

• Beneath the Surface
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
• Nicholas and Alexandra
• Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book
• Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter
• The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
• Stupid and Contagious
• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both

The gift of time

I should be leaving soon for a school board meeting that would most likely have lasted until 3:00 or 3:30. Afterwards, the PTO meeting was scheduled for 4:00. I was going to have to leave that meeting early so that I could get Mike to the gym for his first session of lifeguard training at 5:00.

Well, we have an ice storm heading our way. The schools are releasing the kids at 11:00 (hey, that's now!) in hopes that the kids and staff can make it home before the storm hits. That cancels both meetings, and there is a strong likelihood that Mike lifeguard class will also be canceled.

I'm hoping the weather can hold off for an hour or so. I'm waiting for the kids to get home, and then I need to run to Walmart to pick up some photos and grab something to fix for supper because Fred's tux dinner has also been canceled due to the weather.

I can't believe I have just been given an entire afternoon to sit at home and play catch-up on my homework and work-work! This will be quite nice as long as we don't lose power or Internet.

EDITED TO ADD: No sooner had I posted that than we started getting pelted with freezing rain. I left immediately for Walmart and quickly decided that the pictures could wait for another day, so I just hit the commissary for groceries instead. Got home and found out that Mike's lifeguard class is indeed canceled. Not much else is happening though weatherwise. The ice/sleet/freezing rain seems to have stopped for now.

Making book(s)

One of my favorite things recently has been making photobooks on Shutterfly. They are super easy, and the quality is amazing. I got turned on to them back in November when Sony's Imagestation shut down (screw them--they wouldn't ship to APO addresses), and I got a coupon for a photobook in exchange for transferring my photos over to Shutterfly. I used the coupon to make my dad a book of our adventures in Scotland:



I had such fun with that one that for Christmas I made one for Fred's parents that chronicled their 2 visits to see us in Germany:



I'm proudest though of my most recent one. For Valentine's Day, I gave Annabelle a book of all the adventures the rodents have had over the years:



You can check it out here!

Sweater weather

I was in college when I learned the art of sabotaging relationships through handicrafts. In hindsight, they were probably doomed anyway, but I guess I thought that if I could dazzle the poor guy with my madd needlework skillz that we could still get to happily ever after. It took me a while to wise up, and that is why there is an elite club of men out there who are (or at least were) the proud owners of a variety of cross-stitch projects and even a few hand-knit sweaters.

When Fred and I started dating, one of the first pieces of advice I got from my mom, my sister, my best friend, etc., was this: "For God sake don't make him anything! Not until you've got a ring on your finger at any rate."

The older and wiser me listened, and it wasn't until after we got back from our honeymoon that I decided to point my knitting needles in Fred's direction. I made him a 100% wool Aran sweater that I designed myself, worked in what I am told is the traditional Aran method, which leaves no pesky seams for stitching up at the end:



It's been so stinking cold up here lately that I've been borrowing Fred's sweater quite a lot. I'm still enjoying my scarf project (over halfway done!), and I've been considering doing another Aran sweater out of the same kind of wool. I'm really on the fence though as to whether I feel like doing cables next or maybe some colorwork. I might not know for sure until the next time I go the yarn store.

Here's a picture of Mike wearing Fred's sweater:



Fred seems to be immune to the sweater curse, but I hope Mike doesn't run away from home now.

Sweeney on my mind

I woke up this morning and checked my email and discovered that my Aunt Suzie had whipped up this delightful little slideshow of the Sweeney Todd pics from Annabelle's blog. Very cool!

See: Annabelle's blog

Today we went up to Louisville to see Sweeney Todd--the play, not the movie. It was SO GOOD, but I promised that I would let Annabelle tell you all about it. So why don't you go over to her blog right now and read her review?

Déjà vu all over again

Remember back in October when Mike and his friend Dana were the sophomore reps for the Homecoming court? Well, last night was the basketball equivalent of Homecoming, and look who wound up as the 10th-grade reps for Mr. and Miss FKH:



Fred, Annabelle, and I went for the festivities, which occurred between the boys' and girls' basketball game. We were tired and didn't stay for much of the girls game afterwards, leaving Mike to find his own ride home. He didn't seem sorry to see us go though and upon returning home reported that he had had a nice evening.

Winter reading challenge: another update

I'm pleased to report a little more progress in the winter reading challenge, but disappointed to have finished my most recent book so quickly. Stupid and Contagious was a lot of fun with many laugh-out-loud moments. (I'm sure Fred just loves it when he's sound asleep, and I start giggling madly by the glow of my little book light.)

I am currently switching back and forth between Russian Stories (reading the English side and gazing longingly at the Russian side) and In Defense of Food.

• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
• Nicholas and Alexandra
• Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book
• The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
• Stupid and Contagious
• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both

And now it's really over

Swim season, that is. We were supposed to have our end-of-season banquet on Tuesday, but we got cancelled on account of snow and ice. So it was rescheduled for tonight and, while it's not the most romantic thing I can think of to do on Valentine's Day, it was a nice time and a good meal. All the kids got towels with their names embroidered on them. Annabelle got her first varsity letter (now she needs a jacket!), and Mike got another bar for his letter. Mike also got the trophy for sportsmanship on the boys' team:



Today I made prints for all the kids whose picture I took over the past season. I wish I had taken more, as I didn't have shots of everybody. Next season, I promise! (I'm also up to be treasurer for the swim boosters next year.)

It's been a good year!

Sisterhood of the traveling coat

A few months ago, my cousin Becky bought a red jacket because it reminded her of a red coat that our Grandma Jernigan had:



That inspired my Aunt Suzie to get out Grandma's old coat and to send the rest of us Jernigan ladies a message:

You have been deemed worthy of membership in the prestigious society of the Sisterhood of Grandma's Traveling Coat, also known as The RedCoat Society. The sacred red coat will soon be in your city, and the only requirement for membership in the prestigious society of the Sisterhood of Grandma's Traveling Coat is that you have your picture made wearing said coat in the required pose of left arm extended in a friendly greeting. Next, you must e-mail said photo to this address to be published on the Sisterhood's blog. Enclosed is a photo of the founding mother of the Sisterhood and its charter members.

Since then the coat has been traveling around, all over Florida and most recently up to Kentucky, and we have all taken our turns and raised our left hands in allegiance to the Sisterhood:



Go to Suzie's blog to see the full-size pictures. Long live the Sisterhood!

Either I need new glasses . . .

. . . or AOL News needs a new copyeditor:

Snow Ice delay day!

My, things certainly do change quickly around here. By 4 this morning what had started out as a 2-hour delay last night had changed to the cancellation of school entirely. Needless to say, there was much rejoicing around these here parts.

It's not a snow day though. Instead we've got a nice crop of ice going. Oh, well, I wouldn't be out there throwing snowballs anyway! I've got homework to do.

Scenes from the ice palace:



If you look beneath the flag in that one picture, you can see a branch that fell off my neighbor's tree. It doesn't look like much in the picture, but it made a very loud cracking noise as it fell.

Snow delay!

We've had a bit of wintry weather roll into the Kentuckiana region, and the Fort Knox schools have taken the unusual step of declaring a 2-hour delay for tomorrow. Needless to say, the kids and I are thrilled! Ah, nothing like sleeping late on a Tuesday!

Annabelle's friend Katie just came over to collect her for a snowball fight. Before they left for their snow war, they took Ginger out for a quick romp. This is the most snow Ginger has ever seen, and she thought it was pretty neat. Here she is with the girls (she was too busy sniffing the powder to look at the camera):



They took her for a lap around the house. After that, she was quite happy to head back for the warm, cozy house:



Now, I am a Florida girl, so I am not the foremost authority on snow. But isn't it supposed to be silent? I thought that was part of its charm. This snow is sizzling like bacon, which makes me think there is more going on out there than snow. Let's see what Yahoo has to say:



Lovely.

Winter reading challenge: an update

I'm making a little progress with the winter reading challenge. On Friday night I finished Nicholas and Alexandra. It didn't end any better for the Romanov family this time around than it has any other time I've read it. This was the first time I've read it though since having seen their graves (in August 2004):



Anyway, I really felt myself getting more and more anxious at the upcoming assassination scene, so I have decided to go for something light for my next book. Next up: Stupid and Contagious!

• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
• Nicholas and Alexandra
• Russian Stories: A Dual-Language Book
• The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future
• Stupid and Contagious
• Unhooked: How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love and Lose at Both

Judge not lest ye be judged

I wound up volunteering as a judge for drama regionals today. If there is a volunteer position I am less suited for, I would like to know what it is. I would never have signed up in the first place, but Annabelle's drama coach needed to round up a certain number of judges for the competition, and he is a great guy. I really appreciate how much fun Annabelle has with the drama club, so how could I say no?

If drama regionals were American Idol, I would be Paula Abdul except without the good drugs. I can just see me flapping my hands together in a clappy sort of way and making sappy, encouraging comments.

Judging was excruciating for me! I live in a rainbow-colored world where everybody is a winner, but beyond that, all the acts that came before me were just so good that it was horrible to have to rank them.

The best part about being a judge was that when regionals ended in disappointment for Annabelle, I was able to tell her a little bit about the judge's side of things. I told her that for one thing, I really felt inadequately trained for such an important job. I also told her that I was stunned to see some of the acts that I ranked as being the highest scoring did NOT wind up going on to the state level. (Each act got performed for 2 different judges, and the scores were averaged.)

Apparently there is some sort of formula for number of judges that a school is required to provide. It has something to do with the number of contestants, and then if you don't have enough volunteers, your entry fees get raised. I have gone on record that next year I will happily ransom myself out of the judging business!

Today's post

This is today's post. Not too thrilling, is it? We've had a fun but hectic evening running up to Louisville, and we have to get up at the crack of dawn for Annabelle's drama regionals. So this is all you're getting today. I will try to do better tomorrow!

Trendspotting

I am not generally a good one for spotting upcoming trends. I bought a computer 10 years ago that had a CD drive even though I was pretty sure I would never have use for such a thing.

The other night, however, I shared a hotel room in Frankfort with another mom whose kids made the second day of competition at Regionals. We had so much fun! We hung out at the pool eating pizza with the coach, and then once we got back to our room, we stayed up way too late gossiping and giggling.

In the morning we talked about what a shame it is that we girls stop having slumber parties when we grow up. And then it hit me!

You know how 10 years ago nobody was in a book club, but now EVERYBODY has a book club? Well, my prediction is that in another 10 years, we're going to start having sleepovers again. I'll bring the chocolate-chip cookies!

'Twas a dark and stormy night

Oh, man, I feel raw this morning. I'm sure it didn't help that I had a cup of coffee at my meeting yesterday, but I just could not get to sleep last night. First I stayed up a little later than usual working on my homework. Then I got embroiled in my book, and I just don't know how one is expected to close the book and turn out the light when the last Tsar of Russia is abdicating his throne, not only for himself but also for his son! And then the weather hit . . .

Lots of rain, lots of wind, lots of thunder and lightning. The power went out briefly, which reminded me that I should get up and unplug the computer. I'm glad I did--I don't know if the zap traveled through the cable or through the power cord, but I'm minus one router this morning. Oh and that poor old laptop with the sucky spacebar that was giving Annabelle such fits last night? Yeah, it doesn't want to turn on this morning. I think it might be fried.

When the power came back on, I turned on the TV to watch the weather. Once I could see that we were in the clear, I tried to get to sleep, but a firetruck pulled up in front of our house with its lights flashing. I got up and spied on the firemen through the miniblinds but never did figure out what they were up to. Pretty soon they left, and I finally drifted off.

I suppose I should go get dressed. I've got yet another meeting today at 10. I wish I could just crawl back into bed though!

The itchy and scratchy show

Sunday night Mike had a crop of what appeared to be bug bites around his knees. At first I thought maybe they were some weird side effect of his shaving his legs last week. I gave him 2 Benadryls and sent him to bed.

Yesterday he complained about the spots off and on, and we realized that they were disappearing in one place and reappearing in another. First it was knees and elbows; then it was wrists and shins. Two more Benadryls and off to bed again.

This morning he was really suffering, so I decided to take him to the doctor. At 6:30, I took this photo of his elbows to send to my mom. By 7:30, when we left for the doctor, his elbows were fine but his feet were so swollen he couldn't curl his toes.

Turns out the doc was as baffled as we are. No new foods, new soaps, new pets, etc. He did, however, give Mike a 5-day course of Prednisone to kick the hives into submission and a couple antihistamine prescriptions for after that. Apparently one of the side effects of Prednisone is an increase in appetite. This could get ugly.

Back in the swim

My week is shaping up to be a hodge-podge of homework, meetings, and driving Mike back and forth to E'town. He just started today swimming with a team down there. This is his trial week to make sure it's something he wants to do. It seems like a great program though, and he is really excited about it.

Regionals report

Well, the weather cooperated with us on Friday, and the swimmers took off on the bus right on schedule as soon as they checked in with their homeroom teachers. Fred and I drove over to Versailles later on, after stopping at Barnes and Nobles in E'town to pick up some Starbucks.

We arrived just in time to check in for our volunteer shift. They had the volunteers divided into 2 shifts, and it was important to me that we work first shift, which meant sacrificing being able to see (and tape) Mike's 200-yard medley relay but which would allow us to see (and tape) both kids' individual events later in the afternoon. A regular Sophie's choice for the modern mom, I tell you.

I did peek over to lane 8 from lane 3 and watched Mike's leg of the relay. He came running over later to tell us that with a time of 2:06.63 (seed time was 2:13.01), the relay had made it to the second day, which took a lot of the pressure off.

Annabelle's event for the afternoon was the 100-yard backstroke, an event she had done only once before in competition. Watching her swim just takes my breath away. There's my baby, rising like the phoenix from liquid ashes and flinging herself backwards into the race, and it's all I can do to hold the camera still:



She was a little nervous about pacing herself from the flags to the side of the pool, but she timed it perfectly and nailed her turns like a pro:



At 1:40.74, Annabelle had the second-slowest seed time in her heat, but she still finished on top at 1:29.49. You can watch her event here and you can go here to read about the meet in her own words.

Mike's individual event, the 100-yard breaststroke, happened a little later in the afternoon. Mike has worked so hard on his breaststroke this season, and it really shows:



He finished third in his heat and fourteenth overall, which made him the second alternate for the finals the next day. His final time was 1:16.86, which was a personal best for him and made him really happy:



You can watch his event here.

By the end of Friday, Fort Knox had 12 swimmers who had qualified to come back the next day--3 relay teams with 2 swimmers also qualifying outright in an individual event each and 2 more (including Mike) qualifying as alternates in their individual events. This is HUGE for us! I am particularly impressed with the success of our relay teams. As I explained to Mike, any school can get lucky enough to have one or 2 superstars, but the success of a group says a lot about the underlying hard work and dedication.

It was so exciting to be back at the pool the second day. I vowed to videotape everybody from Fort Knox that day.

Mike's relay team finished 12th with a time of 2:07.40 but wound up in 11th place when another team was DQ'ed. We were joking that their fiendish plan not to come in last had worked!



Watch the 200-yard medley relay finals here.

You can watch our contenders in the women's 100-yard breaststroke here (8th place); the women's 100-yard backstroke here (10th place); the women's 200-yard freestyle relay here (7th place); and the men's 400-yard freestyle relay here (12th place).

Before we headed back to Fort Knox, I gathered some of our swimmers together to take a picture with their beloved coach:



I couldn't resist modeling our emergency goggles:



These are the goggles that we learned the hard way always to keep at the ready, because you just don't know when somebody's goggles are going to give up the ghost!

So tell me now, 'cause I know you know: Who rocks the blocks?

Birthday report

Well, today is my birthday, and I am officially 41. Funny . . . I don't feel a day over 50. Ha ha, no, actually I pretty much think of myself as 30.

I had a lovely day, very calm and quiet. Under normal circumstances, I might have wanted to go out to dinner or something, but after the past 2 crazy exciting days, I can't think of anything I would rather do than just what I did--sit on my butt behind the computer and work on my pics and videos from the swim meet!

We had a special dinner at home (Fred grilled salmon) and then presents and cake. So happy birthday to me, and now let's get on to the swimming report!

Longer post tomorrow

I'm beat. Mike and I just walked in the door, and I just want to check my email and head for bed. I think though that we have finally answered the question that has plagued mankind for eons.

Who rocks the blocks? KNOX ROCKS THE BLOCKS! Check back tomorrow for pics and video.

Cautiously optimistic

Well, it's 40 degrees out there right now and raining, which is way better than the ice and snow they were talking about last night. The kids just got on the schoolbus and should be leaving for Regionals right after signing in with their homeroom teachers. We have heard nothing of a delay or cancellation.

I'm blogging this morning because if Mike's relay team makes it to the second day, I'm staying over there with them. Cross fingers for continued good crappy weather (never thought I would describe cold, rainy, and windy as "good") and excellent swim karma!