A tale of 2 cities: St. Louis

So, while Annabelle was off visiting Mike in Tallahassee, Fred and I decided to get away on our own. He suggested Vegas, I suggested Cancun, and we opted for . . . St. Louis! Turns out that with a military rate, even the Ritz-Carlton can be downright affordable.

Thursday morning, we dropped Ginger off at the kennel and hopped on I-70 heading east. (It still freaks me out to think of St. Louis as being to the east. That is just wrong.)

We got checked in at the hotel around mid-afternoon and set back out to familiarize ourselves with the area. We were stuffed from our Qdoba stop on the city outskirts (why no Qdoba, Kansas City? why?), so we worked up an appetite walking around the mall before stopping at a Thai place for dinner and getting back to the hotel in time to see FSU turn it around on the basketball court. Or rather, Fred got to see it. I couldn't stand the stress and had my sweater zipped up to my eyebrows.

Friday morning we started off with a quick visit to Washington University, just to grab breakfast and see if we could imagine Annabelle going there. Turns out it is just as gorgeous as it looks in the brochures:









From there we spent some time exploring Forest Park, which is right next to the university. This is the Jewel Box, an Art Deco greenhouse:





Then we stopped by the Third Degree Glass Factory to kill a little time:





From there we headed up the street to the Delmar Loop, a fun and funky district just a few blocks away from the university. City Hall is at one end:



There is also a cool walk of fame featuring famous people with Missouri ties, like Scott Joplin:



And a Chuck Berry statue:



We had lunch at Blueberry Hill, a Loop hotspot:



Other Loop-iness:







That night we went out for an amazing dinner at Scape, which had come highly recommended by the concierge at the Ritz (tee hee, I love saying that!). She had also recommended The Cup, which was just around the corner from Scape, for dessert, and it was likewise a winner:



The next morning we had delicious omelets at a crepe restaurant, but sadly the crepe was nothing to write home about. Ironic, no? At any rate, I figured maybe it was the universe's way of telling me to PUT DOWN THE FOODBAG! We puttered around a little, but we were getting itchy to get on the road home. I did have to stop for a shot of this unusual looking building. Love the turtles and the slogan:



We made great time on the drive home and even made it back in time to pick Ginger up from the kennel that same day. She was happy to go home but maybe a little sad to leave her new friend Wesley:

How not to work a puzzle

A tale of 2 cities: Tallahassee

Annabelle had Thursday through Monday off from school this week, so on Wednesday we put her on a plane bound for Tallahassee for an up-close look at life at Florida State.

Some highlights included:

• Getting to live in Mike's dorm room.
• Eating yummy food at all of Mike's favorite restaurants.
• Going to get her nails done with Sarah while Mike was busy with ROTC.
• Going to class, German with Mike and Psychology with Sarah.
• Watching FSU win at the buzzer against Virginia Tech (and hearing the amazing FSU pep band):

• Having lunch with her Internet-friend Rachel and becoming IRL (In-Real-Life) friends:

• Going to see a movie at FSU's on-campus movie theater.
• Going to see The Full Monty put on by the FSU theatre department.
• Getting to meet Firenzi, Sarah's roommate's dog:

Meanwhile, Fred and I were off having adventures of our own, but that's another post!

How to Shovel Snow by Bonnie Taylor

I haven't written this book yet, but it shouldn't take long:

April 2011

In going through last year's posts, I've noticed that April seems to be where things really ran off the rails. I think part of the problem is that that was when I purchased special software to help me organize my photos, and I kept putting off blogging "until everything is organized." Well, it's almost a year later, and I still haven't reached that point! Anyway, I went back through April and added a few posts, mostly just pictures I meant to get around to sharing:

Honors, honors everywhere
Harvey is watching you
You never know what you'll find . . .
Ice cream at work!
Who's a pretty girl?
Spring flowers
Two all-beef patties, special sauce . . .
Housework
Brava, Annabelle!
New member of the family
And THAT is how you pack a Sentra

Annabelle: Winter Royalty dance

Tonight is the Winter Royalty dance, which is kind of like spring homecoming as near as I can figure, at Annabelle's dance. She went over to her friend Maggie's house for pictures:



Maggie's dog Alfred got into the act:



Now they are on their way to meet more friends for supper before heading to the dance.

I hope they have fun!

Please rise

Annabelle's choir did a fantastic job with the national anthem at tonight's basketball game:

Plant rescuer

Back after Christmas, Mike and I went to Target, where I saw some Christmas bulbs that were doing their best to sprout right out of their boxes. I couldn't resist and brought one especially needy-looking specimen home:



After I got that one planted, it looked so much happier:



Over the following days, I added more to the collection. In this picture, the original amaryllis has already bloomed and faded, so I cut off the flower and am keeping the greenery going:



Here's a recent photo of the blossom from the amaryllis on the right:



I love the cheery touch they add to my kitchen!

Happy birthweekend to me!

I managed to stretch my 45th birthday out over several fun-filled days. On Friday, my actual birthday, Annabelle had a band lock-in, so Fred and I went out to dinner on our own. This wasn't a "birthday dinner"; it was more of "girl's gotta eat and isn't cooking on her birthday" sort of deal. The next day, we went out to try the new German restaurant in town.

Here's Annabelle and her friend Maggie, who came with us:



And Fred and me:



My Jaegerschitzel:



And Fred's Sauerbraten:



Tonight we capped off the weekend with a Superbowl party. Granted that was more about football than me, but it was an excellent excuse to make baked brie, which is my new cheesy obsession.

Annabelle: Thespian one acts

Every January, the drama kids at Leavenworth High put together an evening of one-act plays that are student directed. This year Annabelle played several parts in The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, which was a funny re-telling of well-known and not-so-well-known (Devil's Grandmother? seriously?) tales:



It took a couple of days to upload, but the entire show is here:

Happy February!

I am kicking off the awesome month of February by bringing my blog up to date for 2012. I'm hoping to stay on top of things and gradually go back and flesh out some of the empty spots from 2011 when I hit my all-time blogging low.

My blogging fell off for a variety of reasons, but one of the main ones was my inclination to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I always want to wait until my photos are organized and edited or until I have time to write something witty or meaningful. Well, enough of that! My focus from here on out is going to be to just get the content up there and spend more time doing things worth blogging about and less time worrying over how good the blogging is.

So now I present January 2012:

Mike on College GameDay
Annabelle and Harvey
Annabelle's get-well card from her drama friends
Mike and Sarah's roadtrip
Annabelle with friends at a party
Mike lifting heavy objects
AOK Party (lots of hats)

Hats off to a great evening!

"The hat is the ultimatum moriens of respectability." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

Ollie might have changed his mind if he had been at the AOK party at Ft. Leavenworth tonight. "AOK" stands for "Aussie," "Orange," and "Kiwi," and indeed the Australian, Dutch, and New Zealand officers were our hosts for the evening. As the invitation said, "No hat, no entry. No mug, no beer." No worry--there were hats and mugs a-plenty, but we checked our respectability at the door!

Fred opted to wear his German Volksmarch hat:



I don't get many excuses to wear my Derby hat, so I had no difficulty deciding what to wear:



All other photos are here (you can click on any photo to see it larger in a new tab):

Mike: Gettin' strong!

Mike is continuing this semester with his recently discovered passion for power-lifting. Today he maxed out his squat at 425 pounds!

Annabelle: Party on, dude!

Hooray! Annabelle is on the road to recovery and was able to go to her friend Joe's birthday party tonight:



Two thumbs up for that!

Mike: Roadtrip!

I've living vicariously through Mike right now. While we spent this weekend with temps in the 20s, he and Sarah enjoyed an obviously balmy roadtrip, first to Universal Studios in Orlando:





And then to the beach:



What? Me? JEALOUS???

Annabelle: Get well soon!

Annabelle has had an icky few days. She told me before she left for school on Tuesday that she thought she was coming down with something. Sure enough, well before noon she was texting me to pick her up! She missed the rest of Tuesday and all of yesterday and today. She did manage to drag herself in for play practice yesterday afternoon but not today. Her drama friends made her a get-well card, which made her smile:



Back to school tomorrow (I hope)!

Annabelle and Harvey

Lookit Mike on the teevee!

ESPN's College GameDay was in Tallahassee this morning ahead of the FSU-UNC basketball game. Mike called to ask me to record the show so that he can look for himself when he's home for spring break. Fred and I watched for a bit, and when we saw the camera pan the area where Mike said he was sitting, I hit pause and grabbed my camera:



I don't follow basketball and didn't watch the game, but apparently FSU's victory was quite the big deal. The crowd (including Mike) streamed onto the court after the game:

Band on the run

Annabelle left at the crack of dawn the day after Christmas to join 50-something other members of her high-school band on a marvelous odyssey to Florida. Three theme parks, one parade, and performing in the half-time show at the Champs Bowl (go, 'Noles!), all sandwiched between 2 24-hour bus rides. She had a fabulous time and arrived home Saturday night utterly exhausted.

On Thursday, Fred and Mike and I put on our best FSU finery and went up to the man cave to watch the game on TV:



It's the first time I can remember caring one way or the other about the outcome of a football game. Of course, what I REALLY cared about seeing was the half-time show, but naturally ESPN couldn't be bothered to show that, instead choosing to focus on some bitter old man talking smack about FSU. I've been waiting none too patiently since then for a video clip to come online, and it finally happened today.

If you look at the back of the short line on the left-hand 41-yard-line, you can see the speck that is Annabelle:



The kids were kept busy almost every moment they were in Florida, but Jenny and Jeff managed to surprise Annabelle at supper Friday night before the second 24-hour bus ride:



Annabelle was too tired to stay awake to ring in the new year once she got home, but it was well worth it. She had a blast and made a lifetime of memories!