Pitchurs, Papa wants Pichurs

Yes, I intentionally misspelled the above words [pictures] to be silly...here are a few recent photos from DC. Snow [it may be our only showing of the white stuff for the season], and one of me and John.

Trying to align the photos in some logical way escapes me so bear with my limited technical knowledge. We're all geeks

in our own ways. This

just isn't one of mine.


In other news, I'm in full training mode to complete a 1/2 Ironman distance triathlon. Its called Eagleman and its on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The particulars are: Swim 1.2 miles, followed by a 56 mile bike, and finished off with a 13.1 mile run. It goes off on June 11 and if past years are any indication of weather conditions, it could be 56 degrees and really cold or 80 degrees with no shade. Either way, its a challenging course and its flat, flat, flat...which if you're not familiar with biking, you've got to keep peddling to keep moving...while the hills are a challenge, the downhill gives you a few moments to coast and let gravity do the work.

In between now and then, I'll be running in the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race which draws competitors from all over the world [the prize money seems to be the draw] and if the trees are in bloom, its a gorgeous sight.

Also, I'm making my first trip to the Caribbean. Next week, John and I are headed to Nassau, the Bahamas for a friend's wedding. I'm trying to figure out what to wear now that I'm in full winter mode but its about 78 degrees and 75 % humidity down there. I'm sportin' the winter hibernation body complete with the layer of insulation. Not sure I really want to be seen in any sort of swimwear any time soon. It will be fun and it's a small wedding [40] so there may be a chance to actually get to interact with the guests as well as the couple.

I'll post a photo of me and the new bike (a Specialized Roubaix Expert that rides like a cloud...as if I've ever ridden a cloud before) and its my new favorite toy.

Hope ya'll are keeping warm out there.

Happy Post V-Day

So the Hallmark Holiday called Valentine's Day just past and personally, I'm recovering from my own cooking...here's the menu:

[I'll start with dessert since that's the thing I'm most excited about]
Homemade cheesecake from the Gourmet Cookbook [mmmmmm]
Flounder stuffed with real Chesapeake Bay crab meat
Roasted new potatoes with olive oil, rosemary and garlic
Steamed Asparagus

I somehow managed to burn my arm while taking the potatoes out of the oven so does that mean that since I injured myself while cooking that the meal should taste that much better?

I made enough to feed 5 and there were only two of us...so I get leftovers. Can we say, "Cheesecake -- its what's for breakfast"?

I eat leftovers, John does not; so in this case, I get to share this meal again and again...brought some in for lunch today ... still good but after the 3rd time, I think I'll be sick of it.

I received from my sweetie the Griffin & Sabine Trilogy and will thoroughly enjoy poking through the letters and enjoying the artwork. This is the second postcard type of book that John has given to me...the first was PostSecret and the author lives in Germantown, MD. I recently heard an interview with him on NPR so he's now mainstream...

I gave him cufflinks...not as creative but he's a French-cuff kind of guy. Not the type who wears a suit and tie to work but likes to be well dressed any other time.

I received the fabulous Valentine from my sister and her family with a picture of the kids kissing on the front!! I think I still have the very first one with Garrett as a baby wrapped in red silk like he was a cherub or an angel or a bit of both.

Its only Wednesday and I'm jonesin for the weekend so I can lie around and finish reading The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde. It’s about solving Humpty Dumpty's murder...and you thought he just fell off the wall.

We also had a BIG snow and its all gone now...its 56 degrees and not a white spot left to be seen...and I'm complaining why?

Will post some pics when I can remember to download them from the fun toy.

Pokerface? No.

"Omigod,that was so cute! Do it again!"

What, this?

I curl up my fingers and tap my closed fists together rapidly several times, a sort of small silent clapping that indicates my awareness of the fact that I am in a public place and mustn't clap out loud. And yet not so aware as to consider being gestureless completely.

My cousin is getting married, and I'm excited. She says I'm invited, and I love being invited to weddings.

I explain to the woman at the coffeebar beside me that I'm too old to be invited to many weddings, that most people my age are on their second one by now, which they often don't make much of a deal of. They're actually on their second divorce, a lot of them. I do not say this part out loud.

"Are you kidding? I'm just thirty and lots of people I know are on their second spouse."

She's got a lot of grey in her hair for thirty. They know how to fix that these days, sweetheart.

I do not say this out loud.

You all have set the bar too high for the techno-tard. Even if I had a digital camera, I'm sure I wouldn't know how to use it. If I did know how to use it, downloading images to my laptop would be outside my capabilities. Imagine that I'd got as far as downloading- adding images to a blog entry would baffle me.

Strike that- blogging is the one thing in my life that's reasonably simple.

A short synopsis of life:

We are deep in Spring Semester, though the mounds of fluff outside belie that. Three dance classes a week, four drama classes, and two days of rehearsal mean very little in the way of free time. Once The Hobbit closes (tech week is the end of this month- I'm doing sound while Garrett dwarfs it up), we'll have breathing space again. Alaina and Garrett both dance, Garrett performs, and I teach drama. Crazy? yes. But being as I'm semi-employed with a truck-driving husband and homeschooled kids, I don't even have a nodding acquaintance with 'normal.'

Which as far as I can tell is a good thing.

Count Me In

Thank you to Cory for starting this Blog. Seems like the easier it is to communicate, the less we do of it. Many moons ago when there was just snail mail, people were prolific writers; then the telephone came along and people stopped writing letters and started calling; then email came along and people started relying on email for communication... but now I get so many friggin' emails that I don't have time to write anyone!

OK, stats, here goes.....

Me
I live in Greenville, SC with my two lovely (!) boys, Tucker (9) and Jacob (7)


I'm engaged to Don Kasperski - Yes, we HAVE set a date... June 10, 2006.... Y'all are invited, just haven't gotten around to the invitation thing yet (because I'm too busy dealing with emails)


That's us in the pic.




Don is an Engineer with GE - used to design the big blades on Wind turbines, but has recently become a Principal Engineer in gas turbine compressors. And being a big turkey himself, it is only natural that he gets sent to Turkey now and again for engine testing (so I get cool Turkish presents)

Don has 3 (!) kids - Tyler (16), Keenan (13) and Katriel.

Here's the Hoard at Disney last summer.

If you can't tell them apart, Jacob is the little one, and Tucker is the mean looking dude in the white shirt.

We're building a house to hold us all.

It's going to have to be a big one.


(A moment to brag on my kids.... Both are straight A students, both are in Challenge classes at school (pull-out program where they get to work 'advanced studies'), Tucker is in the Visual Arts ARMES program through the Greenville Fine Arts Center (an 'invitation only' program, dontcha know), and Jacob just received his Iowa State Test results - scored in the top 98th percentile... they're GREAT kids)

I work for General Electric - I'm an Engineering Manager. My daddy keeps asking me when they're going to let me drive the train.... I'm not sure, I'll keep you posted.

Other than that, I FINALLY finished my MBA and I'm never going to school again!

Oh, and check out our new Monkey Blog site to meet our newest family member - http://monkeygoesround.blogspot.com/

Later.