You all still out there?? Its been awhile

It seems like forever since I've sat down to do a posting to the blog. The lowdown in brief is this:

April -- Completed the Big Sur marathon...had a fantastic time and it was an experience of a lifetime.

May -- Put the house on the market and had an open house the same weekend as Columbia triathlon, where I took about 12 min off my time from last year by improving my run time [thanks to marathon training].

June -- Living in the "stepford" house while on the market, making plans to make the big move to 1024 G Street, and oh yea, completing Eagleman 70.3 Ironman for the 2nd time. Took about 11 min off my time from the previous year due in part to a better swim [better conditions] and run.

July -- Getting used to co-habitation and generally living with someone who has reverse habits [goes to bed late, gets up late; me go to bed late gets up early], keeping things relatively clutter free, brush the dog every day, etc.

Aug -- Got an offer on the house and am scheduled to go to closing on August 30. In a buyers market, its a pain in the butt since the property is reasonably priced, comparable houses are in total re-do condition, and she offered below asking AND still wants nit picky things done or $$ at closing to do a $15 repair...I say, shove it and like it...[well, we'll see about that...]. I won't be totally confident that things are okay until I have the giant check in my hand [and it WILL be 10 ft long and 4 ft high]. Lets see if my credit union can cash that one. Here's the house listing and the "virtual tour" in case you're interested

Sept -- Pay off all debt, the house, buy a new-to-me car, give my 226k mile Honda Accord wagon to mom [is that mean? Give her a car that's probably on its last leg?], and set aside some $$ for a future "us" house. No "bling" on the left hand yet but we'll see ... how long I'll wait.

We'll be traveling to beautiful Panama City Beach, FL in November for John to compete in the Ironman Florida event. We at least have a place to stay, and are working on getting transportation down there [air, train, car? or a combo]. After that, life will be wide open, weekends free, and nothing but lounging about, eating bonbons and ordering room service...yea, right.

Hope all is well with y'all.

Cory

Ehhhxtrimly Fawhnsayh

High Society Guests Make Earl's Soiree A Success

Master Garrett Pomeroy, Lord of Lynbrook, First Earl of Truckerson, was pleased to celebrate the onset of his twelfth year by hosting a dinner party.The silver was polished to a high shine, the best china had been freshly washed, and the good linens were laundered and starched. Fifi the maid, who bore a strange resemblance to the Earl's grandmother, was appropriately attired in black fishnet tights and a white cap and apron over her black frock, and was prepared to dust guests as they were announced. The arrival of the first guests, Jonathan, Prince Penguin, and Daniel the Earl of Squirrel, was followed by a diverting game of Sleeping Queens. Tim the Wretched served the Earl of Squirrel and Prince Penguin as general dogsbody, assisted by a leftover Christmas elf. The next guest to arrive was Countess Sarah the Mad of Greater Stageshire. Accompanying her was a woman who referred to herself as 'tailor to the Countess', but was suspiciously garbed in a white laboratory coat, the pockets of which rattled menacingly with various medications, and was repeatedly heard to mutter "half day pass, never again!" in furious undertones.

After Countess Eria Muff and Brooks, Duke of Sim had made their apperance, the guests engaged in some Mad Libbing, notably Letters to the Editor, and My Emmy Acceptance Speech. Guests were offered tidbits of cheese, meatballs, and fancy crackers by a white-gloved footman alternately referred to as 'Peeves' and 'Grieves', but who insisted that the correct monniker was 'Jeeves'.

Jean the chef had outdone himself with dinner, despite the length of his ponytail, and a delicious roasted beef was served with potatos, gravy, broccoli and carrots, accompanied by water imported from the city of Baltimore, and the specialty house wine. The Emperess Angelica George of Dragonshire arrived only slightly late to dinner, and was stunning in a gown of white lace and green velvet. Seated beside her, Brooks, Duke of Sim, wore an eye-catching cloak of orange and black stripes, which matched his orange hair. On the other side of the Emperess sat the Earl of Squirrel in a shirt with a squirrel motif and an entertainingly knotted tie. His triangular forest hat had been removed during dinner. To the right of the Earl sat Jonathan, Prince Penguin, perky in black trousers, white shirt, red bow tie with his iconic namesale, a stuffed penguin, perched atop his head. Beside him, Countess Eria Muff was elegantly and mysteriously attired entirely in black. Master Garrett himself was resplendant in a ruby-coloured smoking jacket with black satin lapels, a ruffled shirt and freshly starched white pocket handkerchief. His hostess, Alaina, Maharincess of Fraanistaan, wore a pink skirt ensemble embellished with jingling coins and sat on his left. On the Earl's right was Countess Sarah the Mad in pinstriped trousers and a wine-coloured Edwardian cutaway coat. Her cravat was exquisite.

After the company had dined, they retired to the parlor for cigars and newspapers. The cigars were of the finest chocolate variety, and the newspapers bore such headlines as "Man Hatches From Egg!", "Stars With Cellulite", "The Fifty Most Annoying People of 2006", and "Exclusive First Photos From Hell!" The guests read aloud articles of interest from these relevant papers.

Following cigars and cocoa demi-tasse, the party returned to the dining room for chocolate mousse. Fifi helped to serve, and the Dutchess Muff was the only guest to have mousse accidentally dripped upon her. The company sang a few rousing chouruses of the impromptu song, "Evil Napkin Eats Your Brains, Evil Napkin Has Chocolate Stains." The guests then returned to the parlor for more news and cigars until their chauffers began to arrive to take them away. Each guest took home a pin-on button embellished with a photograph of himself with the guest of honor, a chocolate cigar for later, a golden place-card, and a souvenier newspaper.

It was agreed that a splendid time was had by all.

Theatre News

Tom Sawyer , which I directed, is about to close. Garrett has been very good as Hucklebery Finn, and I've had a great time working with a cast of adults and children, many of whom are related. I've just been cast as Amanda in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. I'm pretty excited, because I've never had a lead before. Rehearsal starts tonight.

Other than theatre and running the kids to dance and other classes, I have been doing EXACTLY NOTHING. Well, knitting. But admitting that hurts my image as a BadAss, so don't tell.

Non-traditional Thanksgiving

So this year, I was not local for Thanksgiving, no traditional eating but loads of fun, friends and wine. John and I, along with three other [married] couples ventured off to Sonoma Valley/Healdsburg, CA for the week. We left DC on Saturday the 18th and flew into Oakland, CA to begin our adventure. We were to drive up to our house [rented a nice 4 br house on the Russian River] on Sunday and hit a few wineries along the way [why not?]. So we go first to the Dry Creek General Store, very cute, quaint place with great sandwiches, a wide selection of bottled exotic sodas [Verners Gingerbeer] and other tasty tidbits.

Sunday
Our first destination is Preston of Dry Creek which is an organic family vineyard and they only sell their jug wine on Sundays [see the man on the jug] and did our first tasting...yummm. They have very good whites and reds [loved the Madame Preston, the Carignane, and the L. Preston]. Apparently I still don't like the Barbera, I think its too strong for my taste. We then moved on to a small, family owned winery David Coffaro Vineyard & Winery and did a tasting there, that included tasting the futures, or barrel tasting. I highly recommend their wines and they're only available through the web site or at the winery. Great reds. We then moved onto the Dry Creek Vineyard and made it just in time for a tasting. They were closing for the day but we got to sample their wares and purchase a few bottles for future consumption. All in all it was just the beginning of a roaring great 4 days. Dinner, breakfast, wineries, lunch, dinner, sleep, breakfast, wineries, lunch, repeat....you get the idea.

Monday
This was Napa, Calistoga, St. Helena day. We subsequently visited V. Sattui in Napa Valley, Heitz Cellars and Summers Winery and Vineyards where we had a rousing game of "women vs men" Bocce Ball. We also got to see the famous Old Faithful Geyser of California...one of three "old faithfuls" in the world.

Tuesday
We had to be respectable this day since we were visiting more "snooty" upscale places, like J Wineries, Merry Edwards and Alderbrook. See photo below of the group at J Winery. From Left to Right, Cory [me], Dave Shove-Brown, Dave Tracz, Kim Sullivan [married couple], John Murray [my sweetie], Sharon and Todd Friedlander, and Maureenn Shove-Brown.

Wednesday
The group spilt up in the morning, all the women but me going for spa treatments and the boys off to more wineries. This was our last day in the Russian River/Dry Creek area so we made the best of it. We went to Ferrari-Carano Winery not for a tasting but to purchase Black Muscat, then to Bella Vineyards, where the tasting room is in a manmade cave and the Estate wines are to die for. For fun we went to Francis Ford Coppola's new vineyard as yet to be named. Lunch was our next stop and then off to our final vineyard of the visit, Ledson Winery and Vineyards, where we certainly got our money's worth. Maureen challenged our host to find a wine that pleased her pallet and he went to great lengths to do so. We left with happy tastebuds. On to San Francisco, a burger and a beer...enough wine for one week.

Thursday
We thought it might be tough to find a place for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning but were pleasantly surprised to find World Famous Sears Fine Food serving yummy silver dollar pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a broiled grapefruit. Back to the fabulous hotel [oh, yea, great Priceline score of the day, Hyatt Regency San Francisco on the Embarcadero for less than $100 per night...sweet!]. Change for the evening festivities and off to Todd and Sharon's for dinner in Oakland. Suffice it to say that food, wine and fun were had by all [some more than others] and there are videos out there somewhere of dancing...check out YouTube for a posting sometime. Menu consisted of yummy butternut squash soup [I think], stuffing, turkey done on the grill, green beans with bacon and shallots, carrots with beets, and spur of the moment gravy [my first]. I think nearly every dish had bacon of some sort in it [the gravy started with bacon grease] so you all would fully appreciate that.

Friday [our last full day]

After a trip to Haight-Ashbury to go to the Kid Robot store [indulge the kid in me, and John's gotten me hooked] we headed up the coast to Tomales Bay Oyster Company for oysters by the bay [tasty and when grilled, a spectator sport] and then went to Point Reyes to experience the harsh wind of the beach and the corresponding light house.

Here we are at the observation deck at Point Reyes, where the original lighthouse used to be:



All in all, it was a fabulous time, good food, fun things to see, more than enough memories and photos, and new friends.

[sound of crickets] Helloooo....anyone out there??

I'm just as guilty as any other Churches clan in not posting recently but I haven't a lot to say. But when has that stopped me before?? I don't know.

Here's the brief rundown:

• Still seeing John ... we just celebrated our 1 year mark [10.10.05]
• Just ordered new appliances for my mini-kitchen [thank you Dianne]. Will look forward to a new 18.0 cu ft fridge, 30" gas range, spacemaker over the range microwave oven, and [gasp] a garbage disposal. They will arrive early November and in the meantime I need to develop a plan for the rest of the kitchen; lighting, floor, back spash, counters, sink, faucet...
• Its starting to get chilly here. Currently 50 degrees and windy. As John says, its cuddling weather. I can wear my flanel pjs now without sweating to death. I just don't like the change in the light...the ever lengthening darkness. Yuck.
• Still have the animal managerie. Toby is aging well [he'll be 8 in Jan] and Tom is securly in the house for the moment [my cat seems to like to escape to the wilds of DC]
• My neighborhood is improving but not without some friction. It seems as gentrification takes place the displaced get disgruntled and can cause some discord. Cybele like to say that she lives in a helocopter neighborhood. I live in a helocopter, police car, gunfire neighborhood, where most people assume the gunfire they hear didn't actually hit anyone. Can't say its a place you'd want to raise young children or spend a lot of time outside.
• Been doing a hard core job search trying to break free of the government grind. Been considering all sorts of work; consulting, trade associations, foundation grant work, etc. Many corporations who do the sort of corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices aren't based in DC so if I wanted to move to Cleveland, OH, I could work for the Limited Corp and be pretty well off.
  

John and I went to Kentucky a few weeks ago to attend a friend's wedding [see the photo] and then drove to North Carolina [Asheville] to visit friends of his ... and if I'd been thinking, we could have stopped to see Dianne and crew along the way. But I'm a dork so we didn't. We visited the Woodford Reserve distillery where they make small batch bourbon but because of KY bluelaws, we couldn't buy any. Drat!!!

Been bit by the random sports bug

So for those of you not currently addicted to watching World Cup soccer or the Tour de France, I'll fill you in. The action is addictive and nearly impossible to avoid. It doesn't help that friends of mine and I are playing this game to see who can get the most points for picking the daily stage winners of the Tour [there are 20] so it involves analyzing each stage, the remaining riders [some of the best never even started the race due to a Spanish doping scandal]

The World Cup is nearly over with Italy playing France for the 1st and 2nd place titles and Germany and Portugal playing for 3rd place. The last few games have had little or no score in regulation time, often going to double overtime and eventually a shoot out. Its too bad that American's aren't nearly as absorbed by the national past time of so many other nations.

The Tour de France is shown several times a day on OLN TV and if you can manage to catch just a bit of the color commentary by Bob Roll, its well worth it. He has several choice analyses of the racers as well as the spectators. There are several American riders who are favored to take the whole lot, including Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, potentially George Hincapie [although at 36, he's past his prime]. The race is currently in the 'flat' part so its been fun to watch the crazy sprinters break for the finish line as if they were thoroughbreds in a Preakness race or something. In one of the most recent stages, a fan cut a rider with a "green hand" promo piece, causing the race directors to ban the dangerous cardboard from the finish line [seriously, the guy riding was going about 45 mph and his heart was beating at about 190 bpm so its no wonder that a cut just gushed blood].

There have been a few exciting crashes [cause that's why I really watch...to see the blood and gore] and watching the stage with Tivo [John says its a time machine; you can zip through commercials and boring parts with the click of a button] is a luxury.

If you're interested to listen to the action, log onto eurosport.com and listen in. Its not the same as watching but its better than reading the commentary.

So Yes, I'm a 1/2 Ironman or Ironman 70.3 whichever you prefer

As some of you may have read from Dad's email, I completed my "A" race this past weekend and had my whole race support group in attendence. It was a pretty cool thing and I had a great day despite the challenges of the course. To borrow a brief explanation of the context of this achievement from my friend Meghan, a triathlon is essentially just a name for doing three sports consecutively in no particular distance, contrary to a marathon, which is always a 26.2 mile run. Triathlon is a swim, bike, run in that order. The Ironman triathlon (which you may have seen on NBC with those heart wrenching stories about overcoming challenge) is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. I didn't do that. In the Olympics the distances are in kilometers; 1.5 k swim (0.93 miles), 40k bike (26.8 mi), 10k run (6.2 mi). This is the distance I've become more accustomed to doing. I completed a 1/2 Ironman triathlon this weekend called Eagleman on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. There is a tradition in triathlon of writing a race report detailing your experiences and that is what you are reading now.

Set my sights on Eagleman last year in response to a challenge I couldn't accept the previous year from my biking clan. They suffered through the temps and conditions last year while I was race support, cheering at mile 37 [blister from the cowbell] and chalk messages along the bike course. So this year was my turn. I had a plan in place but never really seem to have good execution of a plan. Suffice it to say that I felt poorly prepared for the run portion of the race given that I hadn't run more than 10 miles since April and had been dealing with some foot pain and just wanted to finish comfortably. Mission accomplished but read on to see how.... I had a tremendous support group [family, friends, and not least of all, John] in addition to Club support, which was everywhere. I freaked myself out at 3 a.m. thinking that I hadn't prepared enough, wasn't getting up early enough, bla bla bla...the night before I freaked out about not having my usual breakfast so John went to find me oatmeal and yogurt .... what a great guy!! I got up early and started to load weird stuff into the car and managed to catch Nate and Meghan on their way out....Great quote "Checking out is for losers" so I just didn't worry about that, hung out with them and absorbed great mellowing vibes from them and got hugs before they headed off to transition. I was hoping to be in transition very soon after them. Morning wake up, got prepared, left the hotel intending to be at transition at 6 a.m. with plenty of time to set up. Well, we hit the usual traffic and at Summerset, I hopped out of the car with my stuff and set off to transition, leaving John to go park and meet me. Got into transition, had enough time to rearrange my set up so that I had space to sit down [something I never do...but thought I might] and could gear up and just roll out with the bike in the right direction. Saw Jen in all her disheveled mess...having spoken with her the day before and her 'missing' front wheel story...knew she wasn't having a great day. During packet pickup I heard someone ask Chris Legh about his intended strategy for battling a head wind and he responded that he would gear down and spin through it...sounded like good advice so I tucked that away for future use. Once I'd set up, I went to the tent, stashed some post race gear, laughed at Jen a bit [it was tough not to], saw a bunch of club folks, gave Wayne my cow bell, and headed off to wait my entry into the water. Just prior to entering the water, I went to zip up my wet suit and managed to get my jersey caught in the zipper and thanks to Nate [and I think Jen] I avoided a really frustrating T1...they unjammed my zipper and hooked me up.

The Swim Getting into the water, we [I was with the Athenas and 16-29 yr olds] joked around, noted who were 1st timers, there was a pregnant woman with us [under 5 mo preg, I think] and off we went. As you've all read earlier, going out wasn't too bad and I avoided getting kicked and runover and managed to merely "exist" with my fellow swimmers. The trouble came at the turn at the boat. Swells, stings, sighting problems, all were factors in my misery. Turning back to the shore, it only got worse, more stings, tough time breathing [which I solved with a weird "bounce" stroke I invented] and I eventually gave up trying to see the yellow triangles [which I saw lifted right out of the water by the stiff wind] and sighted instead on the huge red and white radio tower which was exactly where I needed to be. Goal time for the swim was 45 min; actual time: 51:41. Best thing shouted at me as I exited the swim "Lets go ride bikes!" by John. Saw Nate at the swim exit too...he shouted words of encouragement which I can't specifically remember now.

T1 I remember John telling me that at Columbia a woman stripped off her wet suit prior to entering transition so I thought it would be a great idea; I got hosed off [no beard for me] and then stood at the transition entry for what felt like forever stripping off the suit and carried it to my area which was really close to the bike out. Good call overall. Jen came in just behind me and we 'raced' to get out on the bike; she had an advantage of no socks to put on. T1 time: 4:21

Bike My best leg of this sport by far and I've been working at this and have a new carbon Specialized Roubaix to make me go faster. I have also been practicing the "pill" delivery since several people recommended Enduralites and Naproxin on the bike in addition to water, Gatorade, and nutrition. I've never been able to use my bento box with success but Sunday was my exception. I had 2 servings of Cliff Blocks, two GUs, 4 Endurolites and 2 Naproxin, and 4 bottles of hydration while on the bike. I was indeed the really annoying happy smiley, chatty competitor. The kind you want to punch when you're having a crappy bike. But I was having a great time, and executed my race day strategy like a pro...use the wind when you can, leave some for the last 10 miles, spin through the wind, eat every hr, drink every 15 min, try to maintain 18mph average. At times I was going 25mph and others 14mph but I averaged 18.2 mph and felt great. I saw Natasha Badman on her way back in on Davidsonville as I was headed out...pretty cool. I think I passed more people than passed me. Sang "We all live in a yellow submarine" to amuse myself, steered clear of the club of competitors who seemed to be drafting in front of me, managed to avoid any flat tires, accidents, or bottle exchange issues.
Made it through the bike without a "potty" break. Saw Meg Toy and clan, Brent, Tom, and David at all sorts of places. Read with amusement the chalk messages from Tom to HVS. Tried to stay focused as I passed the runners on my way back in...I am still competing and while I had to keep my head down and focus, it was tough not to cheer for a DC Tri Club jersey. Had hoped to break below a 3hr bike but just didn't get there. Bike time: 3:03:51 (18.28 mph ) Came off the bike and saw my Dad, John and the DC Tri Club cheering squad.



T2 Now just the run to complete; Helmet, gloves, shoes off, socks off, socks on, shoes on, hat, shades, GU, race belt and we're off. Stopped to dump the trash from the back pocket of my jersey since I'd eaten all my nutrition and stuffed the wrappers there to keep from littering. Saw John and Dad on my way out on the run, and many more along the chute out. Felt great and just wanted to keep an even pace to finish well. Time: 2:27

Run Since I just wanted to finish, I wasn't pushing myself too hard on the run and sort of relaxed into a comfortable pace. Did the first 2 miles at 10 min mile pace but knew I'd not be able to sustain that so I just chilled, enjoyed the sudden overcast conditions and thanked all the volunteers along the way. On the way out, I saw Brent [again] and one of the most amusing moments of the race was Ian Weinstock running backwards in front of me chatting with me...with two flags sticking out of his visor. I saw Meghan coming back in from her amazing run around my mile 5. She looked great!! Passed Melissa Merson around mile 4 and cheered her on, got passed by lots of people and just before mile 6.5, got a nice boost from a fellow competitor who said I looked comfortable like I could sustain my pace forever; actually, this was one of my most comfortable runs ever...and I hate the run. Heather passed me just after the turnaround and was annoyed because I wasn't in her age group...haven't been for some time, my dear but more power to you...I just needed to stay on track and I could maybe finish this thing in 6:30 rather than my hopeful 6:00. Ate 2 GU, a few cookies, water, Gatorade, and poured water on my face since the salt was stinging my eyes and really making me uncomfortable. Saw Rebecca on her way to the turnaround and gave her a hug...she seemed to be in some pain...wished I had some Advil but I'd left it on the bike. Kept chugging along...like the energizer bunny. Saw Bruce on his way out and urged him along...he keeps going and going and going Yea Bruce!! By the time I hit mile 11, I felt okay but was really tired...not sore, not mentally popped but tired. I needed a nap. If I hadn't walked through the water stop at mile 12, I would have made the 6:30 goal but as it was, I came back along the river, turned left [after some traffic jam that just irked me...there's people trying to RACE here...have some consideration...grrr] I saw Meghan, Nate and Yvonne at the end of the stretch, sprinted with this woman next to me --- she smoked me, and then picked up the pace a bit as I turned the corner into the home stretch. Saw my mom and John and asked where my finishers beer was.....smiling the whole time. Saw Dad shooting photos toward the finish line...heard my name and crossed the finish line!! Whoopie!! Done and I didn't feel like an overused dish rag and I had my wits about me, felt great and would do it again!!

Run time: 2:29:08 11:23/mile Total time: 6:31:28 All in all, it was much more fun than I expected, I'd do it again and this time I'm working on my run. Thanks to all who came out to spectate, support, and generally provide a tremendous atmosphere in which to compete. Meghan and I spent the next day eating, walking funny, and just generally reveling in our Eaglmandom...It was a whirlwind weekend, filled with friends, family, and food, not to mention loads of physical activity. I might actually want to do this race again next year and am considering the Vineman in Sonoma next July...can we say ROAD TRIP?!?!?? I'll try to post some photos...unless Meghan took a pic of the two of us with medals [which I don't remember] we missed the opportunity to get the finishers on film!

(Applause Cue)

I'd like to thank my father, for having had a hand in creating me. Or, not a hand, but... I'd also like to thank Baltimore Gas and Electric, for the hot water in my bath, and Proctor and Gamble for the bubbles. I'd like to thank my sister for the soft cozy yellow pajamas, and Charlie Hall for my waterbed, where I slept very soundly under a down quilt. Thank you to the geese who gave their lives for my comfort.

Thank you to my friend Bridget for the invitation to brunch with champagne Mimosas, and a pool for the crazy, chattering kids. Thank you to the children for not going into thermal shock and requiring a trip to the hospital, which would really have put a crimp in my plans.

Thank you to Vietnam, for supplying the lovely Vietnamese nail techs at the salon. Naturally, I want to thank my mother for having me, and for evolving from a crunchy granola hippie into an acrylic nail-wearing BoomerFox. Thank you to my sister for insisting that a manicure/pedicure should not just be a birthday experience. Thank you to the lovely nail tech Anna, for recommending a local Japanese Hibachi restaurant.

Thank you to Rocky Aoki for popularizing the stylized cooking of Japanese Hibachi. Thank you to the gods for timing our arrival at somewhat after lunch and slightly before dinner. Thank you to my husband for hurrying to join us before the show was over, looking quite nice and smelling better than a trucker ought.

A big, big thank you to my husband for thinking that having kids was a good idea, and likewise to the kids, who are more fun to have around than I have any right to expect.

Most of all, though, thank you to Julia Ward Howe and Ana Jarvis for deciding that mothers deserve a special day, and of course, thank you Hallmark for jumping all over that bandwagon.

And finally, may I just say that I am honored, just honored, to have been chosen by the Academy...

...oh, sorry. Wrong speech.

I gots new stamps in my passport and euros in my pocket

Found two people to watch the dog, and one to feed the cat and we're off to Ireland and Italy for 10 days! John and I got back early this morning from a whirlwind trip to [in order of visit], Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada; Dublin, Ireland; Rome and Florence, Italy. My first trip to Goose Bay and to Italy. His first to all of the above although he's been to Hugary and South Korea with Habitat for Humanity. Gotta love a guy who can build houses internationally.

have to turn back and land at Goose Bay Canada...nearly to Greenland. We spend a glorious 15 hrs in Goose Bay being fed, playing Uker, not showering, and then head on to Ireland after the issue has been repaired and we're cleared so we took off from DC on Saturday afternoon [4/15] and were supposed to land in Dublin at 8:30 a.m. the next day. However, as we're over the Atlantic, there's a brief electrical fire and we to fly again. One day later [we land in Dublin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday], we're back on track. We go to the hotel, have some breakfast, get a cup of tea, cavort with the locals [trying to understand the accented English they're speaking] and then check into the hotel, take a shower and nap [in that order] and head back out to the Jameson factory to take a tour, and more importantly a tasting, of Irish whiskey. Then its off to dinner at the Brazen Head tavern, one of the oldest in Dublin and a requisite Guinness. That's about enough for one day...bed time.
Day two [4/18]
The next day we head out to see St. Patrick's and then the Guinness Storehouse tour...the latter is loads of fun. Suffice it to say that we drank our way through Dublin. We had dinner that night at a great Nepalese place, Monty's of Kathmandu in Temple Bar. Great food.
Day three [4/19]
We head out for Rome today but before we leave Dublin, I'm on a quest for Irish knitwear from the Sweater Shop. Mission accomplished and we get a cab from St. Stephen's Green to the airport and catch our flight to Rome. We flew Ryanair, which makes Southwest Airlines look luxurious. They load the plane from the front AND the back to cram as many people on in the shortest amount of time possible. We land at Ciampino airport in Rome and look for a man holding a sign with either John or my last name [Murray or Churches, for those who don't know]. John's friend Dave has generously arranged to have a car pick us up at the airport so we don't have to hassle with a taxi [neither of us knowing (a) Italian or (b) where we're going]. The driver is holding a sign that says "John Murrae" and its close enough. We hop in the car, hold on to our seats, and enjoy the ride into Rome via the old Appian Way, passing all sorts of old [1,000 years +] stuff along the way. We finally arrive at our destination, or at least the car stops long enough for the driver to get out and unload our luggage, so we assume we're at the end of our wild ride. Along the way, we nearly hit a police car, drove down streets barely wide enough for the car and made so many twists and turns, I think we're being kidnapped. We find Dave and head to his apartment to drop off luggage, freshen up and head to dinner (pizza) at Da Buffeto [means "mustache" in Italian] and beer. Great first night in Rome.

I'll post more photos and continue the "journey" later...a side trip to Florence and a "football" game with AS Roma. Stay tuned.

In Which Poppi Explains A Hip Replacement To A Fairly Bright Eleven-Year-Old

Garrett recieves a fat envelope containing a letter written in pencil on sheets of drawing paper. He is entranced by the drawings, the explainations and the wry humor. I'm either lucky or selective: I have no men without a sense of humor in my life, though I hear that they exist.

We're winding down the spring semester, gearing up for summer madness. The good news is that I just discovered a dog-sitter, and so can travel with impunity, if I can dig my impunity out of whatever closet it's been buried in these many moons.

I just finished my third screen. I’ve been taking a class in screen painting, which is as close as Baltimore gets to a native folk-art form. Tradition dictates a landscape of some sort, usually with a cottage worked in, usually red, and water, in the form of a pond, lake, or stream. Beach scenes are not preferred. Naturally, I had to turn the idea on its head and my first screen, the one for my front door, was a take on Picasso's Femme a la Fleur. Then nothing would do but window screens for my bedroom, and the childrens'. I let the kids select from a book of Matisse. They chose Icarus. Hawk preferred Miro’s Daybreak to his Woman In Front of the Sun. Unfortunately, I realized after becoming attached to these images that the screens in question were horizontal, not vertical. So I adapted the paintings, rather than my plan.

Maybe when Cory gets back from Mozambique and Guam, or wherever she is, she'll take pictures of my house and post them. Because I am still a techno-tard and can’t do it on my own, plus that whole I-don t-have-a-digital-camera-and-there-are-so-many-to-choose-from-that-even-shopping-for-one-is-intimidating thing.

My sister the athlete will be competing, but I look forward to meeting new people and drinking bubbly wine at my cousin's wedding in June. It occurs to me that I have not spent any quality time with my cousin since we've reached the age of majority, and have thus missed out on serious drinking-together time. Which I hope to remedy. I will participate in barhopping, and I will drink! With impunity!

Well, provided I can find my impunity.

Suddenly Spring

When I left DC to go to the Bahamas in early March for a wedding [yea...tan in March..don't you hate me?? and its real...no fake bake crap] it was still cold and winter like. We went to Nassau, enjoyed great 75+ degree weather, came back with a sunburn [see photos] and a bottle of rum. All in all we had a great time. Back to DC and the next weekend its 70 and nearly 80 degrees as if we'd skipped Spring altogether and went to Summer -- not too bad but I like just a bit of Spring before my Summer. Now its more like 55 degrees, the flowers are blooming, the cherry trees are getting ready to burst into bloom and the festival is just around the corner. If you've never been to DC during the peak bloom of the Cherry Trees, then you just haven't seen faerie land...but then again, maybe that's not a place you'd like to visit anyway.

Since I last posted, here's what's been going on in my life ...

• Been elected President of the DC Triathlon Club
• Sold my old bike [getting rid of things I don't use AND generating cash...whoopie!!]
• Am going to Boston to visit a friend this weekend
• Planning a trip to Dublin, Ireland AND Rome, Italy [amazingly its cheaper to do a stay over in Dublin than to fly directly to Rome...go figure]
• Nearly finished with a branding project for the agency of the Department of Commerce where I've been working for almost 9 years...yikes...I'm sprouting roots.

That's all I got...plus I found out that I won't be able to attend my cousin's wedding since its the same day that I'm racing in my first ever 1/2 Ironman event...some may say "hey, its a race; this is family. Which is more important?" To which I say, "Sorry Diane, I hope you can forgive me my choice of putting myself through gruling physical and mental pain over coming to beautiful South Carolina to celebrate your marriage with you and your family" ... I really am sorry.

If I ever get married, I'll forgive you if you can't make it too...it doesn't mean I don't love you.

Opening Night

Friday went well. After a hellacious Hell Week, during which we rehearsed until ten-thirty each night, a warm crowd gathered to greet the opening of The Hobbit at the Chesapeake Arts Center.

I run sound and fog for the show, which is a tech-heavy hour-long bastard of Tolkien's work. Imagine: it was produced with eight dwarves instead of twelve, though the 'unlucky thirteen' is made much of; elves are mentioned only once and never seen. The goblins are comic villans; Gollum was cast because the actor could imitate the voice of the movie actor, and did. She is nearly incomprehensible, but moves well. There is no mention of the mines of Moria, and nobody travels downriver in a barrel.

I have a few problems with the script, obviously.

The lighting design is nice, very moody, and helps create a 'set' using few pieces in many ways. The tech booth is crowded with the lighting tech, (Carla, mom to Garrett's pal Angelica who plays Balin the dwarf, and wife to Mark, who plays Gandalf), Stage Manager Extraordinaire Kelly (mother to Matt, playing Thorin Oakenshield, and wife to Tom in multiple roles...storytelller at the beginning, goblin in the middle, and the voice of Smaug towards the end), Tom, doing vocals on the mike, and then there’s me, fiddling with sound cues, both live and pre-recorded. Dot is outside the tech booth manning (womanning?) the spotlight. One whole side of the stage is lost to me, as I'm squashed behind the sound mixer, with the view further blocked by the spotlight outside. Fortunately, only two or three cues come from that side of the stage. The fog machine is also on that side of the stage.

The fog machine is cranky and it hates me.

Behind the scenes is Dee, working set changes, and assorted parents doing what can only be referred to as cat herding.

By Friday, we’re all exhausted. Some of us are sick. But we have a show, and it looks good. Everything runs according to plan, and our audience goes home happy.

After the cast takes a curtain call to the wildly improbable, highly illogical Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, it is time for treats. TechQueens high-five one another. Dot and I share a toast of wine in small pocket-sized bottles. There is birthday cake, it being Tom's birthday today. Garrett and I go to Friendly's for ice cream with the rest of the cast and our own personal entourage: Hawk, Alaina, Mother, and my friends Ginny and Spence. Ginny is my performance partner, Gigi, whom no one knows until she sends everyone a
link to her website where she posts pictures of Opening Night, but Spencer is something of a celebrity. He is Slash, of Hack and Slash, of Maryland Renaissance Festival fame. Groupies abound in this youngish, hip cast. (Not hipcast, Daddy. Hip cast.) They giggle and Spence blushes.

This week, in addition to our regular schedule of Friday night, Saturday matinee, Saturday night we have a Thursday night performance, for a group that I'm not at all sure will actually fit into the small theatre.

Wish us luck.

Er, on second thought, it's considered unlucky. Wish us broken legs instead.

Arizona!

Don and I went to Arizona in early February. Ostensibly, we went for Don's dad's 70th birthday party, but actually we went for margaritas and sloppy Mexican food. Oh, and in a happy coincidence, my daddy moved there recently too. I wasn't bright enough to take pictures of his house or anything, but I did get a few pics of the old man and Mary Ann.

Me, Dad and Mary Ann at the lake.
Uhm, it was windy - that's why my hair is a disaster area. No, really.













Me, Dad and Monkey in Oatman. Oatman is an old gold mining town, famous because it is on Route 66 and because there are random burros wandering the streets. Apparently them ol' miner-types just turned the critters loose after thar weren't no more gold in them thar hills and their offspring went feral.







Got me a burro buddy!













We had more Arizona adventures, but I'm gonna add them to our Monkey Blog. Later.

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.

Inaugural Post

Hey all!!

This is the first post to the 'virgin' site created to help us keep intouch with one another...'cause with e-mail and cell phones its virtually impossible to reach one another....

I'll be the first to post a recent photo...




Readers Digest Version of Cory's life:

Stats: Living single in DC town house
Job: Government grunt
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: not tellin'
Hobbies: triathlons [swim, bike, run all one after the other in various conditions and distances]
Marital status: still single but working on that...dating dude with potetential for 3 mos [yea, don't send out those invitations just yet]
Pets: Dog [Toby], Cat [Tom], Fish [Darth Beta]
Car: '92 Honda Accord Wagon, 5-speed

Otherwise, I'm still among the tax payers, and representing your tax dollars hard at work....are you?