House updates-I know, a long time coming . . .

I realize it has been FOREVER since I last posted, but I've been busy. So sue me!

Anyway, back in September my folks asked if they could come for a visit in December. I found this very exciting as we rarely get to see each other during the holiday season (them being in Texas and all). Adam found this to be ever so slightly frightening as our guest room was only half way finished. We realized we needed to kick it in high gear if we were going to have a place for them to sleep in December.

This is how our guest room started out when we moved into our house:
The closet you see is not even deep enough to put a hanger in. What you don't see is the hideous green carpet that we had to remove as an FHA condition to approve the loan. (Why the government was concerned about the carpet I just don't know, maybe they've been watching a little too much TLC). Also what you can't see (and I don't have pictures to prove this) is the dozen or so layers of wallpaper underneath that blue stuff. It seriously took forever to get up.

Back in April I wrote a blog post while I was demo-ing the closet and ceiling. Here's a shot sans closet and sans ceiling.

The two outer walls and the ceiling did not have any insulation, so this room was mighty cold in the winter time. Although I did find a good deal of shredded newspapers from the early 80s that some animal used to make a nest. That was fun!

Then in July as we were planning our birthdays I asked Adam what he would like to do for his birthday. His response was to drywall the guest room. Really? On your birthday? He insisted, so far be it from me to go against someone's birthday wishes. Off we went to the Depot. Here's a shot of the room ready for drywall.

We got all our drywall and got it loaded in and ready to work. (PS--Drywall is HEAVY!) We started with the ceiling first, like you do. We got the first sheet almost in place (it is hard trying to hold drywall over your head while standing on a ladder. Adam just needed to adjust it a little by hammering it into a tight corner (there are very few 90 degree angles in our house). And BAM!! he smashes his finger and it explodes like a cherry tomato. There's blood everywhere and a lot of cursing and me, still trying to hold a sheet of drywall over my head while standing on a ladder. . .

Needless to say, Adam has had better birthdays. But he persevered (and then drank many cold beers) and we got the drywall up. Here is the room primed and ready for paint.


The room now has its first coat of paint. It has been temporarily turned into our closet/dressing room. We have moved into Adam's studio while we redo the sun room and our bedroom. More big things to come (with pictures too). But that's for another post . . .

The Melmark Players Premiere at the Arden

I have recently had the extreme pleasure of working with the Melmark Players on their debut performance of My Fair Lady at the Arden Theatre. It was, by far, one of the best experiences I have had in my theatrical career. In case you don't know, Melmark is a non-profit organization committed to serving the residential, educational, therapeutic, and recreational needs of children and adults with developmental disabilities. And, in case you weren't aware, The Arden has a fierce commitment to making the arts accessible to everyone.

A little history and background about the Players: they are all a part of the Meadows program at Melmark, which is a work centered program for adults. Those in the Meadows program are offered music classes, sports opportunities and they run their own business-the Meadows Shop-where they sell their handmade goods. About 15 years (or so) ago a group of the members went to their gym coach with a proposal. They had decided they were too old for gym class (being adults and all) and instead they would like to perform in plays (musicals specifically). Kris Benach, their coach, had absolutely

NO theatrical training whatsoever (and she possesses a horrible case of stage fright), but jumped in wholeheartedly and started making theatre with this group-The Players. The Players perform twice a year in the gym at Melmark. Their performance of My Fair Lady marked the first time they had EVER performed for anyone other than friends and family on their own campus.

This amazing group of individuals worked 5 days a week with a team of directors for nearly 6 months to put together this one hour musical montage performance. They came to see James and the Giant Peach at the Arden so they would understand what kind of space they would be performing in. Then they went back and set up cones and chairs in their gym as a makeshift audience so they could practice playing to an audience on three sides. They took classes from Maureen and Sally to enhance their acting skills and then they went back and started each rehearsal with the warm-ups they learned. They even came to the Arden for a technical rehearsal with my staff.

I got to work and hang with them each time they came to the Arden and I got to know some really amazing individuals. There is Beth who, in her late 60s, is the oldest member of the group. She doesn't move very well anymore, but no one wants to perform without her, so she plays a bartender and tends bar from her chair onstage. There is Meg, who played Eliza, who absolutely adores music (her mother was an opera singer) and sings every song with a huge voice and an even larger heart (she also happens to have a wicked sense of humor and can always make me laugh). There is Dan, who loves to dance and grins from ear to ear during his tap solos and waltz scene. There is Bill, whose improvisational skills would rival many professionals out there; he brings something new and clever to the stage every time he performs. There is Lisa, an old reliable for the directors, she absorbs every note and remembers every bit of blocking without fail, and she's a quick thinker and problem solver in a jam (which happens in live theatre a lot). Ronnie likes to help so much that he is the honorary stage manager for every show, in addition to being in each one. And there is Doug, who is such a crowd pleaser, he often strays into the audience during a show to work the crowd and give a high five (he also does a mean Neil Diamond impersonation). I could go on and on about how uniquely fantastic each and every player is.

It has been absolutely breath taking and heart warming to work with these guys to make their production of My Fair Lady a smashing success. It is so very easy to get bogged down in the day to day routine of life. And at the end of each season (when I am burnt toast-ready for the small respite that summertime brings) it is sometimes hard to remember why I do this. It requires long, weird hours, sacrificed holidays and family time, and loads of stress. It is easy to forget the power that live theatre has to touch the hearts and minds of all those who come into contact with it. Melmark was a very nice reminder for me. Watching the Players onstage having the time of their lives, seeing their friends and families in the audience glowing with pride at watching what the Players have achieved, and seeing those first timers who thought they were coming to see just some ordinary, boring play and walking away speechless, in awe of the remarkable performance they had just seen immediately renewed my spirit. The Arden’s mission is to tell great stories and I am beyond proud to have helped Melmark tell their wonderful story on our stage.

The Players will take the summer off now, some have told me they are saving their pennies in the hopes of going to Disney World, and some others will be headed off to camp. They are already talking about what their winter production will be (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown). They want to incorporate video like they saw here in James and the Giant Peach. They are jockeying for positions and lead roles (everyone always wants to be the lead). And they are hoping that they will, again, get to grace the stage at the Arden sometime in the near future. If all else fails, they tell me, they’ll just make a movie. Look out Hollywood!

I really did it!

So, I'm running now. I don't think anyone would call me a runner. In fact, I can't really even say that I like to run, you could even say I hated it. But, now, I'm running.

It all started when Adam decided we needed a treadmill. We bought one off of Craig's List. The plan was for us to get in shape for the wedding. I kicked and screamed (well really I just did a WHOLE lot of whining) to get out of it. Remember, I hated running. But Adam pushed and we made an effort and I think we looked pretty good at our wedding. Great. That was done, I could stop running-whew.

I didn't run all summer long, but I sure did eat. If I hate running, well I feel the opposite about food. I LOVE to eat. Long story short, I undid all my running.

So this winter I hopped back on the treadmill. I find running on treadmills to be pretty boring. I mean you're just running in one place and the only thing you have to look at is the clock. So I started downloading movies and tv shows on my ipod. I found if I had something to distract me I didn't mind running so much. I got pretty good at it, or at least I thought so.

And then came Luna. She had way more energy than any dog I had ever met before. And she developed a new game, trying to nip at my knees and ankles while I was running on the treadmill. New plan, I'll switch to running outside and I'll take Luna with me. I keep running and it gets some of Luna's energy out. One day while running we saw a banner for the Lansdowne Memorial 5K. I thought that would be a good goal. I decided to run a 5K. Really? I hate to run, why would I choose to run 3.1 miles? I still have no idea.

We did pretty good, but Luna is, well, a little unfocused. So, once I had a race to train for I ditched the dog (not really, a long walk with her became my cool down) and learned the course. I ran it as often as I had a chance too, working on getting better at it every time.

Fast forward to race day. I got up at 7am, yup 7am on a day off. Ate a little muffin and did some stretching. At about 7:45am I headed out. It's just a 2 block walk to downtown where the race starts. I went to the registration table and gave them my name. I got my number (360) and my t-shirt. I kinda forgot I was getting a t-shirt so I wore one on top of my running shirt. So, in the absence of something else to do I added another layer. Yup I ran 3 miles in very warm weather in 3 shirts. Not too bright. The race didn't start until 8:30 so I had some time to kill. It became very apparent at that point that I wasn't a runner. The runners there were talking to each other about gear, and their last race. What their mile time was, and they were taking warm up runs to check out the track. I was just trying to sit and be still so as not to expend any energy. I'd need it all for the race.

After a while some dude on a megaphone started talking and everyone started moving in his direction. I had NO idea what he was saying, but I moved with the crowd mostly because I had to or get trampled. We were all standing around asking each other what the dude was saying and then all of a sudden an air horn went off. Was that a go? Wait, were we running in heats? Was I starting in the right place? Again, I moved with the crowd to avoid being run over. So we were running.

The "runners" quickly moved to the front (if they weren't there already) and the rest of us fell into groups. No one stopped traffic, they simply posted volunteers at intersections to try to persuade people not to drive through the course. It worked mostly, just one jerk driving against the stream smoking a cigarette.

I was pretty quickly passed by a whole bunch of kids (one of them was running in a pair of jeans and another brought her purse with her-weird). Oh well, at least I wasn't getting passed by the old folk. And . . .then . . .I got passed by a dude speed walking. Yup, some guy was walking faster than I was running.

Fast forward again to between mile 1 and 2. I passed all those silly kids and the speed walker. Ha! Take that! A little ahead of me folks were detouring into someone's yard to run through a sprinkler. The folks that live on the street saw and turned their's out into the street. It made for a nice little cool down.

It turns out that I ran better, harder and faster than I ever had before. I think it had to do with the fact that at nearly every intersection there were people clapping. Some kids came out and banged on buckets and pots and cheered. One little girl made us a sign. At mile one there was a pirate handing out water, and a little after mile 2 there was a group of boys passing out water as well. It helps when everyone is cheering for you.

I finished. My time was 36 minutes and 38 seconds. Which translates to slightly less than 12 minutes a mile. I was 162nd out of 195. Not bad for my first race I think.

I stayed around for a bit after the race. I drank some water and ate an orange and cheered on those who came in behind me.

After a bit I went back home and got Molly and came back into town. We sat on the front lawn of the Baptist church and watched the parade. It was a whopping 10 minutes long!

I came home fixed some breakfast, watched Big Trouble in Little China and took a nap.

Good Day.

I'm still not a runner, but I do think I will run another race. There is a 5K coming up next month. At the end of the race margaritas are served. Now that's a race I can get into!

House updates-Part One-Inside

Ok, it has been a while since I posted updates on our house progress. That is mostly because there hasn't been much progress (or at least none that was update worthy). Anyway, here are our accumulated updates between January and now.

January--
We had six new replacement windows installed in our sun room. That's the room off of our bedroom. We still have to rip out the walls and ceiling as the room has no insulation. We can then stud out the walls and insulate and drywall. That will hopefully be a May or June project.

Mom and Dad Dunn were here when those windows were replaced, they can attest to how chilly our house is in the winter time. We are working on replacing all the windows (some of the windows are 70+ years old). We are doing it in smaller chunks so that we can pay it off more easily. These are almost paid off, and next up will be the living and dining rooms.

February--
I don't actually think we did anything during the month of February.

March--
We hung our fist picture on the wall. In the kitchen. "Stacked Quilts"-a piece of artwork given to us by Adam's mom.

We purchased an entry way table for the back door. It is a nice catch all clutter table.

We also installed some really nice (Tiffany Style) reading lamps for the bedroom.

April--
We purchased a new refrigerator since ours pretty much died. It has ice and water in the door. Adam is not sure how he ever managed to get by without it.

We found and then treated two large termite colonies in our yard.

Adam began drafting the design of our fence. We are hoping to apply for our zoning and building permits soon. The goal will be to have our fence built by the beginning of June.

I ripped out the ceiling in the guest room. We already had ripped up the carpet, pull off all the wallpaper and demolished the ridiculously small closet. Our entire 2nd floor has little to no insulation. It is hard to keep warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. So now that it is all ripped out Adam just has to stud out the walls, insulate and re-drywall. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before we have an honest to God guest room. It will be exciting.

On a side note, i did find some insulation in the ceiling (a small bit) that some critter had nested in (my guess based on the shredded newspapers amongst the fiberglass) at some point in the mid 60s. Here are some pics of my work.

Expanding the Riggar Pack

A couple of weeks ago I got an email at work from Adam. It was a post from the Philly Animal Welfare Society (one of the city's no kill shelters). It was a picture of a very cute little pitbull in foster care. Her name was Luna and Adam suggested we meet her. We had always planned to adopt a second dog once we got a house with a yard. There was no way we'd have been able to fit two dogs in our little South Philly row house. Ever since we moved into our new house I've been combing the PAWS posts looking for the perfect sibling for Molly. She loves being with other dogs so much that we knew she would be much happier with a little brother or sister.

We contacted Shannon, Luna's foster mom and set up a meeting for Saturday, April 11th. We got up that morning to find it pouring rain. Not to be deterred, we put the seats down in the santa fe (so we wouldn't have wet dog on the back seat) and made sure we packed extra towels to dry the dog off. We also knew that we'd be dropping Adam off at work immediately following the meeting so we packed up all his work stuff in the car too. We had everything, well almost. Neither Adam nor I thought to wear a rain coat or bring an umbrella. So we stood in the rain, getting soaked and chatting with Shannon and Stacy (another foster mom brought in to test us) while Luna and Molly played in the mud. The meeting was a success and we passed all the tests of the foster moms.

Side note--Turns out Shannon owns Lochi who is another pitbull that looks very similar to Molly and is actually one of Molly's playmates from our old dog park in South Philly. Small world.

We set up an overnight visit for the next Saturday and then quickly went to Target to buy Adam some dry clothes so he could go to work.

On Saturday, April 18th, we picked Luna up and brought her home. And she hasn't left. On the very next Wednesday (the same day Molly came home from surgery) we officially adopted Luna.

She is absolutely adorable. She is just over 1 year, so she is still very much a puppy. She LOVES Molly and is continually giving her kisses. She also enjoys emptying the contents of the toy basket every day. She does the cute little head tilt whenever anything in confusing to her. She squeals when she yawns, she eats in her sleep, and she is obsessed with trying to pick up sticks that are ridiculously large and trying to drag them home on our walks. And she has turned Molly into a giddy little girl. The two have a blast together, and when she does something dumb and puppylike, Molly is right there to keep her in line.

I am sure there will be many more posts following the hijinks on Molly and Luna. But I will use this moment to introduce you to Luna "Lander" Riggar, or Luna "Balloona" Riggar. She goes by both.

So many updates so little time . . .

Big things happening at the Riggar house. I suspect I will have to do this in several posts but here goes:

Molly--
I think a while back ago I posted about Molly's love for running and how it sometimes overcomes her ability to make rational decisions. Thus the torn ACL. Well this past Tuesday Molly went away for surgery. I got up early and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride in the car. The answer, as always: "Boy do I!!" When I dropped her off I had to take all of her personal effects with me (so they wouldn't get lost). Molly does NOT like to be without her jewelry. As soon as the collar and chain came off, the tail went in between the legs. Suddenly this wasn't a fun car trip anymore. She kept a very brave face as I walked her to the back, but I could tell she thought we were leaving her. So sad.

Now, Molly has never been away from home unless Adam was also away from home. I very quickly found out that he does not do well without his princess. He misses her very much when she is not around. We cooked up some steak, and he packed up a few pieces just for his special girl when she came home. This is one of the many things that I love about him.

Molly was only away overnight, she was back at home Wednesday afternoon a little groggy, but still home. She has a pretty gnarly incision full of staples (it makes me think of my Aunt Margaret who had the same surgery when she played college basketball).

Over this past weekend she has gone from being bedridden to running and playing. She is already putting weight on her bum leg. She can walk (allbeit with a pretty pronounced limp) with all four legs, but if she wants to run she switches to three. It is kind of funny. She has even gotten back to playing with her little sister Luna (my next update). We're very happy with her progress and proud that she isn't letting a little knee surgery get her down. She goes back to the hospital tomorrow evening for a check up and hopefully she will be given clearance to start walking and playing more and more.

We'll keep you updated on her recovery. But in the meantime I leave you with a photo of her bum leg full of stitches.PS-Adam thinks we should shave her other leg to match this one and then she'll have a butt mohawk.

This could only happen to me . . .

I have been debating whether or not to post this for a few days now, for fear of being mocked, but Adam said I should (probably out of his own amusement). So here goes . . .

This past Wednesday was Molly's 5th birthday. So, of course, we needed to celebrate. Adam and I took her shopping to pick out her own birthday toy, and then we stopped by the grocery store to make a yummy steak dinner (Molly did not get her own steak, but she did get a couple of bites of our steaks) in celebration. We all loaded up in the car and headed out to the Petco and Acme. On our way there I said to Adam that I thought I might like a glass of wine with dinner and could we stop by the packie (side bar: liquor stores in CT are called package stores, packie is short for package store)? Adam obliged.

Now, if you know me, you know that pretty much anytime I leave the house with Adam I bring nothing with me. He always has keys and a wallet and he always drives so I don't need anything. As we pulled into the parking lot at the packie, I realized I did not have my wallet. Adam gave me some cash and said it would be fine. Of course, I thought, surely now that I am in my 30s I can buy a bottle of wine without ID.

HA!

When I got to the register, the guy behind looked at me and said, "ID?" I calmly explained that I had left it at home, but I assured him I was over 21. 31 to be exact, born in '77. He looked at me very skeptically, then another employee walked by. "Waddya think Lou, she says she's 31?" Lou disagreed, unless I had ID no sale. Sigh.

The guy at the register asked if I drove to the store. I replied that my husband was in the car waiting for me. He said, "Well, if your husband is with you, bring him in."

I dejectedly went back out to the car. Adam rolled down the window to find out what went wrong.

"They don't believe that I am 31, and they won't sell me a bottle of wine without my husband present."

I seriously thought he might fall out of the car laughing.

Eventually I coaxed him out of his hysterics and, giggling the whole time, he accompanied me to the register to purchase my bottle of wine. And, of course, the guy behind the counter did NOT check Adam's ID. I was so thoroughly embarrassed.

Red faced I returned home, where I had TWO glasses of wine.