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.

Yard work

This weekend was our last free weekend until mid/late April. As per usual we both go into tech at the same time. It is hard enough to flip flop techs, but time stops at home when we are both in tech. So if we have a free weekend before the madness we do our best to make it count. I knew I needed to get caught up on laundry, and try to do some meal planning (when we are in tech we eat 2-3 meals outside of our home each day, I try to keep us in leftovers to save money and hopefully keep us eating a little healthy). It is also our last chance for a bit to get some work done on the house.

We finally had a weekend of decent weather and decided our house project for this weekend would be yard work! I was excited, as I love puttering about the yard. Now, our house had about 10 years of neglect that we have been working on reversing, I think our yard had at least that much, if not more. Adam decided we should start at the corner of our house (the corner of Lansdowne and Violet). We had a large section of shrubery that was pretty much dead AND it blocked the view for our neighbors leaving our street.

As we worked away many of our neighbors stopped by to introduce themselves. We got to visit some with Nancy (she lives behind us) and we got to meet her dog Jasmine. Tom (who lives in the old Pennock Mansion at the end of the street-side note: The Pennock family lived in our house while they were building the house Tom lives in) stopped by to say hello and let us know that he was hoping to throw a party for us to get to know everyone on the street once it gets warmer. Leo said hello to Adam as he passed by our house. Alice (from one street over) stopped by with her dog Naomi to tell us of a great place nearby to take Molly. Al, our postman, also chatted with us for a bit. Papa Joe (or just Pops) came by to check on us too, he is the caretaker for the Apartments next to us (which he very oddly refers to as the hotel). All in all it was a great day. And we got 20+ bags of debris cleared. We hope the trash men won't be too upset at us.

I also thought I would share with you a list of the things we found hiding in our yard:
--I stopped counting at 6 water bottles
--1 orange juice bottle
--an empty 40 oz of beer
--an empty pint bottle
--a pill bottle
--an L shaped pipe joint
--a small pink t-shirt
--some hair extensions
And last but certainly not least:
A Sony cassette tape player--it was a really nice one in its day. It was actually buried in the middle of the dead shrub.

I can't wait to find out what is in the rest of the yard.

She's Crafty

So, Molly has a partially torn ACL on her back left leg. I seriously thought only basketball and soccer players got those. When I stop to think about it, I don't guess I really ever even considered the possibility of a dog having knees. I mean I know she bends her legs to walk, but maybe I just thought it was magic or something.

Anyway, it is no secret that Molly LOVES to run. When I go running outside I take her with me, and she has a blast. When Adam and I take her to the dog park she does nothing but run and chase all the ball dogs (they chase the balls and she chases them-she cares not for balls). Bill (Adam's Dad) takes her to a big off leash park and she and Riley run like crazy. And the whole time she is running she has the BIGGEST, GOOFIEST grin on her face (see photo for goofy grin). She loves it!

She was out running in the park one day, and well, she's a dog, not a rocket scientist (it's the Lab in her). I'm sure she was running and not paying attention and tripped over something or stepped in a hole, or any number of dumb things, thus creating a little tear.

We now have two options:
1) glucosamine treatments (yup just like you see on those arthritis commercials) and strict rest forever. This means no running-yuck!
2) glucosamine treatments and surgery (yuck for mom and dad's wallet)

Either way she will most likely be on glucosamine treatments for the rest of her life. Apparently this is rather common for athletic dogs.

Molly does not like to take pills (and because she is allergic to many things we're not supposed to hide the pill in a treat). We usually need to pry her mouth open, hold down her tongue and throw the pill down her throat, then hold her mouth closed while she swallows. No wonder she doesn't like to take pills, would you? Despite her dislike she mostly takes it like a champ, although there is a lot of sulking involved. (see photo for sulking-this usually is accompanied by a lot of heavy sighing)

Last night I went to give her the evening dose, and she was unhappy but had clearly swallowed. I usually take my hands away from her face keeping them nearby as a test. If she hasn't yet swallowed her pill she will take this opportunity to spit it back out. She was done-good job, now she gets a treat. She sat pretty for me as I loaded her kong. I gave it to her and turned my back as she ran off to enjoy her treat. A couple minutes later Adam pointed to the unswallowed pill on the floor. THAT SNEAKY LITTLE DOG hid the pill in her mouth and FAKE swallowed to trick me! I couldn't believe it. I have to admit I was as impressed at her craftiness as I was upset that she outsmarted me (that's the Pit in her).

I don't know maybe she is a rocket scientist after all. I clearly have underestimated her craftiness.

First Annual Howard Haines Appreciation Day

Adam and I bought our house as part of an estate sale. We got a great deal on a fixer upper that is beautiful and has a character that charmed us the second we walked through the door. We have done a good deal of work and still have a great deal to do, but every day we look at each other confident in the knowledge that THIS is where we belong-our home.

About a month ago we were going through some of our paperwork and we learned that Howard Haines departed this life on February 26, 2008. We purchased this house from his estate. We knew that we should make sure to take a moment each February 26 to honor the life of Howard Haines.

Howard was a professor of music at Drexel University. The executor of his estate, Adelle Rubin, taught in the Theatre Department there. She stopped by the house in December while we were working away at fixing old wiring and painting walls, etc. I had a chance to chat with her for a good while about Howard. Howard was very passionate about three things, music, teaching, and his friends. Adelle told me of many evenings enjoying the company of Howard and friends at dinner parties he used to hold here (some friends of his from down the street stopped by one day to tell me the same thing). She also let me know that this house was always filled with wonderful music and there were bookshelves everywhere stuffed with cds and books about music. He loved this house and for years he decorated it elaborately at Christmas and entered the parade of homes. Howard was a man who truly enjoyed life and all that it had to offer. Adelle brought me a photo of Howard in his tux with his baton and he looked extremely proud. You can tell by looking at him that he was at home in front of an orchestra.

I would have loved to meet Howard, I think we would have enjoyed his company as much as his friends. And I think he would have liked us. Adelle told me he would be proud to know that this house, our home, passed from one artist to another.

So, Howard, tonight Adam and I will raise a glass to you in celebration of the wonderfully full life that you led. We promise to fill the house with music and host friends and family as often as possible to continue to honor your spirit.

It is hard to get good mole in PA!

On Friday night Adam and I decided to give Mission Burrito a try. It is the little Mexican joint around the corner from us. If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE Mexican food. Really, really LOVE Mexican food. In fact, I will eat chips and salsa (not the jar kind, but homemade) until I make myself sick, really, I can't stop myself. It's like heroin.

Anyway, they boasted a salsa bar (please see above comments about chips and salsa) and if you bring your own tequila they will make you margaritas. "How can we go wrong?" I thought. So, armed with our trusty bottle of Jose Cuervo Especial, we headed out.

We could not have been more wrong. Their salsa bar was lovely, and lucky for them they give you a teeny tiny basket for chips and then tell you there is only one free refill. Otherwise I would have eaten every chip in the building. Adam got a steak quesadilla, and the steak was so tough he could hardly eat it. I got the enchiladas mole (I do love me some mole). If you don't know anything about mole it is basically a rich gravy made with hints of peanut butter and chocolate, and a good mole is to die for. This was NOT a good mole. It was actually more like a sauce made from powdered hot chocolate mix, and on chicken enchiladas it wasn't so tasty.

But the worst part, by far, were the margaritas. When I handed over our bottle of tequila for them to make us a tasty drink, they informed me that they bring us the mix and we pour in our own tequila. Ok, that's weird, but whatevs. Then they bring us a plastic pitcher and two teeny tiny glasses (I guess they match the chip baskets). When we get a look at the pitcher there is about 2 inches of some sort of small particles lining the bottom of the pitcher. I thought, well it's just the mix, I'll stir it around and it will be fine. Ha! Turns out, best we can figure, that their idea of margaritas is Country Time Limeade with a whole lotta sugar. These were, by far the worst margaritas we have ever had. I think we barely made a dent in the pitcher they we so hard to get down.

All in all, it was a wonderful date night with my husband. Sometimes the bad food dates we have are better than some of the good food dates that we have. Mostly because we talk less when we are eating good food, but when there is bad food involved we seem to cherish our conversations and making fun of the food always leads to lots of laughter.

Trip to DC (part two)

First off, sorry this has taken so very long to post. What was a relatively peaceful existence of late spiraled out of control into ridiculous amounts homework, and things exploding at the theatre (not literally, but you get the idea).

It will be nice to fondly remember our trip.

I will first start by going back to zoo day when Serena was desperately trying to take photos of the pandas and really only shooting the ground next to the panda. Enter Louie, such a great dad just trying to help get the best picture. He very calmly pleads with Serena to let him hold the camera so he can make sure it is on all the right settings. This went on for, oh, 3 minutes or so. Serena would NOT let that camera out of her hands. And every time Louie asked he was met with "No! You're just gonna mess it up! I've got it! I know what I am doing!" Literally. He finally gave up. I had a hard time not laughing.

I mention this because just last week Max (the son of my Technical Director and Costume Shop Manager) came to work (he had pink eye-but just a little bit as he explained to me). Max is one week younger than Serena, and just as intelligent (they are both super sharp kids). He was on his way to lunch with Dad and Barney. Glenn (Dad) calmly asked him to leave Barney at the theatre so nothing would happen to him. He was basically met with the same response from Max that Serena had given to her father. Although instead of "You're just gonna mess it up!" he got "Mom said I could bring Barney. And she is right, and you are WRONG!" Again, I had a hard time not laughing. Anyway, just a little story to let Louie know that he is not alone out there.

Back to DC: We got up early on Sunday morning (well, early for Adam and me). And again enjoyed some yummy coffee while being entertained by Serena. Deb cooked breakfast on Saturday, so Louie made some of his world famous omelets on Sunday. Yum. We ate until we were stuffed, Serena shared some of my omelet.

This time our after breakfast program was Disney story about how Tinkerbell came to be. It really wasn't that bad (although Adam's and my favorite part is when the squirrell gets beaned in the head and cries, and not when Tinkerbell saves Spring). And the fairy that ushers in the music of spring reminds us of one of our favorite costume designers.

After our movie we got ourselves dressed and headed outside so Serena could teach me how to ride a bike. At 3 and a half, she knows pretty much everything. It's good to have her around in case you come accross something unknown.

Safety is very important, and you canNOT ride a bike without a helmet (Serena told me this, so it HAS to be true). I, of course, did not bring my bike helmet with me, and Serena was unwilling to lend hers to me (because she needed it--safety first). She did suggest that perhaps I borrow one of her hats. So, my head safely ensconced in a Pooh hat, I took my first bike riding lesson from a 3 year old (oops 3 and a half).










After a fantastically informative demonstration from Serena it was my turn.




I was a little big for the bike, but I don't think it is noticeable. Do you?

I will also say now, that Adam was too chicken to take a bike riding lesson from Serena. You big Weenie!

We sure did work up an appetite riding that bike, so we hopped in the car and headed over to Panera.

Sadly after lunch we had to head back to Philly. But we had a great weekend, and now it is their turn to visit us!

Trip to DC (part one)

This past weekend Adam and I took our first trip to DC, well Silver Springs, MD actually. Our good friends Deb, Louie, Serena, and Black Kitty moved there about a year ago. I'm ashamed to say it took us that long to visit. But it did. We hadn't seen them since our wedding and we had missed all of their birthdays and Christmas. So we loaded the Santa Fe with gifts and headed down.

We didn't make it there before Serena went to bed, so it was a nice surprise for her to wake up and find company. We spent our morning drinking coffee and watching Serena dance to her Disney CD player. After Breakfast and Dora the Explorer we had our birthdays and Christmas. The adult portion was pretty typical (although still very fun), so we only took pictures of Serena opening her presents. For her Birthday Serena got a 25 Cloth Shirt. We didn't get a pic of that just yet.

I'm gonna stop for a moment and make a shameless plug. 25 Cloth is a company started by my cousin Brad Webb. Every time you buy a t-shirt you not only get a pretty sweet piece of fashion, but you also change a life. The t-shirt Serena got also gave a family in India a chicken which gave them a source of food and income in eggs. Check them out www.25cloth.com.

For Christmas we got Serena a V-Tech digital camera for kids. It is a pretty awesome piece of technology.
This is Serena helping Dad open the camera. He wasn't getting it out of the package fast enough, so he clearly needed help. As you can see, Serena is VERY helpful.

I also had a lot of fun playing the take a picture of Serena taking a picture of me game. Serena thought that was pretty fun too.

Once we sort of collected ourselves we decided to head for the zoo. The National Zoo in Washington is super cool. I went there when I was in 8th grade, and Adam had never been. Serena, however, is a pro at the zoo, she knows exactly where she wants to go and in what order. And that order does not at all follow any logical walking path. On Saturday it was Pandas, Elephants, Monkeys and Frogs. Although we didn't make it to the Frogs as they were in mud for the winter.

Armed with her new camera (she didn't actually go anywhere without it-seriously. I had to confiscate it in the bathroom so she wouldn't take photos of me on a toilet) Serena shot away at everything. The panda eating, the monkey in the corner, the elephant drinking, some white shirts on the ground, the railing around the goat pen, everything. I don't have any photos that were actually taken by her (Louie said there were 5 good ones in the first batch of 200-she's learning still). Adam manned the camera on our end and we got some good shots.

These are a few of my favorites. Serena and I watching the elephants, Miss Thing large and in charge with her new camera. (She wanted to walk everywhere even though we had a stroller). And Serena and I in front of the pandas. PS--Mom, check out my kicky new haircut.


After the zoo we came back home and had some yummy dinner and Deb made us a chocolate souffle treat, and of course, Serena helped. Then Serena and I declared a Pajama Party, so we got in our pjs and played until it was time for stories.

All in all a really great day I would say.

I'll post more on our Sunday later.

OMG!

On Monday I went to see The Dark Knight on the IMAX screen at the Franklin Institute with 3 friends from work. And it was FREAKIN AWESOME!!! Because it was a Monday right after work there was almost no one there, in fact, the Institute was closed except for the IMAX. I think there might have been a dozen in a theatre that seats way more than 100.

The IMAX screen is 4 stories tall, now I don't know how tall a regular movie screen is, but I know it isn't 4 stories that's for sure.

We sat down and I immediately psyched myself out. I convinced myself before the lights even went down that I was gonna get motion sick and hurl everywhere. And then they have this announcement that mentions that some people get motion sick and pointed to the exits, which freaked me out even more. But, I persevered.

There were 6 sequences filmed using the IMAX format, including the first 6 minutes of the movie. As soon as it started I felt my tummy tickle a little. Turns out it was just excitement. At first you notice the switch from IMAX format to regular format, but pretty soon you're so sucked in that the transition is no longer obvious. Watching that movie all huge and being able to feel the action sequences was amazing.

I had not seen the movie, but heard all the hype. It was definitely as good as everyone said it was. And I am really glad that I got to see it on a super large screen.

I am also glad that I did not puke.

Anyway I highly recommend going to see this movie on the IMAX. Kolby, I know you have probably seen it a million times (and own it), but if you have a chance to see it on IMAX--DO IT!

Moose Farts

So, there is this kid's book called Walter the Farting Dog. Actually there are several books. They follow the well meaning Walter around on all his misadventures. They are pretty cute. But I have to say that Walter has NOTHING on Molly. She is by far the grossest, stinkiest, most flatulent dog I have ever met.

She also happens to be the greatest dog in the world. She is smart (Adam is currently teaching her left and right) and sweet and patient and everything you could ever ask for in a dog. Except when she farts. She can make the paint peel it smells so awful. And you can't get away from it, it's like it sticks to you. Eww.

Yesterday I was working in the kitchen on some school stuff (getting ready for my midterm mostly) and she laid next to me the whole time and pooted away. If I moved, she followed me (being loyal and all). Sometimes (mostly as she is napping) they surprise her, and she jumps up and looks at her butt all confused like "hey, what just happened?"

Anyway, it made me think that perhaps I should write books about her. I mean if those guys who wrote the books about Walter can do it, why not? Maybe I am on to something here.

So, as of now I am taking ideas for stories. I reckon they don't all have to surround Molly's gas problem (if they did those guys who wrote the Walter books would probably sue me).

I'm sure Adam will be down to write a book with me (like how I volunteer him for stuff), and I bet I can convince him to illustrate it too. Being that he is an artist and all.

Let me know if there are any adventures you'd like to see Molly go on. I bet there is even an adventure her pal Riley can join in on as well. He is not nearly as stinky as she is, but his bark can be heard for miles around . . .so I'm sure there could be something there.

My husband, superhero?

Adam has strep throat. He knows this immediately and without seeing a doctor. I think he knows it the second (or millisecond, even) that those pesky little bacteria start to grow in the back of his throat. I've always said that he has this keen ability that if anyone carrying strep comes within a 5 mile radius of him, whammo!

I was saying this very thing to my friends in the office and my friend Alec replies: "Wow! That is the worst superhero power EVER!"

I guess that would kind of suck.

What do you think his superhero name would be?

Bacteriaman?

Streptococcus? Nah, that sounds too super villainy . . .

Strep Boy? too sidekicky.

OR, could it really be that this ability is NOT, in fact, his superhero power, BUT his superhero kryptonite?

hmmm, I think I like that idea better . . .it gives me ideas . . . .

Does that make me a supervillain? Wow, what could my name be?

So . . .I met the mayor

I have touting Molly's excellent listening skills as of late. We have been letting her wander around our unfenced backyard off leash. And she has been particularly well behaved, immediately listening and responding when we point out that she is wandering too far. Adam and I have been very impressed (and we tell her this often).

Adam has been saying all along that this will only last until she is distracted by something. I have always disagreed. "She's our little (read: giant) angel. She'll always listen." Famous last words right.

I opened the door this past Sunday and she saw a cat and off she went. She loves to chase cats, but she never catches any, and she is afraid of the ones who do not run from her. She went right out of the yard and down the street, where she was kindly stopped by a lovely woman wearing some hip red glasses (kind of like the ones my mom wears). She let me know that Molly was chasing her cat. I apologized and thanked her for stopping Molly and explained that she is actually quite harmless (although this woman did not seem to be afraid of her).

She introduced herself as Jane Young and we talked briefly about how we just moved in and how great our house is, but how much work we have to do on it. Then she let me know that she was the Mayor. We had been told that she lives on our street.

Great! Of all the cats to chase down the street Molly picked the Mayor's. Of course she would, if she's gonna do anything wrong she'll make sure she is fully committed to the task.

So, now I have to ammend all my statements about how good she listens and how well behaved she is, and hope that the mayor is a very forgiving one.

Oh well, I guess I can take comfort in knowing that the Mayor's cat can pretty much always out run Molly, and if she ever decided to stop running and put up a fight . . .she could probably beat up my wimpy dog.

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2009. From our family to yours.

Happy New Year.

with love,
Adam, Courtney and Molly "Moose" Riggar