After my last post, I feel like I need to post something a little more uplifting, and I have the perfect thing.

On Friday, at 1:09 pm CMT, Rebecca Lynn was born to my friends Steve and Lyndi. She weighed 9lbs 3.5oz and was 21.5 inches long. Phew, good thing they planned the c-section. That’s a big baby! But she is beautiful! Here are a few pictures.

Congrats, Lyndi Steve and Amy! Welcome to the world Rebecca!!! You’ve got a wonderful family!

Well, if that’s not the understatement of the year, I don’t know what is. So I went to visit my sick aunt this past weekend, to sort of pay my last respects, and I wasn’t really prepared. My mom tried to tell me how bad she was, but still you can’t prepare yourself for that if you’ve never seen it before. My aunt has always been a small lady, I think she’s about 5′ 2” and has probably never weighed more than 110 lbs. I’d be surprised if she weighs 70 lbs now. As my uncle described it, she’s slowly being eaten away from the inside. She has no appetite and she’s drinking about 8 oz of fluid a day, max, including water and Ensure, which is where she’s getting most of her nutrients. She’s taking about 150 mg of morphine orally and she’s still awake and aware of what’s going on around her. We watched a lot of the travel channel and some HGTV. I ran some errands for my uncle and did what little I could to feel helpful. I can’t say I’m “happy” I went, but I do know it was my last opportunity to see her and give her my love. And I know she appreciated it and could understand what was going on.

As awful as it is, there are some good things that come out of times like this. Of course, family comes together to help each other out, and you get to see people you might not otherwise have seen. In this case, my aunt and her sister, who haven’t spoken in 10 years, apparently made things right 2 weeks ago, which is a huge weight off her shoulders. Neither of them would talk about the feud or whatever it was that kept them from speaking, and no one else really knows, but it was quite obvious something was very wrong. Anyway, the reconciliation would not have been possible without this situation, which is sad, but is also the truth. If nothing else, it makes it a little easier when its all said and done.

I wish there was something really uplifting I could say, but its hard in a time like this. I am inspired by my aunt’s joyful spirit and her strength to fight as long as she could, but also by her strength to know when its time to let go.

See, I needed some uplifting stories about the Virginia Tech shootings and here’s one on CNNs website. Go figure:

Heroes of the Virginia Tech Massacre

I didn’t get in the play. Oh well. Next time.

My headshots should be ready tomorrow or Wednesday!

This weekend was pretty relaxing. We did some shopping on Saturday and had some friends over for a last-minute BBQ on Saturday night. It was good to see them and we had a fun time just hanging out.  Sunday we took the dogs to Centennial park. I thought it was Earth Day, but I guess that was just Saturday. Sunday they were having some sort of walk-a-thon so there were TONS of people there. And it was hot so we didn’t stay very long. Dexter slept the rest of the day and night. He’s a wimp.

I can’t believe I haven’t said anything until now, but we are about to start some major home renovations on our upstairs. We’ve been interviewing contractors and think we know who we are going with, but we’re still waiting to get our appraisal back and also get back the “project proposal” from the contractor.  Its going to be a hell of a renovation, but I’m excited. I’ll fill ya in more later.

Damn, has it really been a week? I suppose its possible. Geesh. I guess I could blame it on the Virginia Tech shooting rampage and the chaos that ensued, but I’d be lying a little.

I have to say, I was pretty shell-shocked about it, in a blogger sense. Sure, there’s plenty to blog about, but what is there to say that wasn’t already said by midnight the evening of the shootings? The whole “only a domestic incident” comment and then the identity of the shooter revealed…after all that, it’s hard to say anything that is very meaningful.

I did get to see the Oprah special (because I stayed home on Wednesday due to a sick dog) and she had one of the kids from Columbine on. His sister was one of the first victims to die and he and his father now go around the country and give lectures on the topic, focusing not on the killer but on their sister/daughter. Just the opposite of what the media did when they got the tapes and letters from the VT shooter. If I’m upset about one thing, its not about gun control or immigration, its the media and how they continued to publicize that filth. Its one thing to inform the public and another to give the shooter exactly what he wanted. I’m sure there’s a whole lot more about the entire situation that I don’t know/don’t understand, but I’m okay with that right now.

My aunt who has been battling ovarian/uterine cancer for the past 2 years is stopping her treatment and letting nature take its course. That’s the easiest way to put it and I’m very sad about it. I’m trying to arrange a last minute flight to West Palm Beach, but all the fares are super high (in excess of $400) and I just don’t have the cash right now. My brother is there right now and my mom is going out this weekend. Anyway…if you can send some good vibes her way, I’d be grateful. We don’t expect miracles at this point, just a comfortable journey to her next destination.

So, Saturday we left Lexington around 10:15am and made our way to the Distillery. It was about an hour away, but didn’t open till noon so we stopped for some lunch at the little town that was the last piece of civilization before we reached the distillery. It was way the frick out there. The drive was pretty…reminded me alot of Ireland cause we were on a road that was basically only big enough for one car and we kept coming up on blind hills and turns, fearing for our lives most of the way. It brought back such sweet memories.

Once at the distillery (oh, and did I mention it was raining all morning and continued to rain all day?), we were directed around the back so we could park on the paved lot. Cars with 4-wheel drive were parking in the grass and by the time we left, people were spinning their tires in the mud, so I’m really glad we didn’t have to park there. I have to give it to them though, the distillery had plenty of staff out directing traffic and generally keeping things in order.

We took a few hours to walk around the distillery on a self-guided tour and I got a few pictures.

Because I’m an “ambassador”, I got to purchase a special bottle and dip it in wax. Here’s pre-dip and mid-dip:

After getting a little lost, we made it out of Loretto and back onto the “Blue Grass Parkway”. It was almost another 3 hours from there, so we were a bit tired when we got home. Jason’s parents came down so his dad could exchange his sleeping bag, which we got him for Christmas, but it was a little too small. Anyway, I stayed home with his mom and all four dogs. Good times.

Around 8:30, I met up with some girlfriends and we all went for a night out on the town. We were celebrating a birthday and new found freedom of one of the girls, so she had a lot to celebrate! Can’t post pictures of that though. People I work with read this blog….so no need to post incriminating photos.

That’s it for Part II. I may have energy for 1 more.

I had quite a busy weekend so I’ll probably do this update in parts. Call this Part I.

Friday we drove up to Lexington, which took about 3 hours, but it was a pleasant enough drive. Its amazing how different the road quality is as you pass into KY. I’ve always heard that Tennessee has nice roads, but its hard to remember that when you drive through construction everywhere you go. But as soon as we crossed over the border, the road quality immediately changed. And not for the better. They are doing construction too, but the existing roads are worse than even our old roads. Jason brought up an interesting point that Kentucky has State income tax, whereas Tennessee doesn’t. That would make you think that they would have better roads, right? I guess our higher wheel tax makes up for it, but I’d much rather pay that. It just makes sense.

Anyway, we made it to Keeneland around 3pm. We forgot that we’d lose an hour by crossing into the Eastern Time Zone, so we got the races at about Race 5 (out of 10). It was pretty crowded, but our seats were good and the weather was very comfortable.

Here was the view from our seats.

We got two $2 betting vouchers so at the 9th race I put in 2 bets. One of them was a smart one and we won $3.20. Hey, its something. I can see how people can get into the races and betting, although the 30 minutes in between each race is a little long, even if you plan to bet on every race. I guess it gives enough time for you go to see all the horses prance around out front and then place your bets.

Getting out of the place was a nightmare. We probably sat for 20-30 minutes waiting to get out. Then we headed to our hotel, the Springs Inn. Their website doesn’t really do them justice. I thought we were going to be looking for a fairly small hotel, but it was quite large. Our room was nice, but the beds were pretty uncomfortable. My biggest gripe is that the cleaning staff started very early on Saturday morning and they set up right outside our room. They were so loud!

Friday night we went to the Maker’s Mark party, by which I was pretty impressed. There were SO many people there and they had live music, 2 buffets, and lots of liquor. Jason and I didn’t stay too long which was probably for the best. After just 1 1/2 drinks, I was tipsy. We heard the next day that the bartenders got heavy handed with the drinks towards the end of the night.

That’s all for Part 1. Stay tuned.

If you were like me (two months ago), you’ve never heard of Keeneland and have very little excitement about going there. However, I now know what it is and am a little more excited to go there.

To start at the beginning, I signed up to be a Maker’s Mark Ambassador, which means I encourage people to drink Maker’s Mark when they choose to drink bourbon. Basically, I get free address labels and get invited to fun events. Such as the horse race happening at Keeneland tomorrow in Lexington, KY.

Neither Jason nor I have ever been to a horse race, although I have been to a race track. Growing up in southern California, it was inevitable that some social event happened at a race track. Anyway, the day’s events consist of the horse race, then a party in downtown Lexington with $2 Maker’s Mark drinks. Saturday, we’re going on a tour of the distillery in Loretta, KY and I get to dip my own bottle. In wax. It’s not as dirty as it sounds, sorry.