Did you watch the Kentucky Derby? We did. All that money, hype, and lengthy preparations for a little over two minutes of race time. Impressive, isn’t it? A few months back we were actually considering shelling out the fairly minimal entrance fee for the standing-room-only section at the Derby grounds where you don’t actually see the race live (though TV’s are positioned throughout) but you do get to stand and line the pathway that the horses and their jockeys take as they parade toward the starting line. Unfortunately work intervened with that plan, but there’s always next year. We’d love to go to the derby next year just to experience the excitement of an event of that caliber. I was rooting for the female jockey and her horse “Pants on Fire.” We should take a moment to discuss the names of these horses. Who names them and WHY? Pants on Fire, Mucho Macho Man, Animal Kingdom…those poor horses. At least they look fantastic! So muscular and such shiny coats! Oh, and the hats! Did you see some of the hats at this shindig? With the close timing proximity of the Royal Wedding to the Kentucky Derby this is without a doubt ludicrous hat season. Major works of art, to say the least. My glamorous floppy-brimmed black sun hat that I’m planning to don on our honeymoon (because, let’s be honest, where else is it an appropriate accessory?) absolutely pales in comparison to the other creations out there. Good stuff, my friends!
Meanwhile, Ted (with a little bit of my help) has been putting together his workshop in our garage. He got a road-case building gig for a band from Wisconsin that he’s working on right now and last year he built a bunch of them for MSU’s theatre department as well. He makes fantastic road-cases! Really top quality, great looking, excellently fitting, sturdy cases to securely transport and protect tools, cables, lighting and audio equipment, etc. It would be a neat side business for his company TOR Ventures, in addition to his lighting designs and light rentals. He enjoys the work and it would turn a respectable profit if he can get his name out there. But even with the plethora of tools Ted already owns, it takes some heavy-duty machinery to construct these things. Enter the new chop saw with extending stand, bench drill press, and tool cabinet that have recently made their way into our home. Good investments indeed! Ted’s finally on his way to a fully functioning shop of sorts, which is something he’s wanted for a very long time. I occasionally miss a lot of the set-constructing work I used to do as an intern at BoarsHead – drilling, sawing, bolting, painting – so having the tools around is kind of fun for me too. Last night I helped Ted make a wooden table top for his new drill press and at nights I’ll probably help him with other stuff too. I’ll try to remember to post a picture of Ted’s new in-the-works shop.
We had a cold snap last week, but with the weather finally starting to clear up and the surprising absence of rain lately (I may be jinxing myself here), we’re finally getting to enjoy the great outdoors. Our lawn in still growing by the minute, so most of that great outdoors time is spent mowing, but we went for a short bike ride yesterday evening (Ted’s reminding me how to properly use bike gears on a hilly terrain because I was like, 10, and on flat ground the last time I used bike gears) and there’s hope of bonfires, cookouts on the grill, and bike riding and rollerblading in our future as well – probably in June once the CCM students are out for the summer and we both have some free nights and weekends again.
But we do have some really exciting things to look forward to this summer! For Memorial Day weekend at the end of May my sister and her family will be visiting us in Cincinnati. Four days after that I’ll be heading to San Antonio for the first weekend in June to see my family and friends. Ted’s sister and her family are slated to spend the 4th of July weekend with us in Cincy, then there’s a hopeful quick weekend trip to Lansing sometime in July (if we can get away!), our fabulous honeymoon at the end of August, and our 1-year anniversary weekend in Door County that will likely take place in September instead of October because of the CCM production schedule. Christmas will be in Texas, New Year’s Eve in Wisconsin and the jury is out on Thanksgiving, again depending on how much time we can get off for Thanksgiving. All perfectly excellent things to look forward to! And a lot of fun planning coming our way.
What are you looking forward to in the coming months?
