Sunday, September 30, 2012

Team Lost Dumasse Rides Again!

Yesterday, Matt competed and completed the Grand Rapids Urban Adventure Race.  He and his race partner biked 17-18 miles and ran 4-5 miles to find 36 of 37 checkpoints in and around downtown Grand Rapids.  (Matt's cardiotrainer app. on his phone logged a total of 22.2 miles, but I'm sticking with my rough estimation.)  To make the race even more adventuresome, they did it all in the middle of ArtPrize...an art competition with over 1,500 pieces of art and thousands of people milling about admiring it.  Team Lost Dumasse finished 41st out of 193 teams.  The weather was beautiful and they had a lot of fun competing.  They're looking at competing in a race in February.  I think I'll cheer them on from the comfort of my nice, warm living room.



Saturday, September 29, 2012

Fall Fun

My rough, cracked hands with their short broken nails can attest to the fact that my fall cleaning is officially finished.  Well, mostly.  All I have left is the carpet to shampoo and the seasonal closets to switch around.  But, looking at the almost 80-degree weather forecast for next week, I'll wait a bit for a chance to open the windows to dry the carpet...and enjoy another chance to wear shorts before they get packed up for a while.

Matt and I enjoyed a nice day in Grand Rapids with some nice friends looking at some nice art last weekend.  It's ArtPrize in Grand Rapids and that means there are thousands and thousands of people looking at all of the fabulous artwork on display.  It's a good thing we're tall and can see over so many people.  Looking at all the awesome art makes me wish I was that creative...or could draw a straight line.



In between my cleaning breaks, I was crafty and made some things for the porch.  I forget how much I love crafting and have decided to do it more often.  I've missed my hot glue gun more than I thought.  I may have even missed the blisters I usually get from it too...but just a little bit.

 
 


Matt spent this past week in South Carolina on a business trip.  Cyrus was my little shadow and my little bed hog.  I tried to enjoy all the extra room on our California king bed, but Cyrus had other ideas and kept me on the edge of the bed every night.  Keaton has been busy with school, working in the computer lab, and doing his pre-season workouts for basketball.  He stopped by last night to pick up a few things, grab some fresh-from-the-oven banana bread and to say a quick hi to Cyrus.  Cy welcomed Keaton home by tackling him on the couch.  Cyrus is going to be a football player for Halloween.  I think he's already getting into character.  

 
 

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Sorry, I don't know where the twang came from.  I've been playing Words with Friends with some family members from Tennessee, so maybe my urge to use the term "y'all" came from them.  Anyway, today is the first day of fall and I'm happy to say that I'm about half-way finished with my fall cleaning.  I do heavy spring AND fall cleaning every year.  I scrub everything...including cleaning curtains and carpet...and reorganize every drawer and cupboard.  Why?  Because I love to purge and clean!  Seriously.  I love having everything all shiny, neatly lined up, and smelling fresh.  I also think I have A.D.H.D. and can't sit still.  So, after giving the main floor a thorough cleaning, I decided to break out the fall decorations.  After I get the rest of the house thoroughly cleaned next week, it'll be time to get back to scrapbooking.  Or maybe it'll be time to take a nap.

 
 
 
 


 
 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Happy Birthday, Cyrus!

Sir Cyrus Pembroke turned the big 11 on Friday.  He began his day with his usual good-morning treat.  Then, he enjoyed a nice nap on the couch, carefully positioning himself so he could bask in the sunlight streaming in through the front door.  He awoke from his nap to then carefully jockey for position so he wouldn't be ignored during my breakfast and enjoyed a healthy bite of my omelet.  His after-breakfast nap was rudely interrupted when we lost power and the smoke alarms started chirping.  For some reason, that really bothered him and he climbed into Matt's shower to hide. 


I put his Thundershirt on him to help calm him down (and it worked), but he wasn't too happy because he has a hard time sitting in it, so he's forced to stand when he wears it.  And any of you who know Sir Cyrus can verify that he's a persnickety dog (euphemism for a big stinker) and doesn't like to stand for long periods of time...unless he's begging. (Even then, he usually sits and lays his head on your leg or the table...whatever he thinks is cuter at the time and will get him some people food.)  Once he calmed down, I tried to take some pictures of him. Tried. He was still pouting because I made him wear the Thundershirt for a bit and he refused to look at me for a picture. (See what I mean about being a little stinker?  He's definitely a strong-willed little guy.)



After Cy took another nap in the afternoon, enjoying the sun streaming in from the patio door this time around, a treat (hey, it was his birthday), a bite of my lunch, and another nap, we gave him a pat goodbye and headed up to the casino where I won $72.73 on my favorite slot machine!  Whoo hoo!  I was definitely the big winner last night...especially after Matt lost his one free hand playing blackjack.  (He had a free $30 voucher for a table game and he decided to try his luck at blackjack.  The dealer dealt him 20...and then she dealt herself 21.  Ugh!)  But, Matt redeemed himself before we left at the slot machine he likes and came away with a profit of about $40...after being down to a lowly $0.68.


We enjoyed a great dinner (and a fabulous piece of Mounds cheesecake!) and brought some donuts home for breakfast.   We even picked out a donut for our birthday boy.  He eagerly posed for his birthday picture and then enjoyed half of his yummy glazed donut.  Happy birthday, Cyrus! 


 

 
  

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lucky Matt!

Matt's been on a lucky streak lately.  Not only is he fortunate to have me as his lovely wife, blessed to have Keaton as his wonderful son, and charmed to have Cyrus as his quirky dog...he won a new iPad last week.  Earlier in the summer, he entered a carpooling program sponsored by a green company in Grand Rapids.  He and Keaton carpooled most of the summer and both Matt and Keaton won gift cards for $25 and $15, respectively, drawn randomly by the Grand Rapids organization.  Yay for both of them!  Then, Matt's name was drawn for the great prize of the iPad!  Double yay!!  Keaton and I were excited when Matt brought it home and we both tried to claim it.  Spoiled rotten Keaton thought he might nab it.  Yeah, right.  It's totally going in my scrapbook room...when Matt's not using it for football stats on Sundays.  Matt bought a lottery ticket last night and we're keeping our fingers crossed that his lucky streak continues!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Third Time's a Charm!!!


Yesterday we moved Keaton back into his home-away-from home for the school year...Severn Hall.  It's hard to believe he's beginning his junior year!  The time has flown by...and I haven't had nearly as many cocktails as I thought I'd need.  After moving him to school over the past two years, we have this moving-in stuff down to a science.  (It definitely helps that Keaton's a minimalist and doesn't bring a lot of extra stuff with him.)  We were able to move him back to school in two and a half vehicles.  (His girlfriend was nice enough to offer to bring some stuff in her car!)  So, while I cleaned the room, the guys moved everything up three flights of stairs to his new room.  It was a nice, organized move.  (Of course it was organized...I'd tolerate nothing less.)  We got his room all settled and left Keaton with hugs, homemade brownies, and a big pile of cables he'll have to untangle himself for all his electronic stuff.  As a computer science major, he's definitely more capable of hooking up all his stuff than we are.  Now I just have to decide whether or not to turn his room into my own personal shoe closet!

Vehicle #1:  packed to the brim.
Notice the case of Mt. Dew...it's in every college kid's survival kit.


Vehicle #2: packed to the brim.
Matt and Keaton did some body work and painting above the rear wheels of Keaton's Explorer.
Keaton said that when he's done with school, he's buying a new car...and a garbage can with an automatic lid.



Cyrus was a little antsy while Keaton packed. He stayed close to Keaton and ran upstairs to see if he was still home first thing in the morning.
  


This is Keaton's bedroom. We probably won't see his bed neatly made again for the rest of the school year.

 
Keaton shares his bedroom with a roomie. Their room is pretty big for sleeping, studying...and playing video games.


Keaton loves his new Red Wings rug. He had to make sure the coffee table wasn't blocking the logo.
  
This is our moving team and the other half of the common living area. He has five roommates and they now have seating for 10 people...or napping for 6 people. 
Notice that the coffee table does NOT block the Red Wings logo.
 
What do you do when you have an extra end table in your dorm room? 
You put the fridge on it and...voila...no more stooping to get in the fridge.  Plus there's now bonus storage for Mt. Dew and Gatorade underneath. 
Sometimes even I'm impressed with my organizational skills! 


We moved Keaton into his room and got him settled in two hours flat. I think we're definitely seasoned movers now.
  

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Tenneshoe

We went to TN over the weekend so I could buy some shoes.  We didn't plan to go down for shoes.  We headed down to visit family and golf.  And by golf, I mean Matt and Keaton.  So, while they went golfing, we girls headed to do some shopping...and I ended up bringing home seven (yep, 7!) pairs of shoes.  They're girlie.  They're cute.  They're totally me.  And most of them were 60% off, so how could I NOT buy them?


I also found some clothes, sunglasses, jewelry, and my Halloween costume.  It's a referee uniform that Keaton told me I could not EVER wear to any of his games.  (He's no fun.  What's the point of having kids if you can't occasionally embarrass them?)  The guys wanted to go to the area clubhouses to check out the clearance items.  So while they looked at shirts and putters, I found a jacket...and ANOTHER pair of shoes.  They're golf shoes.  They're pink.  They're totally me.  Plus, they were 60% off.  Now I just have to find a cute pink golf bag and I'll be ready to hit the links.


It was a quick visit, but a nice one.  The guys enjoyed golfing and I enjoyed shopping.  Cyrus enjoyed all the food my dad made for him.  (Do other dogs get to eat French toast and ham sandwiches?)  Cyrus also enjoyed some wrestling.  It was a tight squeeze in the car riding back to Michigan, but totally worth it.  Eight pairs of shoes bought in a 24-hour period...that may be a tough record to break.  But, there's always next year's visit.