Pelo Party

Last evening we went to the annual "Pelo Memorial Day Party". It's the first party of the official summer season.

It was very warm and humid. Lots of nice people were there, most of the usuals, some new.

As usual, there was lots of great food.

And lots of drinking.

This year, Louise has taken to chasing the geese off their property. Which is not an easy task. These are some mean geese! They hiss at her and chase her back. But she is relentless. I think she's tired of them using her beautiful lawn as a toilet...

They are kind of cute... once you get them off your property!

And what would an event be without Eric being creative with a camera.

Farmer's Market

Today I went down to the Farmer's Market, which is at the Regional Market. It was insanely crowded.

This picture doesn't really do it justice, it was packed. And I didn't take too many photos, I was busy buying stuff! And vegetables are very heavy.

When I got home, I made this delicious salad. Everything in this I bought at the Farmer's Market. Minus the Red Wine Vinegar dressing. It was SO very good.

I got some red geraniums too, and put out some American flags to celebrate Memorial Day.

Eric did lots of chores too, he cleaned the gutters and put up screens. We're having a big old chore filled weekend! But tomorrow, we have fun... It's the annual Pelo Party to usher in summer. Can't wait!!

Rugs, Parks and Letters

The new rugs are finally here! They're beautiful... we love them. It was a little crazy this morning getting the 2 bedrooms completely emptied.

We dumped most everything in here... it was a BIG mess!

But isn't it nice!? We're slowly getting everything put back where it goes. We're re-arranging the office so it's not as cluttered. So that will take some time. It's so nice to have a nice fresh new carpet to walk on!

This afternoon I stopped by a sign company in the city, and there was this interesting "art" park across the street. It's on the near-west side where the new WCNY building is going to be. There is a lot of revitalization going on, and there's some odd "artsy" stuff too. I think this park can be in that category! If you click on this photo, you can read about the park... it's apparently an SU project of some sort.

This is a structure made of old steamer trunks.

And here's one made of car parts.

Yeah, I don't really get it either...

Last night Alex had his Track & Field banquet. He earned his Varsity letter again. And they are not going to be running next week, so he's all done for the year. He was disappointed, but he's realizing it's almost summer. And that cross-country starts in 6 weeks.... so a break will be nice!

Sectionals

Sectionals for Boys Section III Track & Field was held today. Alex got to run in the 4x800 relay.

He got another personal best (2:08)... he did a fabulous job holding his own during the race. There are some fast kids in this Section! His teammates are off to the side cheering him on, they had finished their "leg" of the race. Alex ran 3rd.

And he had the great fortune to hand off to this guy. Zavon Watkins. The National record holder (yes, I said National...) for the 800 meter. Look for this guy to be in the Olympics someday. Seriously.

They came in 2nd... but almost edged out the #1 team, Baldwinsville. B'ville has won this relay all season. The coach is congratulating him above.

The very excited guy in the red is Shaun Thompson, from B'ville. He's the state's #1 Cross-country runner. He and Zavon went head-to-head on the final leg. Fortunately for Shaun, he had a half a lap lead when he got the baton. But Zavon came within 3 seconds of catching him. It was really a great race. And we're not 100% sure yet... but Alex might just have another meet next week... a little something called State Qualifying. It all depends on whether the coach wants Zavon to run the 4x800 again. He might just focus on his individual events. We'll find out tomorrow...

Here are the results from today's meet. Scroll down, you'll see the link on the left-hand side for the 4x800 meter relay.

Blowfish & Bedrooms

Yesterday we went up to Fulton for a nice birthday celebration for Eric.

Sheila made this fun birthday cake, with the photo from here...

And Eric perfected his blow fish pose. And it looks like he had a little help from Laura!

Eric opened his gifts, and Kelsey and Laura looked on...

And guess what? We're done with the painting! This... is a preview of our new bedroom. It's going to be SO nice with the new carpet. I can't wait to put everything back together again. It's going to be like a whole new house!

Rapture Day

Well, if today was indeed end of the world, we had a good last day. We woke up early (Thanks Jenny...) and headed off to Alex's last regular season meet. It was cloudy but warm. Then the sun came out. It was a lovely day.

Alex ran the best 800 meter of his career so far. (He beat that guy next to him too!)

He got a personal best under 2:10, as you can see up on the big screen... His coach was very pleased. Pleased enough to let him compete in sectionals on Wednesday.

He'll be one of the 4 guys on the 4x800 meter relay team. Which he also ran today and did very well.

The rest of the afternoon was spent painting and then watching paint dry... Tonight (If we make it past the 6pm Rapture time...) We plan on having BBQ pulled pork for dinner with some nice cold beer.

Tomatoes and Things

I am very pleased with the Topsy-Turvy tomato plant hanger. This was a small little tomato plant a couple of weeks ago, it's thriving in its upside down home!

And it already has little flowers, and will hopefully have tomatoes growing out of those very soon! I've never had tomatoes this early before.

Here's a sneak peek of our renovations. This is the office, I really like the slate blue color. I painted the trim too, it was natural wood before. I loved the fact that we're getting rid of the carpet, I was able to cut the rug away from the trim, which really helped with painting! It was also nice not worrying about spilling paint... although I didn't. But it was nice knowing it didn't matter if I did.

And here's Alex running in the last regular season meet. He got a personal best in the 800 (2:12 for those keeping track). Saturday is the CNS Invitational and Sectionals are next Wednesday. Then the season will before over for Alex. That was fast!

Early Birthday Celebration

Eric is going away this week for work, so he won't be here for his birthday on Tuesday. So we had a little celebration today.

Alex was in charge of the fire.

Eric did his best blow fish imitation.

And then he opened his gifts! Happy Birthday, Eric!!

Here's a sneak peek of a home renovation project that we are just beginning. Major changes going on upstairs... I'll have "before" and "after" pictures in 2 weeks... meanwhile, I'd better get painting!

NJHS

Last evening Alex was inducted into the "National Junior Honor Society" at school. Membership is based on Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Citizenship.

Congratulations, Alex! Keep up the good work.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend my parents came to visit. We were VERY busy... between going to yard sales, shopping and eating, we didn't have a lot of time for anything else! I didn't even take a single picture. Until today when we hosted a lunch for our moms. The sweet yellow flowers above were a gift from Alex to me.

These flowers were a gift to me from my mom! Aren't they gorgeous?

Our moms. Sheila and Beth.

Here's Kelly being silly in her new red fuzzy hat.

Sheila entertained the girls with many games of Bingo.

We had a big buffet style lunch and the "kids" all seemed to gather here.

And the "adults" hung out in here.

Gary made a cake with help from Laura and Kelly. They did a very nice job decorating.

And Gary did the honor of cutting and serving the tasty strawberry cake.

Then we had some outside fun, since it was such a beautiful afternoon.

Here are Eric and Gary with their mom.

And Paula with Laura. I love this picture!

And here I am with my mom & dad and Alex and Eric.

I don't know when/how Alex got to be so tall.

And here is the sweetest husband in the world washing all the dishes from the day. And there were A LOT. Thank you sweetie!! XOXO