She sure was a good horse

(photo copyright 2008, The Courier-Journal/Bill Luster)
Eight Belles just before yesterday's Run for the Roses

I love the Derby, but I really only tolerate horse racing.
My profession means that the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports is a huge, huge part of my life every year, so in a way the race is in my blood, but I still fear during every race I watch that something will happen to one of these magnificent animals. In the relatively few times I've been to the racetrack over the years (not working, but pleasure trips) I've seen two horses get injured and have to be put down. I'm not one of those who doesn't understand that human life is far more important than animal life, but it still really bothers me when something happens to the horses.

Yesterday when I was at work preparing to watch the race with my co-workers, I said a little prayer that no horses or jockeys would be injured. Right after the race, I breathed a sigh of relief and gave thanks that while working and watching my 24th Derby (most of them spent at the racetrack) I had witnessed no tragic situations. A couple of minutes later, that all changed when the camera cut to show a horse down on the track. My heart sank. When I heard it was the gutsy filly, Eight Belles, I just felt sick.

They put her down so fast. But they had to. It didn't take long to assess her injuries, and to let her suffer would be beyond cruel. I don't know if horse racing is cruel. Sometimes it feels like it is. I do know that yesterday didn't feel like the greatest two minutes in sports.

Here's to the filly. She gave everything she had.

It's Derby Week!

Aww, you know I couldn't resist this cute little "Future Derby Princess" shirt we saw last night at the Derby Festival's Fest-A-Ville on the Waterfront last night.
If you don't know the Derby Festival Princess tradition, find out more about it here. Lucy was really excited because the shirt had a crown on it, and she likes the royal touch. I had just finished drying her hair, and there was still a hint of the "Mary Tyler Moore" flip I've been giving her lately (she loves this).

I really haven't paid much attention to the horses this year, so if anyone has a hot tip, please share! :)

Snow day

Well, Lucy's made her first snowman. Actually she calls it a snowmaM.
Here's the video.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!

Lucy can't wait until tomorrow when she'll wake up to more snow. I think we might be able to use the snowman-making kit we have boxed up downstairs!

Here's what the forecasters are saying:

Kid's best friend

After dinner out last night, I strapped Lucy into the car seat, and started playing with her and the big stuffed dog her grandma RiRi gave her. I put the stuffed doggy's chin on on the edge of the seat and told Lucy to pet him "just like you do Harley (our golden retriever)." When I pulled into the garage and looked back at her, there she was, just like the obedient daughter she always is! ;)

Hat's off...

My friend Charlotte's 100-year-old grandmother crocheted this cap for Lucy for Christmas. I'm just now getting around to taking a photo (and playing with it, thanks to Photoshop) so I can be very late in thanking her with a photo enclosed in our note. Lucy will have some room to grow into the hat, which is good since I want her to be a bit more mature before she wears it. What a neat gift.

Tutu cute!

Though she looks like she's dressed for some sock hop/ballet gig, Lucy is really just donning a school outfit. Saw the sweater and skirt at the Gymboree over the weekend, and I couldn't really resist. Well, I had Gymbucks I needed to use. She's 3 years old only once. When she starts Catholic school she'll wear uniforms. OK, I thought it was cute.

;)

--Mary Ann

Happy Holidays 2007

Better late than never... here's Lucy on Christmas-card-taking day last month. Mary Ann's mom has recently been sick, but she's much better now. This has caused our usual holiday routine to be out of whack, so we're behind on most everything. Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and please have a Happy New Year!

Welcome Christmas!

Lucy in the early stages of tree-trimming Sunday night

Doing the tree always reminds me of The Grinch song, "Trim Up The Tree." I found the lyrics online:

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums and bizilbix and wums
Trim every blessed window and trim every blessed door
Hang up whoboohoo bricks
Then run out and get some more!
Hang pantookas on the ceilings
Pile pankunas on the floor
Trim every blessed needle on the blessed Christmas tree
Christmas comes tomorrow
Trim you, trim me!
Trim up your pets with fuzzle fuzz
And whiffer bloofs, and wuzzle wuzz
Trim up your uncle and your aunt
With yards of whofut flant
Trim every house in Whoville from the cellar to the roof
Hang up a mile of dafflers
And three miles of snaffer snoof!
Hang dang-donglers on the bathtub
Trim the occupant the with floof
To every home in Whoville and to every blessed Who
Christmas comes tomorrow
Trim me, trim you!
Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums
And bizilbix and wums...
Trim up the tree with bizilbix and wums

Big Boy, Little Girl

"He's a big boy. I'm a big girl!"

On a mad drive from Lucy's preschool to the mall,
we stopped at the first sit-down restaurant along the way, the Big Boy.
Lucy loooooved him, as you can tell!

Santa maybe...

Today we went to a mall, and surprisingly it wasn't too bad. We were there early enough to avoid a horrible crowd -- except for inside Gymboree. The Santa setup was giving away 20 percent off coupons to Gymboree, and that was on top of a 25 percent off sale already going on, so there was much madness there.
Lucy was afraid of Santa at first, but when we got her a cookie she amazingly calmed down and warmed up to the jolly guy. We met a friend of ours and her daughter there, so it was kind of a playdate for Lucy and the friend, who goes to the same preschool. See video below for an account of the experience!



Happy shopping!

Go Steelers!

Lucy at her preschool's Halloween party
on Saturday. (Dad likes the Steelers.)

A little video for ya...

This one is several months old, but we still laugh at it...
we call it "Lucy's first beer commercial."

Dressed to kill

Lucy took an old boa-esque scarf I knitted
and decided to model it with a new pair of
dress-up shoes she just got for her birthday!

Fun at the Festa Italiana

Becky and Alana danced to a Frank Sinatra tune, I think...(for
some reason I really liked this in black-and-white...)

Over the weekend, I thought some fresh evening air might help my horrible cold. So we went to Mass at our church and then hung out on Saturday night for the annual Festa Italiana held on the grounds of St. James. Becky and the girls, and our friends Ellen and John, who are newlyweds, by the way, met us there and we all had fun eating the food and enjoying the beer, wine and music.
It was good for us to get out, although by Sunday morning Lucy had caught the ick I had had for several days and we all stayed in the whole day to recuperate. Today (Monday), Lucy and I both stayed home.
--M.A.


Lucy liked the playground


John and Ellen


Alexa and Alana ate some dinner

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lucy Mei!

We love you!


Finally Lucy has learned her age!


Lucy has turned into a real computer geek, thanks
to her new birthday computah.


We stopped by at lunch to see Lucy enjoying a little
ice cream cup we brought to her and her classmates
for her bday. (More later from the Chuck E. Cheese
Experience over the weekend)

Stella!!

This one featuring the late golden retriever Bernstein is short but sweet!

Lucy's zoo adventure

A recent trip to the zoo with the munchkin.

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID): Clinton

OMG.

Dance of the Clownfish

A friend of ours recently gave Lucy this tutu, and over the weekend another friend gave her this goldfish hat...naturally she decided to combine the two for maximum fun.
Actually she really has just started dance class at school, and she loves it. Today we peeked in via the two-way mirror to watch her. Those little kids cracked us up.