We're back....

We're back, albeit only for today since we head to Indy tomorrow for New Year's fun with Cara and friends. So much has happened since I last posted, notably our trip to Jamaica which was awesome. This pic is of us from the beach, which was warm and wonderful. I miss it, especially since I'm in the throes of a nasty cold right now that's giving me winter blues!

Hmmm... stories from Jamaica. Here's a good one:
We went with Naomi, our awesome cook, to a farmer's market where tourists never go. We looked a bit out of place, but everyone seemed quite friendly so we ran around and checked everything out. We were picking out produce at one of the stands, when a wild-eyed lady came over and started screaming at the woman we were buying from. She was speaking Patois, a Jamaican dialect that seems to be half-English, half jibberish. We could make out a few words here and there, such as "Gary," "blood clot," "tree," and "death," but the rest made no sense to us at all, except that it was pretty clear she was speaking the universal language of scorned woman : ) She went on and on for a good 20 minutes, the longest I've ever heard a person yell without actually throwing a punch. When we finally made it out of there, Naomi explained that the woman was involved in some sort of love triangle with the produce lady and a guy named Gary, who inexplicably fell to his death from a tree when he was plagued with a bloot clot in his leg. Crazy lady of course assumes that produce lady used voodoo to knock the guy off, and the fight ensued. Makes perfect sense..... Here's a pic from a booth at the market.

Crazy cold way down there....

Man! Louisville does get cold. I happen to know that SB got 5 inches of snow last night, so I'm not complaining, but let's just say that my bare legs are getting awfully chilly when I make my way to the gym in the morning.

We've had a good week. Cara and Flynne came over the weekend, and we had a great time with them. The pic is from their visit, when we went bowling and I got a 74. I've got no game...

On Monday, we went to see a musical comedy show featuring one of Cara's high school friends, Ben Lerman, and his friend Jessica Delfino. They live in NYC, but they've taken their act on the road and stopped in Louisville to play at the Pink Door. Their show is raunchy, hilarious, and titled, "Ukuler Winter" because Ben plays the ukulele. Jessica plays many instruments, including the rape whistle. You had to be there.

Movie update: we've watched Sophie's Choice and Swing Time over the past several days. I can't get started on the former or I'll start crying, but the latter was also fabulous and made us much happier. It features Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and all that dancing made us wiggle around in our seats. We've got several Charlie Chaplin and Marx Brothers films left, and lots of movies about war (particularly Vietnam), but no more Fred and Ginger. Makes me kind of sad. Perhaps we'll rent Top Hat for good measure.

Movie madness!

In the past several days, we've watched Do the Right Thing, The Last Picture Show, and The French Connection. They were all fantastic, especially Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee is a genius, and his films reflect true understanding of race relations in the US.

Tonight we watched Goodfellas. It makes me miss the Sopranos, because of course, half of the cast is from Sopranos! They must have a real shortage of wise-guy actors in Hollywood, because they keep recycling...

Super Gobble!

Thanksgiving was terrific. It was really great to just chill with the family and see our friends. The turkey was great, as was all of the other food we wolfed down with reckless abandon. The photo attached is of Dave consuming his annual Thanksgivingwich, a type of gluttony I'll only allow once a year.

Mama Charlee truly deserves homage for her trickery. She told us (Dave, Cara, Craig and me) that she had a hankering to buy us all new shoes on Friday morning, then proceeded to load us into the car, drive to Medpoint and announce that no one gets shoes before getting flu shots. I'm the only one who really detests shots, but I gotta admit that the thought of all the pretty shoes at DSW eased my pain. The woman truly knows that our penchant for footwear is a weakness that should be taken advantage of.

So we were quite sad to leave the crew and come back to reality, but in 3 short weeks we'll be in Jamaica! Since I expect to be bikini-ready by then, I've committed to working out 5 days per week instead of the usual 3 and to eating only salads and sushi. At this rate, I'll be one nasty broad by about Thursday....

Gobble, gobble

The excitement for Turkey Day is setting in! Thanksgiving is pretty much my favorite holiday because I can stuff my face guilt-free and hang out with family and friends in a weekend dedicated to laziness/thankfulness/football.

This year I am especially thankful because I haven't been home in a while and I miss my peeps! Dave is thankful because he hasn't been back to South Bend in even longer and misses the Charlee, plus he looks forward to his Friday Thanksgivingwich. He piles all of the leftovers- including cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, turkey, dressing, etc.- between two slices and eats the whole thing cold. Sounds kinda gross to me, but the look on his face is priceless- he just loves it.

Anyway, the hours can't pass by quickly enough. We can't wait to start the laziness and family fun.

Movie update

Ben-Hur was great, and I was right. Pontius Pilate was a bad guy. A very bad guy. Next up, Yankee Doodle Dandy! You're a grand ole' flag, you're a high flying flag.... Can't wait.

Great weekend, bad game!

We had a great time with our friends Joe and Xiaowei, who came in this weekend from Chicago for our self-proclaimed Louisville Festival of Funness. The Colts, however, quickly dashed our hopes for a perfect weekend with the worst performance ever against the Chargers.

I know that Adam Vinatieri should have made that field goal. I know! But in the interest of being fair, let's not place blame on the slippery, rain-soaked cleats of the kicker before properly acknowledging Peyton Manning's six thrown interceptions. Poor Adam shouldn't have to shoulder this shame alone.

In other news, Dave and I have embarked upon our year-long adventure of watching the American Film Institute's top 100 movies of all time in order from 100 to 1. We started with the first disc (yes, it's so ridiculously long that they couldn't fit it on 1 DVD) of Ben-Hur, number 100. It's a great movie so far, and I hope we'll get to the second half today. I get the sneaking suspicion that Pontius Pilate is going to end up as a bad guy....

Ahhhhh!!!!!

So, I typically keep my political wrath off the blog, mostly because I don't want the government tapping my phone. But thanks to Verizon, I'm pretty sure they've got whatever they're looking for, so I figure I'll post what I want, when I want!

You may have read yesterday that Pat Robertson (you know, the guy who thinks that God didn't protect us on 9/11 because gay people are allowed to live in New York), has endorsed Rudy Giuliani in the '08 presidential election, creating one of the most unholy political alliances of all time.

So now we know that all Pat Robertson wants to do is back a horse that can win, regardless of his views on every issue Pat claims to care about. If I were a Moral Majority member, I'd be pretty ticked off at this one. Well, I suppose I'd be pretty ticked off about lots of things that are none of my business...

For more on this, read Gail Collins' (love her!) most recent NY Times Op-Ed piece at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/opinion/08collins.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy Birthday Keith!

Keith's birthday was yesterday, and we'd like to wish him a belated happy happy on the blog. Things were a little frazzled around here yesterday- we had a little dinner party with friends, so I was remiss in sending birthday wishes. So here's your birthday song, which I'll admit I ripped off from Beatles fans everywhere:

We love you Keith
Oh yes we do
We don't love anyone
As much as you
When you're not near to us
We're blue
Oh Keith, we love YOU!

BTW....

Halloween was a total bust. I bought a whole bunch of candy for the little kiddos and they never showed up! We even turned the light on. I guess we're just not well-liked by the masked crusaders. Perhaps they smelled our fear.

Great weekend and big news!

Dave and I had a great weekend in Lafayette- we were pre-celebrating Keith's birthday and Katie/Alan/Ben and Sarah/Chris/Unnamed baby all drove down as well.

Oh yes, you heard me. Sarah and Chris are having a baby! Well Sarah's actually having it, but you know... We're so excited for them, and can't wait to meet the little darling, which should be around the end of April. I haven't the foggiest idea about pregnancy or babies or anything related to that, so this is an opportunity to learn quite a bit. I promise that I'll make a satisfactory babysitter eventually!

Anyway, many congrats to Sarah and Chris. They'll make fantastic parents, so that little Whaley is a lucky one : )

Boo Bash

We had a great time at Bart and Mollie's party this weekend. I think I'll let this pic speak for itself....

Weekend fun is almost here!

Tomorrow we're heading to Cincinnatti to visit Bart and Mollie for their annual Boo Bash Halloween party. We're very excited to see everyone, and since this is costumes required, you'll be getting some funny pics on the blog on Monday.

Visiting Bart and Mollie is always fun, but we always leave so sad! For starters, we begin to miss them almost right away, and also we are reminded of how awesome it would be to have a proper house. Now don't get me wrong, the condo is great and we don't have to mow the lawn. But it would be nice to have backyard barbeques with friends and bonfires and other outdoor fun. I'll quit my whining for now- we've only got 20 more months till we get one of our own!

Give me a head with hair...

Long beautiful hair!
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen.

And so on...

My dad is a strong, proud, handsome, mostly bald man. He's bald (and bad) as wants to be! But I'm beginning to fear that the one genetic trait I got from his magnificent pool is hair loss. Every day after my shower, blowdry, straightening, etc., I dustbuster up a mass of hair the size of a small animal. I think I may have to forgo the blowdrying and straightening until my poor strands learn to hang on.

We have a plan

Ok, Bart had the best advice on how to deal with the kiddos. We'll bundle up (assuming it isn't 80 degrees outside, which it very well may be), invite friends over, sit on the porch with some beers, grill burgers and hand out candy. That way, we don't have to deal with the annoyance of opening and closing the door. Sylvester is a total escape artist, so it'll be better that way. I'm actually looking forward to Halloween this year!

Halloween is coming...

At what age and in what living situation do you need to start giving kids Halloween candy? I mean, in college we weren't going to spend the 10 bucks we had for the week on candy for strangers, no sir. And now we live in a condo. There are kids who live in our complex, but I'm guessing their parents would have the good sense to cart them over to a nicer neighborhood for Trick or Treating.

We have a few options. We can:

• Go out to dinner during Trick or Treating
  
• Hide in the basement during Trick or Treating
• Buck up and actually hand out candy to the kiddies
• Leave a basket of candy on the porch and let them help themselves

The last idea is my favorite, but Dave "The Cynic" Pflum claims that one or two kids will take it all and it won't be fair to the other kids and that I should care whether or not it's fair to the other kids. We're both a little afraid of children (especially in masks), but I guess we're going to have to get over this eventually.

Any suggestions?

Facebook

Facebook is a weird application that allows you to connect with your friends online. Dave and I have Facebook pages, despite the fact that we're still in phone contact with pretty much everyone we like. But I will say that I've gotten updates and new info recently about lots of friends from way back, like elementary school. It's kind of fun, and while I'll admit that I'm generally not a fan of these online shenanigans, this may turn out to be a good move...

So if you don't have a Facebook page, get one and we'll be your first friends!

Shrimp!

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods. I find that they go everywhere chicken can go, but they're bettter tasting and faster cooking. Like my mom, I've grown addicted to eating a large salad topped with shrimp for one or more meals per day.

But man, buying frozen shrimp is expensive! I decided, in the interest of significant cost savings, to purchase shrimp with the shells still on and do some of the disassembly myself. Shells are no big deal for me- I picked up the shrimp and got those suckers off in a heartbeat. The vein, however, is another story. My concerns are twofold:

First is the wimpy excuse- they call them veins, but those nasty tubes running through the shrimp aren't veins, they're digestive tracts. So the stuff that's inside them ain't blood, people. Gross!

Second, I'm not the greatest with knives, and it takes just a bit of trickery to get those puppies out. Dave often marvels at my ability to get dinner on the table nightly without losing a finger, because I tend to be a bit cavalier with the cutting.

I am pleased to report, however, that I just finished peeling and deveining a pound of shrimp for dinner. The veins are gross looking, but you get used to them pretty quickly and they're surprisingly easy to remove. I only poked myself with the knife once, causing a very minor flesh wound.

So if you're interested in saving about 6 bucks per pound of shrimp, try doing the legwork yourself. If I can do it, anyone can : )

Fall is upon us

Hark! The chilly weather is here. Turtlenecks and jeans are back, baby, and I've already made a casserole. Looking forward to watching our new favorite show, Pushing Daisies, tonight. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check it out. Lots of dark humor, and it's narrated by a guy with a great voice.

In other news, Dave is coming through in the friends department. He secured us a date on Saturday night with another Dave- this one's from California and is studying in the pediatric dentistry program. His girlfriend lives out of town, so that's a perfect setup for us! If you've noticed how we roll, you know that our two best friends in Indy and Chicago have been Bart Labeda and Jeff Jamison, and they both lived near us while their girlfriends (now wives, in Bart's case!) lived a few hours away. It seems to work well for us- Dave gets his male buddy to pal around with, and I get someone to cook for, remind of haircuts, and basically look after. Everyone wins!

Feeling better

Ok, I'm over my Cubs-induced misery and ready to blog again. I've taken the hermit route since Saturday's shellacking- lots of reading and watching of Soprano's reruns. Dave and I are home for the next two weekends, and the word on the street (from forecasters, who we all know are huge liars) is that a cold front is on its way to our hellish metropolis. I hope it comes soon, because I can think of nothing but sweaters, boots and making stew for dinner.

But Laura, you say! You have a lifetime of suffering in the frozen tundra of South Bend ahead of you! Enjoy the heat while you can, for this is your last chance.... I don't care. I'm hot and sweaty, and my hair looks bad. Dave is even worse off- I fear that he will dehydrate and waste away to nothing in this nasty weather. We want fall, ASAP!

Cubs drinking game

Special thanks to Bart and Mollie for posting this on their blog. I'm now going to share it with all of you. This is taken from CNNSI.COM and their links. I do not agree w/ all of the following statements(especially about Old Style). If you plan to follow the game to the letter, I'd recommend doing it on a weekend :)

Required Supplies:

If I were a “real fan” I would tell you to pick up a case of Old Style because they’ve been a sponsor of the Cubs since the Korean War. Unfortunately, it tastes like liquid sawdust so screw it, I’m grabbing a case of Bud Light. After all, Harry was a Bud Man.

You’ll also want a bottle of something hard to fight that bubbly-stomach feeling when you have to pound 8 drinks in a minute

Take One Drink

• Any camera shot of a celebrity in the stands wearing Cubs gear
• The commentator mentions the Cubs haven’t won the series in 99 years
• TV cameras show a white “W” flag
• Wrigley field is described as any of the following: charming, historic, quaint, gorgeous, landmark, priceless, classic, vintage, iconic
• A sign in the crowd depicts the Cubs logo with some other word besides “Cubs”
• Drink at all mentions of goats, black cats, Bartman and curses
• A commentator mentions Carlos Zambrano’s contract extension
• Drink every time you feel an undeniable urge to punch Ernie Johnson in the face. In second thought, just drink once.

Take Two Drinks

• Lou Pinella goes crazy at the umpire
• Felix Pie enters the game as a pinch runner or defensive replacement
• Ron Santo is shown broadcasting the game from a nearby booth
• “It’s Gonna Happen” shirts are seen or mentioned by the broadcasters
• Announcers mention that Kerry Wood is frequently injured
• A shirtless fan is shown (double if it’s a lady!)
• The announcers mention that Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot were college teammates
• The White Sox 2005 championship is mentioned

Finish your Drink!

• Daryle Ward plays the field
• Daryle Ward advances past first base
• Someone explains Eamus Catuli
• Announcers mention Carlos Marmol is a converted catcher
• Carlos Zambrano punches someone
• A Cubs pitcher pinch hits

Enjoy!

Whirlwind week

I'm finally back in the Lou, so I'll catch ya'll up on the past several days. Cincinnati was great- we always have the best time with Bart and Mollie and their friends. We partied like we were back in Indy. We also went to an apple orchard with some of the best apple cider and apple butter you'll ever try.

I left Cinci on Sunday morning and headed to South Bend, where I planned to nurse Papa Gary back to health after his surgery. By the time I got there, I swear he was healthier than me. The man is walking without the aid of crutches or a cane, driving both cars and farm implements and just basically getting better super fast. Hooray!

Dave's been back here plugging away at school. Every week goes by so fast, he'll be done before we know it!

I just got back, so I'm going to take a nap and stay up late for the Cubs game tonight at 10 pm.

Go Cubs Go!!!!!!

The Pflums are on cloud nine. The boys stepped up and played like true big leaguers last night, clinching the division with a little help from Milwaukee's anemic offense. We're heading out to the game in just a bit, and it should be quite the jovial atmosphere.

Keep it up, Cubbies! Hit 'em where they ain't!

Oh sweet Cubbies...

Apparently the only folks who want to lose the division more than the Cubs are the Brewers....
We'll take it.

Cross your fingers

The Cubbies are making me very nervous. I know, I should spend my worries on the sorry state of US affairs in the world or other more worthy thoughts. And I do worry about these things. The Cubs make me realize that my worry is limitless and that deep down, it's not "just a game." It's a game that I've spent countless hours watching, one that I've devoted a decent portion of my life to obsessing over. A game that, for my team, never really ends well.

So now we're two games up with four games to go, and I'm just hoping that the boys can keep their eyes on the prize. Dave and I are going to Cincinnati this weekend, and we'll see the Cubs play the Reds on Saturday. Maybe we'll see them clinch the division, maybe we'll go home crying. Either way, I'll keep watching because I love these guys, and true love last a lifetime.

So send your good ju-ju to the Cubbies! They can use every bit of it.

Get better soon, Dad!

Well, my dad had his knee surgery today, and he's coming through it like a champ. Just a few short hours after the surgery, he's already feeling good and getting ready to heal. Cara's on her way there now, and I'll be going up there after she leaves Sunday. If I know Dad, he'll be ready for us to leave him alone by the time I come back.

Way to go, Dad! Keep up the good work.

Go Cubbies!!

Wow! The Cubs had a great 9th inning win last night against the Reds- Dave and I were so excited that we couldn't fall asleep. This is shaping up to be quite an interesting year. Cross your fingers!

BTW- We won all three games in volleyball on Friday. The pic (courtesy of our head cheerleader, Cara) is from our post game celebration.

Weekend again!

Happy New Year to the Jews in my life. In the spirit of the week, I'd like to use the blog to issue a blanket apology for all of my misdeeds during past year.... probably not what the rabbinical scholars had in mind, but it's a new age!

We've had a great week, complete with meeting some new friends. Cara's coming tonight for the weekend, so the fun continues.

So I have a topic that interests me to discuss. If there are any plastic surgeon readers, I could use your input now. Yesterday, Pamela Anderson was on the Ellen show. For those of you not interested in the Hollywood scene, a pic of Pam is attached here. Here's my question- are breast implants lighter in weight than regular breast tissue? If so, I can see how Pam can still walk with those enormous boobs. If not, she is a miracle of science and should be studied. Ladies, you've got to be with me on this one. We can barely carry around our C cups all day. What gives? BTW- it really disturbs me that this woman has the same moniker as my mother-in-law. But hey, I share my first name with Dr. Laura Schlessinger, my second least favorite woman behind Ann Coulter. These things happen.

I'm a bad blogger....

I have been remiss in my blogging recently, and I apologize for my laziness. Let's see... in the past couple of weeks, we have been pretty busy. We went to South Bend for Labor Day weekend, and had a great time with family and friends. We enjoyed the Notre Dame tailgating even though ND got whooped by Georgia Tech and we have no effective offense in the forseeable future. Navy, this could be the year to pull off your big upset.

Most of our days and nights have been consumed by watching and thinking about sports- namely baseball, football, and this week, tennis. Usually I'm pretty darn sick of watching the Cubbies by this point in the season and I can't wait for the misery to be over. This year, however, our boys are trying to hold onto a division lead that never seems to get beyond a half game. Scary stuff! So we've gotta watch every game we can and send all of our good ju-ju their way.

Tonight we have volleyball again- I may not have mentioned this recently, but our team is pretty good! Then tomorrow we're off to Bloomington to cheer on our friend Paul who is running in a mini-marathon there. I'm sure we'll take in some lunch at Nicks afterward, then Paul's coming back here with us to hang out. Such fun!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Awesome dinner

So tonight, in honor of Allie and Michael and their honeymoon in Hawaii, we had a tropical dinner. I guarantee that it was every bit as hot here as it is in Hawaii, so we got the full effect. I made the best marinade for the pork tenderloin that Dave made on the grill, so I have to share it. Truth be told, it isn't a Hawaiian marinade at all, more like a Cuban mojo. So here's the recipe:

1 head garlic, cloves peeled
juice of 3 oranges
juice of 3 limes
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Either with a knife or in the food processor, make garlic, salt and pepper into a paste. Add lime and orange juice and oregano. Heat oil over medium low heat on the stove for about 5 minutes, then take it off the heat and whisk in garlic mixture. Cool, then pour over meat and marinade for 3-8 hours.

You could use this over pork, chicken, beef or fish. Just don't marinade the fish for more than an hour or you'll end up with ceviche : )

So good....

A relaxing weekend

We had a great weekend. Friday we had volleyball (we lost, but played pretty well!), and Cara and Scott came to hang out for the night. We went out to a fun bar, had breakfast together in the morning and they went back to Indy. We saw the Simpsons movie last night- very funny, and today we've just been cleaning and hanging out in the park.

I can't wait for college football to start. I'm so glad that ND is on national television since we keep moving all over. Have a great week, everyone!

Allie's Married!!!

We just had a great weekend in South Bend, where I was matron of honor in my best friend Allison's wedding. There were many fun parties to attend and lots of dresses for me and suits for Dave to be worn. The pics are of Allie and me from Thursday night's party in her grandmother's garden, and of course the other is of Al before the wedding. She was an absolutely beautiful bride.

So a summary of the weekend's festivities. Thursday, which was also Dave's birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!- party at grandma's. Friday morning- bridesmaid's luncheon at the Summit Club. Friday day- manicures with the girls and ceremony rehearsal. Friday night- rehearsal dinner, at which I gave a speech with Whitney, Allie's sister and actually got laughs! Saturday morning- hair and makeup, pictures. Saturday day- wedding at the Nickle house. Saturday night- reception at Palais Royale. Sunday- Pip family reunion at my parents' house.

So after all of this we are a bit tired, and thinking of eating only salad and drinking only water from here on out. It was a great weekend, and now we sleep...

What a weekend!

Dave and I just had a great weekend in Nashville, TN with our good buddy Michael Carter. We stayed with his parents for one night, then went with them to their lake house for the rest of the weekend. It was a fantastic getaway, and we got to spend some quality time with Mike. And although we spent an entire day on a boat in some serious heat, we avoided sunburn by slathering ourselves with the highest SPF imaginable every 15 minutes!

We came back this morning since Dave's classes were cancelled, and now we're exhausted. All that lounging and sunning ourselves... tough life! The pic is our view from the lake house. It was beautiful.

Not much to say!

We've had a pretty boring week, so I haven't thought of anything to post... We've been hiding in the AC due to this week's oppressive heat. Many of you have called to see how Dad's doing, and I'm pleased to report that he's back at work and in good spirits, despite being stuck in a knee immobilizer and a sling to keep his collarbone steady. Unfortunately he did tear his ACL in the fall, but if Cara and Allie can heal from this, we know he can too.

On another note, I'm looking for some more work, so if anyone needs me to promote anything, that's what I do best! That's the only bad thing about being a PR person- very few people actually need you. That's why I think Dave, Dad, Cara and Scott made a good choice. We all need dental care!

I've been remiss in my posting of KY factoids lately-- but I'm back!
Located within the southeastern interior portion of North America, Kentucky has a climate described as humid subtropical (indicating that all monthly average temperatures are above freezing). Monthly average temperatures in Kentucky range from a high in the high 80's and low 90's, to a low in the high 30's to low 40's and averages 46 inches of precipitation a year.

Sorry to my South Bend peeps for that post- I know our weather will make you jealous this winter : ) Course it was 102 degrees here yesterday, so you take the good and the bad!

Interesting weekend

We had a great start to our weekend in Lafayette/Indy. We first went to Lafayette Friday night and had a nice evening with Pam, Keith and Sarah, who we don't get to see enough! Then Saturday came Grandma Harriett's 90th birthday party, and lots of family came in for the festivities. It was great to see everyone!

Then we were on to Indy, to celebrate Cara and Mom's birthdays. Cara got a Nintendo Wii from Mom and Dad (note pics of her and Scott playing), and she's thrilled. Dave and I have one too, so now we can have sibling rivalry despite the distance.

Unfortunately our weekend took a turn for the worse when Papa Pip had quite a spill (about 6 feet) from some scaffolding while working on the cabin Sunday evening. He won a trip in an ambulance, a few hours in the emergency room, a broken collarbone (3rd time's a charm!) and a currently undiagnosed knee injury that is worrying us the most. Please keep him in your thoughts- he's one of the most active guys we know, and we want to see him back on his feet ASAP before he goes stir-crazy.

Feel better soon, Dad!

Happy Birthday Mama!!!

Today is Mama Charlee's birthday, and she's having a good one so far. We're going to have a joint Cara/Mom celebration this weekend when we're all in Indy- should be a good time!

In leiu of a Kentucky fact today, I have a Mama's birthday fact. Mama Charlee shares her birthday with Martha Stewart, Martin Sheen, Tony Bennett and Tom Brady. I would have done this for Cara as well, but the only interesting person she shares with is Judge Lance Ito....

Have a happy, happy birthday Mom!!

Happy Birthday Cara!!!

Cara's having a great birthday so far. We just got off the phone, and she's already gotten flowers and other goodies from Scott, and we're looking forward to seeing her on Saturday evening to celebrate.

Have a good one, sis!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Dave and I joined our friends Omar and Erin and some of their buddies for a Louisville Bats ballgame last night, and we had a great time! It's hotter than Hades down here, but we tried to stay cool and cheer on the team. Unfortunately, the Bats lost in the 9th to the Charlotte Knights, but we were pleased to see that our Cubbies pulled off yet another terrific win last night. The new cell phone is key- I could track the major league scores while watching the game in front of me. Technology rocks!

An open letter to the man driving the scary white van

Dear Man with the Scary White, Windowless Van:

Would you like to cut me off while driving on Brownsboro Road? Sure you would! Turn signal hand broken? Of course it is! See if I care, buddy- I'm too strong to be upset by your carefree and dangerous driving... my horn is reserved for emergencies only!

Take care out there on the road,
Laura

Dave's back

After a great weekend of tooth learnin' in St. Louis, Dave came back smarter than ever. He was happy to see Paul Ley, his buddy from dental school, who also attended the conference. Now he's reading a seemingly endless book of journal articles for tomorrow's Q&A at school. I cleaned the house from top to bottom today, and although I doubt the cleanliness will last long, I'm especially proud of the state of my kitchen. Perhaps I'll turn that into a monthly update- The State of the Kitchen....

Today's fact- Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind Texas' 254 and Georgia's 159. The original motivation for having so many counties was to ensure that residents in the days of poor roads and horseback travel could make a round trip from their home to the county seat and back in a single day. Later, however, politics began to play a part, with citizens who disagreed with the present county government simply petitioned the state to create a new county. The 1891 Kentucky Constitution placed stricter limits on the creation of counties, and we've held steady ever since.

Volleyball!

The reason you will not be seeing any pictures from last night's volleyball game is that it rained off and on the whole time and we looked ridiculous. Long story short- Jennie, James and I arrived at the game a couple hours early so we could kill the nerves with a couple of beers. We ran into a guy that James knows who was supposed to play right away and didn't have a complete team, so we offered to play with his team. So we played two full games of volleyball, which was a bit exhausting. Sadly, we lost both games, but we definitely have potential for greatness.

At some point in the game, I decided that the only way to please the Volleyball Gods was to sacrifice something- my body, namely. So I dove for the ball at every opportunity, landing once about two inches from complete splits- pretty impressive for my shorty soccer legs!

Today I am tired and sore, but feeling good about my performance. Jennie and I went to see the movie version of Hairspray, and it was fantastic! Now I'm going to settle in for a Cubs game and an early night. Hopefully I'll be able to walk a little easier tomorrow!

Oh, the dinner...

Last night our friends Jennie and James made a true southern feast for Dave, Brandi and me, as well as Krista and Jill, friends from college. They made: fried green tomatoes, salad, hot brown sandwiches, collard greens, and derby pie. It's a miracle we survived the night- the food was delicious, but certainly the kind that clogs the arteries.

I would like to focus on the hot brown and the derby pie, two things I'd never had before last night. The hot brown is Louisville's food contribution to society. It's the thing that you can only find here, and it was created at the Brown Hotel here many years ago. It's an open faced sandwich that it made of texas toast, deli turkey, melted cheddar cheese, a white sauce (like bechamel, but with cheese mixed in), tomatoes, and of course, bacon on top. As I told Jennie last night, if loving the hot brown is wrong, I don't want to be right.

The derby pie is fantastic, ooey gooey deliciousness. And Jennie gave me the recipe, and now I'll share with you:
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pie shell from the store

Mix all the ingredients, dump in pie shell, and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It was the greatest.... Tonight, I'm going to play volleyball to work some of this meal off. Dave's in St. Louis, so if anyone wants to visit me, now's the time!

We need friends!

I've come to a realization. Dave and I are turning into losers with hardly any friends. We are thrilled to have Jennie here, and she's great to hang out with, but the poor dear has a life and can't possibly hang out with us every day. So we need to make more friends together, and I need to find people to meet for lunch during the day, because it's hard to lunch alone while working from home!

So I've been pondering some ideas- I think I'll start going to Louisville Young Democrats meetings and see if we can sign up to do some volunteer work for them. They're surely a rowdy bunch. And we've joined a beach volleyball league, so we should meet some people there. Clarification: by beach, I mean some sand that they put in the beer garden at a bar. We play volleyball, and the drunk people sit above and laugh at us. I hope they don't throw bottles!

So if anyone out there knows of friends for us in the area, please lemme know. We're pretty easy to hang with. And we know things about Kentucky! For instance, Kentucky has the nation's most productive coalfield. Between that and the bourbon, we're really serving America's health...

Fact o' the day

We had another great dinner with Brandi tonight, followed up with some Singing Bee. If you haven't yet checked out that show, you should... you can sing along with the fools who don't know the words!

Today's fact- Kentucky is home to the world's longest cave system. We'll have to go see some of those soon.

Brandi's here!

Our dear friend Brandi is here from Indianapolis for the week. She's here for some work training, and is staying just a few miles from here. We're so lucky to have a buddy to keep us company all week, and we had a great time with her tonight.

In other news, I got a new cell phone today, which was free because I was due through my plan. It looks like the photo, except it's bright orange, and it opens to become a keypad that you can use to e-mail. And there's a cool camera! I have to say, it's pretty cool, and I've been messing with it all night. Dave's just glad that my ringtone is no longer Blondie's "Call Me"- although I'm sure he'll get sick of the Copacabana soon...

Factoid- Kentucky is the 37th largest state in land area and 26th in population.

We're back....

We had a great time in Cincinnati- Mollie and Bart were excellent hosts, and we got to hang out with lots of buddies we met at their wedding. We went out Friday night and had a great cookout last night at the house. It is great to live so close! The trip down there from Chicago, as you can imagine, was less than pleasant.

Here are a couple pics from our trip- the first one is of Danielle, Julie, Mollie and me from our night out, the second is of Dave with Bart and Mollie when we arrived .

Here's the factoid of the weekend- While the origin of Kentucky's name has never been definitively identified, it likely came from an Iroquoian word for "meadow" or "prairie."

We're off to Cincinnati

Dave and I are going to Cincinnati this weekend to visit our awesome friends Mollie and Bart. We're very excited, and I promise lots of pics when we get back. But for now, a few pics from our last visit with these two hooligans... As you can see, the boys like to make silly faces when they're together!

Pukin' Rally!!!

So, today Dave and I had a very adult moment. We were sick of our nasty carpets, so we had Stanley Steamer come and clean them for the low, low price of $84. Sylvester, however, decided that the carpets were a bit too clean, and decided to vomit on them. Twice. Our expense was all for naught...

Today's factoid: Kentucky has the highest per capita number of deer and turkey in the US.

Today's factoid

Brandi suggested that I expound on yesterday's fact. Some info about commonwealths: The difference between commonwealths and the other states is in name alone -- they elected to call themselves commonwealths, a term drawn from political theory. There is no legal difference, however, between the two. There are four commonwealths in the US: Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

So basically they want to be different for the sake of being different. So there!

Little Cabin in the Woods...

Little man by the window stood. Saw a rabbit hopping by, knocking at my door.... Remember that song from camp? Well, my brother Craig and Dad are building Mom's dream- an addition to the Pip family compound. Before you know it, we'll all be living there, stockpiling ammo and drinking Kool-Aid.

Really though, the cabin has come along quite quickly, and while I'm sure it's strange for Dad to have Craig (who's a contractor) as the boss of him, it looks great and they're having lots of man bonding.

Dave and I can't wait to go home to see this puppy. Great job, guys!

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!

So, it's my sister Sarah's 28th birthday today, and we wanted to wish a big happy birthday to her! Pictured is not my sister, but rather another Sarah Whaley that came up on Google. Since I didn't have a picture of my own, I figured that this was the next best thing!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Pray for Rain

I don't own a lawn or any livestock, but I'm hoping it rains so that Jennie can skip softball and have dinner with us. For those of you who don't know Jennie, here's a pic. She holds the esteemed position of being our only friend in L-ville, and therefore the person we bother most on Earth these days. I know, Mom, you think we bother you a lot, but you're a close second to Jennie! As you can see, Jennie likes beer, and so we were fast friends.

Anyway, I'm gonna go outside and do my rain dance. I've also decided to post a daily factoid about Kentucky for you yankees. Today's fact: Kentucky is not a proper state. It's a commonwealth, and it joined the Union in 1792.

Update on kitty mutiny

Earl has crossed the picket line! Here he is, climbing all over me as usual. I'm glad to have Earl's company, but Sylvester is now extra grouchy that his buddy has jumped ship. We're having tuna steaks for dinner- I'm betting that a few leftovers will go a long way back into his heart.

I'm a bad mother...

So the cats have only been here for a couple of days, and things have been going great. Until this morning. I got back from the gym at about 8:30 am, and while I was pouring my cereal Sylvester crept up behind me and I stepped back, right on his little kitty foot. I didn't get him hard enough to hurt his paw, but his feelings are damaged irreparably. He yelped and went straight under the bed in the guest room. He persuaded Earl to join him, and there they still sit, 4 1/2 hours later.

I've begged, pleaded, demanded, cajoled and threatened, but they appear to be protesting my cruel ways. I'm sure when Dave gets home they'll shower him with kisses and tell him all about me...

The Kitties Are Here

We were so pleased to spend time with Pam and Keith (Mom and Dad Pflum) this weekend. They came yesterday, bringing lots of goodies in the van, including our two long-lost felines, Sylvester and Earl. For those of you who don't know the drama, the little darlings weren't welcome by management in our Chicago apartment, so P&K stepped up and housed them for more than a year. This left them with a total of 5 cats and their little energetic bundle of joy, puppy Daisy. Despite being labled by neighbors and friends alike as "Crazy Cat People," they took care of the boys like loving surrogate parents. Thanks Pam and Keith!

So the kitties seem to be adjusting well, though we're sure they miss their animal and human buddies in Lafayette. We had a great time with Pam and Keith, playing some serious late night Wii and cooking beer can chicken on the grill. We were sad to see them go this morning.

Tonight we're going to see Harry Potter. Dave continues to allow me to drag him to these films, despite his general lack of interest. The things we do for love...

Enjoy what's left of your weekend, everyone. Think good thoughts for my friend Kristin, who is about to burst with her second baby and feeling a bit uncomfortable. Hang in there, Kris!

A Birthday Poem For Uncle Ron

You are the greatest Uncle
To us you're number one
So on your big, big birthday
We wish you lots of fun!

Ok, so I'm not a poet. But we'd really like to wish Uncle happy birthday many times. 70 times, to be exact...

We HATE the dog next door!!!

An open letter to the lady who lives next door...

Dear Lady Who Live Next Door:

I know that you enjoy your enormous, scary dog, but some of us have concerns. Your dog is really, really loud. So loud that it would probably bother you, but you're fortunate enough to go to work during the day. You can't hear your noisy dog throughout the afternoon while it barks at every passing car and every person who walks by. But I CAN hear your dog. Sometimes I'm downstairs working and I hear what sounds like a loud knocking on my door. I go to see if it's the UPS guy, but no! It's your stupid dog!

We have lived through the worst neighbors ever in Chicago. We had a neighbor whose alarm clock played the Nutcracker Suite every morning. We could hear it at 6 am, but he didn't seem to hear it till at least 7:30, at which point we were wide awake, knocking and swearing. That same neighbor had an infant and a 2 year old that cried at different times, pretty much covering all of the night and day.

But nothing, Lady Who Lives Next Door, is more annoying than your dog! Because we know that if we walk outside while you are taking out the dog, it will likely bark and thrust at us as though it wants to kill us as much as we want to kill it. I spend a good deal of time thinking of ways to knock off your dog without being caught. I would recommend that you send your dog to doggie day care before I get out of control.

Sincerely,
Laura and Dave (We hate your dog!!!)

Here's our blog!!!

Welcome! Dave and I are all settled in down here, and while we miss all our friends and family, we're having a great time. Note the pic of us in front of the giant Louisville Slugger. Some quick observations about the town we now call home:

• People don't use their turn signals. That's annoying, but they're also unlikely to run you off the road with rage.
• Southerners call us "honey" and "sweetie" with alarming frequency, never noting that we're not that sweet.
• The food here will kill you quickly, but it seems like a great way to die. Some examples of the things we've seen since we got here are: cheddar grits, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuits and gravy, fried green tomatoes, fried dill pickle chips, black eyed peas, burgoo (a Southern specialty made of roadkill), and a one and a quarter pound burger.

We're going to a reception for Dave's new classmates tonight. Hopefully they'll serve beer and let us take their pictures, because we need to post visual references!