a short post tonight

Bark in the Park, October 2007
Chesapeake, VA

I'm not feeling so great (again) today, so I thought I'd post this picture of the family at Bark in the Park. You can't tell from our choice of clothing, but this was an extremely hot day at the beginning of October. There are dozens of booths set up at the event --- shelters have booths with a few of their adoptable dogs on hand to play and potentially be adopted, groomers schedule appointments fo hair and nail trims throughout the day, pet-sitters offer business cards and take-home bags with treats and other goodies, etc. There are also a few events taking place, like a costume contest and a Bark-a-'Lympics. We had planned to spend most of that Saturday afternoon hanging out at the park, but the furry kids got a bit hot after only an hour, so it was a pretty brief outing! Luckily, we found this booth with the picture taking before they started panting too badly! ;)

I've been relaxing in bed for most of the evening, chatting with friends, watching Mike play a pretty interesting video game called "Kingdom Hearts" and petting the dogs who are laying with me. I've also done a bit of work on some sponsorship/partnership benefits for some upcoming events, which is actually not too stressful and a bit enjoyable. This weekend looks to be full of fun, so I'm hoping the headache I've had all day goes away overnight as a result of a good dinner and relaxation.

Tomorrow night we're eating out in support of the Art Center, at a hip and relatively new restaurant in Virginia Beach. The menu has a lot of items I've never tried, and while they're expensive and I typically rule in favor of ordering something I know I'll like, I might take a venture on something different. Like duck or oysters? Hmm. We'll see! http://www.eatbistro.com/

Saturday morning is the Habitat Hustle, a walk in the Great Dismal Swamp (much cooler than the name implies) that benefits our local chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Last year we took Molly with us and made it maybe a mile before she got tired and we turned around. This year, she's older and loves to take walks. We don't plan on taking the full 9 mile hike (18 miles round trip), but are hoping to make it quite a bit further. Fozzie will undoubtedly have a great time, running after birds, squirrels, dogs and other people. It should be quite entertaining!

Saturday night we're getting together with a group of friends for dinner and games. We do this about once or twice a month at a different house each time. I'm in charge of making dessert (my favorite of the three options - appetizer and entree being the others) and I think I may attempt a new pumpkin cheesecake recipe. I haven't found the exact recipe yet, but given the time of year I don't think it will be too difficult. And who doesn't like pumpkin in November? ;)

Sunday = football game of the century, according to ESPN anyhow. The Colts match-up against the Patriots in what sports fans and announcers have claimed to be the best regular-season showdown in history. Both are undefeated and have a heated rivalry. For years, the Patriots beat the Colts -- regardless of where the game was held. But that's all changed in the past year, and now the Colts have former Patriots kicking-star Vinatieri on their side. Many of the Patriots wins came at the end of the 4th quarter with a field goal off his foot --- I would love to see this game end in similar fashion, favor the Colts. The fact that the Colts are last year's Super Bowl champs and that the Patriots have scored at least 34 points in every game until now just adds to the fury. I'd give almost ANYTHING to live in Indy this weekend.

Other than that, we'll enjoy cozying up in bed, watching a few movies (maybe? we've had them forever) and playing with the dogs. Mike is on duty this weekend, so there is a chance he may be working at some point any of these days. I've really got my fingers crossed that this weekend is different than his last duty weekend, so that we are able to enjoy our plans together. It's far from the relaxing weekend we could use, but I think all of the fun will be just as good for us.

And as for my not feeling good, I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning. I'm really hoping to figure out what to do about my near constant headaches and feeling of fatigue.I'm not sure I've ever been more anxious for a doctor's visit; I'm tired of feeling crummy all the time. I'll keep you posted on the details.

on a final note: this post is not nearly as short as I'd intended. In fact, it's really not short at all!!! Sorry for a bit of false advertising ;)