It was quite a race today! My early pick was High Limit. I thought he would improve off of his terrible Derby finish with a smaller field and the addition of blinkers. He did, finishing fourth behind Giacomo. Giacomo showed that, while he is talented, the Derby win may have been due to a perfect trip.
The story, however, was with Afleet Alex, the betting favorite. A horse called Scrappy T was in the lead turning into the stretch when Alex started to make his move. At that exact moment, Scrappy T's jockey gave him a smack with a left-handed whip. Obviously surprised, Scrappy T veered right and crossed right into Afleet Alex. Alex's knees hit the dirt and both jockeys almost came off. Would have been a tremendous disaster. Jeremy Rose, the jockey, hung on and, somehow, Alex got up and kept running. He passed Scrappy T and won going away. Amazing!!
We've had two fabulous races, so far. I can't wait for the Belmont.
I've been home, sick, almost all week. I left work Monday with a dry throat that I thought would go away after my workout and dinner. But I woke up Tuesday morning feeling like I had swallowed a porcupine whole. I also had, what felt like a sinus headache and just didn't feel up to doing much. So I hung out on the couch and watched daytime television. I hate getting sick. It's particular annoying when you live alone. There's no one else to do the stuff that needs to be done. The dog still needs to go for her walk even when I have a fever, chills and feel like curling up and dying.
Speaking of the dog. On Sunday evening, I discovered that she had broke a tooth. Right at the gumline. One of the little teeth between her two canines. Not sure how she did it. She did have sores on her muzzle a couple of weeks ago that may have been due to doing a faceplant into something. Perhaps she cracked the tooth then and it came out some time in the last week. Anyway, she is at the vet's today for a dental treatment and extraction. I miss her :-( And now she will have a gap-toothed smile.
If you check the ticker at the bottom, I have finally got below 150lbs! The scale has actually read 148 on a few occasions, but I'm trying to only use one weight a week to gauge my progress. I have found that my actual weight goes up and down by as much as 6 pounds during the week, sometimes in one day (a really good reason not to weigh yourself too often if you get easily discouraged). I also haven't been to the gym since Monday due to my illness. No running and I missed my strength training class Wednesday. I'm getting kind of antsy. I was originally planning a 5k this weekend, but I don't think I'm up to it. Fortunately, I still have plenty of time to get ready for Colorado in June. Depending on how my running goes, I may sneak a race in on the first weekend of June. I have to see how I feel and check the local running calendar.
What a fantastic Derby! Anyone who bet the winner is now a lot richer than they were. I didn't have a real pick for the race, but was pleased that the race was such a contest. Shannon was leaning toward Greater Good, as he has epilepsy, so she had something in common with him.
I'm a big horseracing fan from way back. The first race that I can recall is the 1973 Kentucky Derby where my horse won (Secretariat) and I got a quarter from my Dad. Belmont and Aqueduct are nearby and I have photos of my sister and me at the track when we were kids. I was one of those horsecrazy girls, and living in NYC, the closest I could get to a horse was at the racetrack. I go to Belmont a few times each meet just to admire the horses and soak up the atmosphere. I don't usually bet when I go by myself, and only make small bets when I go with other people. My two big fantasies have always been to either ride for the United States Equestrian Team in the Olympics or to be involved in racing. Neither are ever likely to happen, but a girl can dream.
This past weekend was Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, New Hampshire. I attended for the first time this year. It was a fun time. This was the first time that I have attended one of the smaller needlework events - my only previous events have been the big ones such as Spirit and CATS.
I drove up on Thursday with Chelly. We had decided to take our time going and also to stop at Thistle Needleworks on the way up. I managed to keep to my diet at lunch, with a McDonalds grilled chicken Caesar salad, but it pretty much went out the window after that :-) Not much shopping was done at Thistle, as we realized that after so many years we both have seen almost everything out there. Unless I'm trying to get together the supplies for a new project, I usually only check out the new stuff. I'm also not a mad stasher and don't acquire entire lines of fibers, picking up only what I need for the near future. I still managed to pick up a couple of charts by designers that were new to me.
We arrived at the hotel around dinner time, so after we checked in, we headed down to the restaurant. There, we bumped into fellow MetroStitcher, Carol, and her friend, Alda. After sharing a pleasant meal, we headed back up to the room to catch up on some sleep to be ready for the weekend.
Friday morning, we both got up and worked out. I did two miles on the treadmill and some lower leg work on the machines. After a shower and a fortifying breakfast, it was off to the merchant room. I did some minor damage picking up a number of doggie related charts and the specialty threads needed for them. I also got a chart of a bunny in a rose garden by a New Hampshire designer, Donna Bayliss. Her designs are marketed under By the Bay needleworks and were a big hit at the festival. She doesn't have a web presence and I was unable to find them anywhere on the internet. This is someone to keep an eye out for.
Since neither of us had any classes during the day, Chelly and I decided to head out to do some sightseeing. After some creative driving (we got lost) we ended up in Lowell, Massachussetts. There were a number of textile related museums in the town which we wanted to see. The town has a restored trolley that runs between some of the major tourist attractions. This was fantastic. The trolley actually runs on electric wires and tracks. The trolley had wicker seats, real straps and train advertising from the turn of the 19th century. Chelly checking out the trolley.
After playing on the trolley for a while, we checked out the American Textile History Museum. They were preparing for a special exhibit on batiks that opens this month, but we were able to see the main collection. It was amazing to see the work that goes into creating cotton and linen fabrics, especially before the advent of big machinery. This museum is worth a visit if you are in the area.
We also stopped in at the New England Quilt Museum which was having an exhibit on quilts utilizing batik fabrics. These were primarily modern quilts and were beautiful pieces of art. On the way home, we stopped at the Nashua Mall to check out the LL Bean factory outlet where I actually bought a pair of size 14 hiking shorts! Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant where we both totally pigged out. This was a mistake as my stomach revolted and I spent the rest of the weekend with bad heartburn and acid reflux. I have had GI problems for years, but it has been a lot better since I started losing weight. I was seriously punished for falling off of the wagon of healthy eating.
Friday night was a Round Robin event at Celebration. We received four small projects from four different designers. All the projects were lovely and the designers put a lot of thought into the presentation.
Saturday was the only class I took - Mary Queen of Scots sampler with Betsy Stinner. Betsy designs wonderful samplers in silks and her classes are loaded with the history associated with the subject of the sampler. I also like that she uses a small preface piece to teach the stitches rather than a doodle cloth. Even us slow stitchers get to leave the class with a half completed project.
Saturday night, Celebration had a Dessert and Silent Auction which raised money for breast cancer. The sweets were great and prizes were given out to every stitcher who attended. The MetroStitchers did their part in the auction, spending approximately $1500 on the donated goodies.
I'm definitely considering attending again next year. It was a pleasant weekend and a fun festival. My diet suffered a bit. I didn't lose anything last week, but I didn't gain, either. So I would consider that a success.
Name: DebbieJRT Home: Bellerose, New York, United States About Me: crotchety cross stitcher, trying to channel my inner athlete See my complete profile
