a little post about WEG -- the Endurance Race

This morning's newspaper had a nice article about the 100 mile endurance race.  Apparently, only about 40% of the participants have finished the race in previous World Championships.  They are hoping that 50% finish it this year.  And, I also heard that the Sheik (i.e. King) of Dubai is on his country's team.  You can't really watch any of the event though because the route goes through people's farms,

Endurance sounds so cool to me.  I'm thinking like the movie Hidalgo cool except without the horses dying.  When I was a kid, riding horses out on Delong Road, I used to like to pretend that I was endurance rider...or a pony express rider.  Sometimes, I'd ride my horse down to the mailbox and pick up the mail for my mom.

Oh...and this is apparently true, a man called the Altech WEG people to ask how he could enter his horse for the Endurance Race.  Too funny.

Glee!

There's only about a hundred things I wanted to post about this morning, what with the World Equestrian games opening FRIDAY and my intention was to have a horse theme all week!!! But for today's excitement, could anything top Glee?!?  Seriously, we've been addicted from the start.  Never missed an episode.  We are, in fact, "Gleeks".  My very favorite part of Glee doesn't have anything to do with the show though.  My favorite part is that our whole darn family, even the Will-meister, joins in on the fun.  He'd prefer less singing in contrast to Marc who wants more singing.  Mary Rollins and I want more Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel (and perhaps a time machine so we could go back to see the original Wicked on Broadway with them in it).   Hooray, I can hardly wait until 8 p.m.

And tune back in tomorrow for what today's post was really going to be about...how I met Tim Gunn yesterday.  Okay, really Isabug met Tim Gunn but she nicely photoshopped my head onto her body :-)

circa 1968...

Not that horse isn't always the theme in Lexington -- self-proclaimed "Horse Capital of the World"--but in honor of the World Equestrian Games, I thought I'd post a picture of my own early days on horseback.

That's Miss Iowa Stonewall (aka  Nicky), my oldest sister Cindy's horse whom my other sister Lynda will tell you was the better horse (Cindy always got the best stuff  per Lynda-- but I believe in trade Lynda had TWO horses.)  I ended up with all THREE horses plus Vega, a Shetland pony with a really bad temper and a lazy streak, at the tender age of 8 when my sisters got married and my older brothers decided horses were too much work.

Nicky really was the better horse. She was the kind of horse that when you fell off she'd come back over to nudge you with her nose to make sure you hadn't died.  Cheyne (her daughter) was the kind of horse that threw you off because she thought it would be fun to kill you.  Playboy (her son) was the kind of horse that thought he was a dog.

And Vega...I wonder if anybody bothered to take a picture of her.  As I mentioned, she was a Shetland Pony.  If you've ever had a Shetland Pony, it probably speaks for itself.  If you haven't had a Shetland Pony, you're lucky.    

Almost as much fun as being a mom...

Is being the Auntie G.  I hereby publicly declare that I have the bestest nieces in the world. 

As example, I give you the marvelous Isabelle (a.k.a. Isabug) who is best known on the internet for her fabulous blog Isabelle+David -- the story of a lovely South Carolina Island girl who is navigating life in the publishing world of New York whilst living in her miniscule Brooklyn apartment with her soon-to-be-famous musician husband David Linaburg and their talkative cat Charlie (why is that cat named after her grandfather, uncle and cousin, btw?).  

P.S. sending books is a great way to achieve favored niece/cousin status!  We can't wait to see you next weekend xoxoxo

The horses are coming!

Crazy Quilt

And some of them are already here!  It's only 9!!! days until the world descends upon Lexington.  Well, the horse world anyway but a whole bunch of pretty horses are already standing around town.

Horse Mania 2010, or Horse Mania the sequel is pretty darn cool.  We've been taking lots of pictures of some of our favs and planning a tour around town for all of our visitors.  I'm thinking we should bike to them since I don't have a horse anymore...then we don't have to worry about parking!

So many of the horses you'll really want to get up next to in order to fully appreciate their craftsmanship.  Horse to the left "In the Sky with Diamonds" was created by my friend Janice V's sister.  It's made using a technique she calls crash glass and is absolutely stunning -- the photo doesn't begin to do it justice.

A bit of a change up...

You might have noticed that I changed up the blog a little bit. Okay, maybe you haven't noticed because you're here for the first time but I've decided to fully embrace the fact that blogging/writing about real estate is boring. It bores me and clearly from comments (and lack of comments) I received from other people that reading about real estate bored them too. After all, if you REALLY want to read about real estate you can just pick up the newspaper (and get depressed), turn on the news (and get even more depressed) or watch HGTV (I'm going to save my comments and thoughts about HGTV for another post).


Don't think that means I'm not interested in real estate. I am. I still want to sell your house and I still want to help you buy a new one. I pay attention to market trends, I like talking about how best to stage a house, Ilove my clients and closings are really cool (Marc says they're the best part and I do like the shoes, clothes, ballet lessons, lacrosse sticks and food provided from the income) but I'm pretty sure that there are better sources for information about current market trends and how to stage your house. In fact, that would be my other website (Or, be a friend of Bluegrass Sotheby's International Realty on Facebook -- Kelley and Riley in our office post all that great stuff up there all the time.)

So, unless it's really pertinent real estate info that you won't find anywhere else or a really funny real estate story like the time I showed the house that had the Tyrannosaurus Rex mounted head, you won't find it here. From here on out, At Home in the Bluegrass is really about being at home in the Bluegrass (or about being at home in my minivan).

The weird dream I had last night...

So, last night I had this crazy dream that did NOT include bicycles.  In my dream, I was 44 years old (hmmm...seemed pretty realistic) but was living in an attic apartment in New York.  My apartment was quite small and, in fact, it was so small that I couldn't stand full upright in it.  I had to hunch over because the roof came in at an angle and even at the highest peak I couldn't quite hold myself up straight.  Suddenly, in my dream I realized that I was living in New York, I was single with no children, had a really lame job that contributed nothing to the betterment of the world and I hadn't been to any cool parties with even a B-list celebrity.  

About that time the crickets in my iPhone started chirping that it was time to get up and start the day and I awoke with the realization that as un-cool as it is to live in your home town, go to the same church you've been at your whole life (thanks for pointing that out, Elizabeth C.), my life is really fun, rewarding and full of great adventures and very special people.  I'm certain I would have cried if you'd told me 20 years ago, I'd grow up to be a Realtor living in Lexington but I can honestly say it's all pretty darn good.

Uh-oh...more later...have to go drive a girl to ballet and pick a boy up from golf. 

6 Friends Cafe

I just had the best lunch.  It was so good that I can't wait to tell you about.  I can't wait to go to lunch with you there again. 

A couple of weeks ago I was taking a little drive down Woodland Avenue next to Woodland Park (the one with the pirate ship pool and the skate park, you non-Lexingtonians) AND voila! there's a new little cafe opened up in one of the old Victorian homes along that stretch.  It's so cute with tables on the covered front porch and on the patio in front.  Word on the street is that it was opened by two friends (but they have some other friends, hence the six in the name) and they are serving up the nicest little crepes and paninis.  And, what I mean when I say "nice" is delicious combinations of meat and cheeses and spreads and stuffs like kalmata olives, pine nuts, pesto, gouda cheese, bacon, pear, apple.  Ooo la la and the sweet crepes?!?  Chocolate, coconut, hazel nut, more fruits, yummy yummy.  I barely looked at that side of the menu though as I was too entranced by the savory flavors.  But wait, there's more!! if you clean your plate they have a whole case of gelato.  Vibrantly colored purple and pink and chocolaty gelatos.  Oh my, I'm going back (on my bicycle next time) for gelato!!  What a little jewel of a spot.  All of the crepes and sandwiches are named for friends, par example, I had the Alexis crepes (grilled chicken, feta, kalmata olives) but was very tempted by the Lilly Panini but don't ask me what was on that.  All the meals come with those yummy Mrs. Vickers chips in great flavors like sea salt and vinegar -- now those are chips that are with the calories. 

Okay, who wants to go to lunch with me tomorrow???

Legacy Trail...Again with the biking...And WEG

Lexington's new Legacy Trail officially opens Sunday, September 12.  This is just the first two phases as the third phase linking the Northwest side with the Downtown East End has yet to be built but at the completion of the full trail  you'll be able to ride or walk 12 miles from the east end of downtown's new Isaac Murphy Memorial Garden -- think almost Bell Court area if you don't know what I'm talking about -- all the way to the Kentucky Horse Park.  For WEG, this means by the time the fun begins, you'll be able to bike to the Horse Park and park your bike for free as opposed to the $20 per car fee to park next to the horse park.   

written last Friday but only posted this morning...

I feel a little ill this morning.  Maybe more than a little ill.  I've been feeling this way since August 11 when I dropped off Mary Rollins at high school.  Actually, I think this has been coming on since the last day of eighth grade.  All in all, I think I've been pretty accepting of my children growing up -- I was only a little misty on the first day of kindergarten and slightly nostalgic as she went off to middle school.  I've always said I like me children more and more as they've grown up but I confess that high school has thrown me for more of a loop than I ever expected. 

I've been trying to narrow down the root of my angst and I think it started when she came home from orientation to tell me she only knew about 3 or 4 kids at most in each of her classes which doesn't seem possible since half of her middle school transitioned to Henry Clay.  Of course, I guess that's only about a quarter of her freshman class so I shouldn't have been surprised, but still I had this idea that she'd be with all of her sweet little friends that she's known since I dropped her off last week at kindergarten whose parents I know and who I used to read with in 2nd grade and I was their homeroom mom...

Or, maybe it was looking at the boys soccer team players who looked decidedly like a men's soccer team as they were practicing that stressed me out. 

It could have been yesterday's comment, "you know those boys I walk past on the steps into school in the morning, Mom?  They're all smoking."  Snappy mom, said back "Did you tell them it's bad for them."  Quick-witted girl says, "I will tomorrow.  Maybe I should take them my DARE hand-outs.."

Maybe you should funny girl. 

But, I digress.

Monday she told me about the fight in school along with the Language Arts class lesson on why it's bad to kill yourself.

Or, her friend's story last week about sitting next to a girl in Debate class he thought was just on the heavy side until she grabbed her stomach and said, "Oooh, it kicked!"

Or, today in the drop-off line, looking over at the 17-year old boy/man in the BMW SUV next to me wearing his football jersey, needing a shave, checking out those three cute freshman girls walking past the smoker-boys.

I guess this is the time where as a parent you hope you've done the right things or at least packed some of the right stuff in the baggage they carry through life.  For today though, today's one more day that she doesn't have a boyfriend, that she loves school, and is thinking that it would be fun to have an American Girl Doll tea party with her friends to relive the good old days.  Maybe I'm starting to feel a little better after all. 

Facts & Oberservations about Lexington

Fact Number 1:  It is officially only 30 days until the start of the World Equestrian Games.  If you don't live here, that probably doesn't seem like a big deal (actually I live here and while I hate to say it I'm not sure it seems like a big deal). 

Fact Number 2:  The Wall Street Journal had an article on the best and worst markets to invest in real estate.  Lexington was ranked as number 5 on the BEST markets.  Pretty cool.  The worst markets are in Florida and Las Vegas.  Imagine that. 

Fact Number 3:  School starts too early in Fayette County.

Fact Number 4:  Horse Mania is back and well underway. 

Observation Number 1:  Over the last 6 months, I have noticed more and more bikers (not the motorcycle kind) riding the streets of Lexington.  These aren't just the usual plethora of neon Lycra-clad ectomorphs who speed by on their racing bikes heading for country roads doing Lance Armstrong impersonations.  Those people have been around for years.  What I'm seeing are normal folk on bikes with baskets, wearing backpacks and actually using their bike as an alternative means of transportation!  Some of them are college students but many of them appear to be from the ranks of the gainfully employed.  It's so cool!  Even kids are out riding instead of being driven.  Will found his freedom this summer on his bike and has ridden to school and spend whole days meeting up with friends and roaming Chevy Chase in his throw-back 1950s lifestyle.  It's true functional and practical biking that includes dining at the counter of Wheeler's Drugstore or Graeter's Ice Cream and then heading over to Wyatt's pool or to throw some smoke bombs in our backyard.  I'm part of the biking revolution too, as I have have tried to make all of my mini grocery trips and around Chevy Chase errands on my bike.  In fact, I think Mary Rollins and I rode somewhere nearly everyday this summer doing virtually all of our grocery shopping by bike. 

I'm seem to be writing about biking a lot lately, don't I?

The end of summer hours

MR & Friend at Gray's Arch

Hi all.  Summer ended.  Last Wednesday.  Children back to school.  Back to work at a more normal pace.  Oh well....it ended all too soon so I'm going to write my state representatives that they need to pass the Save our Summer legislation that mandates that school may not start before the end of August.  I've actually written them before but just not lately. 

Here's a farewell to summer picture of last Saturday's hiking adventure at Red River Gorge.  Technically it's from after school started but it was 94 degrees so it still sure felt like summer...

Lakehouse this weekend, anyone??