Young Frankenstein

On Friday, May 21, 2010, we enjoyed seeing the musical Young Frankenstein at the Fox Theatre. Young Frankenstein began previews on Broadway on October 11, 2007 and opened on November 8 at the Hilton Theatre and closed on January 4, 2009. The musical is based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy masterpiece. The story follows young Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to complete his grandfather's masterwork and bring a corpse to life.
With such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and "Puttin' On The Ritz," the musical made for an entertaining evening. Several original cast members were in the production we saw. Go to http://www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com/ and find out more about the show.

Mother's Day 2010

Our moms, Marilyn and Janet.

On Sunday, May 9, we celebrated Mother's Day at our house by having our parents over for a special lunch in honor of our mothers.

I served lunch in our dinning room and used my Butterfly Meadow dishes. Ken prepared the meat on the grill. My mom brought a casserole and Ken's mom made appetizers. Our menu was as follows:

Roasted Garlic Hummus with Bagel Chips

Bruschetta Cups

Blackberry & Apricot Cups

Garden Salad

Hot Rolls

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Lasagna Casserole

Green Beans with Almonds

Smoked Apple Turkey

Grilled Beef Sirloin

Sparkling Clementine Cider

Angel Food Cake with Fresh Strawberries & Blueberries

Chocolate Raspberry Coffee

Angel's Dream Hot Tea

Ken and I prepared special bags for our mothers that contain everything they need to host a proper tea at their home. In the bag was a mini tea cup decorated with cherries that I found in Traverse City, MI. They also received cherry preserves, cherry cinnamon tea, authentic English curd, tea cookies, and a gift certificate to St. Louis Bread Company so they can purchase yummy pastries for their next tea.

Ken and his mom Marilyn.

Jennifer and her mom Janet.

It was a great day spent with family. Many laughs, good food, and family. Who could ask for anything more? Ken and I are truly blessed to have two wonderful mothers. Our mothers reminisced on past traditions. The one my mother remembered from her childhood was wearing a carnation to church on Mother's Day. If your mother was living you wore a pink carnation. If your mother was deceased you wore a white carnation in her honor. Ken's mother shared a song she learned in primary Sunday school when she was a little girl. She remembers singing it on every Mother's Day.

"All through the year I try to do

the things to show my love for you.

And not to be happy just to say

I love you, Mother, on Mother's Day!"

Landscaping

We finally have landscaping in our front yard! Above are a few pictures of the new landscaping we added to our house last weekend. We had a wall built and added some beautiful plants and now our home has curb appeal. It was difficult to decide what plants to get. I like the hot pink knock out roses and the Japanese Maple tree. We also have yellow lilies, several varieties of boxwood, and red azaleas. We hired one of Ken's co-workers, who has a landscaping business, to do the work for us and Ken was his assistant. Ken is in the process of adding landscape lighting. Our new landscaping inspired a few other people on our block to do the same.

Busy Days

Work Update
I can't believe today is the first day of May! I have been very busy with work and have not had time to post anything. Let me give a few updates.
Since January I have accomplished many things for work that I never thought I would or could do. Over the past four months I have given 30 sales presentations. That is more sales presentations in four months than I had given in three years! Most of the sales presentations were for Treasures Reading or were a combination of Treasures Reading and Imagine It! Reading. I also gave my first math and a social studies presentations. April brought my first Treasures Reading in-service and Math Connects in-service. Although most of my travels have taken me all over Missouri and Illinois, I also spent time in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Music Update
In January my physical therapy was complete and I began playing clarinet again. I played a concert with the Saint Louis Wind Symphony on January 24 and February 14 in St. Louis. We took our concert on the road and performed a joint concert with the Kansas City Wind Symphony in Kansas City in March and played a concert in Union, Missouri in April. Ken and I have a Northwinds Concert on May 2 and Ken will be a member of the big band in this year's Best of Hawthorne on May 8.

Personal Updates
I have been working hard to be healthier and to lose weight. Since January I have lost 33 pounds! I still have more to lose but I am defiantly on the right path! Ken and I took a trip to Florida in March to attend the St. Louis Cardinals spring training. Ken's parents and some family friends went at the same time so we enjoyed spending time with them. Ken's sister and her husband and two little boys visited us over Easter. Most of my weekends were spent recovering from my busy work schedule, but we also found time to attend a few musicals at the Fox, participate in a trivia night, and go out to dinner with friends.