A Wandering Aramean: All the Ladies! Quick Takes in Photos

Please, Typepad, do not freeze up on me again! It's time again for another Seven Quick Takes, hosted by Conversion Diary. Beginning with my trip last weekend and ending with some scenes from home, here we go...

One

I left for Kentucky at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, M being kind enough to come home early so I could get on the road. I have these things to say to Indiana: 1) If you would be kind enough to chop about three hours out of the middle of yourself, I would really appreciate it, because YAWN. 2) Alternatively, you could consider some development. I mean, a strip mall would be an improvement. (Note - not a str*p CLUB. You seem to have those in abundance.) JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING TO LOOK AT, PLEASE!!! 3) Your semis are a menace to society. I am hereby donating all my worldly goods to promoting additional rail lines throughout your state and the entire upper Midwest. Upon my death, of course. Which you did your best to hasten, so it might be in your best interests to stop trying to run station wagons off the road. 4) Nice job on the wind turbines. Those kind of rock.

Two

I spent my first day tooling around Lexington by myself, a welcome break from full-time mommydom. Among other things, I did a walking tour of historic Gratz Park. It was beautiful, and an awesome location RIGHT downtown, but I don't think I'd actually want to live there - it seems a little awkward to have people staring at your house all the time! This is an alley in the neighborhood.

Three

After staying up far too late on Friday and chatting with J a la slumber party, we headed to the Ashland, the Henry Clay estate, on Saturday. It was pretty interesting to see a preserved plantation, but just as interesting to see their treatment of slavery on the plantation, which I thought was ... well, lacking. There was a paragraph on a sign outside, but not much more. His biography was something like, "He was a great man! And politican! And statesman! And influenced Lincoln! And he really liked this one slave and let him have the keys to the wine cellar and everything!" I know, it's a little hard to judge a person of the past by the standards of today, but for some reason I'd expected a more in-depth look at that aspect of his character. I wondered if it was a Southern thing, that slavery was just so prevalent that it was ignored.

They had a really nice little cafe in the ex-smokehouse, though, with strawberry soup that's to die for. WOW, that good.

Four

The formal garden was beautiful...

...and here we are in front of it!

THANK YOU, h2o family, for your amazing hospitality and for sharing your beautiful home and beautiful baby with us! And thanks N and J for an awesome, awesome ladies' weekend - let's set a date for next year right away!

Five

And on the home front...

I took this photo of Lichen earlier this week, just moments before she changed from sedate little baby to crazy climbing child. (I apologize for the lack of color in the shot; it is unfortunately an accurate reflection of the lack of color in my house. BEIGE IS NOT A COLOR SCHEME, BUILDER-MAN! Anyway.) I took the photo thinking, "Oh, she looks so big, she'll be figuring out those steps before we know it!" Then I put Lichen back with her toys and grabbed the two bags of clothes I was going to take to Goodwill and ran them out to the car. And guess who met me on the front porch roughly 47 seconds after I'd left her downstairs? Yes, the pictured baby, with a flawlessly-executed stair-climb followed by a little scoot across the landing and right outside. The girl doesn't mess around.

Six

This one I call "Baby's First Mess."

I was on the other side of the kitchen when I saw her quick little hand on the powdered sugar bag. You know those slow-motion scenes in the movies? Yeah, I knew I wouldn't get there so I just watched it fall on the floor. I shouldn't've been surprised when Quick-Hand-Lichen efficiently immersed those little fingers in that curious powder and conveyed it to her mouth. Boy, was she mad when I cleaned up.

Seven