Vittoria Has Started Walking

There's no stopping her now.

(Video courtesy Katie.)

FBI Citizens' Academy: Guns and Investigations

FBI Academy ends next week but I have been busy learning!

Here I am learning how they take molds of footprints in dirt or snow. The plaster is poured on using a ruler. Not too fast. Not too slow. and you have to leave it messy on the top. If you smooth it with the rule it will affect the image. The lady could tell how much this one girl in the class liked her shoes. She said, "Wow. You really like those, don't you?" The girl said, "They are my favorite!"

First we practiced on the simulator. The first video the instructor said, "Very good. After you kill someone, do not say, 'I got him!'" :)

Second attempt. This time she laughed because I told him that pulling a gun wasn't nice. Well, it's not, is it? I don't think I would ever do that to someone.

Talking guns. Very serious.

This is a something something gun. I had to shoot it left handed because I am left eye dominant and couldn't see anything with my right eye. That was very tricky because my left arm is basically for decoration and I can't lift anything with it nor does it have any coordination. My shots were all off.

We also shot a something something pistol. That was fun. My eyes were again not good enough to see where I was shooting. My eyes are crap. Good thing I am not a sniper and called to shoot some Somali pirates.

Then they let us pose with the first something something gun. And they gave us hats that night.

The Swine Flew

Well, here are the pictures from The Pig. They had a big expo the day before where you picked up your bib and got the free stuff and could also shop. They had a bunch of the flying pigs from around Cincinnati there.

What is the deal with all the pigs? In the 1800s, Cincinnati was known as a meat packing and processing center. When area farmers herded their pigs through the streets to the processing plants, there were so many pigs in the streets the city got the nickname "Porkopolis."

Fast forward to 1986 when the city was celebrating its bicentennial, and the city built the Bicentennial Commons park you'll see along the riverfront in downtown Cincinnati. The entrance to the park is marked with an archway, four smokestacks (representing the city's riverboat history) and four flying pigs on top of the smokestacks, representing the city's "Porkopolis" past.

That's my name.

Now, let me just say when I took that photo I thought, "Oh, I looked too fresh, too energetic, people will not know I just ran a marathon. They will think that is at the beginning of the race." Ummm....

That is my gun time. Actual was 4.28. Not as well as I had hoped, but I guess I won't have to work as hard to improve on the next one?

More photos of me looking fresh.
Molli has been asking for pictures of my nasty feet, so here it goes. Feel free to pass this section if you want. :) This section is for her.

On about mile 23 or so my foot really started bothering me. At mile 25 I looked down and realized I was bleeding and had bled through my shoe.
Stopped by the medical center to get it bandaged after the race.

And here are the blisters.
That pinkie toe is one whole blister around the entire nail. (The nail has already fallen off and is now just a bed. No nail.)
The pointer toe, for lack of a better word was the one that was bleeding. That nail fell off today and there is a new nail underneath.
We went out for ice cream to celebrate when I got back to Northville. Derek and Vittoria split.
Chocolate malt for Mary Kay.

And a tasty Boston Cooler for me. :)

Big R In The News

Watch closely. I'm there a few times.

Kicking tail and taking names. Same as usual. :)

Marathon pictures??

Um... hello? Where are the marathon pictures? It's been over a week now!

Around the House 3

Here are a couple of pictures from around the house.


Between soccer practices.


In their dance recital outfits.

Mary's Song

Mary, Katie and Mary Kay will be going to Ginetti's tomorrow for a pre-Mother's Day brunch. Mary learned a song at school for the occasion. She likes it.

Katie's Sixth Birthday

We had two of them. Saturday, Katie had a soccer party.






Then, tonight (the 6th), we had another one. We went to Noodles for dinner (most of us are still hungry). Katie wanted marshmallows for her dessert (apparently we didn't get pictures, but we did get a movie).

Mary's Story

Mary sat down and told a story tonight. Enjoy.

Trip to a farm

We took the girls to a farm near our house. They have LOTS of horses, and we happened to get there right as they were going to take the hay around to feed the horses. So we got to go on a real hay ride! All of the horses came right over to the trailer, because they knew their food was on it.

Then we went to see some other horses, and Alina liked feeding this one.

Then for the best part... a pony ride. At first Alina was extremely scared, so Ania took a turn.

Alina helped take the pony for a walk.

And she finally got up the courage, and then couldn't get enough of it!

Some baby lambs were born shortly before we arrived. The one hadn't even stood up yet... so that was exciting.

I have a feeling we will be going back. As soon as Jay put Alina in the car, she was already asking for more.

GOOD LUCK, RHODA!!