Lapdog?

My brother and his lapdog, Finnie! Aren't they adorable? Taken Christmas evening after the chaos subsided.

Christmas Jugglers

I made this for Dan's Christmas present. Using sculpey clay, jewelry findings, gold beads, wire hanger, epoxy resin, super glue, plastic thread, acrylic paint, spray varnish, gold spray paint, leather cord. Hmmmmmmm. Is that all? Oh, yes; the oven and a bit of time! I enjoyed being creative again! The best is when a project is all finished, though. You get a real feeling of "TAH-DAH!!!" These could be called acrobats or jugglers. Either way, they definitely belong in the circus! Have a great Christmas! God bless us every one!

StreetArt, Paris, France

StreetArt, Paris, France, originally uploaded by balavenise.

I was just invited to post one of my cat photos from the Speed Museum to a "Cats in Art" flickr group. So I did. While I was browsing the other images, I saw this very cool street art piece. Subtle. Creative. Cool!!!

Churchill Downs

What a wonderful little trip! To the horsiest city in the world! I saw the jockey's quarters, the announcer's booth, the winner's circle. . .and even drove by Curlin's barn. Watching the exercise riders/horses on the backside was really cool, too! I recommend going and taking all of the tours available. But you have to go on a non-racing day to see the real "inside" view!

Pirates

We went to a costume party where everyone had to be a pirate!!! So here's what we came up with!

Big Races Coming Up!

Curlin (pictured in his stall) is now the richest North American Thoroughbred with over $10 million in earnings after winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational on Sept. 27. I saw a clip of his Santa Anita workout. He looks very powerful and happy.

from thehorse.com:
Curlin worked over the Pro-Ride synthetic surface at Santa Anita early the morning of Oct. 6. Fresh off his victory in the Sept. 27 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in New York, Curlin went an easy half-mile in :52.80.
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Big Brown (pictured with greenery behind him) is training for the Classic, too. They are training him on the turf because he has hoof issues.

from IEAH website:
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown continued preparations for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic by working six furlongs in 1:14.64 over Aqueduct's turf course on Tuesday (10-7-08).
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October 24 and 25 are the dates for this year's Breeders' Cup racing. The new crop of 2 year olds will be racing on Sat. at 2:55. The big boys will race at 5:45!

O I have ANOTHER job!

Remember the post about my new job? A week into that position, I was offered ANOTHER job at a different printing company. It had better benefits and seemed to be more suitable for me, so----I am now at THAT job. I started Thursday. The company has about 30 employees. Has been around for over 20 years. Has a GREAT reputation in the metro area, and works with huge clients. The whole place had a very welcoming air about it. Very positive, forward thinking. Digital presses. Professional. They believe in keeping employees educated in the latest processes. I'm very happy to have made the change. Job hopping is SOOOO unlike me, so I'll be tickled to be in one spot for a long time.