WHEW!

So, two months of solid work (the boys I go to lunch with every week have been shocked, SHOCKED, that I've been working so hard...), two weeks of working overtime, and two days of solid running around and mass insanity - and I'm not sure I have anything concrete to show for it. Our golf tournament on Sept 22 was fun, and we had a gorgeous day, but I don't think we made any money. I haven't seen the financials yet, but if we made a profit I'll be surprised. Our Gala event on Friday night was fun, and the Maryland Club did an awesome job as always (I saved up my seafood allowance for two weeks to be able to splurge on their crab cakes!), but people didn't open up their purse strings as much as we wanted for the auction, so I know we didn't make as much money as we had hoped. And Maryland Million Day yesterday went much smoother than anticipated, we had great weather, no horse accidents. All in all a good day. But the attendance was about 24,500 - less than we had hoped. I haven't seen the figures on the handle yet (how much money was brought in from betting) but based on poor economic times, we're guessing that the handle will not be as high as last year, either. So - nothing terrible to show for all our hard work. But nothing great, either. On a good note - the concert we had at "half time" during the races was really well received, an interesting concept, and something the track thinks they want to do again on their own. The singer we had, Andy Griggs, was super nice - a really sweet Louisiana boy - and the rest of the band had a good time drinking and placing bets for the rest of the day. So that part was cool. And it was the part that was giving me the most heartburn, as we just signed him up for this event about three weeks ago, after TWO other people turned us down. I got a picture with him - I'll post it some time after I have it.

So now, as Maryland Million Day was a week early this year, I actually have a week and a half before Fair Hill starts. A week and a half to unpack the car, clean out the office, put stuff away, write a billion thank you notes to sponsors, send trophies to winners, get plates made for all the trophy bases, and somewhere in there do some advertising for the slots referendum, host a two day farm tour, and in general push the slots issue so that people will vote YES for the slots bill on November 4 so that the racing industry can stay alive in this state. And then it's off to Fair Hill! Which actually will be fairly low-key for me this year. I'll be there for all four days, but I'll be manning a booth for work, pushing the slots bill, instead of digging holes for fence posts or living in an RV for 6 days, working as the stable manager. Much easier! :-)

John is outside painting trim. I told him I'd help, but I have apparently been forbidden from touching paint for the next four months. I guess John's office mate was shocked when John told him I was paiting last weekend, so John decided to look up "painting when pregnant" and decided that the risks were too great for his wife and son. I think the supposed risks are a bunch of hog wash. But, who knows. This whole "you can't do this when you're pregnant" thing is beginning to make me nuts. Although I am also forbidden from lifting anything heavier than a pencil at work (imposed by my office mates) and that actually is kind of entertaining and cute.

So - I think I am going to finally finish up editing my friend Gianna's wedding pictures (it's only been since May 31...), and maybe clean the house a little bit. Why can't cleaning the house be on the list of "you can't do this when you're pregnant?" Surely toilet cleaner is bad for pregnant chicks!

Here's one of the feel-good stories of the day from Maryland Million - a nice horse who was claimed for $18,000 earlier this year and has since then gone on to win $400,000. Also gives a little recap of the day, and a photo of cute Andy Griggs. :-)

http://www.laurelpark.com/NewsEvents/FeatureStories/Details/Laurel100408MMClassic.htm