Derby and Other Winnings

OK, here are the long-awaited results of our contest for the identification of Lilly. We had one vote for "something furry but not a hamster 'cuz that kind of scary glowing eye in the picture is way too big to be a hamster" and one vote for "bunny". Thanks to all of our entries, or should that read "both" of our entries? Nobody wins, because Lilly is a.....

Guinea Pig!!As you can see, the girls love her.

Maybe a little too much.

That is not the case with Mommy. I do NOT love her too much, especially after scrubbing her cage out for TWO HOURS this afternoon in the beautiful, brilliant sunshine we had today, under blue-bonnet blue skies.... OK, maybe I like Lilly, a little bit.

In other news, I picked up my derby prize after winning a soccer game last night. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of soccer. In fact, right when I was making my strategically-placed, incredible penalty kick to help us win the game (first tournament game our team has ever won in over 10 years of competing in this league), Greg couldn't get to the camera. He was right in the middle of this (warning-graphic scenes to follow):

Yes, that is a naked baby in the wilds of Alaska. Some of my teammates remarked, "Wow, that is hardcore!" and I replied that this was really nothing. Once we changed Gwen on the tailgate of Greg's pickup in Glennallen at 40 below. They get used to it, and you just go as fast as you can. They're Alaskans! They're tough kids!

Ah, and on to the derby winnings.... my prize package consists of $200 cash plus $100 in special prize cash, a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant that we like, a free haircut at a local barbershop, a $100 gift certificate at a local art gallery so I can get something frivolous and fabulous, and (the best part) a free one hour massage. I sure hope Greg enjoys his haircut.