The Lucky Girl

The Trouble with Lucy van Pelt

2011-10-30T21:16:00.002-04:00

It seems for the last couple of years, people have been on this "you should be Lucy for Halloween" kick with me. I am a big Peanuts fan and always have been since I was young. My first dog was named "Snoopy". I have all sorts of Peanuts collectibles. I had a Snoopy lunchbox when I was in grade school. I was so upset when it broke on a field trip.

But Lucy? Lucy is not very nice. She steals the football so that Charlie Brown falls down. She is bossy and insists on being the "Christmas Queen". She calls Charlie Brown a "Blockhead". And when she is in her little Psychiatric Help booth, all she really cares about is the nickels. I'm hoping I'm not like Lucy.

But, I've spent the afternoon making a little Help 5 cents booth that will fit at my cube tomorrow. We'll see if people like working with Lucy when I won't answer a question unless they give me a nickel.

The Secret Life of Kindle

2011-10-21T09:42:00.002-04:00

The title sounds a little edgy, doesn't it? Not really intended, but this vacation I've taken my Kindle and read parts of 4 books. "Parts" is because I sometimes just want to read different types of writing, and NONE of the books I'm currently reading has "hooked" me. As a matter of fact, in one of them, Dixie Divas, the characters are so stupid I'm not sure I'll go back to it. Really? Find a dead body in your coat closet and not call the police?

What I've come to realize on this vacation is an unintended consequence of reading with Kindle, in that it is very private. I still like my Kindle and like that I won't be filling shelves with books in my home. I like its size and that it is easy to transport and carry around for the moments when I'm just waiting somewhere and I can always read. But, no one at Maggie Mae's diner can see what I'm reading.

Some may say that is okay, and given the trade-offs, I agree for now. But, I always thought my bookshelf told a little bit about me. You could see that I liked mysteries and Sophie Kinsella, that I kept my college art history books and was a counseling major. People who stayed at my house as guests or dog sitters often borrowed books or read them while they were there. They can't do that on my Kindle.

For now, I like that I have about 30 books in my purse. But, we'll see how it goes. I think I need a Kindle budget.

The Last Florida Sunset

2011-10-20T21:14:00.004-04:00

My last day in Florida was good. In the morning, I walked the beach. It was cold and still windy, but the sun was out. The high today was only 72, so that means when I was walking it was still in the 50s. I let the water run up on my feet. At first it seemed chilled, but then I realized it was warmer than the air.

The wind of the last few days washed up so many shells and other things on the beach. I have never seen so many shells. I also saw sponges (the real sea sponge kind), a crab trap, sand dollars, and unfortunately trash. Those darned plastic grocery bags. All of the news reports and news journal TV shows have said that we shouldn't use the plastic grocery bags because they end up in the ocean. I really wondered, how do they get there? I don't toss my trash on the side of the road or in the ocean. Who would do that? Someone does. Either they toss it off boats or leave it at the beach or something, because they are washing up on the beach. I'm really going to make an effort not to use those bags anymore.

I spent some time on the sun deck, because it was warm there. I did take a dip in the pool, but while the water was okay, the wind whipping across it was freezing. After 20 minutes of exercise, I got out and headed back to that sun deck to warm up. I fell asleep in the sun, but woke up in the shade. The sun moving was my sunburn control.

It is back to Indiana tomorrow. I know it is colder there. I am packed, the laundry is done, dishes washed, etc. Good night.

A Windy Day at Honeymoon Island

2011-10-19T20:35:00.004-04:00

Today I had hope for sun. But again, as we know, hope is not a plan.

I pretty much knew that the morning was going to be gray and cloudy, so I headed out to Honeymoon Island State Park. I took the loop drive around the park and headed to the nature center. Did you know that they have rattlesnakes in Florida? I really always thought of those as western desert creatures, but there are signs at the entrance of the park that warn of the rattlesnakes. I'm wondering if they are truly native. I guess I should have asked at the nature center.

I was pretty much alone in the park today. Not many people there, and those who were there were disappointed. I originally had hopes of renting a bike and riding the 5 mile loop, but when I got out of my car and was pelted with sand, I realized that would not be a good idea. The waves were crashing in and the beach was empty, except for a few people who were trying to surf. Not a good day to be near that sand. It stung as it continually crashed against my skin. I watched for a while at a distance, but a soon gave up and headed for some lunch and a quiet place to read.

Still gray and cloudy at 2:00, so I did what I know...headed to find a movie theater. I saw "Moneyball" starring Brad Pitt. I always loved baseball when I was younger, but at some point, the game became uninteresting. Maybe it is this story of "Moneyball" that did it, where the players were instructed to do whatever it takes statistically to get on base. Always take the first pitch, go with the odds to get a walk, etc. Maybe this was what "slowed the game" as everyone describes it. It was a good movie. I wonder if the system is still working.

And then the sun started to peak out around 6:00. I am hoping for a sunny day tomorrow, but the forecast says 73 degrees is the high. We'll see. I need to make the most of my last full day.

Winter and the CMA

2011-10-18T16:05:00.005-04:00

Today's rainy day was spent at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Have you seen the movie Dolphin Tale? If not, you should!

Winter is the resident dolphin who lost her tail because she was caught in the line of a crab trap. She was fitted with a prosthetic tail, but doesn't wear it all the time. In the movie, there was part of the story line that gave the impression that if she did not wear the tail, she would eventually damage her spine and die, but since she did not have the tail on when I was there, or anytime I have looked on the web cam, I don't think it is a medical necessity.

There are 3 other dolphins that live there, Hope, Nicholas, and Panama. And there are many other animals as well. There was a whole pool of stingrays, that you were allowed to feed. I fed one and shared my other fish with a little boy standing next to me so that he could feed a stingray as well. It is a funny sensation, feeding the stingray. You hold the fish between your two fingers and the stingray kind of swims over your hand and sucks it up through their mouth which is on the bottom of their body. It is a weird feeling.

Fighting through the Clouds

2011-10-17T17:22:00.003-04:00

According to last weekend's forecast, today was supposed to be my best day in the Florida sun. I guess the tropical storm brewing in the Gulf didn't watch this weekend's news. It has been cloudy all day and rain is expected tomorrow.

I did some shopping, went out for a great lunch, and still went for a swim in the afternoon. I think I still got a little sun, but maybe not the good kind.

I went shopping at a couple of my favorite Florida stores, Ross and Bealls Outlet. I did pick up several items for me, and a lot for my nieces baby who will be born in March. They know it is a boy, and I am very excited. I usually know how to connect with boys, probably because I was the little girl who played with matchbox cars in the dirt. I'm excited for his arrival, and so is Trevor.

For lunch, I dined at Casa Tina in Dunedin, Florida. Dunedin is a local artist community, somewhat like a beachy Nashville or Broad Ripple. They have a lot of artists galleries, cool restaurants, you can rent bikes, buy crystals, or walk along the Pinellas Trail. Casa Tina has the best Mexican food I've ever had. I ate there once in June, and have been thinking about their enchiladas ever since. The waitress says it is because they make their tortillas fresh on site. Whatever it is, it is good. I'll have a hard time staying away from there the rest of the week.

Tomorrow is scheduled for rain. I plan on going to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where the movie "Dolphin Tale" was filmed. I still have hope for sun. But, as we all know, hope is not a plan.

Sibling Similarities

2011-10-16T18:35:00.006-04:00

One time, my niece Tonya said to me, "I hate going to the store with you. You are just like my Dad. There's always somebody you know and you talk forever."

It is true, I am a talker. I've recently gotten the same feedback from Trevor when we made a "quick stop" at the local Kroger and ran into a childhood neighbor. We were there a long time.

I think my brothers Bob and Keith and I have that in common. We can strike up a conversation with just about anyone. I'm in Florida now and was very glad that I was able to overlap the dates of my trip to spend the weekend with my brother Bob. When I was driving from the airport to meet him we spoke on the phone and arranged to meet at a local restaurant / bar. When I arrived, Bob had already made friends with the people sitting around him and knew where they were from, why they were in Florida, etc. I think we were raised to be friendly; we had good role models for that in my Mom and Dad.

I suppose as we get older, it is comforting to see these similarities between me and my siblings. Yesterday when we were walking through a town after dinner, I had stopped for a minute, but when I caught up with Bob he was talking to a couple of local people who were walking a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever. This past summer, Keith made fun of me when the McDonald's lady in Gatlinburg, Tennessee brought me a book on native plants. (We had been talking while I did my morning work sessions for Big Red, and I had asked her about some plants I had seen). But really, Keith has no room to make fun, because I think the funnel cake guy in Gatlinburg knows him by name.

My brother Bob and I have similar handwriting. Even though he is a lefty and I am right-handed, we have the same printing. Sometimes, I will see something that I wrote and for a split second think that Bob wrote it. He says that he's noticed the same thing.

And today, Bob and I found one more thing that we have in common. We were both swimming in the Gulf of Mexico and I commented that I should have taken my contacts out, as I'm wearing my last pair. Bob said, "What is your prescription?" And of course, his prescription is exactly the same as mine. In both eyes. I don't know if that is rare or not, but it seems like it would be to me. He left me one of his spare pairs of contacts just in case the Gulf swallows mine up this week.

I am so thankful for my siblings, especially my two brothers. I once had read that your siblings will be the people who know you for the longest time in your life and that it is a very special friendship that develops because of that. I am very fortunate to get to spend time with my brothers and their families and I am grateful for everything we share.

Raising a Renaissance Man

2011-01-08T07:31:00.005-05:00

Not many people know that one of my favorite movies of all time is Renaissance Man. Danny DeVito, Marky Mark Wahlberg, Stacey Dash. I remember the first time I saw it was on "Hoosier Cinema 7" the IU Movie Channel (given its name by my friend Scott). The thing about the IU Movie Channel is that often the same movie would be on several times in a row, and I think I watched it 3 times in one night. I am a sucker for a story of how teachers can make connections with students and totally change their lives forever. Mainly, because I think I always hope to be one of those people that can make a difference.

In one of the scenes from the movie, Danny DeVito the teacher is talking to one of his students who had been a star athlete and had never had anyone expect him to do well in school. The student didn't want his son to play sports and have the same expectations. DeVito told him about Leon Battista Alberti, a renaissance man that was a scholar, painter, philosopher, priest, poet, and as it turns out, a good athlete.

One of my intentions as a good aunt, is to have Trevor experience a lot of different things, so that maybe he will be a modern Renaissance Man. We do attend and participate in a lot of sporting events, basketball, baseball, football, racing, but also swimming and golf. We go to museums, we cook, grow flowers, go to musicals, we make our own board games, and we read together. And this Christmas, I taught Trevor how to sew on my sewing machine. I don't know of many 9 year old boys who have had that experience, but he did great! There were a few bumps at first and a few mess-ups, but when I said "Drive it like you drive your go-kart" something seemed to click. He made 22 pillow cases as gifts for Christmas this year. He was so proud as everyone opened their gifts.

Trevor said he enjoyed his sewing project, and he said "it would be a good thing to do if you were bored". While I don't think that he will be a tailor, I'm just glad that he accomplished such a big project and did something that not many boys do. And, when he is raising his own sons, I think he'll make sure they get these kind of experiences too.

This is my Mom holding up the pillow case Trevor made for her. Notice the jigsaw puzzle fabric.

A Good Rain

2010-09-11T10:05:00.002-04:00

We're in the middle (or hopefully at the end) of a drought in the Indianapolis area. This summer has been hot, the hottest in about 25 years. And on top of that, there has been very little rain in the last month or so. My yard is brown, my flowers died in August, and my allergies have been really bad, I think just because I am all dried out.

Several times over the last month, the dry conditions here have made me think about the most refreshing rain that I have ever experienced. Sometime in the mid-1980's I worked at the Fresh Air Fund camps in Fishkill, NY. I can't remember the exact summer when this happened, as I worked there for several years. I was in a leadership position, because my task for the day during orientation was training all the new counselors how to make a craft with their campers.

The heat of the summer was incredible. Different than what we're experiencing now, as I'd qualify this summer in Indiana as a "dry heat". The Hudson River Valley was more like the normal Indiana hot, humid summer, with the air so thick that you never actually feel dry. My day of orientation consisted of teaching 6 groups of counselors how to make candles, followed by an overnight camp out to teach them what to do when they are sleeping out.

Candle making is a hot mess. You have to keep a fire going during the whole time to melt your wax. I am a good fire builder and that is probably why I got that job for the day. Standing in front of a roaring fire all day in 90 degree heat can dry you out. Maybe that was my first experience with dehydration.

After the full day in front of the fire, everyone packed up to go on our overnight camp out, which included cooking our dinner outside. Since this was a "teaching" camp out, I was assigned to teach everyone how to build a fire to cook their dinner. So, the next couple of hours were spent right by the fire again. At this point, I was dirty and sweaty, and definitely had that camp fire smell.

While the sun was still up, but after we had eaten our dinner, we were surprised to hear thunder. Quickly everyone packed up and headed back to camp. I stayed for a little while to make sure the fire was out then headed back myself. Just as I got to the meadow, the rain poured down. It was a hard soaking rain that seemed like it was coming down in buckets. But it felt so good. I just let it soak into my skin. The camp van drove by and offered me a ride, but I said no. The rain felt too good. And when I got back to my cabin, I just sat outside letting it soak in some more. I didn't think I'd ever get enough.

I will always remember that rain and how it made me feel that day.

How do you choose your work shoes?

2010-09-07T22:23:00.005-04:00

I found the image above by googling "hot pink stripper heels". Hmmm....and what inspired to perform the search was a woman at work wearing these shoes. She had on a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans, and these hot pink stripper heels. Really? What was she thinking?

I work at a place that actually has posters in the winter that tell you to wear sensible shoes. They have a picture of boots with a heel and one of those red circles with a slash through it. I have always bragged about that to other women, saying that my place of employment doesn't expect me to break my neck walking around all day. I mean, if I had to concentrate so much on walking, how would I ever be able to write. And, just how would I ever get steel toe caps over these babies?

When I was on the parking shuttle this evening, I saw the same woman clip clopping across the parking lot in these shoes. They were like a neon beacon highlighting her feet. I just don't get it.

I HATE at home fireworks

2010-07-03T22:32:00.003-04:00

I know...I write about the same stuff year after year. But really, I don't get the thrill of the at home fireworks. I like fireworks just fine. I went to the Indians game last night because they had a fireworks show at the end. But, really at home? Don't you think it is a little dangerous. Especially with the amount of alcohol you have obviously consumed?

The houses in my neighborhood are about 10 feet apart. So, you see you may THINK your are shooting off fireworks in your own yard, but I guarantee some of that junk is coming over here. It may be placed on your front porch in the morning before you get out of bed.

I'm just saying....

Staring Down the P.I.

2010-06-29T19:14:00.003-04:00

I broke down today and went to the doctor, actually the Health Center at work. I've had a patch of Poison Ivy on my foot since June 19 when I trimmed weeds at mom Mom's house. I'm sure there were actually no Poison Ivy plants where I trimmed, but it seems if I even get in the zip code with the stuff, I am stricken.

And so now begins my treatment with the dreaded Prednisone. The stuff works, but it is a frustrating process. It makes me unable to sleep, have an intense appetite, and a little headachey. It also tastes terrible if you actually let it touch your tongue and it messes with my blood sugar. (Last year I hit a low blood sugar of 78 while on Prednisone. It made me all shakey one day at work, so they tested it and made me drink juice.)

I wish the whole staring down thing actually worked. But I guess rashes are just not intimidated by me.

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful...Beautiful Doggie

2010-06-26T22:14:00.005-04:00

My sweet little Sadie died this past Thursday. She was such a good girl. I've written about Sadie before here, and always meant to do an update, but it never got done. In my writing hiatus, it seems a lot of things didn't get done.

I think that I would call Sadie a miracle dog. My friend described her as a "tough cookie". When she was brought to me as a foster dog, she had some difficulty getting around. I don't know how much time she had spent in the shelter, but she was definitely stiff and didn't seem to have experience with stairs. She had obviously had some sort of leg injury in her past that wasn't properly taken care of. But, she got along with Tiger and it was easy for me to walk both dogs at once, so she fit right into our family.

When I took her for her first check up with my vet, we were talking about what breed she might be. She definitely had some Boxer, but as my vet said, "she doesn't look like the breed standard", so it was determined that she was either some sort of mix, or just a very poorly bred boxer. I guess we'll never know, but it doesn't really matter either. That was part of the magic of Sadie.

Within a couple of months of me officially adopting Sadie into our family, she began her medical battles with Cushing's Disease. That is what I had written about before, and really never wrote Sadie's miraculous follow-up. After some treatment, she ended up with no Cushing's Disease and no Addison's Disease symptoms. Somehow we actually did do the perfect treatment that turned her into a normal dog, with no medication needed for either disease.

Sadie still had some issues. One was a chronic urinary tract infection, which got me out of bed every night around 3:00 a.m. to let her out. But we worked through it.

When I am out with my dog Tiger, everyone always compliments on what a handsome dog he is. And I always got the same response with Cali and Rocky too. "Beautiful dogs" they would say. "Is he a show dog?".

With Sadie, the response was always a little different. She had an under bite, her back end was misshapen, her stubby tail was thick, and she had extra skin on one of her front legs, sort of making it like a wing. But the truth about Sadie is that I really thought she was the most beautiful dog in the entire world. Her big sweet eyes would look up at me with love and thankfulness that she was with our family. She would lay on her rug watching TV with her Flying Nun ears, and there was no dog that could be cuter. And, I think she knew she was beautiful too. I believe that was Sadie's lesson for me (and maybe some other's of you out there too). It really doesn't matter if you meet the breed standard, you are beautiful and deserving of love.

And so, last week Sadie was diagnosed with cancer. The vet guessed that she initially contracted it within the last 3 months, but it had already spread to her liver. At that point, there really isn't a treatment for dogs. The vet said the type of cancer she had was one that was very aggressive. And so, within a week she was beginning to retain fluid in her lungs and was done with her fight.

Tiger has been sad, but we are doing okay. Sadie was a beautiful girl, and she will be missed.

The End of the Chicken

2010-05-26T21:56:00.002-04:00

Seems like I have had a lot of thoughts lately about things I could write about here, but....this Chicken has been here. I've got to get rid of the chicken to move on. I'm ready to do that. So, just consider this the next phase of my "Chicken-Free" blog. Keep watching. More posts will come soon, but we just had to get rid of the chicken first.

My First Roasted Chicken

2010-01-04T20:30:00.004-05:00

So, I received a fabulous gift for Christmas, some Rachel Ray cookware that is a lovely shade of green. So, I've been cooking up a storm lately. I made the best omelet the other day, a Mexican dip that I took to the Tracey Fiesta on New Year's Day, and now inspired by my friend, I've roasted my first whole chicken. So very simple to do and so cheap. I think this will be enough food for a week or longer.

The chicken was a farm raised, free range chicken from an Indiana farmer that I got at the Goose. I washed the chicken well and then filled it with peeled orange slices. I put some melted butter, rosemary, thyme, and sage on the top and roasted it for about 3 hours at 350 degrees. And, it was delicious. Very moist.

So, yesterday I had a great chicken dinner, today I made chicken vegetable soup, and sometime this week I'll probably make some chicken and spinach pasta. Or maybe some of this will end up in the freezer for a while, because right now the chicken seems endless.

Finally Finished

2009-12-30T05:45:00.003-05:00

Ah....accomplishment! My couch has been in mid-recover for a couple of years now. And finally in the last 2 days it is done. No more botanical print. Tiger still has his blankie in the corner, but there is a green covered cushion for that corner too. It feels good to be done. And now with the sewing machine still out and a little fabric left over, I will attack the seat cushion on the rocking chair and maybe make a few more of the red print pillows. Or maybe re-do the seats of the dining room chairs. With today as my last totally free day of vacation, we'll see what happens.

What happened to Christmas?

2009-12-28T18:34:00.003-05:00

Wow...that was a blur. It seems like November 14, the Tracey kick-off to the Christmas season was just yesterday. I can't believe they'll be taking down the lights on Monument Circle in just 9 short days. The lights from Monument Circle are one of the things that I always look forward to at this time of year. I used to hate the darkness of winter; I go to work in the dark and I come home in the dark most of the time. But, my route always takes me past the circle so that I can see the Christmas lights. I've even figured out the exact point when I need to look to the right when I am driving to work through the 65/70 connector through the city. I drive home at street level, so it is much easier to see, but I always look forward to those lights.

This year Trevor and I did our Christmas craft that he gave as gifts to all of his brother's and sister's. We did stepping stones for everyone's gardens, once summer comes. While this was an awkward craft, kind of heavy to be exact, it was one of my favorites to do. While I'm not looking to go on a round 2 of mixing 130 pounds of concrete in my house, I liked that we were able to use bottle caps for the designs, thanks to Goose the Market. Trevor made the designs for each person on his own and painted everything too. I was the concrete mixer and molder. The picture above shows Trevor with a few of the stones that he made.

We actually finished Trevor's craft on December 19 when we wrapped everything and took them to his family Christmas celebration. The good thing for me is that this had inspired me to continue on and make some crafts on my own. I made a couple of gifts this year, which actually haven't gone to their recipients yet, so no pictures yet. And, since I had the sewing machine out, I've been finishing up a craft that has been stuck at it's midpoint indefinitely. I've been sewing all day today, and one more day should do it. And one more trip to a store. More to follow if I do finish this week.

I spent Christmas at my brother Bob's house. It was great to spend Christmas up there. Their house is always so relaxing and the food is fabulous. We had steak for Christmas dinner cooked on the grill. I can't even tell you the last time I had a steak cooked on a grill, but it was probably at Bob's house. Delicious!

It has just all gone so fast. I still have 6 days of vacation, so I'm trying to not think about work at all. It hasn't been difficult.

I hope you all are having a great holiday season.

This Interruption brought to you by Facebook

2009-11-26T06:31:00.004-05:00

I said I'd never do it, but I did. I signed up for Facebook. And that, along with a few other things, have prevented me from getting back to this blog. It's not like I ever post anything on Facebook though. Mainly I just lurk out there, reading posts from my friends, and playing games like Farkle and Yacht. And unfortunately, I figured out that I am pretty good at the Facebook poker. (But I'm smart enough to know that if I were actually in a room with someone playing poker, they'd know exactly what was in my hand.).

All my lurking on Facebook though, brought me to the picture that you see above. It is a picture of my Dad that I had never seen before. He is sitting on the back steps of the house he and my Mom built, and I don't mean that they had it built. He built it. They moved there in 1986, and he is sitting where the deck will be, so I would imagine this was taken sometime very close to the Fall of 1986. He looks so happy.

Finding this photo was worth joining Facebook. I am the Lucky Girl.

Before Meets After....

2009-09-20T17:04:00.003-04:00

My brother Keith organized a work weekend at my Mom's farm this weekend. I am so tired, and I know everyone else is too. But, we got a lot done. After all was said and done we were able to: remove storm windows, paint, caulk, clean, and replace the storm windows; power wash the house, garage, lawn furniture, deck, and Red's barn; remove rust from the barn door and porch railing; paint the barn and barn door; tear down the shed under the apple trees; put round-up on all needed areas; clean out the barn loft; repair the roof of the barn and re-shingle; paint the porch roof; organize the desk area in the kitchen with some new filing cabinets; organize the computer desk; and do general cleaning inside...i.e., dust, vacuum, clean bathrooms, kitchen cabinets, and the bar area in the kitchen.

It is a really good thing that we had about 20 hard-workers at the house. Everyone did a great job with everything. I'm especially glad that my nieces have brought some great men into the family who went up and down ladders and up on the barn roof with joy. They must really love those girls.

And, the little shed (pictured above) is no more. It has suffered the destructive nature of the groundhog family, who burrowed into the ground and actually buried a bicycle. Lots of stuff was in that shed. My Dad used to keep it all pretty cleaned up inside, but lack of use took its toll on everything. We pulled out lots of junk, and memories.

Labor Day Weekend 2009

2009-09-07T08:20:00.005-04:00

This has been a great weekend, and we still have one day left. A lot of stuff has gotten done around my house and my best boy Trevor and I have had a lot of fun too. Trevor has been staying with me on Labor Day weekend for the last 4 years. We always are happy that we have an "extra day" to do something special.

His first Labor Day with me, Trevor and I went to his first "real race" at the Indianapolis Speedrome. The Speedrome is a local track and home to Figure 8 racing. You can sometimes see it on the Speed Channel on cable. You all watch that channel don't you? Me too. The next year, we started riding our bikes at the canal downtown. It is a pretty safe place to ride your bike, because there is no danger of traffic. You just have to watch out for going in the water.

This year, we did another "new" activity for Trevor. With my new found interest in golf, I decided to try to get him hooked too. I got him a junior set of clubs at Play It Again Sports, and we went to the Golf Dome. He loved it! And, he was very good too. Most of his shots were straight down the middle, and he even hit the red target (see photo above). His only question was why I didn't buy the large bucket of golf balls.

It is also tradition for us to go to the Indianapolis Indians last game of the season, where there is a big fireworks show. This year, the fireworks were the best we've seen yet.

All this was mixed in with cleaning the basement and a closet in preparation for a garage sale next weekend. I think I found plenty of stuff to put in the sale, and got a closet cleaned out and shelves put up in the basement in the process.

The First Round

2009-08-28T22:18:00.003-04:00

Today was the day...my first 9 holes on a real golf course. It was GREAT! I had so much fun. I shot a 51, which I have heard is pretty good for the first timer. I did hit a couple of good shots, but there is a lot of room for improvement. I almost can't wait to go again to see if I actually can get better. Is tomorrow to soon? :-)

And then...I went back to work. It actually was a good end to a stressful week. I made my boss laugh a lot this afternoon, which was good for everyone. Lately, it has come to my attention that I am quite the comedian. My brother called me at work about two weeks ago and he said, "I hate to call you at work. I never know if you are in some big meeting, or in the middle of telling a joke." I never realized I was that funny. Maybe my boss just laughs at everything.

Amid all the pretty good golf shots, there was one that I would like to highlight. In fact, I don't know that anyone has ever made this shot at the Orchard Golf Center. I am at least one of the very few who has made a shot into the open garage door of the maintenance shack. I was not aiming for it, but maybe somewhere in my subconscious I knew it would be the funniest shot of the day.

Tiger, the wing-man

2009-08-21T22:03:00.002-04:00

Tonight, Tiger and I went out to dinner with my nephew Johnny. We went to Plump's Last Shot, a bar in Broad Ripple where you can take your dog and sit on the deck. Plump's is in an old house and is owned by the family of Bobby Plump, basketball player from Milan, Indiana who made the winning shot for the 1954 Indiana State High School basketball championships (as depicted in the movie Hoosiers).

Very nice weather tonight in Indy and the deck at Plump's was full of people and dogs. But you know my Tiger, he is a looker. No less than 10 very pretty girls came up and asked Johnny if they could pet his dog. I'm sure if I wasn't there, he would have ended up sitting at a table with a bunch of them. Even he agreed.

I always tried to get my nephew David to take Tiger to the dog park to see if he could meet a girl, but he would never do it. I just don't think he realized the power of the Lucky Dog.

The Last Dose

2009-08-18T21:27:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning will be my last dose of the awful medicine for poison Ivy. Poison Ivy makes me crazy, and this medicine makes me just slightly less crazy. The whole ordeal has been 3 weeks, but it really seems like longer. I've been through several tubes of Zanfel, some Cortaid poison Ivy wash, and 2 rounds of this medicine.

The medicine has side effects. I've gained 12 pounds, had a low blood sugar episode, and had lots of energy. The energy has helped some, because I've been super productive at work, but really still not worth it.

My Mom cut an article out of the paper for me about Poison Ivy and a holistic remedy that you take in March and April before the leaves even come out. I'm going to have to research that a little more to see if that will work for me. I may be willing to try. I will be willing to get someone else to trim around the house next year. I will also be sure that the June roundup step is never again skipped.

I'm hoping I never have poison ivy again. But, as you know, hope is not a plan. I need a plan.

My Life as a Drummer...

2009-08-16T00:42:00.004-04:00

Tonight was a very special night. I have always dreamed of being a drummer and really figured that you readers would find out that little known fact by reading some sort of "quiz about me" on Facebook or something. But here I am blurting it out, because I had so much fun tonight pretending to be a drummer!

Tonight I cooked for some friends at their house. I made Calzone, and there are pictures now on the host's website. It was pretty good eats. Chris at the Goose hooked me up with some amazing meats, and I always get my sauce from the Goose too. Very good dinner, followed by a fiery dessert!

After dinner, the hosts broke out the Wii, where they have the "Rock Band" set. I got to be drummer! It was hard, but they say for a beginner I did okay. I kept wanting to do an Elvis song or something. But, I don't think any of those will ever make it on a Wii or any other brand of game. I had a great time. I know that I am no drummer, but it was fun pretending for a night.

Unfortunately, this was probably one of those "one night only" performances. So if you missed it, I guess you are out of luck.

Losing the Battle with Poison Ivy

2009-08-02T10:19:00.004-04:00

I've been staring down my poison ivy most of the summer. I had about 5 dots of it that would come and go on my left wrist which I refused to scratch. I even had my wrist rest at work replaced because I thought I may be re-infecting myself everyday.

On Wednesday, I cut down a small tree in my yard (not even sure really what to call it) that was growing near my fence and air conditioner. I probably should have taken care of it earlier in the summer, but Wednesday seemed to be the day. So now as I look at the poison ivy websites (of which there are many), I can't figure out if it was a tree that I cut down, or some sort of poison sumac tree. It doesn't really matter, because I had to go to the doctor yesterday and start the yucky medicine that will stop it. In the words of Dr. Z, "It doesn't really matter what it is, but you've got to take the medicine to turn it off." So, I will be taking a medicine for the next 12 days or so that tastes bad, may make me a little crazy, and may prevent me from sleeping well.

So today, in just a few minutes actually, I'm headed out to trim the bushes in my front yard. They need it, and I figure if I am already doped up on this medicine, I may as well do it now while I am already taking the antidote for whatever I may be allergic too.

Otherwise, I had a great weekend. Diane was in town for weekend before she starts school in a few weeks. I love my sister-in-law! We got to do some shopping yesterday and hanging out. And we had a great dinner on the deck last night. The picture is mainly for Marianne. Almost everything we ate (including beer) came from The Goose.

Vacation Tips, Volume 2

2009-07-25T22:29:00.004-04:00

We are home from a great vacation with family. I think it was just the right amount of time. Lots of things to do and we were busy every day, but not so much time as you start really missing home. I think everyone had a great time. And, it was nice to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews.

Last year, when we came back from Branson, I wrote a little travel tips entry so that both of you (my readers) could learn from my experiences and maybe laugh a little too. This year's version should help you as well.

Driving through the Mountains is hard - If your trip involves crossing any sort of mountainous region, you may want to check a topographical map prior to mapping your route. Mountains take time to go up and down and up and down and up and down, and really aren't as fun as when you were 3. The Scenic Views are cool, but if you have the elevation sickness that sometimes effects people in my family, you're not going to be looking over those cliffs anyway. Check your maps, the flatlands may be less time, even though it takes a few more miles.

Make reservations - This is not 1988. When you are driving along the highway, don't plan on finding a vacancy at any random Holiday Inn Express. There are a lot of people out on the road. They have cell phones and they have all called ahead. You're going to end up driving a lot longer than expected if you don't have a reservation.

If you are good with directions, follow your instincts (especially if your navigator is a senior citizen with one good eye). Sorry, had to stick that joke in there Mom. But really, had I not been pretty sure of where we were going, we would have been going in the wrong direction many times.

Don't plan the most stressful activity for the last day of your vacation. Trying to navigate Washington, D.C. streets is really better done when you are full of energy. Because really, the Capital Beltway is no fun on a Friday afternoon during rush hour (see photo above).

If you bought a special map for the trip, bring it with you.

It was a great trip. I have a great family. I am so lucky, sometimes I can't believe it.

Vacation is almost over

2009-07-23T19:20:00.003-04:00

We leave tomorrow. People are getting in their last card game challenges, last trips to the playground, and last visits with the horses. Tomorrow we head to D.C. for the day and then Mom and I will start home, and the others will follow on Saturday.

It has been a great vacation. I'm posting all the pictures (if you are interested) on Facebook.

Does it always rain in Shenandoah?

2009-07-20T22:35:00.004-04:00

It's raining again. Not as bad as May, but still rain is expected every day. I'll tell you a secret....I like it a little bit. It isn't too hot, and we still have lots of things to do, so it isn't that bad. And everything is green, what I think Ireland would look like. Everyone seems to be having a great time, especially Billy. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep. He was up early ready to have fun.

We did the family mini-golf outing today, swam, played games, and Lori and the girls made great Mexican food for dinner.

I like it here. I could come back. It is very peaceful and the people are so nice. There were several ladies today who remembered me from May. And, I love a southern accent. You know, the kind where words like "there" and "here" are pronounced with 2 syllables. I think I could listen to that for a long time.

The Long and Winding Road....leads through West Virginia

2009-07-19T23:14:00.002-04:00

We are actually in Virginia now. And relatively well rested, given the circumstances. Yesterday was a long drive. I got up early and had lots of chores to do before leaving the house. Including doing a lawn treatment in the back yard.

After getting everything done, we left the house at 1:00, only a little later than expected. Trouble was, we kept going back (like 3 times) to get stuff that had been forgotten. I'd get two blocks away and say, "Oops, forgot to take the garbage out", and head back. Much better to go back and do that than return to a smelly house.

And then we headed off toward Kentucky. We were planning to stop in Greenup, Kentucky to visit my Mom's cousin Joe Mantz and his wife Diane. You've heard of Greenup, right? Right. They were national cheerleading champions in the 1990's if you ever kept up on that sort of thing.

Around suppertime we finally made it to Joe and Diane's house. It was so great to see them. I hadn't seen them in several years and neither had my Mom. We had a sandwich and I heard some neat stories. Joe told us about a flood in 1937 (when he was 4) and they had to bring boats to the 2nd floor windows of the house where we were sitting. It was hard for me to imagine water that high.

He and my Mom also talked about visits to their grandparents. It was interesting when they were talking about their Grandpa Jackson, I remembered my own Grandpa (his son) doing some of the same things with me. We’re all connected. It hasn’t been that long ago when I was walking and realized that there are times when I walk with the same gait as my grandfather.

My Mom also tried to tell me about a store at the end of Powell Lane in Flatwoods, Kentucky that was a store, the post office, a gas station, and something else, and a guy changed hats depending on what he was doing. I believe the store was there, but the whole changing hats thing….I think she is confusing her life with Petticoat Junction.

We left Joe and Diane’s around 8, and planned to drive another hour or so and stop. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a vacancy. We ended up driving until midnight. I was pretty tired, but it made today very relaxing and fun. I’ll fill you in on that later.

Pictures from a busy weekend (Ketchup)

2009-07-19T00:15:00.006-04:00

So, I'm just adding a few pictures here. Trev and I attended the U.S. National Swimming Championships in Indianapolis. Very cool event. We almost saw a world record broken by Ryan Lochte in the 200 Individual Medley. I think he is very strong in the breast stroke, so he was under world record time after his breast stroke, but lost time on the freestyle. He ended up over the record by 3/10s of a second. Very close and very exciting!

We also took a class on feltmaking. It was kind of neat. I made a purse and Trev made a picture. I'm not sure my thing is any good, as I think it already needs some repair and it has only been 2 weeks. Oh well, very interesting to learn. I'd think about doing it again, but I'd probably know a little more so that I could do it better. But it is very labor intensive for a purse.

Newsflash....It is July 12

2009-07-12T21:59:00.002-04:00

This is an open letter to pretty much anyone who purchases fireworks for home use, but mainly the people in my neighborhood. (Mainly just a place to air my grievances, because I don't know any of them who will actually read this.)

I don't know whether you all realized it, but July 4 was like 8 days ago. I realize that is still relatively close (since I celebrated my May birthday on June 26, maybe I am being a little harsh). It isn't even in the double digits yet, but COME ON! My dogs have not been able to relieve themselves in peace after dark for 2 weeks.

So really, what is the deal? Last time I checked, there weren't any under 22 year-olds living on my side of the street, but yet you're shooting off bottle rockets every night. Bottle rockets? Really? What is the big thrill in that? And, by the way, if you are going to shoot them off, I invite you to come to the vacant lot next to me and shoot them toward YOUR house. I'm just a little tired of finding the remnants of your "fun" on my deck every morning.

Isn't there some sort of law against this?

The Return of the Cook In Me

2009-07-01T22:05:00.006-04:00

I just finished making Mixed Berry Muffins. I have not made muffins from scratch in at least 10 years. I used to make them all the time when I had people to cook for. Muffins, cake, cookies, peach cobbler from my Grandma's recipe, I was quite the baker.

I was also a pretty good cook. Not a fancy cook or anything, but good and simple food I can definitely do. When I was 24, I had just graduated and moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts to work at Bridgewater State College. My Mom took the big trip with me and drove to the east coast with all my stuff in my new Corolla (Bruce I). She stayed with me for about a week before she flew back to Indiana. During that week, she helped me set up my new apartment and taught me how to cook a few things, mostly chicken.

I learned a few other things while I lived on the east coast, like how to cook Italian food. A lot of the students that I worked with were Italian and lived in and around Boston. A student named Lisa Federici taught me how to make Calzones, which has always been one of the top requested meals that I make. I also learned how to make pretty good Chinese food. Bridgewater was also the beginning of staff dinners for me, where I cook for large groups of hungry students. In my first "Indiana Dinner", I made Fried Chicken, homemade biscuits, Green Beans, potatoes, and brownies for about 25 people in my apartment.

Later on in Bloomington, I continued to cook for a lot of people. I had my staff to my house at least once a semester where I cooked for them (usually around 35 - 40 people). I remember grilling ribs in the snow one January because that was the requested dinner.

The funny thing is, I rarely have cooked for my family. Lately, I've been cooking a little more when I go to my brother Bob's house. I do really enjoy cooking for people and rarely get the chance and Bob and Diane seem open to try the stuff that I make. But usually for family dinners I get asked to make the salad, or now brownies. One friend who had plenty of meals at my house said to me one time, "Really, they asked you to make a salad? Don't they know?".

I'm looking forward to our family vacation later this month. I get to break out the Calzones for the family. There will be 17 of us in a cabin in Virginia. Then the secret may be out.

What Heaven will Look Like

2009-06-28T18:36:00.010-04:00

Do you ever wonder what Heaven will look like? I'm sure it will look different for all of us, but this weekend I was reminded of what it will look like for me. My Mom and I took a trip to Ohio and saw some of the most beautiful places on earth. Most of you know of my admiration for farmland, and pictured above you see the most beautiful wheat field that we saw this weekend.

My Uncle Harold also took me on a golf cart ride around what was my Grandpa Jackson's farm. When I was young (pre-teenager years), that was about my favorite place to go in the whole world. My cousin Michelle and I would tromp around the fields and woods exploring every inch of the land. I would wake up early, just to go out with my Grandpa to feed whatever lived in the barn at the time. And if somebody didn't wake me up, I'll tell you I was mad about it.

So, for me, Heaven will have a lot of farm land. Wheat, corn, beans, you name it. There will be a big barn that smells just like my Grandpa's barn. My Dad will be there to give me a big hug, just a little tighter than the one I got from my Uncle Bub on Saturday. And my Grandpa Jackson will be singing to me.

Hey Baby, I've got a time machine in my basement...

2009-06-26T08:35:00.002-04:00

I had car trouble this morning. And, I’ll let you know that I sort of expected it. Lately, Bruce II (my 4Runner) has been a little down, a little slow to start, not really himself. Last month I took him to the Goodyear for service (I’ve been going to the Goodyear on Delaware for many years). They put in new spark plugs and did the oil change, checking of the fluids, alignment, etc., so I thought we were in good shape.

The past few days, we’ve had a sluggish start to the car, but really it’s been about 106 degrees out, I’m a little sluggish too. And today, Bruce did not want to start. He was begging to go to the Goodyear.

The good thing about the Goodyear is that they drive you to work when you drop off in the morning. So, the guy who has been working on my car for the last several years drove me to work this morning, as he has for the past few years. There is always interesting conversation in the car. This morning’s topic started with Fun Facts about Indiana. But the trip from Delaware/10th to South Harding can sometimes be long, so on the conversation strays.

A few years ago, the conversation strayed to a point where I found out that my mechanic believes in time travel. Yes, you read that correctly. My friends at work insisted that he was trying to flirt with me, and I am never aware when that is happening. But, I can tell you that, “Hey Baby, I’ve got a time machine in my basement” is not the line that is going to impress me. This guy does an Internet radio broadcast every week with guests that speak of the time travel and conspiracy theories that have entertained me on several rides to work. Let me know if you’d like the link.

I know, I know, I know!!

2009-06-23T20:38:00.003-04:00

I know I've promised to write, and not followed through. I'm certainly hoping my reader will forgive me. I don't know where time has gone. Lately, I've had this weird feeling that the summer is almost over. And I promise, this blog entry is the last time I will mention it.

You see, not too many years ago, when I lived a different sort of life in Bloomington, Indiana, my whole work/life schedule was way different than it is now. I worked in this alternate universe where time was measured in semesters. You worked really hard while school was in session, and then when the summer came you enjoyed your town. You could get into your favorite restaurants, take a swim at the outdoor pool, actually have space to work out at the SRSC, and walk your weiner dog across campus in peace. The town moves at a slower pace in the summer.

But...the one thing that drove me crazy back then, was a Country Time Lemonade commercial that talked about the end of summer, and they always started showing it on June 21. Just like December 21 can make me happy because the sun starts being out longer every day, June 21 is the day when the sun goes down just a little bit earlier each night. But when that commercial started playing, it always said "Summer is almost over..."

Now, I don't live at the university pace, but lately "normal" hasn't been normal. What happened to this year? Wasn't it just Christmas? I guess I've been busy this year, and lately, I feel like I need to plan for one of those "hang out days" where Trev and I pack a lunch and go to the park and just do whatever. But if you have to plan for it...it's just not the same.

Pretty soon, the end of summer vacation will be here and then it will be back to school. I am looking forward to fall weather though. That will be nice.

20/20 Vision...but only in one eye

2009-06-04T18:27:00.002-04:00

Mom's surgery went well today. She had cataract surgery on her right eye, and has come home with the word "yes" written in Sharpie above her right eyebrow. I'm not sure she is aware of that yet, and not sure how she'll react to it tomorrow when she looks in the mirror. I may need to get a picture (insert smiley face here).

Eye surgery on TV is much quicker than the real version at Witham Hospital. What they don't show you on TV is the 4 hours of prep work and eye numbing drops that are put in every 30 minutes or so. It is also different than dog eye surgery. My dog Rocky had eye surgery and his was very quick. He was my big, tough boy who did many a surgery without anesthesia. He couldn't have it because of his heart problems. So, even Rocky's surgery was pretty fast.

The good news is that Mom is 20/20 now, but only in the one eye. Maybe I could sign up for this surgery and dump the glasses. Wouldn't that be great? Mom is thinking she'll be able to drive tomorrow, but I'm not sure. How will she do it. With one good eye and one bad eye, her vision will be messed up if she wears glasses, or if she doesn't wear glasses. We'll talk to the doctor again tomorrow and see what he says.

A lot of good can come from a long drive in a Toyota

2009-06-03T22:01:00.002-04:00

I haven't been myself the last couple of weeks. I don't know exactly where it all started, but it's better now. I took a drive. I used to drive a lot when I needed some time to think and figure things out. With the open road and some music playing, I can tend to be able to resolve things. And, the good news is that I seem to be getting better at it.

I remember one drive from New York to Marysville, Ohio playing one cassette tape over and over. I was leaving camp with a lot of things unfinished, and did not want to go. I started the trip in tears, but 12 hours later, I was better. I think I was 25 at the time. Later on when I lived in Bloomington, I drove the 37 or 67 route between Bloomington and Indy a lot. Sometimes at weird hours of the night, but always with some music playing. The loop around Lake Monroe was good too, just watch out for the boat ramp on the south side of the lake. It is easy to miss in the dark and you might just drive into the lake!

Lucky for me, tonight I figured out what was up in about 30 minutes. And, I didn't even play my Taylor Swift CD to the point of having to give it away. Bonus!

I think I've been trying to figure out what happened to the 23 year old me. I feel like I was taller then. I know I had better hair. I think I was always funny. But what happened to all the things that I had planned? What were my expectations then and did I live up to them? And then somewhere south of Martinsville I realized that the dreams of a 23 year old didn't come true, but the life I have right now is pretty darn excellent. The 45 year old me is a lot better than the 23 year old ever dreamed.

Just Catching Up...

2009-05-31T21:22:00.015-04:00

I've got some pictures to share, so I just thought I'd do a quick post. Last weekend was a quiet Memorial Day weekend here in Indy. It rained a lot of places, but not so much at my house. Just cloudy for the most part. I did get out to do some yard work, and there is still some left to do. But, I also had a nice surprise. When I went out to work in the flower beds at the front of the house, the perennials that I had planted last year....were actually growing! They looked great for flowers that I hadn't even realized were back. So, the pinky, purpley salvia and the dianthus were planted last year. The petunias are new this year. I also planted some other sunflowery looking plants to take the place of the more fragile perennials that didn't make if from last year.

I had a somewhat busy week at work. Why does it always seem like 4 day weeks are so long? I was very happy when Friday came and I could go home to my doggies. Saturday was pretty busy all day, and I picked up Trevor after his ball game. We went to see UP, the new Pixar movie. What a sweet story. But, the main reason that Trevor was coming over was that we were taking Tiger to the Dog Day Festival on Sunday. Tiger (with Trevor's help) came in 3rd place in the Ice Cream eating contest. Check out the picture of him sporting his bronze medal.

And the last thing....My friend Marianne always posts pictures of the food she makes, so I thought I'd share one with her. On vacation, I learned how to make spinach. I've never really cooked spinach much in my life, but I've made these little spinach, cheese, and tomato pita bread pizzas a few times now. They are pretty amazing.

Summer Nights...

2009-05-22T21:33:00.002-04:00

I love the summer nights of daylight savings time. Actually, I'm not sure if it is the daylight savings time, or the fact that last year I invested in some deck furniture, but I love sitting on my deck in the evenings. I get a big glass of iced tea and the doggies and I head out. About 8:30 or so, the shade comes across my yard and the sky turns a beautiful light blue, the kind where it looks like the airplanes are scraping its surface. They are so far away, but I can still see them.

Sometimes I look at the stars, sometimes I count the airplanes, sometimes I just sit and enjoy the sounds of the neighborhood. Kids playing, birds singing, people talking and laughing in their backyards. It is going to be a great summer.

A Race Fan? Maybe....

2009-05-17T09:48:00.005-04:00

Trevor and I went to the track yesterday, the third day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500. Even though it rained for a bit and we had to wait through the long track drying process, we had a great day. A lot of cool things always happen with me and Trevor together, and yesterday was no different. Just by being in the right place at the right time, Trevor was given a souvenir that came off of Marco Andretti's car by one of the track fire/safety guys.

Earlier this week when I was talking about yesterday's trip, I said "I'm not a race fan either" or something to that effect. I'm sure the person thought that I was crazy or something. I mean, I do know about racing. I go to the track a couple of times a year, maybe 4 times a year if you count the Speedrome. I know driver's names and I do root for John Andretti, but that is mainly because he is about my age and from Brownsburg, and one of my sister-in-law's students from Ritter High School. And he is an underdog.

But, I don't consider myself a race fan. I am not really fanatic about much. If racing is on the TV at home, most likely Trevor is there. If I am at a race track, Trevor is with me. He likes it, and actually it is good for him to learn about racing. This weekend we talked about how special the Indianapolis 500 is compared to other races, the differences between open wheel cars and stock cars, differences in tires (rain tires vs. regular tires), differences in how the cars are built and how it impacts speed, and lap speed averages. All things very interesting to me and my favorite 8 year old, whether or not I'm a race fan.

I am a fan of the competition. I am a fan of Indianapolis and the extremely cool events we have here. I am a fan of Hoosier Hospitality. I am a fan of the underdog.

John Andretti qualified on Sunday, 10 minutes before the track closed.

The Pictures Are In

2009-05-09T21:20:00.015-04:00

In a cabin, in the woods....

This was our little cabin in the woods. Very nice. Ratatouille lived there with us for the week. He liked Fig Newtons. Notice the fire on the grill, I was getting ready to cook up some dinner.

So, if you wanted a picture of me on vacation, this is it. This is pretty much what we got for our day at Shenandoah National Park. This is taken at the Big Meadows Visitor Center. We drove a little further north to the Skyland Visitor Center and had our lunch there, but the drive was not fun. This picture was taken around 11:00 in the morning. It really didn't get any better throughout the day.

This was about the best picture I got in the park. It was funny as we were leaving on Friday and the weather was finally clear, we looked out and said, "Hey, there are mountains over there". We hadn't been able to see them all week.

This is the Manor House at the Shenandoah Crossing Resort. You can rent it, or any number of cabins, hotel rooms, yurts, etc. at the resort. The Manor House has a private pool, and I had read on the Internet that it was haunted. So, one day while we were in the lodge, I asked our waitress about it. She said, "Well, yeah, I've heard about things that have happened, but I've never been in there myself." Hmmm.....

Shenandoah Crossing is in the middle of Virginia horse country. So, they have a huge stable and riding trails all around. This is just one of the pastures with the horses from the resort on our last day there. Notice the sun.

The Definition of a "Straight Up Peace Corps Quality Garden"

2009-05-09T16:59:00.003-04:00

I'm home. We left Virginia on Friday morning after a nice breakfast at a local dive in Gordonsville. Friday, of course, turned out to be the sunny day of the week. All in all, it was a great week. Very relaxing. I'm thankful for the weather we had.

On Friday, we talked about what we'd be doing during the summer. Cindy would be at camp, I'd be working, and BJ would be gardening. As it turns out, the local residents in her area have been encouraged to plant gardens and donate what produce they don't personally use to local food banks and churches. Since she is in a rental home, BJ has started a garden with a friend at her home. This is no ordinary garden though. As BJ explained, "Y'all, I straight up dug a Peace Corps Quality garden", and she explained what that meant.

BJ and Cindy both were in the Peace Corps. Cindy was in Costa Rica in her 20s, and more recently in the Urkraine. BJ was in the Dominican Republic. I never was a Peace Corps volunteer, although I thought about it from time to time. I was just never that rustic. I mean, I worked at a camp. I can sleep outside. I can build fires with the best of them. But, whenever I did that, I always knew that a clean hotel room was no more than 12 days away.

So, BJ went on. I guess in your typical Peace Corps training, you have many training classes and workshops on gardening. BJ alleges that she was trained how to grow a garden in a shoe, but Cindy has no recollection of such a class. So, this Peace Corps quality garden is "triple-dug", where you remove 6 inches of soil and set it to the side, remove 6 more inches and set it to the other side, then you loosen the next six inches of dirt and mix in several inches of yard waste such as leaves, twigs, etc. Then you add back each layer of dirt so that you have a somewhat raised bed that is loose dirt 18 inches deep. I'm expecting some pictures of this garden at some point this summer.

So, on we drove north to New Jersey. And then today I got on a train to the airport, went through what seemed like an episode of the Amazing Race to catch an earlier flight home, picked up the doggies, and relaxed. I'm so glad to be home. But I need tomorrow to get back in the full swing of things.

"We don't teach inner city kids to make knives out of rocks"

2009-05-07T15:22:00.002-04:00

This week in Shenandoah has been rainy. And Foggy. And Wet. For those of you who wanted me to post a picture while I was away on vacation, I do have one of me in the Shenandoah National Park on Tuesday. Tuesday was supposed to be the "best" weather day. As it turn out, we've had a little sun today, but another thunderstorm is rolling in and we're just hanging out.

It has been a nice relaxing week. Playing cards with the "Axis of Evil" terrorist playing cards, watching Dirty Dancing, and generally belting out old tunes like "King of the Road". We have swam every day, which was on my list of things to do, cooked out in the rain, built a fire, and read. Not too many naps, but I seem pretty rested anyway.

And, we have laughed a lot. Today Cindy told a story about BJ, which is how I got the title to this post. A first experience at the Fresh Air Fund was an interesting one for BJ as the "Nature Lady". Although the campers enjoyed her classes, her lesson plans had to change quickly.

This is just a warning to all of you. Someone is going to have to look out for me as I get older or I may have to be institutionalized. If I am belting out a song from the 70's, making owl calls or other weird noises, and laughing at my own jokes....I am normal. Please don't let them put me away.

Cuyuga, Namolockem, and Cedar Rocks

2009-05-07T06:59:00.002-04:00

For a few days now, the camp trivia quiz masters have been stumped on the question, "What were the campsteads of Overlook Village?" Well, none of us worked with the babies, so no one could remember. Last night we even tried to "phone a friend" and googled every name we could remember from camp. We finally reached the former camp director by email and got our answer (the title of this post) this morning.

We've also decided to research how many former counselors from Camp ABC decided not to have any of their own kids. Freaky coincidence or were those campers just some sort of permanent birth control?

Memories....

2009-05-04T12:00:00.003-04:00

I am on vacation, but unlike other times when I am away, I'm feeling a need to write. Not so much that I need to tell you anything, but so I don't forget the things that have already happened. I'm on a reunion vacation sort of. About 25 years ago, my friends Cindy, Ann Marie, and I started working for the Fresh Air Fund. And while I see Cindy every year, for some reason this year, probably because it is a milestone year, feels different. And being in a cabin in the middle of nowhere instead of say, the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, helps a little too.

I flew into New Jersey, and I hadn't been to New Jersey in 4 years. I almost forgot what it was like. Take that back, I did forget. As you fly into the Newark-Liberty Airport, you can see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty in the distance. Looking out the window, I thought, there it is....crowded, busy, dirty...not so sure I want to go there.

Having just left the beautiful new Indianapolis Airport, I was surprised when I got off the plane, and it wasn't the same. Not that it wasn't the same as the Indianapolis Airport, but it wasn't what I had remembered either. I had remembered the EWR being similar to the new Indy airport, lots of windows, white floors, wide aisles. I must have been in a different terminal. I walked down the blue carpeted hallway where we pretty much had to walk single file. The other part of the hallway was taken over by security with cameras and scanners and people in sock feet. Downstairs to baggage claim, and then it all came back. I had been here before. It had changed a little, I think there are less Continental baggage carousels now, but that hint of urine smell in the air means it is definitely the Newark Airport.

My plane was wicked early (since I'm doing a flashback to my twenties, why not throw in a Boston word) and I called my friend Susan who was picking me up from the airport. They were still about 20 minutes or so away, but we worked out a meeting place at curbside, and I looked around a little. I looked at the airport seating and wondered when the last time it had been wiped off with a lysol wipe or anything like it, and decided standing was a better option. Maybe still wondering how I did this so much in my youth.

I remembered the episode where I was stuck at the New Jersey airport and a little terrified. Even then, I was the Lucky Girl, because somehow with $100 cash in my pocket and a call to my brother, I got out of a scary situation and back to Indianapolis. People's Express was the cheap airline of the 80's with a hub in Newark. I had heard they were going out of business and canceling flights left and right, but I still headed to the airport alone trying to get home. I was told my flight was canceled and that there were no other flights until the next day. The thought of having to spend the night at this airport was not good. I had no credit card, ATMs did not exist, it was me, all my bags from a summer at camp, and my $100, and that was it. My brother worked some sort of magic and got me on a flight through Dulles to Indy. I can imagine the conversation with the airline people that he had, but I am sure that the airline people wanted to get me out of Newark too. Terminal D was infamous. Poof, I am on my way out, and other people who were stuck were in disbelief.

I stepped outside to the curb. And then it hit me. That smell of exhaust in the air. Horns were honking, a taxi stand in front of me, people talking and yelling and schlepping bags everywhere. Ah, yes, I remember. I looked to the left and recognized the area where I used to catch the bus to the city from this airport. Oh yeah, I do remember. Yankee Stadium, Lincoln Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Poet's walk in Central Park, the subway, Canal Jeans, Little Italy at Christmastime. All of that is worth a little crowd and some dirt. Maybe I do want to go back.

The Difference between Cushing's Disease and Addison's Disease...

2009-04-27T22:47:00.004-04:00

...is big. But they are related in that they both are related to the amount of cortisol that is produced by the body, or in the case that I am most familiar with, the body of my sweet little dog Sadie.

Sadie was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease a few months ago. After several tests over the course of nearly 4 months, the confirmed diagnosis said that she had Cushing's. When we were to begin treatment in March, Sadie came down with a bladder infection, and then she got Kennel Cough, and finally she was well and we could begin therapy a week ago.

The standard therapy is to do what is called a "loading dose" of the medication Lysodrene, look for changes in Sadie's symptoms, do a test to see if her cortisol is at the correct level, and then put her on a maintenance dose. The trick is the directions on the Lysodrene are pretty scary. Lysodrene is considered a chemotherapy tablet, so it is attacking parts of Sadie's body as it works.

Sadie started Lysodrene last Tuesday and her behavior changed (i.e., she slept through the night) on Friday night. On Saturday she went into Noah's for her ACHT test to see if she was at the correct level of cortisol. We stopped the medicine at that point, and we were waiting for the results. Only thing is, Sadie went into "crisis" (as defined by the directions I was given by Noah's) on Sunday. I called into Noah's on Sunday evening and they directed me to start Prednisone therapy for Sadie to bring her out of crisis.

Sadie still had the symptoms of the Lysodrene overdose ("crisis") on Monday evening, so I took her into Noah's they did another blood test, and we're continuing the Prednisone therapy for the next 10 days.

But this is the weird part about the Cushing's/Addison's connection. So, the Dr. explained that Sadie probably only overdosed by about one dose, but now has really no cortisol at all (her level is .2 and is supposed to be anywhere from 1 to 4). I guess the way this works is that the overdose may have killed off part of Sadie's pituitary gland which has resulted in an Addison's like state. Hence the treatment of Prednisone to bring the cortisol to a more normal level.

So, it gets even stranger...the Dr. said there were three possibilities that could result from this overdose: 1.) Sadie's pituitary gland has been damaged by the Lysdorene and will never produce enough cortisol for her in the future, and Sadie will now be diagnosed with Addison's Disease instead of Cushings; 2.) After the Prednisone therapy, Sadie will go back to her "normal" state of Cushing's and her levels of cortisol will be elevated. At that point she will be able to go on the maintenance dose of Lysodrene; or, 3.) And this is the weird one...the Lysodrene has killed off the perfect amount of Sadie's overactive pituitary gland and after the Prednisone therapy, she will be a normal dog, no Cushing's, no Addison's.

The Dr. went on to explain that some "old School" vets do the overdose on purpose to kill off the pituitary gland and treat the Addison's Disease because it is easier to treat and control. I'm just amazed that what could have been a mistake, may be something that actually means she may not need medication in the future. I expect that is a big long shot, but who else could it happen to other than the Lucky Girl and the Lucky Dog.

The Mutt Strut, Feeding of the Bears, and a new home for Blossom

2009-04-26T19:03:00.003-04:00

Today, Trevor, Tiger and I participated in the Indianapolis Mutt Strut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What a beautiful day! And so many dogs. This is a very cool event, I only wish we had more time to spend at the track. Tiger was exhausted when we got home and is still napping in his chair. There were 2 courses to walk, a short course and a the whole track. We did not have time to make it around the whole track because we had another activity this afternoon as well. All in all, we raised $320 for the Humane Society of Indianapolis, and got some very cool pictures.

After strutting, we had to take Tiger home for his nap and then Trev and I headed over to the Indianapolis Zoo, where my sister had set up a "behind the scenes" tour of the bear exhibit. We were able to see what the bear enclosure looks like in the back area, where the keepers have their offices, and where the "indoor" areas are. The area where we were able to stand was very small. They had a yellow line painted on the floor and all visitors had to stay behind that line. One of the keepers explained that one of the bears used to "charge" the fences, but didn't do that anymore. What was amazing to see up close was the feet and paws of the bears. The bears will continue to grow to be somewhere near 1000 pounds.

The last activity of the day was one I don't have a picture for, but I really wish that I did. I have been volunteering for Kentuckiana Boxer Rescue, and we were able to find a home for Blossom the Boxer today. Blossom is a beautiful girl who was at a shelter but has now found a home in Avon. She is a sweetie that gives the Boxer kisses that I remember from my dogs Cali and Rocky. For some reason, Tiger and Sadie are not that kissy. Some would say that is an advantage, but it is good to be reminded about those boxer kisses every once in a while.

Lawn Care Season

2009-04-23T22:07:00.002-04:00

I'm so happy that the weather has changed. I'm ready to plant things and this weekend there is some mulch that will be distributed amongst the shrubbery along the front of my house. I think it is too early to plant, but the beds can be prepped so that they'll be ready when the Mother's Day planting comes around.

Sometime late last year my neighbor hired a lawn guy to cut his lawn and trim the weeds weekly. By that time I think it was August and I was tired, so I hired the same guy to do the "public" area of my lawn. I'm on my own in the doggie's yard. I know it seems like a weird set-up, but with the way I have my gates secured, that is just how it has to work. So every week, the "Lawn Mower Man" visits and for $20 does the front and alley grass and the weed trimming. Pretty good deal.

The Lawn Mower Man has been a great stress reliever. I always worried about how my yard looked to my neighbors. On my own, I did what I had to do in the time that I had to do it. Which means some weeks a weed trimmer was used, and others it was not. Also, depending upon the time of year, my allergies would kick in and it would take me forever to get everything done. Now, I can do the back yard pretty quickly without breaking out. I also don't have to worry about what the neighbor's think if I'm a little late getting it done.

The thing is, I talked to a friend at work once who said "You shouldn't waste your time doing the things that you really don't enjoy doing." And while that seems like easy enough to say, it is a wonderful thing that the $20 a week has done for me. I still work in the yard some, but last year I focused more on the flowers and they actually looked decent. In years past, I spent so much time on the grass and trim work that I was not worried about flower beds at all. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed planting flowers and taking care of them. This year, I plan to plant more. I also plan to take more bike rides and swim more.

So, the funny thing is, I have let the doggie's yard go too long this spring. It hasn't had it's first cut and tomorrow will be the third cut on the front yard. So, today, being the loser that I am for not keeping up with the grass, I had to take the weed trimmer and take the top off of the grass so that I can think about running the lawn mower over it tomorrow. For a lawn cut with a weed trimmer, it doesn't look all that bad, but it is definitely not good either. We'll see if this technique works.

I am Tiger Woods

2009-04-20T22:15:00.003-04:00

I hit a real golf ball with a real golf club today for the first time in my life. For my first non-mini-golfing experience, I actually did okay. My friend who is a pretty good golfer (he has hit a hole in one!) took me to a driving range and told me how to hold the club and where to stand and coached me through it.

My big fear was that I would keep swinging and totally miss the ball every time. During the session I totally missed the ball less than 10 times. So for a first day, I count it as a win. Now, much like my softball swing, I tend to pull the ball and hit straight down the third base line no matter where I think I'm aiming. That would be the frustrating part if I was on a real golf course.

I'm ready for another trip to the Golf Dome.

Ahhhhhh.......Memory Foam

2009-04-20T05:55:00.003-04:00

Remember last October when I wrote about the two things I needed to make me happy? So, the coffee machine was obviously covered, but the Memory Foam took a while longer. For a little over a week now, I've been sleeping on the most comfortable bed. My bed without memory foam is comfortable, but with the memory foam is out of this world. It enables me to sleep on my back without any pain.

I'm pretty sure Tiger likes it too. Above he's giving me his "But I don't want to get up" face.

Florida Vacation

2009-04-19T20:58:00.013-04:00

We got back from Florida 2 weeks ago. It seems so long ago, even though at times I still feel like I am driving through Alabama. It was a really good vacation. Actually, my kind of vacation where you swim everyday, eat well, do some activities, but also get lots of rest.

The week we were in Panama City was sort of on the rainy side. All days but one were "double red flag" days, meaning the waves were so rough we couldn't get in the water. It also was raining a couple of days. Luckily, the place we were staying had an indoor pool.

One of the exciting activities was going on a boat ride on The SeaScreamer! It was a great boat, that holds nearly 100 people and takes cruises out in the Gulf along the Panama City Beach shoreline. The greatest thing was that we pretty much had a private cruise. The seven of us were joined by one other family of 3 (from Houghton Lake, Michigan). We saw so many dolphins! And Trevor and Halie got to drive the boat.

It was a great week.

The day we went on the boat was a "double red flag" day. The waves were really rough. The SeaScreamer feels like it is going really, really, fast. This is Trevor holding on tight at the front of the boat, keeping an eye out for dolphins.

You may not be able to see them, but there are 6 Dolphins in this picture. Try to click on it to make it bigger.

My Boy is a Star!

2009-04-08T20:32:00.006-04:00

Never say never, BUT I really doubt you'll see me on You Tube anytime soon. But not my boy Tiger!!

Thanks to the good people at The Lucky Dog Retreat, Tiger is a You Tube star in this video, along with his friend Riley. Tiger is known as the "King of the Puppies" at Lucky Dog, because he plays with the little ones so well.

I'm so proud!

The Return of The Lucky Girl

2009-04-07T20:30:00.002-04:00

I checked the date of my last post, and it seems like it has been longer since I posted. Some stuff has been going on, but mainly I think I just needed to unplug for a while. And now I definitely have updates to share, so here we go...

One of the things that started my "unplugging" was a need to be a little more focused on just me. I went in for my yearly check up in February and there was some blood work numbers that were off and had the doctor a little concerned. And so, I have had some need to focus on that, and I also had a pretty big project going at work.

Some of you know that I have been on thyroid medication for about 9 years, and maybe some of you don't. I have low thyroid, which ties directly into my energy level. There are times that I used to feel so sluggish that I would say, "I think I have been drugged". You know, that kind of feeling where you almost can't keep your head up. I haven't actually felt that way in a while, but my doctor wondered if I had any energy at all based upon the blood work numbers that he was seeing.

Before I go any further, everything is okay. The doctor did change my medicine and I've been trying to watch what I eat, making sure to get enough fruits and vegetables. I also haven't missed a dose of medicine, which is really good for me. I actually do feel better, and the blood work numbers are now back in range. So, I will keep at it, and more blood tests come next month. I think that the doc is just going to monitor everything for a while.

And so, there is more to catch up on, but I'm going to hold for now. A vacation update will be posted this week for sure, so catch you later.

The Language of "I Can't"

2009-03-19T21:27:00.002-04:00

I had a surprise today when I went to the elementary school near where I work for my normal Thursday morning tutoring session. We wouldn't be doing our one on one tutoring, but rather they had a special activity planned for all the 4th and 5th graders called "Soaring Words". In this activity, the students were to invent superheroes, write a story, and illustrate it for children in the local children's hospital.

I worked with 4 students today, 3 boys and 1 girl. Two of the students (the girl and one of the boys) were my regular students who I tutor in reading. The boys were more into the activity that the girl. I've been trying to blame it on the "superheroes" theme, but I'm not sure I can really do that. The girl, a 4th grader, my star student, would not do the assignment. She kept saying "I can't draw", "I don't know how to do this", "I'm not good at writing stories", etc. Where did that come from?

I remember when I was in the third grade, I was so nervous about an assignment that I wrote in the tiniest printing possible. I think the teacher needed a magnifying glass to see it. I was embarrassed. I didn't want to be wrong and somehow I thought if I wrote so small that no one could read it then it it would be all right. It wasn't. But along the way, I got encouragement. I started taking chances (even though it made me nervous).

How do we replace "I can't" in the language of young people with "I want to learn to" or "I'm going to try my best to"?

Several Weeks Later...

2009-03-15T13:48:00.003-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while. It isn't that I haven't thought of this blog and what I have left behind, but some things have been going on, and that is just the way it goes sometimes. So, what have I been up to lately? Here is the update...

1. Remember the Meat Overload entry? Well, I had a repeat trip to Fogo with my friend Scott. I think that I may have been sick for 2 days after that. I had thought about that meal for a while and what it would be like to go back, but it just didn't go as planned. I have received some coaching if I ever go again, which is that you must get the papaya yogurt for desert. Something about the yogurt breaks down the meat and makes the digestion process go easier. I just don't know if I'll get a chance to try that out.

2. I went to the doctor for my yearly check-up. There were some wacky results on my blood tests. Since then, I've not been eating desserts or drinking soda. I also am cutting out the "real" eggs in favor of the egg-beater type egg for a while to see if it has impact. I don't really eat eggs all that often anyway. I have to check some things in a few weeks and hopefully they will all be back to normal. My cholesterol, while not technically high is out of whack between the goods and bads. I'd have to get the results out again to really look at it and figure out which is the bad number. Anyway, I'm sure the Meat Overload just a few days before the blood test didn't help either. I'm paying attention to everything and writing it all down. Hopefully, I'll have some good data for the doc when I go back in (I even have a spreadsheet!).

3. Sadie has been struggling with Cushing's Disease and other things. She isn't done with her testing yet, but has had some issues that prevent us from continuing the tests. She spent 2 nights at the vet last week. She's home now and okay and on a stronger antibiotic.

4. Okay, so all of you out there on Facebook and MySpace...yes, you. All you proud Facebook users who keep inviting me. No, I'm not going to be on Facebook, BUT...Trevor did convice me to get a Webkinz. That is right, I have a Webkinz. Trevor and I can now play games like "Go Fish" and "Connect Four" online. It is actually kind of cool. But, I still don't think I want to participate in the grown-up versions of Webkinz (Facebook and MySpace).

5. And last but not least, I won a jackpot at a casino! My Mom and I went to a casino the other day to join a friend and her mother. We had about 30 minutes to kill before we were to meet for lunch and on the third pull on a 1 cent slot machine, I hit the big jackpot for $1000. I had never hit the big jackpot in my life before. It was pretty cool.

So, that is my story. I'm home today doing laundry. Hanging out with the doggies. Having a pretty good weekend. My plan is to get back to blogging, but I may lay low for a few more weeks. Spring break is coming up and I'll be in Florida with my family. I'm sure I'll have some tales to tell when we get back.

Flat Stanley goes to Indiana

2009-02-21T20:31:00.006-05:00

My cousin Pam's son Justin (does that make him my 2nd cousin?) had a school project that he enlisted our help in. Justin is in the third grade, and his class recently read the story of Flat Stanley.

Stanley was a regular boy until his bulletin board fell on him and then he became flat. Flat Stanley's wanted to go for a visit with his relatives, so his parents mailed him to California. Justin's class all made their own "Flat Stanleys" and sent them to friends or relatives (in this case my Mom). The friends and relatives had to take care of Stanley for a month and write a letter about all the things he was able to do on his trip. Justin's class specifically requested some information and stories about where we live because the teacher is using these stories to teach about different communities.

Flat Stanley had a pretty good time with us in the last month. He got to go to the Great Wolf Lodge and to the French Lick hotel. He went to the Indianapolis Zoo and spent time with my Mom and her card club. Today, I finished up Flat Stanley's story and I'll send him back through the mail on Monday. All of the kids in Justin's class will read their stories to the class during the first week of March.

I miss the Gilmore Girls

2009-02-18T21:41:00.003-05:00

The Gilmore Girls was my favorite TV show. I happened upon the Gilmore Girls one summer during Season 5 when it seemed I didn't have anything better to do on Tuesday nights. The WB happened to be showing 2 episodes per Tuesday that summer and something happened and I was hooked. That fast talking, how many words can you get in an episode, back and forth between the characters was new and exciting.

So exciting, in fact, that I purchased the Gilmore Girls DVDs for Seasons 1 - 6. I know. I'm 44 years old and buying TV that was originally shown on the WB. So, when Season 7 rolled around, and the new writers were involved, it wasn't quite the same, but yet it was still Stars Hollow growing a little older. I had always been convinced that I didn't see all the episodes in Season 7, so I have netflixed it and started watching tonight. I can't figure out if I came across an episode that I hadn't seen, or if the new writers were so un-Gilmore like that it was unmemorable.

Sometimes there are characters in books that I read that I like so much that I don't want to let them go. I slow down at the end of the book because I know that the characters will end on the last page and I want to prolong their lives. Maybe that is why I'm sometimes drawn to books in a series like the Sue Grafton mysteries. Kinsey Milhone will always be around to solve another crime, at least until Z comes around.

I wonder what has happened to Lorelei and Rory. Sometimes I think of Rory during President Obama's press conferences. Maybe she is sitting in the middle of the room behind Helen Thomas and Chuck Todd. And maybe she was there to offer him that stick of gum just when he needed it.

How Much Can you do in a President's Day Weekend?

2009-02-18T06:12:00.004-05:00

Well, let me tell you a lot. Certainly enough that on 4 nights in a row, my 8 year-old nephew announced "I am going to sleep now" before 9:00 p.m. I consider that to be quite an accomplishment.

My brother and sister-in-law went out of town for Valentine's weekend, so I got to be with my valentine Trevor. I picked him up on Friday, right after school. Friday night was kind of uneventful, we just did the regular stuff...walk dogs, play outside (not regular for February, but it was warm!), dinner, watch "Space Buddies", and then off to bed.

Saturday, however, was a different story. I don't usually wake Trevor up when he is at my house. I usually let him sleep in while I attempt to do my normal weekend chores (laundry, dishes, and napping). This Saturday we had scheduled an early visit to the zoo with my friend Scott, so I had to wake Trevor up. But he is always happy to get up for Scott! To read about our trip to the zoo, complete with pictures, go here. We had a great time, and the zoo was very quiet in the morning. We also got to see lots of zoo staff feeding and caring for the animals.

Then of course, we went to Steak and Shake.

After lunch, Scott dropped us off and we took care of the doggies. We played with them for a while and took them on a walk. Then, they were off to the kennel for a couple of nights because we were headed to French Lick on Sunday morning.

On Sunday we were to pick up a friend at 9:30 a.m. and my Mom at 10:00 a.m. for a trip to French Lick. But first, Trevor and I decided we would go see the Boxer show at the Indy Winter Classic Dog Show that started at 8:00 a.m. With much enthusiasm, we left the house at 7:30 a.m. and headed for the fairgrounds. The dog show was interesting. I think Trevor enjoyed it too. It was interesting to see all the Boxers and their different markings and other characteristics. We could definitely tell how some dogs were related to one another. We stayed for about an hour, which got us through all the male dogs. Next year, we'll have to go again and plan on seeing the whole show.

Off to French Lick. Here we stayed busy at the pool, playing games, watching the Daytona 500, and just walking around the hotel. They have some pretty cool shops to browse around in. I know I had thought at some point about sitting in one of the beautiful lobbies and reading, but I don't think we slowed down enough to do that during the trip.

By the time I dropped everyone off, picked up the doggies and headed home it was about 7:30 p.m. on Monday night. Just enough time to get settled back in before my guests arrived at 9:00. I am a very lucky girl.

The Weekend Adventure and Recovery Zone

2009-02-03T17:54:00.004-05:00

Yes, I did have that weekend adventure. And it turned out to be an adventure that I desperately needed.

Last week was an adventure all its own with a foot of snow here in the Hoosier State. On top of that, it was audit week at work, which equals long days with lunch usually coming out of a vending machine. When I used to work at a college, all of my co-workers would talk about how bad orientation week was for everyone working. I want to make sure that all of you know that every job has its orientation week. Accountants have tax season, retail has the holidays, and pharma companies have regulatory agency visits. None of them are fun, but if you do well and keep it together, things can be great when they are over.

So after working several long days last week, it seemed like I would get home and always have to shovel. I don't know how that worked out, but that is what happened. In the mix of it all, I aggravated an old knee injury (from the dark ages of 1987) and on Friday (luckily after the audit was over) my knee popped and it was out. I'm glad I had a Target shopping cart in hand when it happened. I hobbled around Friday night and tried to take the best care of it that I could. Aleve, ice packs, etc. But we had a family trip planned for the weekend, so I had to get it together.

Remember the work picnic when I won the great prize! That is right, we were headed to the Great Wolf Lodge this weekend. And, actually, I really needed it after the week I had. So, I packed up my cute little overnight bag that I got for Christmas (thanks Diane!) and got some rest.

I did feel better on Saturday morning, but it still took me awhile to get around. I was running about a half hour late to drop off doggies, pick up Mom, and then pick up Trevor and his parents. And then off to Ohio. The Lodge was actually great, terribly crowded, but great. I spent the majority of my water park time in the wave pool and the lazy river. I had to meet with an Athletic Trainer at work on Monday and he confirmed that spending time in the water was the best thing that I could have done over the weekend. So, I'm very glad I went. My knee felt great after I got home.

The coolest thing about the Lodge was that we stayed in what was called a "Kid Cabin" suite. The room has an area that looks like a cabin with 3 twin beds where Trevor, my Mom, and I slept. The other area of the room had a queen bed and a pull out couch. After dropping everyone off at home, I got home around 8 on Sunday. I had some dinner and headed to bed, missing the last play of the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera. But maybe I'll get some pictures to post from my Mom. I'd love to figure out if there was a season when they weren't so busy.

The Obamicon

2009-01-31T05:58:00.005-05:00

I got this link to create "Obamicons" from my friend Scott's blog. This morning, I was playing with it a little as the doggies nap after their breakfast. I'm headed off for adventure today, and maybe I'm a little too excited to sleep. Will fill you in on all that later.

For now, my Obamicons:

The Lucky Dog at The Lucky Dog Retreat

2009-01-25T12:18:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, Tiger went to a doggie play group at The Lucky Dog Retreat. It was his first full day of daycare at this very cool place for very lucky dogs. Last week, he had a 2 hour "try out" to see if he was well-suited for the play group, and he passed with flying colors. He loved it, and all the folks there seemed to love him too.

I wanted Tiger to go on a relatively slow day for his first day, so I signed him up for a Saturday. Starting this Tuesday he will go every Tuesday unless I am out of town. You can catch him on their webcam here. They have a huge play room with a lot of kid toys, the big plastic kind that look like they were made by PlaySkool. I saw Tiger on the red steps when I checked in on him yesterday. At this place, they play all morning in the big playroom, then take a break for lunch and a nap. Then it is back to the playroom until I pick him up.

I was motivated to sign Tiger up for this due to the recent cold. It has been so cold lately that we haven't been able to go to our regular play place, the Broad Ripple Dog Park. Tiger doesn't like to be out in the cold too much. He tolerates it for a little bit because he wants the exercise, but he doesn't really like it. And, I don't think he would tolerate the sweater I have for him.

But now, my Tiger is sleeping. Playing all day has worn out my puppy. (That is the point of going.) So, it will be a lazy dog Sunday around here. I watched a movie and I'm doing laundry. Tiger has been watching it snow, "through his eye lids" as my Mom would say.

The Twitter Experiment

2009-01-25T09:31:00.003-05:00

For the last couple of weeks or so, I have been using Twitter. I have had an account for a long time, but this last week was the first time I actually made my Twitter page my home page and it sort of "forced" me to update at least once a day. (Sometimes I still didn't update, because I think I'm pretty boring). But really, I realize that I only have 2 real followers, and one of them doesn't seem to have logged in for months. So...really, I have one person who reads my updates. Not really a following.

Twitter is sort of like instant messaging to the world. You have 140 characters to answer the question "What are you doing now?". And you answer it over and over as "tweets" to your followers. A lot of people use twitter as marketing, so sometimes twitter seems like spam that you have willingly signed up for. I learned this by signing up to follow the wrong people. They have since been blocked.

On Tuesday night after the inauguration, FoxNews reported on Barack Obama's tweets using Twitter. They reported incorrectly, but nonetheless, Twitter is becoming more popular. It is fun to follow some people like Greg Grunberg of Heroes. But, my twitter experiment is over. I may update Twitter on occasion, but really my Tweets have just become a conversation between me and my friend Scott. And really, I should just pick up the phone if I want to talk to Scott.

And really, who cares that I spent Friday night doing my taxes? Or should I even admit that on a live feed going out to the world?

The Best Brownies

2009-01-17T13:15:00.005-05:00

I'm baking brownies right now. They smell really good. My nephew Josh and his wife Allie are home from California for the week and today is "hang out Saturday" at my brother's house. Sort of an open house for all of their friends. My sister-in-law is making food and she asked if I would bring brownies.

Brownies are a standby for me if I need to take sweets to an office party or someone's house. Everyone always loves my brownies. They always ask for the recipe, but I never really tell what it is that I do. Even my Mom has asked me for my recipe. Today, it will be revealed right here on the blog.

First, I go to the store and buy the absolute cheapest plain brownie mix I can find. Lately, I have been using the Marsh "Food Club" version. And next, and this is the important part....I follow the package instructions. Can you believe it? Yes folks, that is the big brownie secret. Now, my pan is over size, so I actually use 3 boxes of brownie mix, so that may make my brownies a little thicker. I also believe that my pan is magic, because everything made in that pan tastes good.

Sometimes I use embellishments for the brownies on top. Today I am using the mini-M and M's. But the topping really has nothing to do with the baking of the brownie.

So, that is it.

Meat Overload

2009-01-04T02:01:00.004-05:00

This past Friday, I did the very vacationy activity of going to Fogo de Chao for lunch. Fogo is a Brazilian steakhouse that is a meat lover's paradise. One of those places that you really can't discuss with your vegetarian friends.

Fogo is an all you can eat grilled meat steakhouse, where men in gaucho pants come to your table and offer you servings of 15 different grilled and seasoned meats from the skewers that they carry with them. But then, this is the ironic thing. It is not the meat that I am now obsessing over, it is the salad bar and the polenta. The salad bar is huge and has what seem to be the freshest veggies ever. Really good tomatoes for January. Also, they have all sorts of cheeses. Fresh Mozzarella, some very good aged cheeses that I tried. Very good. And the polenta! was great! It reminded me of what my Mom used to make. She hasn't made it in years, but I'm almost inspired to get her to coach me on how to make it so that I can do it at home. The mashed potatoes were also very good and the rolls were fabulous.

And the meat was good. I tried some different things that I had not tried before (lamb), but my favorite was the pork rib. I also ate several different cuts of beef, and I don't ordinarily eat beef. One time when I was having a "vacation" meal in Vegas I decided to have the steak and ended up being sick for the next couple of days because my body couldn't really digest it. I have not had the same experience this time. It is definitely better prepared. It seems to be a lot better quality.

And so it goes. I noticed there were others in the restaurant who were there when we arrived and still grazing as we left. We decided they were probably experienced and knew how to pace themselves in an all you can eat meat place. While it was good, I don't think I will ever become that experienced.

2008: The Year In Review

2008-12-31T23:13:00.006-05:00

Courtesy of my friend Scott, here are the year in Review questions and answers:

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? I started writing this blog. And I never thought I would be a blog person.
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make any last year, and I don't have any this year.
Did anyone close to you give birth? No.
Did anyone close to you die? Yes.
What countries did you visit? The United States of America. More specifically, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? A less painful right knee.
What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? April 4, the day I adopted Tiger. And November 17, a big milestone at work.
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finally finishing the major move project at work.
What was your biggest failure? There are a couple of things that I didn't handle well under stress. I still replay the conversations in my head, trying to figure out how I could have handled it better.
Did you suffer illness or injury? No.
What was the best thing you bought? Although I did not actually buy it myself (it was a gift from my Mom), I want to say my new coffee machine because it is my best new "thing".
Whose behavior merited celebration? Trevor. He is the best boy ever.
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I can't answer this question.
Where did most of your money go? Property Taxes.
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Indiana as a blue state. My Netflix subscription. Re-connecting with old friends. My new coffee machine.
What song will always remind you of 2008? Marvin Gaye's Got to Give It Up.
Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? About the same. b) thinner or fatter? About the same. c) richer or poorer? About the same.
What do you wish you’d done more of? Activities with my dog.
What do you wish you’d done less of? Computer games.
How did you spend Christmas? At my sister's in Evansville.
Did you fall in love in 2008? No.
What was your favorite TV program? The Big Bang Theory? It is the only thing I can think of right now. Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock.
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No.
What was the best book you read? Practical Praying, A Guide to Using the Rosary.
What was your greatest musical discovery? The All 70's Internet radio channel.
What did you want and get? Have I mentioned the new coffee machine?
What did you want and not get? The elusive winning lottery ticket.
What was your favorite film of this year? The only one that I can remember is Bolt. Probably because it was the last one I saw.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 44, and I believe that I had a very long day at work that day.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hiring the "Lawn Mower Man" earlier in the summer? But really, I'm pretty satisfied.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Khakis are good.
What kept you sane? Trevor.
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't really know exactly what "fancy" means in this question. But I really like Michelle Obama and I am excited to see her in action as first lady.
What political issue stirred you the most? Property Taxes and the Economy.
Who did you miss? My Dad.
Who was the best new person you met? Since I started a new job, I have met quite a few new people at work this year. Best? Well you know I can never pick favorites of anything.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. When in doubt, rent the mini-van.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. If I had words to make a day for you, I'd sing a morning golden & true. I would make this day last for all time then fill the night deep with moonshine.

If Christmas Shopping was a Competitive Sport...

2008-12-22T17:25:00.004-05:00

I would definitely be cut from the team.

This may be my last post for a while. Definitely not feeling like the Lucky Girl today. I actually shed a few tears. With "few" being classified as over 3, but under 15. So, don't worry that much about me.

I really left today with a good attitude. Dropped the last package for CA off at the post office and headed to lunch with a friend. Then, it was off to shop in the dreaded Greenwood area of town. Now, on a side note, I ALWAYS get lost in Greenwood. I got lost there just 2 weeks ago trying to find our office party at the Cheesecake Factory. So, I have no idea why I thought today would be better, but I'm going to share my escapades purely for the comedic value of it all. It really is funny, looking back on it.

My Mom asked me for a bedspread for Christmas, and she was pretty specific about it. She wanted one like the one she had before the last one that I bought for her. So, since that was 1986 and I had no idea what she was talking about, I headed directly to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They had to have it, right?

The specifics Mom gave me, other than the "it was the one from the 80's" description, was she wanted it to be a blue bedspread, not a comforter. Specifically not one of those bed in a bag things with all the stuff that goes with it. She wanted an old fashioned bedspread, where she didn't have to use a bed skirt.

If there was a bedding quiz today, do you think you'd know the definitions of quilt, coverlet, comforter, and bedspread? What are the specifications on each and what makes one different than the other? What if the package says "Quilted Bedspread"? How does that work into the definitions, or more importantly the expectations of my Mom? Because she told me on the phone when I called her from B B andB today that she did not want a quilt. "Quilts are for summer." Who knew? I left and headed to JCPenney, where she said I should have gone in the first place.

Ah, the mall. There was a time when I felt comfort from being in a mall. Today, was not that day. I found the JCP entrance and a parking place and headed in. Do you know that mall stores no longer have the store department map at the entrances. Much like casinos in Las Vegas, I don't think they want you to find your way out. I went upstairs and looked for bedding, but after walking around the entire 2nd floor, I couldn't find any. I asked the 15 year old with the JCPenney employee badge where I could go to find the bedding department and she said, "Oh, that's at the Penney's Home Store. It's down by blah blah blah store." She tried to tell me the other many stores it was near to which I replied, "Pretend I'm from New York and tell me how to get to that store." (Because really your random New Yorker has spent as much time as I have in the Greenwood Park Mall.) And off I started to the JCPenney Home store.

Except for one more thing. When I was in the JCPenney looking for the bedding department, I got myself so turned around that I went out a different door than I came in. All that stuff really looks the same in those stores, you know. So, I was in the parking lot, walking up row by row, looking like that poor woman who can't remember where she parked. I remembered where I parked, my car was just not there.

After getting my daily exercise and finding my car, I headed to the JCP Home Store. I got smarter and asked the clerk where the bedspreads were. She said, we don't have them in the store and that I would have to order through the catalog. And she said, for a little more money, I could have it shipped to my home. Whatever. Hasn't she heard of free shipping?

I went to Macy's which was next door. I paid attention to what was by the door when I entered so as not to repeat the lost car experience. After circling that store and finding no bedspread, it still didn't work. I had to ask an employee how to get out of the store. I said "There were some jeans on my right when I walked in." The employee was of little help, she kept saying street names thinking again that I knew where I was. I decided to go against my instincts, and magically I found the correct door. Headed home, with no bedspread.

I decided to look online at JCP at home. I found a bedspread on back order (which means it wouldn't ship until January 24). With that date, it would be almost quilt weather before she got it. So, I called Mom to talk to her. She said, "Do you want me to give you the catalog number of the one I picked out?" Hmmm...well, yes that would be helpful. So, I order the one she wanted online (in stock) and it is being shipped to my sister's house and will be there for Christmas.

Anyway, all worked out okay today. It just took a while. Maybe Santa will bring me a map of Greenwood.

Backstage at the IRT

2008-12-17T20:07:00.006-05:00

Early this morning, I had the very unique and very cool opportunity of touring backstage at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The current show at the IRT is "A Christmas Carol", and I have always wanted to see that show ever since I moved back to Indianapolis. But, it is one of those things that I have just never made time for.

So, I heard on my radio station's morning show (WIBC), that they were offering to give people the behind the scenes tour, and you also got 2 tickets to see the show. I emailed in and I got on the list. It was an early morning (7:00 a.m.), but that made parking super easy and they had coffee and donuts there for us. I was the first to arrive, as I had the big jury duty assignment at 8:00, and wanted to make sure that I got there in time to see as much as possible.

A very nice lady who was on the staff of the IRT gave us a tour. I wish I could remember her name. She talked about the history of the building and what they have done to restore it and what it may have been like coming to a movie in the 1920's when the building was built. And then...we got to go on stage and play in the snow! The snow is awesome! It is made of recycled plastic and the staff of the IRT says that once you are in the snow, you carry it with you for a while. They find it in their cars, their homes, and all over. They made it snow on stage while we were up there, and I thought that was great. However, a couple of the staff members immediately ran to the side saying "I don't want to be snowed on today!". I guess once you get it in your hair, it will be there for the day.

I had time to snap a few pictures with Terri Stacy and Big Joe Staysniak. (See the 3 of us pictured above). And I also got one of Joe and his legs. Joe is famous for wearing shorts in any weather, and as you can see, he was wearing them this morning at only 22 degrees.

And then, it was time to take off for my next assignment of the day, jury duty.

All about Jury Duty

2008-12-17T19:24:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, I got my jury duty summons in the mail, which explained that my week for Jury Duty would be December 15 -19. It seems that everyone that I have told about my Jury Duty responsibilities has tried to give me some sort of excuse that could be used to get me out of the service. "Tell them you believe in the Death Penalty", "tell them you are in the NRA", "tell them you just got out of a hospital", etc.

I'm not so sure any one of those excuses would definitely keep you off of a jury. But, jury duty is never anything that I was looking to get out of anyway. About 10 years ago or so when I lived in Bloomington, I was actually selected for a jury. I learned so much from the experience about our legal process in the U.S. and really how juries "work" to make decisions. I really think that it is something that everyone should do.

So, the way it works in Marion County is that you are assigned a Juror Number and Group Number which is all printed on your summons. It is kind of cool that everything is bar-coded and all. Not exactly what I expected, but I guess this is 2008. Every night you have to call in to the Clerk's Office and listen to the recording to see if your group is required to report the next day. My group number was 6.

Everyone told me that because I had such a low number, I was sure to be one of the first groups called in. Because I had a lot going on at work, and I was scheduled to start vacation on Wednesday at noon, I was trying to work out all the nuances of how to get everything done, not mess up my vacation, and still do my civic duty all at the same time.

So, the "I'm the Lucky Girl" part of this story happens because I said early in the week, that if there was a day this week that was good for Jury Duty, it would be Wednesday. And so it was Wednesday that just happened to be the day my group was called.

I had prepared for Jury Duty as if I was going to be sequestered for a couple of days. I bought a paperback by an author I hadn't ever read. (I didn't think it would look good for me to carry in either the Sue Grafton or John Grisham books I am reading now.) I also packed a lunch consisting of a Diet Pepsi, Chicken Sandwich, Baked Cheetos and some cheese and crackers. The lunch and my book fit nicely in my purse. And off I went.

I reported to the Public Assembly room (the one you always see on TV for City Council Meetings), checked in and they showed us a video about jury service. The lady in charge said that the court would be down to get us around 9:00, but 9 came and went and we were all still waiting. I'm glad I had that book. We waited for a while, and then around 11, the lady came back and excused all of us. She said they had reached a plea agreement, and they wouldn't need a jury today. She explained that showing up counts as our jury service for the next 2 years, so if we get another summons we can serve if we want to, but we don't have to do it.

After I was released, I went upstairs to the Auditor's office and popped in on Cherrish Pryor, one of my former student staff at I.U. She is going to be a State Representative for Indiana's 94th District. It was nice to run into her and I think I'll try to make it over to see her at the state capitol building next spring.

Disney on Ice Extravaganza

2008-12-14T03:47:00.006-05:00

I really have been doing more than uploading little heads of family and friends in the middle of the night, but you'd never be able to tell that by reading this blog. This time, I'm up in the middle of the night because my smoke detector started beeping. Nothing like changing batteries at 3:00 a.m. to wake you all the way up.

Trevor is with me this weekend and last night we went to see Disney on Ice. I had never been before, but always wanted to go. That is the greatest thing about having Trevor on the weekends, because I am able to do all the cool things that I remember doing as a kid, or didn't have a chance to do.

I must say that when I bought the tickets for the performance, I thought about which performance would be the best to go to. Somehow, I chose last night's 7 p.m. show, probably more for convenience of the time, and thinking it would be nice to see all the lights out in the evening. It is very cool to see the Monument Circle from the top of the Conseco Fieldhouse parking garage. I wish I had taken my camera.

It was a good show. A little heavy on the princesses for both of us, but nothing to the point of you thinking it was a princess show. What is up with all that princess stuff anyway? My favorite characters (other than Mickey and Minnie) were The Incredibles and Edna. Edna on ice was great! I think it's also the first time I realized that Edna really looks like Anna Wintour. I also liked the Toy Story part, because I always liked the music in that movie.

Ok. It's 4:00. Back to bed for me.

Middle of the Night Amusements

2008-12-11T03:02:00.002-05:00

So, I've posted a few too many of these JibJab things here, at least for most of my audience. No need to watch, they are for family. The dogs have been getting me up in the middle of the night to go out, and when they come upstairs, they naturally turn right to go in the office. For some reason, I have been following. The result has been some 20 or so JibJab videos for the amusement of co-workers, family, and mainly myself.

So, no need for most of you to look at them, but for some reason they play better after being posted to my blog, so they are mainly here for my amusement. A little holiday cheer for me.

JibJab for Family

2008-12-11T03:00:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

JibJab for Family

2008-12-11T02:54:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Five Trevors

2008-12-10T04:44:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Too Much Time with Jib Jab

2008-12-09T20:05:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of my friend Scott at "All I'm Saying...", I have spent too many hours uploading elves for the amusement of co-workers and friends. In the next post is "The Five Trevors" which is what I made this evening. So many ideas on what to make next.

Piggy Banks

2008-12-05T05:58:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of the One Minute Writer....What is the first thing that you remember saving money to buy?

When I was 14 or so, I was quite the babysitter. I had a few customers and during the summer I had a regular all-day babysitting job for some neighbors. So, it was a pretty steady income. In those days, I made 50 cents per hour.

I can't remember what triggered my interest in photography. I'm sure my brother had something to do with it, but I also think there had to be more to it. All I know is that I had my eye on a Canon AE-1 camera with all the gadgets that went with it. I remember it being $400 for the whole set. I saved up and we ordered it through the Spiegel catalog (60609).

I bought that camera in about 1977, and it was the only camera that I used for about 25 years. I still have it, although I don't use it now. Now I've gone to the digital age, and it has officially gone on the shelf.

Purple Footprints from the Past

2008-11-28T04:13:00.007-05:00

Today as I was reading the news, I came across a story about some red and green footprints painted on the sidewalks that have appeared in lower Manhattan. The red and green footprints, the story said, had been created using the same template as the purple footprints in the early 1980's. These red and green footprints are a protest to a place called "the Bowery Bar", which is a trendy restaurant that has taken the place of a gas station. (I think I remember where the gas station was, and it was the only gas station that I can remember seeing in that area.)

As many of you know, I began spending time in New York in 1985 when I worked for the Fresh Air Fund. I remember the purple footprints as a sign of comfort. I can't even imagine now how many miles I walked through the city. On a day off, we'd get up and take the subway to the World Trade Center or Canal Street stop, and start walking north. It is easy to get turned around amid the tall buildings and the purple footprints were always a sign that we really weren't all that lost. They were a sort of landmark that ran through the sometimes windy streets of Greenwich Village and SoHo.

I remember a one page story in a magazine at the time about the people who were painting the footprints. Back then I didn't totally understand, and I'm not sure that magazine knew the real story either. But, lucky for me "google" has helped me to find the truth. As it turns out, all the purple footprints led to the "Garden of Eden", a community garden developed by a man named Adam Purple.

Sometime around 1980, Adam Purple was a squatter in New York in a building on Forsyth street. Adjacent to the abandoned building where he lived, he created a beautiful garden. I remember this garden and the surrounding neighborhood. I remember coming across it and the disbelief of how a place like this garden could be in the middle of a city. There were vegetables being grown and beautiful flowers, right in the middle of the city. I found the picture posted above on a website that had a lot of pictures of the garden from that time.

I realize you may be thinking that Central Park is in the middle of New York, and it is a huge green space, so what is so different about this? As far as New York City goes, Central Park is in a whole different world. Central Park is on the other side of the economic border from the Lower Manhattan of the 1980's. These are the neighborhoods that were the setting for RENT.

As I have read more about Adam Purple's garden today (there is a lot out there if you google him), I have learned how he made the rich soil for his garden by riding his bike to Central Park to collect waste from the horses and then mixing it with ashes and dirt. He collected rain water and lived off of the food that he grew and about $2000 a year he made from collecting aluminum cans. One of the coolest things I came across today was this video on You Tube by a man that remembered Adam Purple's Garden from when he was young.

National Geographic did a story on Adam Purple and his garden. But, the city still Bulldozed it in January of 1986 to make way for a new building. I am lucky that I got to see it in person.

And the purple footprints? Adam Purple said that he did not paint the purple footprints. But, I'm glad someone did.

The Beauty of the Cranberry Bog

2008-11-25T20:46:00.013-05:00

A few weeks ago, much like the corn in July, I began to miss the beauty of the Cranberry Bog. Right after my graduation from I.U. in 1988, I moved to Bridgewater, Massachusetts and began working for Bridgewater State College. I loved living in Massachusetts, but the job was not really what I had hoped. But that is a whole different story.

I lived 30 minutes from Boston and 30 minutes from Cape Cod, so whenever I needed to get away from everything, I would take a drive to one of those destinations. Even now, I see they have a Cranberry Trail Guide published for the area so that you can drive your own cranberry harvest tour.

October is cranberry time in Massachusetts, and a few weeks ago I was hoping to turn a corner out in the country and drive past a bog. However, I was in Indiana, so that was not going to happen. You know those commercials of the guys standing in the cranberries? Those bogs are really out there and you can drive around and see them just like you can see corn fields in Indiana. They are beautiful! The red is so vibrant and against the leaves of fall, it is just breathtaking at times.

Now is the time of cranberry sauce, which has again tickled my memory of the beautiful bogs. I don't really like cranberries, cranberry juice, sauce, etc. I just like to look.

Life Lessons from a Centurian

2008-11-25T20:11:00.004-05:00

Grandma Mildred died last week; She was 100 years old. Knowing someone who is 100 is a unique experience, and sometimes it is amazing to think about how the world has changed since she was born in 1908. On the day she was born, the #1 song was "As Long as the World Rolls On" by Alan Turner.

She saw both World War I and II, the Great Depression. Think about the "things" that you use everyday that didn't exist back then. While she did have her driver's license until her 100th birthday, the car wasn't even invented when she was born.

She loved her family, all of them. Those she was related to biologically, and the others she adopted along the way. I was lucky to be one of those adopted ones. My brother Keith was her paper boy when he was 10, and they have been helping each other ever since.

And she loved God. Throughout the last few weeks, she was trying to figure out what God needed her to do. Now she is with Him, wondering no more. No more pain. But she'll be keeping an eye on us. We better behave. :-)

Is there a TV station without doorbell sounds?

2008-11-13T21:49:00.002-05:00

While hardly a topic to write about, I am wondering if there is a TV station that is free of doorbell sounds. They drive my Tigerboy crazy!

I am sick of the mops and brooms that ring doorbells in hopes that the lady of the house will give up her swiffer. I'm sick of the "reality" shows where the arch enemies sister drops by to "talk", and rings the doorbell. And now, Tim the Toolman Taylor's doorbell is ringing!

So confusing for a young dog set on protecting his house.

The Best Party Ever

2008-11-09T12:20:00.005-05:00

Today I was checking out the blog over at The One Minute Writer. The One Minute Writer gives a topic every day and encourages you to write for one minute about that topic. While I'm too wordy to keep it to the 60 allotted seconds, I thought I'd write about today's topic here, which is: Write about a memorable party or gathering that you have attended.

The most memorable party I have ever attended was my friend Amy's wedding reception. While I have never been big on the wedding reception deal (I often attend weddings, but skip the reception), Amy and Geoff's was not your average wedding reception.

First off, Amy and Geoff are way cool people. I can't really think of many people who are as down to earth and genuine as Amy. She has a sweet spirit that reaches out to so many people, and she really wants to learn about everyone. So, the collection of people at this party came from many different backgrounds.

So, what was so different? First off, the reception attendees got to sing songs with the word "love" in them to get the bride and groom to kiss. No clinking glasses for this party. The best man gave the most memorable a capella performance of "YMCA" in my lifetime. That's right...I said lifetime. We were also serenaded by the Semester-at-Sea group singing the theme from "The Love Boat" and another group sang the Barney song. I think it has been 12 years, and I still remember all this.

And then came the Elvis impersonator. I've been to two weddings with Elvis so far, and I really think that you can't have a bad wedding if Elvis is there. At Amy and Geoff's wedding Elvis was the reception entertainment. Right there in the Tudor Room.

Best. Party. Ever.

A New Kick-off to the Holiday Season

2008-11-09T06:59:00.013-05:00

For the past several years, Trevor and I have been really making the most out of the Christmas season. This has become my favorite time of year because it has become a rule that Trevor spends every weekend with me and we get every drop of enjoyment out of the preparation and festivities around the city.

Typically, it all starts the day after Thanksgiving, when we take all the change I have collected during the year and Trevor does his own Christmas shopping. (It is amazing what a child can do with about $40 in change!) This year, however, we are considering yesterday as the kick-off to the Christmas season, because we got up early and went down to the Monument Circle and watched the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) volunteers put up the Christmas Lights.

Last year, Trevor had asked me, "How do they get the lights up there?", so I told him we could go watch them do it this year. It really is pretty interesting to see, definitely something that is way cool through the eyes of a 7-year-old boy. We watched the workers for a while, went and had some breakfast and then came back to watch some more. There were so many workers there, and they all worked with precision to get all the strands in place. We were there for about 3 hours, and we were hoping to see the "test lighting" when they switched the tree on for the real first time. But, we decided to be on our way to other things. Maybe next year we'll get our timing right so we can wait for that.

When we were leaving, we heard a radio news story about the lights and the IBEW volunteers who put them up. There are six miles of electrical wires that are put up and nearly 5000 lights. This is the 46th year and some of the volunteers have been doing this project every year for 35 years. This week, the city will bring in the other decorations and we have heard that in addition to the toy soldiers there are some new toy sailors. We'll have to take a drive around the circle next week to see everything before the big day.

A Note from Italy

2008-11-03T20:48:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday, I went into Goose the Market to pick up some pork chops I had ordered. Chris Eley, the owner and chef at the Goose, has some amazing marinade for his "country style" pork chops. You may remember that I have written about them in a previous post.

I think Chris and Molly (his wife) know how much I like those pork chops, and when I pre-ordered them, Molly had said I could pick them up on Wednesday. I actually didn't get to the store until Thursday, but when I got there and asked for my order, the guy behind the counter said, "Oh, K.T. ....Chris wrote us an email from Italy and asked us to apologize to you. He won't have your chops ready until Friday. Molly had forgotten about the trip."

Now when is the last time that the butcher at the Kroger (Winn Dixie, Albertson's, Shaw's, Shop Rite) wrote you an email from Italy?

The Monumental Marathon

2008-11-02T08:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I volunteered at a water stop for the the first Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I had never been a water stop volunteer before, and it was fun.

All and all, the monumental people had it set up pretty nicely. They dropped off all the needed equipment (water, tables, cups, Gatorade, trash containers) right on the street where we set it up, and then came back to get it later.

After dipping all the cups, I was a water girl, meaning I handed cups of water to runners as they ran by. This is a more difficult job than you might think. There was a definite technique that was communicated to us (holding the cup from the top rim to leave as much surface area for the runner to grab as possible). The first few times I tried the hand off resulted in major spills. I'm sure the elite runners really didn't get any water during the race. Later, I learned the true technique. Make eye contact with the runner, let them signal to you that they are taking your cup, then the hand off goes much more smoothly.

I met some cool people at the water stop. And I even saw a runner I new from work who came in 38th in his age category. Pretty cool! And, my weatherman Paul Poteet also ran by the water stop, but I think he went to the Gatorade table.

The latest Quiz

2008-10-29T06:05:00.004-04:00

Courtesy of my friend Scott, this is the latest quiz. He did not "Tag" me this time. I just copied from his blog because I thought it was cool.

Outside my window right now is: Darkness. It is 5:30 a.m. and I've been up to feed the dogs breakfast and they are back to sleep.

My daily rhythm is: Get up, feed dogs, drink coffee. Go to work, come home, dog park, dinner, read, TV, or internet, then sleep. I sound way more boring than I think I am.

I am thankful for: A great family, a great job, and great friends.

In the kitchen: Fruits and vegetables from Farm Fresh Delivery. A little heavy on the potatoes right now. Milk, cereal (chex, both corn and rice), splenda, coffee, dog food. 2 bottles of wine.

Breakfast: coffee. sometimes cereal. sometimes the work cafeteria scrambled eggs.

I haven't found: The winning lottery ticket.

Lunch: Sometimes I pack - sandwich or soup, chips, crackers, fruit, carrots, Laughing Cow Cheese. Sometimes I buy - whatever is in the cafeteria at work (salad bar, soup, grilled cheese, or "homestyle" line of green beans, mashed potatoes, and some sort of meat).

Supper: About the same as lunch. Sometimes I buy (last night was Fazoli's) and sometimes I cook or eat what is around (Sloppy Joe's, soup, spaghetti).

I am wearing: pajamas.

I am creating: hmmm. A cover for my sofa.

Bringing beauty to my home: Flowers can do that. And so can dusting.

I am reading: T is for Trespass

I am hoping: that the warm weather will last just a little bit longer.

I am making plans for: the Christmas season. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of year. Trevor comes to my house every weekend and we work on our Christmas craft, we go to all the downtown Christmas activities (zoo, Children's Museum, White River Gardens, the Circle of Lights, etc.). We have a great time together.

Dog Days

2008-10-19T15:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Trevor and I had a day devoted to the dogs. When we got up, we played with Sadie and Tiger at home. Around noon, we went to my work's Pet Owner's Club fall outing at the dog park and had lunch and were involved in all kinds of dog activities. We then went to my friend Naomi's house because she has 5 puppies that she is fostering and we wanted to see them and play with them. Then we went home for a while and fed Tiger and Sadie, and kind of chilled out. Then later that night, we went to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which was a cute kids movie. (I could have totally fallen asleep, but I didn't, so that is a good sign).

I'm sure there will be some pictures of Tiger at the park from the photographer at the event. I'll post one here, if I can get it. We all had a great day!

Welcome Sadie

2008-10-19T15:01:00.004-04:00

Sadie the Boxer came to live with us on Tuesday. She was rescued from a shelter by the Ketuckiana Boxer Rescue. Sadie is a lovely 8 year old girl, with big brown eyes and a bit of an under bite. Well, how about a lot of an under bite.

Sadie will stay with us until she can find a home of her very own. She is really a sweetie. She's 100% potty trained (no accidents even in a new environment), gets in her crate nicely, and enjoys a stroll around the yard or around the block. She is very, very, mellow. Loves her mealtimes and in between snacks too! She has some arthritis in her leg, which has been a challenge with the stairs in our house, but she is getting the hang of it. I think she's doing pretty well now, since she's had 5 days practice.

I can never figure out who would take their 8 year old dog to a shelter. I'm hoping they had a good reason and it wasn't just because she was older. I always think that you teach your kids how to treat people by how you treat animals. Sometimes people think I go to the extreme with my dogs' health, but they are happy and they feel good. Acupuncture, Reiki, clinical trials for Heart medications; my dogs have tried it all. I always tell my Mom that she should take comfort in seeing what I do for my dogs, because I would do nothing less for her.

Sadie is the dog that I would want if I was 70. I've never been a person to like the small dogs, but I'm always scared that a big dog will overpower me when I am old. Sadie is a very mellow girl and a great companion. And, like me when I'm older, she would prefer a ranch-style home.

My New Coffee Machine

2008-10-13T21:47:00.005-04:00

Somewhere in the deep, deep, deep, back part of my mind, I know that my love for my new coffee machine is wrong. But I do. I love it. I am the owner of a new Keurig coffee machine. My Mom got it for me for Christmas. Yes, Christmas 2008. She had a 30% off thingy, and she gave it to me early. Way early.

For those of you who don't know, the Keurig is one of those single cup coffee machines. On a recent trip to celebrate my friend Linda's birthday, I realized that there were 2 things that I needed to make me totally happy. A single cup coffee machine and memory foam. I'm still working on the memory foam.

My Keurig came with a variety pack of 10 different K-cups, a small dixie-cup size serving of coffee that fits right in the machine. My favorite so far is the Nantucket Blend from Green Mountain coffee. But even I question whether I really like the coffee so much, or is it just the name? I do love Nantucket and I had a great vacation there with my friend Sarah Bell one May. (Hi Sarah!)

So, I've had coffee every day now for a week. Every morning when I am feeding Tiger his breakfast, I get to fix myself a lovely single cup of coffee. I've also had the Hot Cocoa, which Trevor also tried this weekend and thought it was very tasty. I need to get some of the teas. I'm not big into tea, but my Mom is, so I want to be prepared when she gets here.

I know that soon this machine will probably be on the anti-green list. I know. I know. But, just let me enjoy for now.

Everyday Weirdness?

2008-10-12T06:59:00.003-04:00

My friend Mariandy wrote about weird things that have happened to her in her life in her entry "Everyday Weirdness". Check out the picture she took while driving home.

In her entry, she asks, "what are the weird things that have happened to us?". Hmmm......what are the weird things that have happened to me? All the things that come to mind are not necessarily weird, but they are memorable.

Like when I was 21 and in New York City for the first time. It was 1985, and I ended up on the subway with a gunman at some odd hour in the middle of the night. I remember that first trip to New York so well, because it was at a time when there were a lot of riots in New York City, the Times Square area hadn't been cleaned up at all, and as a Midwestern girl, there was definitely some fear of the unknown in going to the big city (although at 21, you don't really express any of that to anyone). Remember the Guardian Angels? They rode the subway because of how dangerous they supposedly were. I remember praying every time I had to go on the subway. So, that wasn't really weird, but it was memorable.

To finish out that story, I was really over my fear within 2 weeks. I spent the summer in New York working for the Fresh Air Fund. Actually, for the next several summers, I worked there, and when I lived in Massachusetts I worked weekends there too. I got pretty comfortable maneuvering my way around New York City, but I learned which trains to be on, and which not to be on, and I don't think I was ever on a train after midnight again.

I guess I'm still going to have to think about the weirdness topic.

The Legend of Sleeping Bear

2008-09-29T21:07:00.017-04:00

Pictured above is Lake Michigan from the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes. You can also see North Manitou Island in the picture (see the lighthouse when you make it bigger). My friend and I spent the day at Sleeping Bear Dunes. The dunes are steep, and there are warnings about the climb to get back up to the top. In the park, there is a scenic drive with 12 stopping points, the photo above was taken at the top of the Sleeping Bear, one of the stopping points. See more photos of the stopping points below.

We learned a lot on the drive. But the most suprising thing I learned was about erosion, or the lack of erosion on the Michigan Lake beaches. At some beaches I've visited, there has been an erosion problem, where the beaches are washing out to sea. I know the Florida Gulf coast and the Southern California coast have had problems with beach erosion over the years. At one time when I was visiting Florida, there was a project going on to dig up sand in the ocean and bring it back to the coast. The northern Lake Michigan beaches in the Sleeping Bear area are actually growing. There was a diagram of the Michigan coastline of Sleeping Bear 40 years ago compared to what it is now, and the coast has grown. So, the Lake is really washing more sand in and placing it along the coast. This is not the case for all of Lake Michigan, as there is erosion in the southern beaches that are on Indiana's border.

So, now for the Legend of the Sleeping Bear. This is from the National Park Service brochure:

According to the legend, an enormous forest fire on the western shore of Lake Michigan (now Wisconsin) drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake for shelter, determined to reach the opposite shore. After many miles of swimming, the two cubs lagged behind. When the mother bear reached the shore, she waited on the top of a high bluff. The exhausted cubs drowned in the lake, but the mother bear stayed and waited in hopes that her cubs would finally appear. Impressed by the mother bear's determination and faith, the Great Spirit created two islands (North and South Manitou Island) to commemorate the cubs, and the winds buried the sleeping bear under the sands of the dunes where she waits to this day.

Here are some other pictures from the park:

If you make this one bigger, you can see a man trying to kayak in Lake Michigan. It wasn't really going well for him.

One of the other things that we saw, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of, was the ghost forests. As more and more sand is deposited along the coast, there becomes a battle between the soils, and sometimes, the sand wins, creating a ghost forest. The trees are like grey ghosts.

Back Home Again....

2008-09-27T20:34:00.005-04:00

There is no place like home. And that is what Tiger says too.

My Michigan week is over, as is any substantial vacation for the rest of the year. I am glad to have tomorrow to re-acclimate and at least start thinking about work and what I have to do. And also, it will be quality time spent with Tiger Boy.

In my last entry, I had battled insomnia while on vacation. And, well, it was also an issue last night. So, I have committed to get in bed tonight by 9:00 p.m. I can't figure it out. I'm hoping it was just an "out of my own bed and in a different place" issue, and all will be solved tonight. I am tired, so at least I should get off to a good start.

So, for tonight, I'm just going to give you a picture that was promised and shuffle off to sleep. Here is the beautiful sunset from the balcony of the hotel in Traverse City.

Good Night.

Say Yes to MICHIGAN!

2008-09-22T22:37:00.003-04:00

I am on vacation, but compliments of the Cherry Tree Condo Hotel wireless Internet access and insomnia, I thought I would go ahead and post some of the things I have been up to the last few days. I will post some great pictures later, I just don't have the access to do that part up here.

On Friday, I left for a much needed vacation. I was getting a little grumpy at work, and I needed to get away before I said out loud what was in my head. So, Mom and I headed north after a long day at work on Friday, and spent the night at my brother Bob's house. While I definitely was tired, getting 2 1/2 hours knocked off the drive to Michigan was a definite plus.

Saturday, we got up super early to visit with my niece Tracey, a student at Trine University (formerly Tri-State University). The school has been renamed and there is a big story about it somewhere on the internet if you are interested. Just Google it. I've asked a lot of people about the name change, some older alumni, some current students, and my niece. Some are okay with it and others hate it. I think it is weird. A little like buying the naming rights to a stadium. But whatever. We had breakfast with Tracey, got the early morning campus tour, met the roommate, and then we headed on north.

My Aunt Ruth lives in Houghton Lake, about 2 hours north of Lansing. My Mom and I have been coming up here to see Aunt Ruth for a few years, usually for a week sometime in the fall. We usually shop at outlet malls, maybe see a movie, go out to eat, read, play cards, and talk. Very nice time. This time, however would be a little different. That is, as far as activities. I'm still counting on a very nice time.

This trip, I decided to see a little more of Michigan than just Houghton Lake and the West Branch outlet mall. I have been a few places before, but mainly just looking out the car windows as they go by. This time, I wanted to stop and put my feet in the water. My friend Cindy, also in need of vacation, flew to the Cherry Capitol Airport in Traverse City Michigan on Sunday to meet me for my Michigan adventure. And, just so we are clear, I invited my Mom and Aunt Ruth to come too. They declined.

Today, was a great day. We headed out mid-morning for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake shore. Wow! Our National Parks are a treasure. The Sleeping Bear Dunes area probably doesn't get the publicity or recognition of the big National Parks, but it was amazing. Please check back for pictures later in the week. We drove on a scenic route that had 12 stopping points of interest. We learned a lot about the lake shore, what is happening as far as changes in the lake shore and how it has evolved through the years, animals native to the area, and things in bloom. We also were able to walk along the beach of Lake Michigan and stick our feet in the water. It was very cold!

I was also able to get my National Parks Passport stamped and buy the Sleeping Bear sticker for my Passport. About 15 years ago, I bought a National Parks Passport in Washington, D.C. I had collected stamps in it for about 7 years, but it was lost in the move. I haven't seen it since I moved to Indianapolis. So, last year when I was in the Smokey Mountains National Park with Trevor, I decided to start over. I bought both of us a new Passport and decided it was something we could start working on together. I think it is a cool thing to collect, and what great memories at the places we will go.

Tonight we ate in and I went swimming in the pool. I'm hoping that in a little bit I will be sleeping like a tired bear. Tomorrow will be another adventure.

The Death of the Local Newspaper

2008-09-16T21:16:00.003-04:00

Tonight I received a phone call from Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc., better known as The Indianapolis Star. They've actually been calling for a few weeks, but I have avoided them. When I saw the name on caller ID, I just wouldn't answer. Until tonight.

I just answered by saying "Hello, I don't want the newspaper." The lady was very nice, and she said "Really? Not even the Sunday paper. I can give you the special for 77 cents a week." Which did make me think for a split second, but my mouth had already started answering "No." So the very nice lady said "Can I ask why?"

To which I explained, that I just don't like the newspaper in my house. You see, it can overtake you, or maybe it is just me. The Sunday paper is too big. There is too much. I can't read it all. So, I end up getting the paper and bringing it in. I drop it on the floor right beside the front door (still in the orange plastic bag) and I think, I'll get to it. I never do. So, it lays there. And lays there. And pretty soon I have a mountain of orange plastic bags by my front door.

The lady said, "Most people just throw them away every week, or they recycle." To which I went into a little speech about how I was better at recycling, because I didn't even get it in the first place. She agreed with me.

The thing is, I don't want the local newspaper to die. Much like my friend Esmerelda, who loves reading books with pages instead of a reading device, I like the feel and smell of newsprint. One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to go out to breakfast at a local diner and read the local paper. Front to back. (My mother reads the paper back to front, and I just don't get it.) I'm looking forward to reading the Traverse City Record-Eagle next week.

I hope that I am not contributing to the death of the newspaper by not subscribing to the Indianapolis Star. Maybe I should make a point of buying the paper once a week. But I would buy it on Friday, not Sunday. Friday is a much smaller paper. I may actually be able to read it and not get overwhelmed by the amount of newsprint in my house.

Dinner at Granny's

2008-09-15T21:29:00.003-04:00

My Mom has been cooking Sunday dinner lately and inviting whomever is in town for the day. A couple of weeks ago my niece Tonya, her husband Chris, and her daughter (my great niece!) Marissa came for Sunday dinner. I took this picture on the front porch.

I know a bunch of my friends from Bloomington remember Tonya and ask about her often, because she spent many weekends with me (and often her spring break) while she was in high school. And so here she is, with her little girl (who is 3 now!). Tonya works at Wishard Hospital in the Human Resources department.

New Evidence...I AM the Luckiest Girl in the World

2008-09-11T21:25:00.003-04:00

Little did I know as I was baking brownies at 4:30 a.m. today, that new evidence would unfold that I am indeed the luckiest girl in the world. (The brownies were very good, by the way.)

Today, was the big day at work, the annual picnic. Now, for those of you who had heard about the annual event that I attended in June for work, I need to explain. I have a new job that started August 1. Just in time to attend the annual afternoon outing for the new job. But also at the right time to not miss the annual outing for the old job in June. (Lucky Me!)

Today's outing was at the Garfield Park Pagoda. It was my first time there, but very cool. A nice area with tables, etc. Lots of activities planned by the event committee for the 300 or so people in attendance. Volleyball, bingo, guitar hero, a raffle, etc. The event was catered by Jugs' Catering, which has great food!! Barbeque, fried chicken, salad, potatoes, brown county biscuits and apple butter. Then there were the great desserts that everyone had baked up, including the brownies.

There was also a "donate to United Way" portion, where everyone had been given an opportunity to donate money to make particular people in management participate in a pie eating contest. They had to fish worms out of the pies. I couldn't see all that well, but I'm hoping they were gummy worms instead of earth worms.

So, on to the 4:30 a.m. brownies. You see, if you brought a home-baked dessert, you got 2 extra raffle tickets, and 1 other ticket that was in a drawing for dessert providers only. I didn't really do it for the extra tickets, but it was a nice perk anyway. I just haven't baked in a while, and I haven't baked at all for these new people. So, early morning brownies are always the best.

As for activities, I participated in Bingo. I hadn't really thought I would participate, but when I found out they were giving out gas cards for Speedway gas station, I was a little more enticed. I did mess up the bingo game a little. I know, you are thinking how can you mess up bingo? Well, you know I get excited about things, a little anyway. So a couple of times I may have yelled Bingo too early. But I won when it counted, on the final game of the day. The coverall. So, tomorrow I will get $20 of gas with my shiny new gas card.

For the raffle, everyone received 8 tickets which each person could then place however they wanted to in a container for eight different prizes. If there was a particular prize that you wanted, you could put all 8 in one container, or you could try to win all 8 by putting one in each. Of the eight prizes, there were 5 that I was interested in. They were: Dinner for 8 catered by Jugs Catering, tickets to see the Lion King, tickets to see the Pacers, $250 gift card to the Great Wolf Lodge, and Colts tickets. The others were good prizes, an Outback Steakhouse gift card, Simon Mall gift cards, and a gift card to another restaurant that I'd never heard of before. I just figure, if I wanted to go to Outback, I would go. And since I don't really eat steak, I haven't been there in about 3 years. Although they have a great onion soup.

So, since I had 10 tickets (because of the dessert maker bonus), I put 2 each in the five that I was interested in. Now, here is my little secret. I had a wonderful boss one time that was a super-genius. She was a chemist that helped discover a cancer drug. She holds 2 patents. One time I watched her put her name in a drawing, and instead of folding the paper nicely, she wadded it up in a ball, and then gently pulled it apart a little. When I asked her about it, she said that this technique creates more surface area on your little drawing slip, and therefore it has a better chance of being selected. Hmmm. Made a little sense too me. Especially since she won on the drawing where I saw her do it.

So, with my 10 tickets where I put 2 in each drawing, I put in one that was folded nicely and one that had been wadded up. And I can't wait to go to the Great Wolfe Lodge!! Woo Hoo!!! I even had a few people offer to buy it for $200.

Now, if this evidence to my luckiness is not enough, I need to add one more thing. You know the event in June? I won at that one too. My car will be detailed next week, courtesy of the gift certificate that I won there.

I am the lucky girl. Told ya.

The Mysterious White Van

2008-09-05T22:53:00.005-04:00

Tonight I checked my email to find a message from the Neighborhood Watch Block Captain about a mysterious white van in my neighborhood. Here's how it went:

"...It happened to come through after dinner and park at the corner of New Jersey and Fall Creek Pkwy. We got out the camera and took a picture. When he saw me do that, he drove away, so I got the back side of the van, including the license plate. I attached the pictures for you (small files, but if you want/need full scale high res,they are 2-3 meg). K___ followed the van on his bike, and saw it deliver something on Alabama (he said a recycling box, or something like it, but it wasn't a DPW van, nor marked commercially). Could be nothing, and probably not worth too much concern unless something happens over the next few days."

It seems my delivery of fruits and vegetables has caught the attention of neighbors.

Slow Food

2008-09-01T20:44:00.002-04:00

As many of you know I have been eating mainly organic fruits and vegetables for about a year now. I do think they taste better, fresher, last longer, etc. But, probably the biggest reason I have stuck with it is because of the delivery service. I love every other Thursday when I get my green bin delivered to my doorstep from Farm Fresh Delivery. During the last year, I have eaten some things that I have never or would have never eaten had I not been using this service (i.e., fresh spinach, pink lady apples, rainbow carrots). If those things had not been in the bin, I wouldn't even have tried them or tried to cook them in the case of the spinach. But, they are things that I now regularly order.

The way it all works is that the Farm Fresh people have a "standard bin" that they have all picked out for you, but you are given 4 days to log onto their Internet site and exchange anything in the standard bin for something that you like better. I started out trying to at least try something new each time. I've sort of stuck to that, but as the late summer harvest is upon us, my love of green beans, corn on the cob, and fresh tomatoes has taken over. I also can eat up a head of lettuce pretty quickly.

And the fruit and vegetable delivery is just the start. I am so lucky that I live within walking distance of Goose the Market. I affectionately call Mollie and Chris Eley's market "the corner store", but it is way more than just a store. The sandwich shop, coffee place, meat market is where I have been getting meat on a regular basis, and buying bread from the Breadsmith. For you foodies out there, the Goose has earned top sandwich in the U.S. from Bon Appetit magazine. While you guys know me, and the sandwiches are a bit fancy for my plain jane taste buds, I still think it is pretty cool.

Anyway, tonight I had the absolute best pork chop for dinner that was marinated by Chris, and then cooked up on my George Foreman. (I'm hoping he's not offended at my George Foreman cooking, but that is how I do it these days.) Anyway, the pork chop was totally scrumptious and it seems, whenever I get something from there and take the time to cook it with some vegetables, it reminds me of a simpler time. When we sat down for dinner, at a table, and enjoyed a meal and conversation. And while I ate my pork chop and side items alone tonight, next time I will be sure to invite someone so that they can taste the great taste of Slow Food.

Labor Day Weekend - Baseball, Sky Concert, and Granny's House

2008-09-01T12:48:00.003-04:00

Where has this year gone? I can't believe it is already September and it feels like Christmas will be here before I know it. How will I ever get everything done?

This Saturday, Trevor, Johnny, Scott and I went to the Indians baseball game which was followed by the SkyConcert fireworks show. It was a cotton candy-nacho-chicken strip-french fry-peanutty-lemonade-fun-filled time. Oh My!!! After an Indians loss (which may be blamed on the early don of the rally cap by Trevor and me), we headed out to the outfield to watch the fireworks. Can I tell you how cool the outfield grass is at Victory Field? It was funny that all these people brought blankets. What were they trying to avoid? Bugs? There are no bugs in that grass. It is so uniformly amazing. I always wonder what they do to get it so nice and neat.

The SkyConcert was a bit of a disappointment. I think that the launch location for the fireworks must have changed this year. Last year, the outfield was perfect for firework viewing. This year, the actual fireworks were blocked by part of the stadium. We ended up leaving the outfield and going to a different area to watch. Much better. But next year, I think we'll try an alternate location.

Sunday we went to Granny's for even more food. But good, farm fresh food. Corn on the cob, green beans, meatloaf. And later on, when we came home, we tried to make homemade ice cream. I improvised with what I thought would work. And well, it didn't. But I can't see how they could make the ice cream in a ziploc bag this morning on the Today show, when Trevor and I couldn't accomplish it with a Salad Spinner last night. It really seems like it should have worked. Oh well. We will try again. But maybe we'll put a ziploc bag in the Salad Spinner.

Tagged! - Six Random Things (posted August 30, 2008)

2008-08-22T23:06:00.004-04:00

I got TAGGED by Scott at All I'm Saying, which is okay, sort of. I am honored, but worried about fulfilling all of the associated responsibilities. You see...there are rules.

Here are the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post these six rules on your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them. (this is the hard part. do I know 6 people I can link to? We'll see how this turns out)
Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog. (hmm)
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

I started this entry over a week ago, and it has just never gotten finished. There are probably numerous reasons for the non-completion (work, being out of town, just plain being tired). But at this point, if I don't finish this entry, I will never get to write about the other stuff that I want to write about, or post any of the pictures that I plan to take this weekend. So...I better get it done.

So, without further postponement...here are my random things:

My life has a soundtrack. You know in the movies how when people are doing anything, there is always some sort of music playing for the soundtrack. I have something in my head that creates the soundtrack for my life, so there is always some type of music playing. You'd think I could play an instrument or something. Lately my soundtrack has been a song that is very cool, but I have no idea what it is. It has a very 70's vibe. Lately I've been listening to all 70's music at work. Oops, that may have been too much information.

I am number 5 of 5 kids. I always thought that if I owned a company it would be called "#5" or something like that. Coco Chanel may have a problem with that, but I'm not thinking it will happen anyway.

I like all sports and I am very competitive, but in my ideal world, all the big games would end in a tie. I'd really like a world where everyone could actually win.

I got my first car when I was 24. And I don't understand why college students think they need cars at school.

Cirque du Soleil amazes me and I am on a quest to see all of them. Watch this video and you can see why.

I'm okay with breaking the rules sometimes, but it takes thought for me to do so. I have to come to that after a while of reasoning and justification. So, that brings me to the "I'm breaking the rules" part of this TAGGED game.

I'm going to break rules #4 and #5 for the TAGGED blog rules. This whole tagging was really probably meant to be good fun and all for all the TAGGED bloggers. However, the pressure of linking to 6 other bloggers has really gotten the best of my blogging. I don't even know 6 people who blog. So, just like the recipe chain letters, where people say, come on, share a recipe, surely you have a recipe...I break the chain. I figure, why would anyone want one of my Campbell's soup recipes anyway? And, it is doubtful that I would use any of the recipes I get.

Just let this be fair warning to anyone who may tag me in the future. I will break your tagging chain. I may not even do the assignment.

So, to my friend Scott. Sorry to let you down and not fulfill all the rules. I have done the best I could by completing the writing assignment, and I am glad that you made me think about this a little bit. Maybe that is a random thing about me anyway. I never respond or forward or do anything with the chain letters I receive (even from family members!). And this, while consistent, may also be a random thing about me.

The Oil Can ROCKS

2008-08-18T21:00:00.008-04:00

On Saturday evening, we had tickets to the Grand Opening of Lucas Oil Stadium. Which, was kind of cool, but not as cool as I expected it to be. The lines to see the locker rooms were way too long by the time we made it down on the field, so we did not get to see either The Colts or the Visitors locker room.

The event was pretty easy to do as far as parking and walking and dropping off goes. I dropped my Mom and everyone else at the front entrance and I drove to a Lilly parking garage and then walked back to the stadium. When we came out, it was easy to reverse and I was able to get the car and then go pick them up without much trouble. No traffic lines or anything.

Lots of people at the stadium were Colts fans, others were there to "see what my taxes are buying", etc., but everyone seemed to enjoy the opportunity for a walk-through of the stadium for "free". I say "free" because they did charge others for parking and this was the prime opportunity for selling all that Colts merchandise and concessions. I hope I get an opportunity to attend a game sometime.

There is much discussion around Indianapolis about what to call Lucas Oil Stadium, like a nickname. My Mom has suggested "the Oil Can", but I don't think it will really catch on. Some TV reporters have been calling it "the Luke", but Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil doesn't like that at all because one of his competitors is Luke Oil. Mr. Lucas isn't really getting his $123 million dollars worth if they call it that.

Back in the Swing of Things

2008-08-17T21:52:00.007-04:00

So...I don't know what it was, but I have been so tired lately. There are a few things that I have attributed it to, but mainly I think it was the excessive heat of the southern vacation, and the 4:00 a.m. olympic watching.

I really didn't think I would watch the Olympics this year. I'm much more a fan of the winter games, and I really was so turned off by all the pre-Olympic coverage from NBC. I thought I might just skip it all. But then it happened, you start watching the Michael Phelps phenomenon, the gymnastics, synchronized diving (who had ever heard of that before?) and I am still looking for table tennis.

In any case, this was a big weekend, so I had to snap back to normal. Trevor was with me and we went to the Trader's Point Hunt Charity Horse Show. This is our second year to do it, and for $10, the two of us had a great day.

The Trader's Point people know how to do a horse show. It is held at Wild Air Farms in Zionsville, and the grounds of this private estate have several show rings and a beautiful Grand Prix Field. We always try to go early so that we can see the young riders, but we didn't see them again this year. I read my program later that said unless they have at least 6 entrys in a class, they will not have the competition. Maybe there weren't enough of the little kids ( 5, 6, and 7 year-olds) who entered.

It was kids day, so there were plenty of things to do. They had the air jumpy things, pony rides, face painting, clowns, etc. We did a few of those things, and then headed off to the terrier races. Have you ever seen the terrier races on TV? I've seen them on Animal Planet. But basically, they have terriers (or in the case of Trader's Point any small dog) chase a toy on a string down a fairly long grassy course. At the end of the course they have bales of straw set up so that they form a dog-size hole for the dogs to go through. The first one through the hole is the winner. We watched the races, and then went to the Grand Prix field to watch the jumpers.

I really like this show and we had a great morning. And, I like to think this is another of some very different experiences we have during the year.