Birthday Celebration, Part I

Whew... I am still recovering from the last couple of weekends. We have all had a blast celebrating Doug's 40th birthday! The "official" birthday was this past Sunday, but we've been celebrating for over a week.

Two weekends ago, the kids and I took Doug downtown to Indy for an overnight adventure. I was brave and decided to board Shasta at a local doggie daycare place. She did great... Anyway, on the first weekend of the celebration, we stayed overnight at the Crowne Plaza Union Station. I reserved a room that was actually in an old coach car. The kids thought this was the most awesome thing that they had ever seen. We stayed in the Benjamin Harrison car...




Shortly after we checked in, we walked over to the Spaghetti Factory. We love to eat there and haven't done so in a very long time. I think that made the food taste even that much better... either that or it was the first "really bad" meal that I've eaten since going on my diet. We were seated in the trolley car at the restaurant and again, the kids thought that was way neat! After dinner, we walked through the Circle Center Mall. It was fun to just watch people. There were lots of "kids" dressed up for the prom. Amanda and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful dresses.

We walked back to the hotel, and I called the concierge to get information about carriage rides. About a half an hour later, we were riding around downtown in the carriage, listening to the clip, clop of big hooves. We all really enjoyed this. We left the hotel, headed north and then around the circle... then finally back to the hotel. It was a bit chilly, so we all enjoyed cuddling under the warm blankets... Our horse's name was Blue... even though he was black.





The kids had fun showing us all of their swimming skills in the hotel pool after we returned. They are both getting SO good! Amanda can basically "rocket" swim under the water all by herself. They both jump in and climb out all by themselves... Amazing.

We were all extremely tired by the time bedtime rolled around. I don't think that it took anyone much more than five minutes to be out...

In the morning, Doug walked around and snapped some pictures before the rest of us awoke. Actually, a train passing overhead woke Amanda and I up. She wanted to know if I had "heard the vibration". Cute. I think that she thought at first it was an earthquake since we've all been talking about that recently. Here are a couple of his pictures... One of a train and one of the new stadium that they are building. It is HUGE!




After checking out, we headed over to the Indianapolis Zoo. We had a great time... the crowds were very minimal. We were able to see several of the animals. We even petted some sharks! The lemur group had four babies - SO sweet! We actually didn't get to see them all, but one of them was sure putting on a show!! It has to be a boy... The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the play area at the zoo. You would think that this was the best thing since sliced bread... I'm not sure how much time we spent there.








We picked up Shasta on the way home. She had done great there and was totally worn out. I think that she slept the better part of the next day and a half. We were all happy to get home... and recuperate.

Feast Time

First, let me say that it is a beautiful day here today! It is supposed to reach 80!! I am contemplating planting a tree with the kids to celebrate Arbor Day. The only trouble is, I'm not sure where we would plant it. I need to give this a little thought and perhaps visit the local garden store for some advice.

The trip for Doug's birthday last weekend was a blast! We had so much fun... all of us. More on this later. Pictures, too!!

For now, here is the Feast...

Appetizer:
Name something you would categorize as weird. Ok. When I first read this, the thing that popped into my head was an image of someone with a strange haircut and/or haircolor. Like spiked hair that is red... white... purple. Not sure why. I'm all for personal expression and creativity, but that is what popped in... No offense to anyone who may have their hair styled like that.

Soup:
What color was the last piece of food you ate? Brown. I just had a couple of pieces of leftover chicken... moments ago. Doug grilled some chicken breasts and tenders on the grill a couple of nights ago. They were YUMMY! I had a bit of our homemade bbq sauce with them as well.

Salad:
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone? 1. You know, I have little "fantasies" I will call them where I am alone, sitting in the shade or a comfy chair, reading a great book. But, when it comes down to it, when I am truly alone, I don't know what to do with myself. On the rare occasion that I am at home by myself, I never relax. I clean... I do dishes... I surf on the internet and burn the time... I guess that I truly am the happiest when I am surrounded by my family or friends.

Main Course:
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______. Wow, is this a loaded question, or what!?! I will eventually vote for competitors in a TV Show competition. I have never done it up to this point, but I think it would be fun to express my opinion through voting. I was oh, so close to voting for Helio on Dancing With the Stars last season... but, I never did it. I guess that he didn't need my votes anyway...

Dessert:
Describe your sleeping habits. I usually go to bed around 10:30 p.m. and get up around 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. I must admit that I still sleep with my little boy (who is not quite so little anymore) cuddled up next to me. There is just something about waking up, looking over and seeing that little precious person sleeping away so soundly.

Feastage!

Wow. These were hard for me... especially after last night (see previous post...)

Appetizer:
Name a color you find soothing. The first color that popped into my head for this question was Lavender. I guess not only does the color soothe me, but I think about the scent of Lavender also... which is very relaxing to me.

Soup:
Using 20 or less words, describe your first driving experience. I first "drove" our riding lawnmower. Learned basic steering. Worked lots on my summer tans!

Salad:
What material is your favorite item of clothing made out of? The touch, the fell of cotton... During the winter, I practically live in my cotton flannel pj/lounge pants. They are so warm and fuzzy and soft. Of course, they're not so comfy in the hot, humid summer days...

Main Course:
Who is a great singer or musician who, if they were to come to your town for a concert, you would spend the night outside waiting for tickets to see? While I really, really enjoy live music, I can't see myself spending the night outside waiting for tickets. Maybe if I could be guaranteed front row seats or something... if that were the case, I guess that Robert Plant would be up there... so would Phil Collins... Diana Krall, too.

Dessert:
What is the most frequent letter of the alphabet in your whole name (first, middle, maiden, last, etc.)? This is a three-way tie. In my entire name (first + last + maiden + last), there are 3 a's, 3 n's and 3 e's. Boy, I had to really concentrate on figuring this one out. Fun, but challenging for my sleep-deprived brain...

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be sure to post on how the "celebration" went!!

Where do I Start???

Oh boy, it has been a very interesting 24 hours or so to say the very least... Yesterday, I took Amanda back to the dentist to have some more sugar bugs (a.k.a. cavities) removed from her teeth. She did great! I'm totally blown away by how calm she is there... Of course, it is a huge bonus that the dentist and all of her assistants are totally sweet and very gentle. Anyway, we have one more trip next week to get one more fixed, and she will be taken care of until October. Whew!

While we were at Mom and Dad's after the dentist appointment, they got a call from Mendi. Nothing unusual about that... but, the subject matter of the call was quite a shock. In three months, Dean will no longer be employed by his current employer. I don't know the entire story, but there is a good chance that they will be moving back to Indiana... which is a huge WAHOO!!!!!! While I am really excited about that, there is something that is unsettling about it to me. I think that it is just the amount of stress that Mendi (and the rest of them) must be under... and will be under to have to sell the house, move and get other jobs lined up. This caused me to be off-kilter the rest of the night...

We got back home, played outside, had dinner and discovered that a few things needed to be run back to the library. I volunteered to drive the things back over to the library... and when I got back, the kiddos were starting to shut down for the day. Amanda was really tired. We got her all ready for bed, and as I was shutting windows in the house, I discovered that one of the screens in the playroom had popped out. My mind went into overload... OH NO! I hadn't seen Mallory (Amanda's cat) for awhile... I was just certain that she must have escaped. Luckily, none of the other critters had escaped, as we were able to easily verify their presence.

After searching the house up and down, we gave into the fact that Mallory must be outside. Of course, by now it is nearly 10 or 10:30. I'm outside roaming around our house and the neighbor's house with a flashlight, certain that I'll either get shot at or arrested. Thankfully, neither happened. I searched. Doug searched. We called. We shook her cat food bowl. We clanked a spoon in a bowl (she likes to lick up my milk after I finish my cereal). I drove around searching aimlessly... Finally, at around 12:30 a.m. I dropped into bed.

Sleep didn't come easily, but I did eventually fall asleep. I woke up a couple of times through the night and checked the cat food and sheet that I had left on the front porch. No Mallory.

I was startled out of my sleep at about 5:30 a.m. by the bed and hutch doors moving around. Earthquake? No way! Sure enough, that is what it was!!! Here is the link to read about it:
Earthquake rattles Indiana this morning

Well, I woke up. Looked at the clock. Thought to myself, "Hmmm. Must've been an earthquake. I need to try and remember this when I wake up later..." Somehow, I was able to go back to sleep for about another hour.

About 6:30 a.m., I started the search mission all over again. I started spreading the word to neighbors that I bumped into. Did the drive around the "country block" again. I was certain that I had spotted Mallory at a home down the road a bit... but, it turned out to be "Bill" instead. I scared the kids in the family, who wanted to know if "that lady is taking our cat!?!?!" I returned home... empty handed. Amanda was still asleep...

About an hour later, the neighborhood cat, Buttons, came around. For a split second, I thought that the black tail that went past the door was Mallory, but no... I went out to ask Buttons if she had seen Mallory. About the same time, Shasta and I both spotted MALLORY! Shasta started to chase her, and I thought, "Great, I found her, now she is going to run away again. Geesh." But, she ran into our garage, where I was able to snap her up and take her inside... while Amanda was still sleeping. Thank you, God in Heaven!

So, that has been what's been happening around here. Now, we need to regroup and start getting things ready for Doug's surprise weekend!!!!

Stay tuned for Friday's Feast in a bit...

Substitute Feast

Well, since the regular chef at Friday's Feast took the day off, one of the other folks that regularly participates, came up with her own list of questions. I've decided to use hers for today... Here it is!

Appetizer:
What is your favorite vacation spot in the United States? Oh man, do I have to pick just one?!? I'm going to cheat and list two or three... Ok, for the mountains, I really enjoy going down to the Smokies. This place is special to me. Doug and I have had some really nice vacations, just the two of us, there. And, we have also shared some awesome recent vacations with my entire family. For a beach vacation, I just LOVE the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We have spent several vacations there... I think that we were there for 10 consecutive summer trips. It's such a great place - especially the part that we stay in. Not commercialized and very relaxing. For the ultimate splurge, I would have to say that Maui would take the cake. Doug and I spent a little over a week there before having children. It is beautiful! A true paradise...

Soup:
If someone else (friend, co-worker, family) brings up a religious or political topic, how likely are you to join the conversation, on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = not likely, 10=very likely). Hmmm. I would have to say that it would depend a bit on the exact subject matter. While I do have strong beliefs, I often don't think too quickly on my feet to be able to defend my stance. I guess that I would have to answer a 4 on this one...

Salad:
What song do you listen to when you feel very sad? I don't think that I have a particular song to cheer me up if I get sad. Honestly, I really don't get sad very often.

Main Course:
Someone you really admire is coming over for a home-cooked dinner. What do you serve him/her? I think that I would go with an Italian dinner... probably salad, garlic bread, lasagna and a nice red wine. I'd have to top it off with Tiramusu for desert! Yummy!!

Dessert:
If the only form of transportation left in the world is by animal (horse, mule, camel, etc), where would you live? I would live way out in the country. I would just love to do this... even in today's world. I get so frustrated by all of the hustle and bustle of the current lifestyles around here. It seems like everyone is always on the go, always running late, always trying to impress someone else. I would just love to get away from it all and enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of the land.

Beautiful Friday Morning!

It is an absolutely beautiful Friday morning. We had some rain through the night... and, it just made everything green up that much more. The sun is shining and it is already 61 degrees. Can it get any better? I'm thinking of taking the kiddos over to the park later this afternoon. They are having a presentation on reptiles and amphibians... I think that we'll give it a go!

Until then, here is my feast!

Oh man... I just went to get this week's questions and here is what I found!
"Sorry, everyone - I need a week off from cooking up the feast. Feel free to fry up your own fritters this week. I’ll be back on April 18th!"

What to do... I'll have to give this one some thought...

Shasta Daisy

Yesterday, the kids and I went out to get some pansies for the flower pots on our front porch. Amanda had also wanted to look for some Zinnia seeds. Not just any Zinnia seeds, but seeds that grow to produce beautiful greenish-white flowers. The first place we went to didn't have the seeds, so we had to try somewhere else. While looking for the seeds, I discovered a packet of seeds for Shasta Daisies. I'd never heard of such a flower. How appropriate... and, of course, the Shasta Daisy flowers are white. Perhaps this is how Shasta got her name.

When I googled Shasta Daisy this morning, the above picture was the first thing that came back. I had to chuckle, as the same could be said about our canine version of Shasta. We are certainly trying to turn a bit of a troublesome "weed" into a beautiful "flower". I think that we are making progress... and falling more in love with her each day.

Weekend in Ohio

We got back last evening around 9 p.m. from our Ohio weekend adventure. We wound up leaving on Friday afternoon... really early evening. It was nice to have the drive behind us and be able to sleep in a little bit on Saturday morning.

We visited with one of Doug's friends from high school and his family on Saturday afternoon. His youngest son was celebrating his third birthday, so we were a part of the celebration. I tried to stick to my diet this weekend, but it was hard... with pizza, birthday cake and ice cream. I just tried to eat in moderation. The kids had a great time playing with Rob's kids. And, everyone was healthy! A miracle with that many kids involved!!

Later on Saturday, we went over to Doug's dad's house to visit with him. We had more pizza there - yum!! My idea of a fun day :) After a nice visit, we returned to Doug's mom's house and pretty much all crashed. Well, I take that back... Amanda helped Grandma decorate the annual bunny cake. I think that they did a great job!



Sunday was the big "family get-together" day at Doug's mom's. We got up and had breakfast... and almost immediately after that Amanda was begging to do something "fun". So, we loaded up the gang, including Russ, and headed out to do a couple of geocaches. We were successful in both hunts and wound up spending some quality time at a playground. The kids wore themselves out... the dog wore herself out... and Russ snapped a few pictures. Here are a couple:




The entire family was there at the gathering... all 15 of Amanda and James' cousins (first and second) on that side of the family were there. Rest assured there were plenty of antics going on. I'm surprised that the house was still standing when we all left. Both of Doug's sister and their husbands were there... and so were both of Doug's cousins on that side of the family. We had a very nice time. The weather was just perfect. It's always nice to see everyone... we just really don't get the chance to get the whole gang together very often. Usually it's only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and sometime around Easter.

Well, for today, it is back to the normal grind. So far, I've been trying to catch back up on laundry. We've also had our morning painting session... not sure what is on tap for later today, but it is supposed to be near 70! We'll be outside playing for certain!

Feast Away...

Another week has passed. We've been able to get outside to play, do some Spring clean-up, wear the kids out... you know. This weekend, we are off to visit with Doug's family. It should be fun... but tiring. Since we don't get over there too often, it is like a whirlwind tour of family and friends. I guess that we'll all sleep well... at least, we should.

I'd type more, but James it trying to take over the keyboard. Actually, it is pretty cool, because he is telling me all of the letters! Anyway, I should go for now... enjoy the feast...

Appetizer:
Invent a new flower; give it a name and describe it. My new flower is called the Giant Lilacinth. It is a cross between a lilac and a hyacinth with blooms that tower an amazing 12 inches tall. The fragrance from this amazing flower will make you think that you have passed through the pearly gates indeed... as it is the scent of a lilac multiplied by that of the hyacinth. The blooms on the flower can be purple, white, pink or the more rare pale yellow.

Soup:
Name someone whom you think has a wonderful voice. Ok, I'm going to break this into a two-part answer... One answer for speaking voice; one answer for singing voice. First, the speaking voice. I have recently discovered Simply Ming on PBS. It is a cooking show hosted by Chef Ming Tsai. He has got the kind of voice that I could listen to for hours on end... very smooth, well articulated. I don't know, there is just something about it. Now, the singing voice. Without a doubt, my favorite singing voice belongs to Diana Krall, a lady that specializes in the jazz genre. Not only is she beautiful, but her voice in itself is just awesome. Smooth, sultry... Check out some of her music sometime... I don't think that you will be disappointed.

Salad:
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how clean do you keep your car? In my previous life (before kiddos), I could have answered pretty high on this one. But, now the cars just don't get the attention that they used to. I think that we still keep them cleaner than the average person, so I would have to say 7. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that Amanda really likes to help me wash the truck. Perhaps there is hope that we'll be able to start keeping them cleaner in the near future. Of course, the inside of the truck has tons of white, fluffy dog fur. That's a whole other chapter...

Main Course:
How do you feel about poetry? I'm not necessarily a huge fan of poetry and rarely just sit down to read it. However, in homeschooling Amanda I have had the chance to read some in the last few months. Some of it makes no sense to me... the abstract, non-rhyming kind. I guess that I am more of a traditionalist. I like the sing-song, rhyming kind...

Dessert:
What was the last person/place/thing you took a picture of? I had to go check the digital camera to answer this one... The last picture that I took was a picture of Mallory, our black cat. She was enjoying the fresh air and warm sunshine a couple of days ago. I had opened our bedroom window to let some fresh air in... and, she took advantage of it. The lighting was great for a picture, but as soon as she saw the camera, she hopped up into a different position. I still snapped a photo, though. It turned out pretty nice, but needs a bit of photoshopping to darken it up a bit...

First Car

Ok... several posts ago, I had mentioned doing a blog on all of the cars that I've ever had. "Had" really means that they were my primary "drive". The first car was actually owned by Mom and Dad... they covered the insurance, the gas, the maintenance. I had the privelege of driving it as long as I obeyed the house rules.

The car that I learned to drive in (aside from the wonderful driver's ed car) was a 1978 Buick Regal Limited. It was similar to the one pictured above. However, it was a beautiful shade of light blue... with comfy light blue velour seating. It had an 8-Track tape player. I still remember to this day riding along with the family (before I could drive) and everyone singing along to the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack... the Oak Ridge Boys... and countless other 70s tunes.

I got to drive this car to school sometimes... not always. If the weather was bad or if I didn't have any special events after school (especially my Junior year), I was relegated to riding the school bus. I remember getting the car stuck in the snow in the driveway... I also remember leaving my boyfriend's house in a huff and spinning the car on some wet leaves. How it didn't hit any mailboxes or trees, I will never know. I remember cruising with my buddy, Angelia, and hitting a huge pothole, thus leaving me a flat tire... only to be discovered late at night when we tried to leave Pizza Hut. Oh boy, I really was excited to call home and get my dad out of bed to tell him that one... And, I also remember getting backed into by a guy (who I later found out was a suspect in a murder case) and having to go home and tell the parents about that one. I vividly recall walking into the house with pieces of the light assembly in my hand to show Mom... hoping to convince her to tell Dad. That didn't work... That turned out to be a learning experience on getting estimates and repairs done on a car.

That car was a great car for our family. It hung in there for many, many years and miles. Dad didn't like to wear his seatbelt, and this one of the first cars that beeped at you if you didn't have your belt fastened. Dad had a metal insert made at work so that he could pop that in and stop the beeping. The bumper started rusting through, so it eventually was held on by a chain... that was a real classy look. But, nonetheless, it was a wonderful car. I still have the hood ornament and one of the wheel covers from it... If I can ever dig up a picture to scan in, I will.