Posts

Birth day, week, month?

Image
I was working at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management when I first learned that a birthday could be more than a day-long event. Dana Reed Wise (no relation) was a beautiful, smart and fun woman who never had a nail unmanicured, a facial blemish or a dress-down day. So when she announced it was her birthday week, I took it in stride as a Dana thing. She was fabulous day in and day out. She was, it turns out, also a trend-setter because everywhere you look now it's someone's birthday week or month. Growing up, birthdays were remarked upon but not celebrated with a bounce-house, balloons and a theme. The them was you were one year older and still the annoying sibling to six other kids in a house with one bedroom. There was cake, for sure. And maybe a party, but when you have six siblings, it's kind of a party crowd every day. I'm not complaining, more explaining that the idea of stretching your birthday beyond the actual day of your birth was not something I
Post a Comment
Read more

Diet Schmiet

Image
 As per tradition when Captain Reed is calling the shots, we ate our way around the Indiana State Fair last week. It's not the same since Cindy and David gave up their trailer where the best lemonade shakeups and sausage were dispensed, but it's still a good time.  And you can tell yourself that you're sweating and hoofing off the poundage you're consuming as you walk the 250 acres stocked with all the animals, crafts, rides, food and beverage, sights and sounds you'll ever need. We add to that the fact that we generally share one item from each stand, so clearly, we're saving calories from the get-go. People claim there's nothing better than the Dairy Barn, but I still mourn the departure of a trailer just down the way from there that I can only remember as a white little rectangle with  "Home-Made Ice Cream" in red letters. They had a hand-dipped chocolate drumstick there that probably had 10,000 calories in it but was so good. It disappeared one
Post a Comment
Read more

Catching up: Where to start?

Image
At a time when I thought I would have slowed down, it seems life has just sped up lately. My guess is that yours has, as well, and you didn't even notice that I haven't posted in a while. Let's catch up: Ali was home for a nanosecond in May. We were simply a food and shelter resource but the few moments we got in between her friends was tremendous. Jeff went back to Dark Lord Day for a weekend, which meant cereal and take-out for me for dinner! I had a mammogram, colonoscopy and dental check, completing my head-to-toe medical treatment for the year (I hope.) Also learned just how little our new healthcare plan covers. Is it bad to be annoyed that you have to spend a lot of money to learn you're not sick? I should be happy to know, right? Honestly, between my sister Diane's experience and the idea of my own retirement, I was getting paranoid about some lurking medical condition. So I'm back to happy at the expensive news. We spend a work-related weekend in Chicag
Post a Comment
Read more

My squirrels are deadbeats

Image
I have harvested a forest full of tiny oak trees this year and I blame the squirrels: They're laying down on the job, man.  There have been studies that suggest these furry rodents can't remember where they bury more than half of their acorns, and others that dispute that finding, but it's clear that it is  THEIR job  to collect and eat the acorns that fall from the oak tree in my front yard. And if they can't keep up, the chipmunks are the next line of defense against me having a forest instead of the lone sentinel. The Captain is off to Dark Lord weekend, so I started my day in the yard, planting bulbs that might be too dried out to flourish. Getting them into the ground required a lot of weed- and more tiny oak tree removal than I find acceptable. But how to harness the little rats? I just don't know.  In other news, we're finally addressing some home improvement needs that have gone ignored too long: front door painting/revarnishing and screen repair; kitche
Post a Comment
Read more

Eclipsed

Image
So many people have posted their eclipse photos that it seems silly to do it, as well, but you know, it's a big deal, so I'll pile on. We had planned to witness the phenomenon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but as the day approached and my foot remained in my clumsy boot after bunion/bone spur surgery, it just seemed silly. Post-surgery, I was instructed to stay off my foot as much as possible for up to six weeks. I was optimistic, but it wasn't to be. So we went to Niki and Ehren's countryside instead, and had a fabulous time. It was everything it was hyped up to be, except for the color changing thing that was predicted for people wearing red and green. Our colors remained the same, but the wind and temperature drop and the progress of the moon obscuring the sun was just tremendous. Jeff snapped this:  Niki snapped this:  And this is from the Indianapolis Star:  I was such a fun thing to experience with good friends. Kate Shepherd's son Joey, 12, was on again
Post a Comment
Read more

Ali's home... kind of

Image
 Alison is in town for the Indiana Comic & Pop Culture convention, and by that, I mean she is in town for the Indiana Comic & Pop Culture convention. We have barely seen her as she got here about midnight Thursday and has been up with the dawn to apply makeup and meet up with friends downtown. We've laid traps baited with bacon and crescent rolls to slow her down long enough to chat, and she's been good about giving us updates at the end of the evenings. Today is the final day, but she has dinner plans with a friend from Purdue. We'll have a bit of her attention tomorrow at least for the drive back to the airport. The Captain complained that we're essentially a hotel for her, but neither he nor I really mind. She's having fun, and we still get to see her. If you'd like to sign my petition for more of these anime'/entertainment gatherings in central Indiana, I'd appreciate it. I don't have photos of her full-out in any of the three costumes sh
Post a Comment
Read more

Sometimes that girl...

Image
 One day early in my relationship with the Captain - so early he hadn't yet earned the moniker as I define it - he was talking to my father. I don't remember why, but it was a sunny day and they were at my childhood home, walking up the driveway, I think. At any rate, something had happened that hadn't gone to plan and my father looked at Jeff, sighed, and said, "Sometimes, that girl just don't listen." I'm sure I protested vociferously, but truth be told, he was right. A fact the Captain likes to remind me of from time to time. Like when my surgeon advised me that once he'd cut off my bunion and its painful cousin, a bone spur, "You'll be able to walk right out of here." Now. I'd already learned that today's bunionectomy procedures were much better than past year's work and a minimally invasive procedure was much less painful than when they used a hacksaw and whiskey. Or whatever. So, I didn't cancel any plans. I actually
Post a Comment
Read more