Lazy Days of Summer

Not many things better than an afternoon nap on a lazy summer day. . . .

In This Home. . . .

Joanne gave me this sign for our new home and I LOVE it! What a perfect present - it will have a place of honor in my home - it's exactly how I think we do things 'round here. . . .

Leisurely Lunch

Yesterday, a group of ladies from FJH met for a long, leisurely lunch at Mitchell's (Clay Terrace) and spent 3 1/2 hours enjoying each other's company, catching up and sharing news (and dessert as big as your head!). One lady at a table nearby actually gasped when she saw the size of the carrot cake and shark fin pie being delivered to our table. I'm so happy to be a part of FJH again and working with such strong and compassionate women!

Indy Lady Hikers - Summer 2007

We just returned from a fabulous week of adventure, relaxing, laughter and good food!

Details here:
Indy Lady Hikers

2002 Christmas Football Video

Quite possibly the most entertaining football game ever! For our neighbor gift exchange in 2002, we made the shirts and then challenged them to the game. . .

Highlights:

Emily takes one for the team about the 10 minute mark

Adrianne counting her mississippi's. . . .

Sarah as quarterback, "hike, uh, mom. . . ."

Arrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw on the news that a local hair salon was providing haircuts on a Sunday in exchange for donations accepted for a young mother recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I wanted to help and I needed a haircut so I made my way there a couple of weeks ago. While I was getting my hair cut, Rupert made an appearance and signed autographs! We had a good pirate discussion about when he stole the raft full of shoes from the other tribe. . . . .

Happy Birthday Meghan!

On Sunday, we celebrated Meghan's birthday (a day early) at the Whitehouse. I can't believe the girls are 24! The dinner was delicious - we brought Meghan's favorite - cheesy potatoes and Mike grilled flank steak. Debbie's mom and stepdad were there and our favorite fivesome came in time for dessert. Meghan got her own guitar hero and all the kids had a turn. The kitten made an appearance as well!

Technology Farewell

Last week the lady techs (past and present) gathered to bid me farewell. Jane wrote and read an original poem and the group presented me with a gift certificate for a massage. It was a bittersweet occasion and I was honored that so many took time out of their busy end of year activities to attend. The food was delicious and the company delightful.

Across the pond. . .

Emily spent most of the day packing up and weighing suitcases. . . when she was ready for a break, Grant, Emily and I went to see the movie Shrek 3 and then went to Chick-Filet for dinner (Grant's favorite place!). On Sunday morning, we all went to church at E. 91st Street for a change and then on to lunch at Bravo's (thanks to the gift card that Dee gave us last summer). We sat outside on a beautiful patio, decorated with lots of flowers and overlooking a peaceful pond with ducks and geese (with babies!). After lunch it was time to head home and prepare to go to the airport. Grant left to run an errand and Emily and Danny went to make copies of her passport and license.

We left for the airport early in case the race got called (there was a rain delay). Emily checked in with no problem and we shopped at the bookstore and went for a bite to eat. Emily and Grant left to check the flight board and found that her flight had been delayed and would now arrive after her connecting flight to London would have departed. After some scrambling, she made it onto another flight and all was well. Emily has started her own site with details about her ordeal. We will all miss her very much and we're excited for her big adventure. The family she is staying with will be a perfect fit. I received an e-mail from them today that described the weather as awful, so they did puzzles and ate cake!

Headed South. . . .

Sarah and Kylie left early on Saturday morning with Dan to begin the drive back to Auburn. They made good time and were there in about 10 hours. Sarah had to work on Saturday night. She will begin looking for a new place to live beginning in July. Some roomates are moving on and so is Sarah. Danny and I hope to make a trip down to see her sometime before school starts in August. It was great to have her home and I can't wait until the next time we are together - love you Sarah!

Sarah visits the third grade!

On Friday, Sarah came to SCE to have lunch and while she was there she visited Mrs. Allen's 3rd grade classroom. Those students have been penpals with Adrianne's class since the first of the year. When Emily visited earlier this month she also stopped in to say hello and now they have met both of Mrs. Hultgen's little sisters! They had lots of questions for Sarah and ran along the lines of, "do you have a boyfriend" and "did you ever fight with your brother and sisters?" :)

Friends Gather

On Wednesday evening, we enjoyed the company of friends during the only week that Emily and Sarah will be home together this summer. It was good to see everyone (Debbie, Meghan, Tom, Greg, Christi, Austin, Summer, Chayton, Steve and Dana and their crew, Durena, Grant, Ashley M. and Heather S.).

Sarah turns 20!

Sarah (and Kylie) got home last Sunday night. Sarah's "girls" went to visit her in Auburn and she and Kylie rode home with Chelsea and Ashley (Kristen drove back to NC). We all visited for a while and worked on the dogs enjoying each other, but it was best when they were separated. Sarah and I left for a while and went and visited Mark, Heather, and Drew. It was Mark's birthday but the party was wrapping up when we got there. We all caught up and enjoyed Drew cracking open hard boiled eggs with his head :) and then Sarah and I came home. Lady was still pretty nervous around Kylie who just wanted to play and we decided that Kylie might have a little more freedom at Dan's so the two of them left to spend the night there.

The next day Danny made the birthday cupcakes when he got home from school and when I got home from work we grilled out and enjoyed a great birthday supper (burgers, chicken, potato casserole and corn-on-the-cob). Sarah opened her presents and we all just hung out for the night. For the next six months, Sarah and Emily are only one year apart!

Joanne's Retirement

Last Sunday Durena and I met up with Dee and Sharon to celebrate Joanne J's retirement from the library at FJH. I'm so excited for Joanne and especially that I am taking her position! Dee organized the gift we all went in on - a membership to the Indianapolis Zoo so that Joanne can take her precious granddaughter whenever she wants to! It was good to see my friends from FJH again I am looking forward to starting my new job on June 1st!

Jill Behrman Riverside Walk

Last Saturday, the 19th, we participated in a walk at Riverside to raise funds for Jill's House. Jill disappeared the summer before Adrianne was starting her freshman year at IU and she has always remained on my mind. Jill's brother Brian is a teacher at Riverside and the student council there organized the event and donated the proceeds to the building fund. I was glad to be able to walk in her memory. The weather was beautiful and I enjoyed walking with good friends, catching up with many I hadn't talked to for a while (Karan, Jane, Lori, Cora, and Pam).

Every picture tells a story

Last Monday when I got to work at CRE, the ladies appeared in the lab a few minutes after me. Nancy A was carrying a wrapped package and it was for me! I unwrapped a digital photo frame, the same one Nancy has on her desk (which I had admired long ago :). The Philips 9FF2M4 model has such great resolution and I can't wait to transfer some pictures to it and enjoy the show! My year at CRES has been unexpectedly wonderful, working with such a generous staff. They welcomed me and made me feel a part from the very beginning and I will always be grateful.

Mother's Day

Sunday was a great day and I'm so grateful to be the mom to Danny, Sarah, Emily and Adrianne. Sarah set her alarm and called in the morning and I talked to Adrianne a little bit later (Hawaii being 5 hours earlier).

Emily, Danny, and I decided to worship on the river instead of church - we slept in a bit and then got up and packed a picnic. We headed to Turkey Run - Emily drove so that I could sit in the back and read. After we got into Marshall, we stopped by Sugar Valley and rented kayaks for an eight mile trip down Sugar Creek. The trip took just over two hours and we hardly saw anyone else the whole time we were there. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. . . perfect! Pictures to come - have to finish up the waterproof camera and get them developed.

After the trip we drove over to Turkey Run and got spread out for a picnic. Danny was STARVING and said he was so hungry he would even eat egg salad. When we got the sandwiches out, Danny's peanut butter one was the only thing that got wet :( but he still wouldn't eat the egg salad. We enjoyed our picnic and didn't stay too long, as we had to get home for the Survivor finale. Debbie, Meghan and Tom came over to watch. The Davidson's were going to come, but they had to drive to South Bend for soccer that day and they were wiped out by 8:00 (and Austin was ready to be home - he broke his wrist the day before in a soccer game).

Adrianne sent me a beautiful card, Sarah is bringing hers home Sunday (can't wait for her to be here) and Emily and Danny made me this one:

Cali on squirrel patrol

Cali is staying with us for a couple of weeks and one day when she went outside a squirrel was eating from the bird feeder. She chased the squirrel up the tree and then tried to climb up after it. Now every time the back door opens, she rushes out and heads directly for the tree. A couple of times the squirrel has been waiting and she is ALMOST fast enough to catch it. In the mornings she is torn between eating and looking for the squirrel - the food dish wins every time.

Drill Practice

On Sunday, I finished assembling the kitchen chairs. One chair leg didn't have the hole drilled for the spacer bar so we got the drill . . . .

Mini Marathon

Heidi and I procrastinated and didn't get registered before the mini was sold out this year, but the week before there was an e-mail from a teacher who wanted to sell her two entries. We bought them and actually started from the "N" corral - our closest to the front start (except for the year we could have started right at the front - in my wheelchair :) It was a little awkward starting with ALL runners, but after a mile or so we had LOTS of room around us and we enjoyed the walk. We hadn't actually trained more than 7 miles this year but we took it easy - I had to make a couple of stops - and we finished feeling great.

There is a new half marathon next year - the inaugural Geist Half Marathon. I think we are going to do both!

Sunday in B-town

The Sunday before finals, Danny and I drove to Bloomington and picked up Emily (actually we drove around for 10 minutes as she wasn't QUITE ready and Danny was happy because he got to visit the McDonalds in town for breakfast) and then picked up Grant, who WAS ready (almost) and then we all went to church - Sherman Oaks Christian Church. The worship service was a lot like the one we attend at Grace and Emily led us to almost the exact same spot in the auditorium that we sit at Grace :)

After church, we went back to Chi-O for brunch (bacon, scrambled eggs (I think?), poached eggs, hash brown casserole, biscuits, fruit, bagels and juice. We ate and visited for a while and then started carrying out most of Emily's stuff - how it all fits in the shared room is a mystery!

Piezer!

The weekend before last, Heather came to town to visit. I picked her up from the airport after work on Friday and we met Durena and Brian J for dinner at El Rodeo. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours catching up with everyone and then came back home and talked some more. We all slept in and in the morning we had coffee and breakfast. Danny went to the BMV and to get Cali for the week. Heather and I walked around the neighborhood and out to the high school. We took Lady for a long walk and then Cali took us for a short one. Danny cut the grass and we got cleaned up and Heather and I headed out for a pedicure - what a treat! We made our way over to Clay Terrace and met Shelley, Heather's sister for lunch at Kona Grill. I forgot my glasses and they took turns reading the menu to me. . . . we ate and visited for a while and after lunch we moved Heather's suitcase into Shelley's car. They stayed to shop and explore and I left for home. It was great to see Heather and while I miss having her here, she is very happy in North Carolina!

USS Gunston-Hall

Sarah finally got her summer assignment - she'll be serving on the USS Gunston-Hall, out of Virginia from June 13 - June 29th. Finals are over next Monday and then she can make plans for when she can be home for a while before she ships out! Anchors Aweigh!

Farewell to Leanne Serrano Paulsen

Last Thursday I attended the Funeral Mass for Sharon's sister Leanne with some friends from FJH. When we saw Sharon at the visitation, she was strong and brave and told us she was glad to see her friends' faces. My heart breaks for her and the rest of the family.

Leanne Serrano Paulsen was born November 17, 1967 in Birmingham, AL to Raoul (Ralph) L. and Suzanne Gant Serrano. She was a 1985 graduate of Carmel High School, where she was homecoming queen, and a 1989 graduate of Indiana University where she was an honor student, a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority and a member and captain of the Red Stepper Dance Team. Leanne was active in the Indianapolis Civic Theatre and the American Cabaret Theatre. She was a member of the Broadway Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar and South Pacific. She was a regular cast member of The Yuletide Celebration in Indianapolis and the New York City Rockette's Christmas Special. A funeral mass will be held Thursday, April 26 at Noon at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church, of which she was a member. Friends and family may call at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Burial will be in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens. Leanne is survived by her son, Christopher Raoul Paulsen; mother and step-father, Suzanne and Stephen Otis; sisters, Gerri (Mark) Shaffer, Katy Serrano and Sharon (Erick) Deam; three nephews and four nieces. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Christopher Paulsen Trust, in care of any Fifth Third Bank location.

Tigers Volley!

It's been loads of fun watching the new FHS club volleyball team get started. The boys have held their own most of the time and have won a couple of games (matches? sets?). Andrew T is also playing and I have enjoyed catching up with Beth during the games. There are a fair number of fans cheering as well.

Settling in. . . .

The process of moving went very well, even though most of our friends were away on spring break - good timing :) I was grateful that Emily came home both weekends and that Tommy M was available every day to help. Danny and Tommy christened the hot tub the first weekend and convinced Emily to spend the night on Friday so that they could set up the fire pit and continue to enjoy the hot tub. She relented and when they tried to convince her again on Sunday night, she told them "not without my bed". They left in Tommy's jeep and returned shortly afterward with her bed strapped in! The movers came Monday morning and the rest of the day and night was spent getting it all over here and cleaning the old house. Monday night we fell onto mattresses and Tuesday began the process of settling in. I was glad to have the week of spring break to work on unpacking.

Moving Day!

Well, the buyers for my house were able to sell theirs and remove the contingency offer on mine, and I bought another one - finally! Danny and I were wondering what to do for spring break and now we know! Emily is coming home for IU's spring break next week and is going to light a fire under us to get packed up. We get possession of the new house on 3-29 and will begin moving stuff over that night! Today I met with the inspector (the house is 3 years old and in good shape), got a fence estimate and discussed improvements with a contractor. It was a busy place for a couple of hours and we got a lot done. Danny and I are discussing "rules" for the hot tub. . . to be continued :)

By the time we move from this house, we will have lived here for 10 years - it will be sad to leave here, lots of great memories - treehouse construction, bonfires, camping, night hikes, trail building, driveway art, tree climbing, tree planting :), etc.. . . . .

Fire at St. Anthony's

Adrianne reports that no-one was injured in an overnight fire at the school she teaches in, St. Anthony's in Kailua.

The damage is still being assessed, but it sounds like the art room and supplies were the hardest hit

"I went to the Art Room for the first time after school today, and it's nearly impossible to describe. All of the lighting either exploded and dropped from the ceiling, or melted down from the ceiling onto the tables and chairs below, melting those in the process. There are many "blessings" though and clearly much to be thankful for -- first, that no one was hurt, and second, that the entire school didn't burn down.

Our school is undergoing a church/school renovation called Project Makawao, and luckily this past summer, all the rooms were rewired and a new fire alarm system was installed. Had these two changes not happened when they did, the damage would have been catastrophic to the entire school and parish campus. Also, some materials miraculously survived. The worst items that were destroyed by the fire were our middle school students' artwork portfolios. That is what Mrs. Chang (art teacher) is most sad about, as well as her three college-student children who each had all of their college textbooks in their mom's classroom.

Mrs. Chang has taught at St. Anthony for years, and had accumulated materials and props for every production our school does, and these were also all burned. Someone mistakingly said to her this morning (at 2 am) "well, at least it wasn't your home," and she told us she said "no, it was my home." According to the chief firefighter, had the fire burned for 4 more minutes, the building would have exploded, and likely caused the next part of the school to burn as well as neighbors' houses.

The situation now is that nothing can be touched, removed, or cleaned in the art room until two things happen -- the Insurance Clearance is given, and the danger is assessed. There is lots of broken glass, and all the plastic that burnt cannot be touched to people's skin because of the chemicals it gives off. This has closed down all of our Music classes, Art classes, after-school program, and kindergarten playground.

I felt the blessing of teaching in a small, caring school community today. Our priest, Father Dennis, said a prayer this morning at assembly, someone had brought Mrs. Chang a sympathy lei, and parents/parishioners stopped by all day to offer help. Since nothing tangible can be done yet, it was nice to be in a place where we could pray out loud for what had happened (which was also very important when Lt. Col. McCloud died) and be surrounded by the "ohana" feeling. "

Wedding Video Highlight Segment posted

Posted on the wedding site - get there by clicking here (scroll down to Adrianne and Elliott :)

Chi-Omega Mom's Weekend

On Friday, right after Danny left for the retreat, I headed down to Bloomington for Chi-Omega's Mom's weekend. Although the traffic was heavy heading south on a Friday evening, the ice shining in the trees was beautiful! I got to the house about 6:00 and visited with Emily and Erin (Lenny) until we left for dinner.

Emily's pledge class made arrangements to have dinner at the Colorado Steakhouse and we sat at a table with Cara and her mom (from Carmel), and Erin and her mom and sister (from Little Rock Arkansas). It is always good to be with Emily and her friends and it was good to catch up with some of the other moms as well.

After dinner we drove back to the house for Emily to pick up a few things and headed back to Fishers. We got home about 11 and went to bed soon after. Lady was so excited that Emily was home :)

Saturday morning Heidi and I walked for a couple of hours in the snow - slow going! We got another 4" of snow by the time it tapered off. Emily slept in and finally got up about 11. At 1:15, Laurie picked us up, we stopped by to pick up Debbie and then looked at 11 houses for sale. At the 10th one, the driveway and sidewalk had not been touched since before the first snow and there were drifts a few feet high. Emily volunteered to wade through and look in the windows - the snow was more than half way up her body! After she made footprints that we could all step into, we followed her to the door. It's funny, because this is the one house that I think we will make an offer on :)

After Laurie dropped us off at home, Emily, Debbie and I discussed all the houses, had coffee and a fresh loaf of bread and visited for a while. I drove Debbie home and stopped by Blockbuster to rent "Little Miss Sunshine" and then by Kroger to pick up a cake mix - Emily had been talking about chocolate cake since the day before. I bought a mix by Betty Crocker called "Triple Chocolate Hot Fudge Cake" and made it when I got home. We really liked the movie and Emily was in chocolate heaven when I set the whole cake pan in front of her :)

On Sunday morning we got up and left the house about 9:15. The plan was to attend the 11:00 service at the church that Emily and Grant attend - Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. While we were on 465 a light started flashing on the dashboard and at County Line Road we pulled off to a Shell station to investigate. Turns out the light is related to the transmission and it was a good thing we were in a parking lot as the car would go no further. Hmmm, what to do? We called AAA and the recorded greeting mentioned long delays. I finally talked to a dispatcher and arranged for a tow, but they could not give ANY estimate of how long it might take - not even if it would be the same day. Because of the long delays, they were authorizing private service, but you had to find a private contractor, pay them, and then arrange for remibursement. I left my info with AAA and we pondered what to do next - then we remembered that we had the rest of the chocolate cake - we found a plastic spoon and fork and we both dug in! We laughed at the situation for quite a while.

Emily called Erin to see what her schedule was and she said she would be happy to come and get both of us and drive me back to Fishers. I started the car to warm us up and slipped it into gear - it would go for a few feet but then just stop. I called a towing company - HIX - and arranged for them to tow my car. At first they said it would be a couple of hours and that was fine (we had the cake!). Erin headed up 37 but the tow truck showed up in about 10 minutes. I was able to ride back to Fishers with the driver but Lenny wasn't there yet. Emily gathered up her stuff and we walked over to the gas station. A clerk named Linda was working and we explained the situation and Emily waited inside with her - I looked out and my car was loaded onto the truck so I left with the driver. Emily and I both made new friends - the tow truck driver races stock cars on the weekends at the Speedrome and Linda and Emily are BFF! We dropped my car at Don Hinds and he was kind enough to take me a little further on down the road and dropped me at home.


Not quite the typical Mom's Weekend! I'm grateful that we both made it home safely and fingers crossed that I don't need a brand new transmission. . . .

Senior High Winter Retreat

Danny and Tommy left yesterday for the Senior High Winter Retreat through Grace Community Church. They are traveling by bus to the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Mt. Pleasant, PA . The speaker for the weekend is Chris Jarvis and they are both signed up for skiing on Sunday at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennslyvania. Looks like the weather there is great for skiing! Debbie took the boys for their annual candy run to Target before dropping them off at church - they'll be home Monday evening.

"Lifelogging"

"In the grocery store, clerks asked me if I was doing some kind of crazy university study. Sort of, I replied. "You're recording your life all the time?" people said. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

I thought it was challenging trying to keep my pictures and videos organized - just imagine if your whole life was digitally captured - here's an article on one author's experience with "lifelogging"

Click here to read his article

Mr. Shafer and family in Costa Rica

Sarah's third grade teacher, Mr. Shafer teaches now at Forest Glen Elementary in Lawrence Township. His children go to Sand Creek Elementary, where I saw Victoria right before Christmas. She told me that Dave received a grant that allows their family to live and teach in Costa Rica for this semester and she was excited about the opportunity for their family to share in this together.

Mr. Shafer's classroom was incredible - Sarah loved the hissing cockroaches and the space mission - I volunteered throughout that year (with Danny in tow) and I remember helping put together the "bat unit". It's interesting now to read about the bat unit in Costa Rica.

Mr. Shafer's blog can be found here:

http://dshafer5.blogspot.com/

Snow measures 10+ inches in Fishers!

It's been a crazy week of weather - it started snowing late Monday night and by the time it stopped on Wednesday, we had over 10 inches of snow! School was cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday and we had a two hour delay this morning. Our neighbor Lee kept the driveways in the neighborhood passable, Danny shoveled a path for Lady many times and also kept the front sidewalk clear. Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and Danny and I dug out the top of the driveway so that we could get the cars out - thankfully they were both in the garage while the snow was falling.

Lady Hikers in the Snow!

Today we hiked at Fort Benjamin Harrison after a 3-4" snowfall early this morning.

The park was beautiful - the line at the admission gate was long,

and the destination for most people was the new sledding hill.

We only saw a couple of other people as walked the Fall Creek Trail,

the Camp Creek Trail and the Lawrence Creek Trail for a total of about 5 miles.

The woods were quiet and blanketed with snow, in places covering a thick layer of ice (ask Durena).

We were fortunate to see a red-tailed hawk as well as several snowmen.

We went for coffee afterwards and discussed our summer plans.

Posing with (as) the snowman

Red-Tailed Hawk