Annual RW Armstrong Picnic

Coincidentally, our company picnic fell on the same weekend as the plane pull this year. So it made for a very non-work work oriented weekend. But it was fun stuff.

We took both of Eric's nephews this year... AJ had a blast last year and Nolan was old enough to enjoy it, so we figured we could handle them both. And they did both have a blast!

It was at German Park again, down on the south side of town. They had a big kid bounce house and a little kid bounce house this year. As much as Nolan wanted to do the big kid bounce house, he got a little scared at the climb wall, so I can only imagine how he would of done at the top of the slide down. But he had a blast in the smaller bounce house... no problems with that one! Of course we had pony rides again, as well as a fun animal guy. They both liked the ponies (had to ride them twice) and AJ got to pet a baby gator!

Scotty's catered this year, so it was a little different from the typical hot dogs and hamburgers... though still very appropriate. This year it was pulled pork and chicken strips. The only problem with the picnic is that it's hard to get the kids away from all the activities!! There's just so much to do!

So once again, it was a fun time at the picnic. It's nice to be able to 'borrow' some kids to head over there... it really is centered around the kids. But that's a good thing.

FedEx Plane Pull 2010

As an annual charity cause, my company, RW Armstrong, is a sponsor and major supporter of Special Olympics of Indiana. They do multiple events every year, but their biggest is the FedEx Plane Pull. They raise over $100,000 annually with this event.

It's exactly what it sounds like... you pull a FedEx plane for charity. This year was a 'special treat', though, as the plane was fueled and ready to go on a delivery, which put it over the 80 ton mark for weight. And teams of 20 take their turn pulling it. This year, one of our guys teams got the fastest time with just over 5 seconds to pull it the 12 feet. Us girls aren't as fast, but we did cut a second off of our time this year.

As I mentioned, RW Armstrong is a huge supporter for this cause and in addition to being one of the major sponsors, our three teams had a combined fundraising effort of over $15,000. This was a company record this year, so we were pretty excited! This year, we had a pirate theme going... we do different things every year. I had more fun with the theme this year... it was easy to do, actually.

And as I mention fundraising, I must thank all of you who supported me in my individual effort. You helped me reach my goal and I'd love to set that goal even higher next year. And anyone else out there who feel inclined to donate, you still can!! Just go to my fundraising page to donate - it's all online!

A Private Backyard Concert

Shortly after our Indy reception last month, our neighbor, Amber, came to us with an interesting proposition. A private, invite only, backyard concert with an artist who was traveling though town. Sounded interesting enough. We had the backyard and more importantly, we still had a bar out back... so why not give it a try.

There were actually two artists traveling together... Lelia Broussard and Alexa Wilkinson. I wasn't sure what to expect. But Amber was raving about them, so I knew they must be pretty good for her to get so excited about the prospect of them putting on a show for us... right in our backyard! So we agreed... and though it was supposed to be a Saturday initially, it ended up on a Tuesday (last night), which may have been a good way to keep crowd control.

It turned out to be a great show! They were both excellent and the music was exactly what I needed with the few weeks I've been having at work. It was something to chill out to. I think they were a hit with everyone, too. After they finished playing, they just hung out with the crowd. We ended up with about 25 or so people. I thought it was just enough to keep it intimate and allow for everyone to enjoy to atmosphere. Of course, the bar helped that, too.

So all in all, it was a great idea from our neighbor! Not sure how she finds out about some of the things she does, but it's good to have neighbors in the know.

Annual Cubs Trip!

Today, Wendy and I took our annual trip up to Chicago for a Cubs game. Granted, this wasn't my only Cubs game this year, it's still always one of the best since it's tradition! Today's game was against the Braves,though, so Wendy wasn't torn on who to root for at least!

We started out early, leaving downtown just after 8am for the drive up to Chi-town - it was a 1:20pm game. Though we had to stop at Fair Oaks Farm for a breakfast burrito. It still amazes me how popular that place has become! Though I can definitely understand why!

We got back on the road and had a clear drive all the way to Wrigley! We found our standard spot on Clark and walked down to the bleacher entrance... and we got there early enough to stand in line! Damn... we made REALLY good time! but this meant good seats. In fact, these were the best seats we've gotten to date in all of our years going... left field, the very end of the first set of the taller bleachers. Right at the steps, so there was no climbing over people to get out, which was a major bonus!

The crowd around us was quite the array of people. We had a group about 10 rows down from us that seemed to be trying to get kicked out from the pre-game warm-ups through the end... which they did manage to so. Next to us, we had a guy keeping stats for a bookie. And in front of us was three Cubs fans with a random Braves fan... so we even had someone to torment! beyond our seats, though, it was a good people watching day... they were out for this game! And who can blame them with the awesome weather we had!

In the end, the Cubbies lost pretty hard. Which was sad since it was Lou Piniella's last game - he announced that fact this morning. We all knew he was retiring this year, but I'm not sure anyone was expecting it to be mid-season. They also did a nice tribute to him and Bobby Cox, who's also retiring. The Braves had a hell of a run with him at the reins!

So another summer tradition has passed. This means fall is getting really close... which means football. Which makes me a really happy girl!

Wendy's Bridal Shower

Today we had Wendy's Bridal Shower at my house. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about making sure everything went well... but in the end, everything was great!

Since it was held at my house, I was in charge of food, so I of course hit Sam's Club. They have great heat and serve finger foods for things like this (in case you didn't already know that)! So our buffet held an array of things, from fruit salad to mini eggrolls to little quiches. I did the 'shower punch' that you only ever seem to get at a shower (either baby or bridal) and my co-hosts (Mary and Brandi) brought a cake and some decorations to complete the scene. Mary worked up some fun games to play and they both brought some prizes to give away.

Wendy made out like a queen! She got all sorts of good stuff, from Monkey PJ's to an iron skillet! She and Chris have been together long enough that those items make sense. besides... we haven't done her bachelorette party, yet - that's when the fun will be had!

In the meantime, she's one step closer to the big day. It's down to the nitty gritty details, now.

Crazy Work Schedule!

So I think this had to be about my most crazy work week since I did full time stock at Publix. It started out like a 'normal' week, but quickly changed...

One of my projects, the runway rehabilitation at Columbus Municipal Airport, finally started construction in the middle of July. The inspector, however, had a previously planned vacation, so I filled in for him this week. It's started out like a normal construction schedule... 7am start time, ending right around 5pm... no biggy. Then we started paving on Thursday...

Now, the past couple of weeks have been HOT in Indiana. Near record breaking, if not record breaking temperatures. So it was mid nineties every day I was down there leading up until Thursday. One element we must keep in check in the temperature of the concrete as it's placed. Well, that 90d temperature was quickly reached and exceeded when the air temperature was near 95. The solution? Night paving.

So my relatively normal days changed... we started at 4am on Friday morning, and even earlier on Saturday morning. And to top it off, I added this morning to the mix with a 2am start time since out inspector wasn't able to make it in that early on last minutes notice after his vacation - so I filled in until he could get there during his normal time.

Aside from the early time, though, the night paving was much better. The air was much cooler and nice to work in - it even hit a low of 66d this morning! So that was good for the machines and the guys doing the work. Not to mention the concrete. And one weird bonus was some spectacular sunrises! Saw more sunrises this week than I normally see in a year! So that was kind of cool.

Needless to say, this wore me out. I slept a lot over the weekend and got off at lunch today and took a LONG nap this afternoon. And I'm still tired! SO I'm off to bed for the evening... *yawn*

A Ball Game, Some Pizza, and a Sunset Cruise...

Not to be forgotten, despite their losing season, Eric and I had to catch a ballgame at Wrigley Field. Not to mention, we had to get a trip to Chicago in! It's been way too long!

This weekend, Eric and I went to Chicago with on of his college buddies and his wife, Chris and Christina. We left early Saturday morning since we had bleacher seats for the ballgame - one of the few downsides to the bleachers since they're general admission. But we made it up there with plenty of time, even with a stop at Fair Oaks Farm for a couple of breakfast burritos... and despite getting stuck in Lollapalooza traffic!

The game itself... well, the Cubbies at least made it interesting in the end, but the Reds still won it, unfortunately. I had my rally cap on, though, and thought they might pull it off for a minute or two. Regardless, we had a good time at the game. The weather was perfect and the crowd was its usual self in the bleachers.

After the game, we checked into our hotel downtown and tried to relax a little but before heading out to eat. The weather was cooler than it had been, but it still made for a sticky afternoon at the ballgame. But when we were all set and ready, we headed to Gino's East for some good pizza. And it was good pizza, even if we did settle for this crust due to the time constraints.

The grand finale of the evening was a sunset architecture tour on the Chicago River and out on Lake Michigan. Since the sun drops behind buildings instead of into the water, it made for a different scene. The haziness gave it nice glowing backdrop, regardless. And, again, the weather was perfect for it! Plus, I think we all learned a tidbit or two about the Chicago skyline we didn't know.

After the long day, we crashed back at the hotel and agreed to sleep in the next morning and just take it easy. Well, Eric decided we still needed to do a bike ride in the morning - right next to our hotel was a kiosk that you just slide your credit card through and get to rent a bike. It was actually pretty cool. And the bike ride was nice, too - not a bad way to wake up in the morning.

Finally, we headed home. Of course, there was one more stop... Fair Oaks Farm, again, this time for grilled cheese. I love that place!

Indy Reception

Our Indy Reception was awesome!!

We had a little hurried rush in our final preparation for the event, but for the most part, everything was taken care of since we hired out all the hard stuff. We didn't have to worry about food prep since we hired a caterer, the set-up was done mostly by the tent guys, and there wasn't too much decor to take care of since we were keeping it relatively simple. But the next thing we knew though, we were within an hour of the start time!

Soon, people quickly started arriving, but I think we were ready. My good friend, Jen, arrived a little early with an awesome cake for us to ceremoniously cut! She reused our cake topper, but the cake, itself, had a different look, which I loved! The caterer was cooking (and it smelled so good throughout the house already!), the bartender was tending bar (just about anything you could want!), and the weather was working for us (Thank you, Mother Nature!). We were worried about it being too hot first... then worried about rain... but the overcast skies just kept things nice all evening. No rain, no heat, and even very little humidity. I think the only 'issue' we had is that people we arriving quicker than we could greet them! But we made up for that later in the evening.

Brad Gates, our caterer, knows his stuff and I highly recommend him to everyone!! If you were here, you know what I'm talking about! Our bartender, Chris, was just as into his craft and kicked some major butt at the bar. We had a couple of specialty drinks that were SO good. One was a pineapple upside down martini and they went down way too easy. The other was a bubble yum shot - again, way too easy. I lost count of how many of the martinis I drank... but Chris just smiled and kept them coming.

We had the perfect turnout, I think - we were right on the money with the guest count we gave Brad in the beginning. There wasn't too many people that we lost track of people. We tried to get around to everyone, and I think we managed to do that alright. I would've loved to hang out more with some people, as I know Eric would have, too. But then who doesn't want to hang out longer with a fun group of people, family and friends both!

And that's what made it nice - all of the people who came. My parent's made it up from FL. We had other friends in from out of town, as well, which made it an even more special event. Plus, we had friends able to come by that we don't get to see too often locally. So it was great to see everyone and I speak for both Eric and I when I say, "Thanks to everyone, for everything!" I hope everyone had as good of a time as we did.