Umm... It's Not Supposed to be Snowing...

The forecasters have been warning us. But no one wanted to believe it. It is the end of March, after all... and we did already reach into the 70's a couple of days. But guess what... it's snowing!! it's even STICKING!

But for once, I can honestly say, this couldn't have come at a better time. I'm leaving for FL in a few short hours... YAY! It'll be nice to have some warmer temperatures and hopefully wen I come back, the cold weather will be 100% gone for the year. It should at least be done snowing for the year... but it'd be even better if it maintained average (or better yet, ABOVE average) temperatures.

In the meantime, I'm kind of enjoying just watching the snow fall outside... it is kind of pretty. So long as this is it's last time this year... and I guess I am getting ready to leave... makes you appreciate the beauty a little bit more when you don't have to be in it and you're getting ready to leave it behind! LOL

So this is fair warning, Mother Nature... this is it!! This is your last winter stand!

Not Acting My Age

So, last night, my neighbor invited me out for a soft opening of a trendy restaurant opening up, followed by a concert. It sounded like a good night... a much needed night!

A small group of us headed over to Sensu, the new restaurant/nightclub that just opened on Meridian. First off... love their tagline.... "Inspire. Indulge. Ignite." It just hits me right. We started with martinis... which were free since it was a soft opening. Then we had some absolutely amazing food!! Kobe beef, uber fresh sushi, and some other appetizer like items that were very unique... and it all tasted as good as it looked! Plus more martinis. The atmosphere along is something unlike anywhere else in Indy... you can tell they did their homework before opening this place up!

From there, just Amber and I headed to the Amos Lee concert at The Egyptian Room at he Murat (I refuse to call it by it's commercialized name). He's a jazzy, soulful type of guy... I really enjoyed it!! Again, much needed. Plus there was wine.

That should've been the end of the night... but instead, we met the rest of the group back at Mo's Steakhouse for a nightcap... followed by another nightcap at Coaches.

Do you see where this is going yet?

Sometime in the car ride home, I pretty much blacked out. Glad these were neighbors I was with! So I get home, vaguely remember saying SOMETHING to Eric (don't know what)... and that's about it.

Needless to say, I've been hurting today... I guess that's what I get for drinking like I'm still in college... that was so XxXxX years ago! I can tell you this... I won't be going that hard again! I normally can pace myself like an adult... but they kept coming, and I kept drinking...

*sigh*

... and I pay for it today!

Pending...

Okay... I haven't said anything to this point for fear of jinxing it... but I think I sold my house!!

We had an offer at the beginning of the month and have been going through 'the process' of the inspection, appraisal, etc. So far, everything has gone well... well enough to even set a closing date... provided it continues to go this well.

Normally, I'm very optimistic... but I am being so pessimistic about this. I just don't want to get disappointed! But it's a relocation for a job, so they're pushing to close as much as Eric and I... so hopefully that's a sure sign things will go through smoothly.

In the meantime, keep your fingers cross this happens!! It'll be a HUGE stress off if it does!

Spring? Is it really you??

So get this... we were over 70 degrees yesterday! Yay! As an added bonus, they say we may get close to 70 again today! YAY!!! Spring at last, Spring at last... oh how I've missed you!!

It's so wonderful to go outside without a jacket... or even in short sleeves! All the spring flowers are starting to pop up through the ground and the trees are budding. I will miss all the signs of spring at my house... all the bulbs I planted over the years... But Eric planted a bunch of stuff last year, so we'll see what comes up and adjust and add as necessary. ha ha ha

With spring's warm temperatures comes a shift in wardrobe, one that shoes the paleness that is me who hides indoors all winter. Oh well... hopefully I can amend that soon.

In the meantime, I hope these temperatures stick. I refuse to look at the 10-day forecast in fear of the thought it may not stay this warm. But at least I know it's closer. The calendar even says so!

St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

This year has been a little different for St. Patrick's Day... for me, anyway. No planning or figuring out when to leave work to meet up with people... no picking a spot to meet and try to actually get a table... this year, I have the day all to me. For the most part.

So, I got up this morning and decided to walk into downtown. First stop, the canal. They dye it green every year, but I've never had a chance to actually see it green! So I figured I'm mosey across town and take a gander. It's almost neon green it's so bright! But the ducks seems to like it, so I guess it's okay.

Since I was in the heart of downtown, I might as well stick around for the parade, right? Another something I've never done. So I meandered over the the park and found myself a spot. Indy loves their parades! It's completely made for kids, obviously, even with the green beer tent in the middle of it all (and I do mean the beer was green, not the tent). It was still neat to see some of the floats/entries. Plus, I had some some people around me that were also kidless, and we had some witty commentary going between all of us during the parade... especially when the very drunk 'leprechaun' came by wanting everyone to take their picture with him. It was quite funny, actually. I didn't do it, but others around me did... I was laughing too hard!

So for the evening, instead of finding all the green beer specials around town, Eric and I are again doing something a little different... we're going to Happy Hour at the Symphony. They do this every month, but since it fell on St. Patrick's Day this year, they're having a little fun and putting an Irish theme to it, so I'm really looking forward to it.

So to everyone out there reading this, whether you're Irish or not, "Erin Go Bragh!!"

Potholes

Somehow, I always forget about this season... 'pothole season'.

It always amazing me how many craters end up in the roads once the ground finally thaws. And since we had a harsh winter, of course we're going to have an equally harsh pothole season!

Now, as much as I'd love to just blame Mother Nature, I can't. A lot of it has to do with the fact that cities/counties don't properly maintain road and them them go well past their lifetime before paying any attention to them. By then, it's too late... but instead of a full repave, they just patch them for a few years, which makes pothole season worse on those roads. Yeah, I know it goes back to lack of budget, which is continuously getting cut. All the more reason we need to find a better mode of transportation. Why don't we have hovercrafts yet?

Time for my voiced opinion (which seems to be happening more on this blog lately)... northern states should not use concrete!! Those, by far, are the WORST roads during pothole season, which is primarily due to the lack of maintenance. If your not going to seal the joints/crack before every winter, don't even consider concrete roads! The water/snow gets into the joins, expands and contracts all season, then leaves an unavoidable TRENCH across the entire lane of the road! This happens on the asphalt covered concrete roads, too... those joints didn't magically heal - they still mirror up to the surface and water/snow still gets in them!

This doesn't make asphalt perfect, either... especially since so many are over concrete. But even more so, they often fail because of bad subgrade/subsurface preparation. There's a reason the specifications tell the contractors to compact to a certain density... and even the best contractor can still miss areas... which then fail, the asphalt starts to crack and, once again, the water gets in an makes it worse. But at least you can dodge the craters that are in asphalt, even if they are deep. Well, most of them, anyway.

This is why I'm glad I'm in a truck. I'm up high and see them coming, PLUS, my tires/wheels can handle it a bit better if I do hit one. I feel for those is cars with lower profile tires than my Xterra - especially sports cars with the super low profile tire. Sucks to be you this time of year!

So "Happy Pothole Season" to all my friends in the northern states... and good luck this year!

A Reason, A Season, or A Lifetime

Many years ago (I can't remember exactly when, but I think it was before I moved to Indiana), I either read or heard this somewhere... "A friend comes into your life for a reason, a 'season', or a lifetime." The little verse that went with it went like this:

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or some other means. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season. LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant. - Author Unknown

It was one of those things that I took to heart when I heard it. It seemed like something that really fit me, as I was someone who seemed to bounce around and move a lot once I was on my own... and only a handful of friends stayed with me, it seemed.

With Facebook as popular as it it now, I find myself going back to this as I 'friend' people. Facebook gives us this ability to reconnect... but it makes me think why they were in my life to begin with. I have had such an amazing array of friends in my lifetime and I feel so lucky to have know the people I've been friends with. Even the ones that ended up only being a 'season'... I'm so glad they were part of my life. There are many I miss that I wish I could've stayed in touch with better... but maybe I wasn't supposed to.

But will Facebook ultimately change all that? I know I find myself wondering about people that I had forgotten about... the ones who aren't on Facebook... and I wonder why they're not and think it'd be fun to catch up. I know Facebook has put me back in touch with a lot of friends that I would have had no way of knowing how to find, otherwise. And it never ceases to amaze me where everyone has ended up in life.

The world is ever changing around us, and with all the advancing technologies and nifty (yeah, I said 'nifty') websites that better keep in touch, I find myself having to remind myself that none of this can replace genuine face to face time with a friend. I know I let some friendships go the wayward because I didn't remember that and I regret that. Granted, a lot of that is just 'growing up' - getting married and having a family - it tends to occupy time you once used to hang out with friends.

So to all my friends out there, thank you. Know that each and every one of you played a role in making me who I am today. I wish I could just have a big pow wow with all my friends from all my parts of life again... but until that comes a reality, at least we have Facebook.

Does Mother Nature Hate Indiana?

This has been, by far, the craziest year of weather since I moved to Indiana!! And it's only March!

Granted, it technically started in December, when we had snow on the ground nearly the entire month (when usually you might only get one or two snowfalls of about an inch or two). So let's just say the 'year' I speak of started with the meteorological winter start of December 1st.

Anyway... we have twice the snowfall that we typically see on an average year. And it stayed on the ground much longer because we also had about 3/4 of the days below the average temperature for that time of year. So far below, in fact, that we had WEEKS that we were below freezing!! Throw the ice storm from early February on top of that and it was just a brutal winter!!

So it finally warms up to where we have rain instead of snow... and the first storm that blows through is this severe thunderstorm that had sirens going off all night, actually had a tornado touch down a couple counties north, and ended up flooding areas that historically never flood! Why? Because the ground was so saturated from the snow melting, plus, it was still frozen 2' below surface, so it couldn't even fully percolate through the soil! And this was just last Sunday/Monday!

So what's next? Well, we have another wide band of rain/storms coming through this weekend... which is supposed to re-flood the areas where the water finally receded.... and to top it off, is supposed to turn to snow on Sunday. Joy.

Oh, and the kicker... the worst of the storms love to hit at rush hour, if they can... just to make havoc on the roads. Which is why I think Mother Nature has something against Central Indiana. But this year, in particular, she seems to be holding quite the grudge! Time to make amends, people... if that means making a sacrifice, so be it! Just let us get to some normal weather... comfortable weather!

*sigh* Just wait. I'm sure a drought is already in the works for the summer...