Christmas! My favorite time of year! Though somehow, I swear, it gets more and more 'crunched' for time. And enjoyment. But I try not to let that dampen my joy!
As always, we headed down to FL to spend Christmas with my family. We had to compress it a little, this year, with my new job and all. Though I later learned, it wouldn't have been a big deal to do more time. But I was happy that I at least got the time I did. Even if it did come with complications.
What complications, you ask? Try a stomach bug! It hit me as we drove down - not a good combo to have with long drives in the car. We stayed overnight in Asheville, NC, giving us a new route and different scenery, for a change. I woke up the next morning, feeling really bad. You know that feeling, when you KNOW if you just threw up, you'd feel better? That was me. I think Eric didn't believe me, at first... but then he brought scrambled eggs into the room. And that was all I needed to go running into the bathroom. So while I did feel better after that, I wasn't 100% - and we still had a 7 hour drive ahead of us. So we found the closest grocery store and loaded up with ginger ale and an orange to smell (a trick I learned cruising last year). I made to Jacksonville with no more urges, but also didn't eat much along the way. 
We freshened up at the hotel, then went to my parents' to drop off gifts and such. I wasn't planning on telling them about my bug. Of course, we did do a quick detour to the beach, to breathe in that wonderful salt air - that always helps me!
Christmas morning... guess who has the stomach bug now?! Eric. So I headed to my parents' without him, in hopes he'd feel better by the afternoon and could come over then. Of course, with this new information, I had to tell them about my morning on the previous day... oh well. Makes for a Christmas memory, right?? Unfortunately, Eric never got to feeling better (he never threw up), and we had to do some Christmas without him, including opening some of the gifts and dinner. 
This is, of course, after we picked up Nan and Kristin arrived with the family. So we carried on and tried to enjoy things as best we could, knowing Eric wasn't feeling well.
The day after Christmas, Eric was feeling a little better, though still not 100%. But we were leaving that day, so there was no staying at the hotel for him. We tried hitting the beach again, just to see it again - it was a beautiful day! 
Why did I leave FL, again?? While we ate breakfast at my parents', he took another nap, trying to feel better. We then opened the rest of the gifts and stockings, getting him all caught up with the gifts he missed the day before. It felt like a super short trip to FL this year - a little bit of a bummer for me. We left a little after lunch to start the trek back to Indiana. We planned on crashing in Nashville along the way - I did not want to drive through the night. But it was an uneventful stop, as we did nothing more than go to Publix in the morning (to get ice cream to take back with us).
As I said, I love Christmas!! But it's been getting crunched as the years go by, which makes me sad. Being sick this year really didn't help. Maybe I can change that next year.. we'll see. I mean, surely I at least won't be sick again...
Hope everyone else had a good Christmas!
Eric and I tried something new this year. We don't normally do anything for Halloween - we don't even usually get trick-or-treaters. Which makes me sad, considering I used to get a bunch when I lived in Fishers. But this year, we decided to check out the Haunted Hilbert, which is one part party, one part fundraiser. But mostly party.
And not just you 'dress up in costume' type of party. Oh, no... this was a fancy masquerade style party! Which I have to admit... I have wanted to go to a fancy masquerade party for a long time, so I loved the fact that Eric wanted to go to this event! 
I got to dress up (think ,long dress, formal like dressing up), AND find a fun mask to wear!
So the party concept was pretty simple... they decorated the theater space in 'haunted house' décor, complete with flickering candelabras and cobwebs. There were drinks and hors d'oeuvres throughout the space, as well - but nothing heavy. Live musicians played in the lobby space every 15 minutes, or so - nothing too loud or overwhelming. Sometimes it was more of a performance with some actors, so guests gathered in a circle around them. There was also a 'photo booth' set up, complete with props (thought we chose not to use since we already had masks on) - it was a big hit, as we had to wait in line for a bit. But near the end of the evening, they bravely opened up the stage for dancing with a DJ set up. I say they were brave for the mere fact that they allowed guest up there with drinks in hand... but I guess this was a more mature crown than your night club dancing types. All in all, it was a good time.
This was only their second year doing this. You can tell the ISO is trying to bring in new supporters for their shows and the orchestra, as a whole. Not sure if this works, but at the least, the fundraiser portion helps, I'm sure. We'd likely go again, if it continues next year. Maybe grab another couple for a double date, of sorts? We'll see.
So this was a somewhat last minute trip for Eric and I. My Mom, Sister, and her kids had it planned for awhile, though... so I think it was a little easier for them.
I haven't mentioned it on here yet, but my grandmother, Nan, moved to an Assisted Living campus near my parents' in Jacksonville. But her house in Pennsylvania is still very much full from her 60+ years living there. She won't be going back there, but someone needs to go through things and either salvage, sell, or trash. And with this weekend being the only long weekend that my sister and kids truly had off, they decided to spend a few days before and after, making it a full week there. Eric and I were just driving out Saturday, and back home today. A lot of driving for a short period of time, but considering I knew this may be our only chance, I thought it was a good idea. We had no big plans for the 4th of July weekend, anyway. So there's your background.
We had great weather driving out on Saturday. And most of the day was spent driving, with us getting into the area around 5pm or so.
The family was already done at the house for the day, and we decided to meet them out at Knoebel's Grove. Oh, the memories I have from that place. Even with my sister's kids, Kris and Darian - it's been about 13 years, but none the less, memories were made. Eric and I had just a couple of hours here a few years back, as well... but most of the memories are from my summers up in PA. I wish Knoebel's was a little closer for me to try to get there once a year or so - it's such an awesome park! They were actually celebrating 90 years this year! We spent the last few hours they were open, trying to catch all the new rides, and of course, ride a couple of the old favorite coasters. I so wish I had the entire day there - I always feel like I leave and realize later I wanted to go on another ride.
Sunday was a day of work. And wow, what a task ahead of us. I feel like we only scraped the surface, and that frustrated the hell out of Eric. I think he thought we'd be leaving with the house cleared out and ready for the next step (whatever that is). Unfortunately, cleaning out the house will be a multi-trip, LONG process for the family to tackle. I think my family would be happy to just have it done by the end of the year! But after a day of sorting and throwing some things out, we managed to leave with our car packed with some things to keep. 
My main goal was to get the old metal porch glider, which I did, but it's going to take some work to get it ready for our own porch. But I'm up for it.
Finally, today was all driving. We tried to leave early, but didn't get on the road nearly as early as we had hoped. We made a short lunch stop in Columbus, OH (which was actually well past 'lunchtime' for us), and we were lucky enough to NOT have rain up until there. But then those last few hours on I-70 had a light rain. No big deal, since we were about done with our long weekend. We got home, unloaded, and then Eric had to run to the office.
There always seems to be some crisis for him there. But alas, until we got home, things stayed calm for him on the work front. We did manage to catch the fireworks here. It was a little foggy and/or low clouds, though, so we only could see about half of them. And then more drizzle started. But at least we can say we DID see fireworks on the 4th of July.
Eric and I seem to always have issues when we try to do things for Valentine's Day. If we stay in, we're usually okay. But if we try to do anything outside of out house, we seem to fail. Well, in the practical sense, anyway. This year was no different. Our plan this year was to go too our favorite place in Chicago, Eataly, for a nice dinner they were doing, and try to have a relatively easy weekend up there. We should've just went back to bed, instead.
It started out with us getting on the road late Saturday morning because Eric had a hiccup to take care of at the office 'quickly' in the morning. Well, wasn't so quick. We got no the road, with time to spare to make our dinner reservation, at least, and the hits just kept on coming. In the literal sense. It was really windy, and as I was driving (the rental car) up I-65, I was passing a semi when a piece of hard plastic debris shot out (from the wind) from under the truck. I had no where to go, it hit at a weird angle, but I kept driving. Didn't feel like a tire was damaged, or anything much, for that matter, and we were getting off in a couple of exists to grab a drink, anyway, so I drove another 20 miles or so. We get into the parking lot, and check to see if there was damage... there was. 
Shattered lower grill (damn plastic cards!) and punctures radiator. Awesome. With it being a Saturday afternoon, all the Hertz Local Editions were closed, so Hertz had to get us towed all the way back to Indy to the airport (almost a hour away) to exchange the car. Plus, the wait time for the tow truck to even get to us. There went us making our dinner reservation.
But we pushed on, anyway, figuring we'd make the best of it. We'd do a later dinner somewhere and still have a chill evening at the hotel, since we had that all set up. So we get there, and while we didn't get the special dinner we made reservations for, we still had a good dinner at Eataly. We were finally calming down a bit... well, Eric was calming down. I was over the mishap before we were even half-way to Chicago. Meh. Life happens, right? Our hotel was right around the corner, so we went to check-in. They couldn't find our reservation. And to top it off, Eric couldn't find a confirmation email. So now we're in Chicago as, like 10pm, with no hotel. Awesome. This just sets Eric off again, and he's ready to drive home. But he saw the thought of that upset me, so we jumped on the Hilton Honors site to see what we could find. As you can imagine, there wasn't much. But there was the Waldorf Astoria... and we could get in with points Eric had. So, with few choices, we went with it.
Well, turned out to be the best thing we could've done. Because it's located off the main drags through Chicago, it was quite peaceful. And if you can believe it, Eric was actually able to calm down and relax, and we both got a great night's sleep! We woke up the next morning completely refreshed, and over the tragedy that was Saturday. And even though some nasty, snowy weather was on the way, we were ready for it. But first, the other reason to be in Chicago this weekend... the Chicago Auto Show.
Eric has talked about the Chicago Auto Show quite a few time. He'd go with his dad when they lived in Laporte, and it was always just a memorable day for him. So I was looking for ward to it. And it was quite cool, actually! 
There were concept cars, next year's new model cars, test tracks inside, test drive outside... I can see how you could spend an entire day here... but we were only there for a few house. We did do one of the test tracks, and I gotta say, even if I couldn't be the one to drive, it was still really cool! I would've loved to stay longer, honestly - I feel like we only got to see about 1/3 of what was there to be seen. I'd love to go back up there next year maybe... hopefully not on Valentine's Day.
So as we headed out, the snow really started to come down for our drive home. Thankfully, there were no more fubars for the weekend, and we got home safely. Even with time to return the car on-time. So we salvaged the weekend, I guess. But just nothing planned went well. Maybe that's the trick... don't plan. Or maybe just stick to what we know works, which is don't leave the house for Valentine's!
So Eric and I did a little something different this year for New Year's Eve... Eric wanted to get out of town, and he received and email from Eataly in Chicago (yes, that Italian market/grocery store we discovers) and they were doing a 4-course dinner and champagne toast celebration. It seemed a little odd to me, at first, but the price was right and we figure 'why not?' and gave it a try.
We drove up kind of late yesterday afternoon, and got to the hotel with about an hour or so to relax and freshen-up for the big night. The dinner didn't start until after 9pm (after the store closed, basically). It was just a block from our hotel, so despite the frigid temps, it was an easy walk, even all dressed up. We weren't quite sure what to expect, and I'm thinkng this was the first year they did this. Not to say it wasn't organized... but you could tell they were still trying to figure some things out.
The dinner was absolutely awesome! We enjoys every bite we could, and they timed things great so that everyone wrapped up dinner around 11:30pm or so. Which gave people enough time to shuffle over to where the champagne and desserts were set up for the big countdown. They even had horns and hats for everyone to don, if desired. The only thing missing... the actual countdown! about 5 minutes before, they announced to make sure to have your champagne if you wanted it, but then there was no actual countdown. On of the guests was watching their phone and counted down the last 5 seconds or so, and that was it! It was kind of funny, but also disappointing. Like I said, I think they were still figuring things out, a bit.
But here we are in the new year. 2016, already! Here's hoping for a great year ahead!
Wow!! Where did 2015 go... seriously?! I cannot believe we're already here, post-Christmas. I feel like this year has been a blur. Anyone feel that?
Eric and I did the drive to FL for Christmas again this year. We've take to enjoy that drive time, making it all part of the journey to enjoy. Mostly. We drove straight through to Jacksonville on Christmas Eve, and woke up to head to my parents on Christmas morning. 
My sister and her family couldn't make it up that way until that evening, so it worked out fine. Having the youngest in the family being teenagers, the 'magic' of Christmas morning isn't as much of a necessity. It happens, I suppose. But that gave some time with just Eric and I to spend with my parents. Nan was not able to make it down this year and spent Christmas with some extended family in PA. We missed her a lot, and hope we can get her back to FL for future Christmases. We'll see.
Christmas, itself, was pretty standard for a Cwalina Christmas. 
Lots of gifts with the nine of us there, and some fun surprises that no one expected. Still extremely enjoyable, for me at least. I love how our family does Christmas. I wouldn't say we have formal traditions, but there are still traditions. Like where we sit, for example. Don't ask me why, but if anyone tries to sit someplace new, there's confusion everywhere! It's kind of amusing. Regardless, I love watching reactions to the gifts - no mater how old we get, we all seem to enjoy it.
The day after Christmas, to avoid the draw of the TV and being lazy, we went to the zoo. 
This was my mom's idea, because she wanted to see the new tigers. Which I definitely liked the idea of, too! Here's the crazy thing, though... it was in the 80's and almost too warm to walk around the zoo! A lot of the animals were even seeking shade to keep cool! Even the tigers! We still had a good time feeding the Lorikeets and walking around, though. And I learned that Eric is afraid of (or 'doesn't like' them, in his words) birds, reptiles, and amphibians... he wouldn't go into any of those exhibits. It was kind of funny. But we managed to walk through and see what we wanted before they closed, and headed home.
After breakfast, Eric and I left the next day. We only went as far as Savannah, and enjoyed the afternoon and some dinner there. 
Wasn't a major event, or anything... just meant to be some down time to ourselves before getting back to the real world after the holidays. It was kind of nice, actually, and thought maybe we should get back to making the trip down a two-day trip, as well, just to keep our sanity in check. I guess we'll see next year.
Finally, we left bright and early the next morning. Only had a band of rain to drive through, though it was some heavy rain. But it was still relatively warm until we gut way up into Kentucky. And at that point, we were done with stops and just needed to get home. So all in all, it was a good trip. And a good Christmas.
Thanksgiving. For the past few years, it's been a bit of a struggle. With Eric's sister out of the state and, essentially, a fight for their attendance between our side and Kimber's mom led to us conceiting Thanksgiving Day to them in order to have a random weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas for our celebration of both holidays. 
It didn't upset us so much as frustrate us, because we could see the frustration it caused Kelly and Kimber with the scheduling of the kids (since Kelly's two boys need time with their respective fathers, as well). And their location in KY just made it that much harder.
Well, they're back in Indiana now, and essentially have to drive by our house to get to Kimber's family in OH, now, so at least now we know we can schedule either an early or late dinner and get to spend some time with them. Gives them a break in their drive and two solid meals for the day - nothing wrong with that option. So, "YAY!" We got to spend Thanksgiving evening with them! Which means we actually got to cook a turkey with all the fixin's and actually feel like the long weekend off work had a purpose. And with it being an actual dinner (at dinner time), we didn't have to get up super early to start things. So it worked out nicely as a pretty laid back day that ended with a nice dinner and family time.
And it makes it really that much nicer with the kids getting as old as they are. There's really not much longer before they start being reluctant to want to do family stuff - next year we have Paige turning 13, AJ turning 12, Payton turning 10, and Nolan turning 8. They're not so little anymore! It makes me think about my side of the family with Darian and Kris both in High School!
*sigh*
Time just flies by so fast - enjoy time when you have it - am I right??
So Thanksgiving just felt 'normal' for once this year. It's nice tohave some regularity in this crazy world sometimes. If nothing else, it lets you slow down and just enjoy life.
Normally, long holiday weekends are associate with relaxation, travel, and family time. And quite often (more often than not), that is the case for Eric and I. But this past holiday weekend, it was the furthest thing from that. We were in the trenches of yardwork. Literally.
We've been talking about doing 'one last big project' in our backyard for awhile now... the goal? Installing 4" conduit for an underground power feed to our house. The hurdle? Installing 4" conduit for an underground power feed. Yes... the goal and the hurdle were one in the same. With the garage in place now, we had to rent slightly smaller equipment to fit in our yard - just a mini-excavator this time. But it still tore up our entire yard with the dirt pile and trying to turn the thing this in was on treads. So we were left with just one small patch of decent grass left. And we were just getting our backyard to look nice.
So Project #1 (the conduit installation) took all day Friday. Nearly from sun-up to sun-down. We were literally returning the excavator to Home Depot at 10pm. Gotta love those long summer days... lots of daylight to do things like dig up your backyard. We didn't quite get everything we wanted done - two particular area were left open for some additional tie-ins with the conduit, so those hole would be filled in later, by hand. Which would turn out to be easier said than done. And Project #1 would lead to the necessity of another project... redoing the backyard. Again, easier said than done.
Saturday was spent taking care of the trench along the property line next to our neighbor's, so as to not leave a huge hole for them to fall into. The dirt turned out to be a very sticky, heavy clay that was anything BUT easy to shovel into the hole. So we took a break and ran out for supplies that we deemed necessary for the upcoming Project #2. We were both so worn out from the first day and were just moving at a slower pace Saturday. I guess we should've planned for that... but we did manage to get most of the trench filled in and even managed to freshen up and join the neighbors to actually watch the fireworks. It was the only social time we really gave ourselves all weekend.
Sunday was spent on Project #2 - trying to get the backyard to look, well, like a backyard again. We bought mulch, topsoil, grass seed and matting on Saturday to try to get to that point. The first half of the day was spent just finishing the sideyard next to (and in) the neighbor's - the mini excavator tore up their area more than we thought it would. Then, with what little energy we had left, we attempted to re-grade out the backyard so it was a little smoother, and put down grass seed. Again, we were wrapping up around 10pm. The yard still didn't look like much, and still wasn't done (we ran out of energy and matting to put over the seed). But hopefully the seed will take soon enough.
I have muscles in my body that haven't ached since I was doing my Insanity workouts. And I have more scrapes, bruises, and bug bites than I can count. Oh... and the kicker? On Friday, Eric snagged our cable conduit. It didn't break the line, that we could tell, but it pulled from the junction box, we're thinking - we've been without phone, cable, or internet since Friday afternoon. We'll know more when AT&T makes it out. Thank goodness we both have our cell phones. At least the weather cooperated all weekend - never got overly hot and never rained on us. Didn't stop the sweat from pouring our of both of us... but hopefully, it'll all be worth it when we have a nice backyard to chill in... next year.
Nothing like taking a long holiday week on a patriotic US holiday, and deciding to leave the country that weekend... at the last minute. But that's what we did.
Eric and I had been talking about going to Toronto for a few weeks now. Well... Eric had been, and I had been humoring him with, "Sure! Let's go!" But there was some sincerity in that... I was willing to go... I just didn't quite get why he wanted to go. But Friday afternoon, it just seemed to be a good thing to do... Eric really needed to get away from things, and the long weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity to make to do a roadtrip (where you'd actually get to enjoy your destination). So around 4pm on Friday, we started booking hotels and a car, figuring we'd leave as soon as we could get everything together, going as far as Detroit for the evening. 
Then Saturday morning, we crossed the border into Canada.
My only other time in Canada was out cross-over at Niagara Falls a few years ago. Granted, we ended up having to drive through Canada to get to the next border crossing south (into Buffalo), but I didn't pay too much attention to my surroundings, other than it just seemed weird and foreign to see crowns and kilometers on the road signs. But this trip gave me a chance to really take it in... all four hours within the country before making it to Toronto. A lot of farmland. A lot of 'green' energy in the making, both solar and wind. And way cleaner than US roads - no trash blowing around - and relatively well kept right-of-ways, in general.
We go into the outskirts of Toronto a little after 3pm, made some wrong turns, which led us to discovering some cool areas to go back to later that day (more to come on that later). We got to our hotel, which was in just about the perfect location on the edge of the financial/business district and their China Town. We checked in, settled into the hotel, and decided it was time to explore.
Our first 'destination' was an area we passed on our way into town (remember how we got lost?). We saw a bunch of shipping containers set up around a community center and small shops and food venders. Eric was looking for 'inspiration' on this trip, it turned out, and this was a good start for him. On our way to the community center, we noticed a road with a flurry of activity on it - what looking like some street venders and markets from a distance. So after we saw the container set up, we went back to that area. 
It turned out to be Kensington Market - apparently, a popular area for just that - street venders and markets. It has a bit of a NYC Canal Street vibe, though maybe not as shady. But in an interesting twist, some of the smaller shops are being replaced by trendy shops and foodie type small restaurants. Not at all fancy, mind you... just a little above what was there.
So we walked around Kensington Market for a bit - there were tons of people there! And the mix of venders was crazy!! It ranged from your Chinese Herb Shop, to your skateboard shop, to your medicinal marijuana, to your trendy styled butcher shop. After all the walking around, we were getting hungry and decided to pick one of the new trendy foodie places to eat. And what did we find? Chicken and Waffles. Who'd of thought that Southern staple made its way all the way to Canada.
We passed The Dirty Bird as we were walking down the street and the smell was amazing! 
It was enough for us to talk about it and then go back to it. It was a small little place, with just about every seat taken. There was a short line... which was just enough time for a seat to open when we were ready to sit down. The food? Amazing! I guess they do kind of have the market on maple syrup... so that helps a little. I had The Dirty Bird'ger and Eric Went the traditional route, which ended up being a lot of food! Everything about it - the batter on the chicken, the syrup concoction they made (it wasn't JUST maple syrup), and the 'dirty' sweet potato fries they made... YUM!
After we ate, we decided to walk some more. We stopped back at the hotel briefly to freshen up and take a look at a map and such. One thing about traveling internationally (even to Canada) is that you're forced to 'unplug' (unless you want to pay extra - which I did for my personal phone, but even it's limited). So we couldn't just use our phones to look things up unless we had Wi-Fi... which we knew we had at the hotel (and found elsewhere through the weekend). One we determined the direction we wanted to head, we were off again, this time in the other direction from the hotel, taking us towards the City Building and even a mall. 
Supposedly a good mall, but we had nothing to compare it to. We discovered a cool multi-functional space in from of the main City Building where a fountain served as an ice skating rink in the winter. There was also a permanent stage and an elevated walking path around the perimeter. Kind of cool use of space. It was next to the original Courthouse, which was a beautiful brown sandstone.
As darkness settled in, though, we were feeling our long day of traveling catching up with us. We were tired and the comfy hotel bed was calling our name. We figured we'd have a full day of exploring on Sunday, too, so it was better to get some good sleep beforehand.
Sunday morning, we deciding to be a little adventurous and find a crepe place a saw on Yelp. It was about a mile away, but we figured it wasn't too bad to walk. It would allow us to take in the City a bit more, too, since it was in yet another direction from the hotel. 
Everything was pretty quiet, except for the area where they were setting up to do some movie filming. Turns out they are filming Suicide Squad right now, with Will Smith and a bunch of other big names. We walked by a few of the sets on Sunday - on the way to breakfast, We saw a bunch of extras hanging out, waiting for things to get started. We didn't see any of the big stars, but we did have the movie's 'trailer town' set up next to our hotel. There might of been some stars there... or it may have just been the crew.
After the wonderful crepe breakfast at Crepe It Up, we hopped on The Toronto Bike share that was at the end of the block. It was time to do some bike exploring! We really had no destination in mind, so looked at a map at each stop, and just decided where to go next. We ultimately ended up down on the lakefront. Even at this point, we weren't sure where to go next, but then we saw the Redpath sugar refinery... and it was open to the public. Turns out that this weekend was Doors Open Toronto, which is an annual even where businesses open up their doors to the public, many of which are typically open to the public, such at this refinery. 
Now it wasn't a full on tour, but it was a self-guided tour with some additional interaction with some staff to learn about the process and history, as well as their extensive product line. I had no idea all the things to could make with raw sugar! And the tour ended with a peek into the raw sugar storage barn... which was as massive, if not MORE massive than a typical road salt barn. Then they gave us some butter/sugar cookies, and we were on our way.
We walked along the waterfront for a bit, until we came to the ferry docks for Toronto Island. We didn't ferry over to the island, but we hung at the park for a bit and watch some of the ferries and the crazy migrating geese that were flying inches about the water. It was such a beautiful morning, but was started to cloud up a bit. We decided to head back into the City and find some lunch. And since it was nice, and there were a lot more people out and about, we figured it'd be better to just walk, which was pretty easy, since where we were going was a straight shot up Bay Street.
We found an Italian places called Mercatto, and thought we'd do a quick pizza there. They had some amazing desserts we decided to have, too - we walked/biked enough that morning - we could 'afford' dessert, right?? The restaurant happened to be next to a historic church that was participating in the Doors Open weekend, so we took a peek inside before heading to the Courthouse (we saw the night before) for the same reason. 
The church had a beautiful pipe organ in it and one of the guide was telling us how the subway was literally dug around it, and the more frequent trains have caused massive cracks in the building walls in recent years (as he then pointed out). It was crazy to see some of the excavation pictures! The courthouse turned out to be a bit disappointing, as they had very limited area actually open to the public. You would've though court was actually in session on a Sunday.
We decided to end the day with a little shopping at the mall. There were some interesting stores there that we didn't recognize as being in the US... though we still ended up at Banana republic and J. Crew somehow. But we did go to others, as well. We finished with a walk-though of the Canadian Tire that was attached, which we determined to be the Canadian version of K-Mart (yes - K-Mart, not Wal-Mart). We then took our stuff back to the hotel (yes - we did buy some stuff) and started figuring out our dinner options.
At this point, we knew we were tired. But one thing we saw earlier in the day intrigued us... we walked by a place called Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Cheesecake on our way to breakfast, and there were cones set out to a line to form in. We thought that was odd, though there were some people in the line already, and it had just opened. 
When we walked passed it on the way to back to the hotel, the line was much longer, and we understood why the cones were there. We did a little research, and decided that after dinner (wherever we decided) we would go wait in the line and join the hype that this place has apparently created. So we were literally planning out dinner around 'dessert' that we'd have to wait for.
We did a gourmet burger place called Bareburger that was nearby, figuring it's be relatively quick. I actually had an Elk burger. It was good - gamey like deer, but good. Eric went for the safer Bison burger. We then went over to wait in line for some Japanese Cheesecake. We got in line right around 9pm, and quickly learned that this place was a lot of hype, because no one near us in line had been there before. There were even other Americans in line with us because they, too, had heard about this place. But there had to be hype for a reason, right?? About 15 minutes into our wait, one of the employees came out to give us a ticket to 'guarantee' our 6" cheesecake. 
She proceeded to tell us the procedure, which we already vaguely knew from our research, and even mentioned how the average wait is usually closer to two hours (and we were looking at one hour at that point). We were ready for the wait!
We finally get inside the tiny little bakery, which was maybe 500sft, and it was so hot in there from the ovens and constant line of people. But now we could see the process. They only bake 12 at a time in each oven, and there are three ovens, and each round takes 45 minutes to bake. As soon as they are out of the oven, they pack them and sell them. It's cash only ($10) and you pay, and then are out the door with your steaming hot cheesecake.
If you do a little research, you'll learn that Japanese Cheesecake is different from what you would typically think of when you think about cheesecake. When it's still warm, it's very soufflé like, and even has a strong egg-y like taste - the cheese doesn't come through very much at this stage, but I was told it's good to try at this stage and heard some even eat if for breakfast because of the light, egg-y flavor. As it cools, though, and even is chilled in the fridge, the become more sponge cake-like, though still lighter than your traditional cheesecake. 
The cheese flavor come out a little more now, though it's still not nearly as sweet, like a traditional cheesecake. I think it would be ideal with fruit on it - the fruit flavors would shine, rather than the cream cheese flavor.
So we took our cheesecake back to the hotel and tried it. Eric really didn't like the cheesecake warm, and though it wasn't my cup of tea, I could see how this stage of the cheesecake would be appealing to some. We both tried it after it was chilled in the fridge, and liked it much better that way. Mentally noted for 'next time' or if I try to attempt one of the many Pinterest recipes I've seen for Japanese Cheesecake. But this was a great way to end the night - and the weekend. The whole thing was quite an experience! Considering we had no agenda for Toronto, we were quite happy with our weekend!
This morning we just got up, and made our way out from the hotel. We ended up doing breakfast at Ikea (only because we passed right by it) and then picked up a few snacks for the road from their local grocery chain, Longo's, which was actually kind of a cool store. Then we drove and drove until we got to Detroit.
Once in Detroit, we did a little detouring. Eric wanted to find a few places, as well as show me some of the places he learned about on his 'field trip' up to Detroit a few months ago. 
You hear about the blight of Detroit, and even see pictures... but until you see it firsthand, you really can't comprehend it. And to see how far the downtown has come is amazing! We drove through some of the areas Eric's bus tour took him, including The Heidelberg Project, which is an 'art' installation. Basically, a guy collects junk from vacant buildings and homes and started piling it up and occasionally painting it or getting creative with it in some way. It was very odd, in my opinion.
After some detouring, we were on our way back to Indy. We got home around 10:30pm - made for a long day, since we left out hotel around 9am. That's what stops and detours do for you, though - it's in no way that long of a drive if you drive there in a more normal fashion. But then, when do we ever travel in normal fashion?
After last year's near fiasco (if you don't remember, go look it up), I really was big on doing a big date night. I still wanted to do something, and while I would've been just happy cooking a nice meal at home (like we've done in the past), I still did a little searching for something fun to do. And then it came to me... a hockey game.
I know... hockey on Valentine's Day?? And no, this didn't mean a trip to Chicago. We have a new hockey team in Indy this year, the Fuel, that is actually a feeder team to the Blackhawks. Not the only question was, do they have a game on Valentine's Day?
Indeed there was a game. So a week out from Valentine's Day, we were buying tickets for a Valentine's Night Hockey Date. Sounds fun, right?? I even had guys at work jealous - kind of funny, actually.
So the game... we had talked about checking out a Fuel game when they first announced the season last year. The Blackhawks game we went to over a year ago was a great time, but pricey! So these would be cheaper in what I like to call a more 'intimate' atmosphere... only around 5,000 or so seats verses 20,000 or so in the United Center. 
We really weren't sure which level to buy - we figured they were all good seats. But we chose to go low because we knew we'd never get low for an NHL game. Not right on the glass, but just a few rows up.
It was a fun atmosphere, too! Not quite as electric as a Blackhawks game... but then, you only have a quarter of the fans yelling and screaming. 
But fun, none the less. They even had a surprise It's one of the few losses they've had in the past month or so. So that was a bit of a bummer. But they DID get a goal while we were there and, since they're a Blackhawks affiliate, it was the same horn and song to follow. Loved it!
So yeah... a little unconventional for Valentine's Day, but it was a lot of fun. And since it was so cold, it was nice to be able to just bundle up and not worry about being all dressed up in the cold. That was last year, and it sucked. I'll take my jeans and comfy layers any day.
Here we are... the start of a new year. Wow. I think I said it before, but 2014 flew by. Why does time go by faster as you get older???
Eric and I celebrated the New Year at the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art) again. We had a great time with it last year and thought it would be another fun night. They just make it so easy! Of course, we started the New Years Eve celebrating a little differently this year... at a Pacers game. After we watched the Pacers beat the Miami Heat, we went to our favorite 'local bar' (Plat 99) and had a couple of drinks before going home to get ready for the real event. It made for a nice start to the evening, though.
In true form, we didn't arrive until about 10:30pm. As you surely know by now, Eric can't stay in one place too long, just 'hanging out' and we didn't want to get to that antsy point. Not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, when we get there, we almost immediately run into someone Eric knows. That never seems to take long when we go places in this City. And in all fairness, he knew of a few people that would be at IMA this year. So it really was no a surprise.
We ran into a few people, and all the side talks and catching-up only allowed us time to get into one of the galleries before midnight. That is one of the cool things about this event... all of the galleries are open for viewing, even special exhibits. And that was the one gallery we made it to - the special exhibit for Georgia O'Keefe. But before we knew it, it was time to grab our champagne for the midnight toast.
At first, we just tried to find a space to stand where we could see things, but then we saw some 'fashion friends' across the way, and went over to toast with them. Funny thing is, we never heard a countdown and not even sure if one occurred. We were on the second level, talking, and then everyone was yelling 'Happy New Year!' We were on the second level, so we may have just missed it... and we looked down and saw there was a glitch with the confetti cannons, so surely there was a countdown... right??
After the toast was done, we wander down to the main lobby, where Eric grabbed some food and we let some of the crowd disperse before leaving ourselves. It was cold outside - I was not looking forward to going back out in that! But we finally did and just went home to crash.
I hope everyone out there in my blog world had a wonderful New Year's celebration, as well! And here's wishing you a happy a prosperous year ahead!
It's not a secret that I look forward to me 'green Christmases' every year. I never grew up dreaming of a white Christmas, and even living in Indiana for as long as I have, I still don't desire a white Christmas. I like seeing my palm trees decorated and breaking out shorts on Christmas Day. I like having an opportunity to go to the beach, even though it doesn't mean actually laying out in the sun. To me, that is home... that is Christmas.
Christmas Even, Eric and I headed down to FL. This year, we decided to give a go at driving straight down, with no overnight stops. We knew, in theory, it was very doable. We just hadn't tried it yet. So in similar fashion of our summer roadtrip easy, we got up and left really early in the morning - 5am. We actually wanted to leave earlier, but it was just too hard to get out of bed. I didn't make it too far down the road before I fell back asleep for a couple of hours... but Eric said he was okay, so I rested soundly. We just drove and stopped when we wanted to stop, and since we had no agenda, we took our time. I told my parents that if we got there in time to go by the house, we would, but don't plan anything around our arrival. Glad we did that, too, because we didn't get to our hotel until around 8pm. 
We still went over to say 'hi' to my parents and Nan, and deliver our gifts to the tree. But we didn't stay long - we were quite tired. SO back to the hotel we went to crash.
Since my sister and her family didn't come up until Christmas Day, we took that as a queue to sleep in and get plenty of sleep for the long day ahead. We actually barely made over to my parents before they arrived, which was no big deal, really... we ate breakfast at the hotel before we went over, so there was no delay in anybody's schedule. Once they arrived and everyone settled in, it was right to opening gifts. Even though they're teenagers, the kids still love opening gifts as if they were still six-years-old. Of course, the gifts are very different now. Did I mention how hard it is to shop for a teenage boy?? Darian started out difficult, but much in the way my list grew at her age, it was an ever growing list that made shopping for her very easy. 
I actually had a hard time shopping for everyone else, this year, too. Except for my Dad... my travels made his gift list easier, as I found all sorts of fun t-shirts for him. And actually, my travels helps with everyone, as everyone got at least one souvenir type things from my travels. But I still had to get things people wanted, too.
Eric is never easy to shop for, either. In fact, I'm finding none of the guys in my life are easy to shop for. Why is that? I know I'm not the only one with this issue, either... I think it's because if they want something, they just go buy it. So they never leave any hints on the table. But I digress.
The rest of our trip was a typical FL trip for me. Lots of family time, shopping with the girls (my Mom, sister, and niece), and even pierogi making this year!
Eric got a little more antsy than usual this year - he just can't stay in one place for too long with an agenda in front of him. He wanted to go do something 'planned out' and unfortunately, that's just not how my family operates. At least not since we used to do the zoo day with the kids. (Which I miss) He couldn't even get the guys to go to lunch when us girls were out shopping. I felt bad for him, but yet, this was no different than any other year. Maybe next year, we can plan at least one day out with a full agenda to calm his nerves.
The trip home turned out to be another straight-thru drive. We initially planned on making a stop, but the timing of us leaving (noon) and where that put us at a good 'stopping point and time', it just didn't make sense. So we pushed through and arrived home closed to 2am. Made for a long, exhausting day, but I have to admit, it was nice to sleep in my own bed last night (this morning).
So another Christmas is in the books. Kind of hard to believe that this year is wrapping up already. It flew by way faster, it seems. But none the less, it was a great Christmas with family on both sides.
'Tis the season for company Christmas parties... of 'Holiday' parties if you need to be politically correct. They can range from a potluck in the office, to a formal affair, all depending on how the company likes to do things. Or, sometimes, just due to who's in charge of it that year.
This year was kind of interesting. I got the whole range in two days... from two companies, obviously... but one of them was NOT where Eric and I currently work. That was part of what made it interesting.
But let's start with my A&F party. Since we're such a small company, Steve keeps things simple. Which is nice. We do more than a potluck... we figured it out last year she we took an afternoon off and went bowling with a nice lunch beforehand. It might sound corny, but since it's just the employees, there's good camaraderie and lots of just laid back fun. And yes, we get alcohol. So that was on Wednesday afternoon.
Last night, Eric and I crashed a party where neither of us work. But of course, there was more to it than that. So jumping ahead, I start a new job on Monday! (SURPRISE!) I'm getting back into the development world and I cannot wait! I've heard nothing but amazing things about the company I'm going to work for, and I think I got a preview of it at their party last night. Late last week, I got the invitation to attend, which surprised me, but I wasn't about to say no. I did, at least, know a couple of people already from previous places of employment. So it wouldn't be completely awkward.
Oh, and did I mention it was cocktail/formal dress? Yeah... so it didn't matter who I met... I won't recognize them on Monday. But it was a really nice event... quite a way to be introduced into a company culture! Eric and I sat down to eat and then another couple came and asked to sit with us. Turned out to be the COO. He talked to me quite a bit and was all sorts of excited about the company and me coming on. The CEO later touched base with me, as well - we had met during the interview process. And his wife was VERY pregnant with their 7th child! So family/work life balance... check! The whole evening was a casino them, so very social - actually a great way to meet people informally. I actually had a really great time!
So yeah... I start a new job on Monday. More to come on that, obviously. After last night, I have no doubt I made the right decision in making the move. I'm even more excited now!
We celebrated our Indiana Family Christmas a little early this year... today. And it was a bit unconventional... but I couldn't have sake for a nice day.
It started very informal... Kelly and Kimber were coming up to see Tran-Siberian Orchestra and asked if we could watch the kids. Of course, that was no problem. But after these informal plans were made, we learned we weren't get to see them for Thanksgiving or Christmas! So that changed everything. We didn't want to necessarily do the full day, sit down dinner type of Christmas... but something. And then Eric suggested Lasagna. Perfect!
So the closer we got, the more I realized I wanted to make this a real Christmas celebration and actually get to see the kids open their gifts. So wrapping their gifts moved up the priority list (not to mention buying them).
Mind you, all this happened in less than a month, where for a week, I was out of the country! So there was a bout of craziness in there. But it was all worth it.
So today came, and I was busy in the kitchen, first thing in the morning. Since most of the adults were heading to the concert at 3:30pm, dinner had to be a little early, which was no problem. I haven't made lasagna in what seems like forever, so I was excited to make it. And it worked out perfectly. Everyone got to the house, just as I was putting the lasagna in the oven, and we ate with just enough time for them to let the food settle before walking over to the concert.
That left Eric and I with three kids, and the fourth on his way. Well, we initially figured we play games, but two of them fell asleep... and so did Eric. I Payton and I played Uno until Nolan got to the house... and then he joined in... and then Paige played some. Finally, everyone seeming to be ready to do something more, and the girls suggested going to look as some Christmas lights. Well, what better lights to see that the giant tree on the circle. So we all coated up and headed out... and managed to get there right before the concert left out. So then Les, Lytta, Kimber, and Kelly met us up there before heading back to the house.
We were all a little cold at this point,but it didn't take long to warm up. It was finally present time for the kids, too, so I'm sure that helped. I think we did alright with gifts (thanks to some ideas from Kelly) and everyone seemed happy. It all happened so quick, though... as kids and gifts often do. But that was not a bad thing, since Kelly and umber had to get back on the road to KY.
So it was a short but sweet visit. But I think it was a win-win as far a Christmas celebrations go... I love when everyone leaves happy.
Is it just me, or has the creep of 'Black Friday' one Thanksgiving starting the make Thanksgiving, itself, insignificant?
I'm not trying to be Negative Nelly over here... but between that and the smaller Thanksgivings we've had (with family not all being able to get together), I feel like it's becoming a 'glossed over' holiday. How long before it's just another day that you may, or may not, get off from work and you just have turkey sandwiches for dinner to celebrate? Just look at how many people had to work (in retail, at least) today... Why must the almighty buck always seem to dominate?
Okay... rant over... thinking happy thoughts.
As foreshadowed, we are having a very small celebration at our house today... Jut Eric and I, and his parents. Not a bad thing... it'll still be nice and we're still doing turkey (albeit, just a breast). And I'm baking a cake, right now... hope it turns out, since it's my first stab at this recipe. You never know with a new recipe.
In the meantime, I've barely glanced at the Black Friday ads. Why bother? Most of them are for deals tonight. That, and the fact that I'm really about done with shopping already. And before you curse me, know that it wasn't on purpose... I've just been finding things along the way this year. Yes... I think about Christmas gifts all year long.
Oh, well. I guess all I can say at this point is, "Happy Thanksgiving!" Hope all you out there reading this can restrain yourself from going shopping. It's much better to spend time with family.
Most 'normal' families take a long holiday weekend and enjoy some down time and cook outs, and just generally enjoy time with family and friends. We, on the other hand, rent heavy equipment.
This time, it was a rather large backhoe that barely fit in our yard. The goal was to get rid of the old garage foundation in the rear of our yard, and trench in the utilities for the garage. But it wasn't just a backhoe, it was a truckload of gravel to backfill the trench with.
Once again, we lucked out to a long weekend of great weather. No rain and not too hot - weather you can actually work in without being drained of energy quickly. Granted, Eric did most of the playing on the backhoe. I kid you not, he had a smirky smile on his face whenever he was operating the thing. And I'll even admit, it was kid of fun to operate. But he was just like a kid with a new toy to play with.
The good news was that we got the job done, for the most part. There's a little left that Eric will hopefully knock out before they pick it up on Thursday. But we won't have use of our backyard for awhile. It's amazing how the dirt expands when you dig it out - there's not way we'll get it all recompacted to its original state. Plus, some was displaced with the gravel. But, we weren't expecting much use once the garage starts in a few weeks, anyway. I just hope we get to reseed the grass in the fall so we can have a functioning backyard next year.
In the meantime, it's like off-trail hiking to get to our back door, complete with hold you can fall in and break you ankle in. But we're one step closer, and that makes me pretty excited. It also make me excited that there's no more heavy equipment to rent. Small stuff, like a trencher, yes... but nothing else that fills out entire backyard.
Ah, St. Patrick's Day. The holiday that Americans turned into a drunk fest with every possible tradition that is NOT Irish. From the color green, to the four-leaf clover, to the food we eat.
Random fact... did you know that in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was actually a DRY holiday for most of history? Yeah... no green beer there.
I remember when St. Patrick's Day plans were a HUGE deal. I would actually plan on meeting friends and hang out until the wee hours of the morning. And it was fun - no argument there. But, wow, times have changed! Most people I know don't go too far from home, IF they even go out.
My big thing now is making corned beef and cabbage - I found a killer recipe and it turned out great. Well, the one time I made it so far, anyway. And since it's a crockpot recipe, I can make it whether I'm working or at home on a weekend! Yay.
Ironically, that's another false tradition. The Irish actually eat beef and potatoes - the corned beef and cabbage, again, came from America. At least it came from Irish Americans.
At least this is one tradition I can keep around, no matter my age. I gotta admit, I wouldn't mind making it more often. But Eric says it's a St. Patty's thing.
Let me preface that while weather is talked about and played a big role in the outcome of this day, this is NOT a full-on weather blog.
That said, today quickly took a turn for the worse in the weather department when is started snowing... a little before noon where I was (north side)... but I heard it was even earlier elsewhere in the metro area. Once again 'they' said we would get about one to two inches (as of last night... but they seems to continually change their forecast today the snow accumulated at greater amount. We ended up with 6" when all was said and done. Six inched of very while, fluffy, snow. Of course, a majority of this fell )heavily) during the afternoon rush hour. Why not, right??
I did make it home, though, and once again, it paid to have the reverse commute that I have. I had to make sure I have time to get ready and bake Eric his Valentine's gift (a heart shaped pan of brownies). Eric and I had made plan to attend the Indiana State Museum's Art Fair opening, which included dinner in the Tea Room. We were looking forward to it, as we typically don't do the 'get dressed up and do Valentine's Day dinner out' - we've always stayed in and cooked a special meal together. Which has always been nice.
Well, the slight delay in getting did cause a bit of a rush on my end. But then, to boot, Eric was running a little late getting home from work, himself (not because of weather... just typical work pile up for him). So I had that stress going for me. 
But he did finally make it home, with beautiful flowers, I might add, and, since he's a guy, was able to quickly get ready. But this was the last of the positives for awhile.
As we were getting ready to walk out the door, we wondered if we were supposed to have tickets for this event. We did some searching, and as we could find nothing of the sort, we headed over, assuming they had a list they just checked off.
Some foreshadowing for you... as I mentioned, we were dressed up. Which meant some nice heels for me. I did wear some snow boots to get to the car, but they came off once in the car, because we were parking in a parking garage and going directly into a building.
So continuing on... we get to the museum and go in, and when we told them we signed up online, they sent us over to the will call desk. No big deal, right? Yeah... that's what we thought. They could find no sign of our reservation. They continued to tell us that they have had some problems with this online service they had used. This is about when Eric's temper started to kick in. If you've never seen it, be happy. I did my best to keep him in check - he finally just walked away and I talked to the guy at the desk. I could tell he felt bad and he was searching and calling people to attempt to resolve this issue. He finally finds the manager or someone who can actually make things right... but by this point, when I tried to tell Eric what I thought was good news, he decided he was done and insisted on leaving.
And not quietly, unfortunately. The poor coat check guy thought he did something wrong. I was just thankful nothing got broken along the way. Including the parking gate in the garage. I was ready to just go home, at this point. Eric was clearly upset, and I wasn't dressed to walk around anywhere that wasn't enclosed... which was the rest of the City. But he seemed determined to find a place to eat... on Valentine's night. He finally called one of our favorite restaurants, and while they had nothing immediately available, things started to clear up on their reservation list around 8:45pm. He seemed content with that, but I hate eating that late. So I find another place using the app, Open Table, that had something available within the next half hour.
He tried to make it easy for me by dropping me off as close to the front door as possible... which isn't really possible along a street with parking. There was ice along the walks, too, that made it a tedious process, regardless. But I got inside while he went to park the car. Then I got a phone call. He got stuck on a side street and had to shovel out his car. Great. This'll help his mood. But he finally made it and we sat down to eat.
Ultimately, he calmed down and we actually had a nice dinner. The food was good, the server was excellent (one of the best I've had in Indy), and we even had dessert. So Valentine's Day dinner was salvaged. For the most part. I guess the night wasn't over yet.
As we left, Eric went to get the car since he was parked so far away. I hate doing anything on Mass Ave for this reason... the parking sucks, both in layout (function) and in number of spaces. I, personally, avoid doing much of anything on Mass Ave, if I can help it. Especially with my larger vehicle. But I digress.
Initially, he said he'd pick me up where he dropped me off, which would've been fine. Except that the valet was now using that area to stage peoples' cars as they left. Do I had to cross the snowy, icy, slushy road to get to where he could pick me up. Did I mention I was wearing 4"-ish heels? Ironically, I was fine in the slushy shoulder area... but the drive lanes... they were sheets of ice. About two steps, and I lost it. Down on my knee, hard! I tried to regain balance, but I think that just made it more awkward going down. It was more of a struggle standing back up. I was within moments of taking my shoes off and just walking through it all with no shoes. But I stabilized myself and got to the side of the road, just as he pulled up. Oy, vey...
So that was probably the one and only Valentine's Day we'll try going out. It sucked. We never had issues doing our own thing... but it was just one thing after another tonight. But, at least the dinner was good, the flowers we pretty, and the brownies turned out perfect. If we could've skipped the museum fiasco, the winter weather, and the bruised knee, it would've been a great night. But I still love my Valentine, regardless. Y
A heads up... this is going to be a ramble.
So today was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I get the significance of the person - he was a huge leader in the civil rights movement. When you think of that, you think of him probably before anyone else.
With that said, is there still any significance to this holiday? Don't get me wrong, I respect the reason for the day, but it doesn't seem to be 'celebrated' the way it maybe once was. Outside of government agencies, banks, and a select group of activism organizations, it's not recognized at all, really. I haven't had it as a day off since college. And once at work, it's never mentioned. And that goes for any company I've been at. I've even forgotten that it was a holiday, all together, until I get home and there's no mail. Most people don't even refer to it by it's full name (see my blog title). It seems like it's just another manipulated way for retailers to have sales.
And beyond that, as a way to try to keep it as a recognized day, they've had to double dub it, by calling it the National Day of Service, as well. But if you work, you can't partake in that, either. So that's a majority of working Americans. And the big controversy here in Indy this year was that some school districts were using it as a make-up snow day, so about half the schools were is session today, as well.
So it makes you think... how many holidays have gone the wayward? Right off of the top of my head, I think of Pearl Harbor Day... as the generation that was alive for that significant event have passed on, it's talked about less and less. It's not even shown on most calendars anymore. I don't know that the government ever closed down for the recognized holiday, but I think most people recognized it and at least took a moment to remember what that day meant. But now, it's barely a blip on most people's radar.
So is it, what I'll call, a 'generational' holiday? Will it, too, be a blip on the radar once all that were alive during MLK's time pass on, much the way Pearl Harbor Day has been slipping away as the World War II generation passes on? Will the same thing happen to Patriot Day, otherwise known as September 11th Remembrance Day... will it also go that way once all of our generation has passed?
It seems like if it's not a Hallmark Holiday (for lack of a better term), then it's quickly forgotten. There are a few minor exceptions, like Independence Day, that will always remain a big deal. But even Memorial and Labor Day seem to be less and less celebrated. But at least the private sector still recognizes those with days off. But how long before we start working on those days, as well? And think of all the other holidays that aren't wholly recognized... Presidents Day, Veterans Day, etc.
So yes... this is my ramble for the day. I'm not going to lie... I miss having all the days off like I had in school. But even when, as a kid, you had those days off, did you really celebrate the day? Or was it just an extra day off for you?
Wow! 2014 already! Seriously... where did 2013 go??
For the first time since we've been together, Eric and I decided to actually go to a true New Year's celebration. One where you actually get all dressed up and toast the night in with champagne, singing, and something falling on you from above. We've done the stay at home thing, or the friend's house party... but never got all dolled up.
We decided to that this year when we got the announcement/invite from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (of which we're members). There was a cost associated with it, but more than half of it was considered a donation and was tax deductible, so it was celebrating for a good cause, right??
I think the best part was the fact that it was no rush to get there. Since the only critical point was midnight, we were able to have a nice dinner at home before getting ready and finally heading out around 10pm. And we missed nothing.
All the galleries were open, including the Matisse exhibit. So we wandered around a bit before finally settling in on the main floor with some champagne and waiting for the countdown. It was, quite frankly, the perfect way to celebrate. And I think we'd recommend this route to everyone we know for next year - it's probably where we'll go again!
So here we are, the first day into 2014. I've made no resolutions this year. Don't see a reason to, honesty - I'm rambled before how they're pointless. If you want to make a change, just do it. It doesn't matter the time of year! About the only 'tradition' I'm following is my pork chops, black-eyed peas, and sauerkraut with some added green beans to keep the green coming. And I guess some potatoes on the side.
Here's hoping to a great New Year for Eric and I (maybe we'll get the bathroom done), and may everyone else I know have one, too!
We freshened up at the hotel, then went to my parents' to drop off gifts and such. I wasn't planning on telling them about my bug. Of course, we did do a quick detour to the beach, to breathe in that wonderful salt air - that always helps me!
This is, of course, after we picked up Nan and Kristin arrived with the family. So we carried on and tried to enjoy things as best we could, knowing Eric wasn't feeling well.
Why did I leave FL, again?? While we ate breakfast at my parents', he took another nap, trying to feel better. We then opened the rest of the gifts and stockings, getting him all caught up with the gifts he missed the day before. It felt like a super short trip to FL this year - a little bit of a bummer for me. We left a little after lunch to start the trek back to Indiana. We planned on crashing in Nashville along the way - I did not want to drive through the night. But it was an uneventful stop, as we did nothing more than go to Publix in the morning (to get ice cream to take back with us).
