For the Birds

 

Our neighbor's birdhouse is the most happening birdhouse I've ever seen.  One day I had to scare a crow away.  He was trying to get some eggs, I believe.  I hope I was successful.

House Update

 

Looking good, no?  Don't you wish  you had a blue tarp on your roof?  It's so chic.   And it's all the rage my home fashion forward thinking friends.  We are considering a mattress in the front yard.  But we're not sure if it's the look we're going for.  What do you think? 

       

Pictures

Here are some pictures of the outside and inside of the house.  Blegh. What a pain.  But it should get us on the news this evening.  I'll post it when it shows up.  Whee!

Turkey Runs Again

Before the snow melted last week, we went to Turkey Run State Park to see if we could fall off a cliff or two while slogging through the snow.

Mention a hiking trip and there is sure to be whining.  It can get very disheartening very quickly.  This trip was no exception.  Although five minutes into it Gwyn said, "I'm behind because I'm looking at how beautiful it is here."  Finally!

J didn't try to pick trails with sheer cliffs and only slabs of ice to walk on, but alas, that's what happened.  We had hiked each of the trails previously, but never when they were covered with snow/freezing rain/ice pack.   Needless to say, we made it back safely.  No one was injured during this adventure.  And we will stick to less cliffy terrain for our next snow hike (if there is one this season).

G became very interested in reading the map to figure out where we were.  It was so very Jesse like.

We sure wish any of you had been there with us.  It wasn't even that cold!  And it was Beautiful, just ask Gwyn.

Finally! Some FUN in 2011!

It's hard to be FUN when everyone is sick.  Sick kids.  Not fun.  Sick Mom.  Not fun.  Sick Dad.  Definitely not FUN.  And then miraculously, everyone starts getting better! 

And we have FUN!  At Shades State Park.  Where they aren't collecting the usual $5 entrance fee because who in their right mind would want to tromp through the snow?  Us!  Our 1.2 mile hike took over two hours.  Obviously, we weren't going for speed. 

I love being outside, even if it is a little coldy.  I love my purple snow pants and lime green coat because they keep me warm and I will always be the first one found if we ever get lost.  I love all the winter gear we've accumulated that has made it possible to spend hours outside in brrr cold temperatures.

I love spending a Saturday doing this. 

Behind the falls on trail 2

Not this.

Last Saturday Mim slept until 5pm!

Last weekend and this weekend

 Turkey Gotta Run State park.  Pretty fun stuff.

Outside the Carthage Jail.

Hallowen 2010

Mermaid and Monkey had free access to the dress up box this year.  They also made some purchases at the dollar store.  I got a Cleopatra costume and spent an hour putting the make up on both Friday and Saturday.  It took an hour to take the stuff off, as well.  How do you do it you make up wearing people? 

We were invited to a pre-trick or treating party on Saturday.  I thought, "I'm usually so boring.  I'm going to dress up this year!  That will be fun!"  After the makeup and  Jesse's last minute ninja costume, we were late arriving.  Only to find a house full of people I've never met and not one adult in costume.  J quickly removed his mask and looked normal.  I was so uncomfortable I didn't know what to do.  I made an effort to dress down by taking off my headpiece, but I still had 1 hours worth of makeup around my eyes.  It's just hard to fit in when you're the queen of the Nile, y'know?

We had fun trick or treating on main street along with the rest of the town.  We brought over our extra candy to one of Jesse's colleauge's homes to give out, then made our way to another friend's home where all the adults were dressed up.  I could really get into Halloween here. 

Leaves are Falling

Did you think of us when you heard about that awful storm on Tuesday?  Did you think, "I hope Bekah's not riding her bike home from the gym while a tornado watch is in effect and her kids are hunkered down in the hallway of their school."

Mermaid suggested that a television might be a wise investment so that we can be on top of local news such as tornado watches, etc.  I think that it might have been nice if one of the guys at the gym would have mentioned that we were under a tornado watch and maybe I should just stay put for a little bit.

Of course we are all fine and dandy.  We're still not buying a television.  But here are a few leaves that are still stuck to their trees, even after 45 mph gusts that didn't knock me off my bike either.  How is fall treating you in your neck of the woods?

Last Sunday

Last Sunday when Jesse was gone I took the kids to the park.  It was...enlightening.  I always love dangerous playground equipment.  The kids came so close to getting slammed so many times, it made my heart sing. (This is what happens when you have two sedate girls.  You look forward to injuries.)

We don't get out that much, so we forget that not everyone works at the university.  Lots of smoking, lots of swearing, a few conversations about how the female speaker could totally beat up several different people (both male and female).  Do you know how much it warms my heart to know I could raise my kids in the midwest equivalent of Roseburg?

Children's Museum of Indiana

I love going on excursions with the kids.  Really.  I do.  I like exploring new places, checking our museums and parks, even cruising down the aisles of the international market is fun with them.  So last Friday we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  The kids uncovered dinosaur bones, touched real fossils, saw the trains (couldn't help thinking of Antique's Roadshow), and rode the carousel.  There was also a really neat modern Egypt exhibit and a Barbie exhibit where the girls got to dress up, play fashion designer, and look at vintage Barbies. 

Childrens Museum

It's a little photo, but I'm trying to learn how to use Lightroom and haven't figured out how to export a full size picture.  Gotta love all this free time at night.  Really, I hate it.  These are shots from the Childrens Museum of Indianapolis.  My favorite exhibit had a rotating reclining couch that looked up at all of these blown glass shapes. Visual candy.

Sunday Stroll

On one of the last hot days of the year, we took a walk/bike ride around campus. The Monkey tried to bike down some stairs. Unsuccessful.
The trees are beginning to change. And we found, a week too late, a pawpaw tree right on campus. We were able to save about 10 of them, but most had rotted on the ground. Such a shame. Next year our friends will be sure to harvest them in our honor.the harvest this year.

Apple Picking

A family from church invited us to pick apples from a friend of a friend's tree (I love how that works in Indiana). The temperature dropped. It's crispy cool here now. And the apples were, too. J and their boys climbed 20 feet up, to get the juicy, bug free specimens. The girls had so much fun, and ate so many apples. It couldn't be helped.

So now we have two of those blue baskets on our front porch waiting for someone to make apple something out of them. Sauce, butter, jelly, juice? What would you do?

Indiana, Au Naturale

Last weekend our friends showed us Natural Indiana. Which is a lot different from what you see traveling to and fro. That would be Farming Indiana (soybeans or corn, take your pick). Nature in Indiana has streams, rocks, neato fossils and crinoids, and pawpaws (just like Baloo. And they are scrumdidliumcious).

I like Nature Indiana. It's beautiful. It's close. It's not incredibly prolific, but it will have to do for now. And if we can find some more of those pawpaws, I shall like it even more.

Good for the Soul

Sometimes I think that Indiana might suck my soul out. I feel like my sense of fun and humor is trickling from me like a slow leak. Then something amazing happens. Like...

A man with a sidearm, a fugitive recovery t-shirt, and a wanted poster knocks on my door asking for some guy the previous tenants knew. I wanted to ask "are you a US Marshall, like Mary on In Plain Sight or that super intense scary guy on Justified? Or better yet, a bounty hunter, like Dog? Did the previous tenants hide him from the law? Do you take SAHMs with you sometimes on stakeouts? How exactly do I get myself one of those rocking t-shirts?"

So now I know why the neighbors welcomed us into the neighborhood with such relief. Why our landlord was more than happy to give us a 9 month lease.

Rest assured, our neighborhood is actually pretty good. (Though some neighbors down the street have had the police over a time or two.) A little spicy. But in a good way. A soulful way.

What Do You Do?

I know you've all been dying to know what I do while the kids are at school. It's the first time in a very long time where for hours on end, no one wants anything of me. So here's what I do...

I visit Susie, Rhoda, and friends at the BMV. I've been there three or four times so far and have at least one more visit scheduled. They are so nice, considering they work for the state government. This time, when I bring 2 proofs of address (not just one), and my passport, and my social security card, they're going to give me a shiny new driver's license (ok, so I'll have to pay like $40 bucks for it, but whatever.)

I tidy up my home, removing cigarette butts, smoke stained windows, and still smoky carpet stink. Also, this house does not like organization. I'm not sure why, but we're having issues.

I grocery shop without anyone whining. Except me. Now that I'm by myself, I realize that I can only shop for about 20 minutes longer than when I'm with the kids. I get bored, tired, hungry, and irritated that I can't find what I'm looking for. I do get out of the car faster, but that's about it.

I do laundry. I actually wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry in one sitting. This is different.

I listen to MY music. No kid krap. I pull out the heavy guns. German Lieder, Elly Ameling, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. I also sing a bit. Some day, I'm gonna blow everyone away with my Erlkonig. I should really work on my French. It's pretty bad.

I exercise while listening to the Dianne Ream show. This is probably the most pathetic work out. But so informative. If I don't want to listen, I watch Antiques Roadshow while I work out.

My lunch buddy shows up around 12:30 every day. We talk. Eat left overs. He gets a little sore if I forget to tell him I won't be there. It's pretty cute.

Tomorrow, I'm going to go through pictures and order some for the girls' scrapbooks. Take a first load to Goodwill. Take a trip to Ladoga for some fresh butchered meat. And think some more about organizing the room that resists organization.

I'll make a trip to Indy sometime soon. Wish you could come.

Here We Are

Finalmente. We're back to normal. Instead of hanging out together, we're on our separate computers. Gotta love having the internet at home.

We're mostly moved in. We still have one room that defies order. Maybe that can be my Friday Fun.

Indiana is quite an experience. People are nice. Totally miss our friends from everywhere else. Making some pretty awesome friends here. It is nice to semi-reinvent myself each time we move, though a bit exhausting. After a month or so, I would pay good money (and probably will) to be with family.

We have a/c here. We run it. It's HOT. I miss breezes. (most of the windows in our house are painted shut, not that there are breezes to feel if they did open.) And it's horridly humid. Think Hawaii minus the clean ocean water and trash pickup just once a week. Sticky grossness.

Jesse is busy again. The always have something that needs to be done but not enough time to do it busy. Teaching three new classes, applying for jobs, and contemplating writing can do that. He's such a sport.

I leave you with pictures of my new kitchen. My 1970's enamelware and tupperware fit perfectly in my 1970's kitchen. Red and orange look so good in a white kitchen with green cupboards. This one is teeny tiny with no room to maneuver around, and not enough storage space. I'm so hard to please.

Here We Are

Hot. Humid. Cicadas. Walking/Biking distance to...everything. Yummy cheap fresh produce. Sweet watermelons.

Indiana.

We are here. Not in our house. So it's not home, yet. We live near the college and downtown where the library, dance class, and the farmer's market all reside. Plus a yummy looking mexican restaurant that even Jesse was tempted by.

I can't wait to get more settled. Unpacked. In our own home. But for now, it's good. Blessed. Hot.

Indiana, Where People Are SO Nice

Our trip to Indiana was. . . not bad. I mean, moving is never a dreamy proposition. And we had tons of help from our friends in Maine (where people are also SO Nice.)

We're wondering if we can put the ticket I got for driving on the Merritt Parkway in the moving truck under our moving expenses. (FYI, a moving truck IS a commercial vehicle. In NY, they know that idjits like me exist, so the signs only allow passenger vehicles.)

Indiana is full of Really Nice People. The kids were enchanted. So many people giving them so much candy. We found a place to live. YEAH! 10 month lease. YEAH! No dishwasher. Booo. Backyard. Yeah! And Mermaid made it into the GT program. Yeah!

We spent 72 hours in Indiana. Accomplished everything we needed to. I think we're going to like it there. (and people continue to be so nice. they're letting us crash at their house while we wait for our house to open up.)