It was wonderful to get back home to Michigan for a few days. While I love my life in Indiana, there is still some invisible thread that keeps me connected to the Great Lakes State. (sigh!)
My sister and I knew that my Grandma had suffered a 5th stroke earlier this year, and since then my Grandma hasn’t rebounded like she has in the past, and so, we decided it was time for a visit.
My Grandma lives with my Mom and Dad now, and so she is well cared for and loved. She has definitely slowed down since we last saw her in January. She doesn’t say much and doesn’t get from room to room very well, but there is still evidence that her personality is still there On more than a couple of occasions, I caught her laughing with us or chuckling at some play argument my sister and I were having. She seemed to be following our conversations, and it was great to see that she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.
It was a special low-key visit where we didn’t get out of the house much or visit with friends or go shopping like we usually do on a return visit home, but it was still highly enjoyable! I’m glad that we made the trip.
I had a fabulous weekend with my gal pals, Stephanie and Kristen in Louisville, KY. [Yes, I’m still pretty sure that I’m saying it wrong…Oh well! I did make an effort!] Steph has a charming hardwood floor apartment in a cute older neighborhood. Her precious cat Olivia was fun to play with.
On Friday night, we went to the Southeast Christian Church of Louisville for the 1st performance of their 2006 Easter Pageant. This church runs around 18,000 every Sunday, and so you can just imagine the size of their sanctuary. BJU’s FMA doesn’t have anything on them...this place was massive for a church! And let me just say that I will NEVER again complain about the traffic congestion at my church. I thought things were crazy at my church of 2,500...I don’t think that any more. The Pageant was indescribable and so incredible. I am so glad that we got tickets!
On Saturday, we explored one of the quaint areas of Louisville--Frankfort Avenue. We visited several upscale consignment shops and had our first taste of Genny’s Frickle Pickle Chips—deep fried dill pickle slices. Yes, I did say FRIED DILL PICKLES! They were pretty tasty, I must say. The 3 of us also shared the Sweet Daddy Burger Platter—a 3-patty wonder with tasty cheese and fries on the side. We were stuffed.
We also visited both parks on either side of the Ohio River—the one on the Louisville side and the Falls of the Ohio River State Park in Indiana. It was highly enjoyable. One old structure near the railroad tressel bridge in the Indiana side was highly fascinating to me. I took lots of pictures. Big surprise to all, I’m sure! Kristen and Steph like to pose in their best Kung Fu Fighting stances when we go places, and so we had to capture that special moment, too.
Steph made her famous fried chicken, wonderful green beans and delicious hashbrown casserole for dinner that evening. The 2 Yankees found it rather awesome to watch a true Southern cook in action. She’s just amazing! That hashbrown casserole is even better than one of my favorite dishes at Cracker Barrel. YUM!!
On Sunday, we just relaxed and took it easy for a couple of hours before heading back to Indianapolis. All in all, it was truly a spectacular weekend and a great get-away!
For more pictures, visit my Charleston Belles site.
WOOHOO!!! I’m so excited about my fun weekend plans. Kristen and I haven’t taken a roadtrip together in a while, and so it should be great. Plus it’s not as insane as our 12-hour drive straight through to Charleston in 2003…this is only a short little jaunt down to Louisville, KY. So less time spent in the car and more time visiting our friend Stephanie and seeing the sights. Now that’s what I call living!
I’ve been practicing my pronunciation of Louisville all week. See, I had been chastised by some Southerners in my office for saying “Louie-ville” or “Lewisville,” and both, according to the experts are dead wrong. I guess it is correctly pronounced as “Louilllville” or maybe “Luellville,” but it all just makes me laugh!
A friend was telling me just this week that some people from Europe feel that Kentucky English is extra bizarre, and so now, I’m really going to pay attention and listen to conversations. One gentleman from Germany told my friend that Kentucky English is completely foreign to him. He can’t decipher it at all. Now, I know I’ve run into some major U.S. accents in the past, but I can usually figure things out. However, I guess to those not born on U.S. soil, those diverse accents from different regions sound like distinct and separate languages and dialects for them to detect. Very curious!
So now I’m off on another roadtrip adventure…YIPPEE! I guess this is another one of those “good-to-be-a-singleton” moments. No significant other to run plans by, no child care to arrange, etc. Hey, it’s moments like these that I need to stop and savor!
But my sister has her doubts. See, I tend to smell an odd furnace smell when I am coming down with a cold or the flu, and last week when I was first starting this killer of a cold I now have, I was smelling a burning furnace smell everywhere I would go. In my car, in my apartment, in my office, etc.—that smell was following me. It wasn’t on my clothes, in my hair, etc. It was just in the air.
I just had to mention it to my sister. I mean it sounded like it could be a breakthrough discovery. I'd noted it before, and sure enough, I was starting to smell that infamous smell again, and I just knew that I needed to share my theory with her. Well, she made fun of me and suggested I not share it with others. But it just fascinates me. It’s like a tell-tale sign for me that I am getting sick, and I think it interesting that THAT is how my body tells me I am soon to be ill.
I guess in hindsight, it does seem rather odd. I mean what the heck is it all about? Why is it a burning smell? Why is it that other people don’t have similar odd smells they smell when they are getting ill? Hmmmm...it’s worth pondering!
Never a dull moment around here...that’s for sure, but I still don't think it makes me crazy.
I loved the peace and quiet of my weekend. For me, watching British period dramas is like visiting with old friends and getting reacquainted. I'm never alone when I'm there. I realize I should still allow time to meet and mingle with adults in my own zip code let alone those live in my own time period and outside of my TV, but when you are feeling lousy and down with a trifling cold which refuses to dissipate, time with a BBC DVD is just what the doctor ordered! It was delicious…
I laughed. I cried. I coughed. Can life get any better? It was beautiful.
They just don’t make male heroes like that any more. Maybe they never did…hence why I love FICTION novels. But it sure is nice to dream once in a while and to pretend that romance isn't dead!
Well, the office hottie still calls weekly, and we’ll chat for a bit. I've tried to keep the smile from coming through my voice on the phone. He has no idea that I know what he looks like, and that I'm inwardly SIGHING every time I hear his voice on the phone. (GEESH! I’m starting to sound like a sappy teen movie!)
Three weeks ago, he called, and instantly he piped in about how he hadn’t got to meet me when he was in town a few weeks back. So I described where my desk was and told him that next time, he did need to stop in for a visit, etc. It was just funny the way I said it all because I was kind of blabbering, and so I made some underhand comment--basically I was talking to myself under my breath (like "nice going, Mel!" or something like it), and he said, "what was that?" And I just ignored him and went on with something else, and he said, "No, really. What did you say?" And I just laughed. And then when I got off the phone, I just burst out laughing, and everyone around me was rather curious here in our legal office as to the cause of such hilarity. But I just couldn't tell them. I made some comment about how it's kind of a long story, but I could actually feel my cheeks flushing.
He called the next day and started joking with me right off the bat..."Hi, Melanie. Guess who? It's K--'s stalker." (K = meaning the attorney he never seems to catch in the office, which is why he only talks to me.) We laughed, and I put him into voicemail again.
He calls weekly at least, and we just cheerfully chat. [Well, mostly cheerfully chat…he called last week, and I was in the midst of my horrid cold that I am still suffering from, and I was struggling to be all that cheerful. Loopy might be more the word. I told him the cough medicine was doing most of the talking, and he laughed!]
It’s not a big deal really! He just makes me laugh! He seems to have a really good personality to go along with the whole hotness aspect. (sigh!) Of course, we still don't know his marital status. He's probably married with the perfect 2.5 kids. Or happily dating the latest Harvard supermodel! Oh well. It's fun to chat anyway! If only he weren't just so gosh darn nice, I could stand to dislike him. I'm sure he has a flaw. I just haven't found it yet...I’ll keep looking!
I’ve been sick for most of this week, but today I’m starting to feel better. How do I know I’m on the mend? I’ve been daydreaming again. It’s a sure sign.
I finally got 3 of the 4 BBC production drama DVDs that I ordered for my birthday. [It was my birthday gift to myself from Howard. Hey, he’s not here to get them for me, and so why should he care how I spend my money!!] I finally thought about checking my mail last night around 10 PM before I went to bed last night, and of course, there on the welcome mat in front of my apartment door was a delightful brown package waiting for me. Who knows how long it had been there—I’ve been trapped indoors for 2 days!
So I quickly snatched the package up, and my face lit up with delight as I saw the Amazon.com label. I mean, can life really get any better than this? I’m so excited about seeing these movies. Yes, it’s a bit risky. I’ve only seen 1 of them before purchasing them, and so I could have some real duds on my hands, but I’m optimistic that I will enjoy them. After all, I love period dramas and really anything British. [Read: if you are a single unattached British male, please call.]
I can’t wait for my Saturday to begin so that I can pounce on them and jump into another world and escape the realities of 21st century mayhem for just a few hours. [In one case, it will be 6 hours….yes, it’s true—one of the movies is nearly 360 minutes long. Marvelous, isn’t it?!] OK, so my therapist may feel that I need immediate attention or some serious electroshock therapy because I get giddy at the thought of watching yet another British period drama, but it is part of my happy place. It’s not the source of my joy, but it’s my chocolate, my ice cream, my cream-filled donut with chocolate sprinkles on top, etc.
As an added delight, this evening, I am going to see King Lear at the Indiana Repertory Theatre downtown. What better way to start my British weekend than time spent in good company over Shakespeare! [sigh!]
O! let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven;
Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!
[King Lear 1, 5]
How sweet it is... Happy weekending everyone!
The rest of February seemed to be all about celebrating my 32nd birthday. [Yes, I know…that means I just doubled my niece’s age. Please let’s not go there. My therapist feels it best if we just not discuss it. HA! But then I am also half my Mom’s age as well since she turned 64 in February, too! WOOHOO!] We ate at Cazuela’s on the day of my 32nd. Cazuela’s is this great cheap Mexican restaurant that me and my cohorts at work frequent on Thursdays for chimichanga day! We love it. And the next day, 2 of my attorneys took me to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. (sigh!)
The following evening, 4 girlfriends and I celebrated at the Scholar’s Inn, where I had my first full martini, the flirtini. I usually just sample other peoples because I’m not all that into the taste of alcohol frankly. I was told this was a very sweet drink, but after years of drinking Mountain Dew, I didn’t consider it sweet at all just as I don’t think most wines or other alcoholic drinks are sweet. I wasn’t very impressed with it. But it’s all the adventure of trying something new, I guess. Jessica tried a white chocolate truffle martini, and we all had a sip. Now that was good and sweet!
Yes, all in all, February was a wonderful month for me, and the months ahead seem to be filling up with exciting and thrilling adventures as well. There are some periods where it just feels good to be alive, and I wish I could bottle this current mood/feeling and relive/savor it on those rainy blue days, too. Yes, it’s all good.
February was such a wealth of fun for me! My sister Barbara and our friend Lisa (who now lives in Cincinnati but has known us since birth) came for a girls’ weekend. Baby Grace came along, and we had such fun and laughs together. We also made my first trip of the month to the Cheesecake Factory. Hmmmm…somehow I never tire of it!
The next weekend, I had my 2nd girls only hangout of the month as my Mom (came in from Michigan), my sister (from Kokomo), my sister-in-law Tara and my oldest niece Janet (from Peru) came down to Indianapolis. We stayed in a suite on the North side of town and spent the next day shopping, eating and laughing together. We got together at Janet’s request to help celebrate her 16th birthday. Hard to believe that my little Janet Renee is now 16 and ready to drive! YIKES!! Will life ever be the same?
The quotes of the weekend came from Janet and my Mom.
[Janet] “What kind of ice is it?” She asked of her aunts who had offered her some ice when we got back to our hotel room. I mean, what do you say to a question like that? Isn't ice ICE??
[Mom] “So, we’re trying to trick Janet, right?” Ommmm…I honestly can’t remember what this was in regards to or why it had us in stitches, but it did. AHEM!
Janet has blossomed into a lovely young woman full of potential, able to laugh at herself and with this brilliant personality. She’s truly a treasure! Her sense of humor is incredible, and she is just as warped as her aunt! She and her crazy aunts (that’s Barbara and yours truly) came up with some crazy drink names for our club that we talked about opening, The Dirty Durango. It’s a long story, but we started compiling car names along with adjectives as part of our future drink selections at this new venue. Here are the highlights: the Messy Maserati, Neon Fire, Minty Mitsubishi, Murky Mercedes, Posh Porsche, Daewoo Desire, Taurus Twist, Fiery Ferrari, Tasty Talon, Jeep Gigolo, Astro Blast, Civic Couture, Malibu Mixer, Viscious Volvo, Electric Element, Luscious Lumina, Malicious Mustang and the Naughty Nissan. OK, so that’s more than the highlights…I guess that is the complete list, but it was a rather hilarious giggle fest in the back seat of Tara’s SUV.
