Troy & Rachel's Place

Turkey Fun!

2010-11-28T11:32:00.003-05:00

We had a nice surprise this holiday season. I though I was going to get stuck working Thanksgiving, but at 5:20 am I got a call from work. I got canceled! So I got to enjoy the holiday! We went first to Terre Haute to enjoy the cookin' of the Golden Coral with Troy's Grandparents, his dad, and his sis and kids. Gotta tell ya. Not going to do that again. The food wasn't bad, but the atmosphere was saturated with John Deer hats and overalls. Plus, the line out the door meant we had to stand in the rain before we could enjoy ourselves. But afterward, we went to the Grandparents and enjoyed the company. Drew got to play with his cousins, while mommy and daddy browsed the ads for Black Friday. Not that we would even venture out of the house on Friday, but it was fun to see what the deals were.

Then we headed off to Troy's aunt's house for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I have never seen Drew eat as much as he did that day. He ate a full plate at the GC, and then ate a full plate at Candy's. THEN, he decided to have a seat in Troy's cousin's wife's lap and eat out of her plate. You'd think we never feed this kid! A good time was had by all.

The following Saturday, we went to my parent's to have more Thanksgiving. It was fun. This was originally planned because I had to work Thanksgiving, but I was still very thankful and glad everyone could be there. Plus, more food for Drew to chow down on! It was also fun to watch Drew get a little jealous every time Papaw would pick up Grace. I have a feeling that's a sign of what to expect when baby #2 arrives in May.

Enjoy some Thanksgiving pics!Just like his Daddy.

*note - yes my kid has no pants on. I had to wash them because he spit up on them and I didn't want to already use the spare clothes I had brought. Aren't kids great?

Birthday Fun!

2010-08-27T21:11:00.004-04:00

My little boy turned one year old yesterday. I know it's cliche, but this year went really really fast. One year ago I was sitting in my hospital room talking to my hubby on the phone while he was at another hospital with our baby. It feels like just yesterday. The frustration and scary uncertainty are not easy to forget. But through it all, we brought home the most wonderful little boy. Today, he waddles around the room playing with his toys and laughing. He throws his food on the floor when he's done eating. He pulls on my shirt to get me to carry him. What happened to my little baby who weighed only 4lbs 11 oz at birth? He's a toddler! So enough of my sentimentalness. Time for pictures!

Enjoying the Summer sun!

2010-07-17T11:41:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm just not good at updating anything. The last entry into my journal was before Drew was even born. Anyway...

Drew has been busy this summer visiting relatives and trying to keep cool. My little boy may end up being a swimmer. He loves the pool at Papaw Mike's. We got him a little floaty that mommy can float in too. But he has no trouble going under the water or splashing mommy! I have a feeling our next house will have to either have a pool or have one close by.

The fourth of July was great! We had lots of food. Drew tried mac n' cheese, hamburger, potato salad... the boy had quite an appetite! We went swimming, and then we went to the carnival. Mommy won Drew a fish (which died 3 days later). Then we got to see the fireworks! He did a great job, but I think it was mostly because he was so tired by 10pm that he fell asleep. At least he didn't cry!

My little boy will be 1 in a little over a month. I can't believe it. I'll definitely have to post his first birthday party a little faster. See you then!

How does your baby crawl?

2010-05-03T18:06:00.005-04:00

My baby likes to do the army crawl. His belly never leaves the floor. Although, once in a while, you'll see him lift his tummy off the ground using his feet. Drew has hit 8 months old and is just a little boy! He loves to laugh and play. Today, we were riding in the van and I had loaded my iPod with kid music. One of the albums on the iPod was a record (yes, vinyl) that I LOVED growing up and it was on iTunes! So I had to buy it. It's called "Goin Quackers" by who else? Disney. Cracked me up as a kid... and the sad thing is, it cracks me up now too. And who else thought it was funny? Drew, that's who. He was laughing the whole trip. Totally made my day.

So for once, I have news other than Drew. Troy is going back to school for his masters in some database management thingy-ma-bob (sorry, honey!) He's nervous, but I'm sure he'll do well. He's getting the lone math class out of the way first. The cool thing is, this whole degree is done online through Boston University. No where in Indiana could Troy find any such program. So now Troy will be a Terrier. hehehe Plus his school colors are now red and white.

And for me, I have changed up my work schedule a bit. One of my weeks I will now be working Tues, Wed, and Thurs all in a row. I hope I survive this. Tomorrow is the first day of the first week of the change. I may drink a whole bottle of wine at the end of it. I think I may worry more for mom since she's taking care of Drew. He has become a handful! He never sits still. Always on the move. And babbling. Both Troy and I heard "mamamamama" this week. Pretty sure he wasn't talking about me, but only Drew knows.

The next time I post, Drew will most likely be walking and talking. Enjoy this!

HELP!

Never to early to start on video games. *argh*

Gitty up!

My oh my! Where does the time go?

2010-03-26T18:24:00.002-04:00

My little boy turned 7 months old today. 7 months! I'm in a state of shock. He's still small by comparison (5th on the percentile chart for everything), but yet he is as active as a full term kiddo. He's learning so many new things. He just jabbers away. He plays with his toys. He sits up all by himself. We haven't quite got crawling down yet, but I give him another couple of weeks and I'll have to get some gates. And I am loving every minute of it. We got our 6 month pictures just the other day... yeah, I'm that slow at this process. Once I figure out the video thing, I'll have to post that as well. I know this post is short, but I have a child yelling for me from the other room! :)

Holidays and Happenings

2010-01-07T13:54:00.004-05:00

We have had a fun and busy few months! Drew is now 4 months old. He's 11lbs, 6 ounces and 22 1/2 inches long. He's a small guy, but he is mighty. I say that because in the last 24 hours, he's learned to roll over from back to front. Only he gets stuck that way and can't figure out how to roll back over. He also got some more shots today. The nurse was surprised at how piercing a scream he has. We've contemplated getting rid of our monitor recently due to that. Drew is also playing! He shakes his rattles and grabs his toys. And he laughs and smiles. It's so much fun! And it's good to, because Drew made out like a bandit on Christmas! Lots of fun toys. New Year's he spent just with daddy. Mommy had to work. Not that Drew stayed up to see it. :) Daddy was the only one who got to see the ball drop. But this is going to be the most exciting year ever for us. Our first new year as a family. I sound so sappy, but it's just so aawesome.

Today he got to see his first big snowfall. Troy wants to take him outside and get a pick. Only if he's bundle up!

Great Grandma Hawkins holding Drew for the first time.

Our first family picture together. It's power to the people!

Ain't he cute?

Grandkid central at Mamaw and Papaw's!

Look at all the toys!

Halloween Festivities

2009-11-02T19:46:00.005-05:00

This weekend Drew celebrated his first holiday. Halloween. This is a big holiday in my house, because I am a Halloween junkie. The house has been decorated all month... yes I found time to do this while taking care of a newborn. Both the outside and the inside are very festive. I think I like this holiday so much because I love being scared. I have a vast scary movie collection. So all last week, I watched scary movies on tv and dressed my child up in various Halloween garb. He's been a skeleton, a pumpkin, and also wore an "I love my mummy" onesie last week. So on Halloween, we traveled to Brazil, IN to celebrate with my in-laws. It was also Troy's cousin Kaylee's birthday. There was cake and hot dogs cooked on the open flame. Most of us were dressed up. Troy came as a Colt's fan... how original. We had a great time. Then it was home to hand out candy and scare our own trick-or-treaters... had we had any. We had, maybe, 15 kids. We now have a huge bag of candy left, which I don't need to be eating. I believe I will be making goodie bags for my niece and nephew who could not trick-or-treat due to having the flu. They are better now. Here are a few pictures of our fun Halloween time!

Oh! The exhaustion!

2009-10-20T10:53:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the long delay. Many of you probably realize how busy... or exhausted I've been. Well, Drew is now 8 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe, huh? And he even weighs what a newborn would weigh now! He's 7 lbs, 7 ounces. He's still pretty skinny, but boy is he long! I praying this is a sign that he will be taller than mommy. :) He's an amazing little guy. I'm sure every mother feels that way about her child. In premie world, Drew is only 1 month old, and he's already doing things in the books that a 2 month old is doing. He flipped from tummy to back on October 11. Unfortunately, daddy and mommy were a little slow with the video camera and never caught it on tape. I'm still trying! But what made me the most excited happened last Sunday. He smiled at me. An official smile looking right at mommy. He had done the little smiles when he was sleeping (the "gas" smiles), but this was the real thing. My heart melted. The love of a mother for a child really sunk in at that moment. It also made me realize how God must really feel about all of us. It made me want to cry. So I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of how cute Drew is. Enjoy!

Oh! I forgot to mention our first outing! We went to the covered bridge festival in Bridgeton, IN. Drew rode in a baby carrier on me the whole time. I think he woke up only once to eat. He was a trooper. We had a good time, and we didn't spend too much money on him. :) Once I get the pics off the camera, I'll post a few. Later!

Oh my goodness, what a week!

2009-09-04T18:44:00.009-04:00

Troy and I would like to welcome our first child into the world, Drew Michael Stiffler.

Now I'm sure some of you are going, "Wasn't he due at the end of September?" Yes, he was. We had a little detour to our plans. So the story goes...

August 25, 2009: I went for my routine ultrasound and non-stress test for my gestational diabetes. So I had my ultrasound first and the tech said nothing about anything being wrong. In fact, she said he did everything he was suppose to do. Okay. Next test. This test went great as well. In fact, I didn't even have a contraction like I had the previous time. So far, so good! I called Troy to let him know things were going well and I was waiting to see the doctor for my checkup. I was sitting on the table, the doctor walked in and said, "He hasn't grown in 2 weeks. In fact, he's lost some weight. We need to take him out today." HUH?! Yeah. I freaked. And due to Drew still being breech, she said I needed to have a c-section. Normally with GD, you worry about having BIG babies. Not me. I have the opposite problem. I immediately called Troy crying on the phone. He ditched work and headed straight to the office where we talked to the doctor and figured out what we needed to do. So we spent the rest of the day preparing to become parents a month early... Drew was only 35 weeks.

Here's where things got even goofier. I work for St. Francis Hospital and had been planning on delivering there the whole time. Come to find out, there was no room for me to fit in their schedule. I wasn't an "emergency", but the doctor wanted to take him out quickly. We ended up having to have him at a nearby hospital instead. So August 26, 2009, I had a c-section. Drew was born at 10:51am. The c-section went fine. Loved the epidural. Also, kind of liked not having to actually feel labor. But then more fun ensues. Drew was 4lbs, 11ounces and was what we commonly refer to in the neonatal world as a "wimpy, white boy." What that means is he came out not breathing well. They worked on him for most of the day, but mommy was insistant about having him sent to St. Francis' NICU. Even the nurse helping Drew wanted to get him out of there. They were not equiped to take care of Drew's needs. (I was told the nurse was yelling at people over the phone.) So I spent all of Thursday at Community South, while my baby was at St. Francis. It was very difficult. My family was great. Troy was wonderful. I don't know how he managed to handle bouncing between me and Drew. Luckily, I got released on Friday morning and went straight to St. Francis. My poor boy was placed on a ventilator for about 24 hours, then placed on vapotherm (a kind of nasal cannula with humidity). Drew amazed everyone in the NICU, even the doctor. Most premies spend at least 2 weeks in the NICU, but Drew only needed one. We came home on Wed. evening. We've been doing great since. He needs fed every 3-4 hours, but he sleeps like a trooper between. Probably all the growing he still needs to do. I'm very thankful to God and all the wonderful people who have prayed for us. Here are some pics of my little pumpkin... who weighs a whole lot less than a pumpkin!

Pre-surgery

at Community South

at St. Francis on a ventilator

On our way home from St. Francis!

So much going on!

2009-08-16T14:45:00.006-04:00

Drew's room is finally done. It looks AWESOME! Better than I had ever imagined. I hope he likes it. I'm sure in a few years I'll be changing it to something like transformers or Cars, but at least I can enjoy my hard work for a little while. :)

On other news, Grace has arrived home to America. She officially became a US citizen on August 14, 2009. We are SOOOOO happy to have her here. She is as beautiful as her pictures from China. I was amazed at how well she took our family in. I figured she'd be shy and want to stay in her parent's arms, but she let us all hold her. Grant just plugged kisses away on Grace. So far so good. :) I haven't heard anything else from the happy, growing family since they got home. I'm looking forward to some interesting blogs from brother here shortly. Enjoy the photos!

So what is nutritious?

2009-08-08T20:12:00.005-04:00

If anyone keeps up on my facebook account, about 3 weeks ago I was complaining of having to take the glucola challenge again. For those who don't know, it's a test for gestation diabetes. Well, I am one of the few who did develope gestational diabetes late in my pregnancy. The good news is that I'm very mild, so all I have to do is watch my diet and keep an eye on my blood sugar. Well, this is all fine and dandy. I've been doing great. But what I've found very entertaining is trying to go out to eat. Usually, if I have a little warning ahead of time of where I'm going, I can pull up any number of webpages to look up the nutrition guides to check out the carbs. But once in a while, I get stuck in a situation that I have no idea. So what do I do? I ask the clerk behind the counter if they have a nutrition guide. I had a VERY interesting encounter with the girl behind the Culver's counter. They had numerous different brochures for their food, but none of them told me anything about the nutritional content. Now, I may be wrong, and I can't find anywhere that says it's a law, but I thought restaurants were required to provide that information. So I asked the girl if they had a nutrition guide. She looked at me blankly, and said, "I don't know. Let me ask." So she goes to ask someone whom I assumed would be the manager, and he says, "I don't know." She then comes back to tell me... wait for it... "Well, Culver's isn't really nutritious." And she was dead serious. I had to bite my lips to keep from breaking out in laughter as I returned to tell Troy the whole incident. Troy thinks I should email Culver's and tell them what their employees say about the food. Makes you wonder a bit, doesn't it?

Welcome to our family!

2009-08-04T19:06:00.005-04:00

No, I have not had Drew yet. But I want to congratulate my brother and his wife on their recent adoption of Grace Min Wei from China. It's been a long 4 years for my brother and his family, but she is the most beautiful, little girl I have ever seen. I'm sure Grant will love her, and I can't wait for Drew to meet her too!

4D Ultrasound

2009-06-23T15:32:00.005-04:00

Last Saturday, Troy and I took the grandmas to see their unborn grandson. For $200, it was worth every penny. It was AMAZING. Drew did wonderfully. He showed off better than we expected. Even the tech was pleasantly surprised. She said that at 26 weeks and still breech, usually you don't get very many pictures, but we got 42! Plus a 25 minute DVD of the whole thing. I tried to edit the movie a bit so I could post it on here, but I haven't yet mastered those skills. I'll have to call Erin. But here are a few of the pics we got. Drew is going to be the cutest baby on the planet!

And to add some more excitement to our family, my brother and sister-in-law FINALLY got the news about their little girl from China. Welcome Grace Min Wei Hawkins to our family. They should get to go get her sometime at the beginning of August. Yea!!! I am SO happy for you two! What a great big family God has blessed us with.

Odd things people say.

2009-06-19T15:45:00.003-04:00

In the past week, Troy and I have heard some things said that we're not sure why people say them. Aside from the fat/twins jokes I've been getting this week. For example, Troy at his work has to make forms for the callers to fill out when they call people. One form is for children and the other is for adults. On the adult form, there is a spot to mark that the person needs an alcohol referral. One of his coworkers actually asked why they don't have this on the children's form? I suppose there are some early drinkers out there, but seriously? Although, I have had patients tell me they started smoking when they were 4. And my other example was even at church. The worship leader, who I'm sure is a nice guys... he's just not Adam, was praying and actually said, "Bless God." Huh? I thought God did all the blessing. I was glad it wasn't just me when we left that thought that was odd. I mentioned it to Troy that afternoon and he was so glad it wasn't just him that thought that. What a week.

New baby pictures!

2009-05-26T15:52:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delay. We've known for a while, but I haven't gotten around to blogging it yet. We are officially proud to introduce our little boy, Drew Michael. Yes, it is a boy! It is so amazing what they can show you with an ultrasound. Although, we also decided to go ahead and do a 4D ultrasound at Castleton Ultrasound. I know what 3D means, but 4D? I'm still pondering this. All I can figure is that the extra dimension must mean time since you can watch the baby moving. For mother's day, we invited the 2 grandmas to go with us. I'm sure there will be tears aplenty!

So how am I doing? I'm doing great! We are 22 weeks along. I can feel the little guy moving a lot now. He is particularly good at bouncing on my bladder. The ultrasound tech said he was sitting right on it. I am really starting to show too. It's all maternity clothes for me! Now, I've never been a small girl, but it is starting to freak me out a bit that I can't see my feet. So that means NO JOKES my dear husband... and also you too Bret. :-P Because I WILL cry.

It's almost summer!

2009-04-21T18:14:00.004-04:00

So last weekend, Troy and I headed to Brazil, IN to see our nephew, Brian, play T-ball. How exciting! And a very cool way to test our new camcorder, so here's a little video attempt by me to see if I can put video on our blog.

Sorry! I haven't figured out the editing on this. It may be a bit long.

On another note, I had my second doctor visit today. Everything is going perfect, she said. Baby's heart is still beating strong and I'm growing just the right amount. She did say that I am measuring out a bit more, but that's because I'm so little and the baby has no where else to grow. Did you hear that? She called me little! We scheduled our ultrasound for May 5. I can't wait!

Counting Down the Weeks

2009-04-14T18:51:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. For those of you who were interested, I did not do as well this year in our NCAA pool. In fact, I was next to last. Troy was quite proud of that moment. It let him gloat that he does know more about basketball than I do.

As for what else is going on, we spent last Sunday in Brazil, IN seeing Troy's family. I ate way too much food. I had to sleep that night with my head propped up b/c I could still feel the food moving down my throat. OR, it was indigestion that has added to the joy of being pregnant.

I am currently in my 16th week. According to babycenter.com, our baby is the size of an avocado. I thought that was a weird choice of fruit to describe our child.

Anyway, I feel great. Although my belly has grown beyond my normal jeans. I had to break out the maternity wear this weekend. although, it was kind of a bonus since I ate so much, even at my normal size my jeans would've been tight. My biggest issue right now, is that people are starting to notice I'm pregnant. But that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when total strangers who I've been apparently working with for years, comes up and tries to rub my belly telling me, "Ooooooo! You're pregnant!" KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BELLY! I am okay with Troy touching it. I'm okay with most family members. But a random person at work touching my belly better be prepared to lose the hand. One I find out the sex of this kid, I'm ordering a t-shirt from cafe press. So stayed tuned to some growing belly pictures!

Sign up for our NCAA Pool

2009-03-18T20:01:00.002-04:00

Only a few more hours to sign up for our NCAA pool. It's on ESPN this year (again). Go to the following link:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group?groupID=43434

Group: Indy Brackets
Password: purdue

Creating space

2009-02-27T15:58:00.002-05:00

You are all probably wondering how I'm doing. As of yesterday, I am 10 weeks along. Almost through my first trimester! Woo hoo! I am feeling great! Still tired, but not like I was. The only thing I'm feeling is my body creating space for the new baby.

Speaking of creating space... I began the task of cleaning out the closet in the baby's room. Quite a task. I've added some pictures... sort of half way through the process. There's stuff everywhere! But thanks to this task, I've cleaned out most of the closets in the house! Gotta find room for all this stuff. I am extremely glad we have a shed.

I also have to post the pic of the baby bag. Troy has told everyone about the bag. We were wondering around Babies R Us, just looking really. And of course, I find the clearance aisle. And behold, I find THE bag for me. I'm sure later down the road, I'll curse this purchase, but it's going to be so cool to carry at the beginning!

Morning sickness is NOT morning sickness....

2009-02-19T17:10:00.002-05:00

because it lasts all day!!!!!!!

Good news! We're pregnant! Troy and I will be expecting a little bun in the oven in September. September is a GREAT month for babies! I should know, I'm born in it... and my brother, and my father, and my grandfather... and the list actually does go on in my family. So that puts me at about 9 weeks. We actually have known for a while, but we were keeping quiet to not jinx the whole thing. We have now had 2 ultrasounds, and we've even heard the heartbeat, so I'm feeling a bit more confident. In fact, I'll even post pictures! I know you all want to see the inside of my uterus! (I can hear Bret groaning even before he reads this.) Most people are asking me how am I feeling. As the title bares, I'm a little nauseous most of the day. The last 2 days I have actually gotten sick. But I think the worst part are the growing pains and bloating. I will not elaborate. I have no preference for whether it will be a boy or girl. Although, the little kiddo was moving around during the ultrasound, makes me think boy.

Prayers are greatly appreciated at this time! Keep us in your thoughts!

Snow melting?

2009-02-08T17:09:00.005-05:00

...not in our yard. For some reason, our house is the only house in the subdivision that still has the front yard covered. This is not making it easy for Troy to remove the Christmas lights that are still hanging. I still have Christmas decorations that I have not been able to put away in the shed due to the foot of snow that has encompassed it. And for those of you that know me, it's driving me nuts. I am unable to have the perfectly clean house. There are things scattered about, and I'm about ready to add them to the trash. And most people enjoy snow. They get to play outside and watch children make snowmen... me no. I get a lousy cold. A cold that also knocks me out for my wonderful 3 day weekend. I get well enough to go back to work on the following Monday. Great. Now I get to catch something from all the sick people coming to the hospital. Sorry for the rant. I really hate snow. I'm also sorry for the lack of posts. There really hasn't been whole lot going on... that I can talk openly about. Now, my brother would post anything. His poor wife has to endure all the sarcasm and joking that my brother can come up with... AND post on the internet. I'm so thankful blogging wasn't around in high school.

We have been visiting some new churches here on the south side. Both Troy and I had been praying about if we should continue to commute to Common Ground every Sunday since our house church pretty much dissolved. So the first church we visited was a LARGE church that most of our house church had started going to anyway. Indian Creek is a nice church, but WAY too big for us. When you outgrow your sanctuary that was built to hold 3000 after adding additional services, you know you are just going to blend in. Well, Troy and I wanted something more quaint. Something that feels a bit more personal. Plus, the "baptismal cam" did me in. I always thought the whole point of baptism is to confess Christ before your fellow Christians and be baptized with lots of hoopin' and hollerin' afterwards. Not at The Creek. During the invitation, you see this video pop up of a guy in the corner getting dunked. Yeah, real personal. This led us to a small church called New Hope. TOTAL opposite. I think there were 15 people there besides us. We just didn't feel that that was for us. So for the past 2 Sundays (with a break inbetween for Troy to go to the Purdue Women's National Championship anniversary) we've been attending Grace Evangelical Church. Today we heard the actual pastor. Nice sermon, but halfway through, both of us couldn't keep our eyes opened. As we were walking out, I broke out into tears declaring, "I miss Common Ground!" So I think, after some prayerful considerations, we will be back to CG next Sunday. I don't know what we are going to do about a house church since there aren't any on the south side, but I don't think God will hold that against us.

Have a good week everyone!

What did we get ourselves into?

2009-01-04T20:22:00.006-05:00

This weekend, Troy and I did something I NEVER thought I'd be a part of. We went to a Monster Truck Jam. We went with the Andy, Amanda, Brian, and Cindy. We thought it would be a fun roadtrip to Columbus, OH. Mostly, though, to get to see Brian have fun. All I really knew of Monster Jam was that it was going to be LOUD. And they weren't joking. I'm glad we brought earplugs. This was worse than any of the concerts Bret and I had ever been to. It was also very dirty. The whole floor was dirt. The first ten rows of the arena were blocked off and covered with yellow plastic. We were in row M. Think about it... the first 10 rows... M is letter 12. We were THAT close. It was also an asthmatics worst nightmare. Exhaust fumes, dust, smoke... it was an RT's assurance that I would continue to have a job. Anyway, it wasn't a bad experience. I probably wouldn't drive to Columbus again to see it. But it was a lot of fun watching Brian. He had a blast. He got a Monster Mutt t-shirt and a Monster Jam blanket. He got to see Monster Mutt in person. We took lots of pictures for your perusing enjoyment.

A little side note. Please pray for my nephew, Grant. He's having a some tummy troubles right now and spent most of the weekend at Riley Hospital. He's home now, but they aren't entirely sure of what's going on. We love you little guy!!!

e

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-27T14:03:00.005-05:00

Greetings friends and family! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I know we did. We started the week off with having our own Christmas gathering at home with our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and our adorable nephews. Fun was had by all. My HUGE turkey came out terrific. In fact, we're still eating on it. The only thing about Christmas that does me in is the numerous amount of cookies we have. Mostly from Troy's mom, Cindy. I've even taken some to work and we still have some left!

Christmas eve was split into a couple of Christmas's. First, we went to my parent's to have breakfast.... ahhh, Krispy Kreme.... and to open gifts. Actually, most of the enjoyment came from watching Grant open his presents. It is so much fun to see him react. My mom cleaned out Christopher & Banks for me. Thanks mom! And Bret and Erin made sure I got Pushing Daisies so I won't be without it when it goes off the air next season. Troy is really enjoying his new rocker from my parents. Although, now I have to stare over it to the tv from my recliner. I hope everyone enjoyed the gifts we gave as much as the ones we got!

After Christmas with my folks, we headed to Bedford. No Christmas lasagna this year. In fact, the food fair was mostly snacks. Not quite as many mouths to feed without the Weavers. It was good to see mamaw and the rest of the crew. I was thrilled that the family decided to open gifts early so I could see them b/c we had to head back to Indy by 5pm. The hospital never closes... in other words, I had to work Christmas Day and the day after. We were extremely short staffed, but we always manage to do it. Christmas Day, many of us brought in food and the hospital provided lunch for the workers. It was very nice... even though we had to eat quickly.

I'm thankful it is the weekend now. Poor Troy has caught a cold. I'm trying to avoid it. But the weather is nice and warm and rainy. I'll think I'll stay in and enjoy my gifts. Thanks to all! Have a happy new year!

Here's the pictures!

2008-12-09T17:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the long delay. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. Thanksgiving came and went. I had to work that day, of course. Sick people can't be left to fend for themselves in the hospital! But we did celebrate it with my family the previous Sunday. It was a great feast! I especially enjoy getting to see my nephew and hear the new things he says.

The weekend following Thanksgiving, we went to Louisville for my cousin Nicole's wedding. I was so happy for her! It was also the first time I got to meet Paul. Not bad, Nicole! Here are a few pics!

Since then, I haven't been doing anything other than work. Troy has a cold I'm trying to avoid. But I did purchase the Christmas turkey for our shindig coming up. I made the lady at the register laugh because I could barely lift it! So everyone coming to our place... be prepared for turkey!

Here is the link to snapfish to see the rest of our Washington, DC pics!

Day 7 and the trip home

2008-11-01T20:58:00.004-04:00

We had another fun-filled and busy day the final full day of DC. We made it to our country's Capitol! And what a beautiful place it is! We got to do the first floor tour which is mostly about the rotundra. Amazing how large and grand it is! They then take you into the old meeting rooms. Once your done with the tour, they let you wander around the first floor on your own... but only since the Senate was already in session. The House was empty though, so we somehow got tix from a security guard to go sit up in the balcony and look down on where all our laws are made. It was kind of cool and see it.

Next we visited the Library of Congress. We were somewhat disappointed. There wasn't much to see other than the Gutenburg Bible... which don't get me wrong! It was nice, but that was it. Otherwise, unless you're doing research, the library isn't much to look at.

Next door, we visited the Supreme Court. Much more interesting. They don't have hearings on Fridays, so we got to go into a court and hear an explanation on how the supreme court works. Troy was more annoyed with the rather clueless lady who kept asking questions like, "If all judges are equal, why is the chief justice called the chief?" "How does he get elected?" And that was right after the tour guide had just explained it. The tour guide was getting rather annoyed with the lady. It was amusing.

And again, we managed to find another mall. This one was in the union station. It pretty much surprised us, because when you walk in, all you see is a bunch of asian keosks and some restuarants. It took some exploring to find the good stuff! I was a good girl and didn't buy more shoes...

which leads me to the fact that we had to buy another suitcase for all the crap we... er... I bought. Grant and Brian will be happy with us! Every time we went in somewhere, we found stuff for the boys! I had so much fun! We really need a kid. hehehe But we did manage to get everything and us home safely this evenings. The ride was less bumpy, but we were still in the very back... by our choosing. They were the only seats left together. Although, this trip, more people had to use the lavatory. And for some reason, nearly everyone left the doors open after they were done, which made it very noisy for us. Troy kept reaching over to close it. I, on the other had, was sound asleep most of the trip. We are glad to be back in our house and our bed. Troy is a little less happy since he has to go to work Monday. I took all next week off too. hehehe

Some more pics of the trip! But remember these are only a segment of our pics. I'll try to post a link to all of them once we get them organized.

Day 6 and my feet are killing me!

2008-10-30T21:20:00.004-04:00

We finally made it to the National Mall. I can't remember the last time I walked this much. First off we overslept, so we didn't leave the inn until 10am. Secondly, it was decent out but WINDY again. At least the sun was shining. We went to the Washington monument first. It was really interesting. I didn't realize it was actually commissioned while he was alive. You can see where they quit building and waited to start again. Money was an issue even then! We did get to ride to the top. Very high. Pretty view though. We had to get tix early to ride up, so while we waited to do that, we decided to venture to the White House. hehehe. The reason I'm laughing is because we had just walked to the front of the place after walking all the way around it and being shooed away from the "tour" entrance because Senator Lugar didn't bother to return Troy's emails, when we got shooed away by a police officer informing us that the White House grounds were being closed off. Wha?! Then we saw it, or... heard it. The helicopter overhead. Apparently somebody important was either coming in or going out. That kind of made up for it... not really. Been better to have seen some secret service men around.

Then we vistied the WWII memorial, and walked up the reflecting pool to Abraham Lincoln memorial. It was impressive. You always see pics of these places, but until you've been there, you don't really realize HOW big it is. And it's not just a statue, all the carvings of his words around it. The Gettysburg Address. Very inspiring.

So after our trip up the memorial, we headed to the Vietnam Memorial. Very touching. As was the Korean War Memorial. Inbetween the two, we stopped to grab a snack at a cafe. While we were sitting outside enjoying the warming sunshine, I suddenly felt something grap my leg. I looked down and shrieked because a squirrel had decided I smelled good and grabbed my leg!!! The only people around were this older couple and the man said,"You know those have rabies." Thanks. ,The squirrel continued to make interest of me until I convinced it I wasn't food, nor did I have any of interest. It then went over to bother the older couple.

We made our way around the Tidal Basin to FDR's memorial. I liked all the water falls, but by then I was so tired, and so was Troy that we really didn't pay too much attention to it. Our goal was to get to the Jefferson Memorial, which we did. I must say I like this one better than Abe's. Maybe because there weren't as many people there, but the statue just seemed more magnificent. Maybe it just looked better because my feet were sore. Anyway, I enjoyed it.

So we walked back to the metro to go find dinner somewhere. Wouldn't you know it? My loving husband found me a mall with a Macy's. And it was a really nice mall. We hung out for a couple of hours so I could oogle the name brand shoe stores. Now we're back in our room, and just plain exhausted. But Troy said I had to blog to remember everything we did today. I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am writing it. Tomorrow is our last full day here. To the Capitol we go!

Day 5 Washington DC

2008-10-29T21:00:00.005-04:00

Today we visited the Natural History museum. I forgot to mention that yesterday we found out the American History museum is closed until the fall of 2008. It is fall!!!!! But alas, it doesn't reopen until November. I was majorly bummed. Apparently it's been closed for the last 2 years for major renovations. Maybe we'll come back with kids some day to see it. Speaking of kids, it must've been "field trip day" for several of the schools around here. The museum had lots of noisy pre-teens running amuck. It was still quite enjoyable to see the place. Got lots of pics. Even a few with Troy! My favorite part was the Gem collection. The Hope diamond is BEAUTIFUL. I told Troy I was taking pics of the things I wanted for christmas. The lady next to us laughed and said, "Isn't every woman?" I was particularly taken aback at the pink diamonds. I tried to take a pic, but without using the flash due to the glass case, it came out a little fuzzy. We also did another IMAX movie called "Deep Sea: 3D." Narrated by Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp. It was awesome. Although, again, we had to share the theatre with way too many younguns who couldn't keep their traps shut. They got a little better after it started and their teacher told them to be quiet. We then headed to Dupont Circle for some dinner at Kramer Books and Afterthoughts Cafe. The food was great, the pie even better. Much to my chagrin, I think I've gained about 10 pounds on this trip... even with all the walking! Tomorrow, off to the memorials! We're hoping it won't be quite as cold and windy. We're starting to think that next years vacation may involve a beach and a lovely placed call Hawaii. Enjoy the pics!

Right as you walk in, you're greated by this fellow.

Many of you realize that I couldn't go without seeing the Egyptian stuff. If they hadn't been sold out, I would've bought a mummified cat pendant. It was soooooo pretty!

This is the pic of the pink diamond. It didn't come out quite like I wanted it to, but you get the picture.

T. Rex, 'nuff said.

Ain't we silly?

Day 3 and 4 Washington, DC

2008-10-28T20:43:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delay of posts. We had a busy day on Monday! Where to start? We got up bright and early (at 8am) and headed towards the Air and Space Museum. My goodness! It was amazing! I couldn't believe the number of planes and space craft scattered throughout. We spent almost the whole day there. We even stopped to see an IMAX show called "To Fly" which was really neat. Mostly it was just nice to get off our feet for a few minutes! Not to mention, even though weather.com said there would be no rain, it POURED. So we were glad to be indoors. We ran to the ESPN Zone that evening to watch the Colts get defeated. We got lucky to find a section that was watching football and not the World Series. The Zone was cool. They even had tvs in the bathroom stalls so you wouldn't miss any of the game. The also had an arcade where we saw dozens of teens in costumes running around... what are they doing on a school night at the Zone? Anyway, today was probably one of my favorite days.

Day 4 was a little more somber. We visited the Holocaust Museum this morning. We stayed for 4 hours. It was really impressive. I don't really know how to describe it that would justify it. By the time we got done, I was sobbing. They don't allow pictures, which I totally understand. You really have to see it for yourself. How people can believe that it didn't happen is hard for me to imagine.

Afterwards, we headed to the Old Post Office. We went to the observation deck, 12 stories high. We got some nice pics of Washington from there. You couldn't stay up there very long because it was cold and blustery today. We headed back to the Inn at around 4pm and stayed in the rest of the evening. We're both a wee bit tired and our legs and feet ache. Tonight was a good night to just chill out. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer and we can visit some of the memorials.

Day 2 The National Zoo

2008-10-26T21:02:00.005-04:00

The BEST free zoo we have ever been to! It was enormous and it was well done. We took so many pics that I'll only be able to post a few today. I'll put my favorites. :) We got to the zoo about 9:30am. We stayed until about 3:40pm right before they closed for the annual "Boo at the Zoo." Which, for $25, looked really cool to bring kids too. You basically trick or treat at the zoo. They have a bunch of tables set up all over the place. Plus tons of decorations, which I took plenty of pics of! The weather was much nicer today. High of 69 and beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a prettier day. We had a wonderful time. We also wore our feet out! We fell asleep when we got back to the hotel. We had dinner down the street from our inn. I can't believe how much walking we've already done and we haven't been to the Smithsonian yet!

This pic was taken first thing in the morning. The trees were changing colors and it was beautiful out. A wonderful, crisp fall morning.

This one is for you dad. Although, I was a bit disappointed that there were no prairie dogs actually out on the prairie dog town they had built.
We were EXTREMELY close to the cheetahs. This pic was taken about 10 feet away from this guy. There were four of them. I was totally convinced that one of the cheetahs was stalking the zebras that were in the next cage (which was only a fence with some barbed wire) away. It was creepy!
I'm sure you've probably read and forgotten about the only pandas to have successfully mated here in the U.S. This is one of them. I'm not sure which one this is, but they were still cool to see.

2008-10-25T18:48:00.012-04:00

Well, we safely arrived in DC. It was a bumpy ride. I don't know how we do it, but we always end up on the rear of the plane... right next to the lavatory. The stewardess assured us by telling us it was a short flight and not many people would get up. And right after that, a pregnant woman showed up. I can't blame her though. I've heard too many stories of pregnancy and always having to pee.

So our first night we weren't sure what to do. We decided to just take a walk around Adams-Morgan. Oh! First, I gotta show you pics of our hotel room. The place is gorgeous! We have one of the larger suites with its own bathroom.

So we wandered around Adams-Morgan, which is pretty much like Broad Ripple except, as the guide book says, "racially diverse." We passed Indian, Ethiopian, Peruvian... Bret would've loved the place! But since most of you know my husband... let's just say we ate at a place called The Diner. It was pretty good. Just your general family restaurant fare. Afterwards, we walked all the way to Dupont Circle, which is actually the next stop on the Metro. Speaking of which, why on earth doesn't Indy have something like the Metro? It totally rocked!

The following day we took the Metro to the Federal Triangle, which is the IRS, the Old Post Office, and the National Archive. We first went to the Spy Museum. It was really cool. There was no photography allowed inside, so you'll have to settle on the one of me in my "spy" hat at the gift shop.

We then had lunch at the Hardrock Cafe. Besides the prices, the food was pretty good! Check out me having my "Hurricane" drink.

Sorry, but there aren't very many pics of Troy since he was doing most of the camera work, but I did sneak one in while waiting in the line at the National Archive to see the Declaration of Independence...

The Constitution...

And our pic of the Bill of Rights didn't come out at all. Sorry!

By the time we left the Archives, it was about 5, and EVERYTHING shuts down at 5pm. So in the rain, we headed back to our hotel. And thus concludes our first full day of DC. So far, we're having a good time. There is some big marathon at the Smithsonian tomorrow, so we plan to avoid that and go the Zoo instead. According to the weather channel, the rain we had today will be gone and it will be warm and sunny again! We will keep you posted as the trip progresses!

Halloween Fun!

2008-10-16T17:00:00.007-04:00

As most of my family knows, I'm a Halloween addict. I love the holiday. I also love fall. The changing trees, the cooler weather... ahhhhhh. Definitely my favorite time of year. So what do I do to enjoy the season? I decorate!

And as you can also tell, I love Snoopy!

We visited the Covered Bridge Festival last weekend. We went to both Bridgeton and Mansfield. We had a great time! Troy's mom, sister, and brother-in-law with their kid joined us. My mom and dad came for a bit too. I spent way too much money as usual. But I did find some great deals. My favorite purchase was a necklace with a pumpkin made of glass on it. There went the last of my birthday money! The trip did have a downfall, we were suppose to meet Mandy and Andy at Bridgeton hopefully around noon. Instead, they found us at Mansfield around 5pm. I can't believe they even found us in the mass of people! The reason we missed each other was because, believe it or not, there are very few cell phone towers in the middle of nowhere. Cell phones were practically useless. But it was still a very fun trip. Next weekend is Pumpkin Works! More pictures to follow.

A Birthday Surprise!

2008-09-23T15:27:00.005-04:00

I love my family.

So last weekend, Troy and I were on our way to Coal City to check out Andy and Amanda's house and "get things ready" for my birthday bash NEXT weekend. Well, give credit to Amanda and Troy, they had the bash already planned for THAT weekend to surprise me! We drove up to the house and there were all my family and friends to meet me! I was so excited. Thank you to all who planned and helped with the surprise. I really had a blast. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Troy's mom made the cake. Isn't it awesome?! She made our wedding cake as well.

That's right. It was my big 3-0 birthday... but I'm still 29 until the 28th.

Just a few of the fun gifts I got. Thank you mom! I also got the cool little skeleton standing next to me with the pumpkin head from my sister-in-law, Amanda.

I'm still in shock that Troy was able to keep the whole thing a secret. Even my parents were in on it! Thank you all again. You are the best!

2008-09-13T14:54:00.003-04:00

For those of you who haven't seen me in a while, I chopped off my hair. Nothing too drastic, but it's short for me! I really love it! And I'm sure you're asking, "Does Troy?" Yes he does! He's just happy I've stopped complaining about how boring my hair had become. The pic doesn't show it well, but I also dyed it auburn red. It really looks cool.

I know, I know.... 5 months is too long.

2008-08-25T20:49:00.005-04:00

Okay, Erin. Since my poor husband has finally found a job where they actually keep him busy, he will be unable to keep this blog update. So I, Rachel, have decided to take it upon myself to try and update it. I'm not promising anything. I have a webpage that hasn't been updated since I got married. Shows you how dedicated I am to these things. Maybe someday when we have a little "something" to show off, I'll be more inclined to post.

Anyway...

I already pointed out Troy has a new job. It's nice to come home to a not-so-grumpy husband. What else? I'm not nearly as clever as my brother about finding the irony in life. But I will tell you that today, for some unknown reason, I took it up myself to really take a good look at the presidential candidates. Have you been to Obama's or McCain's webpages? You know what I found? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that tells me anything about these candidates. Sure, they look flashy, but I couldn't find anything under "issues" that really tell me what these guys think. I'm either going to vote for Obama to be contrary, or McCain because he might get something done.

On another note, the Lucas Oil Stadium (or LOSers) is pretty nice. Troy and I went with some friends to the free opening. Aside from the way too may tickets given away that you can't move... the place was nice. Troy got to see them open the roof. Pics below to prove it.

Wii Like to Box

2008-03-24T20:50:00.014-04:00

No my brother-in-law has not gone crazy. Nor is he inventing a new exercise routine. This is what it looks like to watch someone play Wii Boxing. If you're watching the TV screen, all these movements make perfect sense. Really.

My Wife is a Closet Bracketologist

2008-03-24T07:17:00.004-04:00

For the second straight year, Rachel is winning our NCAA pool. First off, let me say that this is the number one reason that I don't make people wager money on this pool. Second, how in the world does this happen? It's not that my wife is totally clueless about basketball (although she did think Stanford was on the East Coast and had never heard of Davidson, Dell Curry, or his son, but still had them in the Sweet 16), it's just that to win this you need a degree of luck. How lucky is she? If she wins the whole pool this year, I'm driving to Atlantic City with her and putting our life savings on Black 13.

Gretchen Winn, 1918 - 2008

2008-03-17T07:50:00.004-04:00

My great-grandmother Winn passed away last Wednesday. Just looking at the dates I wrote above makes me realize how much she must have seen. 1918 to 2008. Quite a life.

Like most people, I assume, most of what I remember about my great-grandmother surrounds the holidays. She was a very creative woman and loved to celebrate the holidays with her family, but especially us young grandkids. For Halloween one year she hid our candy all through her house and then tied string to each one. Then she wound the string all over the house in a sort of maze we had to traverse to get our candy. We had so much fun running from room to room and getting our piece of string untangled from the others.

Another tradition was at Christmas time. She wasn't able to get out much (she stopped driving years ago) and wasn't much up on the "new toys" that we kids wanted (you know, stuff like G.I. Joe's and cassette tapes and Atari games). So she would take our Christmas gift, usually just five dollars, and disguise it in someway. One year she took one of those marble puzzles where you have to complete it to get inside. I remember seeing the five dollar bill, but not being able to get to it! The most creative one was when I got a roll of toilet paper as a Christmas gift. I was a little surprised and had to keep smiling because that's what you did when someone got you a gift and I'm sure dad had the video camera taping the whole thing. Finally I realized that she had rolled up one dollar bills in the toilet roll. I've told that story so many times and I still smile. It's always nice to get presents for Christmas (even today!), but great-grandma also made us smile with even the smallest of gifts.

I'll miss you Grandma!

Here is the notice that ran in the Brazil Times:

Gretchen Marie Winn, 89, Brazil, died at 8:35 p.m., Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at St. Vincent Clay Hospital.

Born June 13, 1918, in Clay County, she was the daughter of Daniel and Carrie Bolin Lancett.

She graduated from Brazil High School and began a long career employed at The Brazil Times newspaper where she worked as the advertising manager.

She married Richard E. Winn in 1936. He preceded her in death on Oct. 20, 2007.

She was active in the Clay County Chamber of Commerce and enjoyed crocheting, writing poetry and painting.

She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Brazil.

She was preceded in death by her husband Richard, her parents, four sisters, Ruth Crewes, Margaret Butts, Helen Parson and Vivian Lancaster, and one son-in-law, Walter Wegner.

She is survived by one daughter, Karolyn M. Wegner, and one son, Richard E. Winn, Jr., all of Brazil, grandchildren Cindy Stiffler, Candy Clerk, Dan Wegner and wife Linda, all of Brazil, and Christy Prulhiere and husband Paul, Camby, Cathy Short and husband Shawn, Beaver Creek, Ohio, and Sally Ann Winn, Helena, Mont., great-grandchildren, Troy Stiffler, Indianapolis, Amanda Sebastian, Coal City, Trent, Tressa and Tiara Clerk, all of Brazil, Danny Wegner, Terre Haute, Amos Wegner, Brazil, Natasha Wegner and Aaron Prulhiere, both of Camby, Emily and Hannah Winn, both of Helena, Mont., and Kaylee M. Short, Ohio, and one great-grandson, Brian Sebastian, Coal City.

Moore Funeral Home was chosen to provide cremation services.

Visitation with the family will be 6-7 p.m., Monday, at Moore Funeral Home. A memorial service will be conducted at 7 p.m., Monday, with Rev. Tony Alstott officiating.

Should friends so desire, expression of sympathy may take the form of donations to First United Methodist Church, 201 N. Meridian St., Brazil, 47834.

Visit www.moore-funeral-homes.com to second condolences to the family or for more information.

Tis the Season for Gifts

2007-12-06T08:10:00.000-05:00

My company means well. Each Christmas they give the staff a Christmas gift. Now I understand that they do this because the IRS would tax them if they gave out bonuses. I'd still rather have the money though. Human Resources has pointed out time and again how hard it is to find a gift to please everyone. However, I'm still not sure they always come up with the best ideas. So here is a review of past Christmas gifts from my company. Keep in mind all of these products are emblazoned with our company logo.

Umbrella This actually seems like a practical gift since all of us (except HR and the CEO, of course) have to walk a mile from the parking lot. I don't actually own this gift. It was given out the year before I joined the company. I saw a few of these in my first year, but they've been gone ever since. Apparently they break very easily. Good attempt, but a cheap product.

Baseball Cap This is pretty useless. We can't wear it to work and I wouldn't wear it out anywhere (except maybe to mow the lawn). It' a greyish/brownish cap with a blue bill. It also features our old logo which is pretty much unreadable at a distance. The material looks like it's been through the wash cycle 50 times. I supposed it's supposed to be "distressed," but it looks more like the company we got them from had 150 extra hats from a previous project that they needed to get rid of, so they stamped our logo on them and called it a day.

Duffle Bag I actually like this gift. It's the perfect size to fit under an airplane seat and is made out of high(er) quality material. I've actually used this several times on trips. Props to the people who chose this gift.

Blue Fleece-Lined Jacket Two years in a row with sensible gifts. Wow! I actually wear this all the time. It a short jacket lined with fleece. It's perfect for fall weather. Completely useless in the winter, but it serves it's purpose.

Folding Chair Apparently someone in HR subscribes to the "Generic Logo-Placement Gifts Catalog." It's one of those portable folding chairs with the company's logo on it. No cup holder, footstool, head covering like the fancy models. Most everyone seems to already own several of these and I have never seen this item again since it was handed out. Presumably it's in my garage somewhere and gets thrown in my trunk when we go to an event requiring us to bring our own chair, but never gets taken out because everyone already has one from their company. Also I own a Purdue chair, so why would I promote my company when I can promote my school? Yeah, I need to grow up someday.

Blanket Again, reasonably good thought, bad execution. This is one of the fleece blankets that fold up in it's own pocket. "Perfect for carrying to picnics" I believe is the slogan for this one. However, when you fold the blanket up (which is near impossible) to fit in the pocket, you find the zipper for the pocket...is on the inside. So that doesn't make much sense. I assume most people use blankets to cover up in, not go on picnics. Unfortunately I'm 6 foot tall and this blanket is about 50" long. At least I can cover my feet with it.

Black Fleeced-Lined Coat I guess they were tired of seeing everyone wear those blue fleece coats around. So this one is black, slightly longer, and has a hood. Also, only the body is lined, not the arms. This makes no sense to me. If you wear this in the fall, your chest is hot while the rest of you is comfortable; if you wear this in the winter, your chest stays warm while your arms freeze. I'm seen a few people wear these, but mostly those blue fleeced coats are the main fashion choice in jackets around here.

Fire extinguisher To be fair, this wasn't a Christmas gift. Once a quarter, a $25 gift card was given out to those who hadn't taken a sick day. The IRS began saying that those gift cards would have to be taxed, that they were like additional pay. Only physical items could be considered tax free gifts. So my company decided to give out gifts for those with perfect attendance. After thinking long and hard, they came up with...a fire extinguisher. It's one of those little models you keep under your sink. I'm not sure if the gift was to imply that our old building was a fire hazard or that they just had given up deciding what to get us and happen to be in the fire extinguisher aisle. I've never seen anyone have these at their desks. When they were being handed out, even my usually reserved co-workers were chuckling at it. What in the world were they thinking? Who wants a fire extinguisher as a gift? This has got to be the worst gift ever. Fortunately, my wife (queen of the shoppers) was able to identify the item as coming from Target. They let us exchange it for something from the same department. Now we're the proud owners of a shop vac. Much better.

Cooler on wheels I really don't get this one. It's a flimsy material lined with that grey water/cold proof cooler stuff you see on those bags at Costco to store your frozen foods on the way home. It's the kind of cooler they sell at the Colt's Pro-Shop for tailgating. This cooler is on two wheels with an airport style handle on top. Now the only time I use those suitcases on wheels are at the airport. And I KNOW you can't take pop or beverages on a plane anymore. Maybe they think we're all transporting cold beer from our cars to the office. A side note: a coworker (I assume. I'd never seen her before, but she was getting a gift so she must work here. I doubt people are coming in off the street to get a cooler on wheels.) thought it was a laptop case on wheels. Well, it is on wheels, but the flimsy construction and cooler-material interior seem to blow that out of the water. Sometimes I wonder how people get hired here.

Earth-rise, Earth-set

2007-11-14T11:56:00.000-05:00

Two months ago Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched "KAGUYA", a project that essentially consists of three satellites. The main purpose of the project is to data on the moon and research technology for moon missions. The coolest thing about this mission (at least in the short run) are the amazing HD pictures the project has sent back. Check out these great first HD pictures of an "earth-rise" and the lunar surface. Absolutely amazing. God is an amazing artist!

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your gloryabove the heavens...When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)

Rolly Polly Fish Heads

2007-11-13T15:34:00.000-05:00

Yes, that picture to the left is the view out of our window here at work. The fish wranglers have been brought in and our providing my coworkers with window cubes plenty to be interested in. Here's the full story from the Star.

Are you prepared for zombies?

2007-11-13T08:24:00.001-05:00

Remember a few years ago when the government gave us all instructions on how to survive terrorists attacks with duct tape? Well, they left out a contingency for one thing: zombies. Yes, that's right, zombies (or the un-dead as they like to be called.). Some individuals on the web thought that the world was not prepared for a zombie attack. So they set up a website to warn us all. I personally haven't seen any reports of zombies heading to Indianapolis, but if you feel unprepared for the coming zombies, I felt I needed to pass this information on.

Fall is (was) in the Air

2007-11-12T07:16:00.000-05:00

I'm a little slow with the blog these days, but I've finally got pictures of our fall adventures. Let me just lump them all into one post and get them up for all the eager viewers.

Covered Bridge Festival

Rachel poses in front of the main road in Mansfield. Behind her you can see booths selling pizza, turkey legs, giant pork tenderloins, and sati-babis. Ummmm, fall festival foods.

Rachel and I pose while I try to take a self-picture like all the kids do these days.

The odd thing is that someone was selling outhouses. I suppose this is decoration for someone. Brian just thought it was a cool play house.

Beautiful fall foliage marred by some power lines. Yes, there are power lines even in Mansfield, IN.

Mandy, Brian and I browse some booths. Right after this Brian bought (read: Mandy bought) a toy motorcycle that was marked $2. The man at the booth said it was actually $4 and that it was marked wrong (along with all dozen of the others). Fortunately Brian escaped with only paying the $2, but how could you try to scam a three-year old like that?

The old Mansfield Mill. This is what they used before those power lines went in.

Mom and Mandy on our way out of Mansfield. My mom is extremely camera shy. The only way to get her in a photo is to run in front of her and hurriedly snap a picture from afar.

Pumpkin Works

Parents spend all that money on toys and all kids really want is just a big room full of corn.

There's a guy behind this pumpkin with microphone. He can move the pumpkin's mouth and talk to the kids. We saw a lot of kids get freaked out because the "pumpkin" would mention something specific (what they were wearing, how tall they were, etc.). Don't these kids know that pumpkins can talk?

Rachel's idea of heaven: surrounded by pumpkins.

Brian looks on as we walk off and leave him alone in the corn maze. (Just kidding.) Actually he probably would have been better than us adults in getting out. Andy and Rachel were using a map and it still took us an hour.

Pictures of everyone on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. I'd say 95% of all pictures I have of my mom our in shadow, her hiding, her looking the other way, taken from a long distance away or some combination of the above.

Andy and Brian. I wonder at what age kids learn to look at the camera?

Believe it or not, this is the picture BEFORE we traipsed through the pumpkin patch.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Andy actually ended up taking this home. He had to carry it with one arm because of his shoulder surgery. He still lifted it easier than me. Maybe I need a home gym for Christmas???

It's not really fall until you've put a miniature pumpkin in a giant sling shot and fired it at silos in a field.

Hey! Not one word about my wife being a witch!

Halloween

Our front porch. Guaranteed to scare off possible trick or treaters.

Pop quiz: Guess which pumpkin is mine. One of these...

Or this one.

Rachel insists this is Achmed, the Dead Terrorist.

New Addition

2007-11-03T14:44:00.000-04:00

Let me introduct my newest cousin. Kaylee Marie Short was born October 30, 2007 to Shawn and Cathy Short.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T11:04:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween to everyone. Rachel has had the house decorated for over a month; I'll post pictures when I have time to get them from my camera to the computer.

Quote of the Day: Novel Comments

2007-10-25T07:59:00.000-04:00

I happened to overhear a group of people (not from my office) discussing a book one of them was reading (sorry, I didn't catch the title; I'm not listening THAT closely to random conversations around me). The person who had read the book commented that it was hard to read and that he sometimes couldn't understand what the writer was saying. This bothered him because he had to reread sentences, leading to this quote: "When you're reading a novel you shouldn't have to read something twice." Hopefully this person has just been used to reading the Pokey Little Puppy and not The Brothers Karamozov all his life, otherwise he's missed a lot.

Richard E. Winn, 1917-2007

2007-10-23T07:24:00.000-04:00

I don't know how to write a proper eulogy for my great-grandfather Richard Winn, so here is the obituary that ran in the Brazil Times.

Richard E. Winn, age 90, Brazil, died at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007, at Holly Hill Healthcare.

He was born Oct. 20, 1917, in Clay County, as the son of Clifford and Helen Barndollar Winn.

Following graduation from Brazil High School he attended Indiana State University, Indiana University and University of Missouri.

He then began a long career as a teacher at Indiana State University.

He was a member of the Brazil First United Methodist Church.

He married Gretchen Lancett in 1936.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Jim Winn and two sisters, Marie Bennett and Mary Beaman.

He is survived by his wife Gretchen; one daughter, Karolyn. M. Wegner; one son, Richard E. Winn, Jr.; grandchildren, Cindy Stiffler, Candy Clerk, Dan Wegner and wife Linda, all of Brazil, Christy Prulhiere and husband Paul, Camby, Cathy Short and husband Shawn, Beaver Creek, Ohio, and Sally Ann Winn of Helena, Mon.; great grandchildren, Troy Stiffler and wife Rachel, Indianapolis, Amanda Sebastian and husband Andy, Coal City, Trent Clerk, Tiara Clerk and Tressa Clerk, all of Brazil, Danny Wegner and wife Allyson, Terre Haute, Amos Wegner, Brazil, Natasha Wegner and Aaron Prulhiere both of Camby, and Emily and Hannah Winn both of Helena, Mont.; great great-grandson, Brian Sebastian, Coal City, and two brothers, Harry Winn, Indianapolis and Don Winn of San Antonio, Texas.

Moore Funeral Home was chosen to provide cremation services. A memorial service will conducted at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Moore Funeral Home with Rev. Tony Alstott officiating.

Should friends so desire, expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to Alzheimer’s Association, 9135 N. Meridian St., Ste. B-4, Indianapolis, 46209.

Visit www.moore-funeral-homes.com to send condolences to the family or for more information.

Praising the Engineering Fountain

2007-10-12T08:13:00.000-04:00

OK, most of you who know me know that I love Purdue. I also loved going on Fountain Runs when I was a student there. As part of Boiler Gold Rush, I initiated many freshmen in the joys of getting soaked by running through the fountain (no longer possible because of a bizarre cylinder now placed around the fountain). However, bowing down in worship of the fountain was never something I thought of. Check out the crazy antics now going on at Purdue:

Read more about what is going on (although even the press can't explain WHY this happened).

Harassed at Work

2007-10-10T09:45:00.000-04:00

I just came from our annual anti-harassment training. This is always a humorous occasion for me. It's humorous not because the topic isn't serious, but because no one has effectively come up with a way to instruct 100+ people in an hour how not to harass people. This year the company ditched the speaker (who basically stands up front, reads Power Point slides, and answers embarrassing questions from the audience). Unfortunately, they did not ditch the cheesy After-School Special-type videos.

We were greeted by one of the HR women (no men in the HR department, I'm sure no stereotyping was involved though) welcoming us to "Harassment Training." Unfortunately she misspoke or that would have made the session much more interesting. On to the videos.

First up was the awesomely titled "Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts!" (With Vignettes!) It featured a bunch of actors/waiters (yes I'm stereotyping actors, but they're not my coworkers. Hopefully this is allowed for the sake of comedy.) commenting on why harassment hurts. (I think I learned this when I kindergarten, but apparently others are slow learners.) The main host finally gave us a 6 or 7 step process to use when faced with harassment. I won't bore you with the entire process (largely because I have forgotten most of them already), but one of them was "Ask a question." This could be done, the host pointed out, by asking "What do you mean?" when someone makes an inappropriate comment. This was proceeded by five random people looking at the camera and saying "What do you mean?" for those of us who are really, really slow. Another suggestion, as foreshadowed by the video's title, was to just say "Ouch!" If someone makes a comment stereotyping someone and we don't feel like asking questions or delving into the issue, we can just say "Ouch!" And if you thought this was immediately proceeded by over half a dozen people looking at the camera and saying "Ouch!" than you've caught the gist of this video.

The second video wasn't nearly as interesting. Titled "Harassment is..." it was basically a host talking with short vignettes shown in between. No 6 step program here. The one standout vignette was an American lady making fun of a Indian woman because the Indian didn't speak English. The American lady then said in a Real World confessional-style interview (in black and white, no less!) that "Those people can't even speak English good." Finally my coworkers were allowed to laugh. Apparently stereotyping Americans is still OK. Thank goodness!

Back to work. I'll try not to harass people.

Biscuits and Gravy Canal

2007-10-05T12:27:00.000-04:00

There are more serious (and sadder) things going on in my life, but the trivial makes for much better (and more humorous) blog topics. So let me tell you about what they're doing to the body of water to the West of my office.

For those who are regular readers (hi mom!) you'll know that my new office building is on the East side of the Downtown Canal. Before being on the canal regularly, I thought it was a beautiful sight and would be wonderful to walk along on my lunch hours. Well, it is great to have the canal and walkways, but it isn't exactly beautiful. Algae, weeds, leaves, and debris clutter the canal. My office is at the North end where the basin is. Often that basin is so full of gunk that it looks like you could walk across it without getting wet. Thankfully the city of Indianapolis is going to clean the canal up. They are going to drain the canal and then scrape the bottom clean. That's the good news. Now the bad news. Today's Indianapolis Star reports the following:

- "[The project] will temporarily transform the urban waterway into a sludge pit."

- "Any non-native species [of fish] will be removed. 'Like if it's a piranha or something'"

- "It'll eventually get to a biscuits-and-gravy-type consistency"

Yes, that's right. Starting next month I can look out the windows or take a walk along a canal filled with sludge that has a "biscuits-and-gravy-type" consistency. Also, since this is a city-funded project and I happen to also live in Indianapolis, I get to pay for this as well. Woohoo! So if anyone has a gas mask or maybe just a clothespin to protect me from the smell of sludge, I'd appreciate it if you could lend it to me.

Babysitting Grant

2007-09-11T15:16:00.000-04:00

Rachel and I had the privilege of baby sitting our nephew Grant last week. He behaved great, although he was reluctant to go to bed on time (probably because he was having so much fun with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Troy!). We had a good time and, of course, took some pictures to share.

Like all great musicians, Grant prefers to work without people taking pictures.

Rachel gets to play with Grant.

Rachel poses with Grant while Grant wonders when he can get back to his toys.

"How sweet are your words to my taste." Grant has an interesting take on Psalm 119.

Maybe Grant's refusal to go to sleep had something to do with the someone taking all these pictures!

Big Football Weekend

2007-08-31T11:38:00.001-04:00

With the AAFL draft and a Colts preseason game, I was pretty busy with football related activities on Saturday. Check out pictures and more on my sports blog.

Extraneous Questions from Work

2007-08-08T08:33:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share an e-mail I got from work. This is more a cathartic act to deal with my job than actually news to my readers, but I hope you'll find it amusing.

I sent my boss an Excel spreadsheet with various data. I made sure to label each of the column carefully. As you can see, the circled columns clearly show they are labeled "December 2002". I then get an e-mail from by boss asking if the data was from December 2002 or June 2003. This is the kind of extraneous e-mails I answer all day. It's not that it's hard to send an e-mail reply, but I just seems so useless to answer a question that should be perfectly obvious. *Sigh*

Thanks for letting me share my frustrations with you.

Indians Game

2007-07-26T08:49:00.000-04:00

My company had it's annual picnic at an Indianapolis Indians game this past weekend. The weather was perfect, the food was good (and free!), unfortunately the Indians have one of the worst fielding teams I've ever seen. That combined with a horrendous outing from the pitcher (he had a 47.25 ERA for the game. Seriously!) combined for a 12-0 lead by the Durham Bulls in the second inning. We left shortly thereafter not needing to see any more of the beatdown. I almost forgot: we did get free hats as one of the first 4,000 fans. Always nice to get free stuff!

Only in Indiana...

2007-07-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

This vehicle was in front of me on the interstate Friday. The picture's a little grainy (it was taken with my cell phone), but it's pickup truck with a coffin (yes, a coffin) in the back. Either someone passed away and the family couldn't afford a hearse or the truck's owner found a good deal on a coffin that day. Either way, this is just something I don't think you see to often outside of Indiana!

Pictures from Dad's birthday

2007-07-15T21:18:00.001-04:00

Here are some pictures from my Dad's birthday back on July 3. I won't give away his age; let's just say he's over 18. Happy birthday dad!

Notes from a Staff Meeting

2007-07-13T09:44:00.000-04:00

I just came from our quarterly staff meeting and decided to share some humorous thoughts. (Note: if anyone from work is reading this, I put this here for more own amusement and do not wish to insult or embarrass anyone.)

- I believe the intent of the first announcement is that we need to check our internal intranet more often (why I don't know as the last time I went there for a software update I found the information out of date by a year), however we were instructed to "check your internet" when we returned to our office. Hence why I'm writing this blog now; I'd hate to disobey orders.

- The only free parking spot at our new building is about 1 1/2 miles away whereas at the old building you could park 100 feet away. In spite of this, we were told that the company was trying to replicate the old parking options at the new building. Only 7,820 feet closer and they'll have it!

- We were told that our new "anonymous" intranet suggestion box could be traced back to us if the administrator received any violent suggestions. That's fine (I don't want administration to have to read death threats or anything like that), but it kind of negates the idea of an "anonymous" suggestion box.

- The above-mentioned suggestion box included items like the fire alarm is too loud, could we get the company to pay for cell phones, and we need hypo-allergenic soap in the bathroom. This is from a company who's employees have to walk miles to their cars, received a pittance of a "standard of living" increase with no merit-based raises, and has seen it's amount of incoming requests for work dwindle. Yet hypo-allergenic soap is the biggest complaint people have? (I'd send my own suggestions in, but I don't trust the "anonymous" suggestion box.)

- Two new students employees were told at the beginning of the meeting that "we'll try not to bore you." After several department managers had no reports, those students were apologized to because they were being bored (True story. Honestly!) And that pretty much explains it all.

- There are times when we have visitors come for meetings. Fortunately we have a vistors lot for just such an occasion. At this meeting, however, we were told visitors who parked in the lot and signed in at the front desk "may or may not be towed" and "we can't make any guarantees" that they won't be towed. Good thing that visitors lot is there, huh?

Hope that I didn't bore you. But it was good to get that off my chest. Now I'm going to eat my second donut I got from the meeting (really the only good thing about staff meetings.) Mmm, donuts.

Split Personality

2007-06-27T07:14:00.000-04:00

Up until now, my blog has been a hodgepodge of sports, ramblings, and family events. Starting today, I'm splitting them up. This spot, Troy's Cube, will remain to contain family pictures, vacation stories, and random thoughts on life. My new blog, tentatively title Stiffler's Sports Cube, will contain thoughts on sports including AAFL fantasy football details. So for those who only want to see pictures of Brian and Grant, keep your web brower tuned here, but for those of you who want to know what I think of Purdue basketball and football, the Colts, other sports teams, and, yes, perhaps even the Pacers, as well as complete AAFL details, go to Stiffler's Sports Cube.

Brian Turns Three

2007-06-26T07:09:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's hard to believe that my baby sister now has a three year old. Brian, my wonderful nephew, turned three a few weeks ago. Since he's such a good boy, he got spoiled by not one, but two celebrations.

Brian, my sister Amanda, brother-in-law Andy, and my mom joined Rachel and I on June 9 at Chuck-E-Cheese. Neither Rachel nor I had been to Chuck-E-Cheese since it was changed from Show Biz Pizza Place. The only things I had remembered from Show Biz was a animatronic monkey in a sparkly jacket playing piano, lots of pizza, and ski-ball. Well, the monkey is gone (replaced by a mouse, Chuck-E), but the pizza and ski-ball remain. Brian wasn't too interested in the ski-ball (don't worry, us adults made up for him). He wasn't too interested in Chuck-E either, but his mother used to be scared of Santa Claus, so I'm sure he'll come around. Brian had a lot of fun climbing through this tube jungle gym they had set up and playing some of the more three year old sized games.

The next day, we met the nearly the entire extended family at Deming Park in Terre Haute. They had just constructed a new playground. The entire thing is a set of walkways that you climb or walk up on and from there are various slides, poles, "rock" walls, etc. to go on. Oh, and the entire thing is surrounded by ground-up rubber chips to prevent any harsh injuries. When I was growing up, we had rocks with razor sharp edges to gash open our legs when we would fall. The rubber chips seemed much safer, but where's the fun in staying safe on the playground? Brian got a ton of gifts as expected. He's into Diego now. I'm not quite sure what Diego does, only that he speaks Spanish and seems to rescue animals in the jungle or something. I'm a little behind on my knowledge of current toys. If Brian ever gets into Star Wars or G.I. Joes, I'm all of that. Last year, Brian would rip open presents, push them aside (throw them aside if they were clothes or something else that you couldn't play with), and move on to the next gift. This year, he would open a present, and then run to the middle of the group and proudly show off his new gift. The highlight of the day was playing with Brian on the playground. Rachel and my cousin Tressa had a great time running around with him. They may have had more fun than Brian! Brian can't quite get our names out. Rachel is "Ray-Ray" and Tressa was "T". That last one is particularly confusing since there are four of us in the family with names starting with T's. Anyway, we had fun, Brian had fun, and we'll get ready for the next birthday. (Speaking of which, my birthday is coming up. PS3's are only $599 at Wal-Mart!)

Weddings and Open Houses

2007-06-18T14:47:00.000-04:00

Unlike my globetrotting siblings-in-law, Rachel and I are usually content to stay within the vicinity of our house most of the time. This summer has seen us travel across the state to various weddings and open houses. I haven't wrote about them mainly since the pictures have been sitting on my camera or my home computer for the last few weeks. The purchase of a Sony Flash Drive this weekend has made it easy to transfer pictures to and from home, so I'm ready to start the updates in whatever the literary equivalent of a montage is. (Mini rambling: As mentioned I now own a 2GB flash drive small enough to fit in my pocket. In fact, it's smaller than a pocket knife I own. For someone that grew up with 5 1/4" floppy disks with less than 100 KB, that's pretty astounding. Yes, I'm getting old.)

May 26 - Susan King and Chris Thorpe wedding.

Rachel and I headed down to Bloomington for the nuptials of our friends Susan and Chris. Susan met Chris on a vacation in Jamaica. Just thought you needed to know that for some reason.Since we were going to Bedford the next day, Rachel and I decided to stay the night in Bloomington. I found there are relatively few choices for hotels for such a big city (West Lafayette/Lafayette has many more places to stay; again, just so you know). I made reservations for a non-smoking room (seriously, hotels still have smoking rooms in Southern Indiana?) at the not-at-all-luxurious Super 8. Luxury didn't matter since we mainly just needed a place to sleep. However, upon opening the door to our room, I rush of tobacco odor flooded our senses. We gave the room about 30 seconds with the door closed and then rushed down to the front desk to request a non-smoking room. Unfortunately, there were no non-smoking rooms left so the manager upgraded us to a "suite". Now, the jacuzzi tub was a nice touch, I must admit. However, calling this a "suite" is an understatement. Basically the room was the exact size as the rest, it just had the aforementioned jacuzzi. So, everything worked out fine there.

The wedding went on as planned with just a few showers before and afterwards. The wedding was at a chapel next to the Union building in the heart of IU's campus. In case you haven't been there, IU had the oak/birch/willow/dogwood version of Johnny Appleseed sprinkle tree seeds all over the campus. Everything seems to be covered in foliage. Maybe IU should be the Sycamores instead of ISU. Being a graduate of the much less tree lined campus of Purdue University, I'm not a fan of the jungle that is IU's campus. Someone remarked to me that I "had to" admit that IU's campus was better than Purdue's. Oops. Wrong person to say that too. Purdue may have made some bad choices in designing their campus (lack of parking, dorms 500 miles from civilization, "Indian burial grounds"), but at least they understand the word moderation when it comes to landscaping.

Anyway, the wedding was fine. I'd write more, but this is a blog about me and, well, it wasn't my wedding. The reception was fine although I must be the only person over 21 that doesn't drink. This was a wedding made up of mostly people from our church, and still nearly everyone was drinking. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that and people were definitely drinking in moderation, but I always feel odd to be the only one NOT drinking. Of course, I seemed to be the only one not making a salad and not partaking in the cheese course as well, so maybe I'm just odd.

May 27 - Kate Hawkins open house.

Rachel and I moved on from Bloomington down to Bedford to celebrate her cousin Kate graduating from high school. Kate will be moving on to the tree lined campus of IU. Apparently my marrying into the family did nothing to change her allegiances in colleges. Again, everything went well. They had a nice spread of food and snacks which is always appreciated. Congratulations to Kate and, despite my teasing of college choices, good luck at IU.

June 2 - Tiara Clerk open house.

Onto Brazil for my cousin Tiara's open house to celebrate her graduation from high school. Again, proving that I am the black sheep of the family, Tiara will be moving on to IU. Apparently Tiara and Kate didn't aspire to graduate from Purdue and take a job where they would have time to write blogs all day. Oh well. Best of luck to Tiara as well.

Oh, and to all you guys at IU: Kate and Tiara are both taken (as last I checked; high school relationships aren't exactly chiseled in stone) so please stay away from my underage cousins. They'll be spending too much time studying anyway. Just like I was. Ummm, mostly.

P.S. You didn't really think you'd get through a post without Brian and Grant pictures did you?

Radio Math

2007-06-18T07:12:00.000-04:00

Since Mike and Mike in the Morning decided to talk about Sox & Yanks, I flipped around the dials on the radio this morning. I caught a radio DJ (do they still call them DJs?) commenting on how album (do they still call them albums?) sales of Journey were up 100% since the song "Don't Stop Believing" was played on the Sopranos. She also commented on downloads being up 482%. She then commented that she "couldn't comprehend how that [482%] was calculated." Really? That's not that hard of math. Right when I was thinking about how funny it would be to bring this up in a blog, she further demonstrated her complete lack of match skills. She said something to this effect: "So, sales are up 100%. Does that mean there were 0 sales before because no one were buying them and now they're 100% because people are buying them again." I was dumbfounded. I think she actually believes there were 0 sales this week so whatever number of sales there were this week made it 100%. She may even believe that there were 0 sales last week and 100 this week, I'm not sure. Then again, she could still be doing the long division in her head trying to figure out what 482% means. So for every high schooler out there struggling with math, there could be a future in morning drive-time radio for you!

How Can You Not Know What a Twinkie Is

2007-06-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

Just heard a coworker say "Not sure I know what Twinkies is." True, as you can tell from the grammar, she's not from originally from this county. But how could you live here and not know what a Twinkie is? I wonder if she's heard of Ding-Dongs or Ho-Hos? OK, now I'm just making myself hungry!

Colts Get Bling

2007-06-14T07:08:00.000-04:00

My birthday is next month and just in case you were wondering what to get me...

The Colts received their Super Champion Rings. Priced at "only" $5000, this would make an excellent gift. If only they were for sell to the general public. Rachel has a coworker who's brother works for the Colts who might have got a scaled-down version. I'm hoping he gets short on cash some day and has to hawk in for money.

Congratulation Colts!

Here's the Indy Star and Colts.com articles.

Brian Pictures

2007-05-25T07:15:00.000-04:00

These pictures were Brian's Mother's Day present to his mom. Not sure how he could afford pictures. Either he's sneaking out of his room at night to start a paper route or his grandparents are giving him a lot of pocket change. Or maybe he had some help.

High Class Peyton

2007-05-09T08:50:00.000-04:00

Among the dignitaries for Queen Elizabeth's white tie state dinner were Indianapolis own, Peyton Manning and his wife. They wife had the honor of going to the White House, again (I wonder if he feels like Forrest Gump?).Jim Nance even reported on Tony Kornheiser's show that Ashley Manning sat at the head table. Not bad. I wonder if the Queen had come last year if Ben Roethlisberger would have been invited?

Half-Grass, Half-Clay Tennis Court

2007-05-04T09:04:00.000-04:00

Isn't this one of the weirdest sights you've ever seen? It's just bizarre and when I first saw it I thought it was trick photography or Photoshopped. Nope. It's a real tennis court: half-grass, half-clay. Rafeal Nadal played Roger Federer to see who was the best: the clay court specialist Nadal or the grass court expert Federer. Nadal won, but I'm not sure that settles anything. Can't wait for this phenomenon to reach the states so I can play on it.

Brian Visits

2007-05-02T21:06:00.000-04:00

Since Baby Grant is trying to dominate the internet with his pictures, I thought I'd strike back with pictures of my elder nephew.

Boo Cam Cameron

2007-04-30T19:13:00.000-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen of Miami, your head coach Cam Cameron!

Yes, Cam Cameron in his first public appearance following the 2007 NFL Draft gets booed before he even gets to the podium. I'm not sure, but from the chants of "Brady...Brady...Brady!" I think the Dolphin fans wanted Brady Quinn. I would have at least picked some quarterback since the Dolphins' incumbent QBs are Daunte "I was just gambling" Culpepper and Cleo Lemon.

Movin' On Up

2007-04-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

When I first started at Regenstrief in 2000, I was told we were moving into a new building soon. Finally, 6 1/2 years later, we finally relocated to a new building. Originally called MISB II, we're now calling our new locations the HITS building. Someone already pointed out that we need to be very careful in how we order those letters. The building is brand new (just finished a couple of months ago; some tenants moved in last month) and still has a "new building" smell to it. Everything is fresh and clean. The pluses of the new building are that it was not previously used as a clinic, I don't have to ride up the elevator with Wishard patients and/or inmates, it's on the Canal (great for the fall, spring, and summer...don't know about the winter), and there's a lot more space. The downsides are that my assigned parking (the Clarian X Lot) lot is six blocks away (I found street parking this morning, but that may very day by day) and nothing is working quite right. My access card did work on the front door, but some of the doors still don't recognize it. My phone wasn't working and after it was fixed it was discovered my voice mail didn't work. My computer was updated when it was moved and now two of my commonly used programs aren't talk to each other (Excel and SAS). Other than those minor things, the move went well. All of my boxes were outside my cube and my computer was hooked up. I spent lunch sitting on a bench on the Canal, so I can't complain.

Old building.

New building.

The Cheese Stands Alone

2007-04-26T09:28:00.000-04:00

If virtual bubblewrap was just too exciting for you, you can now watch a web cam of cheese maturing. Let's all thank Al Gore for inventing the Internet so we can enjoy watch a block of cheese do, well, nothing.

If you like a little more excitement, here is a time lapse of the cheese maturing over three months. Rivoting.

Make sure to stay for the credits!

SI Package Has Arrived

2007-04-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

My Sports Illustrated package for the WORLD CHAMPION INDIANPOLIS COLTS has arrived. Check out the contents:

Also, here is my little Colts corner of my Purdue room:

Bush now a Colt

2007-04-24T07:28:00.000-04:00

Even though I knew the Colts were going to visit the White House Monday, when I first saw a "Bush" Colts jersey my mind immediately thought, "Holy cow! How'd we get Reggie Bush?" Unfortunately, the Bush that gets the Colts jersey is the President, George Bush (Nothing against the president, but I hear he can't match Reggie's 4.3 40 time). The Colts got to visit the White House and spend some time with the Washington big wigs.

My favorite part (I'll try to find the exact quote later) was an interview with Peyton Manning that he started off with "Oh, we just spent 20 minutes in the Oval Office." Can you imagine how many lobbiest and foreign ambassadors that would love to get 5 minutes with the President to discuss legislation or global issues? Peyton gets 20 minutes just to chit-chat! I also loved Bush's quote:

"A lot of people here in the White House compound have been really looking forward to seeing Peyton Manning," Bush said. "They wanted to see a guy who gets more air time than I do."

Say what you want about his presidency, but at least he has a sense of humor!

I understand why Bush got a Colt's jersey (it's pretty customary when a winning team visits the White House), but why in the world did the Colt's give him a cowboy hat?

Toilet Paper: We Only Need a Square

2007-04-23T10:11:00.000-04:00

Not sure why Sheryl Crow is trying to save the environment, but, well, she is. One of her proposed solutions is to limit the use of toilet paper to one square per restroom visit.

Check out this quote:"I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting...I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required."

I may be unusual, but I personally use two or three squares just to blow my nose. The toilet paper in my office is so thin that you can literally see right through it. In fact, "paper" might be an exaggeration in describing it. I'm not sure how anyone could actually get away with just using a square for anything.

Other great environmentally friends ideas from scientist...ooops! I mean ROCK SINGER...Sheryl Crow is a "dining sleeve" to wipe your mouth on your sleeve with a, presumably, cloth napkin attached to your sleeve.

Not sure these ideas are going to go over well in my household.

Colts Nation Rejoices

2007-04-18T07:31:00.000-04:00

After the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, I knew they would receive lots of publicity. One piece of media I was hoping they would avoid is the cover of EA Sports Madden '08. The player on the cover of Madden in the past has met with all kinds of problems. A complete list is below, but no player on the cover of Madden since 2000 has had a good year. I could just see EA Sports wanting to ride the wave of Colts success and placing Peyton Manning or Dwight Freeney on the cover, only to have Peyton blow out a knew or Dwight to separate his shoulder. Thankfully, EA Sports has decided to let the Colts fans continue to enjoy their post-Super Bowl celebration. Not only will EA Sports pass on dooming a Colt player, they've decided to curse the QB of a division rival. Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans is going to grace the cover of Madden '08. Could it get in better? (Besides of course Tom Brady being on the cover, breaking both legs in the preseason and having Gisele Bundchen and Bridget Moynahan dump him) We can now start the pool of what week Vince Young will be injured. Week two they play the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION INDIANAPOLIS COLTS. I think I'll take that week for the curse to hit Young.

In case you don't follow this curse and don't believe me, here is USA Today's break down of all the doom that has fallen on those who have been on Madden covers:
• 2006 — Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander (2006): He broke a bone in his left foot early in the season and finished with 896 rushing yards.
• 2005 — Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb (2005): Eagles started out 4-5, and McNabb missed the final seven games because of a sports hernia.
• 2004 — Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis (2004): Suffered wrist injury, which caused him to miss a game and limited his production. It was the only season of his career in which he had no interceptions.
• 2003 — Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick (2003): Suffered a broken right leg during an exhibition game, causing him to miss the first 11 games of the season.
• 2002 — St. Louis Rams RB Marshall Faulk (2002): Missed two games with an injured ankle.
• 2001 — Minnesota Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper (2001): Missed the final five games with a knee injury after throwing almost as many interceptions (13) as touchdown passes (14).

Pacers Draft Oden???

2007-04-17T07:33:00.000-04:00

There is a .7% chance of this happening. That's better odds than winning the lottery or getting killed by a tornado. Good luck Pacers!

Swimming to Europe

2007-04-13T07:53:00.000-04:00

Apparently there is a small glitch right now in Google Maps. If you type in an East Coast U.S. City (such as Portland,ME or New York) and ask for directions to Western Europe (such as Paris) you'll be given the following driving directions:

Personally, I would suggest flying. It's good to know that Google thinks you and I could make it across the Atlantic in 29 days though.

Full map:

Cube-mates

2007-04-12T15:45:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder what I look like at work or what my coworkers look at? My office is taking pictures of all the departments (I didn't quite understand the reasoning behind this. Something about the CEO wanting all of our pictures to show the board. Hopefully it will make us look like we all need to be paid more). Here is that picture, plus and old picture of us in Colts gear from a few years back.

WORLD CHAMPION COLTS Schedule

2007-04-11T14:46:00.000-04:00

I plan on using the phrase "WORLD CHAMPION COLTS" as often as possible. Here is the newly released schedule. Five prime-time games means I'm going to be losing a lot of sleep. Oh well, GO COLTS!

1 Thursday Night 9/6 NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 8:30 PM
2 Sunday Early 9/16 @ Tennessee Titans 1:00 PM
3 Sunday Early 9/23 @ Houston Texans 1:00 PM
4 Sunday Late 9/30 DENVER BRONCOS 4:15 PM
5 Sunday Late 10/7 TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 4:05 PM
6 BYE 10/14 BYE -
7 Monday Night 10/22 @ Jacksonville Jaguars 8:30 PM
8 Sunday Early 10/28 @ Carolina Panthers 1:00 PM
9 Sunday Late 11/4 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 4:15 PM
10 Sunday Night 11/11 @ San Diego Chargers 8:15 PM
11 Sunday Early 11/18 KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 1:00 PM
12 Thanksgiving 11/22 @ Atlanta Falcons 8:15 PM
13 Sunday Early 12/2 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 1:00 PM
14 Sunday Night 12/9 @ Baltimore Ravens 8:15 PM
15 Sunday Late 12/16 @ Oakland Raiders 4:05 PM
16 Sunday Early 12/23 HOUSTON TEXANS 1:00 PM
17 Sunday Early 12/30 TENNESSEE TITANS 1:00 PM

Director of the Human Genome Project's Take on God

2007-04-05T07:51:00.000-04:00

Very interesting article from Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., who is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Check out the article on CNN.com.

Has Troy gone to the Dark Side?

2007-04-04T07:36:00.000-04:00

Yes, linking to a Dancing with the Stars clip is a bit unusual, but I think you'll see it has nothing to do with me become a Tango fan. Check out this clip:

Dewey defeats Truman!

2007-04-02T07:36:00.000-04:00

Well, not quite. But my wife Rachel did beat all-comers in our annual March Madness Pool. Congratulations to you sweetie!

Not sure how she pulled this off. I pictured something life the SNL Peyton Manning skit where the blonde made all the correct picks ("Bulldogs are sooooo cute!"), but maybe my own mad basketball picking skills are rubbing off on her. Actually she revealed her secret as picking schools that she had heard of. Better luck to all of us next year. The results are below. As you can see from my score, I should probably get my wife to fill out my brackets next year.

Dihydrogren Monoxide

2007-03-21T08:05:00.000-04:00

This website details some of the dangers of a chemical called dihydrogen monoxide. Highly informative reading.

On a side note, I found this website just before I was about to be exposed to a large quantity (over 1 quart) of hihydrogen monoxide that my doctor has suggested I ingest. Good think I was warned in time!

NCAA Tournament Picks

2007-03-15T08:05:00.000-04:00

First, it's not too late to enter our pool. Go to here and fill out your bracket by noon today.

Second, my Final Four picks are Florida, Southern Illinois, Ohio State and Georgetown. Florida and Ohio State will meet in the Finals with Ohio State winning.

Third, I have all four Indiana teams (including Purdue--Go Boilers!) winning in the first round.

We're Going to Disney World! Pictures

2007-02-26T12:17:00.000-05:00

Almost forgot...you can view all the pictures of our Disney World vacation here.

I Touched the Trophy

2007-02-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

The Colts are taking the Lombardi Trophy on a 50 city tour. Fortunately, I had the chance last Friday to see AND touch it. I had the morning off for a doctor's appointment and then headed over to the Southport Meijer. I arrived around 8:15 and, to my great delight, found only one person in line. He had been there since 6 a.m. I spent the time playing Tetris on my phone, reading Friday Night Lights, and chatting with some of the three to four thousand people that were eventually in line. We all had our Colts stories to share. An older gentleman who was third in line told us stories back from when he first got season tickets when the Colts first moved here. He could name every Colts QB going back at least 20 years. The manager came out and talked to us around 9 a.m. He told us how excited he was to have his store chosen to be the first to show the trophy. His wife, he explained, was friends with Tony Dungy's wife, but he hadn't seen the trophy yet. Around 10 a.m. Colts employees began setting up tables, putting out posters, and arranging a podium for the trophy. They also put up a giant inflatable trophy (which would look ideal on my lawn, if you're looking for a birthday present for me!). Julie Pursley from WRTV 6 interviewed the guy first in line and had her cameraman start setting up. The trophy finally arrived around 10:45 a.m. Four large gentlemen in dark suits and white gloves carried it in and put in on the podium. Then a glass case was put over it and sealed, although there was a hole in the top so that you could still touch the trophy. The line started moving and we were handed some freebies. I got a Tarik Glenn United Way card, an "I touched the trophy" button, two cool large posters (one with the trophy, the other said "Go Colts," and autographed pictures of Blue and the cheerleaders (which my wife promptly threw out later). They also handed out a special cardboard frame for you trophy picture if you dontated $1 to United Way. Finally, we got up to the trophy. The Meijer manager had assured us that someone from Meijer or the Colts would be there to take pictures. The Colts, apparently nixed that idea. The security guards, some employees, and cheerleaders wouldn't even hold your posters for you let alone take a picture. The guy in front of me and I exchanged cameras to take each other's pictures. I kinda look like I'm gritting my teeth, but you only got one picture and then they quickly ushered you out of there. I stood for the picture and then briefly stuck my hand in and touched the trophy. Julie Pursley grabbed me on the way out and interviewed me for the news. She asked me several questions, but it got editted down to about 2 seconds. So if I sound like an idiot, my comments were definitely out of context. All in all, not a bad experience. The wait wasn't as tortuous as it could of been (I was scared they might make us wait outside) and I have an awesome souvenir picture.

You can find the WRTV 6 broadcast from the Meijer (including my EXCLUSIVE interview by Julie Pursley) here.

You can find all my pictures of the day here.

We're Going to Disney World! MGM

2007-02-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

- MGM has long been my favorite park. Lots of great rides, great atmosphere, lots of cool shops.

- Tower of Terror. Probably our favorite ride. The premise is you're in a haunted hotel in the elevator which raises and drops you over and over and over. I love that it's random drops so every ride is different. The "Twilight Zone" theme is great and carried throughout the ride. I also love the doors opening at the top so you could see the park briefly before you plunge.

- Rock 'N Roll Rollercoaster. Inside roller coaster, so of course I enjoyed it. Nothing really distinguishing except for the Aeorsmith soundtrack playing. Why haven't other roller coasters employeed a soundtrack? I loved listening to the music while going through loops.

- Star Tours. It's pretty dated (compared to, say, Mission Space), but it's great fun. I enjoyed this one so much. I believe Rachel's comment was "it's cute." Even better is the store with Star Wars memoribilla. I got a lightsaber key chain, Yoda and Vader Pez dispensers, and a Yoda-Mickey figurine. Sadly I couldn't afford the autographed Carrie Fisher framed pictures. And, yes, I'm 30 years old, married, with a decent job. Shocking, I know.

- Indiana Jones. A stunt show featuring an Indiana Jones theme. Fun to watch. Always enjoyable watching how stunts are done. Lots of humor and fan interaction too.

- Beauty and Beast: Live Onstage. A 30 minute live action Beauty and the Beast. Basically they rearrange the story a little and take out everything that's not a song. Not too bad a presentation for taking a 90 minute show down to a third of the time. Rachel loves Beauty and the Beast, so she was really excited to see this.

- Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. Our one "nice" dinner at Disney World. There's a movie screen at the front of the restaurant showing trailers from old horror movies. The tables are made to look like 50's era cars and the waitresses are on roller skates and wearing 50's era clothes. The environment was great. The food left something wanting though. We expected diner/drive-in type food, and instead got steak and pasta dishes. The food wasn't terrible, but not what you expect to eat while sitting in a parked car watching a horror movie.

We're Going to Disney World! Epcot

2007-02-26T10:44:00.000-05:00

- The night before we visited EPCOT, I read in our travel book that people joked EPCOT should stand for "Every Person Comes Out Tired." After the day, I wholeheartedly agreed. There's a lot of walking, and very few rides.

- Mission Space. This must be the most controversial Disney ride ever. There is a list a mile long with warnings about people with motion sickness not riding. There is even a barf bad in front of your seat when you get in. Personally, I didn't see what the fuss was about. This was one of my favorite rides, and I found it much less disorienting than a lot of roller coasters I've been on. You go in and watch a taped pre-show hosted by Gary Sinise (someone hollered out "Lt. Dan!" when Sinise apppeared). You go into a "box" (space craft) with seats and space shuttle looking controls in front of you. You're closed up and the space craft tilts up. You can feel "gravity" pressing against you as you go through take-off and cruise through space. Most realistic (as far as I know) flight simulation I've been on.

- Soarin'. Underrated ride that I hadn't heard much about even in the travel books or on the internet. You basically watch an IMAX movie with one catch: you're lifted off the floor and placed in the middle of the movie. The ride comes complete with wind blowing in your face as you fly through San Francisco. The line was a mile long even with FastPass, but I definitely enjoyed this one.

- Test Track. Another interminable line, but a pretty good ride. We went on this several times. You're placed in a "car and put through typical crash test dummy tests: hitting a wall (not really), tight turns, high-speed turns. Great ride, but a little too short for me. Luckily, we got to ride this several times.

- World Showcase. Eh, whatever. It's neat to see all the cultures and Rachel enjoyed the Maelstrom ride, but that's about it. Oh, except the food. Between the two of us, we had brownies, egg rolls, pretzels, chicken, fries, coffee, and probably several other things I've forgot. I've got some friends and family that could easily gain 50 pounds a day here.

We're Going to Disney World! Magic Kingdom

2007-02-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

- Thanks to the greatness that is the Hopper Pass. We spent part of three days at the Magic Kingdom (MK). Monday we were only at the MK. Wednesday we headed back there to see Tony Dungy and Dominic Rhodes in the "I'm Going to Disney World!" parade (more on all the Colts in another post). Thursday we returned to ride the rides again.

- Our first day at MK, we arrived very early. The parking lot was bare when we pulled in leading me to think we were about to have a Griswald vacation moment. We stood in line and browsed the outside-the-gates gift shop when a lady asked us if we would mind taking a survey. We had fifteen minutes to kill, so we went. This got us inside the MK early and after the survey we could go down Main Street (the shops were open, but no rides were running). This pretty much put us at Tomorrowland when the park opened and we got to be one of the first of the day on Space Mountain.

- Space Mountain. I hadn't been to MK since I was 7 or 8 and had never rode Space Mountain. I've always been leery of roller coasters, but indoor roller coasters (like Flight of Fear at King's Island) seemed to appeal to me. Great ride. Loved riding in the dark and the ride was long enough you felt like you were getting your money's worth (relatively speaking). We rode this at least a half-dozen times.

- FastPass. Can't say enough about this, mainly because I can't stand waiting in lines. This was helpful to us, but would be essential during the summer with kids. Basically you can get a time to come back to the ride later in the day and by-pass most of the line. I'm so spoiled by this that I may not be able to visit King's Island again.

- Pirates of the Caribbean. This ride was closed at the start of the day, but we tried again later when it was up and riding. Turns out that rides are closed for a reason. We got stuck for about 20 minutes at the seen where the pirates scream "We wants the redhead! We wants the redhead!"). Great, classic ride, but not so great a ride to be stuck on.

- The weather was cool, overcast, and occasionally marred by rain showers. The Floridian residents apparently thought this was the end of the world. The temperature was in the mid-40s to mid-50s that day, but we saw Disney employees in winter coats, stocking caps, and gloves. Considering it was -20 or something back home, we counted ourselves fortunate to be in 50 degree weather. The weather worked out well for us. It kept the crowds away and that led to short lines everywhere. We did have to miss out on Splash Mountain and had to wear sweatshirts and jackets, but that's a small price to pay.

- Pirate Ears. Rachel said she'd never had the traditional mouse ears, so we were planning on getting her some. Instead, we went with the nontraditional mouse ears: Pirate headbands with ears on them. It seemed like a good idea at the time. They were actually fun, I just wished I would have taken them off for some of the pictures.

We're Going to Disney World! Downtown Disney/Shopping

2007-02-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

- Sunday and Friday were the two non-travel days that we didn't have tickets for Disney. We spent most of them shopping, although we did devote Sunday night to the Colts (more on that in another post).

- Downtown Disney is a Disney collector's dream and also, surprisingly, a great place for adults. The first store was "World of Disney" which has EVERYTHING you could ever want with mouse ears on it or related to Disney. Need a Beauty and the Beast snow globe (my wife did!)? They've got it. Need a Pirates of the Caribbean handband with Goofy ears hanging down? They've got that too. Need a Mickey Mouse tea set? Yeah, that's there. Not sure how you would make it out of here with kids. The main attraction for kids (apart from the approximately 10,000,000 stuffed animals) was the "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique" where you're little princess could get outfitted and hairstyled like a Disney princess. It was like Libby Lou on steroids. It's neat idea if your little girl is a princess fan, but I believe you have to take out a 3rd mortgage to pay for it.

- Great stuff for adults to do. We at a Wolfgang Puck's Express for lunch. Great quick and reasonably priced (for Disney) food. There was also an ESPN Studio Store (where an employee assured us the Colts would lose Sunday night), Virgin Mega Store, Planet Hollywood Store, Cirque De Soleil shows and lots of nightclubs (not that we were there; we're so old we were in bed by 9-10 p.m. even on vacation.

- Orlando/Kissimmee also have a multitude a outlet malls. The Disney outlet stores had cheap (again, by Disney standards) last-season merchandise. The store makes you wanted to buy everything because it was so much cheaper than anything you've seen all week. However, you soon noticed that most of the clothing was odd sizes (smalls or triple XLs) or the collectibles were with characters you didn't want. We ended up not buying much here. Probably the only place we could say that!

- Rachel also found an Old Navy outlet. I thought Old Navy was basically an outlet store, so I was surprised to find they have a store selling stuff cheaper. Leave it too my wife to find great deals on t-shirts even on vacation.

We're Going to Disney World! Travel/Orlando/Kissimmee

2007-02-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

Rachel and I escaped the snow and cold for a week to hang out in Orlando. Our main goal was Disney World and we spent the majority of our time there. Rachel's brother and sister-in-law got us a great deal on a condo, so we were able to relax there for the week. The condo had a kitchenette so we could stock up on food which probably saved us a ton of money, especially for breakfast. It's been a few weeks since we got back, so I'll just list some thoughts as the come to me. I'm sure I should try to organize my thoughts in paragraphs and colorful descriptions, but this in the Internet age, so you get a list.

- I've flown only a few times since 9/11, so I'm continually amazed at the security. I don't trust checking luggage so usually I would pack all my toiletries and a change of clothes or two in my carry-on back. Thanks to the idiots who tried to sneak liquid explosives on a plane, I can no longer do this. All liquids, creams, gels, what-have-you must be in a plastic bag. Since we ended up packing most of our toiletries in the check luggage, our plastic bag was two cold tablets, chap stick, and hand moisturizer. These items had to be removed from our bag and x-rayed. There are people dying from cancer and lack of food, but our government spends money to x-ray chap stick. I think this is a definite miss allocation of resources.

- Another security thought: I really hate taking off my shoes. I'm trying to balance my coat, backpack, ticket, and our plact baggie of illicit chap stick, but yet I still must balance on one foot at a time and remove my shoes so they too can be x-rayed.

- Inside the terminal was a newspaper/chap stick (pre-screened I assume)/candy/book store. I noticed one thing they were selling were books that you could buy, read on your flight, and then return for all but a small deposit. At first I thought this was a great idea. Thinking about it though, the store was inside the security checkpoint. So to return the book you either had to hope your return flight was to the say gate where you bought the book or wait until your next flight. Guess it's not such a great idea after all.

- Our rental car was a Dodge Caliber. It was a great price through Thrify and having a car was much better than waiting on taxis and buses. However, as an extended test drive of the Caliber, it was lacking. The Caliber is like a mini-station wagon that looked unimpressive and got terrible gas mileage (I calculated it got about 17 miles per gallon.). The worst thing was the terrible blind spots. The roof sloped back from the front seats with windows along the side which got increasingly smaller. I couldn't see a think out of these small windows; it was like driving a van with no windows. Not recommended.

- The hotel/condo we stayed at was Calypso Cay. We checked in with an extremely enthusiastic desk clerk so heartily recommended several events the property was offering. The room was great. It had a living room with TV, DVD player and CD. There was a separate bedroom and a fairly good sized bathroom complete with a jacuzzi tub (read: oval bath tub with water jets). The best part was the kitchenette. We were able to have breakfast there and keep snacks and drinks for the evenings. The only draw back of the condo was the odd color scheme (it was advertised as "Caribbean Theme," which apparently means "pastel colored") and the thin walls through which we could hear our neighbors rearrange their furniture constantly. Oh, also valuable was a computer terminal (you logged on to a server, no CPU was in the room) where you could access the Internet. Especially since the Colts were in the Super Bowl and Indiana was getting hit by sub-sub-freezing temperatures, the internet really helped us keep in touch with the outside world.

- We took a trip to the Kissimmee Wal-Mart that night to stock up on snacks. The place was packed and everyone seemed in a hurry. I've never had more people bump into me in a supermarket (all without saying "excuse me"). Also, Florida OJ, cheap; milk, expensive. Indiana must be making a fortune exporting milk to Florida. Maybe we should broker a deal where we trade milk for OJ

- We dined at the Cracker Barrel near our hotel. It was 7 p.m. on a Saturday night, so I was worried the place would be swamped (as it would be at home). Nope. Nada people in there. We were seated immediately and the food came quickly. Our guess were that the residents eat early (read into that what you will) and all the tourist were still at Disney.

Back Again

2007-02-26T08:36:00.000-05:00

As you can see, I haven't been keeping up with my blog. Here are the reasons: I was on vacation for a week, had a cold ever since, the Colts won the Super Bowl, 10+ inches of snow and ice covered my house, and I've actually had work to do at work (shocking, I know!). Now things are winding down, so I'm back to posting updates. I'll try to get Disney World pictures and pictures and thoughts on the Colts up in the next few days.

Awesome Tony Dungy Video

2007-02-02T22:40:00.000-05:00

My friend David found this great testimony from Tony Dungy. Have a look and listen.

Lovie speaks on Faith

2007-02-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

Great quotes from Lovie Smith at Media Day:

"My relationship, first, is with Jesus Christ and he is the center of my life. I try to live a Christian life. I would like for guys to know my faith based on what they see on a day-to-day basis. I had a chance to see that on a daily basis with Tony Dungy. I had a chance to see Tony through a lot of storms and he has been the same guy all the way. This is also an opportunity for us to acknowledge our belief in Jesus Christ, which we do, and hopefully more people will come around to him based on that."

Quote of the Day: Muhsin Muhammad

2007-01-30T10:33:00.000-05:00

From Muhsin Muhammad during the Bears media day: "I'd like to say hi to all of our troops fighting in Iraq and Iran."

Funny, I didn't know we had troops in Iran.

Quote of the Day: Mike Tyson's lawer

2007-01-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

After this report from the AP: "The latest charges stem from Tyson's Dec. 29 arrest in Scottsdale. Tyson was pulled over after leaving a nightclub, and an officer found bags of cocaine in his back pocket and another in a package of cigarettes in his car, according to court records," Mike Tyson's lawyer, David Chesnoff said:

"Drug addiction is a victimless crime. We believe this is the kind of crime where you shouldn't go to prison."

Hats of a Champion

2007-01-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd show off my hat for the AFC CHAMPION COLTS!

Also, I took a trip down memory lane and visited some souvenirs of past championship teams I have followed. And now, through the magic of digital photography, you can relieve these moments too. Ah memories!

Baby Grant on Video

2007-01-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

Baby Grant's internet debut.

Super Colts!

2007-01-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty hoarse and tired, but I'm still excited. The Indianapolis Colts will face the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl!

Quote of the Day: NFL Network on Britney Spears

2007-01-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Britney Spears was apparently trying to get involved in an ad the NFL Network was preparing for the Super Bowl. The NFL Network's response is the rather awesome quote of the day:

"She's too much of a train wreck. Besides, we already have Paris Hilton."

First Look at Baby Hawkins

2007-01-13T12:24:00.000-05:00

My newest nephew, Grant Hawkins, was born at 3:15 a.m. this morning. He is 8 lbs., 5 ounces and 19 inches long. More information will be coming (plus more pictures!), but here's a first look sent LIVE via cell phone from the hospital.

Wedding Bells in Brazil

2007-01-12T09:49:00.000-05:00

On the 29th of December (I'm a little late getting things posted), Rachel and I headed to Brazil to see my cousin Danny Wegner get married to Allyson Houston. The ceremony was nice, held in a typical small, cozy church. Highlights included a bridesmaid tipping over a candle which was saved inches before catching the bride's dress (and likely the entire church) on fire and my nephew Brian breaking all land-speed records going down the aisle as the ring bearer. The kid is definitely a runner. Considering the speed I've seen in him, I'm already booking tickets to the 2024 Olympics. The reception was held at the Ohio House in Terre Haute. Only in Indiana could you have a building named for another state; was the name Indiana House taken? Actually, it was a pretty nice place complete with an open bar and a chocolate fondue fountain. Again my nephew provided highlights as he tried to dip his entire plate in the fondue fountain (smart guy; wish I would have thought of it) and entertained us with his dance moves (read: running around the dance floor). Everyone seemed to have fun, especially the wedding party who were mostly the only ones out dancing and partying. Congrats to Danny and Allyson and thanks for letting us be part of the celebration.

You can check out all the wedding photos from me here.