Indiana summer vacation 2022

My brother and his wife have a lot of wildlife for suburban homeowners. Susan has several bird feeders in her backyard tree. To keep the squirrels from taking from the birds and knocking over her feeders, she sprinkles seeds on the ground for them. This is more ingenious than any attempts I've heard from squirrel haters. 

Every year a pair of robins (probably not the same) builds a nest in Susan's front door wreath in anticipation of the birth of their children. This means their dog cannot sit on the front porch, and no one can use the front door. However, we took pictures every day of the sequence of events.

I received a tour of the newly renovated country club where my brother works. We had seen the start of this in 2019 before the pandemic, and it was fantastic to see the finished product. Apparently, my brother is loved.

We ate out often, although my brother did grill steaks one night.

Darcy took the train to Chicago to meet Sofie for the basketball tournament on Thursday, leaving Oleg with us. While she, Sofie, and Tom's Chicago family were watching games and playing tourist, Susan and I took Oleg to visit Notre Dame.

I bought him a shirt to commemorate the occasion. It will go nicely with the one he bought from Donut Bank. Then I bought one for Gabby's husband Noah because she said he'd never owned one. He isn't a fan of logo T-shirts, but he was a good egg and wore it on Oleg's last day. 

Oleg headed back to Florida on Saturday...

...and then there was just one. Me with these goobers.

We walked twice a day. I visited Gabby and Noah's apartment. I accompanied Susan on her Uber driving route with Ollie as my backseat companion. We had lunch at the club. I took on several neighborhood players on the backyard basketball court behind Rusty's house (okay, I didn't really do that, but I did talk a good game about doing so). 

I spent a lot of time sitting outside on the back porch, enjoying the cooler weather, and when the baby birds flew the nest, I did so on the front porch. Oliver was always by my side. 

I also took a lot of pictures of Susan's flowers. And of nature. I love Indiana nature...and grass. That's one thing I miss living in Florida--soft, rich, green grass.

My brother took time off. He walked every morning, coming into my room if I wasn't up, opening the blinds, and he walked in the evenings. He entertained us as usual, peeking into the windows when mowing and playing a broom guitar while cleaning the garage. I beat him in several hands of cards. I also told stories to his employees about how he tormented me as a child.

Monday afternoon, Darcy and Sofie arrived from Chicago. Sofie got to experience two nights with my family, and then we packed up and boarded the flight back to Florida. 

It was a great trip packed with family, fun, and food. I'm glad I could make it back after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. Damn COVID. Let's hope it isn't that long until the next visit...

Nature Tuesday

Indiana Nature

 

Back home again in Indiana - Summer vacation - leg one

Darcy's roommate and friend Sofie plays in a traveling basketball league. When Darcy discovered the team would be traveling to Chicago this summer, she suggested we combine that with a trip to my brother's house. We had some discussions, the stars aligned, and Darcy, Oleg, and I bought our tickets to Indiana.

We flew into northern Indiana on Saturday night. We hit our usual welcome-to-Indiana restaurant, talked long into the night, and retired to bed. The following morning we climbed into my SIL's car and drove the entire state to southern Indiana.

Darcy: "To get Evansville food!"

True. But we also went because Susan's niece was leaving a few days later for three years in Hawaii, and she wanted to spend some time with her. It was the quickest trip I've ever taken to my former hometown.

We arrived a bit after three o'clock and immediately went to mark number one off Darcy's list. We drove through G.D. Ritzy's drive-thru, ordered, and arrived at Susan's parents' house by four. I immediately called my favorite eating place and ordered a pizza. Then I took the car, got the pizza, and drove down my old street to stare at the horrors of what was once my beloved house. 

What's with everyone cutting down trees?

We spent two days and nights in Evansville. Susan stayed with her parents, and we stayed in a hotel. It was not the now tourist attraction hotel where the Alabama corrections officer and her prison escape murder suspect boyfriend stayed before getting caught in May. But it was down the road from there.

We caught up with Susan's family, visited with my high school friend and her husband, and ate our way through all of our favorites and then some.

We walked my alma mater's campus. We mourned we were too early for sweet corn when visiting Maize Farms. 

Then, on Tuesday, we picked up more donuts and headed north, stopping to introduce Oleg to the family farm and my cousin Darrell. I took many pictures, hoping for inspiration for the romance novels I've set in Indiana.

We arrived back in South Bend in time for dinner! Of course, we did. 

As you can see by my face, I was not only tired of food but just plain exhausted! Good thing, I have a chance to recoup.

Welcome summer 2022

During a very stressful May week, Darcy got rear-ended. No one was hurt. A vehicle three car lengths in front lost an object, stopped in the road, and while Darcy ran over said object and managed to stop on a dime before banging into the person ahead of her, the car behind her did not. The girl was too focused on not hitting the object.

Darcy: "I literally had just thought, "whew, I avoided that accident," when BAM, I got hit."

It was minor, yet not little enough to ignore. I got called while on my way to pick up our dinner. I gave that job to Madison and drove to the scene--in my bathing suit, flip flops, and very not-age-appropriate swim cover-up.

Darcy: "Where you insulted the police officer."

Me: "He was a state trooper, and I did no such thing. I merely asked a question."

The state trooper gave no one a ticket. He told us the fault lay with the driver three lengths in front of Darcy. The driver who managed to retrieve the object and get the hell out of dodge before the trooper arrived. 

Zero proof. No evidence. 

Me: "So, if our camera caught this driver, who should we contact?"

Him: "You have a dash cam?"

Darcy: "I do."

Him: "It probably won't give you much. It was three lengths in front of you."

Me: "What? Where's your sense of adventure? Let's solve this mystery!"

Darcy: "Right there! That was an insult! He wasn't a detective."

Me: "He was good-looking. And sexy. I use that as my defense. Plus, I was starving. It all made for a combination of giddiness. Besides, he did come up with a solution."

Him: "Maybe if you roll it back several minutes, the car passed you. Then you might get the make and model or even a license."

Me: "See! That's a great idea. That's what I'm talking about."

FYI - the dash cam showed nothing because it was full. Or some such nonsense. I believe it was a user error, and by that, I mean Tom.

We waited hours for a tow truck. The first one blew us off. I forget what happened to the second one. Eventually, Tom got the car where he could drive it home.

The next day we took it to the repair shop. They said we'd be lucky to have it by July, even though the damage was minimal compared to the car that hit her.

That's us--starting the summer with a BANG!

Happy 23rd to the youngest

 

This kid works 24/7, seven days a week. Yet, she still managed to schedule a party for her birthday at her favorite restaurant with the family. All I had to do was get the cookie cake.

Happy 23rd to my baby, who came early, slept often, asked many questions, and who always lets me love on her when I need a cuddle.

2022 resolution check - four months

Oops, almost a month off, but here it is:

Every two months, I check in to see how I'm doing on my New Year's resolutions. This year I'm changing the way I score each check-in. I'm supposed to be working throughout the course of twelve months so the scoring should reflect that. I will score myself from 0-2 with a 2 being I did well. Each month the goal is to score a 20. 

Let's check in on how I did in the first two months:

• To finish several projects I've started and haven't completed, including staying on Tom until we have completed our will - I'm not sure I remember the other projects, but no movement in getting the hubby toward drafting a will. I might just have to do my own without him. Score: 0

• To establish a daily business routine with hours and keep to it - This one is tough when you work from home. There is the exercising and the writing business and then there is everything else that I'm responsible for--dog, laundry, cleaning, pool, dinner. Still, I've got a little routine going. Score: 1

• Begin a healthy eating/workout regiment - Working out is YES, and healthy eating is so so. Score: 1.5

• Create my author's website and increase my author's social media presence - No problem with my social media. In fact, I led an April social media campaign for our writer's group where I manage TWO accounts. But nothing on the author's website. Score: 1

• Have a monthly dinner calendar, so I'm not struggling to know what to cook at night - This one I have done for five months and counting. Score: 2

• To finish my mess, that is book one. Finish book three. Edit both. Learn the self-publishing industry - Cooking right now on editing book one but that's it. Score: 1

• Eat weekly meals at a table and not in front of the TV - I would count this one as a win, although, depending on who is here and our tv schedule, I have faltered a few times. Score: 2

• Go on several girl trips - So far, so good! Score: 2

• Purchase birthday cards and prepare for sending out at the beginning of the month - Uh, yeah, that one dropped from the beginning. I have a list now of all the nieces and nephews I owe cards and gifts. Ugh. I don't know why this one is so hard for me. Score: 0

• Get back to blogging on my personal site. - Catching up on that one. Score: 1

Total Score: 11.5 out of 20 - Better than the last check by .5. I'll take that as an improvement.

Darcy competing vids May 2022