Found in Fishers

Goin' on a Snipe Hunt

Sorry for the long delay in posting. School ended on the 18th and I have just been so busy wrapping things up with principals. We have some new teachers to hire with more full day kindergarten classrooms starting in the fall that I have not had much time to myself at night.

At our Mother's Day campout my brother Kevin, Sarah and I decided it was time to unleash an urban legend. It is part of a camper's life. Snipe Hunting!

My brothers grew up Boy Scouts, my sister and I were both Girl Scouts. Additionally, every summer for as long as I can remember we would pack up the paneled station wagon and go camping for a couple weeks. There are many camping traditions to uphold. Many around the type of cooking we do and how we make fires. The girls in our family can make a fire using kindling but the boys need charcoal lighter fluid. 

One tradition that we all started to talk about from scout camping was the ritual called Snipe Hunting. With my nephews at the age to take them on a Snipe Hunt we decided this was the perfect weekend. We explained to the boys, Zach in high school, Max in junior high, and Liam in 4th grade, that we had to wait until it was dark out because Snipe only appear in the dark. It being the 21st Century and them having smart phones they looked up a Snipe. Whew, there was one. It is actually a bird, wink, wink.

As soon as it got dark the boys started to bug us to take them hunting. We explained that it had to be pitch dark. Once it was dark enough for the three of us to take the boys we gave them each a pot, a cooking spoon and a bag to put the Snipe in. We explained the very important details of catching a Snipe. They were to go out into the fields as close as possible to the tree line and make as much noise as possible banging the pots and making a whooping sound. Once they saw something move in the grass they were to shine their flashlight at the bird to stun it and then they would actually be able to catch it with their bag.

So off the boys went into the field as the adults stood on the trail just about ready to bust a gut. They were making so much noise that it was almost embarassing. Sarah was out with them to egg them on and actually pretended to catch a Snipe but pushed a hole through her bag saying it got away.  That really got them excited about the possibility of cathing a Snipe.

Gullible. Just plain gullible. This was going on a solid 10 minutes with us shouting directions to go closer to the tree line and make more noise. They followed our directions. Finally we brought them back to the trail and asked them if they really thought that making all that noise at night would help them catch anything but mosquito bites. It took awhile for them to realize that we had just tricked them. We all laughted so hard still in disbelief that the older boys were not feeling foolish enough to think we were tricking them.

The next morning, Snipe Hunting was the topic of the day. The boys continued to share how they could not believe we tricked them and that they could not wait to do the same to their friends at home. They really did like that we were able to pull one over on them. Going out Snipe Hunting did not have the same impact if you were not camping. Can't wait to hear their stories.

Mother's Day 2012

Another Mother's Day, another Mother's Day campout. We figured out this weekend that this is our 35th Mother's Day campout. That just does not seem possible! The tradition started when I was a little girl and we would meet my Aunt and Uncle for an annual campout each Mother's Day. My camping buddy, Grandma Agnes, always came to. I have years and years of great photos. Unfortunately as the kids got older and got married and we all now have our own kids we don't get to have perfect attendance but none-the-less the annual campout continues.

For the past several years we have been meeting at Prophetstown Campground in Lafayette. It is perfect because it is a half way spot between me and my Chicagoland family. This year Sarah, her husband Pat and son Liam came with their camper. I stayed with them. As a matter of fact when you looked for a camper they got one with space knowing that I would be the add on. John calls camping a Holiday Inn instead of a Hilton so he often takes a pass. This weekend he was working so he had no choice. Both Mark and Liz had to work as well. 

My mom and dad went earlier in the week and made a longer trip. They were joined by my brother Kevin, his wife Lynne and their 3 boys. That was a treat too because as the boys are getting older they don't all come. My brother Pete was out of town on a different vacation.

The weather was perfect. We got in some hiking, visited a local winery, made some great cakes in the dutch ovens and our favorite...foil dinners! The best part of the trip this weekend was snipe hunting. We really pulled a good one over on the big boys. Way to funny!

The next family campout is Halloween weekend!

Celebrating Mark's Milestone

Mark turned 21 this year. Unfortunately on his birthday he had class until midnight. We were able to surprise him with a birthday cake and I made him a Margarita. Pretty much ate and went to bed. He was tired and it was way beyond my bedtime.

Although Mark's birthday was April 25th, everyone's work schedules have made it tough to celebrate his birthday together.  

The following Saturday, I treated Mark, a couple of his
friends, and Liz to an evening at Howl at the Moon in downtown Indianapolis. Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano bar. It was exciting. The music was top notch. The people were packed into the place and there was little chance that we would get a seat. It was quite the night for other different celebrations, especially bachelorette parties. After about an hour we actually got a seat. The music went on all night long. It was pretty loud so the only way to communicate was through texting. After we left, I decided to take the group to Steak N Shake so that we could spend some time talking about the evening and further celebrate Mark's birthday with a shake. 

John was unable to come with us to Howl at the Moon because it is Prom season so the next celebration was with John, Mark and I. Mark wanted to try Fogo De Chao downtown. Fogo is a Brazilian steakhouse with 15 different kinds of meat served gaucho style. Liz did not go because she is not much of a meat eater.

What was really cool was that each person had a paper disk like a coaster that had a green and red side. You put the green side up when you wanted more food, red to stop. The disk allowed me to eat the meat as it came out so that it was always hot. The best part was the lamb. It was amazing.

One more celebration for Mark. Greek Cooking School next week. Look for pictures!

Tapping into my Creative Side

A year ago I was given a gift certificate to Wine and Canvas in Indianapolis. It is a place where folks can go with absolutely no painting experience, take a step-by-step class and end up leaving witha painting. I decided that if I was going to take a painting home, I wanted to be able to hang it somewhere in the house or at my office. I looked for a painting theme I liked with colors that would match. My gift certificate also was for two to paint so I wanted to coordinate the event with Liz.

For months I kept trying to get into a class to paint poppies. The painting looked like the fields in the Wizard of Oz. After months of trying to coordinate Liz's schedule with mine I gave up and decided to do Black-Eyed Susans instead.

We walked into class and there were about 20 other people there with us to paint these simple yellow flowers. We had a great instructor who was also quite entertaining. Liz and I felt he worked through the process a little bit too slow but also realized that he had to balance his pace for the whole class.

On the way to the class I shared with Liz that I was afraid my perfectionist personality might make it a bit frustrating to paint. Funny, we get to class and are introduced to an Impressionist painting and the first thing that our instructor says is that people who are perfectionists will have the most difficulty in class. Yup, that was me. I could not let things go and kept trying to fix things that should have been left alone. He even teased me once to put down my brush when we were all suppose to be taking a break to let the paint dry. I am not thinking that a second career in painting is in my future.

We created an 11 x 14 painting on canvas. We used acrylic paint and stopped in between parts to allow the paint to dry. We started with the sky and the grass. It was quite interesting to see the many different shades people were using. Each had a unique look to it. As our instructor shared, each of us would like someone else's better but when we got home and had nothing to compare it to we would like it better. He was right! I decided on warmer colors with sage and heather blue while Liz chose brights colors.

As soon as we got home and put the paintings on the counter, Liz and I both decided we actually did like them much better once we got home. John took a look at our paintings an immediately commented that he would pay money for Liz's but not mine.

The best part of the evening was spending some time with Liz. We are both so busy and don't always get to have quality time together. What a blast!

The Future is Listening

I had a wonderful birthday earlier this month. It seems to fall over spring break each year but there were people at work during that week and we enjoyed eating lunch together. My administrative assistant gave me a lovely scarf. Probably because she sees me wearing so many. I love it, animal print. Don't have one like in my collection.

My buddie Katie made a great lemon cake. That was a treat. She also gave me my favorite giner cookies. I cannot wait to eat those as well. Juan made me breakfast early in the morning. I was thinking he was up to something that morning. He woke up really earlier and then at a couple points asked when I thought I would be downstairs. I usually have coffe and some yogurt that I take along to eat about 9:00. When you wake up at 5 AM each day, eating is not a priority that early. 

When I went downstairs at 6:00 AM, John had quite the spread. An omelet, juice, a bagel, yogurt. It was great but a pretty big breakfast for me. I enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. What a treat.

Later in the week, I was able to hear about what will be happening to me soon. Katie took me to a psychic for a birthday treat. Her name as Linda at the Pyramid of Enlightenment. We both entered together and asked if it would be ok for us to hear each other's reading. She said yes but that she might her things from both and go back and forth. We wanted to have our own but she said it was too late because we entered to room together already. That was ok, we listened to each other's readings.

According to Linda, I am in a lucky streak. She explained that I should not plan to win millions or go out and spend silly but that I should expect some luck with money. Hmm. The $640 million power ball is over and I only got 1 number right. Needless to say I will buy a couple lottery tickets from time to time. She mentioned a few items that are really true to me. One in particular was the fact that it was ok that Juan and I often travel alone and not with each other. That is right we do. She said she saw us together for a very long time. Sorry Juan, you are stuck with me.

Hope the lucky streak is correct, I need one!

Hoppy Easter

Had a super Easter weekend up in the Chicago area. Both my brothers and my sister and their families were there. Just Liz and I from Indy as both John and Mark had to work. I just love having slumber parties at my sister's house!

I was challenged all weekend as my 3 week sore throat continues. I am really getting sick of it. Never ran a fever. Started with allergy symptons 3 weeks ago and then started a sore throat that has felt like I swallowed a razor now for 3 weeks. As a matter of fact, someone at work was just sharing the same story. Some kind of bug that just won't let go. Needless to say, that caused me to have trouble sleeping because I was uncomfortable and could not stop coughing when I was laying down.

Dinner was great as usual. Mom made ham. I had a broccoli and rice casserole and Sarah made great cupcakes and lemon cakes. The best part of the day was watching the kids find eggs. Sarah hid 2 for each kid. Funny that the older kids had the worse time finding them. In the end, Max could not find one egg and Sarah forgot where it was. It caused a great bunch of laughs. On Sunday Liam had to find 39 eggs. Can you tell he is an only child :)

As tradition I had the kids sit on the porch for a picture. It is rare that all the grandkids are together and we again were missing two people. Mark was at work and Nick in the Army in California. The youngest is Devin who is 4 and the oldest Liz who is almost 23. Notice if you don't already know, Liz is the only girl. Mom and Dad were blessed with an over abundance of grandsons. Liz I guess gets to be the princess. It was a treat to have her there. She has not been up north in over a year because she usually is working but recently changed jobs and has weekends off.

Liz and I got home Sunday and I prepared an Easter meal for my family. Pretty much a repeat of Saturday. Just had a taste for ham. I made mash potatoes too. And yes, Mark, they were really potatoes peeled and boiled to mash and not from a box. Oh he hates when I make fake potatoes.

Deb and I Divvy it up!

Before John and I had children, we lived in Highland, IN. Just a few doors down lived another couple our age, Steve and Deb Gallas. We quickly became friends. Additionally John and Steve both worked at NIPSCO at the time. We had our first children just days apart from each other. Liz born on June 14th and their adopted son Mark was born on June 19th. 

It was great to start raising our families together and share experiences. Just a couple years later, Deb gave birth to their second son and our Mark was born. The boys joined the kids on Cottage Grove Avenue. John and I felt the house was getting too small and moved to Dyer. It was very sad because we were quite close but Dyer was just 20 minutes south and saw each other frequently.

As the kids got older we saw less of each other as happens when kids get busy. When all the kids were in high school, we moved to the Indy area. We kept in touch from time to time but what really turned out cool was that Deb comes to Indy quite often each year.

Deb is a speech pathologist and attends professional development workshops in Indy a few times. She called once to meet for dinner but I insisted she instead stay in our spare room so we could visit all night. She did and it has been wonderful for us both. Each time we see each other, we just start up talking like time never passed. 

Each March the Gallas family comes to Indy so the boys can attend the high school basketball tournament. Deb comes along to do shopping but now that I live in the area, we plan a Girl's Day Out! This year we were hoping to take in a cooking class. We are foodies! We both love cooking. We both love fine food and trying new and unusual dishes. As I planned our day, it was a no brainer that we try a new restaurant in Carmel, Divvy.

Divvy is a sharing plates restaurant. Its menu consists of contemporary small plates meant to be shared. What a great place for foodies! We had a very knowledgeable waiter who suggested we start with 3 plates. First up, Goat Cheese Cakes, Grilled Eggplant, and a pork dish. They were amazing. We both liked the Goat Cheese Cakes the best. They had a crisp outer shell. On top was a fresh basil sauce, reduced balsamic vinegar and tomato confit. OMG! My taste buds were going nuts.

In round two we ordered a Corn Brule, that was the waiter's suggestion. We asked him to tell us his favorite food. He was right, it was awesome. We also ordered a Whipped Feta Spread and a Strawberry Gorgonzola Salad. The Feta was something I am going to do at home for sure. The flavor was incredible. There were pieces of Italian bread brushed with olive oil and charred on a grill or stove top. Then there was Feta that was whipped with olive oil and cucumbers. We both just sat there eating while ooing and ahhing.

We were done after a couple hours of chatting and 6 selections. The next stop was to the Flying Cupcake down the street for dessert. Deb had a Key Lime Cupcake and I had the Red Velvet Elvis. We shared again to try two flavors. Our foodie journey did not end before going to Mass Ave for chocolates and wine.

After seven hours of talking and snacking around central Indiana it was time to take Deb back to her hotel. Another great spring trip for us both!

Our Karate Kid

While I was up north for Liam's birthday I took the opportunity to watch him during his Karate lesson. Each week when I talk to my sister she seems to always be taking Liam to karate. 

Liam was digging in the garage one day and found his father's old karate gear. Asking what it was and what Pat did, they decided to take LIam to a Takewondo school in Homewood to see what it was. It did not take him long to find interest in the sport. Pat also gained a renewed interested and the two of them joined the class.

They have been attending now for several months and really love it! They are both in the leadership program as well which allows additional class time. They also began competing leaving many events with multiple trophies or medals.

As I sat and watched the class with my sister, it sure takes a lot of dedication to attend but also to be the driver. My sister sits in the waiting room several hours a week. As hard as they are trying to get her to join too, she has yet to show any interest.

This is turning out to be a great thing for Liam. He not only does several drills but also is learning combat weapons and some type of fighting that requires him to wear padded gear. Looks kinda strange to see a sport where people are hitting and kicking each other. Where they can hit your head but not below the belt.

He is excelling and has found his niche. I am looking forward to going to a competition one day soon!

Happy 10th Birthday to Liam

Went up to the Chicago area this past weekend to celebrate my nephew Liam's tenth birthday and the 10th anniversary of my sister's 29th birthday. Ever since Liam was born, poor Sarah has lost her birthday. There was plenty of cake, well ice cream cake, but none with Sarah's name on it.

Since this was Liam's double digit celebration, I thought it would be a great idea to really make him work for his gift. He did not ask for much but did mention that he is trying to save up for a thousand dollars and would accept cash. I don't really like to give cash. It is pretty boring.

Not to disappoint, I did decide to give Liam some cash as well as an iTune gift card. But I was not going to allow him getting cash to be easy or boring. I started with a plastic puzzle cube that I found on Amazon and slid the money and gift card inside it. I added some sequins just so that when we was working the puzzle it would make a mess.

I then wrapped that puzzle and put it into another box. In that layer I also put 10 pieces of his favorite candy, Crabby Patties. I also put on a card to egg him on. I then wrapped that box up with clear packing tape from end to end.

That box then went into another box that I wrapped with duck tape before placing in another box with 10 Smarties and wrapping it. I continued with another box with a clue and air heads and then another with the box and bulls eyes.

I probably would have kept going but I was getting tired of wrapping all the gifts. It would have been pretty cool to wrap 10 packages for his birthday but after 6 I was done. Funny, the actual final product was not nearly as large as I expected.

In the final box there was also a glitter bomb. I am getting pretty good at sending glitter bombs. I put glitter or small sequins in envelopes and boxes so that when someone opens them there is a big ole mess on the floor. Fun Fun!

Doggy Coach Potatoes

Rush, Rush, Rush. Go to bed, get up early, work all day, watch a little TV or read a book and repeat. The day of a busy human stretches beyond the 40 hour work week. It is actually pretty darn hard to get my work done in a 40 hour week. I am not complaining because I choose to work late a few nights a week to stay ahead and I choose to do the work I do and I love it! But, my dogs have it made!

All three of our dogs are rescue dogs. Our oldest Sally is a Beagle Spaniel Mix. She is very obedient and easy to train. She loves to be around people and always happy. Her only problem is she likes to talk A LOT! And, for a dog that means bark. It can get annoying for sure. 

Our middle dog Buddy is a Beagle Mix. He is our loner. Buddy is by far the best behaved dog. He can go outside with you and not have a leash. He rarely barks. Not the best at learning tricks but by far the calmest of the dogs. He is happy laying in the sun or can be found somewhere in the house away from people and he is happy that way. There is really only one time he wants to be by us. When it storms. Then he becomes a big chicken and cannot get close enough to us. He also likes to ask to go outside to do his duty even when he does not have to in order to get a treat. But, we are on to him.

Eddie is our youngest dog. He is the full beagle found by my friend in Southern Indiana. She tried for 2 years to find his owner before giving him to us. He is little and cute. He is afraid of everything. If you move too fast, if you drop something or make a loud noise he will go running. He is still working on understanding commands. He is always wanting to sit on my lap and snuggle. It is easy for him because he is little. If I don't let him sit on my lap when I am in the family room he will cry until I let him up. He goes crazy over popcorn. Therefore when anyone has popcorn he is their immediate friend hoping he will get some.

These three dogs are so lucky! But, we are lucky too that they are part of our life. Makes coming home after a long day worth it. 

PS- you should see the dogs arrange their pillow before laying on the couch. It is pretty funny!