Found in Fishers

Lucky had a lucky day.

The Found in Fishers I-Team once again took an active step to make the neighborhood a safer and better place to live. This time it was on behalf of Lucky. Friday night while Juan and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner, we caught a brief glimpse of a dog running through our yard. Juan only knew it was big and brown, so he went out to see if he could recognize the dog from the neighborhood. He could see that the dog had been in the pond and was pretty friendly. He could noticed a collar on the wandering pooch, who looked well cared for. We both went outside but couldn't find the dog any longer.

Thinking that it returned home we ate dinner and prepared to go out for the evening. When I opened up the garage door, in walked a beautiful and very friendly chocolate lab. He was obviously thirsty. We put a leash on him and decided to try to find his home. Not wanting to walk, we opened up the back hatch of the SUV and up he jumped. Driving up and down the streets of the subdivision we tried very hard to find the owners of our new pal. After about an hour we had no luck finding the owner.

We decided to put him in our fenced area to keep him from running in the street, and especially from the two busy streets not far from our house, lest he tangle with a 2000-pound vehicle. We then called the Fishers Police, who said they'd come out and get him. Our plan was to continue to check on him to make sure his owner was found. About an hour later a man from the neighboring subdivision saw the animal control vehicle and followed it to our house, asking the police if they found a stray dog. Sure enough, within moments he saw his pal, Lucky, in the gated area of our yard. It was obvious that Lucky found his owner because both were so excited...and Lucky ran when his name was called.

As a dog owner, we would have wanted the same for Sally and Buddy so that they were not put in danger near the traffic. Thank goodness that the owner found his dog that night. And better for us, too, as we probably would have been the proud owners of three dogs if Lucky was not lucky that day.

After 14 years, the safety deposit box is opened...

The suspense was killing me. I received a notice from the First National Bank in Highland formerly Sand Ridge Bank and originally Bank of Highland that my Safety Deposit Box rental fee was overdue. Enough was enough, we no longer live in the region and we surely are not using the safety deposit box. It had been years, 14 to be exact since the box was opened. I was curious. Would there be treasures that I forgot about? Money that was being saved for a rainy day? Stock certificates that I could use?

It was time to take matters in my own hands and find out what was in the box. Not knowing what the key looked like, I found a large variety of keys in the basement and decided to bring them all to Highland. Was it going to be a skeleton like key? Nope Mom said she remembered it looking more like a house key.

The safety deposit box was obtained 22 years ago this summer. When Juan and I got married, there were things that had to be placed in safe keeping, or that is what we were told at the time. Driving to Highland I was wishing and wishing that one, just one of those keys would open that box. I arrived inside the bank and asked for the clerk of the boxes. She took me downstairs and through a doorway. I give her my driver's license and much to my surprise I had in my possession the key. The key that would indeed alleviate my anxiety over the box. 

The clerk and I entered a room with ceiling to floor boxes. Big boxes, small boxes. Mine was on the top. She grabbed a ladder, inserted both keys and gave me the box and access to a private room. My heart was beating.  My hands were sweaty. I was starting to feel like I won the lottery. Then, I opened the box.

Now I know how Geraldo Rivera felt when on live TV in 1986 he opened the secret vault of gangster Al Capone hoping to show the public the find of the century only to be embarrassed by the empty space. I felt robbed. One file folder. Yes one file folder filled with worthless papers. A receipt from my Homestead Mortgage exemption, a list of credit cards from 1986, the lease to our apartment in 1985, some credit card statements, title information from our first home. I paid $30 a year for 22 years to house a file folder of junk! I cannot believe it. I can only hope that we had every intention of using the box for all of that important paperwork but never got around to it. OK, I did find some of Liz's bonds that she received as a baby but please what a total waste of box space. Here is the biggest joke of all. I was the last person in the box 14 years ago. Not only do I not remember that I thought the box was in Schereville not Highland. Talk about selective memory! I guess 1986 turned out to be the year full of worthless spaces.

Tragedy in Tanglewood: A Found in Fishers “I-Team” investigation

Good neighbors - the kind who keep weeds out of their gardens and mow their lawns - are wonderful to have. But what happens when good neighbors take short cuts? Well, Mister Rogers, it's no longer a beautiful day in the neighborhood, that's for sure, as illegal dumping has become a plight in vacant lots throughout Tanglewood. But tonight, the Found in Fishers "I Team" (You didn't know we had one, did you?) sprung into action when one neighbor went from good...to very bad...by dumping his yard waste in an empty lot across from our humble abode.

When the Found in Fishers "I-Team" confronted him by yelling across several vacant lots, the subject calmly climbed into his little SUV and drove away. But the I-Team special investigative undercover unit - otherwise known as an Enterprise rental car - calmly followed the culprit, who knew he was busted, driving through two other subdivisions and a Marsh parking lot. It was in the parking lot of the nearby Marsh that our Found in Fishers investigative reporter challenged him: Pick up the waste or we've got your plate number.

The Found in Fishers I-Team undercover camera recorded Mr. Bad Neighbor returning to the scene of the crime. He begins by using his cute little shovel to scoop up clippings, but with multiple piles he soon must drop to his knees to continue the clean up. While he was on his knees, perhaps he remembered his oh-so-in "Trust in God" Indiana license plate. and he prayed to his god for forgiveness. Finally, with his SUV loaded with bags, he prepares to leave the scene. Let this be a lesson bucko!

First, he claimed it wasn't hurting anyone. Then he attempted to reason his way out of wrongdoing by using the "everyone else does it" defense. A slippery slope to be sure since illegal dumping of yard waste attracts rodents and becomes a breeding ground of pesky mosquitoes carrying deadly disease. Asking for time to get some bags, the subject claimed he would return to the scene of his crime and tidy up.

Much to our surprise, 10 minutes later, and there he was...trash bags and shovel in hand. His clean-up was costly...more than 20 minutes of his precious time to scoop up the waste and haul it away. With the Found in Fishers I-Team on your side, you no longer have to let illegal dumping negatively impact you and your neighborhood!

A weekend full of movies, sales, & chairs

It's Sunday night, 19 days into a very hot and humid central Indiana August...and we might finally get some rain. It looks a little more stormy than I would like, but maybe the grass will get a much needed drink. We've had so many 90-degree plus days and no rain that the yard looks like someone spray painted it brown. I spent the weekend up north helping sister Sarah host a garage sale. It was so cold that my coat didn't keep me warm enough; I had to put a blanket around me. Not too many customers either, but it was still fun. We didn't make enough to quit our day jobs, but Sarah did get a garage load of things sold or shipped off to Goodwill. Funny how some of the things for sale were originally owned by me!

I also had a chance to see High School Musical 1 and 2. I guess this was the weekend children across America was waiting for. What would happen with Troy and Gabriella? My 5-year-old nephew even had a slumber party to watch the movie with his cousin. He insisted that we watch, too. It was fun. Kinda corny, but catchy music for the kids.

It's hard to say goodbye to an old friend. We spent so many quality hours together watching TV and napping. Ah...parting is such sweet sorrow.

Also got that new chair we wanted in the living room. It was a 3-hour odossey as the first one we brought home had a huge tear in the side of it. Unfortunately, the store we bought it from didn't have another others, but of course there was one on the other side of Indy! Our well-loved living room recliner that's gone from Highland to Dyer to Fishers had an unfortunate run in with two little dogs...not to mention any names - Charlie and Baxter - one of whom nibbled fabric from two different places. Okay, so maybe it was our fault since we must have let them get out of sight. Besides, we've wanted to replace the chair for two years. It's been loved. Sarah and I have a new pact. The person responsible for watching the dogs is responsible for damage, not the owner. That protects me from Sally the sock and underwear thief. Now the "Frazier" chair needs to go downstairs.

The last first day of school

It's so unbelievable that today marked the last first day of school for Liz. She is now a senior and as she reminds us daily, a one-semester senior at that. She's graduating mid-term. The kids were up at six, a real first for Liz, who usually rolls out of bed at 7:15 to leave by 7:20 a.m. After arguing about the bathroom for the better part of the morning, the kids ran around the kitchen trying to get everything together so that I could take a picture before they left for school. Not too excited about being the stars of the day, Mark and Liz were very hesitant about standing on the porch for the first-day photo. However, it just wouldn't be the first day of school without that photo. Off they ran with breakfast in hand for the first day.

Where did the time go? How can it be that I have a high school junior and senior this year? I also reflect that my first group of kindergartners at Ready School in Griffith are also high school seniors. I had a great day being the substitute principal at Durbin Elementary School for opening day.

This will be a super busy fall again. Mark is playing the trumpet this year in the high school marching band program, "The Sky's the Limit." Liz is tossing a rifle in the color guard. She already has the bruises to prove it. I'm so proud of them and their participation in the Hamilton Southeastern Royal Command and Guard. If you have not already seen the band program's website check it out at Hamilton Southeastern High School Bands. John is the webmaster, newsletter editor, and photographer. He'll miss some of their performances because he'll be at other venues hard at work as the official photographer for marching band competitions in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. His company, which he started a year ago, is Indy Event Photos. As for me, I'll add another 10,000 miles to my car traveling each weekend to watch their performances. Go Royals!

Cake, fried foods, and lots of sweating

What a great weekend! Sarah and Liam came down for some rest and relaxation. What a great way to get away from it all before school starts this week.

Sarah and Liam arrived earlier than usual on Friday night. Liam was proud to announce that they came alone leaving my older nephew Nick in Lansing. That was special for Liam as he knew Mark would give him all of the attention this weekend. Friday night concluded with what Sarah and I call our own pity party. Yup, a pity party. It is our personal sort of whining. A chance to vent about the stress of life and share some wine and cheesecake. It was great. We also agreed that the diet would go out the window on Saturday but it would be a one day only event.

Bright and early did not arrive on Saturday. We all slept in until about 8:00 AM, ok that is sleeping in to us. We started the morning out with some homemade apricot coffeecake as we planned our day. Not wanting to move too quickly, it was not until about 1:00 that we got off our duffs and went out. Our first stop was the Hallmark store so that Sarah could get a pair of Crocs (A Fishers must) and a birthday gift for Liz since we were celebrating her birthday this week (2 months late). Next was lunch with Liz at her job, Tijuana Flats. We left her a tip: "Don't eat yellow snow." She did not think it was as funny as we did.

After lunch we agreed to let Liam go swimming at the subdivision pool but it was hard to find some shade so we only stayed about an hour in the 95 degree heat. Once we were home the fun began with dinner. Dinner was birthday cake and cake flavored ice cream. Oh, and pop too. Laughing about that menu choice we decided we should head off the for Indiana State Fair. Our mission was to eat weird food.

Knowing that I would find some weird food from last year's journey to the fair, I quickly showed Sarah were to find all the food booths. We tried to avoid eating first by getting Liam to look at the animals but he thought it smelled too much. Add to that, they sold pork sandwiches outside the Pig house, Beef sandwiches outside the Cow house, you get the story. Is that cruel?

After we let Liam go on a couple of rides, we started the night snack-fest by eating fried veggies and fried sauerkraut balls. The sauerkraut balls were delicious.That's what happens when you let a couple Germans loose at the fair. Next up was fried cheese, some lemon shake-up, sno-cones that the boys shared, and to top it all off we had cherries piled high on a funnel cake.  Juan contained himself, ate a turkey leg. We were way too full to eat our planned fried twinkies and fried snickers but we decided early on that the fried Pepsi was not something we were interested in trying (Fried Pepsi is an elephant ear made with Pepsi instead of water and smothered with a thick Pepsi syrup).

As we drove home, we could hear our stomachs churning and wanted nothing more than a giant glass of water and a good belly rub. Thank goodness we did not need the free Pepto they were passing out at the fair.The night ended with a movie and some great tasting cherry wine. Where did the day go so quickly?

Next weekend I am traveling up north to help out with a garage sale and hang out for a couple days.

Let me introduce you to Emily

In one of my blog entries while in Beijing, I shared with you a touching experience I had meeting a 15-year-old high school student at the New Oriental School. Her name is Xiaoyi Lei. Xiaoyi Lei does not live in Beijing, but rather was there for 2 weeks participating in a summer camp language course at the New Oriental School. For the Chinese, this is a very expensive program at which students receive intensive instruction in English. It's a program that a family will make extreme sacrifices for in order to give their child an opportunity to receive support in learning the English language. In the class where I met Xiaoyi, there were 93 students!

College entrance exams are so incredibly challenging and competitive for Chinese high school students. A portion of the exam includes English. It is so important for them to do well on the exam that many high school students go to the school Monday through Saturday until 10 at night to study and get top scores on the exams. This is because only about 20% of high school students are able to go to college.

Xiaoyi was a very shy girl but she had one request of me. She wanted nothing more than an English name. How honored I was to be given the task to name this young lady. I gave her my business card and asked her to email me as a name was something that was special, and I wanted to think about it. I heard from Xiaoyi this week! She and I exchanged emails and I learned more about her. Xiaoyl likes to play sports; she especially likes swimming. She also enjoys playing the Guzheng, a Chinese instrument shown in this picture. Math is her favorite subject and she feels that she is a very good student. Xiaoyi told me that she spends long hours each day studying in order to pass the college entrance exam in a couple of years.

I have given her the name, Emily. After searching through names and their meanings, I found Emily was a perfect fit for Xiaoyi. Emily is of English origin meaning "to excel." What a great way to describe Xiaoyi and what I hope for her future.

Can I have some cheese with that Whine?

That seems to be the ongoing theme of the week at our abode. Whining. Yes, I said whining. It appears that things went just dandy when I was away for 5-plus weeks, but oh how soon everyone gets back into their old ways...along with some good ol' whining. Seems all the pitching in while I was gone is out the window.

The kids are whining because it is so hot at band camp. Ok, I will give them that one. Temperatures have been in the mid-90s with a heat index of 105. Liz is whining because I need to use her car. She's also whining because her work schedule conflicted with color guard, and therefore had to give a co-worker her Monday tips in order to get him to work for her today. Mark is whining because he had some sort of reaction to the sun on his arm during band camp. Oh yeah, he's also whining because I failed to buy Flaming Hot Cheetos at the store on Saturday. Poor baby.

And, let's not forget the chief whiner of the week, Juan. He was in a car accident and all, but talk about over doing it. He is not suppose to be moving his wrist, which the doc thinks has a fracture. He whines that the brace he wears itches too much. Add to that the whining about his car not being repaired until September and the whining about a car rental...yada, yada, yada. I want a turn. I want to whine too! Let me think about it for a bit and I will come up with something good to whine about.

Rest and relaxation in Fishers....not

Just when I thought I might be able to get some peace and quiet by being back home in Fishers, things just started up again. The last week was very busy for the kids with band camp daily from noon until 9 pm. It was really hot for them and next week it's suppose to be worse, with a heat index of 105 degrees. I was also at the annual administrator's retreat in Brown County, Indiana, about and hour and 15 minutes from home on Thursday and Friday.

This time last year while at the retreat, I was startled by a phone call from my sister that my mom was going into surgery to have a "heart window" opened up. She ended up in the hospital last summer for about 2 months and thank goodness she's much better this year. While driving down to Brown County I thought about how glad I was that her health has improved. During dinner at the retreat I commented to one of the principals that I thought I should probably call home and give my family very specific contact information. I noticed I missed a call but 10 minutes earlier. There was a message from my husband that he was hit head on in a car crash and on the way by ambulance to the emergency room. I could even hear the sirens blaring. I did talk to him for 20 seconds but he had to go.

Not knowing anything else, I tried to call the hospital for information with no success, so started driving to the hospital. When I arrived he was full of bumps, bruises, and seat belt marks but other than that he looked okay. We waited for the x-rays and head CT; no nuts and bolts in the noggin'. It turns out he has a hairline fracture to his left wrist. The accident occurred right inside our subdivision when a man living near the front was distracted and crossed the center line hitting him almost head on. Good thing their speed was not much higher. Shoot, you should see the marks on the pavement!

According to Lincoln Mercury, this isn't the prescribed method for rotating tires.

When we arrived at home that night we were told to wake Juan every 2 hours as he was knocked unconscious in the accident. Since my kids don't sleep much anyway, they agreed to wake him up and drill him on easy questions. In the middle of the night he argued with Liz that our deceased dog, Ollie, was really alive. After they came to get me, I determined that he was kinda dazed from the pain meds and muscle relaxer. Too bad, Mark was having a blast asking him questions because of the funky answers he would get.

The car is an absolute wreck but the insurance company said on Friday that they are considering fixing it because of its value. Hope they decide fast and the process moves quickly. A special thanks to a neighbor up front named Cheryl. She came out and checked on John. She also took the names of the kids and drove over to the high school where they were for band and explained what happened. A couple of band parents took Liz to the hospital as well, and another took care of Mark. What a great band family we have!

We still have Sarah's two pooches. Things are going pretty good, less potty under the piano but we did catch Baxter tonight chewing on the carpet. BAD DOG! The travelers are arriving tonight about 2 a.m. from Florida to sleep, get the dogs, and prepare for the final leg of their trip back to Lansing. It will be nice to see them, even if it is for such a short time. Let's pray for a quiet Sunday!