Found in Fishers

The boys are getting comfy

Baxter and Charlie (Sarah's dogs) are getting quite comfortable. When they cannot be supervised, they live in a cage in the kitchen. Their favorite position is completely under the blanket. They are starting to get really comfortable at our house. What's funny is when Baxter and our one dog, Buddy, go outside. They are the only two allowed outside for any length of time because both Sally and Charlie like to bark. Buddy lays on the chaise while Baxter lays on the top step of the deck. It's so cute. When I'm walking around the kitchen the weiners follow me around. When I sit or lay down, the two dogs immediately jump on my lap and nap. They never seem to lay by themselves or on the ground. I think they're spoiled. And today Baxter actually asked to go outside. He came up to me and ran to the door...he's finally getting it. And to think, we all thought he was the dumb one! Off to take the two little ones for a walk.

Parading Around Town

Today was the Fishers Freedom Festival Parade. This is an annual tradition but only the first time I've had a chance to see it since moving here three years ago. In our first year we moved right after the parade; the next year it poured rain and the band didn't march. Last year I was in China. Today, the weather was wonderful for a parade. Warm, sunny, and a bit of a breeze. Here is the lowdown on the parade; it's a bit different than up north.

First, we had a variety of emergency vehicles. That was the same as our old stomping grounds except they're much more considerate in Fishers. No loud, blaring sirens for the first section of the parade. But we did have tractors. Don't often see those up north. There was also another oddity that I wasn't use to seeing: Grocery carts. Lots of 'em being pushed along the parade route. They seemed to be used to carry stuff like candy for the crowd or water for the walkers. Target, however, had grocery carts that actually made sense.

Speaking of candy, the local dentists must have called the town hall. There was hardly any candy! Up north you could be guaranteed enough candy to fill a small bucket. The kids next to me didn't even have enough candy to fill the palm of their hands. What's up with that?!  We did have a lot of the traditional parade entries: Annoying Shriners, politicians, military folks, church floats, Boy Scouts, parade kings & queens. We also had some interesting things as well, like a strange group of bikers who would stop from time to time and run around their bicycles. We even had an Uncle Sam on stilts.

The reason I came to the parade wasn't so much to celebrate our country's birthday as to see Mark. This is his last parade as a member of Hamilton Southeastern High School's Royal Command & Guard. He is in his fourth year of marching as a high schooler and on his 4th instrument as well. He began with the mellophone, then flugel horn, next came trumpet (his "regular" instrument), and this year he's playing baritone. Mark was asked to switch from trumpet to baritone for the marching season. Check out the beautiful new silver baritone; $5K each! Mark has to wear gloves to keep the oil from his fingers from messing up the finish. What a beautiful instrument. Thank goodness we were able to rent it from the school at a reasonable rate. Mark is second from the right. I was the proud Momma today!

The Boys are Back in Town

We were on a road trip this weekend. We started up in Lansing to go to a graduation party in the old neighborhood then off to Sarah's. On Saturday we woke up to celebrate Liz's and Nick's birthdays with breakfast before going over to the ballfield to watch the painful process of 5 and 6 year olds trying to play baseball. The game was rained out so we left early for Michigan City in preparation for our friend Kelli's wedding. What a nice wedding; simple and thoughtfully planned. Sentimental.

After a long night on a horrible Holiday Inn mattress we were off to meet Pat, Sarah, and Liam in Merrillville so that we could take the "boys" back to Fishers with us. Yep, crazy as we are we agreed to take care of the Baxter and Charlie while Sarah and family are gone for a week. But in reality we're watching the dogs for three weeks. With the price of gas, it made sense for us to take the dogs with us to Fishers while we were in the region. And, since they are not getting back until the 4th of July weekend, it looks like we're keeping them until July 11th. With that in mind, I've made a list of rules for our houseguests:

Rule #1: Absolutely no pooping under the piano.
Rule #2: Absolutely no pooping on the rugs by the washing machine.
Rule #3: Learn to poop on the rocks like your cousin dogs, not on the deck. You are not princes!
Rule #4: No chewing on the furniture. Baxter ate our last Lay-Z-Boy chair arm.

The boys were actually smiling when they arrived today. I know that sounds weird but when they;re in Fishers they really do smile. They've spent the last few hours chasing Buddy around the house having the best of fun. I'm thinking Sarah is enabling their pooping habits as she has already supplied me with a poop survival kit. I hope to save the wine for a no-pooping-in-the-house celebration, rather than a way to forget about the doogie do.

A trip to the jungle

Tonight was Jungle Jims. It was crazy. Looking for something to do to keep us busy and out of our hotel room, the group went to Jungle Jims. Jungle Jims is an international market. There were aisles and aisles of imported cheeses, wines, and a variety of other foods. It was fun going through the many shops checking out a variety of different things. The Durbin girls bought some postcards to write back to school, a tradition of the summer. As we walked through the stores and grocery, I think we did more laughing than shopping. This group of teachers is amazing. They are the best of the best! Durbin was the school I spent a lot of time at this year since their principal was on leave.

I think what I like most about this group is the conversations we have had over the last few days. After meeting national presenters for reading and writing we had some deep and challenging conversations about our practice. We are all pumped up to start school. Well, not really but we are excited about what we learned. I am thankful that they have allowed me to be a part of their group. It must not be easy to let an administrator in and talk so frankly about your teaching practices. I thank them for that.

At night we played Pok-E-No. Jeni brought the game to play at night. It is like bingo but instead of letters and numbers the boxes are cards like Ace of Hearts. The winner of each game got to eat an Air Head. That's daring. Poor Emily, she got sick from all the candy she ate today. Part of it is that she is  6 months pregnant and has been craving lots of odd things. Funions, Pringles, Sour Patch Kids. And I think she has ordered french fries with almost every meal.

The speakers at workshop continue to inspire me. I have never been to such a powerful workshop. I like Ralph Fletcher the best. I've read so many of his books on writing. He has inspired me to keep a writer's notebook to create ideas and for my blogging. I also ordered his latest memoir, Marshfield Dreams already to read as soon as it comes in.

What a great group!

Field Trip to Cincinnati

Off to Ohio, me and 6 HSE teachers to learn more about reading and writing. I am on a field trip to the Lakota VIEW literacy conference. What an incredible first day. Our day was filled with some of the nations best authors on teaching reading and writing. Today I heard Katie Wood Ray, Ralph Fletcher, Isoke Nia, Carl Anderson, and Tim Rasinski. All in one day!! Tomorrow we will hear more from these authors as well as Lester Laminack. This workshop reminded me of how much I miss teaching. What a refreshing way to spend the week.

After the first day's workshop, our group made a trip to the local IKEA. I was excited to hear there was an IKEA in Cincinnati. I was looking for more storage boxes and a pillow for Juano. He constantly complains about his pillow and frequently steals my pillow. By the way, last night I am sure he was sleeping on my pillow. Keep checking, I will tell you more about our trip.

Is today your lucky day?

I never quite know if I should be nervous on Friday the 13th or not. I have opened an umbrella indoors, I have broken several mirrors, I know a black cat has crossed my path, and I probably have indeed walked under a ladder.

The bad luck around here continues to be this horrible weather! It rained all day long today again. The areas that are seriously flooded got another 1-3 inches of rain over the last couple days. Watch the news and you will hear more about the fires in California, the horrible tornado at the boy scout camp, and the homes that fell right into the river in Wisconsin. Today I think Mother Nature is the one bringing the bad luck.

With the price of gas and the busy weekend, we are not going up north this weekend to celebrate Father's Day. I can't wait to tell you about the package I mailed Dad for Father's Day. No clues, keep checking.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Enough is enough. We have had some horrible weather the last week. A week ago Friday, the family followed a horrible storm down I65 that produced several tornadoes near our home in Indianapolis. Liz and her boyfriend Nick spent the evening in the sun porch looking at all the lightning. Two homes in Fishers burned to the ground from the lightening stikes. Dad said as he was driving it was tough to see the road but too bad to move on the shoulder and wait as he was afraid they would get hit.

Now we are having incredible flooding. The flooding is occurring just south of Indianapolis. Check out this picture from the Indy Star. This weekend Mark and John drove up to Chicago and spent some time with my family. I did not go as I was not feeling well and had many errands to run in preparation for a workshop I am running next week. Mark only went to hang out with his cousin Nick who was not home because he was stuck in Terre Haute due to the flooding. When things finally became clear, the weather in the Chicago region got really bad and Mark, Sarah, Liam, and Pat spent the evening in the basement waiting out a potential tornado that touched down in Richton Park near them.
Wow, we deserve some nice weather.