Found in Fishers

Last campout of the summer

Mark and I went to Lafayette over the weekend for the last family camp out of the summer. Of course we went to Dog N Suds but we also had a family go-cart race. Pat won. The cars did not have power steering so I was had a hard enough time making the hairpin turns let alone trying to drive really fast.
After we got back to the campground, Liam decided he wanted to fly his kite. He lost interest pretty darn quick and we surely were not going to stand in the hot sun flying a kite. Liam went to play with some new friends and we attached the kite string to the metal pole supporting the tree. There we were, sitting in the shade watching our kite in the sky. It was fun. The lazy way of flying a kite. Look closely at the picture of the tree. The blue plastic is the handle where the string is attached to fly the kite.

Car update: It is possible that Don Hinds Ford in Fishers may have been able to successfully perform an exorcism on Mark's car. After the Westfield Mercury dealership blew me off after charging $85.00 the car and telling me there was something interfering with the signal of the remote, hmmmm, the car was checked in Fishers and the found that the hood sensor was defective. They disconnected the sensor. Let's hope for a quiet night.

And the beat goes on, and on, and on...

New car update. The daily panic alarm continues. Here is the scoop. I decided to take the car to the dealership to see if they could help me problem solve what is happening. Every night between 8:00 and 10:00 the panic alarm goes off one time. We have tried numerous things to no avail. I explained to the man in the service department what was happening. He looked and treated me like a moron. When I explained that I thought maybe it had to do with the temperature dropping and something effecting the car  in the evening he told me "Ma'am, cars don't know the difference between night and day" and proceeded to make a large exhaling noise while he put notes in the computer. $80.00 later the car comes home on the second day they had it and guess what, the alarm went off!
I talked to my brother twice over the weekend to see what he suggested. He gave me many suggested things to look for and finally I think we have it narrowed down to the trunk lock. He thinks what is happening is that when the weather is cooler in the evening, it is contracting the plastic in the latch which is probably cracked or broken and therefore setting off the panic alarm. Jeeze I have to travel 200 miles to get someone to help me! Of course I am ticked at the dealership and plan to contact the Mercury service department tomorrow to tell them so! In the meantime, I have an appointment Aug. 9th to drive the car up to the Chicago area to get a new latch on the trunk. I hope that is what it really is because I can't keep driving up north to solve this mystery. My brother thinks he might change all the plastic pieces in each door to make sure it is not a door but that will be after this week's further tests. If you come to Fishers, put on some earplugs for a couple hours in the evening.

Call the Pope, we need an exorcism

This is suppose to be an exciting time for Mark, his first new car and all. Well, the car looks great, runs great, but it's haunted! Yes, haunted. Every evening between 8:45 and 9 the car's panic alarm goes off...just one time...and for no apparent reason. I tried calling the previous owner, even left a few messages on his answering machine. Guess what, they have not called me back. I also have had 2 conversations with the Mercury dealership. Today they told me that I needed an exorcism performed but they do not have employees that work that late at night. At least we both had a good laugh.

So it looks like I may have to resort to calling the Pope. If Grandma was alive she would send a dollar to Our Lady of Snow and the problem would be solved. But she's not, so now I have to resort to the next best thing. I've done numerous internet searches. The dealership is telling me it sounds like a minor problem; maybe a bad sensor on the hood or in the trunk. At first I thought maybe it had something to do with the clock but the dealership told me that wasn't possible. Now I'm wondering if it has something to do with the car cooling off and some condensation hitting a weak sensor or with the temperature cooling off in the evening. We don't have any answers yet, but our solution may be to shut off the panic alarm. Cut the wires for heaven's sake! Sunday night I'm going to leave the car unlocked to see if that does anything. I have resorted to daily experiments. Must be the teacher in me. I need a life.

A New Set of Wheels in Fishers

You might remember in the winter how Mark was going to take driver's ed. He wasn't particularly interested because he didn't want to have to pay for his own gas and he figured we could chauffeur him from place to place. Then came May and I announced that I signed him up for the class because his parents were not driving him to college classes one day. One day behind the wheel and he was sold' it's cool to be able to drive. I honestly must say he's a very good driver, too! I love having someone else to run errands and will look forward to sending him grocery shopping.

With school around the corner and the start of a new job, we decided to do some car shopping. Checking the newspaper was our daily course of action. Mark would find the cars in his price range, I would call and get details about the car and make appointments to see them. Mark really wanted an '80 Chevy Chevette that was for sale but unfortunately it sold before we got to see it. We came upon this Mercury Sable in Beech Grove. I was especially attracted to the fact that it was being sold by the original owner and is very clean. After some negotiating I ended up paying the asking price (so much for my negotiating skills). I couldn't get the seller to go down after multiple attempts. With 100K miles it's in great shape: New tires, battery, and brakes. We are now the proud owners of FOUR cars at our house. And this is the third Sable in our immediate family; Mark joins his grandparents and uncle. Mark will need to keep the car cleaner than his sister's. That shouldn't take much effort, you should see the pit.

Lunch Lady, Lunch Lady, make me a lunch

Last week Fortune magazine named Hamilton County the top place to live in the United States. Today, Money magazine named Fishers one of the top ten places to live in the U.S. However, I'm seriously thinking about a career change that will relocate the family back to the Region.

When my nephew Liam spent the week with me he told me how much he missed me because I lived so far away from him. He wanted me to move back by him. He also was curious why I moved. I explained that I moved to Fishers for a new job and that I was really happy with the job I found with Hamilton Southeastern. He asked me what I did so I explained my work with the schools. He then announced to me that I could move to Lansing because they had a job open at his school. Lunch Lady! He said I'd be perfect...and he was darn serious. Liam wants me to move back up north to be the lunch lady at St. Ann's School in Lansing. I need to spend some time in the coming days considering his request. :)

The week has come to an end

Wow, what a busy week. Liam's favorite spot was definitely the pool. We spent every day at the pool; sometimes two times a day. On Thursday Liam, Liz and Mark went to see "Kung Fu Panda" on the new IMAX screen in Noblesville. They had a lot of fun. I enjoyed the down time. I actually spent the time getting a hair cut and preparing the boys' favorite meal: Lasagna.

Friday came around and the boys wanted to go bowling and to McDonald's. Although Mark has his driver's license now, I had to go along because he can't have a passenger without an adult in the front seat for the first 90 days. It was fun to watch them bowl. Liam of course used bumpers, Mark needs to practice. You could tell it's been a while since he bowled last. After bowling we went to the McDonald's Play Place in Fishers. Liam had a blast. After Mark and I had enough all it took was the mention of swimming to get Liam to come home.

Friday evening Sarah, Pat, my Mom, and nephew Nick arrived in town. It was good to visit with them. Liam of course was not happy that Nick came in town because Mark and Nick hang out and pay little attention to Liam. On Saturday we had a hard time getting going but when we finally did, we stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast, but it really was lunchtime. Following lunch we ran a few errands and then it was off to the pool again so that Liam could show his mom all the tricks he learned in Fishers. He swims across the pool now without a life jacket and jumps in the water from the ledge doing tricks. Sarah was quite impressed. In came the storms so we had some more down time. Pat took all the boys to play laser tag in Indianapolis.

What a full week of activities. Now it's time to go back to work and Mark will be starting band again next week. Some funny stories for the week. First, on the way to Fishers, Liam told me he was sad that he didn't have a brother or sister. I told him that for 1 week he would have a brother and a sister. He and Mark argued at times just like brothers. He immediately told me that was fine but he was not changing his name to Reichanadter. Second, Liam was with me when I went to get a watch battery. While in the jewelry store he told me that he wanted to buy something for his mom. I explained it was too expensive for him. He told me that was ok, that I could help him. Right! His second option was for me to just charge it.

Finally, Liam learned some routines around the house that he was not use to. One was scraping his plate and putting it in the dishwasher. He did it with a reminder but most of the time he would tell me, "Mommy doesn't make me do this at home." I told him sorry, Mommy isn't here. Same thing I said each morning when he asked me to help him get dressed. Sorry, Mommy isn't here. He did great and we all had a ton of fun (ok, I think Mark was starting to tire of a "little brother"). Our next mission is to find Mark a car. We started today but didn't have much luck. We will keep our eyes open for a good car for a teenager. Keep checking.

Fun in Fishers

This week Liam is spending a mini "vacation" in Fishers. He has planned this for quite a while so that he could avoid daycare during the summer. His request for the week: broccoli, peas, and beans. He just got back from Disney and said he could not wait to get to Fishers to eat some vegetables. Other than that I decided that since I was off work for the week we would do some fun things.
We started our week with a trip to the grocery store. Liam got Pop Tarts, fruit snacks, bologna and broccoli. Then off to the neighborhood pool. It's a good thing we finally have someone willing to go swimming since we pay a hefty price to have access to the pool. By the time the day was over, Liam literally passed out on the couch from exhaustion.

On Tuesday we decided to see "Wall-E" since rain was preventing any outside activities. Mark, Liam and I went to see the movie after having lunch with Liz at her job, Tijuana Flats.  Luckily rain did not prevent a second trip to the pool. At the pool were a couple HSE teachers. Liam had fun playing with their kids. At night, he found Mark's old BayBlade tops and had a blast playing with them while it stormed and the electricity kept going off and on.

Wednesday was the zoo. I had not been to the Indy Zoo yet and thought this week was perfect for the trip. We got their early and had a great time. We saw the koalas that are visiting for a short time. Our favorite part was the dolphin show. Mark and Liam liked petting the goats.  Liam was quite worried at the zoo someone would steal his stroller since it happened once before and was a bit pre-occupied with its location. Guess what we did when we got back...swimming. Peas with dinner tonight, another request from Liam.
Keep checking out the fun we are having in Fishers. We have a couple more days of fun. Oh, and some painting too. I told Liam to bring some painting clothes since we have to get the fence painted this week as well.

Watch out Central Indiana Drivers!

Today was Mark's big day. He got his driver's license! We woke up today to a very rainy day in central Indiana and an appointment at 10:00 for Mark to take his driving test. What a crappy day to test your driving skills, but we cannot control the weather. I took Mark over to the high school to meet the instructor. Fifteen minutes later Mark drove back with the instructor and a long talk was being had in the driver's ed car. I was a bit concerned. The instructor was using her hands a lot. I had a lot of confidence in Mark's ability to pass the test but it was taking so long to be done.
Mark came out of the car grinning so I knew the news was good. He passed! The timing was perfect so we went right over to the driver's branch to take the written test. Again, it seemed like it too forever. When they called his name, he passed! Yippie. The only glitch of the day was that he did not remember the last 4 digits of his social security number so thank goodness Juan was home and could give it to us fast. Guess what, Mark already went out on his own today. I am looking forward to a errand helper.