July 2022

 

July is always a great month, time with friends, enjoying the beautiful weather, and a lighter schedule.

Thomas and Brennan are in classes and working this summer so they are busy but we had a chance to see them a few times.  

Here are some highlights!

Karen and Bob had us over for dinner - a fun night with friends (Laura, Karen, Cindy and spouses not in the photo).  Bob is an amazing chef and Karen decorates for every occasion.  It was a beautiful evening at their home.

Cindy and Eric had us over for their annual fireworks evening.  QMIX puts on a great fireworks show each year and Cindy's and Eric's front yard is great for viewing the show.  This year they had a local ice cream truck come.  So fun!

(David and Greg enjoyed a cone)

My attempt at a healthy option below

Bailey and Remy enjoyed the pre-show and then we took Remy home.  The crowds and fireworks are not his speed.

But Bailey has always loved a good fireworks show!

The boys both came for the holiday weekend.  One of the things we started doing during the pandemic was all cooking a big meal together.  It's a ton of fun.  We made a big 4th of July feast.

Thomas got fancy filling the deviled eggs. 

For Laura's birthday we went to the Brown County Music Center (what a GREAT venue) to see a Queen cover band.  They were actually incredible!  We had a big group go for Mexican and then the concert.  A lovely night in Nashville, IN.

Gene and David with their pints

David and I joined part of David's team for a United Way bowling event.  We clearly need to bowl more - maybe this winter!!
 

Bailey was sleeping on the fireplace tile so I took my phone out to take a photo and he jumped up to pose.  He LOVES having his photo taken and always poses for me.

Thomas came home one evening and I made a big meal.  I also made my mom's walnut pie.  Instead of a typical pie, I made the pie in individual ramekins topped with ice cream instead of whipped cream.  It was so good and was a great memory of my mom.

David and I went to see our community theater put on "The Twelfth Night" (that's Brennan's 1st grade teacher in the lead role!).  We knew several people in the show.  Mill Race Players did a great job and this was the first time I had seen the play.  I had also never read it.  But I did remember that David gave me his senior portrait years and years ago and on the back he wrote a quote that he liked.  I remember looking up that quote and it was from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night so it was great to see this finally! I also found the photo :)

Seeing Willie Nelson in concert has been on my bucket list for years.  It finally happened on Saturday after two cancelled concerts due to COVID.  We went with friends to Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati (which we loved) to see the Outlaw Concert which is Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, and usually 3 or 4 other bands.  We had an incredible time and Willie was so so good.  I put several video clips of him singing on social media.  At 89 years old, it is incredible just how great he played and how he sounds.  Two of his sons sing and tour with him.  Micah was at this concert and sounds so much like him.  It was a great way to end the month.

Thanks Cindy for the bandana loan!

Me with Ginger and Laura

ZZ Top (they've been a band since the late 1960s!  They were huge when I was in high school).

Willie - looking 89 but sounding like 29!

Hugs to all of you!

April 2022 Part 1

 April was a big month.  I spent a lot of time with family and friends and went on 2 short and 1 big trip.  More on that big trip in the next post.  I am feeling better and better after a very hard Thanksgiving-Easter.  So good to spend time with so many positive people.

After 3 years, I finally got to see Elton John on his "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" farewell tour.  Friends and I had tickets in 2019 when Elton got sick hours before the show.  So then I looked forward to it for another year (and then 2), but COVID caused those concerts not to happen.  Finally, with new tickets and different friends, I was able to see him in Indy.  GREAT concert.  So much fun.  He sounds as great as when I first heard him on the radio in 1978.

Todd, Violet and me

Violet is always up for an adventure - this was our latest :)

April started out a little hard for me and David encouraged a couple of trips to see friends I have not seen in years.  The change of pace did me good.  I met my friend Kelly at Cake Bake in Carmel for her 50th.  What a gorgeous day.  Since I was only an hour away, I took the opportunity to visit Brennan at Purdue.  David goes up frequently but since I was working 7 days/week for 2 years, I rarely got to go.  We had a great lunch and got to explore campus a little.

One day on a whim I told David I was going to drive to New Harmony, Indiana to explore the interesting little town.  I've always wanted to go but it's really out of the way so I had not made the family trek there with me.  Armed with a book club Audible book and my Google maps, I took off and explored the tiny town of 800.  They have such an interesting history being settled as a "Utopian society" in the early 1800s, but then having some modern architecture designed in the mid 20th century.  It was a clever mix and a pretty little town.  The rain stopped just as I arrived.

The roofless church - a large outdoor garden church meant for all religions to use.

The shelter over the Holy Spirit statue.  The Roofless Church was designed by famed architect Philip Johnson in the early1960s

I also toured Richard Meier's Antheneum from 1979.  He designed one of our elementary schools and it looks very similar.  This building is now the Visitors Center.  Lunch, a stop at a State Park, and I headed back feeling very refreshed!

Our Litwits book for April was "Anxious People", set in Sweden.  Charlie and Jayne went all out on the Swedish theme and we had SUCH a good time discussing the book!

Morgan James sang at our Cabaret series.  If you don't know her, take a listen on YouTube.  She became wildly popular during the pandemic as she and her husband performed online, giving music lovers real/virtual concerts.  In a twist, I liked their original music as much as their covers.

She brought out her spaniels which I loved of course.

Speaking of puppies, ours enjoyed the sunshine that finally started to become a reality in April.  This is a rare photo of them sitting together without being posed :)

I think I might have Seasonal Affective Disorder.  The Indiana winters are getting to us.

If you ever find yourself near Dyersville, Iowa, you must go to the Field of Dreams movie site.  The farmhouse is real, the field is still there, and now there is another field (see the lights in the distance on this first photo) that the Major League Baseball officials have built.  The second annual game will be played there in August.  The home and grounds tour is really worth it.  The care that went into selecting this site (out of hundreds submitted from the US and Canada), the 4th generation family who owned the land, and the ongoing preservation is very touching.  I also met my girlfriend Janie who I had not seen since college in1989 - the same year the movie came out.  Janie, her husband Chris, and I had dinner and Dubuque.  My first time in Iowa.  A wonderful, albeit short, visit!

Our tour guide

We spent Easter as we usually do, with our friends the Borowskis and Towsleys.  We hosted and it was so much fun to have the boys home - we all 4 cooked a large portion of the meal.  It was great.  Our friends the Lirettes and Edgells joined all of us for dessert.  A perfect day with friends we've known for decades now.

Easter baskets for all 4 of our babies of course

The strawberry shortcake trifle Brennan and I made

When we were in Mississippi in March for my Mom's service at the military cemetery, we found this little bunny that my mom got on one of her travels many years ago.  He usually was displayed during Easter so I brought him home and created a little display for him during the season.  I liked having her close.

A walk one day at North Christian Church.  The sun is finally shining and providing enough warmth.

And then Laura and I took a little trip to Ireland!  More about that in the next post.