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.

March 2022

 Another hard month, but I very much appreciated all the family and friends' time.  And a little bit of sunshine.  While spring has barely started here in Indiana, it's on its way.  As always, I'm not heeding advice and we are planting two perennials this afternoon.  Here in the Midwest, they say not to plant anything in the ground until Mother's Day.  But we're hosting Easter so I'm doing it a bit early.

Several, several months ago our friends Cindy and Eric let us know that Ying Xin, their beautiful daughter-in-law and Martha Graham principal dancer would be performing at the IU Auditorium.  Over the months, the group of family and friends who would be in attendance to cheer on Ying grew to more than 70!  It just happened to be Mardi Gras as well, so we made a night of it in Bloomington.  Cindy and Eric hosted a reception after the incredible performance so we could meet all the dancers!

Laura and me with Ying (follow her on Instagram if you don't already!)

And with Lloyd Knight, another principal dancer with Martha Graham.  Again, find him on the Insta.  He's just incredible and so sweet.

With our friend Karen (who is also a dancer, but more of the Austin two-step variety.)

30 or so of us had a Mardi Gras dinner at Farm Bloomington first.  What a great night!

Not too long after my mom passed Cindy asked if Laura and I wanted to help her host a wine club event.  You know I LOVE a theme party!  It was the perfect distraction in the terrible Winter 2022 months.  We planned for an Ax Throwing/Lumberjack/Fire Pit/Flannel themed evening of fun with our friends.

It was an absolutely FREEZING March 12th, but we had an awesome evening (luckily we had a very warm indoor space as well!)

Remy turned 4

Dr. Able, our former neighbor and friend, turned 90

And I got to spend a couple of days with the boys on their spring break before we headed to Mississippi for a final service for my mom.  We laid her ashes to rest at the Veterans Cemetery.  It was a beautiful service, and it was so good to see family again so soon.

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We didn't plan ahead so took the dogs to MS where we also got to spend time with Danielle and Natalie.

I had friends over to watch "The Hundred-Foot Journey" where we enjoyed Indian and French lentils for dinner.  I love a movie night.

I ran into Brittany and her new puppy Dot at our local bookstore, which made my day.

And a cutie patootie Bailey doing what he does best, posing for any camera he spies.

Come on warm weather!

February 2022

 Hello everyone!

I posted December and January photos but am not sure that the blog posts were emailed everywhere they were supposed to go.  While December was fun because of family time, December and January were two of the worst months for me at work.  Many 14-hour days, weekends and holidays.  I went past burned out and almost ceased to function well.  And then when it was at its worst, my Mom passed away.  It has been an emotional start to the new year, but I still want to share our joys through this blog, even if much of what I'll share in February is just dog photos :)

David and I went to Chicago for my birthday.  I bought the tickets to the "Smartless" podcast live show months ago.  The event happened to be on my birthday, so I was excited for a short getaway with David.  Given that Mama's service was a few days prior, I was not sure we would make it, but we did.  And it was a nice break from all the stress and sadness.

For those not familiar with "Smartless", it's hosted by tv and movie actors Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman.

Their guests for the Chicago live show were Andy Richter (from the Conan O'Brien show) and Jeff Tweady from Wilco.

Speaking of my birthday, Shelly and family got me these adorable pajama bottoms with Bailey's and Remy's faces on them!  I love them!

John and Ginger had us over for a night with an Italian chef on Zoom.  We made chicken parmesan and it was amazing!

Violet hosted ladies from our Wine Club for Galentine's Day at Upland Brewery.  It was a really fun afternoon with friends.

Speaking of Violet, we saw the Broadway Show "Come From Away" in Louisville last month.  It's outstanding.  If you haven't seen it yet, I hope it comes your way soon.

And a few dog photos to finish out our month.  

Looking forward to spring which hasn't reached us yet in Indiana.  Thankful to all of you who have been so kind during this really hard time for our family.