Posted on Thursday, January 01, 2015
New Years Trip
Stacey, Linda and I packed up our things and a few tools and headed to
Daleville Monday morning. We grabbed a few sandwiches along the way and
arrived at the Daleville house about 2:30 PM. We unpacked and put Coco
in the cage, then went to Lowe's in Anderson to purchase two sheets of
plywood and a few other items. We made a quick stop at GFS for some food
supplies that had run out, then back to Daleville.
Tuesday morning,
after breakfast, I began installing a threshold on the door to the
basement to finish the tile job we had done on the kitchen floor. Linda
and Stacey went to see Linda's Mom in Pendleton while I was working. I
also installed a couple of metal pieces to protect the edges of the peel
'n' stick tile on the step down to the back door landing and on the
landing. Brent called while I was working and said they were on their
way and would be there in a couple of hours. After I finished working, I
sat down and was eating a sandwich, and they arrived. They quickly
changed clothes and headed to a indoor water park in Indy. About two
hours later, Stacey and Linda returned. About 5 PM Brent called and
asked if we would meet them and Liz and Jim at the Pizza King in
Anderson. We agreed and began preparing to go. We drove to 38th Street
and Columbus Avenue and went inside the Pizza King. They had Amber,
Clayton, Julie and Kyle setting at one table and they were in a booth
right across the aisle with an extra chair ready so the adults could all
set together. We all chatted about what had been happening in each of
our lives as we waited for the pizzas to be brought to the tables. The
kids were doing fine and things were working out well until the waitress
brought the pizza to the adult table. She said she had dropped the one
for the kids and they were rapidly preparing another one for them. It
didn't take long and it surprised me how well the kids waited for their
pizza. Now for the embarrassing part, I reached for my wallet and didn't
have it. Linda didn't have her purse either. Brent said he was paying
anyway, but I was still worried all the way back to Daleville, as I
didn't even have my driver's license with me. We drove back to Daleville
and picked up my billfold and then went to Menard's to buy a new light
for the bathroom, a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector, plus
a few other small items. Back at the house, Brent installed the smoke
detector in the hallway and we plugged in the CO detector before going
to bed.
Wednesday morning started with donuts for breakfast, playing
with the kids while Pauline, Stacey and Linda were preparing to go look
around in Anderson. Brent and I were preparing to work on the bathroom
ceiling. We took down the ceiling light and immediately realized we
needed a longer wire. We tried pulling it further down, but the 1950's
type insulation just pulled off the wire. I called Steve Wilson's
Electric and asked if they could send over an electrician. Yes, they
would be over shortly. Brent and I cut one of the pieces of paneling for
the ceiling and had it lifted up against the ceiling trying to screw it
to the ceiling joists. Right then is when the electricians knocked at
the front door. I braced the piece against the cabinet and answered the
door. I told them that was the fasted service call I had ever had
answered, then showed them they caught us with the paneling in the air.
We took it down and I showed the guys what I needed done. I showed one
electrician how to get into the attic while the other one went to the
truck for parts. Twenty minutes later their job was done. I asked them
to also repair an outlet while they were at the house. Done, all of it
in less than thirty minutes. Brent and I went back to working on the
ceiling when the electricians left. We struggled with the first sheet of
plywood, but finally managed to put it up against the ceiling and then
screw it tightly to the ceiling joists. I called "lunch time" and we
walked over to Elbert's and each of us ordered a sandwich and a beer.
Several people came in and started up conversations, Bobby Huffman was
one of them, as we drank the beers and waited on the food. We both had
another beer with our sandwiches. When we finished eating, we returned
to the house and put the smaller second piece up without much trouble.
The girls returned with the kids, so we had to quickly put up the tools
and make the place safe. Brent and I installed the new ceiling light and
called the job done for the time being.
It
was time to get ready to go to Shelly & Jeff Huck's house for their New
Year's Eve get together. Pauline and Brent left first with their kids,
then we took showers and dressed to go. The new light in the bathroom
made it easier to take showers and see while in the bathroom. Shelly and
Jeff had a lot of snacks and things to eat already on their kitchen work
bar, but what I noticed right away was a bottle of Fireball whiskey
setting in the middle of the table. The reason that had my attention was
that Shelly had been telling me, "NO whiskey!" a couple of times, so I
had purchased two bottles of wine. She checked as I sat the bottles out
on the counter, laughing the entire time. OK, she won that one. It
wasn't long though, until Brent cracked the seal on the Fireball bottle
and started filling up the shot glass size "red solo cups". Seemed like
everyone had a good time the rest of the evening. Then at midnight, Jeff
popped the cork on a bottle of champagne and everyone, that was still
walking, had a glass. They also had a nonalcoholic version for the
drivers and nondrinkers. We left sometime before 1 AM and Linda drove
the truck back to Daleville with Stacey, Julie and Kyle in the back seat.
Thursday,
we had toast with pb&j for breakfast and all the remaining donut holes
the kids wanted with a glass of milk. It wasn't long until Pauline and
Brent were there to pick them up. They were going to stop and visit with
Nana before going on home. We sat there and relaxed a while, then shut
things down and turned things off and headed back to the farm in KY. We
had to make a short detour where INDOT had the exit off of I-465 onto
I-65 south closed without any warnings. We made it home about 5:30 PM.
Checked on Daisy and unloaded, then a good nights' rest. I like going to
IN for a little while and visiting with friends and family, but it felt
good to be home.
Posted on Saturday, January 10, 2015
Kyle's Cardinals
We left the farm about 9:30 AM and drove the Malibu to South Edmonson
Elementary School to watch Kyle play basket ball. We were already seated
when Pauline brought Julie and Kyle into the school. They gave us hugs
and we talked a few minutes until it was game time.
After
the first quarter was over I could see that Kyle had improved since his
first game that we had watched before Christmas. He has a good coach
that is more concerned with teaching kids the fundamentals than being a
winner. I highly approve of this strategy at this age level. I wish the
league would not even keep the score, they do have a rule that everyone
must play at least half of the game, which is also good.
The
coach let each player be involved as much as possible. Both teams scored
more than I expected them to after seeing their first game, but Kyle's
team ended up behind 4 points when time ran out. I really don't think
Kyle knew the difference, he told me he had a "good game" and that is
what counts the most, that each kid leaves the gym with a positive
attitude about how they did.
Posted on Monday, January 19, 2015
January Thaw
It has warmed up significantly over the weekend. The predicted
temperatures are to be in the mid 50s or lower 60s for most of this
week. Linda received news on Saturday, that her friend, Kim Bourke, had
her Dad, Hoadley
E. “Pud” Flook, pass away. Linda packed her clothes and
was ready to go to IN, but was waiting on a call from Kim to find out
when the services were going to be. Kim called this morning and Linda
left about an hour later, so Stacey and I are in charge at the farm for
a while. Around lunch time we went to the Pool Room Restaurant to eat,
then I called Linda's cell phone to see if she was doing OK. She had
made it through Louisville and was nearly halfway to Indy when we
talked. Back at the farm, Stacey and I took Daisy for a run. We all
enjoyed being outside in the fresh air.
I
called again, about 7 PM, and Linda had made it to Daleville, turned on
everything and was at Kim & Kenny's house at that time, talking to them.
She said everything went OK during the trip and the Daleville house was
in good shape, but there was snow on the ground.
Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2015
Best Kind Of Snow
This is the best kind of snow. It comes during the night, looks really
pretty, doesn't cover the roads or driveway and then is gone by noon.
This
was also the first snow accumulation of the season.
Linda
returned from IN about a half hour after noon. She wanted to talk about
everything, but was tired from driving, so we talked a little while,
then she took a long nap.
Posted on Saturday, January 31, 2015
Kyle's Day
Stacey, Linda and I headed to another one of Kyle's basket ball games
this morning. I called to find out which school the game was at and
Pauline said Julie and her were remaining home to get things ready for
Kyle's party in the afternoon. We met Kyle and Brent at Kyrock
Elementary just a few minutes before the game began. Kyle did better
this game than the last time, he was able to get a couple rebounds and
was paying attention during most of the game. After the teams slapped
hands when the game was over, we asked Kyle if he would go with us and
he did. We let him open two birthday presents while we were in the car.
One was a book and the other was a Pacer shirt from Stacey. Kyle put the
shirt on while I was driving. It was lunch time when we made it to
Bowling Green, so the first thing we did was stop to eat at Mancino's. I
ordered while Kyle checked out the vintage Ms Pac Man game and Stacey
and Linda retrieved our napkins and drinks. I took a picture of Kyle in
his Pacer shirt right before the girl brought our food. It looks like he
was being sworn in, but he's really showing me he is going to be 5 years
old on Tuesday, February 2nd.
When
the food arrived, Kyle ate everything we had ordered for him and some of
our stuff. I think basket ball gave him a good appetite. After our
lunch, we headed to Toys 'R' Us and walked up and down each aisle
letting Kyle stop and check out some new toys. We bought him his second
choice, a remote controlled motorcycle and all the batteries it needed
to make it run. His first choice was some kind of flying thing that
didn't look like it would last. Anyway, Kyle was happy with what he
picked out at the store and we went to take him home.
Pauline
and Brent were home with Julie and her friend, Amber, who had showed up
early for the party. Brent put the batteries in the motorcycle and it
didn't work to well, so they may have to return it. That was still to be
decided when we headed home about 3:30, a half hour before party time.
