Indy

I’ve just gotten back from Indy and Chicago this morning. My flight arrived before 6 am. I have come straight into work for a full day to save on holiday and to keep me up so I can try to get the jet lag sorted straight away. However, now it’s 10:30 am and I am really struggling. I’m really, really tired.

John has gone to Madrid this week. He drove to Heathrow this morning for his flight, and I was able to see him for about 2 minutes as he got out of the car to catch his flight and I got in the car to drive home. I was glad at least that I got to see him at all. Originally we had agreed he would leave the car on a certain floor and I would pick it up from there as we probably wouldn’t have enough time to meet. It’s only because he was running late that I ended up seeing him at all.

My trip was really good. I got there about 10 days ago, on a Friday. I didn’t have the time or energy to do anything by the time I got in, so I pretty much went straight to bed. Saturday my brother’s family came over to my mom’s (where I was staying). I got to meet my newest nephew Robby for the first time. He was really adorable. Jesse is 2 ½ now. He says and does some pretty funny stuff. My aunt and uncle came over later with one of my cousin’s kids as well as one of my other cousins and his kids. It was great to see everyone. I couldn’t believe how much the kids had grown! I know it’s to be expected, but it also took me by surprise a little.

In the evening I had plans to go to dinner with my friend Tom and his girlfriend Tracy. I had never met her before so was looking forward to that. Right before I had left England I found out Reena was going to be in town from Chicago, so I knew I would see her at some point in the night. Saturday morning before my family arrived I was making plans with Reena and I found out Emily was in town from San Francisco! So we were able to have an impromptu reunion.

Tom had picked a really fancy restaurant called Elements downtown. Tracy knew the chef and he sat us and came out to talk to us again at the end of dinner. The food was amazing, and because she was friends with the chef he sent out two free starters for each of us!

Reena wasn’t able to come to dinner, so afterwards Tom, Tracy, Emily and I met Reena and her cousin Sunil in Broadripple for some drinks. We started at this fun bar called Bruges which serves Belgian beer (funny that!). Afterwards we went to the bar at Ambrosia for old time’s sake and had cosmos. We had a great night reminiscing and catching up. After a while Emily started to feel not so well and wanted to go back to Tom’s (where we were staying), and we did let her… but not until after a stop at Pizza Express for some breadsticks!

Tom and Tracy’s house was really cool. Tracy has owned it for a few years and has completely remodelled it. They have the sweetest golden retriever/lab mix as well as a beautiful long-haired black cat. John’s favourite dog breeds are retrievers and labs. I know they are good dogs but everyone seems to have those sorts of breeds so I’ve never been that into them. But their dog really won me over! I told her she had to stop being so cute and sweet because we couldn’t have John being right! :-)

I worked all week in the Indy office, so that kept my days busy. I got loads done as I always do when I’m in that office. I don’t know why it makes such a difference being over there, but I always get a lot done when I work over there temporarily.

Monday evening mom and I met Dusty and family at Chuck E Cheese. It was fun seeing Jesse play with all the different games. I spent a lot of time holding and kissing Robby. Jesse isn’t used to me as you can imagine and he was pretty shy around me, so I tried to give him some space so I didn’t overwhelm him. Dusty and I had a few competitions while we were there – ski ball, a basketball game, and air hockey. I may or may not have won these challenges, but if I didn’t win then you should keep in mind the fact that Dusty’s a cheater. As we were leaving I explained to Jesse that his daddy is my brother, the way Robby is his brother. He seemed pretty interested in this and seemed to warm up to me then, but unfortunately I didn’t think to have this conversation until 2 minutes before we left. So next time I see him I will be starting with this info!

Tuesday night I took mom and Jim out to Bonefish Grill as a thank you for their hospitality.

Wednesday I went to my dad and Gretchen’s. Her parents also came over. It was great to see all of them. They’ve been redecorating their house and it looks so different. It’s really beautiful. Everything has changed from the carpet to the ceilings, the fireplace to the furniture. Also I got to meet their puppy Sammy. She’s a 7 month old Britney spaniel that they’ve had for a few months. She’s very cute and completely nuts. Their other dog Willie is an adult dog now (she was a pup last I saw her) and she is a big sweetheart. Anyway, we had a lovely evening of catching up.

Thursday mom and I drove around the area where I grew up. It was so interesting to see how much the place had changed. My old high school now has a humongous football stadium. It’s really nice and completely unexpected.

Friday evening was my flight out to Chicago. Two flights to Chicago – the one earlier and the one later – were cancelled due to weather or something. We were lucky our flight even made it out, even though I was supposed to leave at 6:30 and didn’t take off until after 9:00 due to a broken part in the plane, a big thunderstorm in Indy, and windy conditions in Chicago.

Indy was completely crazy at the time because the college basketball championships were being held. When the flight after ours was cancelled the person who had to break the news said he was really sorry but the flight was cancelled, there are no hotels available, no rental cars, and no other flights out for three days. What those poor people did I have no idea.

CLICK THE PICTURE OF ME AND ROBBY ABOVE TO LINK TO ALL THE PICTURES FROM INDY.