Our house... is a very very very fine house... with two cats in the yard... life used to be so hard.....

Big news: it's officially official! We got the mortgage so we have the house! I think I said last time that I would post pictures once we know for sure, so I am including a link here http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=90famtq.b2myhcqm&x=0&y=9zh75s However, it is important to note that John took these pictures during the inspection, and many of the pictures are not of the house itself but of the furniture of the people who currently live there. Bless. Once we move in I will take pictures of the rooms. The bare rooms with no furniture. Because we don't have furniture. We tried to sort that out this weekend and were quite pleased with how far we got. We got a nice sectional sofa with a chaise lounger as the extra piece if that makes any sense. Also we got a mattress. That was quite funny actually because we are sleeping in a full sized bed right now (also called a double, although I am at a loss as to what it is called in England. It's the size of the bed we had in our guest room in England if that helps), and it is much smaller than what we are used to and neither of us sleeps very well in it. So shopping for mattresses consisted of one of us laying there while the other bounced around to see how much you felt of the other person. Not that we are such inconsiderate sleepers as to bounce around while the other is sleeping, but in such close quarters as we currently have, when one of us turns in the night or heaven forbid gets in and out of bed in the night it is likely to wake the other. In addition to the couch and mattess we also got some bedroom furniture -- the frame for the bed and a matching wardrobe, dresser, and mirror.

For those of you who have been shopping with me, you know that I do not typically have loads of stamina for it. So I order you to be impressed with the fact that our shopping day on Saturday started at 10 am and didn't finish until after 4 pm. Be impressed. DO IT.

Friday night John and I went on a 'ghost walk' through Zionsville (the town we live in). We thought it would be a little tour through the town with scary stories of people who had gone crazy and caused terrible tragedy, resulting in their bodiless souls roaming streets and houses for eternity. But apparently Zionsville is a fairly happy place without tragedy, so instead the walk consisted of coming upon several little skits throughout the town where community actors played out true historical stories the museum had dug up in their archives. It was very sweet and very nicely done, but of course not the scary, ghostly stories I had my sights set on. If anyone has any ghost stories they would like to pass on, please send them my way. I always have time for a good ghost story.

Saturday night, after all the shopping I mentioned before, John and I met Dusty and Tami for dinner (my brother and sister-in-law). They had dropped the boys at my mom's so it was just the four of us. It was the first time I can remember us doing that, and it was really great to catch up with them. Afterwards we went to mom's to see them and the boys for a little while. They keep getting cuter, our nephews.

Sunday morning started with a web chat to Madeline and Michelle. It took some time to get working, but once we got it sorted out we could talk to them on the internet while seeing them as well. It was so great! Being able to see who you're talking to really adds a lot and makes them feel not so far away.

The only other thing we did yesterday was go to the Colts' game. It was really good, we had 50 yard line seats way at the top. The Colts' stomped the Redskins butts.

Oh yeah, and in addition to the mortgage going through there was another great thing that happened last week. It's kind of almost official now that I am going to get to go home on Thursdays now! Woo hoo! The contract still isn't signed that says the schedule can change, but apparently they are through with negotiating that part and it's a fairly done deal. So that should start next week and I am sooooooo happy about that. It really will make this job really good. I like the type of work a lot, and I feel really well placed in this role. It's just the travel which is the hardest part (as I knew it would be). So having more nights at home than on the road will get me back to what I originally signed up for when I accepted the job, and it will just make my personal life a lot more manageable.

A very Rich weekend

We had a wonderful weekend because our great friend Rich from England was visiting. This is Rich Carter, as in 'Rich and Anita.' John went to uni with him and lived with him for a while afterwards while they were first working at Lilly right out of college. Rich still works for Lilly, which is what brought him to Indy. He's here this week for work but came early to spend the weekend visiting with me and John. He brought his golf clubs so the boys played golf both days, so I didn't get as much time with him as John since golf takes a good 3 hours or more, but we went out to dinner both nights as well as sat around chatting at our apartment for a while. It is hard to express how good it was to see him, I wish we could keep him. I was saying to John last night that I wish he could stay and bring Anita with him, and it would be like old times. And while we're at it, Scott, Gem, Wyn and Helen should come too. And Jon and Marianne and Bella. And Mad, Michelle, and Jim. And while we're at it, Emily, Reena, Faith, and Steph should move back to Indy. What does everyone say? If you all agree to come I'll buy everyone pizza!

So while Rich and John were playing golf I tried to make the best use of my time. Saturday morning I went riding for the first time since I moved. The place was so nice and clean that it really revealed how much I was slumming it at Park Farm all those years. These horses seem to have it really good. They seem very well looked after and loved, and the barn is in great condition and is built in a way that gives the horses good views of their neighbors. (Horses are very social and can be quite sensitive about limited contact with others.) My riding was alright considering how long it had been since I'd ridden. Until, that is, we cantered. The instructor told me from the beginning this horse (Snapple) had a weird canter, and between that and my rustiness I was all over the place. And yesterday and today I have been unbelievably sore. It's funny when I get up from my desk to get water or go to the loo because I forget that I'm sore (since I'm immobile for long periods of time throughout the day) and when I first get up the pain hits me like a truck and I have to revert to taking steps that are half the length of usual. But it was good to ride again anyway.

The rest of the day on Saturday I spent with my mom. She came up to see Abbey and Jude and spend some time with me. We went to the village part of Zionsville (the town we live in), where there are lots of little boutiques and some nice restaurants. We grabbed a bite to eat at a cafe and then walked around the shops. It was a really pretty day for it. Then we went to a couple of furniture shops so I could keep looking for sofas. I found a nice little loveseat that had a sign on it for 50% off. I didn't see a tag so I asked the sales woman how much it was. She went all the way to the back of the store to find out and told me a price that was really reasonable. I said I would need to check with John but it would probably be just right for a living room. When I told him about it later, he said for that price I should just get it if I like it since it won't last long at that price. So Sunday (while the boys played golf again) I went back and bought it. The woman was there again and she said she had gotten in a little trouble because she had told me the wrong price and the owner was not happy about it. She had even told the owner 'maybe she won't come back,' with the hopes they wouldn't have to sell it at that price. It turns out the original price was about 70% more than the price she quoted, but since she had already given that price that was what she had to sell it to me for. So I was pretty pleased with that outcome!

So why am I so concerned with furniture right now, you might ask? If we're in a 2 bedroom apartment right now, why do we need more furniture, you think to yourself? Well, we have gotten a house! Pretty much. We have found a house that we love, an offer has been accepted, the inspection process is over and was fine, and now we are just waiting on the last bit before it's all officially official, which is for the mortgage to go through or clear or whatever a mortgage does during this phase. So it's very, very exciting for us. Assuming everything is ok on the mortgage side then we move on the 9th of November. Yaaaaaayyyy! We do have some pictures of the place but I will wait to post those until it's officially official.

Cold Misery

It's snowing. It's October. Effing Chicago.

Four nights at home

Last Friday I had a doctor's appointment, so I got to go home on Thursday. What a great treat that was! I'm tempted to start lacing my food with a mildly poisonous substance so I need regular doctor appointments and I can go home early. It made the weekend feel really long. John and I stayed in on Friday night and we both felt like it was Saturday night. Friday at lunchtime I went downtown and met my mom for lunch, which was again a lovely treat. And after I picked John up from work that evening we perused some furniture shops. There is no house yet, but we started looking around for the type of furniture we might want. It was a good thing we did as well, because we were kind of surprised by the prices of things. I think we have taken for granted our thinking that the cost of living is so good in Indy and thought it might be $7 or $8 for a good sofa. It's more. So at least we have some time to adjust our budget a little.

Saturday we met Reena and Sunil for brunch in Broadripple. Reena was in town last week so it was good to get a little time with her. It was a gorgeous day, so even though it was a bit chilly we sat outside and had waffles and breakfast sandwiches. Those two are so hilarious, it's always good to meet up with them and have an impromptu roundtable discussion on current events (ahem, that is, current hit TV shows of course).

Then later in the day was our nephew Robby's first birthday! Click on his picture for more pics from the day. It was a nice party with loads of food, an open fire with stuff to make s'mores (which my mom used to dazzle us with her culinary flair (marshmallows on fire)), and of course nephews to cuddle which makes the day for me.

Sunday we went to the Colts game, which was supposed to be a big blowout and instead we witnessed them just barely squeezing a win in. It made for a good game but it's a bit worrying that they couldn't win by a much bigger margin.

The only other thing really going on is that once we get a house we can get a dog, and we are both really excited about that. John bought us some books last week, and we're busy looking at lots of websites and learning about different breeds. So once we move into a house be ready to hear about a new addition to our family! I hope Abbey and Jude are as excited as we are!

Want that one http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5249518974978628334&q=skidboot&hl=en

While we're at it, check this like out, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naFCdBYexB0

Lipgloss on the Loose

I am starting to question the whole liquids-on-the-plane thing. Terrorist avoidance, or government conspiracy? Can someone please look into how many top government officials have stock in makeup companies? I think it's the Chaney/Halliburton thing all over again, except this time my money is on some Rice/Maybelline back scratching. I have bought probably half a dozen lipglosses in the weeks since the Heathrow liquids debacle. Sometimes The Man takes it from me, and sometimes I put them in my pockets to Damn The Man and then the rogue gloss jumps out of my pocket and hides away somewhere, never to be seen again. Am I destined to be lipglossless? I think the best thing to do is sigh, shrug my shoulders, and invest in several makeup companies.

On this topic, I have to tell the story about how I lost my lipglosses today. The liquid ban has been lifted, as long as you put all your liquids in a sandwich bag that is a certain size, like a quart or something like that. So on Friday this guy at work bought some sandwich bags for us, which I used on Friday with no problem. Today I use it, and they tell me the bag is too big. I say there is nothing I can do, that's the bag I have. They tell me I can go buy a bag at some restaurant in the airport and try again. I tell them they are being ridiculous, that the point of having that particular size is so you don't bring on more liquids than you're allowed, and I have two little things I'm bringing on board which is a lot less than my allowance so it shouldn't matter if my bag is too big because I'm only using a fraction of it. They told me it was the rules and that they're sure I don't want them to start breaking the rules. So I told them I expect them to use their brains and understand and abide by the essence of the rules. Surprisingly, I am not in jail as I write this, they let me get through security and I feel like they might even have understood my point. But, the lipglosses did get thrown away. Dirty, dirty bastards.

The sky is falling. It is pouring outside, and for a while on tv they have been breaking away to weather updates of tornado and severe thunderstom warnings. Lots of close lightning and thunder. It's cool, I like storms, but I'm on the fifth floor and I wonder if I should be going to the lowest level or something. The thing is, I don't really know what county I'm in, so when the weather advisories come in they give county names so I don't know if I am in the area or not. I just figure it's ok and if I was supposed to take cover there would be some sort of alarm or something.

This weekend we went to Cincinnati for a Kasabian concert. Kasabian is a band from England that is pretty big over there, but over here they are just starting out. The show was at a pretty small venue, and it was maybe about half full. I felt badly for the band since they are used to playing big shows, but it was cool for us because we were so close to the front. John was even in the front row for a lot of the show. After the show John tried to get us mugged or killed by trying to enlist the help of a desperate looking woman in a bad part of town to help us get a taxi. For some reason there were no taxis where we were. She took us to a couple of different areas saying she could get us a cab before we finally got rid of her. It was not a good situation. Eventually we stumbled upon a bus stop which quickly brought a bus to us which happened to go right where we needed to go.

Neither John nor I had been to Cincinnati before, so we were looking forward to seeing a new city. It's really pretty on the way in, pretty hilly with lots of trees. Across the Ohio River is Kentucky, and we wandered over there to this place called Newport on the Levee. There were lots of shops, restaurants, and bars there. John was glad to have been in three states (two of them ones he hadn't been to before) in one day.

Well, I think that's pretty much it. If you have any liquids you would like to donate to the Indianapolis airport, send them to me and I will be disgusted to pass them on!

Avery Laura is here!

Faith and Jeremy had their little girl this morning. She is beautiful and healthy, despite being three weeks early and going through an emergency c-section. I am so excited for them! It was such a surprise to find out this morning that she had been born, particularly as Faith and I had texted on Saturday night and there was no news. The link to Faith's baby website is in the margin to the left if you want to read up on how it all went.