Some fun....

I always regret not writing as much as I'd like.  Soon, very soon, blogging will become at least a weekly routine.  I know, I've said that for about a year now and I appear to be full of empty promises.  I'm really looking forward to writing about the war I've declared on the Arbutus squirrel population.  But, I'm still gathering material.

I am actually on vacation...staying with my brother in Indianapolis for about a week.  For those of you that don't know, Mitch and his family moved back to Indiana a few months ago.  They've got a great house, nice and big with some great food and company to come along with it.  Mitch's wife, Debbie, invited her parents over for the holiday.  They are in town from England for a few weeks.  It's great to get to hang out with them again.  I'm sure I'll have some pictures to share from this trip once it's complete.  I'll be back to work on the 27th, and will blog sometime that week hopefully.  To tide you over, here is one of Emily helping her Momma make dinner. 

Lately, my little group of "work homies" have come up with some fun things to do in the office...  We had Argyle Sweater Day last month, and we just joked around about having an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day as well.  The next thing I know, the office Holiday Party last Friday had an Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest!!  Oh man, I HAD TO WIN!!  And, I won by a landslide.  Below is a picture, I'm working on getting a video...it was pretty awesome. 

As you probably know, from reading my blog, I really love where I live.  We lovingly call it "Gramma's House".  Well, there have always been things to clean up or fix up.  Gramma and Grandpa (not mine, but a co-worker's grandparents actually built the house and lived in it for most of their lives) have a lot of stuff!!  One of the coolest things there is this bar that the Grandpa (I later learned that his name was Jim) made.  It was in a corner of my screened-in porch.  A few weeks ago we pulled it out, cleaned it up and used it.  It was AWESOME!!

This is Brian.  We were celebrating his promotion.  (If you look hard enough, you can see the sign for "Jim's Bar" behind Brian.)

More later, guys.  I hope you have a great Holiday and that you are wherever it is that you really want to be...

REALLY?!

Some of you know, that I live in a very interesting little town in Maryland.  It's called Arbutus.  I would compare it to Farmland, Indiana (yes, it's an actual town), as there is a pizza place, grocery store, paint/hardware store, liquor store and is just barely off the beaten path from a big intersection.  Arbutus is quite a bit scarier though.... Not scary in the sense that you may die on the way to your car from the store.  The people here are generally very nice and there's one guy that lives on my street that waves at me all the time.  The landlords say he will be Mayor one day.  No, it's scary in the sense that most of the people living here should be on the website, http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the place.  It's small, has everything I need, and I don't have to worry about what I wear when I go out!  PERFECT in my book.....  TRUST.  I can really look shady if I want to.  HOWEVER - it seems that this town is plagued with women/girls/interesting-persons-that-I-can't-tell-what-sex-they-are that wear those sweat pants that have some sweet little nasty-gram written right on the butt.  This is where the, "REALLY?" comes in. 

Just so you have an image of everything going on in my head.... Here is what my face generally looks like when saying, "REALLY?!" 

It's kind of a half-laugh, half-OH.MY.GOD.

You all know what sweatpants I'm talking about, right?  My thought was that everytime I see a slighty less-than-attractive-person in these pants that I would take a picture of them.  I quickly got that idea out of my head.  That would've just been AWFUL if I got caught.  Could you imagine?!  HAHAHAHA....  "No, no.  I wasn't taking a picture of your nasty ass in those sweatpants that say your ass is Juicy.  I swear."  In case you aren't aware of the pants I'm referring to, here is a nice picture.

And here is what they should say:  THIS IS MY ASS

I mean, REALLY?!  Do you really need to bring extra attention to your ass by having something written there?  If someone wants to look at your ass, they are going to look at your ass whether you have something written on it or not.  Just sayin.

Okay, okay, okay.... you're right.  I'm just jealous.  I literally have no ass.  There is NO crease.  My body goes from back to leg, there is NO in-between.  I know, some of you are saying, "REALLY?!" in your head right now.  "I really wish I didn't have that image in my head right now about Lindy.  But, it IS a pretty funny image.  My gosh, she is SO funny.  I wish I could hang out with her everyday.  She is just SO amazing."  Sorry - I digress.  Let's just say, if I were to wear a pair of butt-print sweatpants, they would need to be printed with two words, so the space in the middle looks like it's supposed to be there.

Picture Dump

During my last trip back to Indiana, I stopped by the Howells's house.  (I figure they are famous enough to be called, "The Howells")  I'm sure they could correct my grammar....is the possession punctuation correct?  Anyway, they had two cute little kitties.  I love kitties.

 Yes, the infamous Peanut M&M Package Costume has made an appearance in Maryland this Halloween.  For those of you that don't know, my mother made this for me when I was in the 6th grade.  A friend of mine was dressed in the little green peanut M&M.  We went Trick-or-Treating together every Halloween.  My cube-mate, Lori's daughter needed a costume.  Don't worry - the Peanut M&M Package Costume to the rescue!!

 OMG.  I laughed for about five minutes over this.  This is just before the turn left onto Route 1, where that weird smell is....  I'm taking some co-workers on a field trip for lunch soon to figure out what the smell is.  I'll send you an update once we figure it out!

Happy Days Are Here Again, Come On Get Happy

I have internet in my house now - things could get dangerous.

I am a little fascinated with the GLEE TV show.  I guess you could say I've turned into a bit of a GLEEK...isn't that what they call us?!  Well, to be honest, the show kind of drives me crazy sometimes.  But, there are some truly great moments.  Songs touch me in a way that nothing else can.  Here's to all you other readers that feel the same way.

The characters Kurt and Rachel did a version of one of my favorite songs.  Here are a few videos of the same song.  Dare I say it?  I think Kurt and Rachel may have performed it best.  Don't forget to pause the song playlist to the right.  Enjoy, friends.

Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland


Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland (this is a close second, even though I think Judy Garland is wearing the same shirt as the above video.  Weird.)


Jim Bailey as Barbra Streisand with Carol Burnett


Chris Colfer and Lea Michele (Kurt and Rachel from GLEE)

Charlie and Wendy's Wedding

How about a photo field trip?!

Tall girls, helping a sister out...

Wendy and Kristy - LOVE IT!!

Brody is SO READY for his daddy's wedding...

Charlie waiting (not so) patiently.

Wendy and her daddy.... I love this picture.

Deb and Emily, watching from a garden.

YAY!!

WOO HOO!!

Deb, Emily, Mitch and Brody

Emily slapping Pappoo on the head.

Emily in her garden...

 Siblings...can you tell?!

Same old Wendy and Charlie - the best!

And then, there was that time that Emily ate a lemon!!

It's been too long....

OH MY GOSH - fancy meeting you here.  How long has it been, friend?  Yes, I guess it has been about two months now.  Goodness!  Well, I've been here and there, and what feels like everywhere.  Since we chatted last, I believe things have gotten a little more exciting.  If you're interested - keep reading.  If not - see you in another two months.

Most Saturdays in Maryland this summer I would hang at my brother's place.  Not only did he have internet, cable and air conditioning, but he also has a pretty cool kid too!  Here is the last summer pic I could find.  I kinda love it. 

Okay - moving on.  I went to Naples, FL for work during most of the month of September.  I got to visit with some old friends and co-workers and got to meet a few new friends and co-workers.  I had been there almost three weeks and I discovered that I really hadn't done anything other than eat and sleep.  My mom would say that I was as productive as a baby.  (I think I heard her use that line a time or two, and now it's come back into my life again!  Funny how that works out.)  So, a co-worker and I decided to go on an airboat ride.  It was something I had never done, and it was definitely an experience I will never forget.

Yeah - it was cool until it started storming while we were out in the water on a metal boat.  Not cool - but really, really funny!!  The person I went with had on khaki shorts, and apparently had on four-leaf clover boxer shorts...needless to say, everyone could see the clovers once we were drenched with rain.  Mine was pretty embarrassing too!!

First on the list when I got back from Naples was to register and title my Jeep in Maryland.  IT'S OFFICIAL!!  I'm actually a Maryland resident..... WOW.

 

While I was in Naples, Mitch announced that he and his family would be moving back to Indiana.  This is what they've been looking forward to for awhile now, and I think it will be great for them and Emily.  It is certainly a great place to grow up.  Since I've been back, I've been trying to help them as much as possible on their way back to Indiana.  I dropped Deb off at the airport this morning and will drive Mitch's car back to Indiana this weekend.  Charlie is getting re-married this weekend, so it works out.  I'm sure I'll have some good pictures and videos from the weekend.

The company I work for was gracious enough to give me a couple of tickets to the first Baltimore Ravens home game - suite tickets to boot. 

 This is me tailgating in the rain.  Turns out - I'm not very good at drinking.

Pretty awesome seats!!

So - nothing really spectacular or interesting in my life, other than I feel like I will have a handle on things soon (this is a good thing).  I am almost to that goal that I've had for almost 10 years.  Stability.  Mitch and Charlie both have interesting lives at the moment - Mitch has moved back to Indiana with his wonderful family and Charlie is getting re-married.  Awesome.  Seems like things are on track.

I'll be blogging more often now and things will be more creative than informative, hopefully.  Like the good ole days.  Soon, very soon.

Until next time...............

Just a small stop....

I can't write long.........

I hate that I haven't been blogging religiously.  Though, it has shown me that people really do read this thing.  Many people have been getting on my case about not blogging very much.  Well - I don't have internet yet at my house, so it's not as easy as it used to be.  To be honest, it's been great not having it.  Seems that internet and cable consumed my life a little bit.  Glad I figured that out, before I let it get worse.

I've had an absolutely WONDERFUL time getting to know myself better here in Maryland.  I changed a lot out on the road, and I'm looking forward to the changes in the future.  Bring it on.

I am in the middle of actually becoming a Maryland resident.  Like, a for real one.  Monday, I got a Bank of America bank account.  I went with BofA at the request of two of my Tribal Council Members (See the below book, if you aren't sure what that is)

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/If-You-Have-Cry-Go-Outside/?isbn=9780061930935

and my brother. Next, I signed up for Maryland car insurance. Then, I called the MVA (Motor Vehicle Administration).  You aren't even allowed to call it a DMV or a BMV here.  Apparently, sometimes it's a deal-breaker.  I've heard horrible stories about how horrible the MVA can be....so I'm getting an early start on things.  My plates expire at the end of September (I think).  So, I am giving myself plenty of time to get everything done.   Sorry - I digress.  I had to call the MVA, because in Maryland, they have to have the title to register your car.  It's not that way in Indiana......so I've got to get the title from Indiana and they have to send it to Maryland.  I was able to get the ball rolling on that this week.  YIPPEE!! 

Saturday, I'll be getting a haircut.  Tuesday, I have a doctor's appointment with a new doctor.  Thursday starts the fall softball season.  I am in LOVE with my new life. 

This is what is on my mind right now, as I'm sitting in Cosi using the WIFI while wearing my softball outfit (just came from practice).  I should probably tell you that for softball, I wear a baby blue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt.  It's truly awesome.  You have no idea.  I digress, yet again. 

On my mind:  I love Celtic Woman music, Glad it's not storming anymore, Wonder how many people are staring at me right now because they're jealous of my t-shirt, hoping I can make it to the mall to take things back before 8pm when So You Think You Can Dance starts - it's the season finale, it's 7:30 and my iPhone isn't done updating, It was dumb to start the update today, Kinda want another Cosi sandwich, Hope I can get a cheap flight to Indiana in October, I'm sleepy, I should probably work out again tonight, I'm tired, I have laundry to do, I'm tired AND hungry, my butt has fallen asleep, I really wish I could just hide sometimes, My iPhone update needs to hurry its little ass up, I curse a lot, I hate it when the outside of my glass sweats, I wish I was outside playing softball again, OMG - he's cute, Bet he wishes he had my t-shirt, I should start planning a trip to NYC, Wish I had some friends to go to DC with me,  Can't wait to be able to wear sweatpants everywhere, The whole reason I came here was to change some bank things around and to update my iPhone, I'm stopping my update - it will lend me something else to look forward to, I'm looking forward to being a couch potato tonight while watching "my show", Crap - I missed GLEE yet again, I'm ready to do a whole lot of nothing but watch movies this weekend, Shut 'er down.............

Yes - I could go on.  But, I'll spare you.  Thanks for reading.  Until next time...........

Just some randoms

The front of "Gramma's House".  I love my little dwelling.....

On the way to my brother's house in Annapolis.... This is normal.  (Yes, I was going 65 while taking a picture.  I'm an East-Coaster, gimme a break!)

This is how they do bonfires around here!

I'm thinkin'. Yeah. Maybe.

I totally forgot that I can blog from my phone. Oh snap! It's on!!

Lately, an interesting thought has been brought to the forefront of my mind. The idea is to start a career in writing. Maybe not even a career, but I'm only going to spend my time on it if it will make me money. (As a sidenote: Yes, I know that everyone should pursue their dreams, whether it will make them money or not. But I want you to know that whoever said that has never been as broke as I am right now!)

Does anyone have an idea of where to start?! I've looked into websites like examiner.com, but I'm not an expert on anything. There are blogging websites out there, but generally you get like $1.00 for every 30,000 hits. I'm liking the idea of just writing into newspapers letting them know how much they are missing out on by not employeeing me as their columnist. I dunno though - newspaper editors might want someone with actual professional experience in writing. The only experience I have is writing technical guides for the software I work with and I was the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper for three years at a high school that only had 530 people on the distribution list.

Once I started thinking about this, now it's the ONLY thing I can think about (you know who are - the crazy person that has talked me into this...). This is something that I've always wanted, but never thought I could make it. Thinking about it realistically, it's not like I am going to quit my job and just go for it. BUT - life in Maryland is a bit of a struggle on my salary and think it's time to find a part-time job. Wonder if anyone could take on a part-time freelance-type-deal...???

I was looking back at some blogs. My favorite posts were the observations in the airports. I only did two of them an wish I couldve kept it up. They were posted on May 30, if you're interested in looking back at them. I would love to put the link in here, but that's a limitation with blogging from my phone.

Anyway, if anyone has any idea at all of where to start, or if you want to let me know your vote on whether or not I should go for it or not, please comment on this post. Feedback is a gift and it's much appreciated.

Please forgive any typos that may be in this post. My fingers are too big/fat for the buttons on my phone.

Lindy

Sent from my PDA Device

Life at BSU

Yes, I know - it's nuts.  I move away and then I have to go back to Muncie to do an installation.  "Okay - I guess I can go to Muncie......"      :)

I've had a very interesting time here.  It's weird to mix my work life with my life here in Indiana.  It was great....but weird.  I filled every evening with something wonderful.  I saw pretty much everyone and I feel great about the visit.  It's so nice to have friends that are willing to go eat with me, or go do....whatever!  LOVED IT. 

As sad as it is, I really enjoy my home in Maryland.  I miss my rental house, my bed, my car, preparing my own breakfast in a fit of speed in the morning, blaring Michael Buble on the way to work, sitting in my cubicle or troubleshooting something with my team in the office, doing a "happy dance" if I figure something out, softball...... ALL of that.  Can't wait to go back to it....................



As promised to some, here are some pics I took along the way...

And for a special person.....here are some pics of the room! 

Back Home Again in Indiana...

As I'll explain further in my next post, I was able to come back to Indiana for some quality time. Thought I'd share some pics and a video.

It's been so much fun watching Emily grow more and more every day since I've moved to Maryland.  She into this face now and we all die laughing just about every time.  I'm glad I finally caught it.

Brody had a blast with all the water guns, slip-n-slides with soap on them and the pool Dad and Kathy bought for the yard. 

Catching up.........

I'm going through a lot of old photos and videos. Thought I'd share these! :)







My Gosh - he is his daddy.


Uh oh....the pinky is about to make an appearance!


Yyyyyeah. That's been a daily occurrence around here. Ugh.

It just-so-happens that I'm going to be doing an installation at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana from 7/8-7/15. I'll make it to Parker City for the fourth of July weekend. If Mitch decides to drive, I'll ride along with him both days, and then fly back to Muncie on Wednesday the 7th. Either way - it will be good to see all the boys at Dad's house this weekend. Looking forward to it, hope it works out.

Best Picture of Smemy....

HARRY CONNICK!!

OMG. A friend of mine was just recently hired by my company and managed to get free tickets and back stage passes to a Harry Connick, Jr. concert. WOOT!!

Where have I been?!

Well helllllloooooooo!!

I'm finally able to catch up enough to blog for at least a hot second.  Unfortunately, I had to agree to babysit my munchkin niece so that I could use my brother's wireless internet, cable and central air!  Not a bad price to pay, actually.  I'm still playing a little bit of catch-up and I'm not convinced the best way to spend my money is to install internet and cable just yet.

Obviously, a lot has changed in my world in the last two months.  I'll recap....

In the middle of April, I drove out to Maryland to start working in the new position in the office (PS, I LOVE IT).  I crashed with my brother and his family.  I had a great time hanging out with them and enjoying Emily's crazy company!!  Here are some highlights!

After three weeks, I went on the family vacation to Las Vegas.  My bestest buddy, Amanda went with me and we had a great time.  Amanda had never flown before, and never been to Vegas, so we had a great time using my frequent flier miles and my almost free rental cars!  Here are a few highlights from that trip...

Emily is ready for the pool!  We rented a house about 8 miles off of the strip.  The house had a pool, and Emily was in it every day!

The Hoover Dam was pretty awesome.  If you haven't been - you should go.

Bellagio fountain, Manda and me.

She wasn't ready for the picture - but I love the way it turned out.  On the first day, we drove to Zion National Park.  I was there in the winter of 2008 and love it.  But during the summer....OMG.  Awesome.

On the last night, Amanda and I stayed at Paris (Amanda has always wanted to go to the real Paris.)

Because I'm an Elite member with National Rental Car, when I land at the airport I get to walk out and just pick whatever car I want in a certain aisle.  Amanda was SO excited when I told her it was her job to pick the car.  She ran to the convertible MUSTANG and I think she almost peed her pants!  This car was just what both of us needed....it was absolutely awesome!  (We went a little crazy with the photo ops for the car!)

The weekend I got back from vacation, I moved from Indianapolis to Halethorpe/Arbutus/Baltimore, MD (no one can really tell me what city is actually is)... I was VERY discouraged the first time I went to look for apartments, as it is SO expensive to live out here.  I was hoping to live close to work, but that wasn't looking like a possibility.  I was staying with my brother and his family in Annapolis, MD for about three weeks and we would have to leave the house every morning at 6:30 to make it to work on time.  No thank you.  Ugh.  A co-worker of mine came in on the Monday after I looked for apartments and asked me how my weekend was.  I let her know how discouraged I was.  Luckily, her mother and aunt were looking for a tenant at her grandmother's house.  My co-worker's grandmother just moved into a home, and they were hoping to find a renter.  BINGO!  So - I currently live in, what I affectionately refer to as "Grandma's House".  It has pink carpet and interesting kitchen tile, NO central air, a sun room, a crowded basement, a HUGE backyard (compared to others around here....not compared to Indiana), a paved driveway, a GIANT screened in porch-area, a koi pond and tons of fun wildlife and trees/flowers/plants.

Here are some pictures of my back yard.  I'm not quite ready to show anyone the inside yet.  :)

Oh yes, that is a bunny rabbit.  I have named him Murphy.  He walks around with me when I refill the bird feeders.

My yard goes all the way back to those cars.

From the middle of my backyard, looking up at the house and driveway.  You can see part of the screened-in porch.

Next was Mitch's birthday...  He had a busy day at work, and I managed to make sure he wasted about an hour of his time by putting a sign outside his cubicle that said, "It's Mitch's Birthday!!"  Every person that walked by would say, "Happy Birthday, Mitch".  This might sound fun to you and me, but to Mitch it was a nightmare!  He is the guy who always has his earphones in with music (I'm sure it's geeky music), so that no one will bother him.  OR - so if someone does talk to him and he actually hears it, he doesn't actually have to act like he heard it.  Wait a minute..... I wonder if he has any music playing in those earphones at all.  Hmm....  Anyway - his wife, Debbie, sent him an Edible Arrangment, so that really brought a crowd into his cubicle.  It was awesome.  That evening, we had dinner and cake.  Though, Emily had already licked off a lot of the icing before we got to it!

Now that I've gotten settled in a little and I've started to get a routine down, I am really enjoying it.  It's cool being so close to Mitch, Deb and Emily and I've actually hung out with some folks from work a little bit here and there.  The only real issue that I've had so far is allergies.  Apparently I have allergies.... who knew?!  I'm trying to find an allergist, and will hopefully get an appointment sometime soon.