Catching Up

I’ve been away from here for far too long! I don’t even remember what all I have been meaning to post about. But here’s a sampling of things that have been happening:

• We went to Washington, DC for the 4th of July. We were only there for a couple days, but we did quite a bit. We saw the Capitol Steps, which was absolutely hilarious and educational – we learned about Sarah Palin resigning from the show. We also went to Mount Vernon, took a tour of Washington’s home, and ate cake and watched fireworks on the lawn.
  

  Mount Vernon

  We also went to Ray’s Hell Burger and had burgers the size of our heads. This place made the news recently when Obama and Biden dined out. And, of course, we saw the DC fireworks while partying with family and friends in Arlington. Before we headed home we got some super expensive Welsh food at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and then checked out the Lincoln exhibit at the National Museum of American History, which I would highly recommend. They have some really cool artifacts, and I learned a lot about Lincoln that I didn’t know before. When we made it back to Indy we got to see fireworks too because they had gotten rained out on the 4th. They were surprisingly good.

  

  Fourth of July Fireworks in Indianapolis

• The following weekend we got to spend even more time with our DC family (or part of it) because they came out to visit. It was Jon’s birthday and his step-sister’s wedding. We had dinner across the street at Buca di Beppo and then had ice cream cake and play time with the kids at our apartment for awhile. The next day we checked out the Civil War Museum, which is in the basement of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. We had hoped to go up to the top of the monument and get a great view of the city, but they had it closed. The museum wasn’t all that exciting, except that Jon’s uncle and grandfather have a reproduction cannon on loan there that they built. We just learned about it recently, and I’m so glad we were able to go see it. It was incredibly similar to the real cannon the museum has.
  

  Civil War Reproduction Cannon

  And of course we went to the wedding, which was in northern Indiana. It was a beautiful ceremony and a very fun reception. We got to catch up with family and even did the Chicken Dance.

• Aside from dinner and ice cream cake, Jon wanted to go to Kings Island for his birthday. Since the wedding was last weekend, we went yesterday. I was so not ready. Not at all. I have always been scared of roller coasters. But last year I finally gave in and went with him under the condition that I didn’t have to ride any if I got there and was too freaked out by them. But I rode five! And I even liked a couple of them. So this year we decided to ratchet it up a bit and try something new, and by new I mean scarier. The plan was to ride the ones we did last year and then ride Diamondback, which KI describes as “the tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster to ever strike Kings Island.” And I told Jon that if that went okay, then I might try a coaster that goes upside down. It would be my first time ever going upside down on a coaster. Well, I am happy to report that I rode six coasters yesterday – including Diamondback and Vortex (which has 6 inversions)! I cannot even explain how sick Diamondback is. The first drop is unbelievably steep. I had to look down the whole time. I looked down on Vortex too. That was my tactic last year, and it made me feel better. But this time around on the coasters I had already ridden I looked up and let myself really experience them. And I have to say, it was a lot of fun. I even enjoyed the new ones a little, though I think I was happiest when I realized the Diamondback was over. My favorite is still the Backlot Stuntcoaster, which isn’t all that intense, but is a really clever, fun ride. Anyway, we were exhausted by the end of the day, so we stayed overnight at a nearby hotel. We ordered a movie – Wolverine – and some turtle cheesecake to round out an awesome day.
• Since I wrote last we also celebrated our niece’s first birthday. It’s hard to believe that a year has already gone by. It was a lot of fun watching her open her presents. And luckily she liked the jack-in-the-box we got her. We found it at Mass Ave Toys. Instead of the metal box kind with the crank on the side, this one is soft and you just open the lid to get the guy to pop out. So it’s a bit easier for little, little ones. We figured it would either be a big hit or a disaster that might scar her for life. And it was a big hit! It was great seeing her eyes light up when the guy popped out. She wasn’t as excited about the cake. One of the best parts of one-year-old birthday parties is watching the kid dig into cake for the first time and get it all over the place. She wanted nothing to do with it, though. She didn’t like the way it felt or the way it tasted. I suppose there’s always next year!
  

  Not a happy baby

• We’ve checked out a few new restaurants in Indy. One night we had dinner at the Bourbon Street Distillery. I really like the atmosphere there. They have a bar downstairs and upstairs, but the upstairs is more of a dining room. They had quite a bit of outside seating and a fairly extensive menu for a bar. We shared a shrimp cocktail, Jon had a tenderloin, and I had the fish and chips. There was nothing fancy about any of it, but it was decent. And the servings were very generous. We also recently went to Chatham Tap with some friends. I had the Earl’s Club (turkey club) with chips. Very tasty sandwich, especially when it’s washed down with a few glasses of Australia’s “Evil Chardonnay.” You may have noticed by now that I’m not too picky when it comes to food. I don’t generally have many negative things to say about restaurants. That all changes when it comes to the Tea Cozy. This place is in our building, so we had to check it out. Jon’s not a big tea fan, but I am, so I was excited to go. And don’t get me wrong, if you want tea, absolutely go to this place. They have a ton of choices, and the ones we had were fantastic. Jon even liked his. The problem was that we were starving, and they took forever to bring us our food. They were not busy at all, and we didn’t order anything complicated. It just seemed like part of their schtick to let you sit and enjoy your tea leisurely before you get your food. Not that I like to be rushed, but if I want a cup of tea I’ll just order tea and sip casually. But when I order food I expect to get it in a reasonable amount of time. I cook at home. I know how long it takes to cook things. You aren’t fooling anyone. I will say that I think the food I scarfed down was tasty, but it happened so fast I can’t be sure. An additional complaint I have with this place is the price of the food. It is really outrageous. At least for breakfast. Oh, and apparently we get a 15% discount for living in the building, but our server forgot to add it in before she ran our card. To make up for it we got a cookie. One measly cookie. Not quite the equivalent of 15% of our bill. If you want tea, check it out. If you want breakfast food, go to Patachou.
• We have also explored a bit beyond the restaurants. We recently checked out the Marion County Central Library. We signed up for a library card and toured the building. I was in shock at how nice it is! It’s all bright and modern and serves Starbucks coffee and has a nice audiobook selection. What more could you ask for? I spent a day studying there, and aside from being a bit too air-conditioned for me, it was really cozy.
  

  Indianapolis-Marion County Central Library

  Just the other night we also took ourselves on a public art walking tour. The “exhibit” is George Rickey: An Evolution. We saw all but one of the sculptures. One was a bit too far north to get there by foot. The others were really cool, though. I wish that the sculptures were a permanent feature.

  

  George Rickey sculpture

• When I haven’t been playing, I’ve been teaching. This summer course is tough. Everything just feels so rushed because it’s a shorter term than semesters. And I’m teaching a new course, which means that I am spending most of my non-teaching time prepping for upcoming lectures. I feel like I’m struggling a bit more than I have in the past with keeping the students’ attention and getting them excited about the material. But there have been some really great days too. I just need to find time to work on other things – like the paper I’m presenting at a conference early next month. Time is running out!

Well, I feel like there have been a lot of other little things that I’ve been meaning to mention on here, but this post is plenty long already.

Still here, but getting ready to be there

A lot has been going on since I last wrote, and I promise to catch up soon. There have been adventures in Indy, a baby’s first birthday party, fun things in the news, and ups and downs with teaching. But tomorrow we are headed to DC for the nation’s birthday and a reunion with two of our favorite people. Plus, I can’t bring myself to write here until I respond to a very, very, very overdue reply to an email from my oldest friend. That writing has to happen first.