Posts Tagged ‘Indiana’
I finished this knitting project last night for my mom. She asked if I would make her a bunch of kitchen dishcloths, which made me really excited. (Maybe she’s just humoring me, LOL!) They’re incredibly fast and easy. Sometime I’d like to try a tip that my friend Marilyn recently told me about. Wal-Mart’s craft department sells this threadlike stuff ~ it’s intended for a ballerina tutu or a wedding gown, to make the material somewhat pouffy. (I’d never heard of it before, but Marilyn bought some that’s green and said that there are different colors.) She holds this thread along with her yarn when she’s knitting a dishcloth, and it makes the dishcloth very scrubby. I felt one of her dishcloths, and it was like an exfoliant! Perfect for scrubbing dried grime off dishes (and probably lots of other household uses). I’m going to find some of that stuff the next time I’m there. One of my next knitting projects will be an Indiana dishcloth, and I’m very excited about that!
~Author unknown
Our Thanksgiving this year was *so* relaxing. I wasn’t stressed out at all, and I’m sure that having our grocery store cook the turkey was one reason why! :) Yes, cheating perhaps ~ but it was *so* easy and convenient. Why get up at 6 a.m. and stress out? I also tried to choose simple side dishes and got as much done ahead of time as possible. I had some excellent baking help on Wednesday, too! Luke and Meri stirred the pumpkin pie but quickly got tired and flopped down on the couch. :) Meredith also attempted to help me peel potatoes yesterday morning!
We invited our good friends Vicky and Natalie over. They were our neighbors when we moved to New York and lived in our first apartment, and they have become family to us. We enjoyed some appetizers, then sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. Afterward, we decided to take a short walk down our road (an awesome way to help our food digest and get some exercise and fresh air!). Then, we went upstairs for some Wii action. We have our Wii upstairs on the tv stand in our bonus room. They brought over a *fun* game called Game Party. Oh, and Vicky actually untangled the *huge* mess of yarn that the kids had created! I was *so* grateful for that! Now I can finish my first-time knitting practice. Of course, the day ended by enjoy various desserts. Vicky and Natalie brought over an amazingly rich chocolate Hershey’s ice cream pie, and we also had pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving Cake. What a *terrific* day.
Check out these Indiana Trivial Pursuit cards that Vicky made for us! How *cool* is that? Each question relates to Indiana somehow. Here’s one (answer in the comments section): “In what county is Indiana’s geographic center?” We’re going to have so much fun with those. Vicky also gave us some more beautiful handmade paper Christmas ornaments to add to our tree. She is *so* talented (and even made the box that they came in!). They will be *so* special to hang on our Christmas tree every year (and hopefully this weekend, we’ll be able to put up our tree). Here’s a photo:
I hope that all of you out there had a *wonderful* Thanksgiving, as well. We certainly have *much* to be thankful for.
I felt so overwhelmed on Saturday. Between freelance assignments with looming deadlines, my ever-growing to-do list, longing for a little bit of a break, and not being able to accomplish much lately, it just all kind of “hit the fan.” I sat down and wrote a blog entry, mentioning at the end that my husband would be in Baltimore all week for a business trip.
A few hours later, my mom called. I knew that something was up, because my parents don’t usually call us on Saturday mornings. She asked me, “Do you have anyone to watch the kids while you go to your doctor’s appointment on Monday?” I said no, that I was just going to bring them with me (ugh!). That’s when my mom replied, “Well … would you like to have a babysitter?” Kind of puzzled, I said, “Uh … sure!” And then she said, “Well … *I* can babysit, if that would be OK!” Huh? My parents live in Indiana! All I could say was, “What?”
That’s when my mom told me that she was going to hop a plane the very next day and stay with us until Thursday. She mentioned phrases such as, “doing the dishes,” “working on some laundry,” “babysitting the kids,” “fixing some meals,” and so on. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. I kept saying, “Oh my God!” over and over. I just couldn’t believe it. We got off the phone, and I just burst into tears. She had absolutely *no* idea how much I needed something like this and what *perfect* timing it was. Jeff said that it was an answer to his prayers, too, because he was concerned about me having to watch the kids all week by myself. I was simply on cloud nine. We hardly *ever* get to see our families. Read the rest of this entry »
This morning before getting out of bed, I whispered, “Rabbit! Rabbit!” just like I do at the start of every new month. I just can’t get over the fact that today is July 1st. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow ~ just a regular checkup ~ but I’m dreading it. Medical situations make me pretty anxious, and I hope that the appointment will go quickly. I should make a list tonight of things that I’d like to talk with her about. Thank goodness our next-door neighbor is available to watch Luke and Meri. It’ll be kind of nice getting to go someplace by myself! LOL! :)
Now we’re not sure whether we’re traveling to Indiana this month or not. Jeff unfortunately has to work a *lot* (and also work many Saturdays), but we’re going to see. Maybe I could get brave enough to take the kids on an airplane and fly out to Indiana myself for a little while. Not sure about that just yet. I’m *terribly* anxious about flying, and I have no idea what it would be like traveling with a three-year-old and a 20-month-old in tow. But it’s something to think about.
A *huge* semi truck arrived at our house yesterday afternoon to deliver many things that belonged to my grandparents ~ things that they wanted us to have and also things that I asked whether we could have. Words can’t express how grateful and honored I feel to be able to enjoy these items now in our home. They’re amazing remembrances of my grandparents, who I was *so* very close to. I hope that they would be OK with us having these things. I plan to take *good* care of them forever. Thing is, I wish that the moving truck didn’t have to come at all. I wish that all of these things could be taken back, put back exactly where they were in my grandparents’ home, and that my grandparents could still be alive to enjoy them like they used to. I plan to write a blog entry about it soon, but the pictures that I snapped yesterday will remain private. (That just seems right to me.) It’s very strange to see all of these items in our house, but I’m *thrilled* to have these pieces of family history and remembrances ~ and we’ll also use them on a daily basis. I cried more than once yesterday, that’s for sure. It was funny to see a big rig parked near our driveway! (Thank goodness we didn’t need a truck accident lawyer, LOL!)
By the way ~ and this has nothing to do with furniture ~ my friend D. just alerted me to Gymboree’s new line of “Petite Mademoiselle” clothing. Oh. My. Goodness. I could *seriously* go crazy buying things for Meredith. This dress is just too cute for words. And she *must* have these pants. Credit cards, here I come! LOL! :)
“You never see it coming when the world caves in on you
On your town, nothing you can do
Main Street isn’t Main Street anymore ~
Lights don’t shine as brightly as they shone before
But it’s our town, love it anyway
Come what may, it’s our town …”
~”Our Town,” written by Randy Newman
I talked with my mom on the phone yesterday afternoon, and she said that living in my hometown is much like a “war zone” at the moment. As I posted before, Columbus, IN, has been devastated by severe flooding. (For those of you who don’t know, Columbus is about an hour south of Indianapolis, about an hour north of Louisville, KY, and just 45 minutes from Bloomington, the home of Indiana University.) During our phone conversation, my mom saw a few helicopters zooming past overhead ~ more than likely picking up patients with serious medical emergencies and taking them to nearby hospitals for treatment. (Columbus’s hospital is still closed, with flood damage now estimated at $125 million.) The only place where Columbus residents can go for medical issues right now is the PromptMed on 25th Street.
Shannon and I were talking about how weird it is to see our hometown splashed all over the news ~ and how removed we feel from the situation, with us both living so far away. I wish that we could do more to help. If I still lived there (or even nearby), I’d definitely be volunteering in any way that I possibly could. I think about how horrible Hurricane Katrina was, and now we’ve really caught a glimpse of what it’s like to see our hometown completely under water. Jeff and I are planning a family trip out to Indiana next month, and I’m curious to see how everything will look by then. My mom said that officials are estimating three years in order to get things back to some semblance of how they were before.
Well, this blog entry is kind of difficult to write, because I’m not one for asking for help. When our children were born and my mom was here visiting ~ helping us with so many things including laundry, dishes, preparing meals, and cleaning ~ it felt kind of strange because I’m usually the one taking care of everything. I’m such a “do it myself” kind of person. But … after seeing pictures of my flooded hometown and hearing stories about the extensive water damage, I’m moved to help out in any way that I possibly can from a distance ~ and to ask for help from others who might be willing.
Here’s a personal story. One of my high school friends recently e-mailed me and said that she’s seeking donations for a Columbus couple who is expecting twin girls this September. They also have a five-year-old daughter and have suffered two miscarriages. This husband and wife have pretty much lost everything because of the flood. Just a few months before delivery, they’re trying to figure out where they’ll live and how to furnish their new home. My friend Kelly said, “Let’s help them not worry about the baby stuff. One gift won’t change much, but all of us giving will help two stressed-out parents welcome two babies into a better world.” We’re mailing them a check, and even though I wish that we could give more, hopefully it’ll help them in some way. If you’d like to consider helping, too, Kelly tells me that they’re registered at Target, Kmart, and Wal-Mart (under the names Scott and LaShaunda Brown). But above all, any prayers and/or best wishes that you could send their way would be much appreciated.
If you’re interested in making a monetary donation to help the people of Columbus, IN who have been affected by this recent flooding, here is some information:
- American Red Cross: for emergency relief efforts. Checks should be made payable to “Red Cross” and mailed to 931 Repp Dr., Columbus, IN 47201. For more information, you can contact them by phone at 812.379.9551.
- Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County: donations to be allocated to area not-for-profit agencies. Checks should be made payable to “Community Disaster Relief Fund” and mailed to 538 Franklin St., Columbus, IN 47201. For more information, you can contact them by phone at 812.376.7772.
- Columbus Regional Hospital: an established fund to assist the hospital with efforts to restore full services. Checks should be made payable to “Columbus Regional Hospital Foundation” with the words “Flood Recovery Fund” designated on the memo line and mailed to 2400 E. 17th St., Columbus, IN 47201. For more information, you can visit the hospital’s donation website.
- The Salvation Army: (Thank you, Adelle, for adding this one to the list!) Columbus’s location is 2525 Illinois St., Columbus, IN 47201. You can mail a check there (mentioning Columbus flood victims in your check’s memo line) or go online to find ways to help. For more information, please call the Columbus office at 812.372.7118 or the national number at 1.800.SAL.ARMY.
- There’s also PayPal. If you have a PayPal account and happen to have a few extra bucks in there right now ~ whether it’s $1, $5, or some other amount ~ I know that a contribution for Columbus would be more than appreciated. You can send a PayPal payment to me at lvjensen@alumni.indiana.edu, but just make sure to specify in the comments/notes section that the money is for Columbus flood victims. I will gather all of those donations and pass them along directly to Columbus, IN, for flood assistance.
For everyone who makes a donation (in any form) to help the people in my hometown who have been affected by this awful flooding, I will send you a handwritten thank-you note along with some handcrafted bath and body goodies (made by me). I’m not sure what those items will entail yet, but I’ll have to take summer temperatures into consideration (very hard on glycerin soaps!). I’m sure that some bath salts, bath fizzies, etc. will be involved. All you need to do is send me your mailing address, and I’ll get some fun bath items to you as soon as possible (along with my sincere appreciation).
Thank you, everyone, so very much for reading this blog entry and for holding good thoughts for the people in my hometown whose lives have unfortunately been affected by this severe flooding.
