Clever!

Museum Stuff Pt. 1

Last weekend we visited Wright Patterson AFB, which is not only a working air base, it is also a museum open to the public.
There's too much stuff to cram into one post, so I decided to break it up in little pieces.
This first entry isn't really as much about the artifacts as it is about the people we encountered.
There was quite a diverse group of visitors checking out the museum that day, and it was also Boy Scout day, or something. There were also a lot of Asian people and they were all wearing flu masks. That was a little unsettling. I'm not sure why, but it just was.
Most of the people visiting were very considerate of others and people sort of kept the foot traffic flow going so that the people behind them would be able to see stuff without waiting long or having to skip it.
Except one family...
I will call them the Skimmer family.
It all started here looking at this piece of the Berlin wall.

Mr. and Mrs. Skimmer and their children Boy Skimmer (about 9 or 10) and Girl Skimmer (around 5 or 6) were admiring the display and while Girl Skimmer was swinging/hanging on the protective barrier that said "do not lean", Boy Skimmer asked Mr. Skimmer "Berlin wall? Where's that from?"
Mr. Skimmer said, "Russia, I think. Isn't it?" (he was looking to Mrs. Skimmer for help. She said, "I think you're right. Let me read the thing under it to answer intelligently... She skimmed the print on the blue case under the display and said, "Well...It don't say, but I'm sure it's Russia because it's a Communist thing and Russia is Communist"
I thought to myself, "No problem. They'll move on to the sign right beside the other one and they'll get it."
So they moved on to:
They skimmed it.
Still no retraction about the Russia thing.
I wonder if they think the Iron Curtain was really a curtain...made of iron.

Best Fall EVER

I took a little road trip to another town and found my new favorite store. I bought twice as much ammo for half the price that I did yesterday...awesome.
Anyhow, this fall has lasted longer and is prettier than any I remember since I moved back to Indiana over 20 years ago.
I'm not a great photographer by any stretch of imagination, so forgive the out of focus crookity frames.
Just enjoy the road trip!:D




I love the lines in the fields after harvest. Something about it solidifies the end of the season and gives a big nod to winter on the way.







Usually, there are always ducks or geese in these little wetlands. They've mostly all gone south now.



I just want to toss out a blanket and have a picnic here:





Is that a Christmas tree in the window already? Holy moly!!

OK, I’ll leave it to you to decide how I took all the pictures...and why they're all crooked and blurry...

The House That ROCK Built!

I’m talking about seven layers of musical history in the form of a pyramid of tunage that spans the ages…right on the edge of Lake Erie. Always changing, always improving, always providing a portal to step into the world of rockers of the past… walking the way back to present day through everything from viewing artifacts to listening to hours of music without repeats. A veritable timeline through the lives of the Rock n’ Roll greats.
I want to walk through and see the mixing board from Abbey Road and read the music written by John Lennon. I want to see the guitar held by the King of Rock n’ Roll. I want to see the secrets of making Keith Richards look so life-like. :p
I want to see it all, but I fear I’ll become spellbound and trapped forever in the 80’s.

Before I lost my gainful employment, I was planning a trip for MiniMe and myself. As soon as that turns back around, I’ll pick up where I left off. I want to book a hotel room over night, drive us to the airport, fly to Cleveland, take a taxi to the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and spend the day.
MiniMe lives and breathes music and I know she’ll love it. She’ll probably school me on the new inductees because I’m not kidding…I’m stuck in the 80’s. :-D
We’ve been talking about it a little and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to make this journey together before she gets much older. I need a mom/daughter retreat. And so does she.

"So find a place, grab a space, and yell and scream for more...Cleveland rocks!"

Thanksgiving

Fall, my favorite season. Thanksgiving, a time spent with my favorite people.

We shared Thanksgiving with my family. My aunt and uncle who consider me “one of the daughters” always include us for every event and occasion. On the way down we talked about what sort of skit we were going to do at Christmas. I doubt we’ll top last year’s but MiniMe and I decided that if ANYthing could do it, it would be getting JL to rap. We tormented him on the entire drive with the Big Mac rap. We even coerced him into saying the “Biiiig Maaaac” part, but seriously – white boy ain’t got no rhythm. When we arrived, it was so much fun catching up with everyone! We laughed, ate, shared stories and remembrances, and exchanged things we were grateful for. My cousin’s littlest boy is such a cutie!! He’s a little over a year and a half old and he’s so smart and funny!! He was standing near where we were all sitting and talking (there were about 30 of us in passing all day) and my cousin said, “Hey! Say your ABC’s please…” and he said “No, pwease.” So she said, “Pleeeeese???” And he answered with the most angelic face, “Nooo…maybe wader onnnn…………. or notttt!” That cracked the whole room up. Kids are so funny.
Then there was the traditional “smack an unsuspecting teen with a face full of whipped cream”. No MiniMe wasn’t it…but her day is coming!! LOL
Just like always my aunt played the piano, my cousin with the beautifully trained voice sang, and one of the kids accompanied on guitar.
Here’s the talented 14 year old kid on guitar playing something slow for his grandma.
Then later on (when my stupid batteries were giving out) he rocked out a little, but you get the idea… this kid can shred. He also plays saxophone, trombone, trumpet, and drums.
Then while watching a couple football games, I was introduced to wonderment…called “High Definition” Oh. My. Goodness. I had no idea TV could be like that!
I also got to catch up with a cousin that I haven’t seen in about 18 years. I met her husband who seems to be one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. And maybe the tallest, too. He’s done a lot of mission work and worked in his church feeding people twice a month for a very long time. He’s part of a group of men that meet for weekly breakfasts and then they go out in groups and minister to people in their community in a variety of ways. His mother died quite some time back from health related issues that he decided he didn’t want to inherit, so he and a friend started working out, eating better, and lifting weights. He’s participated in Mr. Universe competitions and has started his own gym with that same friend. He’s spent time with Lee Haney and gotten a lot of great tips and inspiration from him, too, but so far has not aspired to enter the Mr. Olympia competition. He’s a great addition to the family and he immediately fit right in so easily.
After a lot of catching up, we all were leaving about the same time and telling each other we’d see each other again at Christmas. I packed up the remainder of the stuff we brought and we all headed out to the car. The neighborhood was PACKED with cars jockeyed in weird parking positions down the entire street. We drove to the end to turn around in the only place we could and I asked JL if he picked up the camera…he didn’t. So we picked and weaved our way back through the dark to the empty spot we’d left and he ran back inside the house to get it.
Here’s where it gets goooood.
Wrong house!! LOL!!!
He said when it dawned on him after standing inside the front door for a split second and not recognizing the people in there, the guy in the house said, “We wondered who you were!!” Hahaha!!!
So we drove a few houses further to the *right* house and he went in to grab the camera.
While he was in there, I grabbed my phone and called inside and said I wanted to officially change my answer for “best thing that happened this year!!” The laughter in the background was uproarious as my cousin told me that JL let them in on what he’d just done. HA!! When he got back in the car I had to remind him that Thanksgiving has never really quite been “his day”! Something always happens to him, from dog poop to broken fingers to the time he came out of the closet. Yeah, he says he meant “shared a bunk HOUSE” at annual training, but he just said “bunk”!

It figures

Just when I'm toying with the notion of flying again for the first time in about 11 years, this makes me stop and think:

A cockpit safety device is credited with helping pilots avoid a mid-air collision at 25,000 feet over Indiana.
According to a preliminary investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the planes came within seconds of colliding because of an error by an air traffic controller.
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory says the Tuesday evening incident happened amid a shift change during a busy time at the Chicago Center radar facility in Aurora.
Officials say that controller directed a Midwest Airlines plane flying east from Milwaukee into the path of a United Express jet heading west out of Greensboro, N.C.
The collision-avoidance device in the Midwest plane went off in the Fort Wayne area, and an airline spokeswoman says the pilots executed an emergency climb to get out of the way.

Link

There's more than corn in Indiana

Of the many places here I’ve been, here are a few that I’ve done (some several times each). I’d recommend them all to any HoosierWannabee touring the state:

Black Pine Animal Park in Albion
http://blackpineanimalpark.com/

Fun Spot Amusement Park in Angola
http://www.funspotpark.com/

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn
http://www.acdmuseum.org/

The World War II Victory Museum in Auburn
http://www.wwiivictory.org/

Conner Prarie in Fishers
http://www.connerprairie.org/

Ft.Wayne Zoo (which used to be called “Frankie Park”)
http://www.kidszoo.org/

Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne
http://www.thelincolnmuseum.org/

Children’s Museum in Indianapolis
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/

Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury
http://www.essenhaus.com/

Amish Acres in Nappanee
http://www.amishacres.com/

Brown County Nashville (all the shops and antique places)
http://www.browncounty.com/

Gene Stratton Porter house in Rome City
http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1166630

Shipshewana… yeah, the whole town
http://www.shipshewana.com/

Wagon Wheel Theater (in the round) in Warsaw
http://www.wagonwheeltheatre.com/Index/index.php

Go-Cart!

Ahh…the go-cart. Well, not really. But after driving around in the Grand Caravan for nearly 8 years, this little Neon feels like driving one. Everything is little and within reach without becoming a contortionist while driving. It’s so close to the ground, you feel like you’re flying down the road. It’s so much fun to drive!
Alas, it’s not for me. I’ll still be driving the van, and the skateboard/rocket is for JL to commute to work so we don’t rack up so many miles on his truck. Plus, when MiniMe starts driving next year (No!! Look out!! Arrrghhhh!! *just practicing*), she’ll have after school/weekend wheels.
Meanwhile, I’m working every angle to be the one to drive when we go on little ventures anywhere.
Today, JL asked me for a day date, out of the blue to go to Ft.Wayne and have lunch at my favorite restaurant, and then go buy some storage things for my gun stuff. Woohooo! And if that wasn’t good enough, he hands me the key and tells me to drive. Well, Alllriiiiiight!!
By the way, that key was (in his words) $50.00 f***ing dollars each, plus a $10.00 programming fee. Did you know all the newer cars have computer chips in the key, so that if you make a copy, it’ll open the door but won’t work in the ignition? You have to have the chip programmed or it won’t work. It’s some sort of anti-theft rip off.
Anyhow, we’re toolin’ down the interstate; not really catching up to anyone, but not being tailed either. We’re going at a good clip with the windows down and the radio blasting… it’s about 88 degrees and super sunny. I glanced down at the speedometer thinking we were doing about 75 because the speed limit was 70. We were doing 90. Holy Moly! I backed off and JL asked, “were you really going that fast?” So I said, “You want me to do it again to show you??” That got a really fast “No, no, no!” Ha.
Then he asked me if I’d gone as fast anywhere else as I was driving on I-69. Um yeah.
So here’s the exchange:
“Where did you drive that fast?”
“County Rd 19.”
“For what?”
“Well, I wanted to see how it would go, and I had a good reason!”
“Oh, yeah? What reason?”
“There was a little rust colored car cat/mousing me. I wanted really bad to be IN FRONT.”
*silence from the shotgun seat*
“Well… anyway, I won!”
He started a teeny little crooked evil grin that he was obviously trying to hide.
“And… and… it was an IrocZ. I smoked ‘em”
He cracked up laughing, “Good girl!”
Whew! I’m glad that went so well. A scolding from JL is WAY worse than a ticket from Ociffer BluePants.
HE won’t say so, but it’s true! :p

The Getaway!

Next Monday and Tuesday are going to be such long working days ( 8AM or so to 9:30PM or so). The spousal unit decided to treat me to my favorite escape!
Three days and two nights in Michigan the following week!
High points:

• In-room hot tub
• Cabela's right across the street!
• The best little quaint pizza place downtown
• Twenty minutes from Ann Arbor (and Seva!!)
• Cash that I've been stashing for just such an occasion

Yep. Dropping off MiniMe at camp early one morning and when I get home from work, we’ll buzz on up there to check in and drop off bags before we go play.

I love Seva!

I love Cabela’s!

I love hotel hot tubs!

It doesn’t get much better than that!