Bad Boys Bad Boys...

*

So, we called the cops tonight...

This whole evening, a car has been driving around our neighborhood. It was suspicious looking, two-toned with a spoiler. So, Lee and I both saw it about a dozen times. Then, I noticed that it had parked across the street from us. When a car would come, the suspicious car would turn on its lights and drive a little, then turn around and go back to the same spot. We were extra concerned because I think the bus driver across the street is out of town.

SO, finally, we called the DeMotte Police. Found out that we don't live IN DeMotte, so we called the Jasper Co. Sherriff. (Meanwhile, Lee got the shotgun loaded. We thought we might have to go all Gran Torino on them.) I described the vehicle and gave our address. Dispatch said they had already gotten a report of the same car. She asked when the last time we saw it was and I said "I'm looking at it right now." So, she said she would send someone.

Right after hanging up, our Mexican neighbors, the Gonzalez', got home and talked to the people in the car and the car pulled into their driveway. Hmmm. Within probably 5 minutes, a cop car came through the neighborhood with his spotlight checking yards. He saw the suspicious car and pulled in and talked to them. About 5 minutes later, another cop car showed up. Nice response sheriff!

So, at the end of it, we feel like racial profilers because we reported guests of our Mexican neighbors (1 of 2 non-white families in the neighborhood) to the cops. Lee said the Gonzalez' are probably like "F-ing white people." But, in our defense, they were acting shady as hell. And we're not the only racial profilers in the neighborhood since the car had already been reported!

We are glad, though, that we had a dry run of calling the police around here. We know to call the county sheriff and not the town police. And at least they seem to have a quick response!!

Another one???

*
Yesterday I was on my way to the dentist. I went by a church in downtown DeMotte. They have a sign outside that always has spiritual messages, congratulations to newly married members of their congregation or new births in their congregation. Today the sign said:

Congratulations ____ & _____ on the birth of their daughter Taryn Alexandria born 6/3/2009.

What the heck? When Lee and I decided on Taryn's name, we wanted a name that wasn't all that common, but wasn't too "out there". In my life, I had only met one Taryn (before my daughter) and Lee had met none. We didn't want Taryn to share her name with 2 people in her class or anything. Well, now it turns out if we were to stay living in DeMotte, she surely would be sharing her name with a girl in her class! And seriously, DeMotte is a town of 5,000 people. What are the chances?? (One. Sorry, math nerd joke.)

I just hope Taryn doesn't pick up in popularity all of the sudden. That is what my mom claims happened with my name. When they named me, they didn't know many Laurens, but once I got into school, it seemed like everyone was named Lauren!
Taryn was not happy to hear about the other Taryn in town.

* Sidenote: today is Taryn is 3 weeks old. It is amazing how these 3 weeks have flown by, but at the same time, I can barely remember life before baby!!

Low Crime Rate in Jasper County - PHEW!

Thank goodness for the low crime rate down here in po-dunk where I live. Saturday morning, Lee & I left about 10 minutes late and were rushing out the door. Apparently, we (I) forgot to put the garage door down... Yeah. Not good.

So, we were gone from Saturday morning until Sunday evening with our garage door open and the door to the house unlocked. Anyone could have backed their truck into our garage and unloaded all our prized posessions with no breaking-in at all. Actually, someone could have just loaded up Lee's Explorer and taken that too. (I don't know who would want that thing though! Besides Lee.)

When we got home, I started freaking out that our door was open. As soon as we pulled up I bolted in the house and checked for our tv & our two laptops (yes, those are our prized posessions). Safe & sound. Thank goodness. I will not be forgetting the garage door again any time soon. I am still traumatized from our close call.

Holy balls I just got gas for $3.89!!

As I have mentioned, I use a lot of gas. When your job & everyone you know is over 60 miles away, that tends to happen... So, gas prices have become very important to me. Almost a sport, really.

So, tonight I went to the grocery store, Tysens Family Food Center, to be precise. (Seriously, could I have a more exciting Friday night?) Since it is the only grocery store in DeMotte, I obviously have the frequent shopper card.

Tonight after paying, the checkout girl (her name was Ginger) handed me my receipt and said "You have 19 gas points this month."
What? I don't know what a gas point is, but I am intrigued.
"How exactly do these gas points work?"
"For every point, you get 1cent off gas."
"Where is this gas station?" It must be far away. This is too good to be true.
"About 2 blocks away."
Just as she was explaining it I remembered noticing a Tysen's Gas Station. Awesome.

So, I got in the car. I had 1/4 of a tank left, but I just HAD to see if this was true! (And, hello, June ends very soon and so do my monthly gas points!)

I said a silent prayer, please let me get 19cents off gas...

I pull in, put in my debit card, swipe my handy dandy Tysen's card.

The screen says "You have 19 points. You get 19cents off gas." And all of the gas prices on the pump drop by 19cents. It's a Tysen's miracle! So, even though this station is usually about 9cents more than where I usually get gas, the FlyingJ in Lowell, with the 19cents off, it is still an unbeatable deal!!

Now I want to go back to the grocery store and BUY MORE FOOD so I can get cheaper gas! I may end up super fat, but I'll have the cheapest gas in the state!

Patriotism Gives Me Goosebumps

Today at lunch I went downtown to get some stamps and a greeting card. In honor of Memorial Day on Monday, every phone pole in town (it's not a very big town) have big American flags on them. When I entered town, it gave me goosebumps!

(Sorry the picture sucks, it's with my cell phone. I tried to get a picture of a few flags in a row, but it just didn't work out.)

Karaoke comes to DeMotte

Last night Reut, Michelle, Ploth & Stacia came way out into the country to visit me in DeMotte.


We started out watching some golf and playing some euchre. Then we headed to Gentleman Tom's Hideaway. Now this totally sounds like a strip club... But, it wasn't. It was a restaurant/bar. This is where we had dinner. But, before dinner, they brought us a basket of crackers and some of the best cheese dip stuff EVER. It was like Cheese Whiz only better. So delicious! Over the course of the meal, Ploth managed to have the cheese on crackers, fries, chicken strip, onion ring & pork chop. They don't call him Jabba for nothing!


After Gentleman Tom's, I attempted to find the Kniman bar. As you can see from the prior post, that was not a success...


So, we headed to Holley's in downtown DeMotte. There was a band playing, so there was a cover of $2. A cover in DeMotte? The band was pretty good. The place was packed. Reut & Ploth discovered some game in the back that they kept stuffing dollar bills into. They never won and I am a little afraid to know how much they spent...


Reuter had been hankering all night for some karaoke. So, we headed back to my house and set up the karaoke machine. And thus was the beginning of the end!


Ploth & Stacia serenade each other. Mich takes a stab at it. Notice Darby in the background like "WTF?"

Things get romantic between Ploth & Reut. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife!

What showmanship...

The night ended at about 2:30 am after some boys vs. girls "Karaoke Roulette". I am surprised my windows didn't shatter!

Thanks guys for coming to visit me out in po-dunk! Hopefully you can come back sometime when it is warmer and we can do some outdoor stuff!

Weekend in D-Town (it is definitely a TOWN)

This weekend we started moving some stuff into our house in DeMotte, IN. This is by far the smallest town I will have ever lived in. I mean, the closest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away!! Still, I think I am going to like it.

Saturday: Saturday we flew into Indianapolis. We went to see my cousin's new apartment (she moved to West Lafayette from Kokomo), then picked up our U-Haul. First stop was Lee's brothers for a couch & loveseat that we were storing there. Then, onto my mom's for most everything from my Chicago condo that I didn't take to Norfolk... Plus, almost all of our wedding gifts! After that, we headed up to Monticello to get some boxes we had been storing at Lee's parents' house and a couple pieces of furniture donated from the Klemme's. After this, we were beat, but still opted to head back to West Lafayette to hit up Harry's. Harry's was awesome. Lee has given up beer for Lent, and as most of us know, Harry's has some stiff mixed drinks. So, I ended up driving back to Monticello with a passed out husband spilling popcorn all over the car. Lee ended up spending most of his night "sleeping" at the kitchen table.

Sunday: We got up early on Sunday to head to DeMotte. As Lee and I were pulling into our neighborhood, we saw lots & lots of water. I was starting to panic that our house was going to be flooded. We got to our house and sure enough, the back yard looked like a lake. But, the house looked like it had survived the flood well. Our realtor was supposed to leave the door unlocked, but alas, she had not. So, we had to sit outside for 15 minutes while the realtor came over. Not happy! Our families started showing up at this point and the truck got unloaded in record time. Not only did they unload the truck, but they unpacked all the boxes! SWEET! I may not know where anything is in my own kitchen, but I'll figure it out! After paying for their help with pizza, everyone left. Lee and I headed up to the "bigger city" of Merrillville to get a Costco membership and pickup some random goods.

Sunday evening, we went to a bar called Holley's Restaurant & Lounge. It was your classic Indiana bar, where NASCAR is the hot topic, Toby Keith is playing on the juke box, and the big argument is over who will win tonight's Purdue/IU game. There, I pointed out a cardboard sign to Lee that said:

As of February 1st, the price of domestic beer will go up to $2.25.


Phew! Don't know if I can afford those new stiff prices!!

Monday: We got up Monday morning and drove up to Hammond so Lee could visit the Calumet College of St. Joseph's, the school he plans to attend. We got good news there! Lee has earned enough credits in his couple semesters at Purdue and his time in the Navy that he qualifies for the "Adult Accelerated" program. This means he should wrap up school in 18 short months!! Awesome!

After this, we made our way back to Lafayette. We were about to head to the Indy airport when we got an automated phone call saying that our flight had been cancelled. (WHY DID I GIVE UP SWEARING FOR LENT?) After quite a few schedule changes and delays, we finally got a flight into Newport News, VA (about a 1/2 hour from where our car was parked at the Norfolk airport). Finally made it home at 12:30am. Just in time for 4 quick hours of sleep before we both had to be awake. Lee was headed out to sea and I was headed up to DC. So tired!!