Super-Indy!

Since I will probably never make it to a Superbowl game, I wanted to go check out the festivities around Indianapolis. In retrospect, we should have gone earlier in the week, but with work and the drive, we ended up waiting until Friday night. We started out trying to pay $20 for parking, but the lot was full. Then we drove 3 blocks and found free parking!! Lucky thing #1!

Though you can't tell who is in this SUV, the answer is Adam Sandler! Whoa!

The area wasn't too bad when we first got there at about 5pm, but it just got progressively worse as the evening went on. At the end we couldn't get the stroller through and folded it up and carried it. We finally headed to Circle Center Mall and got a bite to eat in the food court. People were eating on the floor, but we got lucky and a guy offered us his table because Lee was wearing a Purdue shirt! Lucky again!

It was cool to see the city all spiffed up for the Superbowl. We even managed to run into some friends, which, given the crowds was nothing short of a miracle. Though I think we walked about 7 miles and it was crowded, it was worth the trip!

And the butter on the bread is that the Patriots lost!

So true...

P.S. This t-shirt was for sale at Wal-Mart. Classic!

Don't Deny Me My Milwaukee's Best Premium

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I am not usually one to openly complain to strangers. But, today at the grocery store, I got pushed over the edge.

As we were walking into the store, I realized that I had forgotten my purse, so I made sure that Lee had his wallet. He did. We proceeded to shop, buying some beer and some wine. We get to the checkout and the lady said "I need to see your id's." I noticed the plurality of id's, but ignored it for the time being while Lee gave her his id. She said "Maam, I need to see yours too." Are you kidding me? You're going to card me WHILE calling me maam? That's like some sort of oxymoron irony BS, isn't it?

I told her my id was in the car and she made me GO OUT AND GET IT. "I'm sorry, but we have to card everyone now. It's a state law." That makes NO sense. So, if I am shopping with Taryn, are they going to card Taryn? She said "Well, we don't think that an adult is going to give their child alcohol." What if it was a sibling? A niece or nephew? Where is the line and how exactly are you going to enforce this?

The bagboy was confused and thought that Lee didn't have his id which really makes me think the cashier was just being a biatch. I begrudgingly walked out to the car in the 300 degree heat to get my id, but only after yelling out "I'M ALMOST 30 FOR GOD'S SAKE." (You know I'm mad if I am admitting to being close to 30!) When I brought my id back in, I don't even think she looked at it long enough to see the date.

As we were leaving, Lee said "You know, it doesn't help that you're wearing a West Side Cheerleader t-shirt." Yeah, but the thing is 18 years old. (Wow, that just made me take a hard look at my wardrobe. I have a shirt that could legally vote and buy cigarettes. And I wear it. Often.)

I guess in the end, we got our beer and wine and the only thing that it cost me was a trip out to the car and about 5 minutes of my time. But, for some reason, I'm still bitter. Perhaps one of those Milwaukee's Best Premiums would help calm my nerves... It's noon somewhere.

Changing Time

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Lee is starting work down in Lafayette tomorrow and I am starting back at school on Monday. Our commute to Lafayette takes an hour. But what REALLY sucks is that we lose an hour due to the time change. So, to get to Lafayette by 7am, we have to leave at 5am. Ouch. And to leave by 5am, we really need to get to bed early, but you feel like a total loser going to bed promptly at 9pm.

So, our family is officially on Eastern time now. I just went through the house and reset all of the clocks an hour ahead. We changed Lee's car and I am going to go change my car. The only clocks that will still be on Demotte time is the tv and our cell phones. Hopefully we don't get confused by those!!

I love these billboards...

Come on in to Indiana... Just make sure you make it further across the state line than Gary!

Windmills

This weekend, Lee & I had his Gma Puetz' Christmas party. Gma Puetz lives out in Fowler, IN. This is near where Lee grew up and went to school until he was a freshman and moved to my school. It has always been just a lot of farm land out there, but now they are starting to farm something else too... WIND.

Look at all those windmills. Really changes the look of things out there.

The windmills are HUGE. I never realized it until being up close to one.

This is Lee's old school, now surrounded by windmills!

I think it is really cool that we have these windmills going up so close to home. It is crazy for rural Indiana to be on the cutting edge of solving the energy crisis!

The end of an era...

Go to the site below to watch the RCA Dome in Indianapolis deflate. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry, but for some reason I'm still watching it. I remember attending many a High School Final Four basketball games at the Dome. Back before Indiana went to lame-o class basketball.

Watch the Dome deflate!

Fortunately, the Colts have a nice new stadium to play in now! (However it doesn't seem to be helping them play well...)

Worst... Commute... Ever!

I thought that my day was going to be a good one when it started. When I got my Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich out of the freezer, it had an extra piece of sausage! That has to be a sign of a good day starting! But then... The commute started!

Apparently almost every road in NW Indiana is closed right now due to flooding. This includes 80/94 and I-65. I did see a lot of standing water during my drive and the rivers & streams are all almost touching the bottom of the bridges. It is pretty crazy!

Here is a rundown of my commute this morning:

5:45am - Leave my house. Head to I-65.
5:55am - Hmmm. The ramp to I-65 North is closed. WTF? I pull a U-turn and head back to 231 North.
6:10am - Get up to SR2. I hit a stop sign and every direction except for the one I came from is closed. Not good. I drive past one of the signs.
6:15am - There's a truck blocking the road. I guess they mean business. Otherwise I would totally be one of those people that tries to cross the high water and gets swept away in their car. I ask the dude standing there if there is anyway to get to Chicago. He tells me to take a detour over to 41 North.
6:30am - I decide to take 55 North to Crown Point.
6:50am - 55 is treating me well. I'll continue on until Merrillville.
7:05am - Get to Merrillville. Take 30 West. At this point, I am planning to take 30 over to 394 North.
7:10am - Radio says that people are getting directed onto 394 South. Ruh Roh.
7:15am - Decide to take 41 north.
7:16am - 8am - STANDSTILL TRAFFIC ON 41 NORTH. Apparently since all the roads in Indiana are closed, everyone has to take either 90 West or 41 North into the city. Not good.
8:03am - Get to the exit for 80/94 West. It appears to be open... I'm going for it!!
8:05am - WOW. There is no one on this road. It is kind of creepy. I'm flying! I see a sign that says 45 minutes to get to the Loop. Ugh!
8:20am - We hit the traffic from 90 West. Ouch.
8:45 - Finally, I get to the parking lot.
9am - I'm at my desk. And it only took me 3.25 hours to get here. OUCH!

I am praying that the trip home is not this bad!!!

Update: The ride home was WORSE. I left work at 5:15 and didn't get home until 8:45pm. Worst day ever! If the roads aren't open Thursday, there is no way I'm going in to the office.

Indiana is pretty.

That is all.

See what Indiana does to ya?

It MAKES you party!

CROWN POINT, Indiana – After a day of taking shots at rival Sen. Barack Obama over his "bitter" remarks, Sen. Hillary Clinton relaxed in Crown Point, Indiana and took a shot of a different kind – Crown Royal whiskey.

Clinton was at Bronko’s Restaurant having a beer when the bartender asked, “You want a shot with that Hillary?” After some deliberation, Clinton settled on a shot of Crown Royal, a Canadian whiskey.

Later in the evening, the Democratic presidential hopeful also sat down and had some pizza.

I meet cool people!

The night before I went back to Indiana for Christmas, I stopped by Tom's yacht for their Dock Christmas Party. As soon as I walked in, I was informed that I was in the company of another Hoosier whose name was something like Billy Bob. Not helping the state's image here... So, I ask Billy Bob where in Indiana he is from. Martinsville. Now, most people that know anything about Indiana INSTANTLY think of the KKK when they hear Martinsville, IN, but that's a whole other blog. Billy Bob was there at the party because Squirrel (a dude that Tom knows) was his brother-in-law.

So, last weekend, Tom goes, "Hey, you remember Squirrel? He got arrested."

I think that is an understatement!!! His real name is Elbert Tillman Jr. and this appears to be how his holiday season went:

1. He went with his wife back to her home town of Martinsville, IN.
2. A domestic dispute ensued. (Hello? It's the holidays...)
3. Squirrel flees the cops and returns to his home in Suffolk, VA.
4. The cops are waiting to arrest him for domestic battery in front of a child & strangulation.
5. While there, they search his property.
6. They find a barn full of military-grade explosives.

I love this quote from his neighbor: “He seemed like a normal guy,” Bowyer said. “My guess is, these were probably just war trophies.” Nothing to worry about!!

(In Tom's defense, Squirrel owns a yacht repair company and that is why he ended up at Tom's party. They aren't buddies or anything.)

See the pillars of the community I get to rub elbows with down here? Bet you all want to visit now...

There IS more than corn in Indiana...

Apparently there are also leaves.

These have to be some of the most exciting web cams around. No, you are not mistaken, these are indeed just cameras set up to watch the leaves change color... About as exciting as watching paint dry.

Apparently the Visit Indiana website was drawing a blank on ideas.

Although they do have THIS as a place to visit in West Lafayette. [hint: get a malt!! even if you're eating breakfast. YUM!]

Replaced Hoosier???

Lee and I are going HOME to Indiana this weekend. I can't wait!! It feels like so long since I've been HOME to see my family... I miss this: