It's been 395 days since we last spoke...wow that's a long time. Maybe not for all of you since I don't recall receiving numerous phone calls or emails asking: "What happened to your blog?" Maybe I'm supposed to be taking a hint???
As you might (or might not) have noticed that the blog received a face lift. I'm not an overly creative type, so it's nice when the site you're using develops new templates and all you have to do is select one and click save!
This week at work, we have been holding meetings to communicate the new insurance information for next year. Did I hear a collective groan from the gallery when I said insurance? It's really not that bad. Trust me. But it is a little tough to make this stuff exciting for other people. Especially when you have multiple meeting everyday for a week. and when half of those meetings are at 6:30 AM.
For those of you in the midwest, that was some storm yesterday! I was at work when it went thru and a couple of were talking that it's much more comforting to be at home when a storm comes. At least you can watch the TV and get live updates. All we had was the radar map and a weather radio which updates every so often.
For those of you who don't know yet, Andrea gave notice to her accounting firm that she was leaving. She was ready for something different than public accounting and so she was keeping her eyes open for something. There was a position at Green Croft that was created in their accounting dept. So she interviewed, and after many weeks of waiting she received word that she was offered the job. She has accepted and will be starting her new job on Monday!
She is very excited about this but also nervous. This a completely different setting for her, and there are many things to learn, but she's up to the challenge. I'm so glad she found something she's going to enjoy. The only problem I have with her taking this job is that I don't know what I'm going to during tax season. For 3 months I had lots of freedom, and in one moment...*poof*
The couch is calling my name...
10.27.2010
9.27.2009
Here we go!
It's moving week and we have A LOT of packing to do yet. We knew this week was coming, so why wouldn't you put more effort into packing up all your stuff so you're ready??? I think they like to call it procrastination. We've done a little bit here and there, but we still have a ways to go. One reason we're a little behind is that our closing date was moved up 3 days, which doesn't sound like a lot, but those extra 3 days, means we can move in a weekend earlier that we first thought, so really, we lost about 7 days. Right now we're working pretty hard to get everything ready by Friday so that when all of our people come to help move, all they have to do is the moving part. So if you don't have anything better to do next Saturday (besides watching the Buckeyes) you're more than welcome to come help!
Tomorrow (Monday) we go in and sign the closing papers. Then on Wednesday we will get the keys to the house. It's exciting but hard to believe that we won't be in our apartment next Sunday!
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to go with a bunch of my high school friends up to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI to watch the Packers & Bengals. Now, I'm not really a fan of either, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see Lambeau Field! I'm VERY happy that I got to go when it was about 75 degrees instead of 0 with a -25 windchill! It was a great experience and a great game! Everyone was very friendly -- even though the Packers lost and I was wearing a Chad Johnson...oops, I mean Chad Ochocinco jersey. I got a lot of crap from a lot of people, but one of my friend's had brought the extra jersey along and no one was going to wear it. So I was the brave one to sport the jersey.
Well, back to watching Sunday afternoon football as well as keeping an eye on those Tigers! Until next time --
Tomorrow (Monday) we go in and sign the closing papers. Then on Wednesday we will get the keys to the house. It's exciting but hard to believe that we won't be in our apartment next Sunday!
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to go with a bunch of my high school friends up to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI to watch the Packers & Bengals. Now, I'm not really a fan of either, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see Lambeau Field! I'm VERY happy that I got to go when it was about 75 degrees instead of 0 with a -25 windchill! It was a great experience and a great game! Everyone was very friendly -- even though the Packers lost and I was wearing a Chad Johnson...oops, I mean Chad Ochocinco jersey. I got a lot of crap from a lot of people, but one of my friend's had brought the extra jersey along and no one was going to wear it. So I was the brave one to sport the jersey.
Well, back to watching Sunday afternoon football as well as keeping an eye on those Tigers! Until next time --
9.11.2009
In the news
I think I told a few of you that my company, Berry Plastics came up with a great way to help out a lot of people in our community. For those of you who have not been to Berry Plastics, we have a big field to the east of our plant, 7 acres to be exact. One of our employees had the idea to grow some food to help out those in need, especially now, with so many people out of work in Elkhart County. So we planted sweet corn, yes 7 acres of sweencorn. If you're wondering how much that might equate to, it's somewhere around 9,000 dozen (100,000 ears)!!! We lined up a lot of area food pantries and churches to come and pick up the corn. Since it is a parishible food, it needs to be used as soon as possible. We thought we may have trouble getting willing agencies to take it, but we were very wrong. We got rid of every last ear...truly amazing. God definitely had a plan for each ear that we gave away. It was a lot of fun to be a part of something so big like this. Every person that came and picked up the corn was so grateful for it, and in turn they said "you have no idea how many people you will make very happy for this food"
We did get some media coverage out of this event, so I'm going to give you a link to the Elkhart Truth. It was on the front page of the paper this AM, and I just happened to be in one of the pictures on the front page. You couldn't see my face, but my name got in the caption! :) Our local NBC station was also there and did a news story on our project, but I haven't seen anything online yet. If I do, I'll be sure to send those on. So, check out the link (you may have to copy and paste into your browser):
http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?ID=492847
We did get some media coverage out of this event, so I'm going to give you a link to the Elkhart Truth. It was on the front page of the paper this AM, and I just happened to be in one of the pictures on the front page. You couldn't see my face, but my name got in the caption! :) Our local NBC station was also there and did a news story on our project, but I haven't seen anything online yet. If I do, I'll be sure to send those on. So, check out the link (you may have to copy and paste into your browser):
http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?ID=492847
7.12.2009
Enjoying the outdoors
Some of us don't get the luxury of going to the beach, so we have to improvise and lay on our beach towels in the yard close our eyes, and imagine the waves crashing in the distance, the sand beneath our toes, and the smell of salt water. Because let's face it, it the Midwest, dry, crunchy grass and a cow manure aroma doesn't quite cut it. Brother Dave, if you can't tell, I'm a little jealous of your weekend get away. but this coming Saturday you can think of me b/c I'll be at the lake all week with Brent's fam and his in-laws!
This week's work schedule is going to be a little crazy for me. Monday is normal but i'll work a 10 hour day on Tuesday and 12 hours on Wednesday. But it works out just fine because the office staff at work isn't supposed to work any O.T. so I'll have all my hours in by Friday so I get an extra vacation day! So, I can't complain too much. Andrea is going to take the day off too and we're going to go to the county fair. We'll only be here for one day of it so we have to make the most of it!
This week I'm going to be giving some training to some employees. We have a new training software that is being used throughout out entire corporation so all employees now have access to the same exact training. It's very new, so it's don't fully developed, but it's going to be a great tool in the future. The hard part, like anything, is to get our employees excited about it and use it....that's my job!! I'm open to any tips anyone has for that!
Work has been going very good. We continue to make lots and LOTS of trash bags. FYI, I'm not sure if it's still going on or not, but Walmart was having a sale on our Ruffies brand. They were selling them for $1. We don't make these at our plant, but one of our other plants does, so if you need any trash bags I would highly recommend those!
Did anyone hear that Michael Jackson died? I was floored and how much media attention he got. It made me think what our society thinks is important. Yes he was a great singer/dancer, but the guy had some major issues and not sure he was the best role model for anyone.
Well i need to turn over so I don't get sun-burned on my back. and it's pretty hard to type laying on your back.
This week's work schedule is going to be a little crazy for me. Monday is normal but i'll work a 10 hour day on Tuesday and 12 hours on Wednesday. But it works out just fine because the office staff at work isn't supposed to work any O.T. so I'll have all my hours in by Friday so I get an extra vacation day! So, I can't complain too much. Andrea is going to take the day off too and we're going to go to the county fair. We'll only be here for one day of it so we have to make the most of it!
This week I'm going to be giving some training to some employees. We have a new training software that is being used throughout out entire corporation so all employees now have access to the same exact training. It's very new, so it's don't fully developed, but it's going to be a great tool in the future. The hard part, like anything, is to get our employees excited about it and use it....that's my job!! I'm open to any tips anyone has for that!
Work has been going very good. We continue to make lots and LOTS of trash bags. FYI, I'm not sure if it's still going on or not, but Walmart was having a sale on our Ruffies brand. They were selling them for $1. We don't make these at our plant, but one of our other plants does, so if you need any trash bags I would highly recommend those!
Did anyone hear that Michael Jackson died? I was floored and how much media attention he got. It made me think what our society thinks is important. Yes he was a great singer/dancer, but the guy had some major issues and not sure he was the best role model for anyone.
Well i need to turn over so I don't get sun-burned on my back. and it's pretty hard to type laying on your back.
6.24.2009
Let The Fun Begin
Summer is now in full force -- and it sure didn't take long to get there. On the very first day we were welcomed with high temps. and high humidity. When it was frigidly cold this winter, the last thing on my mind was the air conditioner in my car -- but the past couple of days it's been in the forefront. Oh, to have a nice cool breeze blowing my hair. Instead I have all 4 windows down and trying not to come to a complete stop, otherwise I begin sweating profusely and no one at work would want to be near me after that.
Last weekend Andrea and I looked at a house. We really aren't in any hurry to move, because we have a great set up where we are now, but after the gov't started offering all this money it's something we thought we needed to consider a little more seriously. The house we looked at was one of Jeff & Kris' friends. We really liked the land it was on, but the house itself was a bit dated and there were a lot of things that we would have wanted to change. After talking about knocking down walls we felt we needed to keep looking. I'm sure there are many more places out there. Dave, I hear that you have a pretty nice place you're trying to sell. Too bad you don't live about 2500 miles closer -- we might be able to talk then! We'll keep you updated as we continue to look...
Before I forget, be sure to check out the standings on the right hand side of this page. Just thought I'd point out that the Tiger's seem to be doing just fine and have faith that this will continue. By the way, did anyone catch the outcome of last night's game against the beloved Cubs???? One out, bottom of the ninth, one base runner, pinch hitter = Walk off home run!!! Doesn't get much better than that does it??
Since summer has begun you start to think of all the things you have planned...next up on the list is a visit to Ohio over the 4th. Hopefully I'll write again before that time comes.
Last weekend Andrea and I looked at a house. We really aren't in any hurry to move, because we have a great set up where we are now, but after the gov't started offering all this money it's something we thought we needed to consider a little more seriously. The house we looked at was one of Jeff & Kris' friends. We really liked the land it was on, but the house itself was a bit dated and there were a lot of things that we would have wanted to change. After talking about knocking down walls we felt we needed to keep looking. I'm sure there are many more places out there. Dave, I hear that you have a pretty nice place you're trying to sell. Too bad you don't live about 2500 miles closer -- we might be able to talk then! We'll keep you updated as we continue to look...
Before I forget, be sure to check out the standings on the right hand side of this page. Just thought I'd point out that the Tiger's seem to be doing just fine and have faith that this will continue. By the way, did anyone catch the outcome of last night's game against the beloved Cubs???? One out, bottom of the ninth, one base runner, pinch hitter = Walk off home run!!! Doesn't get much better than that does it??
Since summer has begun you start to think of all the things you have planned...next up on the list is a visit to Ohio over the 4th. Hopefully I'll write again before that time comes.
6.03.2009
One Year and 3 Days
and still no dog! I did it, I've made it that long and haven't given in the "pleases", "I need a puppy's", or the unspoken looks! How long that will last, I don't know, but I see this as a great accomplishment!
As you know from my last post, we went to Madison, WI for our anniversary and had tons of fun. The brat fest was pretty cool. It was the same setting as a typical county fair. They had the rides that go 'round and 'round, the games, the fried fair food, and yes, the carnies. About the only differences were the HUGE tent that they were selling brats in and the many many grills they were cooking on. I took several pictures and need to work at getting those posted so that everyone can see them. I'm also proud to say that we were able to be a part of history, they set a new record of brats consumed at the first festival of the year! Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.bratfest.com
The past few weeks I've been running to keep myself in shape now that I'm not playing basketball every week. Goshen has a beautiful trail that runs through the city that is specifically for bikers, walkers, and joggers. This trail goes thru the college, so I take a short piece of the trail and wind my way to the Greencroft Retirement Center. It's a setup very similar to Fairlawn back in A-town. My route continues thru the Greencroft complex via sidewalks and roads. There typically isn't very much traffic so it's a very nice place to run. Now, I'm not typically someone who gets paranoid about much but today as I'm running there was a car coming towards me and as it gets closer it moves over to maintain a safe distance (as it should) and I noticed that there was an older lady driving. She was going into the sun so she had her visor down, sunglasses on, and her left hand in the air because she was too short for the visor to be any help at all. Luckily (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) she passed safely and that got me thinking that running through greencoft might be a little more risky than originally believed. Think about it, here's a community of my elders, many of them drive, but as we all know, with age comes the potential for physical impairments.
I think I might start moving into the grass from now on -- it's good there's lots of grass because the sidewalks aren't much safer....come to find out, I forgot about the motorized scooters!!!
As you know from my last post, we went to Madison, WI for our anniversary and had tons of fun. The brat fest was pretty cool. It was the same setting as a typical county fair. They had the rides that go 'round and 'round, the games, the fried fair food, and yes, the carnies. About the only differences were the HUGE tent that they were selling brats in and the many many grills they were cooking on. I took several pictures and need to work at getting those posted so that everyone can see them. I'm also proud to say that we were able to be a part of history, they set a new record of brats consumed at the first festival of the year! Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.bratfest.com
The past few weeks I've been running to keep myself in shape now that I'm not playing basketball every week. Goshen has a beautiful trail that runs through the city that is specifically for bikers, walkers, and joggers. This trail goes thru the college, so I take a short piece of the trail and wind my way to the Greencroft Retirement Center. It's a setup very similar to Fairlawn back in A-town. My route continues thru the Greencroft complex via sidewalks and roads. There typically isn't very much traffic so it's a very nice place to run. Now, I'm not typically someone who gets paranoid about much but today as I'm running there was a car coming towards me and as it gets closer it moves over to maintain a safe distance (as it should) and I noticed that there was an older lady driving. She was going into the sun so she had her visor down, sunglasses on, and her left hand in the air because she was too short for the visor to be any help at all. Luckily (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) she passed safely and that got me thinking that running through greencoft might be a little more risky than originally believed. Think about it, here's a community of my elders, many of them drive, but as we all know, with age comes the potential for physical impairments.
I think I might start moving into the grass from now on -- it's good there's lots of grass because the sidewalks aren't much safer....come to find out, I forgot about the motorized scooters!!!
5.24.2009
Vacations are Great
When we told most people where we were going for our 1st wedding anniversary we got a very confused look and big "Why?" Well when you have 2 people that love vacations and bratwursts you have a recipie for a lot of fun! Actually, it's still potential fun because we haven't been to the brat fest yet so we can't say weather we enjoyed it yet.
We had planned to go yesterday, but the forecast called for intermittent showers and we didn't really want to be in the rain all day. So instead, we headed to the Wollersheim Winery. It was absolutely gorgeous! From the drive there, to the winery itself, and back to the hotel, we noted several times how beautiful Wisconsin is. We never knew what it was like up here, but both said we could see ourselves living here. Don't get too excited though...no plans on moving quite yet!
We took a tour of the winery, and got to see the process and learned about different types of grapes, I took several pics, so I'll have to post them somewhere and let everyone look at them -- OR, everyone could come visit us and then we'd show you! :)
After our tour we were really hungry so we asked one of the employees if there was a good restaurant around and she pointed us in the direction of a nearby town. It was called the Blue Spoon Creamery Cafe. It was a simple little town, and they had soup, salad, and sandwiches. They had outdoor seating on the bank of the river so we had a gorgeous view while we ate!
We then came back to the hotel and relaxed before going out for the evening. Andrea has always wanted to eat falafels, so we looked up some Middle Eastern food on the 'net and found the King of Falafel restaurant in downtown Madison. It was a shady little place. We entered thru the back door, down a short hallway, and thru some swinging doors. The restaurant itself had about 12 tables, and there were a handful of people there with only 1 waiter. The music was nice, until we were there 5 minutes and then the CD started to skip and all that played was the last 5-10 seconds over, and over, and over, and over again. Needless to say, we were pretty good at humming along by the time we left!
The food was really good. Andrea loved the falafels, I think we're going to try and make them sometime at home. I also had the Chicken Shwarma...for those of you who've never had Mid East food...you gotta try it! It's wonderful. The tastes took me back to the winding, cramped alleys of the the West Bank. Would love to go back sometime. I just need to convince Andrea to go with me!
Today we're headed to the bratfest. We'll probably eat too much, but hey, that's what vacation is all about, right? We've also come to find out that during the summer, Madison has some sort of a festival every weekend, so if you're looking to go somewhere...that's always an option.
But I will warn you...if you live where you have to drive thru Chicago...be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait some more. That was my first driving experience thru downtown Chi-town and if I would never have to do that again...I really wouldn't mind at all! Our best friend on this trip so far is our GPS. It's been a life saver with directions. But I find myself not paying attention how I'm getting places.
We're off to the bratfest!
We had planned to go yesterday, but the forecast called for intermittent showers and we didn't really want to be in the rain all day. So instead, we headed to the Wollersheim Winery. It was absolutely gorgeous! From the drive there, to the winery itself, and back to the hotel, we noted several times how beautiful Wisconsin is. We never knew what it was like up here, but both said we could see ourselves living here. Don't get too excited though...no plans on moving quite yet!
We took a tour of the winery, and got to see the process and learned about different types of grapes, I took several pics, so I'll have to post them somewhere and let everyone look at them -- OR, everyone could come visit us and then we'd show you! :)
After our tour we were really hungry so we asked one of the employees if there was a good restaurant around and she pointed us in the direction of a nearby town. It was called the Blue Spoon Creamery Cafe. It was a simple little town, and they had soup, salad, and sandwiches. They had outdoor seating on the bank of the river so we had a gorgeous view while we ate!
We then came back to the hotel and relaxed before going out for the evening. Andrea has always wanted to eat falafels, so we looked up some Middle Eastern food on the 'net and found the King of Falafel restaurant in downtown Madison. It was a shady little place. We entered thru the back door, down a short hallway, and thru some swinging doors. The restaurant itself had about 12 tables, and there were a handful of people there with only 1 waiter. The music was nice, until we were there 5 minutes and then the CD started to skip and all that played was the last 5-10 seconds over, and over, and over, and over again. Needless to say, we were pretty good at humming along by the time we left!
The food was really good. Andrea loved the falafels, I think we're going to try and make them sometime at home. I also had the Chicken Shwarma...for those of you who've never had Mid East food...you gotta try it! It's wonderful. The tastes took me back to the winding, cramped alleys of the the West Bank. Would love to go back sometime. I just need to convince Andrea to go with me!
Today we're headed to the bratfest. We'll probably eat too much, but hey, that's what vacation is all about, right? We've also come to find out that during the summer, Madison has some sort of a festival every weekend, so if you're looking to go somewhere...that's always an option.
But I will warn you...if you live where you have to drive thru Chicago...be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait some more. That was my first driving experience thru downtown Chi-town and if I would never have to do that again...I really wouldn't mind at all! Our best friend on this trip so far is our GPS. It's been a life saver with directions. But I find myself not paying attention how I'm getting places.
We're off to the bratfest!
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