>Introducing…

Posted on August 5, 2008 by Katie

>…LUCILLE!

This is our newest family member…Lucille. Isn’t she precious?

She looks precious, but she’s actually quite feisty. She’s giving Buster a run for his money! She’s sweet too, and she’s starting to fit in just fine. We got Lucille from our friend Debbie’s nephew. He was no longer able to keep her, and really didn’t want to take her to the shelter. We were happy to take her for him!

(Buster is named after Buster Bluth on Arrested Development. We thought it was only fitting that we name his new girlfriend Lucille, after Buster’s girlfriend on the show.)

Enjoy her cuteness…we do! (P.S. I got a little carried away on Picnik.com…but I love this picture!)

>Random Memory

Posted on August 4, 2008 by Katie

>Matt and I were at a friend’s house last night for youth group pool party. On our way home, he didn’t exactly stop at a railroad crossing, and I made a comment akin to “smooth move ex-lax!” As images of my car smashed by a train entered my brain, a random childhood memory popped in, and I thought I’d share with you. (Aren’t you so lucky?)

I grew up on the south side of Indianapolis – just 7 miles from downtown. There was a train track right near our neighborhood that crossed over a busy road. Years and years ago, everyone in the neighborhood got a letter from the city saying that there would be a public service announcement filmed RIGHT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Something about people racing to beat trains, blah, blah, blah.

Everyone in the ‘hood packed coolers, folding chairs, etc. and made the trek to the end of the street to watch the filming. Traffic was stopped both ways, and an old junker car (occupied by two crash-test dummies) was placed on road in the path of the train. The tension built as we saw a train slowly move up and stop about 100 yards from the car. When it was time, the train sped up to what looked like 25 miles an hour and KABLOOIE! smashed that car to smithereens. It was an exciting day…

I’m not sure how old I was, but I know I was old enough to realize that we all looked like stupid rednecks watching this take place. I still think of those poor crash-test dummies being killed as we all watched. So…um…don’t race the train! Stop at the tracks. PSA out.

>The "I’ve peaked, and I’m kidding myself" Party

Posted on August 3, 2008 by Katie

>My 10th high school reunion was last night. WHEW!

The planning nearly killed me at times, but last night ended up going really well. We had well over 100 people there, and I think they all had a great time. We had a money shortage, but everyone was AWESOME about throwing cash into the donation basket to help out. We’re still about $150 short, but that’s WAY better than $600.

This was my first reunion, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I feel like I have changed so much since high school, so I guess I assumed a lot of other people would have too. I was so wrong! From what I could tell, everyone is still basically the same. The jerks were jerks. The nerds were nerds. The pretty girls were still pretty…prettier actually. (Am I really the only one who has gained wait since high school??? SERIOUSLY!)

I actually found that I didn’t really fit in with many people anymore. A couple of my band friends were there, and they are good friends I have kept in touch with over the years. Other than those folks, I had a hard time feeling like I was connecting with anyone. People were really nice, appreciative for the planning I had done, and they feigned the expected interest in my life (Married? Kids? Job?). We reminisced about high school (middle school even!), laughed about the stupid things we had seen each other do, etc. I still felt like a stranger. It was weird.

It has been ten years…ten long, life-changing, interesting years.

(Fun blog connection: my classmate’s wife came up to me last night to let me know she reads my blog and even asked about how Buster was doing! Isn’t that funny? If you’re still reading, Melissa: It was great to meet you last night!)