Yes, I'm offering up a sorry excuse for why I haven't blogged. It's not that our lives are boring, or they aren't note-worthy, or anything. It's just that sometimes life just gets in the way. You get wrapped up in the moment, and before you know it, two weeks have gone past. It's crazy how that happens all the time, huh?
So in the past week, Ross and I, along with the rest of central Indiana (and just about everywhere in the Midwest it seems) had to deal with a really big ice/snow storm.
It all started last Monday, when my boss asked for each and every person to shut down and turn off each and every thing that has power to it (i.e. computers, printers, or anything else that could get damaged if power was cut suddenly). Apparently there was some kind of storm blowing through, and it was expected to give us upwards of an inch of ice.... coating... everything. Being that I'm from Northern Indiana, and have dealt with my fair share of harsh Indiana winters, I was rather skeptical. I mean, what could a little ice do to us.... right??
Ross had found out pretty early on in the afternoon that his school would be canceled for Tuesday. Not that I was jealous or anything, but there's just something about the knowledge of a snow day that causes you to react like a 10 year old child. And, Ross was acting as such, all over our living room, bedrooms, man cave, and pretty much everywhere else in our house. How bad could it be, right? Well, in just the time it took for us to get home from work/school that day at 4:00 in the afternoon, until the time we left for the gym, shortly after 5:00. our drive way was already a full fledged ice skating rink. I carefully skated over to Ross' car, and we headed to the gym. I still didn't figure this would go any further.....
Boy, was I wrong! We headed to the grocery store after we went to the gym that night, to find that just about everyone, their brother and their mother, had already foreseen this humango storm that was headed in our direction, and they had decided to take every last loaf of bread (we got one, but it was SLIM pickings!) gallon and half gallon of milk, along with the rest of the essentials (beer?) We even got a pint of organic skim milk, mostly because there wasn't much of a choice. It was between that, and some Vitamin D milk. Being that we are skim milk people we really didn't have to think too long about which one we were choosing.
Confession. After our 10 day cleanse not too long ago, I got a wee bit carried away with the cheese items on this grocery run. Mac n' Cheese (box and individual packs) cheese slices and shreds, and a big block of queso cheese (to make some dip, of course!) I'm a wee bit ashamed, but I just love cheese! I will be spreading out the consumption of said cheese, but I just had gone through withdrawal, and I couldn't stand it any longer!
I then got first of many calls, and it went something like this: "Julie, this is Jay (my principal). There's no school tomorrow." WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo!!! Snow day!!! Now, I'm jumping all around the house doing the happy dance. Ross is just rolling his eyes, but I don't care. This was awesome news! Ross and I would have one day to lay around, and relax, and I thought this was outstanding! It was great! We rented movies, laid around, went to the gym. And then... I got another call. "Julie, this is Jay. School is canceled tomorrow (Wednesday). I Still excited, just this time, there was no happy dance. I was okay with this, and figured it would surely be the last day off for the week. Boy was I wrong again. I not only got called on Wednesday (finding out that there was no school on Thursday - though he said we would probably have school on Friday), but I also got a call on Thursday as well - no school on Friday. We'll just say, the novelty of the snow day wore off. Things got... how shall we say....boring.
I spent a lot of time working on my website for a small photography business I'm starting up, and I was also able to get a photo shoot in on Friday. (julieannelerch.com) From that perspective, I was able to get quite a bit done, and it was fun to have the time to put into it.
This weekend (okay, the last two days of our six day weekend!) I was able to see my good friend Stephanie, who came to Indiana from Maryland to see her boyfriend. It's always good to see old friends! You know those friends - the ones that no matter how much time has passed, you feel like you've just seen them last week. I love seeing her! I'm still holding out for the fat chance that she might move out to the great midwest (haha) because I'd love to see her a whole lot more!
Saturday, Ross' folks came into town, and we were able to find a new neat spot in Indianapolis, as well as a trusted old favorite restaurant! One of the places we explored was a place called Sun King Brewery here in Indianapolis. Ross wanted to fill a growler up with their beer. I assumed the place would be something like a restaurant - like Rock Bottom or Granite City. It was nothing like I expected. You basically walked into a warehouse where there were lines to sample their beers. You got a few tickets, and that is how they kept track of how many you were allowed to sample. I actually found one that I liked, and if you know me, you would know that that is no small feat. I'm not really a beer person, but I "sampled" three cups of one kind of beer! (Nevermind the "cups" were mini cups, like those small dixie cups you got at snack time as a kid.. ha) but I was still buzzed big time... it was some hefty beer! I would definitely go back there again. It was a home grown brewery just starting out, and their beer was actually really good!
Then there was Ruth's Chris. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. That would kind of sum it up, but I figure I aught to say more. We were celebrating Ross, his dad and his mom's birthdays. I was just lucky enough to tag along as the forth wheel (yes, I know there are supposed to be four wheels... perhaps that's why they asked me to join them...) It was a night of yummy steaks, shrimp, asparagus, and topped off with creme brulee and this amazing chocolate upside down cake. It was an absolutely fabulous dinner with outstanding company!
So, that was the story of our second winter break! It was so crazy to have six days off in a row, and by the time it was over, I really really missed my kiddos at school. I was happy and ready to head back today!
