A quiet New Year's Eve

I got home from my trip last night and I am sick. I spent the day putzing about which is one of my favorite things to do. Spent a lot of time on Pinterest and Facebook. Listened to this lovely cd (Windham Hill Christmas) which was a gift from my daughter. She bought several items from my Amazon wish list for me for Christmas.

 I woke yesterday a.m. with a cold and cough. I left MD at 9:30 a.m. and took my time coming home. Finally stopped at a Walgreen's somewhere in Ohio. The pharmacist I spoke with was from a small town near to where I live. I ate cough drops until I couldn't eat any more. We returned the rental car and I headed to bed.

Doug worked today so it was just me and Chelsea and the cats.  When I walked Chelsea it about did me in.  We have so much snow it makes it difficult for a Corgi to potty.  She hops through the snow like a bunny. 
I am eager to welcome the New Year.  But a little sad to put the year of Paris behind me. (And the last month of my Paris calendar.)
Be safe. Be warm. Don't drink and drive. xoxoxo

Thar he blows

Old man winter is bearing down on something terrible in the Hoosier state tonight.  I was out earlier and it was sleeting/snowing and blowing hard. It is blowing so hard that the blinds over our sliding glass door to the patio are rattling with each burst. I saw on the weather on my phone we may have blasts up to 55 mph.  So far our electricity is holding on.  We do have the fireplace if we need it.  If Doug was home a fire would probably be roaring, but I am home alone tonight.
The wind is blowing like a chorus of muttering old men, low whispering voices sing their song.  I like it. I took Chelsea out to potty earlier and the wind gave us a hug and swooped down and whispered in my ear.
I went out and ran around and did my crazy pre-Christmas shopping thing.  Do you do this?  I think I need to buy more, but I can't exactly say for whom and I go to this store and that just looking. I bought one more gift for the Bee tonight.  Lawsy, she has plenty of gifts from this Grandma, that is for sure.
I work tomorrow and our office party is tomorrow night and then on Saturday morning I will head out bright and early.
First I will drive to Durham, NC to see my son and his girlfriend and her family and my dear friend since high school - Laura P. Then on the 26th I will drive on up to Baltimore to see the Bee and her Mama/Mommy.  I will stay with them until Sunday and then head home.  A lot of driving, but I'm o.k. with it.  I'm going alone because we couldn't find anyone to babysit this farm and the two cats, Corgi and 23 chickens.
I'm about ready to kiss this old year good riddance - are you? It has been a tough year on one hand and on another hand the blessings have been bountiful.  I am sad to see the year of Paris end. (And be on the last page of my Paris calendar.)
2013 will be a better year, I'm sure of it.  Lucky 2013.
I'm hauling my laptop along, so who knows?  Maybe you'll hear from me while I'm on the road. Stay warm, stay dry and count your blessings.  Take a tip from the wind and hug your loved ones a little tighter. xo

Writing, writing, writing

If you noticed the latest and greatest on my blog page, it is that I was asked to write for Little Indiana premiere issue of the magazine.  Jessica Nunemaker IS Little Indiana and I was thrilled when she asked me to write for the magazine.  You may read online or order a hard copy via this link: http://littleindiana.com/2012/12/little-indiana-the-magazine/

for only $2.00 you may read online or for $8.00 you may order a hard-copy version.  And as a special bonus, if you order the hard-copy version, you get an electronic version for FREE.

Here is a link to my December guest post which was a revival of a previous post (and one of my favorite posts) http://littleindiana.com/2012/12/a-very-hoosier-holiday-the-best-gift/

which is about when the Bee was born.

My tag for this post is "coveting another blogger's life."  Jessica is one of those people that seems to have it all- she is savy in all ways of savy-ness- she has a facebook page , she tweets and blogs.http://littleindiana.com/  Then the good folks at PBS approached her.  WHAT? You say?  Yup.  Now she is a movie star, too! And now the magazine. Hit up some of these links I've provided and go buy a magazine.  You'll be glad you did.

Wordless Wednesday: The Bee getting ready for Santa

How to get tickets to a sold-out Indiana University basketball game - my son's visit.

My son was home for a brief visit this weekend. There was an IU game last night - IU vs. Central Connecticut State. For now, IU is ranked number one. My son told me on Friday he would like to go to the game. My son now lives in North Carolina and doesn't get back to Indiana too often. He said "if they go all the way and I miss a chance to see them while I'm home..." So Mama set out to find tickets. I was up early yesterday and the first call I made was to the IU ticket office. I was told there were no tickets but tickets might open up later on in the day. Then I called the number listed in the big ad in the classified section of the newspaper. I was told he had seats on Row 8 for $85. and on Row 17 for $75. No thank you. Then I looked online at Craig's List and others but didn't find anything but one and two seats together.

I headed to Starbucks for a Caramel Brulee latte and a piece of banana walnut loaf. Then I went down to 17th Street where there are always scalpers on game day. The man I talked to told me he didn't have three seats together and it was unlikely I would find three seats together. His asking price was $100-$150. I said no thanks. Then I called the ticket office again and was told they had three tickets on the ninth row at face value of $33.00 each. If you go to the ticket office in person you save $10.00 each ticket on the "handling charge." You guessed it - by the time I got to the ticket office those three seats were gone and all they had were one and two seats together.

I had one more stop to make before I headed home to get the chicken and noodles on for our lunch. (My son's request.) I wanted to go to a Christmas open house in a barn but got lost trying to find the barn. I have lived here for five years but got lost out in the country and drove around for an hour. Finally I got on the map on my phone and found my way home. All of my running around for nothing. Just a big waste of time and gas.

My son arrived and we had our chicken and noodles and Sister Schubert rolls. (No plug here - just our favorite rolls.)

We decided to head down to Assembly Hall and try our hand at buying tickets from the scalpers. We knew if couldn't find tickets for a good price we would go watch it somewhere downtown. We had nothing to lose. The first scalper we spoke with stood on the corner. He told us some tale of how his dentist gave him these two tickets and they were great seats and he wanted $150.00 each. I told him we wanted three seats at face value. He asked me where I was from and when I said "here," he said "then you know how hot these tickets are." I told him I did but that my friend Cornelius had told me not to pay more than face value for tickets for this game. This seemed to anger the man and when we walked away he yelled after us.  I turned and said to him "you still have those tickets in your hand and we still have our money."  He yelled "I've got money, too, lady!"

Then we started asking every scalper we came across how much and where were the seats. It seems to me the lowest price we were quoted was $75.00/ticket. We didn't want to pay more than face value $33.00- $40.00 at the most. As we walked closer to Assembly Hall it was getting closer and closer to tip off. Several guys picked up on the fact we were looking for tickets and they began to approach us. We kept walking. Finally a man was walking towards us looking dejected. He had two tickets in his hand and asked us if we needed tickets. We told him we were looking for three.  He told us he only had two but he would let us have two for $30.00.  I said "no, no, no...we need three." Finally he said he would sell us two tickets for $25.00 and we took them.  Now we needed one more ticket. In the end, Doug got a twenty out and waved it around and three or four guys ran to us. (By this time it was about seven minutes to tip-off.) We bought a single ticket for $15.00. Three tickets for $40.00.  But we were still concerned about the three of us sitting together. When we went in to where the two seats were together, there was a third empty seat! It worked out perfectly.

 Across the way sat John Mellencamp and Meg Ryan.  I knew Meg had been in Bloomington for some time but I had never seen her out in public.

 My son and I on the Hoosier bench after the game:

 After the game we went to Nick's. My son bought the first round.

Then we went across the street to the Upstairs Pub and I bought the next round. We sat at the bar and watched Ultimate Fighting Championship. I had never seen anything like it and was a little horrified.  Anything goes except kicks to the groin.  It hurt to watch.

 

Then we came home and sat by the fire and talked until two-thirty in the morning. 
My son had to head out this morning so I was up and at 'em to get the coffee on.  We also had orange juice.  I made bacon and then cooked up some perogies in the bacon grease with salt and pepper.  Another meal from my son's growing-up years at home.

All too soon it was time for him to head out. But I will see him soon for Christmas when I go out there.
There you have it. I hoped you have learned as I have - if you need tickets for a sold-out basketball game at Indiana University, don't waste your time driving around and calling all of the numbers in the paper and online - just head down to Assembly Hall and see your friendly scalper.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I know it is early, but I want to give you plenty of time to work your magic.

At first, I thought to myself - how is Santa ever going to top that trip to Paris? 

I mean, that was the best gift ever!

But then I read about the pink Honda Fit.

Maybe my letter should be addressed to Honda, but I have faith in you, Santa.

You see, for now, the pink Fit is only available in China and Japan.

Skeptics are calling it a car for very young ladies who love Hello Kitty and old ladies. 

I suppose, in the eyes of one who is 20 or 30 years younger than me, I am an "old" lady.

A PINK car?  Yes, please.

This is a women's specific car.  I have a women's specific bicycle - why not a women's specific car?

This car also has a special windshield glass that claims to cut ninety-nine percent of ultraviolet rays and "Plasmacluster" air-conditioning that Honda says can improve the skin quality of the driver. Sign me up!

The starting price is $17,500.

Not too shabby considering in '93 I paid $15,000. for a new Honda Civic EX. (Which I am still driving with an odometer reading nearly 189,000 miles.

 I hear that some in the United States are calling this women's specific car "sexist." I don't get that, personally.  There have been huge trucks for men and muscle cars for men and it seems from the beginning of time - automobiles were for men - no women.  I say "about time!"

 The one pictured below is my favorite.  SO cute!  These women specific cars have pink stitching and other touches of pink.  The emblem reads She's with a heart for the apostrophe.  I can understand some might think this is gaggy, but I think it is adorable.

So, Santa, can you see what you can do?  I would appreciate it.  If Honda doesn't get this car to the U.S., someone else will.  I'm going down to the dealership and make a personal inquiry. 
I should have looked into this on Black Friday or Cyber Monday - maybe Asia would have given me free shipping? 
Santa, if you can't work this deal out - another trip to Paris would be fine.
Love ya, Santa,baby.
Cheryl