Oktoberfest Balloon Race

Last weekend, Troy and I had the pleasure of spending some time in south central Indiana with his family at their farm. It's the time of year for all of the festivals to start and since Indiana has such a strong German heritage, Oktoberfest festivities were on our agenda.

Saturday morning we enjoyed the Seymour Oktoberfest parade. Along with Troy and myself, his mom, dad, sister and nieces and nephew grabbed a seat in the grass along the parade route. Sitting in the grass seemed like a good idea until I realized that I had sat in what was essentially a briar patch. These tiny, painful balls of hell were sticking me in the butt. When I tried to gingerly push myself up using my hands, more of them punctured my palm. It was NOT a good time! Luckily Troy was nice enough to help me up and help to pick them off of me.

Despite Seymour being a relatively small town, they had a pretty long parade. There were three bands, LOTS of older model tractors, dancers, cheerleaders and princesses of all sorts and sizes. Perhaps the most disturbing float to me was the one advertising the local funeral home. It was all shimmery and piping lively music into the crowd. I would have perhaps thought of something a bit more somber. Odd.

Later that evening, Troy and I headed to the local high school where a hot air balloon race was set to start. We attended the event several years ago and were just fascinated by it all. It's an actual contest. There is a lead balloon that fills up and heads off. As soon as it leaves the ground, the other balloons are allowed to start being filled. At some point, the lead balloon drops a marker and the other balloons try to drop their markers as close to that spot as they can. Fun!

On my list is "Ride in a hot air balloon", so I went out on a limb and asked the operator of the lead balloon if I might be able to catch a ride with him. While he was very nice, he explained that that spot was already taken by the sponsor of the event. Oh well. It's worth it to ask.

We found a good spot along what we thought was the sidelines and settled in for the excitement to begin. Within a few minutes, the Remax balloon (the lead balloon) was nearly full and began swaying back and forth as the shreiking voice of the young children in it's path rang through the crowd. Not to worry, no one was in danger, but it was quite funny to hear the cadence of their yells as the balloon leaned down towards them and then swayed back the other way. Eventually, they got it under control and it was on it's way.

The other balloons, which up until now, had been neatly unfurled and lying flat across the football field, immediately started to fill with air generated by huge fans. It was quite a show. When they are way up in the air, they don't appear to be all that big, but right next to them on the ground, you realize they are HUGE. Yet, with those fans going, less than 10 minutes later, nearly all of the 17 chase balloons were filled and on their way towards the lead balloon. In some cases, it was all the balloon handlers could do to keep them from heading up prematurely. Hot air rising is an amazingly strong force, apparently.

In total, the whole show probably took less than 25 minutes, but if you ever get a chance to see one, I would highly recommend it. The beauty of the balloons close up as the sun is setting is simply amazing.

Google Analytics

I recently installed Google Analytics on my blog after hearing about it from a friend. It's the coolest thing ever! It hides in the background of your blog and keeps track of some great information like who visits your site (no worries. it doesn't actually tell me WHO you are.) and what city, country, etc they log in from. It also keeps track of things like how long visitors stay on the site, how many pages they view, how they get to the site (direct vs. search engine, etc), whether they are a new visitor or a returning visitor. It's just amazing to me! I don't understand the inner workings of how these things get programmed, but I thank the programmers!

Interested in a few stats? Here you go:

In 13 days, I have had 89 visits from 60 DIFFERENT visitors. That's 2.87 visits per day. They hail from countries like Kazakhstan, Australia, Ireland, Canada and the US and cities like Indianapolis (duh), Chicago (hi Jill!), the Bronx and apparently I'm very big in Hamilton, OH. (If you're a Hamiltonian, drop me a line! I'd love to hear why you're reading and what keeps you coming back!). The average visitor spends 38 seconds and checks out 1.28 pages. You all must be VERY fast readers! Most visitors have been here less than 1 day ago.

The thing I find most interesting about this is that when Google Analytics wasn't installed, I wondered if anyone ever visited, but it was just a fleeting thought. The content was based on what I wanted to talk about, what happened in my life, what I was thinking about and what's important to me. Now I somehow feel competitive about getting more visitors and getting them to stick around longer. Why is that? Is it the American sensibilities in me that tell me I need to constantly do better? Is it a desire to be heard and listened to? Food for thought for me and my therapist, I suppose.

In the meantime, since you're listening and reading, what can I do better? What do you want to hear/talk about? Do you miss hearing about more of my motorcycle adventures? Do I include too many/not enough pictures? Is there some better purpose this forum could be used for other than bragging/complaining/reporting my life and thoughts?

Indiana as a swing state? Waahooo!

As an Indiana democrat, I am often in the minority. Every election (including primaries), I go to the polls and cast my vote. Often, I feel frustrated that I'm not heard and that my vote seemingly doesn't count because my candidate didn't get elected. Why do I keep doing it? 1) Many women sacrified life and limb so that I would have the right to do so. 2) I think it's important to stay abreast of political issues and voting is like taking a test after you've studied the candidates' positions on those issues. 3) So that I can complain when the other guy makes bad decisions that negatively affect me.

I do catch a bit of a break since I live in Indianapolis, which is overwhelmingly the most liberal part of the state. But, unfortunately, all of our votes here in the capital city don't negate the "red" counties in the rest of the state. Even Fort Wayne, with a population of around 250,000, is a backward thinking small town that overwhelmingly votes Republican.

But could this year be different? Could our little retangular-ish piece of the US map come up blue? Oh that a girl could dream! This just in from CNN's Political Ticker:

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin reflect a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.

SWEET! My only fear is that the right-wing nut jobs that populate our state and vote based on one issue alone will read about this and "get out the vote".

If you would like to read more on this CNN item, please go to:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/07/cnn-polls-new-obama-gains-in-battleground-states/#more-23059

Read on an Arby's cup....

"Happiness is just a curly fry away." Really? Seriously?

We live in a society that regularly medicates itself with food. Are you angry? Take it out on those potato chips! They won't talk back. Feeling unloved? How about melting into the arms of that delicious bowl of rocky road? As america's waistlines continue to expand (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14569615/) and our self-reported happiness takes a nose-dive, perhaps it's time we got down to the real causes of our obesity and depression and stopped thinking ding-dongs are the true path to happiness.

I try not to eat at fast food restaurants, but when my busy schedule (and lack of planning) leave me hungry and with little time at my disposal, grabbing a quick bite from a drive-thru sometimes seems the best available option. I probably grab fast food meals 2 times a month and I don't exercise nearly enough. Unfortunately, I think I may actually be ahead of the curve. Many busy families eat a steady diet of burgers and fries and it's been shown that kids are leading ever more sedentary lives. If these poor habits are compounded by negative messages they are constantly fed subtlely (and not so subtlely), what a bleak future stands before our nation.

So, what do we do to fix this? We've all heard "eat right and exercise". It's not sexy, but it's true. Maybe it takes baby steps? How about eating 1 less time at those fast food restaurants per month? Per week? Adding a salad as a meal once a month? A week? Spending 15 minutes after dinner (when the kids still have so much energy) and walking around the neighborhood as a family? Or maybe just taking the time to think about WHY we want to eat the entire row of Girl Scout cookie Thin Mints before simply ripping open the package.

Newest amusement park thrill ride

I'm a HUGE roller coaster fan. In fact, I even spent a (semi-torturous) summer working at Cedar Point ("America's Roller Coast"). I love that feeling of thinking of your stomach is going to spew out of your nostrils and your butt jumping out of the seat at any moment. It's fun and exciting because, for the most part, it's fake danger. Most rides at permanent amusement parks are inspected daily by teams of highly skilled mechanics and engineers. The adrenalin rush you get leaves you terrified for a moment, but then invigorated and elated.

I can't say my level of enthusiasm for the recent stock market swings reaches the same heights. In the past few days, while Congress discusses what should be done about the financial sector of our economy, my 401(k) has nearly given me whiplash. After Monday's debacle, I was down 6.6% in that one day loss. After yesterday's up, I've regained 3.4%. (Amazing how it doesn't seem to go up nearly as fast as it goes down.) And for the year, I've "lost" nearly 21%. Ouch! I say "lost" because I haven't actually sold anything or moved anything. Since I have over 30 years until retirement, I'm very aggressively invested. That seemed like a great idea last year when my return was nearing the double digits.

For a brief moment last week I started to get scared. Really scared. These ups and downs aren't like those stomach butterflies manufactured for us at amusement parks. These ups and downs have real consequences. Will I have a roof over my head? Will I be able to feed myself (and my family, if I had one)? Will I have a job this time next year? Will I be supporting my parents, who are nearing retirement age, when they can no longer afford to support themselves?

All of these fears nearly froze me in my tracks. So, rather than let them consume me, I stood up, dusted myself off and pulled out the biggest stick I had to beat them off. I RAISED my 401(k) contributions. It was a scary thing to do, but the stock market is having a fire sale and what better time to stock up? I've got TONS of time to ride out these ups and downs.

So, if you're in a similar boat, buckle up, keep your hands and arms inside the ride at all times and prepare for what could be the most profitable thrill ride you've ever been on.

Our amazing bodies

Tuesday marked 4 months since I had my surgery. I had an appointment with the PS on Monday and he basically cleared me. Since the surgery I have had regular follow-up visits with him. At first they were every week. Then it was every few weeks or so. Now I don't have to go back for 4 months! That's amazing.

I continue to be astounded by what our bodies are capable of. In the last few years I've experienced some major traumas and invasive procedures, yet my body continually renews and rebuilds itself. When I crashed the motorcycle and broke my arm (3 years ago already!), I thought the doctors and physical therapists who told me that in a few short months I would again lift, carry and write normally were crazy. But they were right! I crashed in October, got the pins out in November, finished physical therapy in December and by the beginning of February, I was about 90% recovered. Wow.

Before my breast reduction, I read the most people had returned to full regular activities within 6 months. They were running, swimming, carrying, etc. I thought that was crazy. But, here I am, 4 months post-op and have been riding my motorcycle since 6 weeks after the surgery, doing step-aerobics classes again and even been running. The scars continue to fade and my new chest has started to feel so normal to me that I forget what it was like before. I have to actually look at pictures pre- and post-op pictures to get a real feel for the difference. Perhaps this is why women who endure hours of painful childbirth go on to have even more children!

The major downside I've found to this amazing body is that it stubbornly resists my attempts to make it drop weight. Perhaps this is part of the traits that have been passed down from generation after generation of people who had to survive in hostile climates before me. Unfortunately (or fortunately actually), I don't have that problem. Food and, consequently, calories, are in abundance all around me. I don't have to wait on the winter living off of my stored fats. Perhaps I was just born in the wrong millenium. Cavemen would have been drooling over pin-ups of my genetic material!

#91. Pick apples and make a cobbler (and recipe 5 of 6)

I've always loved fresh baked goods. My mom was always great at making them (sometimes to the detrement of our waistlines). So, what's a better way to welcome autumn than to get out and enjoy all that nature has to offer by picking some ripe, juicy apples? That's just what Troy and I decided to do on Saturday morning.

We hitched up the steeds (our motorcycles), checked the maps (actually my GPS), and heading for greener pastures (orchards) just southwest of Indianapolis in Mooresville, IN. The weather was simply perfect and we made sure to pack some bags to haul the fruit of our labors home. After all, not everyone sets out to pick apples on motorcycles. Actually, the orchard was quite busy and we were the ONLY ones to arrive on motorcycles. You should have seen the looks we received! :-)

After consulting with one of the men working there on what varieties of apples would make the best cobbler, we headed toward the Jonathons and Cortlands. I've never actually heard of Cortlands, but they are a VERY good apple which tended to be larger than the Jonathons.

We scanned the rows which were nicely labeled for ease, found what we were looking for and headed towards the trees further from the road as we assumed they would be less picked over. We were right and before we knew it had picked a peck (actually a 1/2 a bushel). It came in quite handy to have Troy around as he's much taller than me and some of the best apples were higher up on the trees.

When we had finished picking the apples and had packed them on the bikes, we decided to check out the little store that they had there. There were lots of already-picked apples for those less adventurous souls who weren't in the mood to check out the trees for themselves as well as pumpkins and baked goods. We decided that our hard work (not really) had earned us a bit of a treat. Troy opted for a water while I tried their apple cider slushy. We split a very cake-like elephant ear. YUM!

Armed with my apple booty, I set to make the apple cobbler. It was amazingly easy. Having never made one, I wasn't sure how difficult it would be, but I had no problems. The most time-consuming part was actually peeling and coring the apples. Luckily I have a great peeler and apple corer/cutter. With the right tools, it's a breeze. In less than an hour, I had a lovely apple cobbler. Since Troy doesn't like fruit (apples apparently taste like grass. Who knew?) and I don't need to eat a whole cobbler, I took it into work and shared. It got rave reviews and even enticed someone who never eats the "kitchen treats" to try a bit. She said it was amazing.

The only problem I have now is that I still have quite a few apples left. So far, I've made 2 cobblers (took the other one down to Troy's family), an apple crisp (to be enjoyed at my church meeting tonight) and given away 8 apples. I still have about 30 apples left, I think. Anyone have any good recipes or ideas?

If you'd like to try to make one of your own, here's the recipe. It's from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook or you can find it online here (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/desserts/cherry-cobbler/). I would double the topping next time. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
6 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened pitted tart red cherries
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. For topping, in a medium bowl stir together flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, salt, and, if desired, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; set aside.

2. For filling, in a large saucepan combine the cherries, the 1 cup sugar, and the cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until cherries juice out, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Keep filling hot.

3. In a small bowl stir together egg and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. Transfer hot filling to a 2-quart square baking dish. Using a spoon, immediately drop topping into six mounds on top of filling.

4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown. If desired, serve warm with ice cream.

5. Makes 6 servings

6. Apple or Pear Cobbler: Prepare as above, except, for filling, cook and stir 6 cups sliced, cored, and peeled cooking apples or pears, 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until boiling, stirring occasionally once fruit begins to juice out; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until fruit is almost tender, stirring occasionally. Combine 2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch; add to filling. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.