Sarah was my friend in high school - she was a year ahead of my in school, and did things like field band and color guard with me. I was there for her 16th birthday party, just before things got really bad for her. I haven’t kept in touch, but I’m glad to see how well she’s doing. Read this article!
Here are some random (and I’m not kidding when I say random) photos from the few days it’s been since I blogged. (sorry, no fun stories this time)
David got a few things done around the house. He fixed the trash can. It’s one of those with a pedal, and the pedal hasn’t been lifting the lid. It’s been like this for a month or so, and I was STILL stepping on that pedal. He finally fixed it for me and it works like a dream. Yeah, coat hangers and electrical tape:
He also mowed. It was time:
We’re trying to teach Jake to fetch (consistently). He’s got the idea - we throw, he retrieves - but he gets tired of it after two throws. On the third, he settles down to chew whatever it is we’ve thrown:
We went to Elayne’s second wedding (to the same guy). They were married quickly and rather privately in March because his visa was expiring and he didn’t want to leave her to go back to Colombia. They had their [already planned] and big wedding this past weekend. Elayne and her dad:
On the way home, the clouds were crazy interesting:
And… the ongoing saga of the bathrooms. So, here’s what the paint looked like when we moved in (it’s HORRIBLE):
And here’s David mixing paint just before we painted the room a solid, non-barf-inducing color:
Friday night, we went to see Derek’s art at the Stutz open house downtown. Derek is a coworker friend and a fellow TU grad - and he’s really talented.
Some of us made an evening of it. We went out to dinner with some coworkers and then to Derek’s studio.
Dinner was an adventure. We started at a really neat place downtown called the Rathskeller, but since it was such a crush - no room to stand without being jostled - we decided to leave.
We had paid $10 to park at the Rathskeller (a popular place any night, but especially on a nice weekend night), and since we were only there for a few minutes before deciding to leave, John (the friend I was riding around with) tried to talk the parking lot attendant dude (who was incredibly rude) into refunding him the money. It was a no-go, so John just got into the car and backed out. And then Denise (who was riding in the backseat) started yelling, “stop, stop, stop, John!”. So John stopped. She said, “there’s a huge lightpost behind you!” John goes, “oh” and then steps on the gas. But he forgot to put it in drive, so he reversed straight into the pole. As the car thunks into the pole, he says, “that lightpost?” =) We all had a good laugh - he didn’t hit it hard enough to cause any damage to his car.
We all ended up at a dive called “the Tip Top Tavern”, close to the art show. Had dinner, drinks, and many laughs, then headed out to the show.
It was huge! None of us had been before, so none of us expected it to be three buildings (lots of floors, each) of studios to wander through. There was live music, tons of people milling around… It was really neat. I’ll be going back next year for sure, and leaving more time to look through. As it was, we arrived late enough at Derek’s studio that most of us were tired and/or sick with serious allergies. By the time we’d spent an hour and a half looking around and talking to Derek, we were ready to go.
Anyway, go check out Derek’s site (it’s a group site with some other folks): http://www.limnersociety.com/. His latest, and my favorite, stuff isn’t posted there yet. Hopefully he’ll get some of the photos from the event online so you can see his work. I took a couple with my camera phone for John, but feel weird about posting them without Derek’s permission.
I’ve been having a good time visiting family. It’s always good to see them, and especially good to see them in teh continental US. Don’t get me wrong - I LOVED Hawai’i, and would drop everything to go back, but I’ll tell you what. It’s infinitely easier and more enjoyable to fly an hour instead of 15.
This is the first time I’ve flown to see my family since they’re back from HI. As I was packing for the trip, I started piling up books and stacks of DVDs to take in my carry-ons. David watched me for a few minutes, and when I asked him for help fitting everything into a bookbag, he reminded me that I wasn’t going to be flying for 15 hours. =) I happily took out the stacks of books and DVDs and wow… it’s great having a feather-light carry-on!
So, anyway, I’ve been here with my family for a week. When I visit, we typically pack the time full of visits from and to family friends. Those meetings are always wonderful - I don’t keep in touch with folks as well as I should. I have all these great intentions, but I never seem to have time to follow through. The good thing is, these people watched me grow up (as much as any non-family member has ever done, anyway - being a military brat, not too many people get to know me past 2 or 3 years). They know me well enough to know I love them even though I don’t call or write. It’s great.
What isn’t great, though, is the thought of running into folks I went to high school with. I DREAD the experience, and I know it’s just bound to happen. Each visit to my parents increases the odds that I’ll run into someone I know. For some reason, small towns have always made me feel trapped - like if I wasn’t careful, I’d get sucked in and never escape. I watched it happen to people who were older than me, and I couldn’t wait to get out.
I really like who I am now. I really like my life. I don’t want to go back. High school wasn’t the height of my life. It wasn’t the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ve moved on. And I don’t really want to talk to or meet anyone who hasn’t.
That said, there are some old classmates that I REALLY enjoy seeing. Sarah Camp (I’m so sorry about Joe!). Sarah Green (thanks for having lunch with me!). Adam Donius (I’m SO glad you came back to see if it was me - congrats on the baby!).
It’s been a good trip. =)
Bowling, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.
We spent the day with good friends of ours in Marion. We packed in various activities - one of which was bowling.
I’m not a very good bowler - I’m really, really happy to get more than 100 in a game. David usually wipes the floor with the rest of us - no matter who the rest of us are. =)
But this time, I was the victor - I scored 190! That’s me, with the strike, strike, spare, strike, strike, 7, strike, strike game!
Making Faces, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.
We made faces for Dana - it was her last picture, and she wanted “something to remember the wedding by”. I think she got it. =)
jonathan, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.
Jonathan Ebersole was dedicated this past Sunday at our church. We don’t do the baby sprinkling thing at WP - instead, our pastor talks for a minute about and to the parents, then takes the baby. He talks directly to the baby and prays for him as he walks all the way around the sanctuary… it’s very, very personal, and very encouraging to the family and to the congregation.
This is the kind of thing I would like to see in more than just this one church - it lifts everyone’s spirits. And folks aren’t clambering over one another to see the baby all the way at the front - he gets walked right by where you’re sitting.
It was amazing - Jonathan started out really squirmy. But the pastor has a very deep voice, so in no time at all, the baby cuddled right under Pastor Tom’s chin and laid his head on his chest.
kaylin, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.
My girl Kaylin. She whined the other day (love you, girl!) about me not taking as many photos of her and her siblings now that another large family has come to our church… But those kids I can get to stop moving… and this one just NEVER stops. =)
We hosted the third (our second) annual pumpkin carving extravaganza over the weekend. The founding folks were all there - David & me, Jason & Robin, and Bethany & James - as well as some veterans who were at the second annual extravaganza. There were the ever-present hot cider and caramel apple snacks, and, of course, the pumpkins. Cooking the pumpkin seeds was such a fiasco last year that we didn’t resurrect that “tradition,” though we tried to carry over all the others (StrongBad pumpkin designs, fighting siblings, etc.). The biggest change from last year - young children. We had babies and kids still in single digits running all over the place. Also, our dog - he had a smorgasbord of pumpkin bits to eat, and eat he did! Here are a couple of fun pictures from the shindig:
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