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.

We had a true Near Eastside weekend.

First, Friday. Arsenal Technical High, our local IPS school, is performing its spring musical this weekend. Two kids from church were involved in Beauty and the Beast: Kaylin was a bar wench/flower wreath and Zach ran the spotlight. It was a fun show - the kids did a GREAT job with some pretty tough stuff. They worked hard, and it paid off. =)

The show they performed was the Disney Broadway version. I think the musical and plot additions to the movie for the play adaptation really diminished the story - the music was badly written and the lyrics were laughable. Some of the plot additions took away from the character development. Even with the lackluster script, the kids shone. They’re high school kids, but there were some really artistic moments. Mostly, the play was just… FUN.

*on my soapbox*

You live near a high school. Even if you don’t have kids attending, you should be going to see plays and musicals and concerts. These kids work so hard - and may not have a single person there to see the product of months of study and practice. Your property tax goes to support the school system. Your presence should support the kids themselves.

*off*

Second, Saturday. Went to the 7:30am - yes, AM - prayer meeting at church, then spent an hour or so helping to start cleaning out Janet’s house. This sweet, simple, homely old woman who was a fixture at our church died this past May. Her brother, who owned her house, donated the house to the church at the beginning of the year (for tax reasons, maybe?). It used to be a nice house - she lived there comfortably (and, I’m sure, messily).

Then, along came David F. This man, about the age her son might have been, moved into the vacant half of her double and began insinuating himself into her life. He was a con and she was incapable of seeing how he used her. For years. By the time she died, her house was literally in shambles (the house was getting run down because Janet’s brother doesn’t live locally and didn’t take care of things that needed to be fixed; DF did some “repairs” and really messed things up). Also, it was filled to the brim with junk and garbage and bugs. Just… deplorable living conditions. Throughout the last year and a half of Janet’s life, the health department was all over her house. It was awful.

So, today. Now that Janet has passed away and the house belongs to the church, we’re going to rebuild it for a big family in our congregation. The first step is cleaning out the mounds of trash and junk that were left. We filled a truck bed to overflowing with humongous black trash bags, and ended up filling a large dumpster. It was just a start. There’s several Saturdays’ worth of trash still in there - and we only were working on one side of the double.

It was hard to do, both physically and emotionally. I am allergic to dust and mold… and the place was a hot mess of dust and mold. I was thankful for the cold - I can’t imagine what the dust, mold, and smell would have been like in the spring or summer. Some of the piles included stinky, wet (there are holes in the roof), worn out clothes - Jodi and I happened upon a big pile of dirty underwear and had to leave the house because the smell made us gag so badly. But what bothered me more than my allergies or the assault on my senses was the fact that at the end of Janet’s life, everything she owned, everything that meant something to her, was thrown away without a thought. We were shoveling her precious memories and keepsakes in to trash bags - with a snow shovel and some dustpans.

Of course it had to be thrown away. It was a hazard to health - literally - and most of it was just… junk. We saved maybe an end table, a lamp, and a few books, but everything else will be gone.

I can’t imagine how someone could have lived like that. I also can’t imagine dying and being forgotten like that. Where was her family? Why didn’t they take care of her while she was living? Why didn’t someone kick DF out before her completely ruined her house? Why didn’t they make sure she was okay? And then, when she died, why didn’t they love her enough to take care of her things, at least to clean out her house? Didn’t they want to save some of her treasures? Wouldn’t they have wanted to honor her memory by taking care of the place in which she lived instead of offloading it to the local church to do the work? To do what we would with the eyesore the building had become?

We, at Woodruff Place, loved this old woman. Pastor called her a lamb. We laughed at her antics, but we all loved her - every one of us. We couldn’t do much about her living situation, but we will honor her memory by making her house a home again - a clean, safe, warm place for a family to live.

Still, even thinking of our “project” in this light wasn’t enough to make me feel quite right throwing away everything the woman had ever owned… I have been feeling… heavy… all day.

Last night, I dressed up as a very large Dorothy Gale (thanks, Mom!).  The Indiana Wind Symphony, in which I play the saxophone, had a Halloween concert at a local middle school.  The entire [professional] ensemble dressed up in costumes to play some really fun music.  The first half of the concert was movie music from Gone With the Wind, Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, The Wizard of Oz, and Star Wars.  During intermission, there was a costume contest for the audience.  The second half was more serious (but still Halloween-themed) literature.

There was another Dorothy onstage with me - my costume was better, and I wasn’t wearing a wig, but she had a REAL dog in her basket.  A real dog!  On the stage while we played!  Dorothy costumes were popular…  A little girl in a Dorothy costume won the audience contest, and when she came onto the stage to get her prize, the tuba players behind me reached up and patted me on the shoulders, saying, “Better luck next year!”  I told them that next year, I’d have a dog, too!

Pictures probably won’t be appearing anywhere on the internet.  =)  At least, none of me.

Anyway, I’m trying to convince the folks who run our website (and haven’t been interested in my help, even though I do this professionally) to start posting/podcasting our music.  I think it’d be a better way to get our stuff heard, and possibly generate more interest in the ensemble.  I know they make professional-level recordings of each concert - which sound a heckuva lot better than my husband’s little mp3 recorder’s recordings.  Even with his little recorder, though, you can tell that we don’t play like an amateur community ensemble.  For one thing, we’re in tune!  For another, we actually play challenging music.  It’s too bad David’s recordings sound so muffled and miss all the mids, or I’d just start having him record concerts and post the music myself.  =)

Anyway, family - if you want to listen to the concert (again, not a good recording at all), you can go here: www.aukerman.org/IWS.

I stayed home and am working from the dining room table today.  David is playing DDR and the floor, the chair I’m sitting in, the table, my computer - all are vibrating in rhythm with the songs David’s jumping around to.  =) 

In other news, we’ve joined Angie’s List and are busy getting electricians to come give us estimates.  We’ve got a long list of things we’d like to have done, but it turns out that electricians are pretty dang expensive.  We’ve narrowed the list down to three must-haves, but are still going to get estimates on the rest. 

The neat thing about Angie’s List (angieslist.com, if you don’t know about it) is that we can not only review what folks think about various contractors and the work they do (members leave reports on all the work they get done and all the companies they’ve dealt with), but we also get discounts when they do come to do the work.  And, turns out, if we mention that we saw them on Angie’s List, they’re really responsive.  Quick to do estimates, quick to schedule work.  It’s as if they’re teachers who are being observed by their principals - they’re on their best behavior because they know they’re going to be reviewed and critiqued, and that the report will be available for all the city to see. 

I feel…  powerful.  =)

My dog - my normally beautiful dog - transformed into a hideous beast for a few seconds. I thought you’d enjoy this photo as much as we do. =)

mid-shake =), originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

This storm is great.  =)  Lots of thunder and lightning, not too much rain, and a twilight-colored sky at 3 pm.  I LOVE “bad” weather.

Remember how my camera was broken?  Well, I can’t fix it and I’ll bet I couldn’t pay anyone to fix it (it’s an old model digital point-and-shoot).  I loved that camera, but I’m moving on.

I just bought a Canon EOS 350D (a “Digital Rebel”) online.  I’ve been wanting a camera like this for ages, but they’ve always seemed too expensive for someone like me (not a pro).  Now that I have a good job (I’ll be working some overtime to even out the expense) and now that they’ve come out with a newer model of this camera, it’s finally worth it for me to buy it.  I’m so excited - I should get it by next week, and definitely in time to learn how to use it for Hawai’i!

In other news: my dog loves popcorn and soy sauce.

… was a GREAT day.  It was a good day at work (I got a lot done, I got assigned a couple of fun projects, I got to relieve my boss of a little bit of pressure and take on a task management role, and I got a couple of overtime hours).  It’s been a great evening at home (it’s gorgeous, and we’ve spent the evening relaxing outside on our fabulous deck looking at our fabulous lawn - which David just mowed for the first time).  And, most importantly, today is Friday.  The first day of the weekend.  =)

On another note, my dog looks almost human (in an alien sort of way) when he stands on his hind legs.

It’s finally warmer here.  After a week and a half of snowstorms and blizzards and snow showers and icy roads and snowed-in garages, it’s finally warm enough that the sun is making things drip.  And I can drive again!  I had to try to pull out of the garage a couple of times (the garbage trucks they turned into snow plows have plowed the alley, creating walls of snow in front of all the garages), but I finally made it out!

Snow really freaks me out.  Dave’s been the driver - when the roads look like they have for the past couple of weeks (Indy STILL hasn’t cleaned up our residential streets), I don’t drive unless I absolutely have to.  I slid off of then back onto the road a couple of years ago and was very lucky that I only hit the guardrail instead of the other cars around me.

The dog likes the snow now that it’s softer - for a while, there was an inch-thick layer of ice on top of the foot of snow.  Jake would take a step and fall through, take another step and fall through.  It was funny.  =)  Today, though, because the sun was actually out, the snow was soft enough that he jumped around and cavorted and chased squirrels.

…

Tomorrow is my last day here - I fly out very early Wednesday morning, and I’ve got a lot to do (taking a break from work now) before then.  I’m doing laundry and packing most of my things tonight.  Tomorrow night, I’m going shopping for the things Leah said she wanted me to bring (among other things, Colts caps - she’s a fan!) with me.  She called last night with a list.  =)

I can’t wait - except for the leaving David for two weeks part.  I’m glad to be seeing my family, though - twice a year is just not enough.

I’ve been shamed into posting again.  =)  But guys, now that I have a dog, it’s more fun to spend my spare time OFF the computer.  Especially since I work on one every day, all day long.

I think the only really interesting and out-of-the-ordinary things we’ve done lately happened the last couple of weekends.  We had a couple of football-watching shindigs - for the AFC Championship game and for the Super Bowl - where 25-30 people (at a time) crammed into our house for dinner and the game (or to play games - turns out we had several games of chess, some Jenga, some Fluxx, and some Cities & Knights of Catan going on).  We ended up bringing two extra TVs for the big game because there were so many people here that we just ran out of chairs, sofas, floorspace, and standing room in the living room.  (Jake LOVED the crowd.)

Before the games, because I got a raise, David and I were, then weren’t, then were, then weren’t, then were, then really weren’t going to and so didn’t buy a bigger TV.  We just had folks watch the games on our 15-year-old, small, but perfectly fine, TV. 

I loved having people over, even though it was a lot of work.  I like being surrounded by the people I love - it makes me feel connected in a way I need.  I think I get that from my Mom.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it.  It’s been blisteringly cold here, and it looks like the temperature will just keep going down.  It started snowing this afternoon and already there are 2 or 3 inches on the ground with no sign of stopping.  David had class in Anderson today so he’s staying the night.  I have a deacons’ meeting later - it’ll be fun getting out in that mess…

But, on the plus side, Jake loves the snow.  He short-haired and skinny so he gets cold quickly, but he loves running around out there.  Check out my flickr pictures (flickr.com/photos/taukerman) to see a couple of new dog pictures.  I’ve finally been able to take a few that show you what he’s really like.  =)

It’s quiet around here.  Except, of course, when the neighbors start or park their really loud car - then, the dog barks and whines and runs all over the house.  Maybe someone he loved (or hated) had a motorcycle.  Maybe he’s watching for David to come back.  Which is why it’s so quiet.

With David teaching at Taylor and staying up north this week, I’ve been on my own.  It was nice to have some time alone after vacation and being surrounded by people, but now I’m just missing my husband.  Good thing he’s coming home tomorrow.  =)

I’ve gotten a lot of extra hours of work in - enough to make up for the holiday this week.  I’ve also done a lot of catch-up work for a client.  It feels good to not be buried under a backlog of work.

Oooh… and me and Jake have been getting along well.  That means he’s not running all over me anymore.  At least while it’s just me and him, he’s pretty obedient.  I haven’t had to wrestle him once.  =)  He gets in his crate in the morning and at bedtime.  He sits without being bribed (well, he did once).  He even stayed for a few seconds (with a heavy bribe).  He’s a fun dog - I’d be crazy here completely alone, and he’s good company.