Social Mix All Mixed Up

Got out of work a little early on Friday afternoon and went shopping because I was supposed to go to a mixer with Stacy and Leslie. Got a new ouftit. Spent more than I should have... sigh. Stacy was running late so I met up with Philip for some after work drinks. :)

Surprise!

We are sweet.

Don't mess with us.

After drinks with Philip, I contacted Leslie and went over to the mixer at NorthSide Social. Stacy ended up not being able to make it, but I met up with Leslie and her friend Kathy (which I found out later that I had met before through Monty). There were two other girls at the mixer, Holly and Banita, who we ended up hanging out with for the rest of the night. There were only two boys at this mixer, James and Charles. James was the one who started the meetup. Charles works with both Holly and Banita. They were pretty fun as well. James is eccentric to say the least, but fun. I didn't really talk to Charles, but all the girls were sweatin' him, and he had really nice teeth. 

The five girls ended up going to Flat Water and then to the Red Room. It was an interesting evening and lasted way longer than expected! I ended up getting to Martinsville at about 2:30a.

Demolition Jenny

I've been working on the outside of the house as well as the inside. This week I finally mowed the yard (which had not been done since I left for Japan). It took forever!! I got out the weed eater and did the trim and used the blower to get rid of the leaves and scrap. This job was separated into a day and a half, mainly because the weed eater ran out of line. I also began to condense the brush piles and other 'yard crap' that has accumulated over the years. There was a huge brush pile in the back yard (one of many) that I removed. This little guy popped up at my feet while I was working. Apparently, I disturbed his home. I screamed like a little girl...

Wendy's father is supposed to be picking up all of the scrap and taking it to the dump while I'm gone over the weekend, so I piled it all in the drive for easy pick up. I hope he's ready for this. There is a lot of brush!! I'm surprised my back is still working today. I thought it was going to fall off last night. It may not look like much to you, but I moved all of this in two days. It was tough work.

Additionally, I have begun demolition on the playhouse in the back yard. It was disgusting. There were so many bugs and creepy crawlies. It's fun to tear sh*t up though! :) 

I got a lot of it done. Wendy's father has a rotating saw, so I'm leaving the frame work and 1/2 of the roof to him to do over the weekend. I feel like I left him the easy part... 

I now have two nice clean areas in the backyard. I'd like to do something cool with them. Here is some inspiration:

The Bedroom Project

I've destroyed Wendy's bedroom... for now. I took out most of her stuff and started spackling and sanding down the walls. My goal is to get the room painted next week after I get back from Memorial weekend. Here's what it looks like as of 8/27/2012. All of the spackling is done. A little more sanding needs to be finished. All of the base trim is off. It's kind of a mess...

 

Dig IN 2012

Went to Dig IN with my good friend Tina! for some yummy grub. We met around noon and waited in a line for about a half hour to get in.

Once we got in, we went to the back to work our way up. We never made it to the front. :) Got a little wine on our way from our good friends at Winzerwald Winery (the best IN winery) and tried some of our local IN foods. Had some curry from the Spice Box which was excellent and then some sort of corn thing from the Scratchtruck, also amazing. We tried several other places and I can't remember all that we had. Everything we tried was really good. What I remember the most is 240 Sweet marshmallows. Had them last year too and they are definitely the best marshmallows ever! I got a beer and we sat down for a while.

By 2pm it was hotter than the dickens and we were both wore out. Sat over by the winery tent and I ended up slinging some wine for a little while. Meanwhile, Tina decided to call it a day (who can blame her) and she went and got herself a pedicure. I really need a pedicure.... note to self.

I ran into 'Random Greg' and we hung out for a little bit. Went to a winery and got something like blast berry cyclone wine. I can't remember the exact name, but it reminded me of a mix between Colt45 and Ed Hardy. It was alright. I might drink it again... over ice.

Ended up sticking around and going out to dinner with Danielle, Fred, and Melissa (kind of). They went to St. Elmo's and it was way to expensive for my blood. I ended up having some of Fred's steak (flipping awesome) and a piece of their horseradish shrimp cocktail. Yum. I'll have to go back some day when I have some cheddar. Anyhoodle - it was good to see my good friends from the ville! Love those guys!!

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures! :( So, all I have is the brochure/tasting pass...

Hey Girl... You're Way Too Old For This

Friday was an adventure... maybe a misadventure. Started out by meeting Erin for dinner at MacNivens downtown. Had some stew and a beer. Talked about our lives. The typical start to a girl's night. From there, things went slightly awry. We stopped by the Chatterbox, where Irish Spring didn't even come close to recognizing me. I wasn't with Stacy though, so I guess he's somewhat off the hook (douche). Then, we decided to go and visit Leslie at the beer tent she was working; IndyFringe Festival was going on and it was crazy on Mass Ave. We both went to the ATM and got some cash (not the best idea - for when there's cash....). Hung out there for a while, where we met a really nice guy that I was nerding it up with. When I say nerding it up, I mean we had a discussion on the difference between alliteration and assonance. I should have got his number.... Dang retrospect!


Stacy met up with us at the beer tent and we went back to her place for a quick potty break and another beer. We went back to the festival and picked up Leslie and Jada. Erin made the right decision and went home early (she had to work the next day). Stacy, Leslie, Jada and I continued the night and the misadventure. Our misadventure was pretty fun until it went way too far into the next day! We decided to head back to the Chatterbox for some drinks and hung out there for a while.

From there, Stacy wanted to go to Tini's (a gay vodka bar basically), which is not my favorite place. It's ok, but you end up standing in a line along the wall, and I don't like that. After that, there was a small photo shoot with Leslie and Jada on my motorcycle. Hot Mamas! Here's proof:

After Tini's, it really went downhill. We caught a cab, payed too much, and ended up at Dorman's. We took a lot of group photos and were cracking up. They are definitely Jenny approved!

We stayed way past 3 AM. Eventually, Jada snuck away and caught a cab home (smart girl). We stayed forever and Irish Spring and his friends joined us. I got lippy after I got tipsy. It was great fun. (sarcasm) I pretty much gave Irish Spring a hard time all night long. Poor guy didn't see it coming. I feel like he was a good sport though. I was done with Dorman's by the time we left.

 

Leslie got a cab and got the hell outta there. I thought we were heading back to Stacy's apartment, but that is not how this misadventure went. We ended up going back to Irish Spring's! OMG. We were in his apartment with a bunch of other people, who were just kind of sitting around. All the girls were about a decade younger than us. It was really weird. By 5am, I was like: IT'S TIME TO GO! Then, Irish Spring got all huffy cause we didn't call a cab. I tried to tell him I would call/accept a cab if he could explain where we were. He didn't call. It got ridiculous. We gotta outta there. It was about a ten minute walk home. Not too bad. We passed out! I don't think (actually I know) that I've stayed up that late since probably college.

<---- This picture was taken at some point between 3am and 5am. ???

Woke up Saturday around 10am and went to get some grub. Two little birds had the same idea!

Went home, took a shower, got on the bike and rode down to Martinsville, where I spent the rest of the day with my family. Had a cookout, played with my nephew, hung out. I'm surprised I lasted the whole day... I think I got a boost of energy because my nephew finally said "Aunt Jen-ny". YAY!!!

Overall, a pretty good weekend, but tiring. Oh so tiring...

It's a Hall and Oates Kinda Day

I mean.... it just IS!!! I sure do love me some Hall and Oates. I rode my motorcycle to work listening to some of their sweet jams. Oh yeah. I said sweet jams. Ha ha!

Everybody's high on consolation

Everybody's trying to tell me what is right for me

I need a drink and a quick decision

Now it's up to me, woo, what will be

and one more....

Reaching out for something to hold

Looking for a love where the climate is cold

Manic moves and drowsy dreams

Or living in the middle between the two extremes

Soul Alone...

I also rode to work in Phillip's jacket which I stole from him last night. Thanks Phillip. I'll be nice to it. :) It was warm and it looked good on the bike.

Finished my Indy Reads training last night and excited to get matched with my first student. I think it's going to be fun and I hope I get matched with someone who is of the same mindset and who is excited about learning. I'll keep y'all posted.

This weekend pretty exciting. Going to go down to my parents' for a cookout on Saturday afternoon/evening and hang out with the family. On Sunday, Tina and I are heading to Dig IN, which is a festival that showcases all Indiana growers and locally produced products. There will be dozens of chefs, brewers, and wineries with samples for tasting. Should be pretty fun. Tried to talk my parents into going to; I think it's something they'd enjoy. Tonight I'm not sure what's going on, but I put Monty on the case of social coordination so hopefully he will come up with something good. Other than all that, I'm going to start packing up Wendy's room so I can paint and start moving my stuff in next week. Busy. Busy. Busy.

Oh yeah. I'm just going to tack this on the end here while I'm thinking about it. I'm looking into marionettes. Here's a reference for later use. I'm not going to actually do pinocchio; I just like the diagram. Note to self: peeling marionettes. Phillip, we need to get our ***t together for this exhibition.

Oh, and if you want something hilarious to look at, click on this: Fear Factory Pictures. I was laughing my booty off.

Challenge Nation 2012

There is always some form of preparation. This time, again, it was costume related. After some serious thought and reflection, we decided that the costume would be "Magic Mike". Okay, okay... No one else would decide, so that's what I came up with. It was going to be a group of five girls so it seemed very fitting. There were supposed to be two cowboys, a "dressed up" guy, a fireman and an army man. We ended up with: a policeman, a fireman, a cowboy, and a construction worker. Laugh. Out. Loud.  No wonder we got a lot of "macho macho man". Hahaha.

My good friend Amanda VanHorn has an awesome fireman boyfriend (Rodney), who was nice enough to get ahold of some fireman pants for me. I purchased the muscle shirt and cut off the sleeves and made it a little tighter. 'Cause your muscles gotta be tight! 

The night before the race, they had some hints on facebook which my sister sent to me, as I'm not on facebook anymore (because it's lame). They don't really make a whole lot of sense, but here were my thoughts:

a. Reach out and touch someone: That's something to do with a phone - AT&T motto. b. Where it ends, a new journey begins: I thought that might have something to do with the cultural trail crossing another trail path or something like that. d. They respond to just a few digits: I thought maybe that would be a pager... d. Toot, toot: That is the steam clock on the canal. e. 3,459: After googling it I found that there is a memorial on the canal commemorating 3,459 individuals.

The race began and finished at Indy Colts Grille downtown. Once we all got there (which was a little stressful in itself), we got our race packets and bibs and sat down to have a bite to eat (and I had a beer). 

Kim acted as our team captain and got the clues for us. We immediately set out to get to the first clue.

1. Across from a bar named for a New Orleans street and a museum named for a famous author born in Indy in 1922, you'll find a white pole dedicated to a simple, inspirational concept. Pose with the pole and flash the right sign with your fingers in the photo - it'll make sense when you get there!

After finding the first clue, we thought it would be smart to figure out all the clues and come up with a plan as to what route to take. That way we wouldn't be wandering all over downtown. While Kim and I were looking up facts and routes on our iPhones, Cammie and Tracy found the answer to clue #10.

10. Wow, so many choices, choices, choices: take a photo with any ONE of the following: a live horse, a time capsule, any out-of-state license plate whose license number contains a W, X, Y or Z, a Segway transporter, or shaking hands with a dog.

From there, we headed to go to the Firestation on Ohio and West Streets, but found the answer to clue #7 on the way.

7. Finda anyone from a state that borders the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, or Gulf of Mexico (Great Lakes don't count). When you locate them, take a photo with them making the shape of their state with your team's arms. (Take a photo with the top half of their license to prove you found them... it's best to cover up their name/address etc.)  

We found a lady from Virginia, but forgot to make the shape of the state with our arms. Oops!

After that, we walked to the fire station for clue #3.

3. You'd think the guys (and gals!) working in this hazardous a profession wouldn't number their house unlucky "#13" but it exists nonetheless right here in Indy, one of 45 total of these facilities, housing 1,216 total personnel. Pose with any of them or a memorial to them or their trucks or where they work when on duty and take a photo acting out their job.

In true "Magic Mike" form, everybody hold your hose!

We walked from the fire station down to the canal to grab our picture with the steam clock, clue #4.

4. Because the Earth's rotation is (very) gradually slowing down, "a leap second" was added to the official time of our planet last month, the first added since January 2009 and just the 25th ever added. To celebrate your extra time, your team should do its best exuberant "leap" photo in front of the only steam-powered clock in the city (and one of only 5 on the planet!). But here's the Challenge - you've got to take your leap when the minute hand is pointing at a number, so :05, :10, etc. (If you happen to do it on :15, :30, :45, or the hour, you'll get a special treat) - do your best to get a great leap in the photo but there's no need for perfection in making sure everyone's feet are off the ground.

After a quick restroom break (thank you State Museum!), we headed down the canal for clue #6, but ran into clue #12 first.

12. With only pro baseball going on right now, it's the Summer doldrums in the professional sports world (but don't worry... football is around the corner! H.S. games were on last night!) - so find ANY NON-Indiana-located COLLEGE sports fan wearing a hat, jersey, shirt, etc. and take a photo with them mimicking the sport their team plays - as long as it's not a fellow Challenger, it can't take place in/adjacent to Colts Grille and you can't just throw a hat on someone in a sports store!

We found a guy with a Kentucky University hat and chose to mimic basketball.

Then we kept right on until we got to clue #6.

6. This Challenge's objective is out outlier: the furthest away from home base, so you may want to strategically skip it if you can figure out the others. You'll find this settler's rock at the end of where one famous Indy waterway dumps into another much larger waterway. Climb as far up on it as you can in the photo-if your team needs it!

It really wasn't that far away. It's the rock right in front of the NIFS entrance on the canal.

We looped back around to the other side of the canal to get to the memorial across from the state museum, which was clue #2.

2. Exactly, 3,459 individuals have been awarded this highest honor in the land-including one woman, M.E. Walker. This memorial in Indy honors all of them, on the site where the city's first Independence Day celebration was held. To complete this clue, take a photo with a name on the panels that matches that of one of your teammates OR any U.S. President's first or last name.

You can pretty much always find a Smith.

From the canal, we headed to the circle because two of the clues were there. While walking to the canal we happened across clue #5, which we were pretty sure was going to be really hard to do.

5. Well, it'd be hard for you to not notice there's a couple other gathering going on downtown other than the Challenge. On one hand, we've got the video-game-playing nerds in town for the Gen Con meeting, and on the other, the thousands of motorcyclists here to watch the Moto GP races. Probably not much overlap in these crowds, so your unique Challenge is to bridge the gap: have your team take a photo with at least one badge-wearing Gen Con attendee with at least one motorcylcist-in the same shot!

On our way we took a couple photos for funsies. Cammies felt like she needed to do a little work and Tracy found a car she liked.

Got down to the circle for the last two clues we needed to finish the race: clue #9 and clue #11.

11. Of the six companies based in Indiana in the 2012 Fortune 500, three of them call Indianapolis home. Find any one of their headquarters, pose with their sign, and act out what you think their main product/service is - with some creativity! You'll find that just one is downtown proper - so we'll also let you pose with the plaque marking the HISTORICAL headquarters of another one whose modern-day digs are a little farther away.

Wellpoint. Cammie is checking Kim's tonsils and Tracy is giving me a shot.

9. Though Indiana's had just one native U.S. President (Benjamin Harrison), there are TONS of statues of some of the other 42 men to hold the office scattered around town. Find the one of the guy who was only Commander-in-Chief for 32 days. Once you find his statue, ascend the nearby iconic monument - and hike up the stairs until you reach as high as the number that Indiana was of the states entering the Union. Upon reaching that level, spell out I-N-D-Y with your teams bodies in the photo-getting as much of the monument in the background as you can!

William Henry Harrison:

Got back to the finish line and checked in. We got a commemorative photo in front of the Challenge Nation poster and got a beer together. Well, I got a beer. Hahaha.

We didn't get to stay for the costume contest, but it was a fun day regardless. Kim went home to see her husband who was coming in that day and she hadn't seen in 10 weeks. Tracy went home to get ready for her step-dad's birthday party. Cammie and I finished out the day by doing a little socializing. We headed over to Flat 12 to meet up with a few of my friends that had done a different adventure race earlier in the day.

Here are a few of the pictures:

WHAT A FUN DAY!!! (Sorry for punking out on you during the movie Cammie: I was tired..)