Catholic Fun

What makes for a good night in the life of a Catholic family?

Mass at Our Lady of Greenwood

Fr. Rick mingling with everyone...the one in the shades!
(it was a goodbye party of sorts as he is moving to a new position in a few weeks)

Eating brats from Geisler Farm! yum!

Beer cups stacking up! :)

Family!

Friends!

FIREWORKS!!

Bad Day

If my life were an answering machine, this is what it would sound like today...

***Erin is having a bad day. She is completely out of sync with the world and needing a time out. If anyone else has an attitude today, you best stay away because one more wrong turn and there will be no turning back from the Land of Pissed Off.***

Please leave a message after the beep....BEEP!

Plane Tickets, Check

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!! I now officially have bought ALL my plane tickets for my trip to Australia this winter! :) :) :)

Here is a brief version of my itinerary:
Indy to Perth
Perth to Brisbane
Brisbane to Proserpine/Whitsunday Coast (Great Barrier Reef)
Proserpine to Sydney
Sydney to Auckland, NZ
Auckland to Melbourne
Melbourne to Perth
and then after a week of chilling with Petey, K, and Gab...
Perth to Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong to Indy

It's gonna be a whirlwind of 4 weeks!! Wow! :)

Wild Wednesday

Wednesday was a busy day in the Menchhofer household! Mom took a vacation day from work and we bustled from one activity to the next! haha

The started with a trip to Madison for Toby's yearly check-up appointment. My little pup is now a WHOPPING 3 1/2 pounds! hahaha He gained 1/4 pound since he was last weighed in the fall. Doc McDill said everything seemed to be good. She suggested ear drops for some waxy buildup - we got some, and just gave it a whirl today. Toby is not a fan. :p He has also switched over to Sentinel for heartworm and flea/tick prevention rather than the tabs he was taking for just heartworm. Toby also got his distemper shot, but because he's so little, we have to go back in a few weeks for the rabies shot. For such a little dog, he sure is expensive! Oy! Oh, almost forgot...he still has his baby canines and they are S-O-L-I-D! So we're supposed to watch for tartar buildup, but this also explains his pension for chewing all the time!! His poor toys get so much abuse! haha He's enjoying the perks right now of getting his DentalStix (greenies) to chew on more often. So far so good.



We then dropped Toby off at home and jumped back in the Mountie to head for Indy! I had to meet my friend, Charlotte (who survived the crappy BMG job with me), at our old work to drop off my Dell desktop that her family purchased. It was soooooo nice to see Char! :) From there, we made a pitstop at Babies R Us in Castleton so I could pick up a baby shower gift for my friend, Summer (who's baby shower I'm missing today because of work). After BRU, we ran up o Carmel and did a quick dash into Petco for our 4-legged children. Mom needed food for her dog, Midge. I needed food, squeaker toys, and DentalStix for Toby. I love that Petco! It always has everything I need! :) (and it gives me a reason to go to Indy to see Jen!) After Petco, we had just enough time to get over to meet Jenna at her work.



When Jen got off work, we followed her to the other side of town to Roberts Camera. I wanted her expertise picking out my new digital SLR. I've been wanting to upgrade for awhile (since Jen bought hers), but didn't have a good reason until now! I wanted to be well versed in using it when I go to Australia later this year, so figured I'd better go ahead and get it while it was on sale! (it's also partly Mom's xmas gift to me) It is quite nice! :) (which Jen hates...haha) I bought a Canon Rebel XSi. I've been playing around with it and can't wait for all our trips coming up this fall to REALLY use it!!!



Jen, mom, and I then headed back to Castleton for dinner...yum, Applebee's! We all so rarely get to see each other anymore, so it was really nice. Finally mom and I headed back to good ol' Osgood. It was a long day of driving, but fun nonetheless! I even got THE cutest card ever from my lil buddy, Ethan! See the picture below for its full adorable-ness!!


And here's a few I took while playing with my new camera...12 megapixels definitely makes a difference! As does the image stabilizer lenses!! :)

No Second Chances

How is it that the people you try to give the benefit of doubt to...screw up over & over?

Today I must apogolize because this is going to be a bit of a rant. Tune into another regularly visited blog if you're not in the mood for cheese & whine! :p

I barely stepped into the clubhouse today & problems ensued. First of all, if you've ever met the owner (& his wicked witch, I mean wife) of the golf course....this is going to sound like every person who has ever played here when they ran it! They are just not nice people. Really. Almost always frowning, in a bad mood, upset with everyone around them.... I get her today & one of the employees tells me a bunch of stuff Bob was spouting last week. I immediately call Jesse & he was irate! (So was I) He called Bob to which Bob denies ever saying anything of the sort. Riiiiiiight. Our employee who we treat well made up everything, including the part about some payments which she knows nothing about because that's our business, not hers! Duh! There was another person here that day too...guess Bob forgot about the witness. I love stupidity.

It's just been that kind of week around here....for the past 2 weeks actually. If its not one thing, its another!

Alright, enough griping! When I get home from work tonight I have good intentions of posting some pictures & other fun news from the week! :)

Later gators!

Gone Golfin'

Today I had a play date with my little cousin, Ethan! :) He LOVES to golf, so I took him to the driving range and let him hit a large basket of balls. He was doing very well! I know he hits them farther than I can! haha If you're a golfer and look at his hands, you'll notice they are not correct. I tried to correct him, but as he said "it feels weird." He should actually be a lefty (his dad is) and I know this trouble because I too should be a lefty (my dad is), but everyone else is right handed in our family so that's how he is learning...and how I was forced to learn! As I got older, I did learn to play sports left-handed because it felt more natural...so I'm guessing Ethan will probably be the same way.

After hitting about 70 balls on the range, we headed over to hole #1 and I let him try to hit over the water. He never did make it, which surprised me because he was hitting really well on the range. After that, we headed over to the #9 green and practiced our putting skills. He was doing really well with that, and I even managed to squeeze in a lesson about respecting the greens! ;)

We finished the evening with a trip to Dairy Queen for a treat...and finally McDonald's because he was still hungry! haha Aren't kids fun?!? :)

Here's a few pictures from our adventures tonight...I sure love him to pieces! Cousins are the best! :)

Ethan on the driving range

Ethan & I cheesin'

Ethan putting on the green

Testing 1-2-3

This is just a test post! I'll be using my BlackBerry some to post when I can't get to my computer...like all those hours I'm stuck at work each week! Ha

It's only taken me 6 months to become a true crackberry addict! :p

CXXV

CXXV = 125

This is my 125th post! I meant to do something at 100 like everyone else normally does, but I forgot! So 125 is the next milestone...right? haha

Anyway, not much excitement around here. Yesterday it seems EVERYONE I know was having a case of the Monday Blues, including me! I don't what the problem was, but we were all having rough days...headaches, muscle aches, plans falling through, tiredness...I guess if anything it's a sign of the changing weather. With summer, we all tend to pack that much more into our weekend and come Monday morning it's all you can do to get out of bed and start the week.

I am swimming in a sea of paperwork this week at work. And absolutely NO desire to do it! ha Oh well, I'll get it done anyway. I do have to say I am quite lucky. I have 2 of the best bosses EVER! They pretty much give me free reign with my job and usually treat me like I'm their boss instead of the other way around...haha

In other news, I think I know what Jenna and I are going to be doing for my late birthday gift! For Christmas I took Jen to a Colts game and we had AWESOME seats. For her birthday in February, I took her to the Jeff Dunham Comedy show in Indy and once again, we had AMAZING seats! So the deal was that this year for my birthday, Jenna was going to take me to a Pittsburgh Steelers game at Heinz Stadium. (yes everyone, I LOVE the Colts, but I also love the Steelers!) After looking at the schedule for this season, none of the games we're able to attend are ones we care to pay to go see! haha So instead of a football game (maybe next year), we are most likely going to go to New York City for a long weekend...and take in a Broadway show! I have been dying to see Wicked and that is the one show Jen will also sit through! ha I'm also excited about the prospect of going to NY because neither of us have ever been and there's soooooo much to see! So, if you have any suggestions on where to stay or what to see (or you're interested in going along), let us know! I don't think we'll go until September or October, which is why it will be a "late" birthday gift.

Enough yammering about nothing...here's a few pictures from recent days.

looking over the 9th green towards the tee

early morning at the course

course is offering lessons this summer! Grant teaching Pam

G'Day Mate!

It's official! Last night I bought my plane ticket to Australia!!! :)

I am soooooooo excited to be able to travel to the land down under, affectionately called Oz, to visit Karissa, Petey, and Gab. I figure I better take advantage of my "down time" this winter since I have no idea how much longer I'll be at the golf course and will be sitting at home 4 months out of the year! haha

I will leave Indy on November 18th and fly to Perth. As of right now...my plan is to spend the weekend with the Moar's. Then I'm going walkabout (sorta). :p I'll be traveling to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Airlie Beach/Great Barrier Reef, and Auckland (New Zealand). I'll return to Perth on December 4th and am looking forward to helping celebrate Gab's 1st Birthday on the 5th! :) My last week in Oz will be spent exploring the Perth/Bunbury area with K as my guide. Mostly I just plan on soaking up some sunshine and visiting with K/playing with Gab. I fly out of Perth on December 14th and get to enjoy almost a day in Hong Kong (China). I will return to Indy at about 11pm on December 15th if all flights go well and no weather delays! (you never know how the winter will be in the states, especiallly Newark & Indy!)

I will be doing A LOT of flying...which I'm totally fine with; however, I really wish I weren't traveling by myself!! I understand its impossible for everyone else to be away from work for almost 4 weeks during Thanksgiving-Christmas.

I'm sure I'll keep you posted as trip time draws near...now that the large chunk of my trip is covered (besides hotels while exploring on my own), it feels more like a reality!!

Happy Anniversary, Doug & Rajean!

Happy Anniversary to one of my dearest friends, Rajean and her husband Doug! :)

It was a joy being part of your day just a few short years ago! Now you are blessed with cutie-pie Dallas and "Gertie" is on the way! ;)

Love you guys! Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating home alone in Iowa!

It's been how many years?!?

In June 2000, I was a kid fresh out of high school. I knew what I WANTED in life, but didn't know if I'd get it. My biggest wish at the time was to be elected as an Indiana FFA State Officer. It wasn't long until that dream came true...and with it came more experiences than I would have ever imagined!

A year in the life of a State Officer...more miles than any one vehicle should drive, lots of late nights spent laughing and teasing each other, countless young students looking up to you as a role model, meetings with some of the most important people in agribusiness, friendships that have lasted the test of time, the stress of creating and putting on leadership camps, loving to give speeches and public addresses, and so much more...one of the most important reminders of my year of service is the lasting bond with my teammates. That year I gained 4 sisters and 2 brothers. Kim, Karissa, Rajean, Liza, Kyle, and Justin have seen me grow up and in turn, I have witnessed the changes in their lives. I am so lucky to have them as friends!

Sunday we had a State Officer Team Reunion...it was wonderful! 5 of us and our families manged to make the trek back to the Indiana FFA Center (the place we called home for a year). It is hard to believe that 8 years ago we were preparing for our own State FFA Convention!?! It was such a fun and exciting time; yet bittersweet knowing that the end was looming near. Now 3 of the 7 of us are married...4 have kids...we're all happy and healthy...

Okay, enough with my yammering...here are some pictures!! :)

I love and miss you all! Thank you for making the effort to spend the day together! Next stop...10 Year Anniversary!

Rajean, Karissa, Kyle, me, Kim

Doug & Rajean Bergman, Pete & Karissa Moar, me, Kyle Kohlhagen & Jill DeVries, Kim & Jason Stockment

the group with their significant others...Lish said she'd be mine since I was the only single one! haha (Lish is Karissa's sister)

the team and our parents!

everyone in attendance! :)

Colton (Kim's son) and I were becoming buddies...Dallas & Rajean look on...little Gabriella (Karissa's daughter) was asleep during the pictures