November 2008

The month of November has flown by and we can hardly believe we are discussing when we should put up our Christmas tree! On Nov. 2nd, Deb and I were fortunate enough to go to the Colts vs. Patriots game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts pulled out a close win (18-15). We went down the game with Brandon, Diane, Jeff and Liz and tailgated for a few hours beforehand. As you can expect, it is always a good day when the Colts win, but even better when you beat the Patriots!
On November 15th, Deb and I went with Tom, Tracy and Amy to the Guys and Dolls auction to benefit Cystic Fibrosis. This was the same event that Deb and I met at 5 years ago. We headed downtown early and the girls went to get their make-up done, so it allowed for Tom and me to head out and have some beers beforehand! It was a good time and we went out to a few bars downtown before crashing at the hotel (after some late-night Steak and Shake!)

The 3rd weekend we went with a large group to the Purdue vs. IU football game (better known as the Bucket game). Everyone met up in the morning (Ragos, Depps, Schafers, and Bencks) and we went to Where Else (bar on campus) for some drinks. Purdue ended up winning the game 62-10 and it was an ideal way to send off Joe Tiller, the coach of Purdue the last 11 seasons. We then went for some dinner and drinks before we headed home (thank you Deb for being sober driver!). We were off to Charleston, WV for Thanksgiving this year. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend and we had a nice meal prepared by Anna and Julia (Deb made the gravy!). We were ready for shopping on Black Friday, not quite as ready at 4am like some people, but we got a good start on our Christmas shopping. We decided to not get each other Christmas gifts this year and buy a laptop. We spent an evening at Julie’s place helping put up her Christmas tree and other decorations. We continued eating leftovers and doing a little more shopping as the weekend came to an end.

Amongst all these fun activities we have had some developments with my dad’s illness. He has been hospitalized 2 times in the month of November for some dizziness and falling at the house. It appears that he has had a rough reaction to the new drugs and his body is having a hard time keeping a stable blood pressure. Beth has come home a few times in November and having Pete and Laura around has been a blessing. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving he was able to go home and is getting around the house extremely well. He has been able to go to church and also keep attending his chemo sessions. He and Mom are debating the next step in his treatment and we continue to keep praying and hoping for the best. Dad has been very strong during all of this and we very proud of him.

As usual, I am busy with work as we are in the middle of our audit and year-end review. Deb is continuing to study each waking moment she isn’t working, at the gym, or putting up with me!