December 2009

The Christmas season has treated us well as we have been able to see friends and family frequently during the month. We went to Chicago for an annual Christmas party thrown by Joe and Ali Rago. We arrived at their house on Friday evening and enjoyed catching up. Matt Schafer showed up the next day and we all partied until 3 in the morning. We enjoyed a limo ride home, some late night pizza and played Rockband once we got home. The next morning we were able to go into the city to visit the Andersons and their new daughter Emma. They were adapting well and it was great to get a chance to meet her. We got home a little exhausted since we don’t party until 3AM anymore!

For Christmas, we went to Davis, WV this year and it was a great visit. We arrived on the 23rd and were able to go cross-country skiing on Christmas Eve. Everyone went and we spent about 2 hours outside skiing around. Everyone fell a few times but I think I had to get up the most! We went to midnight mass and I don’t think anyone changed out of pajamas on Christmas. I received some ski boots and ski poles, along with some nice jackets. Deb received a Garmin, and some shirts from WV and a local brewery. As always, we ate very well and everyone found their way into the kitchen to help out. It was very icy and windy on Christmas, which took out some of the snow. On the 26th, we did make our way over to Timberline and did some skiing. I did much better with all the new equipment and Deb, Anna and I wore out quickly. Randy met us for a few beers at the lodge afterwards as nothing is better than a cold beer after skiing! We got caught in some snow on the way home which caused us to be a little delayed. We celebrated Christmas with the Carroll family on the 29th. We received a sushi making kit, a new phone, and a new Wii game. Deb and I also got some clothes which we asked for. We played a little euchre and then made our way over to the Wahmans for a nice dinner and catching up with everyone.

Here are a few more items from the month:
• We went to a caroling party at the McGraths.
• We went to our annual Christmas Dinner with some Purdue friends at Buca de Beppo.
• We went over to Pete and Laura’s apartment to watch the Colts beat Jacksonville (where I heard Claire say “Uncle Keith” for the first time…sounded like “Unc Kei” but I will take it!).
• I went to a Pacer game with people from work as our auditors were able to get the suite for a game vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.
• We went to a Christmas Party for Deb’s work at the Tyndall’s house.
• Dad and I went to MCL cafeteria for a nice dinner.
• We went out for a nice dinner at 14 West. This is a restaurant that serves local food and changes it menu seasonally. We met Tom and Tracy beforehand at The Capital Grill (where Tom and I had “man-drinks” (i.e. Manhattans)).

November 2009

Well, we are about 2 weeks late with the posting of our November update, but we have been busy doing all kinds of fun things and have plenty updates for everyone!

Dad had a short stint back in the hospital for about 5 days or so to take care of an infection in early November. Other than that minor bump in the road, he is doing well and is progressing toward independence and the ability to do more with each passing week. The best news came a few weeks ago when he was diagnosed with pathological remission. It was described to me as the “best possible situation” for what they could have hoped for. This is great news and has really lifted everyone spirits. Things have quieted down a little for Mom and Dad and I think they are enjoying a little bit of normalcy in their lives as they can spend time together at home.

Pete and Laura welcomed their new daughter on November 10th. Grace Ann had pneumonia when she was born and had to be in a special nursery (not NICU, but also not with Pete and Laura) for a few days. Since she was sick, she was in the hospital for a week, but they are all at home now and doing fine. From what we have seen and heard, Claire isn’t too interested in Grace yet, but I’m sure that will change as the oldest children always come through!

We were fortunate enough to go to 2 Colts games this month. Thanks to Debbie’s clinic, we went to the Texans game where the Colts won by 3! The 2nd game was probably one of the best sporting events I’ve ever attended as the Colts beat the Patriots 35-34. We tailgated ahead of time with Jeff and Brandon. I will spare all the details, but whenever someone mentions Belichick and the Pats going for 4th and 2 on the Colts 29 yard-line, just know that Peyton had the last laugh after the Colts defense took care of business!

For the first time in 8 years, Deb was able to see a WVU football game. They played at Cincinnati and we decided it was a great chance to see them play. They hung tough and Cincy is undefeated this year. All WVU needed was to recover the on-side kick and the come-back was underway! A highlight of this trip was parking in the garage and opening the door and hearing “Country Roads” being played and echoing throughout the parking lot! I will forever hear “Let’s Go!” and then a second later “Mountaineers!”

Another interesting thing we did this month was go curling! Yeah, you read it right, we went curling for Ben Foulke’s birthday party. For those of you still scratching your head, curling is that sport in the Olympics that you throw the stone and use the brooms to sweep the ice to speed up the stone. We had several laughs as we learned all the phrases and terms associated with this activity. Not to mention that you are basically walking on ice with your tennis shoes, so I was the first person to completely wipe out on the ice!

We were in Indy for Thanksgiving this year and it was a good time. Deb wasn’t feeling the best but tried to take part in some events. I attended Friends Thanksgiving at the Watkins and enjoyed seeing everyone. The next morning I ran the Drumstick Dash and then came home and we got ready to head over to my parent’s house. Beth was a great surprise as she didn’t tell anyone but mom and dad she was coming home! It was good to see her and she was able to see Dad doing so well and meet Grace.

October 2009

It has been a long road, but the much anticipated return of Bob Carroll to Rowin Road has arrived! Dad went home this past Saturday and is doing OK. He was greeted all weekend with several visitors and Beth coming back to Indy from Nashville. I haven’t talked with him much one-on-one since he has been home, but I’m sure he is glad to be onto this next phase of his recovery. Over the next few weeks, Mom will be off from work and he will have some home health physical and occupational therapy come to the house to work on different things. With Mom’s help and some gradual improvements each week, we hope to continue moving forward with the goal of him being independent at home so Mom can go back to work. Dad has been very strong for the last 2+ months and his attitude has been pretty positive. We are proud of him and happy he is back at home.
Earlier in the month, we had a Homecoming party here at the condo for all the Purdue friends and kids. Brad was in town from San Francisco and Jeremy came down from Chicago. It was a great day (except for the Purdue loss to Northwestern) and fun to have such a crowd at the condo. We started early and ended up out in Broad Ripple as we normally do with that crowd to only come home and crash. We had our Carroll Camping trip again this year. We had a cozy cabin about 45 minutes away from Indy. We all enjoyed ourselves and even though the weather didn’t cooperate as well as it has in the past few years, we enjoyed the time together. The weather in Indiana is so random that it is really hard to plan camping trips, but we will continue to try. We enjoyed a little fishing and I caught a fish so big that we couldn’t get it on camera…OK, I caught a fish the size of my finger and it fell off the hook before we could take a picture!

We were fortunate enough to be invited to a wedding the following weekend for Beth’s good friend Mo Butz. I’ve known Mo for awhile and was good friends with her older sister in college. It was a great time and an opportunity for me to share my awesome dance moves with Claire and get my usual wedding karaoke version of “Shout!” taken care of. One of the highlights of the wedding was this photo-booth where you can go and get your picture taken as your wedding favor. Deb and I visited it twice and had a good time. Also, in our desire to always be part of the limo festivities, Pete and I took stole some beers before they took off after the wedding!

We were off to another wedding the following weekend in Atlanta for Debbie’s cousin Jim Carter. Deb left on a Thursday and met up with her parents in Atlanta. They spent Friday going to Turner Field and taking a tour of CNN with her Aunt Barbs and Uncle Ralph. I met up with them that evening at the rehearsal dinner and enjoyed some late night drinks in Chuck and Heather’s room. The wedding was beautiful and the weather cooperated so it could be outdoors. The reception was great and we all went out to a group dinner that evening. It was great to see some of Deb’s family that we haven’t seen in several years. The following day we were off to see a tour of Coca-Cola. The highlight of that was Deb getting scared by the holiday polar bear and tasting all the different types of drinks Coke offers. We took a nice walk through downtown and enjoyed the Centennial Olympic Park. We ended the day in typical Cyphers fashion…watching football and having a nice beer before catching our flights!

Halloween was pretty calm this year. I went dressed as Peyton Manning from the Sprint commercial a few years ago. Deb was a Colts super fan (it was a last minute ditch effort at a costume). We went to the annual end of the season party for flag football and partied with our usual crowd. Saturday was filled with a nice relaxing day on the couch watching college football followed by a night next to the fire pit at the Bassett’s.

September 2009

September had come and gone and we have some good news to update everyone on the progress dad is making…

In early September, Dad was able to come off the ventilator and was transferred back up to the floor in the hospital once his vital signs were stable. From there, he was transferred to a rehab facility at the same hospital that allowed for him to start therapy but also get the care he needed. Once he gained enough strength and didn’t need as much care from the nurses, he was able to get transferred to the Rehab Hospital of Indiana. This sounds like it is exactly what he needs where he gets 2-3 hours of therapy a day and they don’t let you stay in your hospital bed too long! Overall, his health appears to be doing fine and we simply need his strength to come back. With therapy each day, eating good meals and continuing to push him, we hope he can be home soon.

Deb went back to WV earlier this month to spend some time with her family. She flew out Labor Day evening. She went down to Bluefield on that week and enjoyed a chili-dog and a blizzard at the DQ with her Uncle George, Aunt Sis, Uncle Chuck and Aunt Heather. She had to fly 2 hours and drive 2 more to have a chili-dog and I am home stuck with turkey bacon?!? Deb really enjoyed spending time with her parents and Julie and of course cleaning out a few closets like she always does. I drove to WV later that week for a Luau her parents were throwing for family and friends. It was a great opportunity to see everyone and have a party for no particular reason! The next day Ralph and I went off to the horse-track to gamble a little. I enjoyed the $2 draft beers while Ralph did all the gambling with our money. We broke even and had a good time (our winnings paid for the beers and hotdogs). Later in the month we went to a fundraiser called “Festiv-Ale” for cystic fibrosis. They had all sorts of different beers that you could sample and different foods we could eat to keep us in for the long haul! It was a good time watching Deb and Diane grab up all the free things they could get their hands on, while Lawton, Tom and I enjoyed making the rounds to try different kinds of beer. Have you heard of pizza beer? It smelled like a frat house on a Saturday morning...beer combined with late night pizza. We went out later that night and watched Purdue suffer a last second loss to Notre Dame.

Deb started taking a yoga class with our friend Tracy and has found it to be quite challenging. It is a totally different workout when compared to her usual routine at the gym but she is enjoying trying something new. And yoga is nowhere near as easy as it sounds!

August 2009

August hasn’t had us traveling as much as we have during other parts of the summer, but it definitely has flown by and kept us busy with a few fun weekends and visiting Dad at the hospital. Let’s start with that update…

Dad went in for his second bone marrow transplant on August 12th. All the doctors and nurses were very happy with how healthy he looked and how well he was doing. At first, he did very well and even though things appeared to be getting difficult for him, no one seemed to realize how sick he was getting over a 1-2 day span. As he fever went up (as it can during this process), we monitored it and gave him some antibiotics to hopefully beat the infection he had gotten. On the night of August 26th, his fever got to 102.4 and the next morning he was transferred to ICU for his fever which had gotten to 103.5. By the afternoon, he had gotten confused and had a hard time following commands. At that point, they decided to put him on ventilator to calm him down and get his fever under control. Over the next few days, the fever went down and we had to wait 4-5 days for the sedation drugs to wear off. Over the past weekend, that has happened and he is able to communicate in a limited manner since he is still on the vent. He is having a difficult time getting off the ventilator mainly because he had put on 48 pounds of weight in the ICU (mostly from IV fluids). Over the last 2 days, he has lost some of the weight and we are hoping he can come off the ventilator soon. The next steps after that are up to the doctors, but it would appear he would be on this way to a rehabilitation hospital as he hasn’t moved in nearly 2 weeks. The good news is that his transplant appears to be going well and if we can get him started on building his muscles and communicating with us that will be a huge step in the right direction.

As you can imagine, it has been a stressful time for everyone and we have done a good job keeping each other informed and helping out when we can. Beth came back from Nashville for a week and then has driven back for a 24 hour visit today. Laura decided to not travel with Pete & Claire to OH over Labor Day weekend to help out. I’ve been able to help during lunches during the weekend and some parts of the weekends. Mom’s been holding up well and doing a good job managing the situation. Everyone’s support and prayers near and far have been felt and we hope to have better news and updates in the September edition on our blog.

Earlier in the month, we did get a chance to travel to Chicago to visit with the Andersons, Ragos and Bencks. We had a nice dinner on Friday night downtown and then went over to listen to Kings of Leon at Grant Park. The next day we went with Jeremy and Erin on an architectural tour of Chicago and then went to comedy show that evening. It was good to see everyone and how excited Jeremy and Erin are for their baby girl which is due in mid-December.

Deb utilized her birthday gift and took a photography lesson in August. She is now researching her next gift…a SLR camera! She really enjoyed it and is looking take more photos and she even got some books so she can continue to improve!

Julie came to visit in late August and we enjoyed having her. The first night we had dinner at the condo and then went to a comedy show (with the Ferrands and Lawton). The comedian was so funny at times we were crying. After the comedy club, we went to have some drinks in Broad Ripple. The next day, Julie and Deb went to get massages and we went out to get sushi. After the sushi, we went to the Wellington for some blue-grass music and stayed out to midnight (with the Steffeys, Lawton and Michelle). As you can tell with these pictures, Julie and Deb had a good time!

July 2009

July started off with us celebrating the 4th up at Dewart Lake in northern Indiana. My uncle John was visiting from Arizona so we went to the lake for a fun family gathering. Don, Jeremy, Theresa and Joey came from Louisville for the weekend along with some relatives from Anderson and Indy. The weather could have been nicer on Saturday (pretty chilly and rainy), but we made the most of it with Mom, Frank, Pete, Claire and I getting into the water. Let’s just say it was quite refreshing…

On the 2nd weekend in July we went to a wedding for a friend of mine at Hurco. It was a great ceremony and his brother gave one of the best toasts I’ve ever heard. It was good to see some friends from work cut loose a little bit and I had to do my normal sing-along with “Shout” by The Isley Brothers. “Now wai-a-ait a minute! I feel aaaaaaallllllright!”

We went on our annual trip to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan for our Beachmo trip. What is Beachmo? It is a weekend where we (my family and my aunt, uncle and cousins)stay at a motel and head to the beach….combine the words and you get Beachmo (sounds better than Moteach)! The weekend includes late nights of euchre and fun days on the beach bumping the volleyball around, doing the “Michigan sprint” into the water, and climbing the huge dune. The weather was a little cooler this year, but each afternoon the clouds went away and we had some good sun. On Saturday, Dad and I went and played putt-putt in the afternoon and even got in a little Ms. Pac-Man!

We celebrated Deb’s birthday the following weekend with Tom and Tracy at Symphony on the Prairie for Billy Joel night. We had a good time as Deb, Tom and Tracy enjoyed a few bottles of wine and I had the rare appearance as sober driver! It isn’t a problem until you are trying to get out of the parking lot and people in your car are singing along and talking loudly like we are leaving a Colts game or a college football game! The best part of the night was Deb not knowing any words to “Lay Down Sally” by Eric Clapton…so she just sang along with those 3 words over and over again! For Deb’s birthday, she received some money to put toward a frame for her SCS certificate and I got her a 2-hour photography lesson with the photographers from our wedding and a new watch.

We went to Brandon and Diane’s wedding reception in late July and it was in a little hidden away place at Eagle Creek. They had a slideshow of the wedding and pictures from Vieques before they arrived. The usual crowd was there and we ventured over to Tom and Tracy’s for a few beers by the fire-pit before calling it a night.

A few more tidbits from this month:

The Indy Delta Sig group got together for Greek food downtown and drinks on a rooftop with fabulous views of the city.

Pete and I went and played golf early in the month at a short par-3 golf course here in Indy. We had fun adapting the later holes to make it a little more interesting.

We went to an Indians game as part of Deb’s summer outing for Methodist Sports Medicine.

Mom, Dad, Pat, Paul, Deb and I went to an Indians game in late July. It was $1 menu night and everyone (Dad mostly) was real excited!

June 2009

June 2009

We arrived home from our vacation to be mentioned later to find that Deb PASSED HER EXAM and has become a sports certified specialist in physical therapy! She is still having a hard time believing it, but I think once is sinks in, she will realize what an accomplishment it is and that she never has to take a test again!
June was a good month where we were fortunate enough to go to a destination wedding in Vieques (island off of Puerto Rico). We were invited there by Brandon and Diane and we enjoyed great weather, awesome food and a wonderful time with our friends. The festivities started off with a tour of the bioluminescent bay. This was an once-in-a-lifetime experience as we were able to “glow” in the dark. There are small single-cell organisms in the water that when they bump into each other they create light. As you move through the water, you essentially create light. The following day, we all went to a deserted beach (which all the beaches pretty much are) and hung out in the waves and had some beers with everyone that had come to the island for the wedding. For the wedding, we found ourselves once again on a beautiful beach as they got married. The dinner and reception followed at the lighthouse where we started the party and it ended at a local bar with all of us singing karaoke!

Tom, Debbie and I sang Country Roads toward the end of the night. It was a good trip, but we were happy to come home as we had a few issues with our house getting broken into and having my cell phone and Deb’s running shoes stolen. Although our house may have had a few issues, we will always be amazed by the view and the huge iguana (Milton) that lived there and enjoyed spending some time by the pool. Nevertheless, we had a great vacation on this island!

Earlier in the month, Dad was released from the hospital and has spent the month recovering and gaining strength. He seems to be feeling and sounding better, and hopefully he continues down that road in July. He is scheduled for another transplant starting on August 12th. A second transplant is part of the process and we will have a better idea of how he is doing vs. the cancer after the next transplant. The “Carroll Christmas Party” was held on Father’s day this year. The family has gotten so big, that having it at a park in the summer seems to make more sense for a family of this size! We enjoyed a water balloon toss for the kids (and I had to participate due to an odd number of kids), played some corn-hole, and played at the park. Mostly everyone was able to make it and the weather turned out great.

Deb’s Aunt Sis has been doing really well and is scheduled to stay with Aunt Wiz for a few weeks before moving to a condo in Bluefield. We are excited to hear how well she is doing and Deb may head out to visit her in Sept. along with a visit to everyone else in WV.

We learned that Julie is searching for a new job, something that is very challenging in today’s economy. Her company is shutting down its Charleston office in August. Even with this news, she has decided to get a Master’s degree (from WVU!!!!) in marketing which should make her even more of an asset to a new company.

I was able to go to Brandon’s bachelor party in early June. We went down to

IU for night of partying and then enjoyed some time on a boat on Saturday. We were off to watch the Cubs vs. Reds on Sunday and ran into a strong showing of alumni for Marshall University. Now, I’ve never proclaimed myself as a smart individual, but I was able to get this picture with a new friend of mine! I don’t think Deb was particularly excited about this since Marshall and WV are pretty strong rivals!

May 2009

The month of May started out with a group of us running the Mini Marathon through downtown Indy and around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jeremy, along with Tim and Amy Benck, came down for the weekend to run the 13.1 mile race. Everyone completed the race and I was able to get to my goal of under 2 hours (1:57:43). I started out running with Beth and we split up around mile 9. I’ll always say that running the Mini is a good experience, but it is the training for the prior 4 months that really makes you not want to sign up again! We spent the rest of the weekend recovering, with a few beers on Saturday and some waffles on Sunday morning!
Mother’s Day, May 10th. We went out to eat at Capri with the entire family (except Beth, who came for the 2nd and 3rd week of Dad’s transplant). It was a nice dinner and we gave Mom some gifts for around the house and some shirts to lounge in at the hospital. Unfortunately we were not able to celebrate with Anna, but we sent her money to put towards her new furniture in the office.

Dad was admitted for the bone marrow transplant on May 11th. The transplant actually occurred on the 13th and it was a long 3 weeks following that before he was released (which was today, June 3rd!). The transplant went a lot like I was told by some people in the hospital, where it would get really tough and hard for Dad, and then all of a sudden he would turn the corner and start to feel better quickly. On May 16th, he went into isolation (which means we needed to wear masks when in the room) and stayed in that condition for a little more than a week. Along the way there were a few fevers and nose-bleeds, but mainly just not feeling well and not eating much of anything. As soon as he started to get out of isolation and get a little energy, he was sent to ICU due to difficulty breathing. He spent 4 days in ICU and was able to get the breathing under control with different exercises for his lungs and being diagnosed with sleep apnea. He went back to the main hospital for a 5 more days and was released at the end of the month! Everyone is very proud of him and praying for some positive results from the transplant. For the next few months, he is hoping to continue on his medication and get stronger. There is a possibility of another transplant coming down the road, but we know that each step should be taken one at a time!

During this month, Deb’s Aunt Sis has had some health issues in Charlotte, NC. She was put on a ventilator and not expected to do well when they took her off of it. However, at this time, she is doing quite well. She will need an extended stay in a rehabilitation facility to help her get strong. Unfortunately she probably won’t be able to go back to her own home as she will need constant help and care. Debbie is going to try to go to Charlotte later in June to help out for a few days.

Debbie and Amy Isaly finally got a chance to get together. They did their usual: meet in Columbus OH and shop for a ridiculous number of hours. They went out for a great dinner and came back to the hotel and talked and laughed for hours. Amazing how you can go so long without seeing a good friend and then just start up right where you left off.

Here are a few more tidbits for the month:
**On Memorial Day weekend, we stopped by Frank and Jan’s for a few drinks on Sunday night and catch up with them.
**Chelsea graduated from North Central.
**As the weather has gotten warmer, we have enjoyed the opening of our condo pool along with taking walks to Broad Ripple for coffee or a beer!

April 2009

April started off with Deb and I attending Josh Bleill’s wedding. Jeremy and Erin came to town for the weekend and we enjoyed hosting them. They arrived on Friday and we went out to eat at Naked Tchopstix (we gave up going out to eat for Lent, but ended up cheating this one time!). The wedding was well attended and we were able to catch up with a large group of friends (Wyss and Boston made it). In usual fashion, we partied until the last song and then tried to find a bar to end the night! I recall sliding across the dance floor and even carrying Deb around the dance floor in a swing-dance fashion. It is crazy what a few Coors Light will do to you!

The following weekend was Easter weekend and Deb made a breakfast casserole and we took it over to my parent’s house before church. We attended church with Mom and Dad and then went to Tom and Tracy’s for dinner. They cooked some lamb on their fire pit and we enjoyed a great dinner over at their place. One day, when we have room and a bigger grill, we will have a long list of people to pay back for dinners and cookouts (and the top of the list is Tom and Tracy!).

We hosted Deb’s parents along with Aunt Wiz and Aunt Barbs for the Race for the Cure this year. Everyone arrived on Friday and we had a nice pork dinner. We even got a few games of cornhole in before dinner! After the race the next morning (I ran the 5K in 24:45), we came home and cleaned up before we decided to order pizza. We ended Saturday night with a Wii tournament and everyone had fun. One of the best things of the weekend was before everyone got up on Sunday, Barbs and I played the Wii and although I did beat her in bowling, she dominated me in boxing!

Throughout the month of April, I kept training for the Mini Marathon to be held in Indy on May 2nd. This entails of running 4 days a week with one longer run on Saturdays. It feels good to stay in shape and do well in the race, but is sure is a lot of work! On my last long run in late April, I pulled my calf and it really hurt. I had to walk 2 miles home and I didn’t know if I could complete the Mini, but I did! Deb trained me back to health and I will talk more about the Mini in the May version!

For a decent part of April, my dad was in the hospital fighting off a fever that he got during the bone marrow transplant preparation. He got out of the hospital near the end of April and is still moving toward the transplant, but the schedule has been moved back until mid-May. Once he goes in for the transplant, we hope he can bounce back quickly and get out in 10 days or so, but most of the time it is usually between 2-4 weeks. He has also lost most his hair and Laura clipped the rest of it. He looks pretty good bald and most people think it he looks younger! It is tough to watch him go through all of this, but it is necessary for better health and a longer life. All we can do is pray that all of his efforts pay off with some good news after things are completed.

We received some good news this month! Pete and Laura are expecting their 2nd child in late-November! We are excited for them and look forward to meeting Claire’s sister or brother!

March 2009

It’s finally over!!! Deb has completed her Sports Specialty Exam and she can get back to her normal life! After 7 months of studying and hard work, she took the exam on March 12th and walked away knowing she did everything she could do to prepare for the exam. That evening a big crew of maybe 20 people showed up at Brothers Bar in Ripple to help her celebrate her new freedom. The next day was a Friday so Deb took the day off to see Julie Gebhart’s new baby girl and get a massage at a salon downtown. We should know the results of the exam in June, so keep your fingers crossed!

To celebrate the exam, we were off to Mexico for a vacation! Jeremy and Erin Anderson went with us on vacation and we stayed at an all inclusive resort. It was a wonderful time filled with a Sweet 16 trip for Purdue. Jeremy and I enjoyed ourselves enough to start something we like to call “Pool Dunking.” The pictures can speak for themselves, but basically you are catching a beach ball and dunking it into an innertube…it may sound childish, but if you give 2 guys enough drinks and a few items, you can turn the kid pool into your own dunk-fest! We enjoyed several drinks, had a comfortable room, saw some whales from the shore, did some kayaking, played some ping pong, got beat up by some big waves, did some dancing on the beach, played some euchre and even a few shots of tequila!

Deb and I did our usual March Madness Bracket Challenge and for the first time since we met, I have lost! I had won the first 5 times, but she had some gutsy calls that worked out and she won pretty easily. The good news is that she also won some money in the bracket challenge we do with my family. I’ll remember to not laugh at her bracket next year, because it could end up winning us a lot more than just bragging rights!

For the Sweet 16 games, I was able to get a few tickets from our auditors at work to go to Lucas Oil Stadium for the 1st round of the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. It was a great time and we really enjoyed the event. Of course we were on our best behavior, but it was pretty cool to watch the game from the suite and enjoy all the food and drink you could handle!

Since 2002, I’ve played in a flag football league here in Indy. It is the reason Deb and I met and it has given us a great group of friends over the last 7 years. Once again, I am playing this spring. Deb isn’t playing because of the 2 surgeries on her hand which was caused by an injury in this league. I don’t know how much longer I will play, but I hope to continue to play as long as possible. If you count that league along with running 4 times a week for the Mini, you can say that I am officially starting to feel the effect of turning 30!
As I write this month’s events, I should update that my dad was admitted to the hospital today with a blood clot in his leg. He was scheduled to start his bone marrow transplant preparation work on Wednesday and that is still on schedule. He will probably be in the hospital this week and will hopefully go home this weekend. After being home for a 2 weeks, he will head back for the transplant and be in the hospital for 2-4 weeks. By mid-May, we have to have him back at home, resting and recovering from his transplant with hopefully decent results!

February 2009

This month has gone by quickly, but in normal fashion we haven’t slowed down a bit and had some good/bad events from this month. To cover the basics, Deb is still studying in anticipation for her March 12th exam and keeping busy with work and heading to the gym. I have had a tough month at work as we have gone through a round of lay-offs (due to the economy) and a good friend of mine at work was let go. Work was just more fun when you had a buddy to talk a little football with and complain about small things. I hope that is the end of the lay-offs, but everyone received a 5% pay-cut and there is word about another round of lay-offs in March.

Early in the month, Dad, Beth, Laura and I were off to LA to see visit Hollywood and see The Price is Right! We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after Dad went to bed, we went to a comedy club for some stand-up comedy. Monday, we went to a wax museum and then to The Tonight Show and we got a picture with Jay Leno! We got a chance to shake his hand and talk with him for a few moments before the show. On Tuesday, we hung out outside around the pool and played some euchre. After a few beers, I jumped in the pool…it was really cold and I think I had some “liquid courage.” We arrived at The Price is Right and had great seats in the 3rd row. Man, I haven’t cheered that much since the Colts Superbowl run! We yelled and screamed to our hearts desire and then went out to a nice sushi dinner. We flew home on Wednesday and got home around midnight after a little trouble with our flight from Detroit. It was a great trip and one we will always remember.
During that same week, we left for Davis to go skiing for President’s Day weekend (3rd straight year). We brought along Tom, Tracy, Brandon and Diane again this year and even though we didn’t have very much snow, we made for up for it with skiing, partying and eating! We were still able to ski the entire weekend, just a little icy on the slopes. We played Banana-Grams (and by “we” I mean Tom beat everyone), Jenga (with a different set of rules), and had to play a customary round of Catchphrase.

With so many inside jokes, it is hard to write much, so here are a few pictures to help out!

Deb playing Jenga and having to wear the hat of Guiness!

The guys breaking out into a version of "Build me up Buttercup."

Girls having fun drinking wine and playing games.

The Group at the top of the mountain before another run!

During the last weekend of the month, Jeremy came to visit for Bleill’s bachelor party. It was a good time and fun to play the Wii, have a few nights at the bars, and basically blow off a little steam with everything going on for the both of us. The bachelor party was at Bleill’s house and around midnight, Jeremy, Foulke and I got a ride to Broad Ripple and hung out for a few more beers before heading home to eat Totinos and corn-dogs!

Also this spring, I am training again for the Mini here in Indy (May 2nd). I’ve been doing well with training and looking forward to possibly hitting my goal of under 2 hours, but without Beth as my running partner (and stopwatch!) that may be difficult. It wouldn’t be right to not mention the CLIG (Can’t Let it Go League – a.k.a. Chatard Alumni League) sometime this winter. We are currently 4-3 and have had a good time this year. Pete has started playing this year as relatives are allowed to play in the league. We have 2 more games and then the playoffs!

Dad’s new chemo has been working better than expected and there is hope of a bone marrow transplant coming in possibly May or June. Keep him in your prayers as we approach this time, it will be a difficult time for him but key in his efforts to fight this disease.

January 2009

Things have slowed down a little in the month of January as we have welcomed the new year by taking a trip to Wisconsin, enjoying some time with family and friends, and receiving some record snow-fall in Indy!
The biggest event of the month was that I turned 30! Not that I was all that excited about it, but we did some fun things to celebrate. We took off to Lake Geneva, WI the weekend before my birthday to celebrate with the Ragos, Schafers, Depps and Bencks. The “Delta Sig Wives Club” organized the trip and it was a great time. We all enjoyed being able to hang out and relax. We had a really nice place to stay which included 5 bedrooms and a small indoor pool. We went cross-country skiing and it was quite different from Indy with all the hills to climb and descend, but it made us enjoy it that much more. On my actual birthday, we went over to Rowin to celebrate Pete and my birthdays. Laura made a wonderful dinner and we enjoyed some cake and gifts.

The following Saturday evening, we went to the Wellington for dinner and some live blue-grass music in the basement. We had about 15-20 people come and go throughout the night and we had a great time! When the music stopped, we went to the Casba and then to the Mindshaft for some dancing…and those last 2 stops were probably not necessary, but a good time!

My birthday gift from Deb was a Wii! It has been fun to play and we are good competition for each other. We like bowling and tennis the most, but we recently purchased Mario Kart and have had fun playing that against each other. My favorite line about the Wii was that Laura asked Deb, “What are you better at than Keith and that he won’t play anymore?” So true…I don’t like to lose and she has beaten me at tennis and home-run derby several times!

Another one of my favorite gifts is the one from our friends Tom, Tracy, Brandon, Diane and Lawton. It was a pound of fresh bacon!!! In our condo, we rarely see anything other than turkey bacon, so as you can see, I was very happy!!

We received a record snowfall here in Indy (12.5 inches…which is a lot for us!). It was pretty tough to get around, so I actually had a snow day! It is pretty fun to be 30 and still hold out hope that you can get a snow day! As Deb went to work grumbling that I didn’t have to go in, she rattled off a quick “to-do” list that consumed my morning. It didn’t stop me from watching the Price is Right with my dad, working out with Laura and having a few “post-workout” cocktails at Chumley’s! Most people would drink a Gatorade…maybe we will try that next time. Deb and I were able to sneak in a quick cross-country trek on the Monon and in Marrott Park before the sun went down.

As has been the trend for the last 4-5 months, Deb is still studying every moment she can and it looking forward to getting back to her normal schedule by mid-March. Her exam is scheduled for March 12th and she is counting down the days! We are going to celebrate by heading to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with the Andersons for March Madness!

We have a busy few months coming up with Deb’s exam, Keith’s trip to California for the Price is Right (with sisters and dad), annual President’s Day ski trip to Davis, Puerto Vallarta vacation, and Bleill’s bachelor party and wedding. Along with our usual jobs (which we both still have in this economy!), we will be looking forward to it all and enjoying the time with friends and family!