VACATION!!!!

Quick note from Friday night: Robert and Mac the Night. I had forgotten all about this McDonalds in Plainfield Indiana until we walked in the door last night. This was one of our "scheduled stops" when we would drive home from PA in the middle of the night. Of course Robert didn't remember it, but he loved Mac then too. Andrew and I are pretty sure we have a picture of baby Robert and Mac.




FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF VACA:

Creation Museum, Lawrenceburg, KY (Cincinnati OH).

What a wonderful, wonderful place, we had a great time, watched two planetarium shows and listened to one of the Answer in Genesis speakers speak on "Is Genesis relevant in today's world" VERY interesting. I wish it wasn't quite so far away, I would love for this to be a field trip for our youth group kids!

Then, SKYLINE CHILI!!!! A tradition for the Browning family. When Andrew and I were first married, Andrew had a remodel on a store in Aurora Indiana, I had the weekend off and it wasn't his weekend to come home so I drove over for the weekend. Two things he told me I had to see was the airport and skyline chili. We never come to Cincy that we don't go to Skyline. Their chili is an old Greek recipe that was brought straight from Greece to Cincinnati. Now there are Skylines spreading through Indiana and Ohio, 18 years ago, it was pretty much a local thing. On top of the chili having both chocolate and cinnamon in the recipe, it is traditionally served on Spaghetti, you can get three-way-Spaghetti, Chili, Cheese, four-way, the aforementioned, add beans and five-way, with a layer of onions. Of course, five-way is the way to do it up right.

Here is mine and Andrew's five-ways:

And Robert's chili cheese fries:
The next stop was to the airport, the cool thing about this particular airport is you drive under one of the runways. When Andrew was out here, he had drove but had to go get the rest of his teammates at the airport. When he saw this, it was something he thought I would think was cool, and I did. Then we sat out in their observation parking lot to watch the planes come in.

It was a slow night, so we didn't see much. I always enjoy watching the planes. It reminds me that you don't always have to spend a lot of money to make your kids happy. One particular time, we were just moving to Bloomfield Indiana, Robert was 4. We had worked really hard at getting unpacked and moved in that we all needed a break. Robert wanted to do something "fun". We drove to Indianapolis, spent an hour watching the plans came in and then found the nearest McDonald's playplace. Cost of the day about $20. The memories-priceless. It always reminds me that we may not have always had a lot but we have most definitely always had each other and that made us rich even when the bank account has said otherwise. I think I am a bit nostalgic on this trip, I know the days of Robert getting to go with us are numbered.

We happened upon this geological gem of history leaving the airport viewing sight. Cool, had we been here in 1880, we would have been in the Center of the population of the U.S.

I just hope the rest of this week is as grand as today.

Tomorrow we head to Dayton for our 4th trip to the Air Force Museum. Yes, my guys love cars but there is still a soft spot with both of them for planes. This is the first of my "see and sit" days. I have seen these planes, I will look at these planes again, it takes me about a tenth of the time to see the planes as it does the guys. I look, I sit, this year, I brought a book. I am excited. I NEVER have time to sit down and read a book at home. Tomorrow night we head to Auburn Indiana to one of our favorite hotels. Stay tuned, if I have time, I will post.

A Night to Celebrate

Last night was our association's Award Gala. This is the night that our Family and Community Development Specialists graduate and the service awards are handed out to individuals that have done remarkable things toward the war on poverty. Last night, our Executive Director, Marsha Roll, was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Award. This is the association's highest award and it is presented to those who have dedicated their lives toward Helping Others and Changing Lives. For the last 41 years, Marsha has been doing just that.

Marsha also has first hand knowledge of poverty, growing up in a not-so-perfect environment. She does exemplify to us both how we should treat our clients and how to administer our programs with competence and professionalism.

Marsha was also elected to the board of directors for the association last night. Definitely a big night for her and one that I am sure is still sinking in. It is amazing to see what can be accomplished.

I am very honored to work for Marsha and enjoy her being my boss, my mentor and most of all my friend.

Morning from a Soggy Springfield

That's my view of the capitol this morning. Not the greatest day in the world but hey, we don't have to leave the building until evening so maybe it will clear up by then.


Last night was our Family of Distinction dinner. Wow. Just Wow. I know there are times people make it clear they don't approve of what I do. I would love for them to come to this dinner just once. These are not the only people who have made their lives better, these are just the cream of the crop. We had two, not one but TWO of our award winners who were starting their own businesses. Our particular winner has been teaching school for a year now, when budget cuts were made to their school, two positions were cut but not hers. All of them though, have made better lives for themselves and their families, they have made it with a little help from some from Community Action Agencies. They are all amazing in my eyes. The setting for this years dinner was the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. This is one of my favorite spots in Springfield and a coworker and I were about the last ones out of the building last night. If you have not been here, you should go. It in itself, is amazing.




I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this group. They are the Lincoln Troubadours. They are High School and College kids from around the area, they sing a capella in 6-part harmony. They were fantastic. I have a feeling, had I gotten a better picture, Robert would recognize the guy on the end, I didn't get a chance to talk to him but I believe I have pictures from All-State that he is in.


It's amazing to me what a big part Springfield holds in my life. Once again, I can see Memorial Hospital from my window. My dad was there when I was in 7th grade. Last night, as we were leaving the Museum, we were on a bus and it turned at St. John's Hospital. My mom was there for six weeks when I was a freshman. Those were scary times for me and ultimately, times that put me in the same position as many of the families I work with.

My mom still doesn't understand why we didn't know more about the programs that ERBA offered at that time. I do, every time someone would mention getting help, she would act like it was a dirty word. Every once in a while someone would leave groceries in our car. Mom's first reaction was all out anger then deep down relief as we had many times she would sit at the kitchen table and try to figure out how to pay bills and buy groceries on what we were getting on social security. By the time this happened, she had a huge apparatus on one arm and hand, when she would go to apply for jobs, there wasn't anyone who needed the things she was limited to doing. Yes a little help with things like heat would have been nice.

I know many, many nights I wondered why God chose us to go through what we did. On the outside, we were making it fine, on the inside I believe we were scared to death.

I am celebrating my 10 year anniversary with ERBA. When I started, I told myself if I could make one family feel less scared about their situation, if I can help even just a few people see that asking for help is not a dirty word that I would have accomplished something. I have met more amazing people who overcome odds and make more out of their lives than I ever imagined.

A few weeks ago, I got a new sofa and love seat. After the movers were gone, I sat there all by myself and cried. There was a time in my life that I seriously never thought I would have a life where new anything was part of my vocabulary. I am so grateful for the life God has given me. I am even more grateful for what he has let me do to help others achieve that.

Life Goes On...

Definitely a day I am glad it's Friday. Seems like this week has went on forever. I have kinda been neglecting my blog (again) because our normally crazy life has been, well, just kinda normal this week. It's a little weird when that happens. But since, it isn't the norm, it is still a change and so hey, I guess that makes it normal after all.

We have had a couple times of little added excitement around here. A week ago last Sunday night, we were getting ready to leave for church, turned the living room light/ceiling fan off at the remote and flames shot out of the top if it. My dear pack rat husband fixed it without it even costing anything. Apparently (I honestly don't remember this) when we bought the ceiling fan, I didn't like the lampshades that were with the light kit. We bought a different light kit. Andrew kept the old one....let there be light.

Last Saturday morning, I had just cleaned my oven and smelled something getting too hot, I opened my basement door and smoke came billowing out. I went running down the stairs to my washer smoking. I got it turned off and hollered up the stairs that my washer was on fire which jolted Andrew out of bed. He came down, took one look at it, said it was the belt, turned around and went up the stairs, end of subject. The house smelled like burnt rubber the rest of the day. We have a new belt ordered and once again, Superman took all the laundry across the street, washed it, brought it home and dried it before I got home last night. Life is good!

Monday night, I hosted a Pampered Chef party, what a great time! I love having a party in May, it forces me to get my yard cleaned up as well as have all my spring cleaning done. Last year, I was still working on the yard in June, actually the DAY before Andrew's grandmother was coming for a visit. It feels so good to have everything just about completed. We had such a great time at my party and I got LOTS of free stuff, along with some great things at 25 and 50% off.

Tuesday night was class, this is winding down too, we had a good class though and made it through the resume class, which is the hardest. We skip this coming week and then they take their final on the 25th, this is going to be a successful class!

Last night, I spent the evening with my mom, we had a GREAT time, picked up a few new things for my conference next week and found her a pressure pot (hers "exploded" a few weeks ago). Had a great dinner at Neimergs, just a great evening. I will always treasure those times.

Robert has been helping clean out the "pickle shed" this week. It is a building at the high school that houses all the musical props/wood/etc. The district is tearing it down so all the supplies went to an outlying school that is no longer open for storage. He was also finishing working on his Nana's lawnmower, thought it was fixed, but now they can't get it to start...back to the drawing board.

I leave Sunday for the IACAA Conference, I really enjoy this conference and some very special things happen on Sunday. Sunday evening, we are having the Family of Distinction banquet. Each year, our field offices go through all the clients that have successfully worked their way our of needing us. They pick the biggest success from each office and then the best of all those are sent to the state. On Sunday night, there is a banquet honoring our Family of Distinction winners from all over the state. This is the night we get to see what our assistance can accomplish. And more so, what human beings can do when they have someone to believe in them. We are having the banquet at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, then afterwards get the Museum to ourselves. Granted there will still be about 400 people there, but it will be a very special evening.

Andrew is being honored on Tuesday at a Luncheon in Effingham for "Silver and Gold" Associates. I believe he said there were 5 "Silver" (more that 25 years service) associates in the Olney store, Andrew is the only member of management from Olney that has put in more than 25 years. Next month, he will celebrate number 26.

Of course, We leave on our adventurous vacation two weeks from tomorrow. No, I still don't have all the "new" plans made, but I believe it will be exciting. I also believe it may be one of those vacations where I have to go back to work to get some rest but it will be fun.

That's it for now, looks like plenty, will try to post next week as I know how I get when I am sitting in a hotel room. The plus side is we are at the Hilton--my personal favorite in Springfield. I got the BEST room last year, probably won't get that lucky two years in a row but it will still be nice.

The Kitchen Redo-Phase 1

It's finally 100% the way it is going to be for a while, hopefully sometime before fall we will get new counter tops and a new light fixture, I would love new tile on the floor too but actually, the colors make my near-white floor look better than it did. I just finished the stenciling this morning. It's almost a thing with me, it has to be stenciled to be done!

Before:

After:

I think it is odd how well the bar stools look like they were made for the new room, with all the silver and the tan wood. You can notice it in the pictures but Andrew SCRUBBED all the hardware and door handles, they were original and now they look brand new. I love them! Also, if you notice in the before picture of this picture, the left door was sideways, my Knight in Shining Armour fixed that too! My most favorite thing he did though, you can't even see. When we moved in, all our cabinet doors shut with a little piece of metal holding on to another piece of metal in the cabinet. Most of the ones on the cabinets were gone so if you got really lucky, you could get all the cabinet doors closed at once. My cabinets are now 100% magnetic closure--something else I absolutely love!

And my stencils......