Justin's game

Friday night Jackson met me in Muncie and we went to Marion to catch our nephew's basketball game. We first met up with my parents, brother and mom's best friend for dinner at the smokiest bar on the planet. This place supposedly had great food. That claim was not supported by my time in the bar and I left pretty quickly. I still stunk like an ashtray for the rest of the evening. I will never understand smoking.

#42 :)

Anyway, it is always fun to be back at Marion High School because, even though I didn't go to school there, I have a ton of memories in that place. Justin's team was really talented and won their game. He had quite the cheering section with all of us plus my Dad and Diana there to support him. I was amazed at how big he is now and that his voice is deep. They grow up so quickly! 

Since I was smart and didn't eat at the world's stinkiest bar that sometimes serves Mexican food (not its real name), I got to have dinner from Ivanhoe's. That place never gets old to me now that I don't live in God's country.

After sitting with my "I run long distances for fun really quickly" older brother I felt really confident in my ability to start running. That was such a painful experience today that I'm not quite ready to explain it yet. Stay tuned. ;)

Christmas baking

Susie convinced me to help her with her baking of Christmas cookies this year. I generally try to not bake because that lends to me eating the cookies. It happened again this year. I had far too many cookies. Siiiigh. It was fun, though. 

These were amazing right out of the oven. Amazing.

Susie is more adventurous than I am and made a recipe from the newspaper for turtle cookies. It was a winner. They were delicious, too. Jackson, of course, got his favorite Christmas cookie made for him called a, "Lena Cookie."  I always wonder if this random Lena lady from whom the recipe was taken even still makes these cookies. The big joke is that when Susie bakes she always ends up screaming, "OH SHIT!!!" There is no rhyme or reason for her cursing...well, ok, she burns things a lot. I think that is because she makes us use the oven on convection bake, but I digress. Whenever she bakes (and it is usually for church, oddly enough) I call the kitchen the "OH SHIT BAKERY." It is ok. I make myself laugh. :)

Finally, MacKenzie got a Christmas card from another neighborhood dog. Hilarious. We've never even done that. ;) I loved it.

Childless friends

Childless Friends Article

After you read the article come back for my commentary...

1. "So when are you guys going to get started?"
Is Susie out of town?

2. "You'll understand when you're a mom."
Umm...that would include HAVING CHILDREN.

3. "Just relax. You'll get pregnant in no time."
That stresses me out.

4. "It must be nice to have time to read a book/go to the movies/have a romantic dinner."
Yes, it must be. I wouldn't know I work all the darned time.

5. "I didn't invite you because there will be kids at the party."
Thank you. Honestly. I love you.

6. "Have you tried different sex positions/diets/doctors/wearing looser underwear?"
A little personal, no? If you must know, yes, I've tried all of those things for reasons other than procreating. 

7. "Is your husband okay with you not wanting kids?"
He likes being the only child. ;)

8. "Your dog is your baby."
Obviously.

9. "You'll change your mind about having kids in a few years."
I'll take that bet.

10. "Since you don't have kids, you can afford a new car/remodeling project/vacation."
Or a trip around the world in 2016. I'm so there. Thanks for the reminder.

That was fun. Honestly the article reminded me of how rude these questions really are. It is such a personal decision and one never knows if fertility, commitment or other issues are at fault. The thought of having another human depend on you could just be too much for some Petefishes people.

Damon Bailey & IU

We spent the morning in Bloomington wandering through campus and just enjoying the town before heading to Bedford to meet Damon Bailey and his friend Shannon Baxter for lunch. We met at a place called Wings 'n Rings which was humorous to us. Damon looked pretty much exactly the same as he did in his IU days 20+ years ago. He was a really genuine and friendly guy. We enjoyed listening to him and Shannon (his friend for YEARS) josh each other back and forth. After lunch we stalked tried to find Damon's house. We did. We think.

Damon's humble little, tiny house (we think) 

After lunch it was time to get back to Bloomington to watch the HOOSIERS take on Central Connecticut State. The Hoosiers won. Easily. We had Damon's seats so they were pretty awesome and right behind the basket.

ASSEMBLY HALL!

Jackson loves the HOOSIERS 

Warming up

My boyfriend Derek Elston

Maurice Creek

We do NOT know who our big head was...DO YOU?

John Mellencamp and Meg Ryan

A player got hurt and the bench emptied to help out...TEAR

They walked right by me while I waited to Jackson to finish waiting in line for the men's room (I know! A line for the men's room? FINALLY.) I was almost close enough to profess my love for Meg and my hatred for John and his stupid songs. Little Pink Houses sucks.

Action shot

IU has you hold up the big heads during the opponent's free throws 

Love it!

Zeller. SWISH.

DUNK! 

We grabbed dinner after the game and then headed back to the condo. We love staying at the condo (thanks again, Jill & Charlie!) because it means we get to spend more time in B-town. It is just a magical town. We grabbed breakfast this morning and spent some time shopping in the IU bookstore before heading home for a quiet afternoon with our little dog.

MacK was pretty happy to have us home!

She's always so happy to welcome us back. We love that little dog. :)

Gold SWAGGER

I took a half day of vacation time so that we would have plenty of time to get to the Pacers game with our friends Kortnee and Heinzen. Ok, so it was a 7 p.m. game and I just wanted a few hours off. Whatever. ;) Anyway, we met Kort and Heinzy downtown for dinner and were presented with these two lovely gifts. They all like to give me a hard time about my love for multiple teams be it college or pro ball. They also seemingly enjoy giving Jackson a hard time about being a house husband right now. Poor kid.

My personalized t-shirt... ;) 

Jackson's apron

We had pretty awesome seats that Jackson got a really good deal on for us. Jackson even snuck into a hospitality suite and borrowed some cookies. And don't get me started on how good the carmel apple covered with m&m's was...amazing.

The Pacers' new slogan is "Blue Collar, Gold SWAGGER" Silly. :) 

Our view 

The Pacers lost to the Denver Nuggets

The halftime show was a lady shooting a bow and arrow with her feet 

She was really talented. No one else was as impressed as me. ;)

My attempt at an artsy photo ;)

We hung out downtown for a bit after the game and caught up with one of Jackson's former co-workers who lives in an awesome condo there now before heading to Bloomington to stay in my Aunt Jill and Uncle Charlie's condo. We were excited to spend a little time out of town, but we didn't get into B-town until after midnight and we're old now. We were beat and didn't catch any Bloomington nightlife. Lame. ;)

This guy LOVES Christmas!

If you live in the Indianapolis area you MUST go to: 8440 Harrison Parkway Fishers, IN 46038 and see this guy's Christmas light display. It is AMAZING and FREE! I honestly want to send him a thank you note for this awesome display he does each year. You go park, turn off your headlights and tune the radio to 100.1 to hear his music and then you're like a kid again just amazed at the wonder of Christmas. I love it!!! 

His neighbors must hate him....

What fun is it to see Christmas lights without ice cream?!

"This is new..."

I do not want children of my own by any means (e.g. birth, adoption or inheritance), but I do enjoy children's antics and love Heidi and Andrew for being willing to share their children with us from time to time since our nieces and nephews reside all over the great state of Indiana. Jackson went over to their place early to finish prepping dinner and I got there LATE from work. I was greeted first thing with a big hug to my legs from Jax and my crazy day melted away. I said, "What's new Jax?! Where is your Christmas tree?" He ran into the kitchen to show me a small tree. I laughed. A lot. Then he remembered the big tree in the front room and took me to see it. The funniest part? He started looking at the ornaments and saying, "this one is new....this one is not new....this one is new...." so he was LITERALLY telling me what was new. HILARIOUS. I loved it. I was amazed the Jocelin is already 7 months old. She's so tiny and feels like a little baby doll. I decided that I loved the age that both kids currently are and want them to stay that way forever. ;)

Joss was a little less scared of Jackson this visit ;)

Isn't she like a little doll? I love it!

Jax has the BEST facial expressions and was really enjoying the amazing brownie that his mother made!

Joss is quite the rolling explorer anymore

A visual of Jax's leg hugging

We had a great dinner and just enjoyed catching up with our friends and the kiddos. Time goes by so quickly. I swear we were just at the hospital meeting Joss for the first time! Jackson has so much fun with Jax because mentally they're about the same age (HA! I'm kidding. Jax is much more mature.) so he always sleeps well after an evening of playing. We're already looking forward to seeing these fun people again soon!