Mona's Blog

Taking a Break...

2009-01-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you haven't guessed, I decided to take a break from blogging. I haven't had as much interest in blogging recently, especially since most of my family and friends are on Facebook, now. We'll see in a few weeks if I have a renewed interest in it. If you'd like to stay in touch, check out Facebook and ask me to be my friend.

Love,
Mona

Christmas was fun

2008-12-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas with the Williams' family was a good time. James and I drove the two hours to his sister's house on Christmas day. We were immediately greeted by the large group of neices and nephews. His sister just had a baby and I spent the first several hours holding her. She is SO tiny. I'm not used to newborns and so I was quite taken by how her hands and feet are so teensy.

We then had a large meal of mashed potatoes, green-bean casserole, ham (I had chicken), and some other sides I can't remember because I was so enthralled with the mashed potatoes and green-bean casserole.

The rest of the time was spent opening gifts, going for a walk, and puzzling together the new trampoline the kids got as a gift. We finally left for home around 8:30 that night. I hope all of you had a good Christmas as well.

Holding down the fort...

2008-12-22T05:46:00.000-08:00

Starting Wednesday, the center where I work will be closed. Until then, I am one of the very few who are sticking it out this week. Everyone else is taking PTO. We usually have close to 20 in the center. Today, I am one of four that will be here. It's 8:45 and only two of us are here so far. It's gonna be a loooong, dead last two days. After Tuesday, however, I will be off until January 5th. Yay!

Busy Week

2008-12-17T05:51:00.001-08:00

Despite it being the final full week before the holiday break, it has been busy! I have had days full of meetings and consultations. Today I have a consultation, a meeting, a holiday party, an interview to do, then I'm off to the gym. Tomorrow has less on the calendar during the day, but I will be attending the Butler Christmas celebration that evening. Then Friday night I'll be celebrating a friend's birthday. Saturday I am going to Cincinnati. Sunday I will need to finish up my Xmas shopping.

Next week I work Monday and Tuesday....but get the rest of the time off until the 5th. I am the only one on my team going to work that week. I think only three people will be in the office! That should be interesting.

Bought a Dress for New Year's Eve

2008-12-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Saturday was quite girly indeed. Terralyn and I went on a shopping spree. We started at the Fashion Mall stopping off at every store that might possibly have fancy dresses (and, of course, stopped by the Godiva store for a Chocilixir Godvia shake....yum!). I think I tried on about 10 dresses while at that mall. We then went to the Castleton Mall up the street. First stop, JC Penney's. Second stop, Von Maur. It was 8:50....Von Maur closed at 9 and I had 5 dresses to try on. It was time to POWER through all the dresses. First dress....a possibility, but I wasn't excited. Second dress....hell no. Third dress....awesome! Fourth dress.....too revealing. Fifth dress....too short. Still wearing my 5th dress, I pass off dress number three to Terralyn along with my credit card. She takes the goods and runs to get in line.

The transaction was completed and I now have my fancy new dress. It's really pretty and I got it at 50% off!

Annual Physical

2008-12-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

I recently had my annual physical. I find my health stats to be fascinating. I received mostly good news.

I've lost 10 pounds (woohoo!!)
My blood pressure was 110/70 (I think.....the top number I'm certain of, but I don't exactly remember the bottom number at the moment).
My bad cholesterol (LDL) was 90 (My doctor prefers it be under 130....so I'm definitly good there).
My triglycerides were below 100.

The only thing that is border line is my good cholesterol (HDL). Mine is currently 51, which is considered to be an acceptable level, but if it drops a few points, it will be considered low. Last year my cholesterol was 109/54....I dropped in my bad cholesterol this year, but I also dropped in the good. So, I'm going to try to eat some more fish and reduce stress to see if it improves.

Thanksgiving Desserts

2008-11-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

James and I will be leaving for my mom's Wednesday afternoon to celebrate Thanksgiving. In addition to the three pies my mom is making (three different versions of pumpkin pie), my aunt is bringing pie, my uncle is bringing pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and I am bringing chocolate cake. Oh, yes....and there will be some turkey, too. :)

Raking leaves is a bitch.

2008-11-24T05:36:00.000-08:00

Since this past Sunday was the first nice day on the weekend in awhile, I decided that it was finally time for me to rake the leaves. Since our recent move, this has become a neccessity, as there are lots of lovely trees surrounding us. From noon to 5 yesterday, I raked leaves into piles.....about 20 large piles. I then proceeded to bag all the leaves. My neighbor helped out a bit, but she had to go because her mom was visting from out of town. My roommate was also out of town, so this was pretty much a solo task. When all was said and done, 22 39-gallon bags of leaves were tightly packed.

And now my back, my left knee, my shoulders and the inside of my thumbs hurt (I have two raw blisters on the inside of my thumbs from raking so much.....yes, I was wearing gloves). I left one last large pile for my roommate to take care of. I just didn't have it in me to do it.

Ann Arbor

2008-11-18T05:56:00.000-08:00

I went to Ann Arbor this past weekend to visit my friend, Melissa. It was a good time. Ann Arbor is a lively, liberal college town....it reminded me of Bloomington except that it's bigger (the town, not the campus....I think the University has less students and a bit smaller campus, actually). A few highlights from the trip:

Students were randomly singing Christmas carols downtown.
We went to a restaurant to eat burritos and drink some margaritas and after 15 minutes of being there, the entire restaurant was bombarded by an enormous group (50 or more) of very loud students. We left because we couldn't hear each other talking.
On Saturday, we bumped into a gay rights rally march. It was a pretty good sized march despite the gross weather.
It snowed the entire time I was there.
Melissa and I made cake.....it turned out ok.
We repotted her jade plant because it was looking very sad. She said it is perky, now! Yay!

I got back Sunday evening and took Monday off to run errands. It was a good long weekend.

Getting All Healthy!

2008-11-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

So, I decided that I should go to the doctor last week because I've had a few things bothering me. Nothing major, but noticeable. First up, my bum ankle. If you read my blog regularly, you know that I sprained my ankle this past summer (in July). I have sprained ankles in the past and have never needed to go in to see someone, but this sprain was different. It was more severe of a sprain and here I am in November and it's still bothering me.

So, I saw a physician today about it. He says my range of motion in that ankle is -3. Apparently that's not good because it should be at 15 or 16. I have no idea what that means except that he recommended physical therapy to get my tip-top so the injury doesn't impair me in the future. So, I have a physical therapy appointment next week and they will show me what I need to do to get my ankle feeling better.

Obama, Our Next President

2008-11-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is so amazing. I'm overcome with excitement and joy. It's still sinking in. I'm SO incredibly happy!!!

I VOTED!

2008-10-28T12:02:00.001-07:00

I went to the county clerk's office today and voted! I was worried about long lines, but the line went pretty quickly. I was in and out in about 30 minutes. It was nice to see how many people were out voting early. Apparently, Indiana has already surpassed the number of total early voters in 2004. Awesome!

Oh, and GO OBAMA!

Reno??

2008-10-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

The title of this post isn't because I'm not sure if I went to Reno, but because I'm not sure how to feel about the trip. Reno itself was fine.....sunny and exceedingly dry. It kind of reminded me of Denver, although I'm not sure Denver is quite as dry (but maybe). But the conference, casino where we stayed and length of the trip made my stay less than joyful.

I think I've decided that I don't like casinos. I suppose if you like gambling they are cool, but I don't. Which makes casinos loud, smokey and glitzy for no-good reason. Imagine going down to breakfast at 7AM and having bright lights, loud, repetitive noises and smoking gamblers surrounding you. Not really my scene.

And then there was the conference. It was fine....a few of the sessions I attended were good, but I am just not much of a conference-goer. I don't feel I get a lot of value out sitting and listening to people talk about stuff for 75 minutes (the length of most of the sessions). I am a kinesthetic learner...I learn by doing. I just don't think I jive with the learning style conferences demand. I left most sessions feeling quite disappointed.

So, after the 5 nights of being in Reno, I was super happy to get home last night. And my cats are happy to see me, too.

Wedding Fun

2008-10-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

James and I traveled to Evansville, IN to attend a wedding. Evansville is a 3.5 hour trip from Indianapolis, so we decided to bring our clothes instead of wearing them in the car (trying to avoid wrinkles). We got to the church about 30 minutes early thinking not too many people would be there....we were wrong, however. As we walked into the church in our jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops, every head turned to look at the slovenly dressed individuals. It was kind of funny. Notice in the picture that I am several inches taller than James. I was wearing really high heals. In reality, I am only about a 1/2 inch taller.

The wedding was short and simple and then we were off to the reception. It was a good time chatting with James' friends from Ball State and we got in a few dances (one slow dance and one electric slide...yeah, baby!). Oh, and the cake ROCKED! I love cake and this cake was particularly yummy.

We drove back the same night. James drove, so I slept a good portion of the way home. Tomorrow I leave for Reno to go to a conference. I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories once I return.

Internet Shopping

2008-10-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

So, I've recently become an Internet shopper and it feels kind of weird. I've always been a slow adopter when it comes to technology....not neccessarily in understanding it's uses and how it works, but in actually using it. I resisted the cell phone phenomenon for years.....I still don't have Internet at my house and I have rabbit ears on top of my TV, not cable (or digital or satelite or whatever else is out there these days). And for the longest time, I was uber wary about buying stuff online. I would do it, but only once or twice per year (flowers on mother's day and perhaps a purchase of a book on Amazon.com).

But recently I have discovered drugstore.com. Being somewhat girlie when it comes to toiletries and being cursed with sensitive skin, I was having to visit up to three different stores in order to find the products I prefered (since I prefer skin that doesn't itch or burn). This, however, is a thing of the past since I can find most of the products I use online. And with the monthly drugstore.com purchases has come the branching out of Internet shopping. I have also purchased hard-to-find supplements at VitaminShoppe.com. In fact, last week I received an order for my supplements and I'm expecting two more boxes in the mail, one from drugstore.com and one from Amazon.com. Three packages in a span of less then two weeks! Weird! I'm finding this kind of fun!

Autumn Bike Ride

2008-10-09T05:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend, James, Angie, Bryan and I will go to Brown County (Southern Indiana) to go bike riding on some trails. Brown County is full of trees and lovely hills, so it should be beautiful this time of year, And the weather is supposed to be excellent this weekend, so I'm excited for the trip. I'm sure I'll have some pictures to share afterwards.

Pumpkin Pie, Oh My!

2008-10-06T06:06:00.001-07:00

Saturday I made my first pumpkin pie ever! It was for James' birthday bash at Brian and Angie's. I am proud to report that it was a success! Not only did the crust turn out great despite me not using Crisco (I refuse to use anything with hydrogenated oils in it, so I used butter instead), but the filling turned out just as great as my mom's. Of course, it was her recipe, but there is a certain finesse to pie-making and sometimes I just don't got it.

In addition to having pie, James made two sheet cakes that he cut a big three and zero out of so he had a big 30 cake. It was awesome. I was thoroughly impressed with his creativity and patience in doing this. Good job, James!

James' 30th...

2008-10-03T05:30:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday to James! He turned 30 years old yesterday. We went to his sister's place last evening for a home-cooked meal and then headed to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert after that. It was a good time. Of course, the festivities don't end there. James has a lot of plans for the next few weekends. It's really more of a birth-month rather than a birthday for him.

We Saw Ray Last Night

2008-10-01T05:31:00.000-07:00

James and I went to the Ray LaMontagne concert last night at the Murat. He is SO amazing....very talented and his voice is incredibly unique; Smooth, yet slightly raspy, breathy, yet penetrating. He exudes such emotion with some of the songs he sings. It was the first time I had seen him in concert and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am most certainly buying his new album coming out this month.

Busy, busy, busy

2008-09-28T08:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the hiatus on my blogging. It seems that when James is in the same city as me, I'm much busier than usual. I just find that I don't have as much time and when I do have time, I just kind of zone out and don't feel like posting.

So, what's been going on.....

Well, last weekend, in addition to having a margaritful Saturday night, I also went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to check out the Jack Kerouac exhibit. James and I arrived at the museum just in time for one of their tours and so before going to the featred exhibit we did the tour. It was very interesting and I have a new appreciation for the museum.

This weekend, James and I went on the Broad Ripple Home tour. It was interesting to see all the historic homes, several of them in my neighborhood. It made me really want to buy a house and do some serious renovation and gardening. I also went to a 1960's party last night and met some new friends.

Next weekend is James' b-day weekend. He turns 30 on Oct 2nd and we are going to spend the weekend celebrating in various ways. I think he has requested bike riding, dinner and dancing to happen. I still haven't gotten him a gift.

October is going to be even busier than this month, I believe. the 18th we are going to a wedding in southern Indiana. Ther 21st to the 26th I am going to Reno for a conference and Halloween we are going out of town as well.

Mixed Emotions on Fall

2008-09-11T06:26:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not exactly sure how to feel about fall. It's kind of nice to get a break from the heat of summer, but I miss wearing shorts and flip-flops. I can leave the windows open at night, but I have to put on extra layers of clothes. The trees turn beautiful colors, but I tremendously miss the greenness of summer and the sounds of the cicadas. And while fall itself isn't so bad, it marks the changing of seasons to my least favorite season of all.....winter. If winter was only one month long, it wouldn't be so bad....I might even enoy it. Hot chocolate (lactose free, of course) and warm cozy fires would be nice for a month. But it's not one month. It's an eternity. I hate the dark mornings, I hate the dark evenings, I hate the crappy roads, and I hate not being able to exercise outside. So, while the change into fall evokes some excitement inside of me, it's a reminder that winter is looming ahead.

Interesting....

2008-09-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting that McCain's VP pick is from Wasilla, Alaska. As many of you know, Leila lives in Alaska. She doesn't live in Wasilla right now, but she did live there for a year. I'll have to ask Leila what she thinks.

Megan Visit

2008-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

My good friend Megan visited this weekend. We had a busy time. Saturday we ate at one of our favorite restaurants in Indy, Taste Cafe. It's SO yummy....their bread pudding is the best. Then, that evening James, Megan and I went for a bike ride on the various trails ending up eventually at another favorite restaurant, Bazbeau's Pizza. Since we had been up until about 3AM the night before (her flight didn't get in until 1:30AM), we decided to get to be a bit earlier. Then Sunday was spent being girly at the mall downtown. We shopped pretty much all day. I only bought 3 shirts (only $40 total from H&M), but we pretty much hit all of our favorite stores to at least check out the goods. Since her flight the next day left at 6:30AM (YUCK), we decided to get to bed early again.

Today will be spent bike riding with James and eating dinner with our friends, Bryan and Angie. I'm a bit too tired for much activity today, but hopefully I'll make it through.

Sent my Grandma Flowers

2008-08-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

My grandma hasn't been doing so well the last few weeks. Hopefully things will be fine, but in the meantime, I sent her some flowers to cheer her up. I'm not sure I've sent her flowers before, so it was long overdue. She sent me a note telling me how pretty they were. I'm glad I could make her smile and let her know I love her.

Burgers and Beer!

2008-08-20T06:09:00.001-07:00

As you all know, I've moved into my new place. I'm really excited about this move, as the house is adorable and the front and back yard is awesome. I feel like I live in the middle of a park with all the mature trees surrounding the house and the lovely view from my window. Well, I haven't seen my Butler friends as often as I like and they haven't seen my new house, so I decided to have them all over for a cookout....burgers and beer at Mona's! I don't actually have a grill, but the old tenants left an old charcoal grill that we are going to attempt to use. Gatherings with my Butler peeps is always a fun and interesting time, so I'm looking forward to it. Perhaps I'll have pictures of the event for you all to see.

Anthony Wayne 15 year Reunion for Class of '94

2008-08-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

So Amy (Kronberg) Fifer and I are organizing the 15 year reunion! Amy is probably going to do a lot of the organizing, but I'll be playing the role of technology director. So, I have created a Facebook page for the event. Check it out if interested!

http://www.new.facebook.com/groups/edit.php?members&gid=36349149176

Chocolate Cake, Blueberry Cake, Gingerbread Cake and Ice Cream Galore!

2008-08-05T05:36:00.001-07:00

My mom bakes. A lot. There was so much yummy food to be had while visiting in Ohio, it was great! James and I got there Friday night and chilled out. Then on Saturday, Melissa, Amy Kronberg (and her daughter, Emma) and my Grandma arrived. We had lots of food but saved room for lots of desserts. Then on Sunday, we drove past my old house on Ramm Road, past Anthony Wayne High School (go Generals!!), and parts of downtown Toledo. At one point, James and Melissa were looking through a lot of old family photos and all the bad hair I had throughout the years. It was a really fun time and I was glad to be able to share it with James (awwww).

Off to Ohio we Go!

2008-07-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

James and I leave for Ohio this Friday to visit my mom! We have a fun, food-filled agenda, including driving around parts of Toledo and past my old house and high school. We will also have a full house. My grandma will be there, Melissa will drive down from Ann Arbor and one of my best friends from high school, Amy Fifer (Kronberg) and her family will be there. It should be a good time. I think we might be making ice cream, too! Yummy!

Rib-fest.

2008-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Kristin's family (a friend of James) has an anual rib-fest. Apparently it's held at a lake-house Northeast of here and is a summer, family filled event. James is very excited about going and asked me to go to. I accepted. Yes....I, the girl who eats no pork, am going to a rib-fest this weekend. This should be interesting.

My power is out....again.

2008-07-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

There was a pretty nasty storm last night. I woke up this morning to see what time it was and my clock was dead. The power is out!! I called it in and they are aware of the problem but have no estimate as to when it will be fixed. I guess I won't be putting on makeup or making toast this morning. A bit hard to do with no power. That makes this the 3rd time this summer that the power has gone out. Seems a bit much to me. What makes it worse is that people a block south of us appear to have power and the neighbors across the street have power. Are we the only ones with a power outage??

My Packing To-do List

2008-07-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

So, it's that time to start moving stuff over to our new place. I'd like to get as much packed and moved over by myself before next weekend so we can concentrate on large items next weekend. So much to do before next weekend:

Buy more boxes and tape
Living Room: CD's and DVD's, stuff in random drawers
Kitchen: shelf, pantry, cabinets
Upstairs: Linen closet, attic
Bathroom: Drawers, shelf
Bedroom: Closet, chest of drawers, bed drawers, take apart bed
Call places w/my new address

Of course, there is more to do than this if you include all the cleaning that has to get done at our old place. Fun, fun!

One of those Summer Days

2008-07-16T05:37:00.000-07:00

Today is one of those summer days when you want to be outside, preferably near a source of water to play in. It's sunny, the trees are green and lush, the cicadas are getting louder, and it's going to be hot. Oh, how nice it would be to have a lazy day in a park instead of inside at my desk.

Kiss those Payments Goodbye!

2008-07-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

That's right!! As of yesterday afternoon, I no longer have car payments. I made the decision before I bought my car last year that I would be aggressive about paying it off. I followed through with that decision and am now car-payment free!!! Yay!

Oh, and after visiting the BMV this morning, I am also allowed to legally drive my payment-free car. That's always nice.

BMV, I dislike you today.

2008-07-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

So, I got a lovely notice in the mail this evening from the BMV letting me know that I'm eligible to go ahead and reinstate my license on July 16th. That in order to do this, I need to go ahead and pay them $150 and show them proof of insurance.

Uhmmmmmmmm........WHAT???!?!!

So, apparently when you get in a car accident (which I did back in February), you have to provide proof of insurance to the state of Indiana. WHCH I DID!! I called Geico immediately after getting the notice from the BMV back in March. They submitted proof of insurance and I even called to confirm the next day with Geico. I recalled Geico yesterday and they confirmed again that they had faxed the certificate of compliance back in March.

Despite all this, they apparently suspended my license because their records showed they hadn't received it. What's worse is that they suspended my license back in April, but never told me!!! So, I've been driving all this time, not realizing that there was an issue. Had I known, I would have fixed it right away. I am very annoyed right now. I will have to try and fix this today.

Things to Look Forward to...

2008-07-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back at work with no vacation planned at this point and a 5-day a week work-week set in for awhile. This makes me a bit sad after the fun week I had last week of visiting and not working (although the sprained ankle sucked). But there are a few things to look forward to:

My make-up Birthday to be celebrated with James. Since he was in Albania for my actual birthday, we are doing a make-up bday this weekend. We plan on making and decorating a cake. Yay!
Visiting my mom. James and I plan on going to Ohio in a few weeks to visit my mom for a weekend. I will be inviting Melissa back down to eat dinner and, if she wants, spend the night.
Moving into our new rental house. My roommate and I are moving into our new place soon! Our lease there starts on the 15th and we have two weeks to slowly move our crap over. We are really excited about this move, as the new house is sooooo nice. I am going to have to start packing this weekend.
Megan's visit. My friend, Megan, is going to be flying in from Denver around Labor Day to visit. It's always a good time when hanging out with her.

So, this is my summer excitement so far. We'll see what else pops up.

Three States in 24 hours and a Sprained Ankle!

2008-07-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

I helped my friend, Melissa, move to Ann Arbor, Michigan on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We left around noon on Tuesday and I spent the night at her place. On Wednesday, I decided that instead of driving straight back to Indianapolis, that I would stop by my mom's house in Toledo area in Ohio (she really lives in Wauseon, now).

So, Melissa and I made the hour south trip to have dinner at my mom's house and then I was going to drive back to Indy. Well, within the first 30 minutes of the visit, I sprained my ankle. It sucked. We were showing Melissa around my mom's property, which includes a chicken coop, their garden, their fruit trees and an old 100 year old barn. While we were exploring the barn, we thought we heard a cat meowing up in one of the lofts of the barn. So, I decided that I would check it out. I had climbed the old ladder leading up to the loft several times before with no problems. However, this time it had apparently rotted out enough that down I came aftr stepping on the third rung. I landed in a pile of old, rusty, sharp farm machinery. Luckily, all that happened was a sprained ankle and some bruises. Although I did feel like I was going to pass out after it happened. Weird.

So, I ended up staying the night at my mom's and driving back in the morning. Ahhh, what adventures one can have in Northwest Ohio.

And he Arrives...

2008-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

James comes home tonight from Albania, as he has completed the Peace Corps. This should be interesting. :)

Saudi Student Discussion Forum

2008-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Apparently Saudi students on campus are having a difficult time transitioning/fitting in, but they are also being harrassed and misunderstood. I feel for them, as I know how it feels to not feel accepted and I also know how it feels to be harrassed for being Arab (I was called a hand full of names during the first Gulf War....not cool).

I've been working on a committee to help these students and to support the faculty. Recently there was an incident in which a Saudi student was harrased on campus, so a person on the committee called for an open discussion forum (in person, not digitally) with a panel of Saudi students. Knowing my background, she asked me to moderate the forum. I'm excited to help out! Getting cultures to understand one another and helping people feel more accepted is one of my areas of interest. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Softball League - The Librarians

2008-06-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

I'm playing on a softball team this summer! Our team name is "The Librarians," which I believe is supposed to indicate our lack of athleticism and coordination. Anyway, they have had practice a couple of times, but I went to my first practice this past Tuesday. As you all know, I am not the best softball player. I'm not horrible, but I'm not great. I was a little intimidated since I pretty much immediatly got pegged as a weak player. Which makes me a bit angry. It's my first practice!!! And I never got coached or played regularly as a kid. Just be patient and give me a chance to catch up a little. And instead of pegging me as a "weak player," why not be supportive and give me some coaching and tips? That would be much better for the team and my self esteem. So, anyway, I'm hoping that I get better as the season goes on.

Ahhhhh, the Power of Cleavage

2008-06-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

I had something happen last evening that I don't think has ever happened before. At least not in the environment of a grocery store.

So, I was in a rush to leave my house to celebrate Father's Day at Terralyn and James' parents house. I was distracted because I was talking on the phone with James while getting ready. I threw on some different clothes and realized that the shirt I was wearing was a bit low cut. Normally, I would wear a shirt underneath, but I didn't have time to think about it.

Well, it was a bit more low cut than I orginally thought, but there was nothing I could do about it since I had already left the house. After visiting with James' parents, I went to the grocery store and had a fairly hilarious exchange with one of the baggers....some guy probably in his low twenties. It went something like this:

Bagger: Hey there.

Mona: Hi.

Bagger: You need help with that?

Mona (confused): UHhhhhhh....sure. [Thinking he meant help with bagging my items]

Bagger starts taking stuff out of my cart and putting it on the counter, as if I couldn't do that by myself.

Bagger: You look nice tonight.

Mona (red in face): Thanks.

Bagger: I don't think I remember you before. You shop here much?

Mona: No, it's been awhile.

Bagger: Yeah, you look like a Marsh shopper.

Mona: No...actually I shop at Whole Foods.

Bagger (acting intrigued): For real??

I sign my credit thingee.

Bagger: Have a great evening.

Mona: Thanks.

I am about 99.9% sure that this exchange would not have occurred had I not been wearing a low-cut shirt.

Meaningful Quote

2008-06-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

A quote from a book I recently read that I was able to really relate to:

"When the gift I give to another is integral to my own nature, when it comes from a place of organic reality within me, it will renew itself - and me - even as I give it away. Only when I give something that does not grow within me do I deplete myself and harm the other as well, for only harm can come from a gift that is forced, inorganic, unreal."

- Parker Palmer, Let your Life Speak

Peregrine Falcons

2008-06-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

As Melissa and I walked back from a Leadership Workshop being held on the IUPUI campus, we chatted, taking our usual route back to the center where I work. I turned my head, as I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye by a tree in one of the grassy areas. I couldn't see it fully....is it a duck? A goose? I kept looking and realized that it was a huge hawk-like bird. Had I been standing next to it, it would have easily been as tall as my knee. Melissa and I stopped to watch it. Apparently it had caught lunch, as it was standing on something and tearing it apart with it's sharp beak. All the small birds in the area were going nuts, screaming at the hawk-like bird. After about 10 or 15 minutes, the bird finally flew away. Melissa and I, with our morbid curiosity, ran over to inspect the remains of whatever it was eating. It was a squirrel....or what was left of a squirrel (which wasn't much). We found out later that there are Peregrine Flacons nesting on top of one of the buildings downtown. Too cool!

SO IRRITATED!

2008-06-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have had the worst luck with my new bike!!! First, my wheel randomly decides to fall off when I'm riding it one day. Fortunately, I wasn't going very fast and heard weird noises which made me slow even more down and look at my bike to see what was going on. But then the wheel just came right off and I had to jump over the falling handle-bars in order to not totally crash. Nothing major happened to me and I was able to get the wheel back on, no problem. I think I must have not had the wheel on correctly in the first place.

So, then today (about 30 minutes ago, in fact), I'm riding my bike and I get to an intersection with a light. I'm able to go since the light is green for me and some guy turning right neglects to see me crossing. I swear he was looking right at me and kept going at a fast enough speed that I wasn't sure he was going to stop. So, I nail on my breaks in a panic and yet again have to jump over my handle bars in order to not completely crash. This time, my chain is off and I have a nice little lump on my shin. I got the chain back on, but it's not right. It keeps skipping gears and doing funky crap. So, I have to take it in to get fixed. Which makes me SOOOO MAD since I just bought the damn thing only a month ago.

The good news is, since I have to take my new bike in, I'm taking my old bike in to get fixed as well. So, I will have my choice of bikes to ride. I may ride my old bike for a little while until I'm mentally ready to ride this new bike with evil luck.

I'm in Love with Denver

2008-06-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

My trip was very awesome! I arrived in Denver at around 12:45. Megan picked me up and we immediately drove to Estes to meet up with my friends, Emily and Jeff (and their two boys, Mason and Riley). We stayed in Estes over the Memorial Day weekend in their cabins, taking a jaunt into Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday. It was such a cool park! Mountains everywhere with snow still hanging around at the higher elevations.

After the weekend, I stayed downtown one night at Megan's house. She got a new job and now works/lives within walking distance of the Denver Zoo. It was nice to see her new digs and to meet her new roommates. We also went out to eat that night and I got a chance to meet her boyfriend, Stu.

Then Jen (and Emma) came to pick me up. Off to Northglenn I went! The remainder of the trip was spent at Jen and Silas' house chilling out. Jen works part-time, so she was able to spend her days with me, which was very cool. Being at their house is always very relaxing and comfortable because they treat me like family. Most of the day was spent watching court tv (I never get to watch daytime television, so it was nice) and Thursday night we went to see Mama Mia (a play based on the music of ABBA). It was a really fun show and I think I need to buy the ABBA cd, now.

I got back Friday afternoon and spent the weekend relaxing before I had to come back to work. I was not looking forward to Monday, lemme tell ya. And while I'm happy to be sleeping in my own bed, Denver is still calling my name. One of these days....

More pictures on Flickr!

Denver, here I come!

2008-05-23T05:42:00.001-07:00

I leave for Denver tomorrow! I'm very excited. I've been needing a vacation for some time, now. And it's going to be great to see all my great Denver friends again. I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories once I return on Friday! Hope all of you have a great Memorial weekend!

Welcome to Mona's Blog!!

2008-05-12T10:05:00.001-07:00

(Note: To my regular blog-viewers - this is an introduction for the Center for Teaching and Learning Jump Start Program. I'm using my blog as a technology example.)

Hi there! I'm Mona and I've been using blogspot since June of 2005. I started it as a way to connect with my friends and family, all of whom are spread out all over the world. My sister is in Alaska, my brother on the East Coast, my mom in Ohio, my dad's side of the family in the Middle East and friends all over the world, including Norway, Albania, Jordan, Australia, Denver, Chicago, Ohio and, of course, Indianapolis. They all come to my blog to see how I'm doing and comment on my posts/pictures. We connect on a weekly basis and they don't seem so far away. It's fabulous!

More about me...I have a Master's degree in Education from the Instructional Systems Technology program at IU in Bloomington. I taught an undergraduate education course for two years and then worked at Butler University for almost 4 years as an Instructional Technology Specialist. That's a fancy title that means I helped faculty integrate technology into their curriculum. I'm now at IUPUI working as an Instructional Design Consultant. I've only been here for a few months, so I'm still learning quite a bit. My professional interests include education, language, culture, psychology, counseling and community service. My personal interests include biking, hiking, exploring, exercising/fitness, traveling, eating, and having adventures, whatever they might be. Oh, and I also have two adorable cats, Max and Anna.

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

While I couldn't spend time with my mother today, I did call her and sent her flowers and chocolates. Tulips and Godiva chocolates to be exact. She was appreciative.

Terralyn had a family gathering at her place for the special day. Her parents and her sister's family all spent time together and ate lots of food. I brought dessert (chocolate cheesecake and cookies) and ate a-plenty. It was a good time. I hope you all had a chance to tell your mom you love her.

Little Duckling

2008-05-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting walk this morning. I departed my house at 10am to take my long walk-route, which a portion of takes me along the canal path. As I was walking along the canal, I noticed a little duckling all by itself without a mommy or other ducklings in sight. That's very unusual since the mommy ducks are usually very protective of their babies. So, I sat and watched it for about 10 minutes to see what was up. No mommy appeared and worse than that, it seemed the duckling wasn't doing so well. It was awkward, weak and wobbled as it swam and walked. After another round of walking around a bit to see if I could find a mommy, I decided to take the duckling home with me and call the wildlife refuge place (a number I have saved in my phone). Walking 2 miles while carrying a baby duck in your hands is quite an interesting experience.

After getting the number for a duck lady in Indianapolis, I put the baby duck in a box and drove the 20 miles to Westfield area to give her the duck. Unfortunately, the poor little guy didn't make it. He died within 10 minutes of me being with the duck lady. I was very upset. Rest in peace little baby ducky.

Latino Connection

2008-04-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

So, in the 3.5 years that I worked at Butler, I befriended several Latino men that work in the grounds maintenance department. I met them at a Butler Clean Sweep event (a volunteer effort to clean up campus) and ever since then, I have been a favorite for them to wave and say hello to whenever they would see me on campus. I hadn't seen them since I started working at IUPUI, but saw them today as I was on a beautiful spring walk (blue skies, 60 degrees with every flower in bloom you can imagine...on trees, bushes, etc) through Butler campus. Things I like about my "Latino Connection" (my endearing name for them):

They are always excited to see me.
They smile and wave at me even if I'm almost a mile away.
As I approach, they happily yell out Spanish greetings to me, only half of which I'm familiar.
They call me 'Monita,' which I love!

Today was a special day. I got a traditional Hispanic greeting from one of them (a quick cheek to cheek touch with a kiss that doesn't actually kiss your cheek) and he gave me his card for his jewelry business. Apparently I'm to call him to get rings whenever I get married. We'll see about that one.

Back to Denver!

2008-04-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

I bought my ticket to go back to visit Denver! I'll be visiting from May 24th through the 30th. It looks like I'll be spending the weekend in Estes Park with Emily, Jeff (their kids) and Megan. Then, Monday evening, there will be a transfer of some sort....me going to Jen and Silas' house or going to Megan's place. The rest of the week is me splitting up time between everyone until my plane ride home on Friday. Then I will have the weekend to relax in Indiana before having to go back to work. I'll definitely take pictures to share. My Flickr photos have been a bit neglected lately.

I voted!

2008-04-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

I read on Barack Obama's website last week that early voting had started. I checked the location for my early-voting site and it was just a little over a mile away from where I work. So, Melissa and I decided to take a jaunt yesterday at lunch to go vote early. The site was at the County Clerks office, which is quite an interesting environment. You have all sorts coming and going in that building. In our room alone, you could vote, get a marriage license and set a court date! So, anyway.....I'm done voting!

What the hell is that????!!?!?

2008-04-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

I'm finally fast asleep after a 3:30 rousing to use the bathroom. It's now 5:38 and the bed is shaking from the cats play-fighting on the bed. I sleepily use my legs to usher the cats off the bed. The shaking continues, so I start kicking my legs semi-violently to get the cats to stop. The shaking continues. I sit up. "What the hell!?!?" I look around the bed to see if the cats are still play-fighting, bumping into the side of the bed. I turn on my lights. The cats are nowhere to be seen. I take my earplugs out (I sleep with earplugs due to the semi-busy street next to my house) and hear the cabinets of my dresser shaking along with the shaking of my bed. "Are we having an earthquake????!" The shaking subdues, but continues for another several seconds. "I think we're having an earthquake!!" I text my friend Melissa. She felt it, too. WOW! Never really experienced that before!

Note to those who experience an earthquake for the first time: Always open cabinets carefully. I had a tupperware avalanche occur after opening a kitchen cabinet. It was not cool.

Job Firsts

2008-04-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

This week has been a week of firsts for me with my new job. I had my first classroom consultation with a faculty-member who teaches an undergraduate course. He has taught the course in the regular 16 weeks of a fall or spring semester and was trying to figure out how to fit the course into the fast 7 week summer session. So, I had him send me his syllabus and looked through it, jotting down notes and ideas before we met. The consultation went great! I was able to give him a lot of ideas and we figured out a schedule that will work well with his current method of teaching.

I also have my first own classroom observation coming up. Faculty come to the center to ask us to observe their classes so we can let them know what they are doing well and areas in which they might make some changes. I've sat in on observations before, but I've not done one myself, yet. This week was the pre-observation meeting and next week I will be observing his class. So far so good.

A lot in June

2008-04-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

I have a lot going in June, it appears...

I hope to have my car paid off
I might go on vacation to an island
James is returning (maybe)
I have my birthday

By the way....

2008-04-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

I think Barack Obama is pretty cool.

Pilates

2008-03-29T06:19:00.000-07:00

This morning (in about an hour) I'll be trying out pilates for the first time! I'm a little scared, as I'm unsure how I'll feel afterwards. Hopefully it won't be too strenuous. Since I've essentially been doing the same workout for...ohhhhh....the last 8 years, I've decided that it's time to shake things up. So, for the last several weeks I've been trying different things. Tomorrow I'm going to try cardio-kickboxing, Monday is a step class, Wednesday is a class called "Core and More," which I've heard from co-workers is quite greuling. Perhaps I'll finally start losing this stubborn weight that I've gained.

I want to go here...

2008-03-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Breathtaking! The caption under the picture:

"Tiptoe through thousands of tulips at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington state, one of the unforgettable events featured in the U.S. and Canada edition of "1,000 Places to See Before You Die." While the festival (celebrating its 25th year) officially runs throughout April, Mother Nature determines the bloom dates for the main attraction, so you'll have to keep an eye on the skies as you plan your pilgrimage."

Good ol' Horton

2008-03-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

Terralyn and I saw the movie Horton Hears a Who! on Saturday night. My mom used to read me that book quite a bit when I was young, so I was excited to see the movie. While it didn't follow the book very closely, the basic gist of it was there. Overall, I would give it two thumbs up. I now have renewed interest in the book and think I'll buy it again. I think my mom gave the old book she used to read to me to my neices and nephew. Other favs of mine:

- Clifford the Big Red Dog
- The Monster at the End of this Book (Grover from the Muppets is in this one)
- The Boy with a Drum (a Little Golden Book)

And there are others, but I can't remember the titles.

Spring, Spring...

2008-03-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

Spring! Oh, how I love thee. It is truly amazing to me the difference in my spirits and energy when spring starts to make an appearance. I'm happier and much more relaxed. I can't wait for April, when trees will start to peak leaves and green shoots will begin to sprout from the ground. Yay!

Reunited

2008-03-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

I got my car back yesterday evening! Man, not having your own car can be a pain in the butt. First I had a rental car (which I had to pay for because apparently my unsurance doesn't cover rental). After finding out that my car was going to take twice as long as they originally told me due to a back-ordered part, I decided that I needed to return the rental car and accept Jon's offer (my co-worker and new friend) to use his car. So, I've been driving his car for the last 5 days which, while in a general good condition, requires a good revving in the mornings to get her going. I really enjoyed that, actually....it made me feel like a bad-ass.

Anyway, so my boss dropped me off at the Collision Repair place yesterday and my freshly fixed and freshly cleaned car was ready to go!! Yay!! Thanks to everyone who helped me out - Jon, Terri, the police-officer who took our report and, of course, Vijay...the guy I hit who was superbly nice to me.

Recovering Sunday

2008-03-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

It's 60 degrees outside with partly sunny skies. How awesome. And if I wasn't recovering from too much festivity last night, I would be on a bike ride right about now. Instead, I am in my pajamas getting ready to take a nap. My new friends, Melissa, Jon, Karen (and Melissa's friend visiting from out of town) went pub crawling last night downtown. It was a good time. But I am definitely sleep deprived and slow today.

My First Official Car Accident....

2008-02-26T05:23:00.001-08:00

My clean record is now blemished. My streak of no accidents and no tickets was finally broken yesterday after I and another driver tried to merge into the same lane at the same time yesterday morning on my way to work. It was my fault, really. Fortunately, it was fairly minor as far as accidents go and the driver was superbly nice about the situation. I pretty much immediately called my insurance company and had my car into a body shop about two hours later. I got a call last night from the adjuster....$2700 in damage to my car, although all I have to pay is the $500 deductible. I was thinking about it this morning....I think if I were still driving my Geo, that there wouldn't have been nearly as much damage. Ok, yes my Geo was crappy because it was old, but it was tough. It seems to me that they just don't make cars like they used to. Does that make me sound old?

Wild and CrAzY

2008-02-22T11:46:00.001-08:00

I have been wild and crazy this week. Instead of following my usual after-work routine of working out, going home to eat dinner and then simply watching my netflix movies all evening until I go to bed, I deviated TWICE. Wednesday night I went out for dinner and drinks with two of my co-workers, Jon and Melissa (you guys made it to my blog, yay!). Then, last night, I accepted an invitation to sub on a volleyball league for Lindsay's boyfriend's team (Lindsay is my roommate). The game didn't start until 8:30, which means I was up way past my normal bedtime of 10:00. Watch out, people....you never know what might happen next week!

HR Orientation...

2008-02-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

I had my HR orientation yesterday for my new job. It was ALL day and, while parts of it were important, it was quite painful to sit through. I learned about what to do if there is a chemical spill, how to lift heavy packages appropriately, what stretches to do every hour of sitting, what asbestos is and who to call if I need to access a room with asbestos in it, and other riveting topics that I probably won't ever encounter on the job. But the second half was important, as they went through all the benefits and helped us fill out the information for our benefits application. OK, so I don't want to sound as though I'm bragging, but I was shocked and amazed....health insurance here only costs me $1 per month. ONE DOLLAR! That is a first for me. For a family, it only costs $80. Wow!

Good Weekend

2008-02-16T08:05:00.000-08:00

It' a good weekend so far. Last night after a light exercise with Tyler at the gym, I came home and made myself some grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. I watched a chick flick that made me cry and then took a hot shower before going to bed. And I actually slept well!! I woke up at about 4am (I usually wake up at least once or twice while sleeping) and I don't think I had moved from my original position....amazing for me!

Today I got up early. It's cold, but the sun is shining and the birds are singing. It makes me think of Spring and I can't wait for it to arrive. I am sooooo over winter. Next winter I need to get one of those SAD lights and get a CD of birds twittering so that I don't get into that winter depressed mode. Ugh...can't stand it. Anyway, I went grocery shopping and bought a bunch of organic stuff (I was always partial to organic, but more studies are showing how much better they really are for you). As I was perusing the natural food section, I got a call from my good friend, Jen in Denver. She and her hubby just found out that she is pregnant again! It was good news to hear from good people who deserve it. And now I'm chilling out before going back to the gym. Later today I might see a movie with friends and tonight I'll be margin' it with Terralyn. Margaritas are so fun!

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

Love,
Mona

The things I do...

2008-02-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

Adjusting to change has always been somewhat of a challenge for me. Albeit a lot easier now than it was....say, two years ago. But any life-change always takes some effort on my part to ease the stress.

Things I do naturally that isn't always helpful:

Go into super-duper routine mode, ensuring everything is thought of and everything is completed way in advance. For example, packing my gym clothes the night before (not that big of a deal) to cooking on Sunday so that I have lunches and dinners ready for the entire week (a bit of a bigger deal).
Over-exercising.
Go into independent-mode and rely only on myself.

Things I need to do more of, but isn't always easy because I'm not used to doing it:

Let go and not try to control everything.
Not push myself to do too much or to work at the same level I might usually. Give myself a break.
Open myself up and reach out to others.
To always pay attention to and respect what I'm feeling at any given moment.

I'm happy to report that because I'm aware of all of the above (the bad and the good), that acclimating to my new job hasn't been as difficult as it could have been. It's still not easy, but it's been pretty OK.

Butler, Oh How I Miss Thee....

2008-02-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

Last night at the Superbowl gathering that I went to, one of my past co-workers, Brandon, complained that I was bad-mouthing Butler. Specifically, he referred to my post below about highlights of the new job. Personally, I think he's full of it, but to show my high regard for Butler and all my wonderful friends still there, I thought I would post about all the things I miss at Butler:

The beautiful campus. The trees and nature on Butler's campus are awesome.
The calm, quietness of the campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Being downtown now, there is a lot of traffic.
Knowing everyone and everyone knowing you. At IUPUI there are over 3000 faculty on the campus and about 30,000 students. One feels more anonymous.
Only having to drive 5 minutes to get to work. Even though it only takes me 20 minutes to get to work at IUPUI, it was just so nice to live and work in the same neighborhood.
And, OF COURSE, the biggest thing I miss at Butler are Tyler, Jeremy, Andy, Brandon, Angie, Julie, Jeff, Serdar, Mary and all my other wonderful friends in IR.

Love and miss you all -

Mona

Gospelfest! Glory Be!

2008-02-02T20:58:00.001-08:00

...and AMEN! Tonight Terrlayn and I went to the 20th anual Gospelfest held at Clowes Hall. Terralyn is quite the fan and told me that I HAD to get tickets for it. It ended up being a really cool evening. Do you all remember the scene in The Blues Brothers at the Black church? When James Brown is up singing and the choir goes nuts with the glory of Jesus? Well....I found out that the scene isn't really all that much of an exaggeration. I mean, no one started doing back-flips, but that was the only thing they didn't do. It was amazing to see the emotion and feel the energy all around you. It was pretty cool to be a part of it all. The self-shot here is me after the event. I don't get fancy too often, so I feel like I need to take a photo when I do. I even fixed my hair!

Email Address...

2008-01-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

My last count, I have 5 email addresses! yahoo, gmail, still have my butler account, my email address from when I was a student at IU (indiana.edu) and now, FINALLY, my new work email address was created today. It took them over a week to get me registered in the system because there was some confusion about my status since I was already in the system as a student. You'd think it would have taken less time since I was already in the system....not so. Anyway, if you have my yahoo email address, just email me there. I check that regularly and have had it for over 10 years, now. If you prefer to have my work email address, let me know or you can go to facebook and check my status (I listed it there). I don't want to put it here since this is a public blog. :)

Highlights of the New Job...

2008-01-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

So, it's my second week on the new job. It's going well so far. I thought I would list some of the positive things I've found out about the new job:

Everyone is really nice. The atmosphere is a perfect match for my style. Laid back, relaxed, friendly, open, joking, sometimes loud (in a good way) and welcoming.
They aren't super strict about when you arrive and when you leave. They allow room for flexibility, which I think is great.
They value working out at the gym. They all seem to have gym memberships and work out semi-regularly. Yay!
I get valuable feedback from my supervisor and clear-cut direction on what to do next. She lets me know her expectations, which is something I never fully got from past supervisors. It's refreshing!!!
OH, and I feel like I'm more integrated into the community of Indianapolis. IUPUI is such a part of the city. We are located right downtown and I feel like we're serving such a diverse representation of the community. It's a very different feeling from Butler and I think I'm going to like it.

That's all for now! Oh, a side-note and something that would probably never happen at Butler. I was standing inside the doorway of the parking garage leading outside. I was putting on my mittens before I walked outside and there was a lady that was approaching the door to walk inside the garage. She couldn't fully see me because I was kind of at the side of the door. She just say my shoulder or something and totally freaked out!! She apologized to me a second later saying that she was still half asleep and thought I was someone who was waiting to attack her. I laughed and told her I had no plans of attacking her. I guess that's one down-side of being closer to downtown.

Second Day...

2008-01-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it's my second day at my new job. Things are going well so far. Everyone seems very nice and welcoming. Yesterday that had an ice-cream social for me to introduce me to everyone. They had vanilla and chocolate ice cream with a lot of different toppings. Yummy!

The drive to work isn't that bad at all. I've been so spoiled only having to travel 5 minutes to get to work over the last 3+ years, so I was really concerned that driving toward downtown would be a nightmare for me. It's not bad at all. It only takes me not quite 20 minutes to and fro. And I'm traveling in prime traffic time. So, that is an ease off my mind.

Plus, the culture here is similar to IR at Butler. Everyone is laid back, dress quite casually, not so worried about getting in on time, etc. So, that's nice not to have to worry so much about those details. The biggest difference is that I no longer have an office. The days of a private office with a big picture window overlooking beautiful Holcomb Gardens is over. I have a desk in a cube. I'm put off by that a bit, but it's a good way for me to get to know everyone more quickly. Sometimes an office can keep one hidden.

Celebration and OPTs

2008-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

We celebrated my final going-away event last night. We were at OPT's bar in Broad Ripple. It was a grand time and I thank my friends very much for a lovely evening. A few highlights from the evening:

Kicking Jeremy and Andy's ass at pool. Three times. Tyler and I are awesome pool-mates.
The party-hat. We passed around a "party-hat" for all to wear. It was mine and I passed it on to Mary so she can continue the partying at Butler.
Making fun of Angie's laugh (and Elaine's). Angie has a distinctive laugh.
Me not having to pay for anything. Thanks, Jer and Angie. :)

Check out my Flickr photos to see the festivities!

Reception, Lunch and Drinking!

2008-01-17T13:28:00.001-08:00

Today was my going away reception at work. All my coworkers gathered around to say goodbye to me. It was great. They had cupcakes and other goodies and had invited others around campus to say goodbye.

Tomorrow we'll be going out to lunch to eat Mexican food. I might even order a margarita! We'll see. Then, after work on Friday, we're all going out to a bar in Broad Ripple to celebrate some more.....I'm sure it will be a fun-filled evening.

My first day at my new job is on Tuesday. I'm sure I'll have a lot of adventures to write about as I embark on this life-change. I'll be sure and keep you all posted.

Love,
Mona

My Work Buddies are SO Awesome!

2008-01-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

One week of my last two weeks at Butler has come and gone. I have one more week left. Everyone at Butler has been truly amazing. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to them as co-workers. Of course, they will always be my friends, but we won't be spending every day together.

Mary even created a Facebook group for me "We're gonna miss Mona." She searched through a buncha work photos and found all the ones with me in them to post in the group. I saw some I didn't even know I was in! It's so cool. I so very much appreciate my friends at Butler. We are an odd bunch at times, but we have fun....and we truly care about each other. Love you guys!

Photos are up

2008-01-07T05:57:00.000-08:00

Photos from New Years are up on my Flickr site. I also have a few more from Christmas, as well. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94106373@N00/

I'm Quitting My Job!

2008-01-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

I just put in my two weeks notice yesterday. Yep, that's right. I'm finally quitting my job and moving on to other challenges. I've been wanting to post about this for a long time, but since this is a fairly public blog, I had to kinda keep it on the DL. I've been interviewing for the past month or so. The position I was really hoping to get finally came through with an offer! It was so incredible!!! I'll be working for IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis) in their Teaching and Learning Center. I'll be an Instructional Development Specialist there helping faculty teach better! No more technology for me!!!

Here's the awesome part. They want me to get my PhD, which, as an employee of IUPUI, I can get for FREE. I will also be able to eventually teach classes. It's all so exciting! The potential for growth is amazing and I'm very hopeful that I'll really grow to like and become very good at this job. YAY!!!

Of course, the downside is that I'll be leaving all my extraordinarily wonderful friends at Butler. Not really leaving them since I'll make an effort to see them often, but there is still a feeling of loss. They have been my family for the last 3 years and I'm going to miss them a lot. Here's a shout-out to my buddies.....love you guys! Tyler, Jeremy, Angie, Andy, Jeff, Brandon, Julie and Serdar! Thanks for being there with me through the best and worst of it.

I'd post pictures, but...

2008-01-03T06:13:00.001-08:00

I'd post pictures from New Years except that I forgot my camera in Bryan's car. Oops. In fact, I don't really have a lot of pictures because I forgot the camera in the car when it was being parked before the New Years Ball. I was a little bit......uhmmmmm....forgetful at that point in the evening. But, anyway, I have some pre-party pics and some pictures I took in the car. Wheee! I'll post them at some point.

Preparing for New Years....

2007-12-30T09:06:00.001-08:00

To prepare for New Year's festivities, I'll be going shopping today for a lovely gown. I'll have to look top-notch, with frills and sparkles, as I will be going to a masquerade ball being held in Union Station in downtown Indianapolis. I'm so excited! Especially since I just finished reading "Scarlett," the sequel to "Gone with the Wind." The book describes in great detail all the balls that Scarlett attends, the beautiful dresses she wears, etc. So, I'm ready for some masquerading! More info on the ball: http://www.indynewyears.com/id60.html

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hope all of you have a peaceful, relaxing and enriching Christmas. I'll be hosting at my house. Lotsa baking and cooking. Then, maybe I'll get Terralyn to go Christmas charoling with me.

Love,
Mona

White Elephant Gift Exchanges Rock!

2007-12-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

I won the santa hat that I'm wearing in this picture. In this picture from left to right: Mary, Julie, Mona and Angie. The cool women of the Information Resources Department. Awwwww, yeaaaaah!

Get Ready to Party!

2007-12-19T07:55:00.001-08:00

Thursday is our departmental Holiday Party! We will have lunch and then a white-elephant gift exchange. After work we are all going to go to a bar and have our own style of holiday party fun! Yeah, baby! Fun co-workers with drinks = a very good time. Only a few more days and then I finally get much needed time off!

Christmas Shopping Tip...

2007-12-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

If you want to avoid crowds, go shopping before noon when the weather outside is snowy, icy, windy and gross. It works great! We went to Kohles, Target and DSW. All the stores were empty. Awesome!

Rejoice!

2007-12-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

So, last night Tyler and I decided spontaneously to attend Butler University's Chorale and Symphony Orchestra's Christmas celebration called "Rejoice!". It was FANTASTIC! Tyler and I sat in the very front row, so we were able to see the expressions on their faces, see what fingering they needed to use in order to get out the right notes, and see the sweat beads spilling down the sides of the conductor's face. It was amazing. And the highlight of the evening for me was watching one of the conductor's incredible amount of energy as he conducted. It was a bit comicle at first, as he appeared to be dancing and doing head jams. His entire body was feeling the music and projecting the course of the notes to be played to his pupils. His white, fluffy hair would bounce around as his head flailed to the music. It was amazing and I'm really glad I got to go.

First snow of the season!

2007-12-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

It snowed about a good 3 inches today. I looked out the window this morning and was surprised to see the snow, as I don't watch the weather channel anymore (my mom is probably gasping in shock right now), so I didn't see it coming. I thought it was maybe 1/2 an inch when I glanced outside, but then I had the pleasure of clearing the snow off of my car. It was definitely 3 inches. I wore innapropriate shoes for snow, so the heel of my socks got all wet. It was not cool. But it's pretty! At least until it gets all brown and mucky after a few days.

My first Christmas tree....

2007-11-30T07:31:00.001-08:00

Lindsay, my roommate, is a Christmas fanatic. She loves everything Christmas! So, I was excited to hear that she was bringing back the Christmas tree that her family has used in the past. I had never officially decorated a Christmas tree before and had never had one reside in my place of residence. So, it was a new experience for me and it was a lot of fun! The tree is so pretty, don't you think??! I also got my first Christmas stocking, too! Lindsay was ever so kind enough to bring one back for me after Thanksgiving. YAY!!!

Thanksgiving was fun!

2007-11-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Ohio about 4:30 on Wednesday. I was the first of my siblings to arrive, as my brother and his family were driving the 16 hours from Vermont and Leila was secretly in a Seattle airport waiting for her delayed flight to Chicago. I say "secretly" because we didn't tell anyone that she was coming. It was a surprise! Her flight was due in at 10:45 that night and I was certain my mom would go to bed well before that in order to allow me to sneak out of the house (sound familiar my high school friends??) in order to go get her without my mom noticing. But, alas, my mom stayed up until 11:00 and even with the delay in my sister's flight, I was getting antcy. So, finally, my sister-in-law, Wendy, told my mom that we had to run an errand. My mom thought it was quite strange that we would be leaving the house at 11:00 to run an errand, but she let it go. She was in bed by the time we arrived back at 12:30 and we snuck Leila up to my bedroom until morning. The picture here is of my mom seeing her in the morning...she's so cute getting all teary-eyed.

The rest of the trip was great! I goto to be with my both my brother and sister, which doesn't happen very often. We had a total of 17 people at the dinner. Check out my photos on Flickr to see the hooplah!

Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

Yay for Thanksgiving! I can't wait to go home and see all my family, especially since my brother and his family will be able to make it. I haven't seen them in a looooong time. It will be fabulous! What are all of you doing for the holiday??

Squeeling neighbor....

2007-11-13T13:05:00.001-08:00

So, as you all may or may not know, I live in a double (duplex, whatever you want to call it). My neighbors are two sisters living together. They are very nice and pleasant people to share a wall with, as they don't ever make any noise.

Well, the other day I was getting ready for bed and I heard a ruckus coming from next door (I love that word....ruckus. It reminds me of the line from "The Breakfast Club" that the principal uses after the dude falls through the ceiling of the library...."What was that ruckus??!"). I set my toothbrush down and went into the hall so I could get better audio. I heard yelling and I thought "Ooooo! A fight!!!" So, I went downstairs and leaned close to the shared wall. One of my neighbors was screaming fearfully, "NO! NO! NO! NO!," while stomping on the floor. Then all would be fairly quite for a few seconds and then it would start again..."NOOOOOOOO! NO! NO!" She kind of whimpered at one point, even.

I was a bit concerned for a minute, as I wondered if she was being accosted or something. But, then I heard her get on the phone..."Daddy! There's a mouse in the house and I don't know what to do!!!!"

I started laughing. I ran to go get a cat-carrier and went next door. She flung the door open and immediately turned around and jumped up on the couch. "So, I hear you have a mouse," I said. She pointed at the fireplace and let me know that it keeps trying to crawl out from under it. I tried catching it, but it didn't want to come out for me.....I assume it sensed that someone was in the room that didn't fear it. Then her boyfriend came over, so I let him handle the rest.

Cooking....Palestinian style

2007-11-12T06:08:00.001-08:00

So, I decided that I should start cooking more. Not only because it's healthier, but also because it saves money. With my new endeavor of trying to pay off my car in the next 6 months, I am trying to stay on a strict budget.

Since I am going to cook meals, I decided to finally make some family recipes that my mom learned from my dad's mom. I grew up on this Palestinian food and it's oooohhhhh soooo gooood. Last week I made yukhnee bandora. This week, I made macaroneh. Basically, they are both a bunch of tomatoes, with a bunch of meat.... and then spices that Americans wouldn't normally use with meat and tomatoes. I now have enough food to feed an entire army, as the portions my mom's recipes make are quite gigantic.

Me....Interviewing??

2007-11-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

So, we have an open position on our team. There are three candidates that we are planning on interviewing. Since I am the "interim director," I'll be leading the interview. ACK! Me, leading an interview?!? Yeeaaahh....not sure how this will go. It should be fine, I guess....I just don't really dig this part of the interim position. Actually, I don't dig most of the interim position. It sucks.

Anyway, instead of wearing converse sneakers, jeans and a sweater, I decided I should probably look like I'm professional. So, I'm wearing a dress shirt, dress pants and heels. Yep, that's right....I'm wearin' fancy clothes fer work! Amazing.

Pub Crawl Extravaganza

2007-10-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was the Indianapolis East Side Pub Crawl. For those of you not familiar with Indianapolis, the East side has......a lot of character. Enough character, in fact, that a lot of my friends unfamiliar with the East Side warned me not to go on a pub crawl in that area.

Alas, I ignored all the skeptics and joined my "East side" friends on the pub crawl and had a good ol' time. We piled into the bus at about 3:45 and were off to the first pub of the day. I started drinking Seven and Seven and stuck with that for the entirety of the night. We then visited 4 more pubs until the 9:00 cut-off time. It was a lot of fun, especially since most were dressed up in costume for Halloween. I got a lot of looks in my high heels (I was easily a few inches past 6 feet) and short skirt. Well, maybe my wings and sparkley make-up were getting the looks. At any rate, it was an interesting event!

Definitely an Adventure

2007-10-22T06:51:00.000-07:00

The Adventure Race on Saturday was definitely an interesting time. Lindsay and I spent Friday evening buying supplies that we needed for the race. We decided that spending the night in a yurt on Friday would not be cool, so we got up at 5:00AM on Saturday morning in order to get to St. Paul Indiana by the 7:00 check-in time. Whoa....that sucked.

The race itself was pretty cool. It consisted of:

Walking (or running if you're hard-core) through this small town to gather a bunch of clues.

Riding our bikes for 16 miles on country roads to gather more clues.

An archery event (I did pretty OK with the targets)

Canoing, which consisted of us having to get out into the water and carry our canoe over a rocky portion in the river

Mountain biking for a few miles gathering more clues

Jogging through the woods getting the final clues, which Lindsay and I opted out of

Oh yeah, and there was a climbing event, too.....but they had the climbing event after 16 miles of biking and Lindsay and I weren't feeling it. Had the climbing event been before the ride, I would have been all over it. Needless to say, Sunday I sat on my ass all day and did nothing except recuperate.

Weekend of travels...

2007-10-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Denver was a lot of fun! I got to see all my fabulous friends there and new additions to their family (Jen and Silas had a baby girl, Emma, who I had not met, yet). Jen and I went go-kart racing and batted at some softballs on Friday night. Saturday I went for a hike in the foothills with Megan and Saturday night, Megan, Emily and I went out for Mexican food and margaritas. I had to leave on a 7AM flight on Sunday, so it was a very short trip.

I'd put a picture in this post, but the blogger picture uploader isn't working. Check out my Flickr photos. I have pictures there.

Then, on Monday I went to go visit my good friends, Kurt and Marilyn. Kurt was doing his dissertation defense and so I drove to Bloomington to surprise him and see his defense. He did an awesome job and he can now be referred to as Dr. Richter! It was awesome to be there for him.

Denver, sweet Denver...

2007-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend I will be visiting all my good friends in wonderful Denver. I'm looking forward to it. I leave on Friday afternoon and will return Sunday morning. It's a short visit since I have virtually no vacation left. Two weeks vacation per year is just not enough to live a life.

Regina Spektor is Truly Awesome

2007-10-03T06:32:00.000-07:00

Terralyn and I went to a Regina Spektor concert last night. She is a newer favorite of mine and was amazing in concert. She has spectacular vocals and is extraordinarily creative with her lyrics and music....a true artist in my opinion. She was even more creative in concert, doing things with her voice that blew both Terralyn and I away.

I would have enjoyed the concert more except we had to wait around for two hours before she actually got on stage...standing. But we were only about 30 feet away from her during the concert, which made it worth the wait. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera....although I got a few shots on my phone, but I haven't learned yet how to get pictures off my phone and onto my computer. One shot is with me and a random audience-member. He was very gay (and very proud to tell me so) and very drunk and insisted he got a picture with me. He wanted a "Charlie's Angel's" pose. It was quite the time. :)

We Painted

2007-10-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

Since the walls in our house are less than flattering, Lindsay and I decided to paint. After much decision-making and looking over many paint-swatches, we decided to go with the color of "creamy chocolate." We also bought a quart of white paint to redo the trim. Sunday night, while watching the Colts kick some ass, we painted the walls in the TV room. We painted and painted and painted and painted some more. While finishing up the last wall, my hands actually hurt from holding the roller for so long. It took us about 3 hours and the entire gallon of paint. It definitely looks better but in certain light, the "creamy chocolate" actually looks a bit like light purple. We're hoping our landlords don't see it that way.

Adventure Race, here I come...

2007-10-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

So, my roommate, Lindsay, and I are going to do an adventure race on October 20th! I'm really excited. It's a race for women that combines mountain biking, canoeing, trail running/hiking, orienteering/navigation and surprise mystery events all in one! Basically, we get a map and have to complete the map with the above means of transportation, but we don't know how long the trails will be or in which order we'll have to do things until the day of the event. Pretty cool, eh? I think Lindsay and I will kick some major butt. We work well together....she'll be awesome at navigation and I'm used to doing all the activities. Yay for adventures!

Stress Sucks...

2007-09-25T08:41:00.001-07:00

Man, it doesn't take much to wear away at my stress levels. So, as you all know, I've been taking a Spanish class. While the class is fun, I've quickly found out that it is much more demanding than the class I took a year ago. The amount of work and the pace of the course is quite difficult to keep up with when working full-time.

So, I made a decision over the weekend when I couldn't possibly study because I was just too stressed out....I decided to transfer my status in the class from credit to non-credit. It's not like I need the class for credit anyway, so why stress myself out and study like a mad-woman to get an A in the class when I don't have to??

Aaaahhhhhh....I love learning without stress. Es fabuloso.

Wauseon, Ohio....

2007-09-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

My trip to Ohio was a lot of fun. Nice, relaxing and familiar. My grandma took us out to lunch to The Barn.....an old barn that was converted into a restaurant and serves home-country cookin'! We did the buffet. Then we came back, digested for awhile and started in on making ice cream. For dinner, we had cake and ice cream. It was yummy. Pictures up on my Flickr Photos if you'd like to check out my mom's digs. She has a garden, chickens, a big barn and is surrounded by corn and soybean fields. It's so pretty there.

Mama, I'm comin' home....

2007-09-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Ohio this weekend! It was my mom's birthday last week and so I am going to good 'ol Wauseon (where my mom lives now) to have a late birthday celebration. We'll be making ice cream and eating a lot (of course). My grandma is also going to be there.

Amy, if you're around, you're more than welcome to come over. You just had a baby and all, so maybe you're not in the mood to visit, though. We'd love to have you, tho.