It's Saturday morning and I am in the office while my husband and dog are in bed. It looks like the hot weather finally broke. We set the record for the most days over 90 in a season - 83. It actually felt cold outside when I let the dog out this morning. The current temp is 57 and the high today is going to be 80. The next couple of days are only going to be in the 60's. The problem now is we are having a drought and the ground is extremely dry. We may get some rain on Monday but it seems everytime they predict rain we never get much if any at all.
    We've been spending this week getting ready for our upcoming trip to India. We are going to an Indian wedding and visiting friends before taking a train tour on the Palace on Wheels (http://www.palacetours.com/). I finally got everything booked although I still have to set up transportation to/from our hotels and arrange for day tours in Mumbai (Bombay) and Delhi. When you work in computers you will meet lots of people from India. They have a very prolific computer education program and we need them over here (not enough Americans are going into the computer field so there is a shortage). I've had many long talks about India and their culture and now I will finally get to see it in person! 
    We went to two movies this week. The first was Get Low with Robert Duval. Based on a true story he played a recluse who decided to have his funeral service before he died. It was a very good movie. The other movie we saw was Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts. Parts of the movie were in Italy and India. We were foremost interested in the India part but we are also planning to go to Italy next year. My friend Nilesh (the one who is getting married) said the India traffic scenes are very realistic. Very scary! I wonder if that is why Indians are so good at praying.

Here we are getting mani-pedies.

    It's another Saturday and, believe it or not, I am home. I was only home four weekends over the summer due to all the trips I took. Last weekend I was up in Fort Wayne visiting my sister, Terre. My mother and sister Kathy were also there. We always have so much fun when we get together. I even managed to win a couple of Scrabble games.

 

Mike's Project Of The Week



This is the old mailbox



    My husband, Mike, mows the lawn so he was the one who noticed that the pole that holds up our mailbox was rotting at the base and wouldn't last much longer. The mailbox, which we had installed 18 years ago, was rusting. So the whole apparatus needed replacing.

    Thus began a tour of home improvement stores and internet searches to find the perfect mailbox and post for our home. We drove the near and far neighborhoods to see what looked good. Eventually he chose the Dover mailbox post and the Bellevue mailbox. Now he had to select the color. The post came in black or white. The mailbox came in a variety of finishes so more driving through the neighborhoods to see which color looks best. Finally, he was able to place the order.

    After waiting for everything to come in and for me to be home long enough to help out, the work started. First he installed a new pressure treated post next to the old one. He put bricks around the base for extra support and to keep the weed whacker away. Of course, the dog had to check it out to make sure it was right.

Then the new post, which is plastic, was slipped over the wood one. The newspaper box/mailbox platform was attached to both the plastic and wooden posts.

He had to get the big drill out to put the holes in the metal mailbox for the bolts that will attach it to the plastic mailbox platform.

The last step was to attach the mailbox to the post.

The new and old mailboxes
together for one time only



The next day we got this note in our mailbox.

Trip To Minnesota

    I'd only been home a little over a week when I headed off to Minnesota for a reunion with three of my high school friends. One of them, Ann, lives in Woodbury which is in the metro area of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The other, Nancy, drove from Green Bay, Wisconsin. The third, Sue, lives in Champaign, Illinois which is practically on the way from Louisville so I went there first and we drove up together.

Me, Sue, Nancy, Ann

    Ann welcomed us to her beautiful, rustic-modern home in a wooded, park-like setting armed with pitchers of margarita mix. Nancy brought a carton of wine bottles. Sue and I brought girlie stuff for our nails and facials. We were set for the weekend!

 

   On Saturday we went to the Minnesota State Fair. We looked through the horticulture and craft exhibits, ate food on a stick, drank beer on a stick, shopped in the International Bazaar, listened to a concert and rode a raft through a raging river (where we got thoroughly wet). Our favorite thing was the Miracle of Birth exhibit. In the morning we watched a pig who eventually gave birth to 17 piglets and saw three newborn lambs along with baby cows, ducks, chicks, and rabbits. Before we left for the day we watched a cow give birth. Here's pictures from the fair:

    On Sunday we went to the Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in America. The center of the mall is an amusement park filled with rides and games. After the mall we went to the Ikea store across the road.

   Sunday night we sent Nancy on her way back home (she is the only one of us who had to go to work on Monday), we did our nails and facials while polishing off the last of the margarita mix and watching a George Clooney movie. It was a fun weekend. Thanks to Ann for hosting it and to Nancy and Sue for coming.