WE MADE IT!

After a seven hour trip from 

DUBAI to MUNICH,

and a ten hour trip from

MUNICH to CHICAGO,

and a one hour trip from

CHICAGO to INDIANAPOLIS.....

WE MADE IT!!!

And I'm happy to report that 

SHALLIE

did amazing on all of those flights!

As long as she sat on my lap (in her carrier)

she was PERFECT!

When we arrived at the Indianapolis Airport,

she stood guard over our bags

while I sorted out our missing luggage!

(Not to worry -- both pieces were delivered the next day!)

She may have been all tuckered out, 

but she was a real trooper!

And what a great way to come home!

Thanks, Jill!!

It's hard to believe our

HOOSIER LIFE IN DUBAI

is over after spending four wonderful years there!

But it's great to be home!

Last night, Jason, Chloe, Chewy and Jonathan

came to dinner (we grilled out...woohoo) and

IT WAS AMAZING

to be together at long last!

However, SHALLIE and CHEWY 

need to learn to use their inside voices!

WE MADE IT!

WE MADE IT BACK TO THE GOOD 'OL US of A!

LAST WEEKEND IN THE STATES!

This was it.

This was my very last weekend in the States

for yet another year!

 

Started the day by guarding my niece's stuff

outside of Ball Hall.

You guessed it!  It was move in day at IUPUI!

 

Sandy, Eric and I were Rachael's

helpers for the day.

 

With armloads of stuff, we entered Ball Hall

and were greeted by this....

 



Eric approved his little sister's new pad!

 

It sure didn't take Rachael long to get organized!

And then she approved of it as well!

 



 

Once our job was complete, we stopped for a quick drink....

 

....where Rachael approved of her "souk scarf" from Dubai!

We met up with the Linds

(less Brianna--boo)

for a quick lunch and lively conversation!

(Oh how I'm going to miss these folks!)

 



 

I went straight from our lunch

to dinner

with Jon, Jas and Chloe.

It was our last dinner together for a while, booooo!

 

 

It was a memorable drive home

with this gorgeous sky

after a very memorable day!

 



 

And when I finally got home,

I found my roomie (Jonathan) outside enjoying

the evening and a great big fat cigar!

 



 

Rachael -- good luck at IUPUI.

Study hard and have a ton of fun!

 

Jon, Jas and Chloe -- can't wait to see you three in Dubai!

And Jonathan -- leave your Stogies at home!

Thanks, everyone, for a great

LAST WEEKEND IN THE STATES!



GIRLS LUNCH IN KTOWN!

So, yes, I'm back in Dubai,

but I still have some fun times in the States

that I want to remember!

 

Like, our "Girls Lunch In Kentland"

which, as always, proved to be oh so much fun!

Would you believe the Cake Boss came to Indy

and Jackie and Brianna and Nathan went downtown,

stood in line, and came home with

THREE CAKES!

Lucky for us, she brought one of them to Ktown!

 

Everyone gave it a "thumbs up"!!!!

 



Jimmy is the only "boy" that is allowed to show up

at our girls lunch!

 



We got him to take a picture!

But darn, some of the girls had already left!

 



This one's for you, Dieds!

Your Mom was amazing and looked soooooo good!

It was wonderful seeing her one last time before I

flew back to the desert.

 



Then Jackie and I headed over to Monica's

to get to see little Camden again!

My oh my, had he grown!

Such a cutie!

 



I needed to get in some quality great nephew time

to last me for another year.

Look at this kid smile!

 



And, lucky me, I got to see TWO great nephews!

What a bonus!

 



Three generations...love you all!!!

 



I just LOVE those "Girls Lunches in Ktown"!

 

FRIENDS!

The Big Bird landed 

and I was back home in Dubai

on Thursday afternoon!

I'm having a problem uploading pictures to Blogger,

(my homecoming pictures - go figure!),

so here are some photos from my time in Indy!

LOVED every minute back in the States!!

FRIENDS,

I will remember you,

Think of you,

I will remember you!!

 

 

And when another year is through,

I'll still be friends with you!!!

SEVEN WEEKS!

SEVEN WEEKS

have gone by way too quickly!

OMGosh, it was yesterday that I unpacked my bags

and settled in

for the summer back home!

 

Now it's time to repack what I unpacked,

(plus a few goodies that I picked up here and there),

board that big bad bird,

and fly back to the desert that is Dubai!

 

What will I miss?

 

I will miss...

 Jon and Jas and Chloe and every single one of my friends and family and Peep Time and Mother-In-Law time and soft water and garbage disposals and my Tuesday night yoga class and TJ Maxx and Marshalls and Walmart and Sams and gas grills and green grass and green trees and green bushes and walks along the Monon Trail and Sister Time and pulling into a garage and road trips and my rental car and just having a car and Girls Lunches in K-town and our Sleep Number bed and soft, soft, really soft sheets, and waking up to birds chirping and visiting old friends and neighbors, and Cousin Time and eating at Wolfies (I think I ate there 12 times in 7 weeks!) and the smell of freshly mowed grass and our automatic ice cube dispenser, and drinking water out of the faucet, and squeezing babies that I finally got to meet for the first time and seeing my great nieces and nephews and how big they've grown and doing laundry the normal way and just, just being back in the good 'ol US of A!!

 

 

But now I can't wait to get back to Dubai

and to

THESE TWO!*!

 

 

Good bye US of A!!*!!

 

Can't believe it's been SEVEN WEEKS!



HAPPY 93 YEARS YOUNG!!

This special lady just turned

93 YEARS OLD!*!

 

So I drove down to Bloomington

with Schroeder

to help celebrate his Mom's special day!

All the family was there!



 

 

 

My favorite photo from the evening was the one of

Schroeder and Mrs. Schroeder!!!!

(Jim, you MUST frame a copy for your Mom!)



 

Birthdays are always fun,

but 93rd birthdays are a blast to celebrate!!

 

HAPPY 93rd, MRS. SCHROEDER!*!