Long, busy weekend.

It's been a busy last few days since Thanksgiving. It was a great day where we ate our fill and then some, spent time with family, took a nap, and then had a snack.  It was a bit odd however - we did not get a to-go package from Mom as usual.  We just put it all in the fridge for later.  Next day turkey sandwiches are still pretty good wherever you eat them!

Friday was busy, I went to basketball practice in the AM.  It was good to be there again and see the boys and coaches.  I am a boys varsity assistant coach at Roncalli and have missed too much practice. I don't like missing school very much, I really don't like missing bball practice either. We were getting ready for our first game against Perry Meridian and it was good to try to get my mind off the house and help work to get our guys on track to beat the Falcons.  After practice I went to Mom and Dad's to get a turkey sandwich and have a piece of pecan pie (my Grandma's pie is unbelieveable).  I made a sandwich and a plate of sides and asked where the pie was.  Betsy told me that "Grandpa ate it for breakfast!" Thanks, Dad.  I can't get too mad though, he got up early and went to Long's Bakery and got me some apple fritters and yeast donuts for breakfast.  Long's makes the best donuts in the world.  If you think your local bakery is better, I will fight you.

After the leftover feast, Lori and I went to the house to see progress in the unloading ordeal.  We took the girls, too.  It may have not been the best idea as the workers were moving the basement out.  We did not want to go down and look at it - the smell of wet things was overpowering. Most of the things we had on shelves fell over from the explosion and what was stored on the floor floated in about 18" of what I called 'basement stew' for eight days. Nasty. Lori saw a box of Christmas ornaments that were soaked and that was hard for her (and me, too). We have tried to buy an ornament from everywhere we have traveled for the last 17 years or so and it looks like many of those are ruined.  That was tough to see.  We also saw some pictures and books from when our girls were small.  It was no fun to see them all wet and ruined.  We decided to leave and go to our friends' house down the street and visit.  They are wonderful and that lifted our spirits.  Thanks, Beth and Art.

Friday night was fun.  We took Mom and Dad to a local bar and pizza joint that was offering free pizza to residents of our neighborhood for the rest of the year.  We really like their pizza, so that was no real hardship to accept their offer.  Dad and I found that their beers were just as cold as last time we were there which was also no real hardship.  It was fun to be there as a family and also fun because there was no other customers there besides friends of the server and bartender.  It was a bit like the Christmas dinner scene in "A Christmas Story".  Molly wanted somone to sing "Fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra" for us.

Saturday was - suprise - a busy day again!  Basketball walkthrough in the AM, then I had to shop quickly for a pair of pants to wear to the game.  The only pair I had were about two inches short.  I bought them earlier without trying them on. Totally a guy move that failed.  Had to settle for pants I hate (they are old man pants - polyester blend with a 'comfort waistband') as they were the only pair in my size where we were shopping.  Being six and a half feet tall it is often difficult to find 36" length pants.  Hustled home to get ready for the game.  The game was a good one, our boys gave a good effort but fell one point short.  I had to improvise many things as my 'basketball bag' is now in storage and felt a little off the entire game.  I am one of those people that have many superstitions and I was all out of sorts because I didn't have the 'right' clipboard, pencil, stopwatch, markers and stat sheets.  I hope breaking my superstitions did not cost us a couple missed shots...

Sunday Lori and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.  Another thing to be thankful for.  Lori is the straw that stirrs my drink - to paraphrase Reggie Jackson.  We went to the Colts game and watched them beat the Bills.  Our tickets came from a nice lady who drove in our neighborhood and wanted to give her two season tickets to someone who lived on our street.  We ended up being those people.  Before the game we met two other couples that live on either side of us for lunch.  One couple got their tickets from Colts punter, Pat McAfee.  Their house was next door to the one that exploded and they had to be rescued from the rubble. Pat made a point to contact them and gave Gloria his cell phone number to call him for the tickets.  From the beginning Pat McAfee tweeted about our neighborhood and challenged all of his followers to help out.  He has a reputation for being a bit out of control, but he has his head on straight 99% of the time.  We had lots of fun!

Self portraits are awkward.  Where do we look?

Monday was supposed to be D (for demolition) day.  Our contractor called to tell us on Sunday that it would be Tuesday instead.  Our house got a reprieve!  I went to school today - what a mess there.  I have a pile of sub work to grade now and more to come.  The ONLY THING the contractor couldn't find in my house was my black bag with my school laptop, gradebook, plan book, 3" stack of half-graded work, and last years plan book inside.  Needless to say, my students are happy to hear that!  Me? Not so much.  I hope some lowlife did not run into my front door-less house and take the bag that was probably sitting in the entry hall.  Maybe (s)he will keep the laptop, grade, record, and return the work inside.  Right.

Found out tonight that the city wants to hold the demolition permits as they are enforcing a delay for asbestos. Really? A ten-year-old house?  Anyway, they are concerned that all the heavy equipment will have to be in the neighborhood at the same time and there is only one way in and one way out.  I guess they want to avoid traffic.  D-Day is now slated for Thursday or Friday.  I am not holding my breath.

My neighbors still living in the neighborhood are talking about gawkers circling my street, taking pictures and knocking on doors to offer 'free insurance fraud protection'.  I am waiting for folks to swoop in and steal all the copper pipes and wiring from my house.  The news media are taking advantage of the lowered police presence to move their vans and trucks in the neighborhood and stick cameras in the faces of my neighbors as they get home from work or go outside to get the mail.  They ask "How is life after the explosion?" or "Who do you think was the person who caused the explosion?" or other such senseless malarkey.  I know they are doing their job but, dang, leave these good people alone!  They did not ask for and do not want this attention.  Nobody gave a dern about Richmond Hill on November 9.  These are the same people today. The only difference is that somebody decided it would be a good idea to blow up a house.  Now my neighbors are 'important' and have to be bothered and borderline harassed by the media.  Leave 'em alone! 

I guess there are still people reading this and may have some questions for me.  You can email me: patcrosley at gmail dot com or leave a comment and I'll try to have a "mailbag" post soon.  I will try to answer interesting questions.  Heck, ask me something about history if you want.  Is there something you want more info about? I have never done this blog thing before so all suggestions are welcome.  Thanks for reading this, I hope I don't ramble on too much...