Again with the police and EMTs!

Last night I went downtown to pick up some thai food Hal and I ordered for dinner. I picked it up and went to my car. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw a man lying on the ground. I figured that he probably just slipped on some ice and fell, and kept inching out of the parking lot.

I don't know why I stopped, but I decided to back up and check on him. I turned around and opened my window.

"Are you okay, sir?" I asked.

He looked up.

His face was COVERED in blood. I was like, holy crap.

He said, "Well, no."

I said, "Can I call the hospital for you."

He said, "Oh no, don't do that. I just need some help to the shelter over there." (We were very close to the homeless shelter, where this man lives. He was also a little disoriented, probably both from being drunk (he was) and from hitting his head so hard.

I told him I was going to call the police and I did. While I did that, a couple of others came up to see if we needed any help. A guy got him standing (although that was probably not the best idea. He was very unsteady on his feet and he was losing a lot of blood). The dispatcher said she'd be sending police shortly. She asked if he had been assaulted and if I could ask him what happened. It was around this time that I realized he was probably drunk, too, and I told her that he was pretty disoriented.

Luckily, a young woman who had medical training happened on the scene. Someone had paper towels in their car. I happened to have gloves in my car from my Robinson Scholar CPR kit! (Interestingly enough, the first aid kit I had in my car did not have gloves. Stupid first aid kit! And now I have to buy a new first aid kit because I put it on the top of my car during this and drove off. It flew off into the street. Sad.) She took my gloves and was applying direct pressure to his face. She made him sit on the bumper of a van that was next to him. She said he needed at least 6 stitches in his nose and he had lost at least a liter of blood. (This was kind of an ordeal -- he didn't want to sit and he wasn't steady on his feet.)

I flagged the police down when they arrived. They gave the guy two options -- he could either go to the hospital or jail (I'm assuming because of public intoxication). Wisely, the man chose the hospital. They were very nice to him, actually. They asked his name and determined from him that he hadn't been assaulted but just fell down. They said they hadn't dealt with him before.

One of the officers said, "And you're drunk. Did you know that when you drink, your blood thins and so you bleed easier?" The guy nodded. They asked him how much he had to drink that day. They said, "Now, we don't care, but we need to figure out how much you've had to drink so the doctors can help you." He (his name is John) said, "A couple." The police officer said, "Now don't lie to us, how much have you had to drink." John said, "A whole lot." They said ok.

The ambulance was on its way when the police thanked us and told us we could leave if we wanted (although the girl with the gloves stayed to help until the ambulance got there).

What a night. Seriously. Between this guy and the girl who locked the kid in the car in July -- I've been in a police/EMT situation twice in the last 6 months. Come on, Bloomington, shape up! :)

A day at the zoo

Hal and I used our day today to walk around the Indianapolis Zoo (among other things). Well, Hal walked...I waddled. :) One of the cool things at the zoo is feeding the giraffes! I fed a 10-month-old baby giraffe, and Hal got to feed Mama, while baby tried to lick his hand off.

Snow Day

Today, we woke up to this:



School was delayed until noon and then canceled. Although Hal works at the university, he is not "essential" and therefore, since he is not a maintenance person or a dorm cafeteria worker, he was able to stay home. We spent a lot of the day being lazy and we ate grilled cheese sandwiches and Mrs. Grass soup for lunch (yum!).

Not all of us were lazy, however. Poor Layla...





Layla did an excellent job in the "backyard," running around in snow that was up to her chest!

Actually...she also spent plenty of time being lazy. Here she is UNDER the covers on the bed:



(We need to trim her nails!)

After lounging around for most of the day, Hal decided he had had enough of indoor stuff. We knew we couldn't get the car out (people were spinning their wheels in the parking lot all day), but we live relatively close to some restaurants and stores. So he decided we should walk to dinner.

Here he is, in all his walking to dinner glory (looking like the Unabomber):



And walk we did.

We set off for Chili's, which is the closest restaurant (besides McDonald's and Pizza Hut) to our townhouse. We walked the 15 minutes, our glasses fogging up, my nose getting colder and colder. After a couple of minutes, I said, "Are you sure this place is open?" Hal, indeed, was not sure, and I told him that I was going to be very angry (I said pissed) if we walked all the way there and it was closed. So he called the place and they were indeed open.

We had a delightful dinner of chicken tacos and walked home. At times I took off my glasses becuase they were so foggy. Then I came to a large dark spot in the sidewalk (this particular stretch was pretty clear). I gingerly stuck my foot out and tested it.

"Is this a large gaping hole?" I asked.

Hal laughed. "That is a manhole cover."

I put my glasses back on.

Tomorrow we go back to the grind, but it's always nice to have a SNOW DAY!

The White Death is Upon Us

It's hereeeeeee.

The White Death.

SNOW.

You would think the world is ending. The Cincinnati Enquirer proclaims that the ice storm may be THE. WORST. EVER. Bloomington's paper has released some sort of statement from the police about traveling on certain roads (but we can't read it because their website is subscription only -- we can only see that the police have released some statement tantamount to our safety). The high school is off for TWO days in a row (unbelievable!) and apparently my county is closed tomorrow.

There is always a good snowfall every year. But it creates mass chaos from people who have, year after year, no idea how to deal with the snow. Luckily, Bloomington is small enough that Hal doesn't have to drive far for work. There are few hills in town and no expressways. So that's good.

Mrs. Kyle, the Latin teacher at my high school, must have overdone herself with her snow dance.

A Day in the Life (Saturday, December 6)

My sister and my cousin came down to IU for my sister's volleyball tournament. This was incredibly exciting.



Kayla and I get a little breakfast. Jennie had already gone to play her first game. (Kayla dyed my hair the night before!)

After breakfast, Kayla, Hal, and I got to watch a lot of this:



It's a little early for me still.


Jennie is gross. She and Kayla are roommates!


The three of us smile pretty for a picture.


After more of this, we require Jennie to come to lunch with us. We needed to get out of the gym!


Jennie and Kayla rejoice in finding IU's famous Sample Gates.


It took several tries to get this one.


Kayla tries to take a picture of Hal and I for our Christmas card. It is epic fail, everything in this picture is in focus BUT us.



This one could be cute -- but what's going on with my hair?!



Hal has fake smile.



Cute. And fuzzy.



Kayla is confused at the Noodle place.



Distrustful of the table number. (We're apparently 10 years old this weekend, by the way.)


Sisters!


Mac and Cheese


Then more, much more, of this.



For hours.



Until we finally get to go to dinner. First time for Jennie and Kayla to have Turkish food! They liked it.



And then a trip to the grocery store results in a Santa sighting.

After this, we all went to bed. :)

A weekend of tasty treats

This is the first weekend we have been in Bloomington since April.

I know how sad that is. We have been incredibly busy running back and forth between here and Cincinnati. I will not have a weekend in Bloomington again until, well, I'll get back from camp on July 19, so I'll be here for that Saturday and Sunday.

But this was a great weekend to be in town! Bloomington has the fabulous Farmer's Market every Saturday, and this Saturday the town also held the Taste of Bloomington.

At the Farmer's Market, Hal and I became the proud owners of 2 types of locally produced honey, and (drum roll) ELK PATTIES. Apparently a local farm raises Elk and they always offer some of their meat at the Market. We wound up with the patties because they were the second cheapest thing. Tomorrow night, we make Elk. I will take pictures to fully document the occasion.

After the Farmer's Market, we lazed around (read: napped) and then headed up for more food goodness. Bloomington's Taste of Bloomington is an event where local restaurants set up booths and sell certain offerings for a couple of dollars. The price of admission goes to a local charity.

While at the Taste, Hal and I met up with friends Laura and Ned. Hal and I had been munching around before we met Laura and Ned, but we pretended like we hadn't eaten anything yet so we could sample more food. :) We ended up trying a huge assortment of things, including, but not limited to, gyros, baklava, pad thai, italian ice, sugar free ice cream, and cheese pizza. What a fabulous event.

To round out Saturday night, Hal and I went to see Prince Caspian at the movie theater. What a packed day!

Library

When I was a kid, I loved going to the library.

I love to read. My parents say that even as a kid I would walk around with a book in front of my face, running into walls.

I remember the first time I could read the Howard Johnson sign that was always lit up by our expressway exit. I was little and I remember that moment being so exciting for me. Reading was so important for me and I constantly read.

Luckily, my parents never really regulated what I read. I read most everything I could get my hands on.

I threw away my reading log from the 8th grade not too long ago (It should be noted that I'm a huge pack rat and maybe one day I will post excepts from my most favorite love letters --- or maybe not). Anyway, I had kept this reading journal we had as an assignment. This reading journal still ranks as one of my favorite assignments of all time. We had to write a letter to someone in our class every week about what we were reading. They had to respond within a certain time period. We also had to write to the teacher every so often. I know it was more complicated than that, but that's the main gist. It was fun to see all the inside jokes we were able to slip into our short reading letters, and also it was always fun to look back on the reading log, a list stapled into our journal of the books we read and how long they were.

I worked through a Michael Creighton period in the 8th grade. The Client and Disclosure were
both on my reading list. I also worked through a series about dragons that I also adored. I read The Hot Zone, a story about Ebola in Africa. The book freaked me out so bad, I stopped writing to my Ugandan pen pal soon afterward (I'm sorry!). The girls in my class devoured books by "Anonymous," often diaries of teenagers who ended up dead through their misdeeds -- witchcraft, drugs, etc. I read a bunch of Caroline B. Cooney books, mostly because my 6th grade teacher wouldn't let us order them from the scholastic book catalog.

Remember those Book Clubs? Did you have them in your grade school? About once a month we were able to order books and sometimes posters and stuff from a small catalog. It was always so much fun to me. Do they still do that these days? I still have some of my books from this time period.

Anyway, I loved going to the library. I would pick up a ton of books, read them all, and take them back, dog willing. I say dog willing because my dog Halley had me pay for at least one book over the years after she ate the cover of the Sweet Valley High Jungle Prom book (Oh no, Elizabeth gets drunk b/c Jessica spiked her drink so Jessica would win prom queen! Elizabeth drives off with Jessica's boyfriend. And we all know what happens to those who get in a car with a soused Elizabeth). I spent many hours at the library.

The point of the post is this: I have rediscovered the library.

It literally takes me five minutes to drive there. I pick up all sorts of chick lit and I have had a fantastic, reading-filled summer. I've even revisited my youth a bit, enjoyed some Judy Blume. I am working up my courage to go down to the juvenile section and pick up a book that my fifth grade teacher (in the only good thing she ever did for our class) read to us -- From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I remember being so enchanted by this story but I have never read it myself.

It's amazing to have spent so many years away from the library only to come back and pick right back up where I left off. I apparently even lost my little card on my keychain the other day, and you know what? Someone RETURNED it to the library! Without checking out all sorts of inappropriate things or ruining my internet access because of looking up inappropriate things! Isn't that nice?

So I'm officially pro-library. I will now get off my soapbox and put on my "dork" hat. :)

No Sluts?

While driving through Bloomington yesterday, we saw a house with a "Rooms for Rent" sign in front of it. In a college town, this is not unusual.

What was unusual about this particular sign, however, was that underneath the words "Rooms for Rent" were the words "No Sluts."

I think that perhaps this particular requirement violates the Fair Housing Act, which I believe requires people to not discriminate when renting or selling property. Very odd.

Also, how does one prove she or he is or isn't a slut upon applying to this particular home? I'm afraid to know.

I really wish I took a picture.

Fridays

Fridays are always interesting days over here in B-town. I don't have classes on Fridays, so I try to reserve the day to read my homework for the upcoming week.

This never happens.

Today, I woke up early to go to school for Pop with the Prof. In the class I AI/TA, the professor has designed a brilliant scheme to get to know some of the students in the 166-member class. He and I have held various hour-long sessions called Pop with the Prof, in which groups of four to 12 students hang out with us and eat cookies and drink soft drinks (they call it pop here, is that weird?). It's a great idea and I enjoy being able to meet some of the students instead of just looking out at the mass of them and seeing a conglomoration.

After PwtP, Hal and I went to lunch with Hal's officemate, Raj. We went for Falaffel sandwiches because I have never had one. As Raj said, It's like a meatball without meat. Which caused me to quote Rent, "With meatless balls.' 'Ewww.' 'It tastes the same.' 'If you close your eyes!' 'Is that it here?' 'Wine and beer!'" (It's frightening that I can do that.) To answer your questions, the sandwich was very yummy, and the main component was like a meatless meatball.

Now, finally at home, I should be doing some work on the take-home research methods test I have due on Tuesday, or reading what is sure to be piles of information for law and theory. I haven't done either, although I did start looking up some answers to my test. It seems that once Friday rolls around, I really decide that I'm too lazy to do what I know I should be doing, no matter how much I enjoy reading the studies and the law textbook. In fact, right now I could take a nap.

I will not. I will press on with the homework because I know that great is my reward if I do --- a Sunday of peace instead of reading!

Easily Amused

Hal and I discovered this site when Jennie and Peter came to visit. Hal is ridiculously amused by it and plays it often to annoy me. http://thefifthdistrict.com/potter/

IU doesn't believe in the American holiday of Labor Day, so while the administration and support staff, like Hal, have the day off, the rest of us still have to go to class. It's very strange to think that everyone is going to be having fun on Monday, and I'm not even going to be home trying my best to avoid the fireworks. Hal, being the proud possessor of a three-day weekend, is heading to Lexington tomorrow to sing at Fr. Tom's 25th anniversary mass. I am staying here to read and do some laundry. Our new church is having a grad student cookout, too, so I will probably attend that and eat a hot dog.

Today we went to the 4th Street Festival. It is an arts and crafts festival on, you guessed it, 4th Street. There were some amazing things there, but not a whole lot we felt like affording. There were a lot of places that were selling cool art and clay objects as well as places that sold some beautiful jewelry. We also saw a desk Hal thought was awesome, but it was $2,500!!! We did buy a present for Joanna, who is getting married next weekend. While there, we ate at The Laughing Planet, which sells organic burritos. It is very yummy and relatively inexpensive.

farmers market

Bloomington has a fabulous farmer's market on Saturdays down by city hall. The first weekend we were here, Hal and I headed over there, not sure of what we would find. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to take pictures at the actual market.

We found lots of vegetables and some fruit, cheeses, honey, and maple syrup. I am terrified of syrup (except on waffles) and the man tried to give me a free sample in a little cup. I said no. Syrup is too sticky for me. There was also a man selling Elk meat and a huge line for sweet corn in husks.

However, I did think this bunch of basil was rather impressive. You can see how big it is. It only cost $1.50! That was a steal. We bought a bunch of vegetables and Hal made eggplant parmesan for dinner. It was incredibly yummy. Of course, the dinner only used about 4 leaves of Basil, so we have a huge chunk of it sitting in our refrigerator.

We will probably go back at some point in time, and I will try to remember to bring the camera with me that time!