Kentucky Fun

In April the four "C"'s took a trip to Louisville for a weekend. Ok, all our names don't start with a C but they all sound the same. Karen, Kristine, Casey and Candace. The original idea was to go to Louisville for the Derby but after some research we decided that wasn't such a good idea. The tickets were expensive and if you purchased the affordable tickets you couldn't see the race. Therefore, after some discussion we decided to go the weekend before the derby so we could see some horse-racing but not be in the middle of craziness.

Our first stop in Louisville was the Churchill Downs museum. It was a central place for us to start our touristy fun unfortunately there was one slight problem. Louisville was holding their annual marathon that morning and most of the roads were closed around the racetrack. After a few minutes of aimless driving we stopped and I got out of the car to talk to a police officer directing traffic. I was sure he would know the best way for us to get to the museum. Nope! It turns out that he wasn't interested in giving us directions but there was a guy standing around that helped us out. The police office let us cross the barricaded road and the stranger led us through the mess and to the museum. Ok, sort of. We found the museum but parking was a bitch. We drove around for fifteen minutes looking for the right person to tell us where to park. We saw the parking lot but the entrance eluded us and it was annoying.

This is a statue of famous horse jockey Pat Day. The legend around the statue is that he always wanted to be five feet tall and he finally fulfilled that wish with this statue. It is just a little larger than life size.

 This horse was a ham. He knew people were taking photos and he posed for all the tourist. He seemed to love the attention.

 After the museum we headed over to the Brown Hotel for lunch. We all had Hot Browns and derby pie for lunch and this was the best meal we had all weekend. Super super awesome and not to be missed.

 After lunch we walked around the beautiful historic hotel and posed for several photos.

 I wanted to be queen for the day.

We were scheduled to go on a historic home tour after lunch but we ran out of time.I decided I still wanted to go on a tour and we found the historic home area and took a walk around a few blocks. The homes were old and beautiful and had tons of character and I wish I had taken some photos. Perhaps one day I will have the means to purchase a lovely old house.

After our walk we drove to our lodging. Karen found this fantastic B&B and we stayed in the large attic room. It included a big bedroom, a sitting room and a smaller bedroom. There was plenty of room for the four of us. This large four poster bed was so tall that I needed to use the footstool to climb to the top.

 This little table and chairs was also in the bedroom and there was sherry in the crystal decanter.

 The next morning I took a walk around the grounds and found the cute little gazebo room. I walked up, looked in the window and immediate backtracked to the driveway. When I looked in the window I saw a fluffy white wedding dress and a black tuxedo crumpled on the couch. Apparently, the room was very occupied and I was just looking in their windows. Oops.

 The old house had a gorgeous front porch. It had a nice view of the yard, trees and neighborhood. Honestly, once I sat in the chair I never wanted to leave it. It was so peaceful and relaxing. I could imagine spending hours sitting in the chair and reading books.

 After our cooked to order breakfast we headed out to try some Bourbon. We found a free Bourbon tour and tasting about an hour south of Louisville. As soon as we stepped out of the car at the Four Roses Distillery we could smell the yeast and my mouth began to water. All I could think about was yeast rolls with honey butter. Unfortunately, they didn't serve us rolls but we did get to taste four different Bourbons.

 The winner is....The Four Roses Small Batch.  Yummy!  I could imagine myself sipping it on a cold evening sitting by the fire.

It was a great weekend trip with great friends and I hope it will be repeated often.

The Friend Zone

A friend sent my writing group a notice of an online publication that was accepting flash fiction stories for publication. The email inspired me to write a story called "The Friend Zone" and I submitted the story to Fireside Magazine at the end of April. Today, I got the following rejection letter.

"Dear Candace,

Thank you for your submission of "The Friend Zone" to Fireside, but we've decided not to accept it for publication. Please forgive the form letter, but due to the high volume of submissions we can't respond personally on each story. We appreciate your interest in Fireside.

Sincerely,

X X"

Boo!  That wasn't how I wanted to start my Monday morning.  However, now that my submission was rejected my loyal blog readers get to read my story.

Enjoy!

The Friend Zone

By csrulebreaker

Yvette knew she was attracted to Joel the first time she saw him in the dark pub. He wore faded jeans, a Star Trek t-shirt and a red Live Long and Prosper ball cap. She loved men who sported well-loved and fitted ball caps. Something about seeing the hat on his head and how it framed his face made her feel alive and interested.

Yvette had been a member of the weekly trivia group for three years and this was the first time she encountered a man who was cute and shared her love of Star Trek. She was seated at the opposite end of the table from Joel and she didn’t have much opportunity to talk to him. However, she spent the rest of the night ignoring the trivia and daydreamed about Joel.

She called her three closest friends the next week before trivia to have them help her figure out the best way to connect with Joel.  Quickly, they decided the best option was for everyone to arrive early and to leave only one seat open right next to her.  While she was at work that week she found herself doodling his name on her notepad and daydreaming about their next encounter. The more she thought about him the more infatuated she became however, she didn’t want to enter the dreaded friend zone with him. That was always her big move and her biggest mistake.  To boost her confidence on Thursday she wore her Star Trek t-shirt, earrings and panties.

Her plan worked and she and her friends arrived well before Joel. When he arrived he took the only available seat, right next to her, and both games began. She was nervous and excited. As they started their conversation she could almost hear her heart melting and feel herself fall into infatuation. Yvette asked him about his favorite Dr. Who episode and the conversation flowed easily between them. He was shy but willing to share his personal information and she soaked up everything she could learn from him. However, she couldn’t tell if he was interested.  He seemed to treat her the same way he treated everyone else.  Was that an indication of disinterest or was he shy around women?

The third week Yvette saw Joel was pivotal. She had a plan. She had a horrible habit of falling into the dreaded friend zone with every man she met. She would talk to them, be friendly and attentive but nothing. Often he would date one of her friends and her fragile heart would be crushed. She knew whatever happened that she didn’t want to fall into the friend zone with Joel and she decided to ask him on a date. She wouldn’t normally be so bold and ask a man out but she didn’t want to repeat her past mistakes. That was her “goto” move. Make friends and hope it would turn into something better.  Up until this point that tactic allowed her to make many friends and no boyfriends. She decided it was time for a change.

The evening went well.  The group came in second place in that week’s trivia challenge and she kept up a friendly banter with Joel. At the end of the evening she lingered around the table and hoped to have a private word with him. Her heart pounded out of her chest and her hands were cold and clammy. She took a deep breath and blurted out, “Joel, would you like to meet for drinks tomorrow night?”

“Sure, who else will be there?”

What-the-hell! She looked directly at him and said, “Just us. Usually, only two people go on a date.”

“Um, uh.Um. Ok, good. That sounds good. See you tomorrow night.”

She thought carefully before she dressed for the date. She wanted to get the right mix of cute and nerdy while incorporating sexy. She wanted to be viewed as an available woman and not as a friend. She decided to wear her low rise, perfectly faded jeans with a tight black scoop neck top with a tiny Star Trek symbol on the right side. She added her best geek jewelry and even spent forty-five minutes preparing her makeup. After a few minutes of indecision, she decided to go for the black knee high boots and not the sneakers. She had to keep reminding herself that she wasn’t trying to make a new friend and she needed to make a serious attempt to be attractive.

She arrived ten minutes early and he was already there. She smiled to herself and walked over to Joel sitting at the long mahogany bar. He got up as she walked over and pointed to a two person booth in the corner. She was impressed that he decided to move to a more intimate space with her.

As soon as they sat down the conversation flowed smoothly. They had so many interests and hobbies in common. She often had intense and enjoyable conversations with people but it felt different with Joel. The words and opinions came out of her mouth so easily. There was never a lull in the conversation or an awkward moment and she felt her attraction mounting as the evening progressed.

The pub began to thin out and Yvette realized they had sat and talked for four and a half hours. That was an amazing amount of time to spend on a first date, but it was time for it to end. Yvette got up and Joel followed her outside to her car. She turned around to say goodnight and she was swooped into his arms. He gave her a passionate kiss that lasted forever. Yvette’s mind turned off during the kiss and she fell into the moment. When the passion subsided Joel gave her a bear hug and put her in the car.

The date was a success and Yvette was thrilled. She had successfully avoided the dreaded friend zone.

Naked Boobs and other not so obscene disappointments!

Dali Atomicus (1948) by Halsman

The above photo is a reproduction of a famous photograph that features Salavador Dali jumping in the air. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this print! I saw an article about it online and as soon as I saw it I knew I needed to buy the print. I discovered allposters.com and I took a deep breath and spent $100 for a framed version. I've had it in my house for the last seven years and I have never been bored by it. When I was upgraded to an office last November I knew it was the one item that I wanted to transition from my house to work.
The print has been hanging in my office for the last five month and it has generated a positive response.  People often stop by and ask me about it and the recognize Dali. On Wednesday it's peaceful existence ended and I was asked to take it down. Apparently, there are two sets of naked boobs in this print. Stop now and find both of them!

Did you find them? Apparently, someone at work saw the naked boobs got upset and complained to HR. They were offended by the boobs. Then my boss had to give me a talk. He walked into my office and stared at the print for at least five minutes before he spoke. While he was standing there I just kept working  and briefly wondered what he was doing but I knew he would eventually speak. When he found the boob problem he shut my door and told me I had to take it home while laughing heartily.

I was in trouble but not serious trouble and the boss found it funny but I still had to take it home. I was bummed that the one thing that said something about me in my office had to be removed.

Book Club

Sap. I'm full of sap this week thinking about my eight year anniversary with book club. E-I-G-H-T frickin years! It is absolutely astounding to me that it's stayed alive so long. There have been several moments when I thought it was going to die a slow painful death. However, we've been lucky enough to have several infusions of new members to keep the group alive.

I remember the first time I attended book club. I was extremely nervous about meeting new people. My hands were damp and I am sure I was shaking. I had never joined a group with strangers and I was worried about all the unknown factors. What if they didn't think I was smart enough to be in their club, what if they didn't like me, what if the members were crazy serial killers? My list of unwarranted fears was endless.

I joined the group because, up until that point, I hadn't been able to make any new friends in Indianapolis. I had lived in the city for four years and I wasn't finding friends. I kept trying to meet people at work but it wasn't working for me because most of my co-workers were very different than me. They had husbands and children and were not interested in books or musicals or museums or hiking or adventures. I couldn't find a kindred spirit.

During that time I had a good friend, Andie, but she lived in Florida and we never saw each other. We talked on the phone several times a week but it wasn't enough to fulfill my socialization needs. I was lonely and tired of staying at home by myself every night and weekend. I decided to take action on my loneliness and I found the "Progressive Book Club" group on meetup.com. Those were the days when meetup was free, new and relatively unknown. I took the giant leap from my comfort zone, joined the group and purchased the book. I was prepared and terrified for the first meeting.

I don't remember the book we discussed but I do remember meeting Moorewrites that warm spring night. She was very friendly and made it easy to bond. After the first meeting we stood outside and talked for a while and she asked me if I was interested in going to a club to dance. I said yes even thought I really dislike dancing as a way to initiate our friendship. In the end we never did go dancing but we started meeting for brunch every few weeks with Carrie. Carrie was the second person I remember meeting. I liked the insightful things she had to say about the books and her personal story fascinated me. I accomplished my goal and was in the beginning stages of making new and interesting friends.

Moorewrites, Carrie and I quickly became friends. I remember feeling so happy that I found people with whom I could have an interesting conversation. Plus, no one appeared to be a serial killer. It was the beginning of a new life for me in Indianapolis. I felt that I finally found a place where I belonged. Over time I became friends with many of the other members of the group and enjoyed a varied social life.

The book club started out as a social outlet for me but it has evolved over time. In the beginning I was in the group for the socialization. However, as time passed I discovered that I really wanted to discuss the books as much as I wanted to talk to my friends. That is the part that I love about book club today, talking about and analyzing books. I feel energized and inspired being around other people who love the same thing I do and enjoy discussing every aspect of a book.

We've read so many books in the last eight years I thought I would list some of the more memorable reads.

05/2005 The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin - This was the second book I read for bc and I still think about this book and it’s story. More importantly I remember after we read the book and were discussing it how happy I felt to be in a group of women who were intelligent and insightful. It was nice to be around people who could say more about the book than it was good or it was bad. This book also reignited my love of science fiction.

07/2008 The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory – Until I had read this story my only exposure to historical fiction was the clichéd formulaic historical romance. It was nice to find something that was well written, engaging and had the “never wanted to put it down” quality.

06/2009 Gehenna by Paul Thigpen – I talked about this book for weeks after I finished reading it and I asked all my friends what level of hell they thought they might settle in. What was more interesting was that many people would not disclose where they thought they would end up. I guess most people don’t want to confront their darker side.

02/2011 One Second After by William Forstchen – This book was very memorable. I had daydreams for weeks after I finished reading the story on what I would do if life changed so drastically in an instant. I believe my final conclusion was that I would die. I probably don’t have the fight instincts to live in such a chaotic society.

08/2012 Wool: Omnibus Edition Hugh Howey – I enjoyed the various Wool books but I really like Hugh Howey’s success as a self published author. I love that he worked in a book store and was able to self-publish his novels and make a living off of his work. He is an inspiration to me and many hopeful writers.

I believe that going to the first book club meeting was a pivotal moment in my life. It pointed me in a new direction and allowed me to exercise parts of my brain that were lying dormant as I sat at home alone watching bad TV every night.

I'm so grateful that I found the progressive book club and I've had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people as a result of the group. There are four of us that have been around since 2005 and several who have been members for a long time.

Live Long and Prosper Book Club!

AP Gal

Having an easy going persona at work is hard. I don’t want to let every little comment I hear bother me and I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.  However, something uncomfortable happened at work a week ago and I can’t seem to shake it. It made me aware of my ego and how important the way I’m perceived at work is to me.

Several executives and I were copied on an email from a co-worker about a problem with an employee. The colleague was trying to keep me out of the correspondence with the employee and she dealt with it herself. In doing so she referred to me as the "AP Gal" in the body of the email. EEK....stop the buss. “THE AP GAL” I DID NOT LIKE THAT! Why would she say that?

An “AP Gal” refers to the person at a company who processes the accounts payable. I have only ever seen women perform this job. I wasn’t offended by the gal part but more by the AP part. This person usually has an associate’s degree or lower and the average pay rate is about $12 an hour.

I was once an “AP Gal”. It was my first accounting job and it was a good way to get my start out of college. However, I’ve worked super hard to advance my career. I finished my bachelor’s degree and started my MBA while I was the “AP Gal”. After I finished my MBA I have steadily progressed my career to the point where I am at today. I am now the Staff Accountant for a health care company. We are small so I currently perform a variety of tasks including the lower level AP data entry to high level implantation projects.

My mind started to race at 100 miles per hour. Is that how she thinks about me? Does she really know what I do? Does she know I have an MBA? Does she know that an "AP gal" is perceived as a lower level job? I've had those kinds of jobs and I've worked hard to move forward and progress my career.  I know that I may be sensitive to that term. More importantly I know respect comes as a perception at work and not from the actual quality of my work. I don't want my co-workers or superiors to see me as a low level employee and I don't want to give them any reason to not respect me.

My intense reaction to those two little words surprised me. I hadn't realized that my ego was so large. I try to be low key. I’ve known several people who like to put all their credentials behind their name no matter how miniscule. I don’t want to be the kind of person who finds that necessary. I want people to recognize my skills and knowledge base without my having to advertise my education or credentials. I don’t want to be cocky or to be known as the egotist at work. That isn’t the image I want to present, however, I don't want to feel belittled or degraded.

I’m glad I recognize how my ego can get out of control. I’ve learned how much a few simple words can hurt my feelings and demolish my self-worth in my head. Now that I am conscious of my sensitivity I can try to squelch it before it gets out of control.

Unfortunately, I was still thinking with the emotional part of my mind couldn't let it go. Every time I saw the person who used those dirty words I cringed. On Thursday afternoon I saw the word offender walk by my office and I waved at her to come in and chat. We talked about a few work problems and we had some pleasantries and then I said it plainly. I told her that I didn't like how she referred to me in the email and I would prefer to not be referred to as the “AP Gal” in the future. My confrontation surprised her and she tried to explain her actions.

I accepted her explanation and I don't think she used those words to offend me. And to my surprise she seemed receptive to the uncomfortable conversation. I appreciated her not taking offensive at my directness.

I don’t want to be offended by the incident and I don’t like what it said about me. As far as I understand the co-worker did not have bad intentions. I try to evaluate a person’s intentions before I judge them. Generally speaking I don’t think people go out of their way to hurt others intentionally. I think I knew in my heart the she wasn’t trying to look down on me but I just couldn’t stop the negative emotions from surfacing.

I’m glad I acted like an adult in this situation and I confronted her. I think directness is easier to handle than the bitchy passive aggressive behavior of many of my co-workers. It has helped put the bad feelings behind me.

I feel like this entire situation was a good learning experience. I am glad I recognized the extent of my ego as well as how sensitive I am about my work status. I know I can work on being more confident in the future. Furthermore, I am pleased that directness worked for me in this situation. Human reactions can go positive or negative so quickly and I was happy/surprised with her positive reaction to my directness. Some people appreciate it and others don’t because they loathe confrontation. However, I think it is more palatable to me to be direct than it is for me to hold bad feelings inside. It is just important to know when it is appropriate and when it isn’t.

Cerulean

I had the most delicious dinner at the Cerulean on Thursday night. The Cerulean is a new restaurant in the Alexander Hotel and it is located in the Wholesale district of DT.  The restaurant was pretty inside but it was loud.  The bad acoustics made it difficult to have a conversation with my companions while we were dining.  Unfortunately, the consensus at the dinner table was that new restaurants are creating these loud environments on purpose to make the atmosphere seem busier and more desirable.  I enjoy dinners out with my friends for the food AND company.  Therefore, a restaurant has to has to deliver on both items.  Strike one!

Appetizers

I ordered the Devour Downtown menu but I saw a corn macaroon on the regular menu and I couldn't resist ordering one. It was made with pork belly, smoked cheddar and arugula. Every bite was divine. Plus the plate was so pretty. It arrived at the same time as my DD appetizer, Truffled Potato Soup, Leek, Romano Crisp. The soup was OK but it was overshadowed by all the other wonderful things I ate that night.


Main Course

Fried Chicken, French Toast, Blackberry Jam, Egg Blossom, Maple

The chicken was pan fried and it was moist and succulent.  Plus, there was a beautifully poached egg perched on top of the chicken. The french toast component of the dish was presented as a whip cream and it is the white dollop next to the egg in the photo. It had a fantastic flavor and it mixed well with the chicken and egg. The plate also included a large portion of blackberry jam. I liked the flavor but the ratio of jam to french toast whip was off. There was just to much jam on the plate. It had a very distinct flavor and if you put to much of it on your fork it overwhelmed your pallet.



Dessert

Roasted White Chocolate Cream, Chocolate Malt Shards, Popcorn Brittle, Cereal Milk Ice Cream

Divine. This plate was empty in the blink of an eye. The cereal milk ice cream was the star of the plate. It was made by soaking milk/cream in fruit loops. The milk/cream took on the intense flavor of the fruit loops and then the solid pieces were strained out. It was delightfully fruity and had a creamy texture. The chocolate malt shards and popcorn brittle were a nice combination with the ice cream.






Scrumptious!!!!   I would definitely visit this restaurant again in the future.  However, I hope that the are able to fix the noise problem before my next visit.

Flat Tire

Bam! That was the sound of my tire popping on I69. Crap. It was 10pm on a cold and snowy Thursday and my night was about to suck.

When I hit the hole there was a horrible booming sound and I knew I had a flat. I didn’t even get out and look because there was only one possible explanation for that sound, a flat tire. It was time to call Brother Lou. After the second consecutive call he picked up his phone and asked "What's up?”. I said, “emergency, Emergency, EMERGENCY. I have a flat tire on I69. Can you come and help me?” “Do you have roadside assistance?” Lou asked. Sigh! “No.”

Damn it. I’ll be honest. I may have lied to Lou. I didn’t really know whether or not I have roadside assistance. I know I don’t have AAA. But I don’t know if anything is included with my auto insurance or loan. I just didn’t think that 10pm on a cold Thursday night was the time and place to find out. I promise to make that a priority on Monday morning ;)

I began to get upset. The cars that zoomed by me at warp speed were scaring the crap out of me. Every few minutes I would look into the rear-view mirror and think a car was going to smash into me. Stupid overactive imagination. My hands had a death grip on the steering wheel while I waited. I was extremely relieved when Lou arrived about 30 terrifying minutes later.

Lou and I took a quick look at the tire and shook our heads at the baseball sized hole in it. We were screwed and we had to make a decision. Was it better to drive on the holey tire and on the rim or was it better to risk death and try to change the tire on the side of I69? On the plus side the holey tire was on the passenger side of the car. However, there was no light and there was a steep downward slope at the edge of the emergency lane. Plus the high speed traffic terrified me. I hated even being outside of the car. We decided a bum rim was better than death and Lou was going to drive my car the three miles to the next exit for me.

The long trip to the exit began with me intending to drive behind him and I got in the right lane of I69. However, he continued to drive on the side of the road. I was perplexed. Why didn’t he get onto the road in front of me? After what felt like ten minutes (two or three in reality) he stopped my car and I pulled over behind him. He got out of the car and yelled at me for being dumb and dangerous. Apparently, it wasn't a good idea for me to drive in the right lane at 20mph. Duh. I gave a nervous giggle and told him I would stay in the emergency lane with my hazards on. Yep, I had turned them off. WTF was I thinking? Apparently, I wasn’t using my brain during this emergency.

This should be a good time to tell you that I don’t always handle emergencies well. I appear to be calm and relaxed but that is misleading as my brain turns itself off and I make poor decisions.

While we were talking I saw my brother’s large nostril began to twitch. Something smelled bad. Apparently, part of my tire was burning up as he drove it down the road. Lou decided the best solution was to drive the rest of the way to the exit in the snow. He thought this was a good way to cool down the burning rubber.

It was time to drive again. Lou drove with the right tires in the snow and I drove on the emergency lane with my hazard lights blinking at 20mph. Every 100 or so feet there was a metal pole sticking from the ground and Lou would swerve to move out of the way. During every swerve the car would fishtail and I thought my problems would be larger than a flat tire and possible bent rim. However, he continued to drive in the snow swerving and fishtailing.

Dear reader, please be the judge. Which sibling gets the award for the most ridiculous decision? Damn it. It’s me isn’t it? Driving on I69 at 20 MPH still makes me the big winner.

Several long painful minutes later we hit the promised land and we were on the exit ramp. Lou quickly found a good place to park the car and he began the laborious activity of changing the tire in the cold and dark. That was the easiest part of the adventure but the cold was most difficult part of the chore. The tire was easily removed and the donut fit perfectly.

Sigh. One day and $150 later all was fixed. While we were changing the tire I removed the front floor mat for Lou to kneel on and somehow we forgot to put it back in the car. I was a bit upset about losing it because they were custom mats they were very pricy. On my way home Friday night I drove by the tire repair site and my mat was still on the ground. Score!

Lou and I were safe and my car was safe so it all ended well. Plus, I learned some valuable lessons. A. It isn’t a good idea to drive on the highway at 20mph. B. Driving the car in unstable snow near poles could be bad. C. Flat tires suck. D. Roadside assistance is important.

BTW…a big hug to Lou for helping me on Thursday night. I really appreciate his gallantry and knowledge. Everyone should have a selfless and caring little Bro like Lou.