Spent the evening with the Gardners – we get together every so often to play games and eat together. We had a ton of glass-bottled beverages between the two families… and Jason couldn’t help himself. We were slap-happy by the time he got to writing out sheet music for us, so we had a blast.

First, the official band photo (yes, that’s a crown on my head – Autumn insisted I wear it, even after she took off her princess duds):

Woodruff Place Baptist Church Jug Band

Then, watch the video on Facebook. (You’ll probably need to be my friend.)

If you keep up with my Flickr account, you’ll notice that I’ve started posting Ireland photos. Not too, too many, but enough to give you an idea what we’ve been doing and what it looks like over here. =)

I’m going to back post what we’ve been doing so you know what day we did what. I was writing in a journal-type book because I didn’t have constant computer access, but I think I can start posting. I’ll probably finish after I return to the US, though… Fair warning.

I talked to Leah!, originally uploaded by tara.aukerman.

I finally got to talk to Leah! I spend so much time thinking and saying, “I wish Leah were here” or “Leah would SO get a kick out of this” that I almost feel like I talk to her often. Almost. Tonight I really got to talk to her.

I love Skype.

Those of you who know Leah know that she gets less and less eloquent the later she stays up. By the time we “hung up” at 3am her time, she was really starting to sound silly. A few gems:

• “and they have shapely lower halves”
  – Telling us about how much she likes to watch rugby, a new sport to her. She was trying to explain that the guys are really strong on the bottom halves because anything above the waist is considered a foul. Ended up sounding more like she watched the sports for … all the wrong reasons.  =)
• “muscular women – it makes me happy”
  – Telling us how women play rugby, too, but that they have to be very strong.
• “here is the amazingness of my life today.” [long pause]  ”I forgot what I was going to say.”
  – Getting ready to tell us about something exciting that happened today.
• “I can always remember everything ever about all the rooms of my life I stay in.”
  – The response to my suggestion that she take pictures of the house she’s living in so that later she’ll be able to remember all the details.
• “roll out, do some makeups and go to the food”
  – Her plan for tomorrow morning. =)
• “probably some days in the night”
  – The next time we get to talk to her online.

She’s so much fun!

Now, my life will be complete if I get to talk to Melissa. (Hear that, sister? When can we talk?!)

We got both Jake and Lindy through the Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue. For a long time now, I’ve wanted to get more involved with this organization – after all, two of our family members came to us because other people volunteered their time and lives.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard about two dogs who were purchased at an auction. They were puppy mill dogs – dogs that came from a place where they were caged, mated, and bred to sell. One, Mac, an adult male, had been so neglected that he was covered in ticks. Thousands of ticks. The organization picked him and a puppy, Buck, up in Missouri. They medicated Mac, who was so miserable that he wasn’t active and wouldn’t eat.

RRR got foster homes set up in New England, but needed to get the dogs there. A bunch of folks started planning the transport, and asked for volunteers to take legs and keep the dogs overnight as needed. They coordinated a crazy caravan of folks.

David and I just drove a short piece of the trip – Indianapolis to Columbus – but it was a neat experience. For one, we got to meet some of the folks we’ve been talking to over the past couple of years. There’s another woman in Indianapolis whose home is a foster home for local rescue dogs – we met her and her husband (they kept the dogs overnight before we took them).

We also met Carol, a wonderful woman who lives in Ohio – she’s the one who arranged both of our adoptions. We left Mac and Buck with her. She was a delight to meet, and just the kind of person you’d think would open her home to hopeless dogs.

Being involved in this transport has made me realize that I enjoy doing things that matter. Getting involved, even in small ways, with things and groups that make a difference. I hope we get a chance to help out again – some day, I think I’d like to foster dogs – but Dave’s still getting used to our two. =)

A couple of (bad) pictures:

Our summer has been incredibly full.  We’re about to be back to life as usual (or a new kind of life as usual, one where David is working and I’m not…) – the school year starts August 31, and that’s only a few days away.

In our summer, we:

• Went to Myrtle Beach, SC (which I mentioned in the last post)

so very relaxing…

don’t they look SO happy?!

graduation party glasses. =)

• Went to the Aukerman family reunion

me and my D

a really great picture of Randy (rare to see him really smile on camera)

D playing like a little boy

• Saw three Indians games

the obligatory “us at the pro” photo

beautiful park!

the Aukerfamily in front of the Pro

• Went to Canada, first to visit friends Jim and Jessie in Kitchener, then to Bethany’s family’s cabin on Aylen Lake, then back to Jim and Jessie’s. No pictures from the lake – I left my camera at J&J’s! – but a couple of photos from the border and Toronto…

Dave’s first time over the border – he was giddy!

interesting city, Toronto. we walked for a while after an Indians/Jays game
we won, father-in-law! seems like it’s you, not me… =)

• Drove straight from Kitchener (in ONTARIO) to Shawn and Lauren’s rehearsal (in TERRE HAUTE)..
• To watch dear friend Shawn marry his Lauren  =)

here’s the hall and his folks

• watched cousin Greg marry his Val

didn’t get any pictures of the bride and groom!
got a pic of Randy and Carrie and their Garrett, though…

the ymca – a new party tradition, it seems =)

the brothers Aukerman

• Had my whole family visit (last time for a while)

melissa, hamming for the camera

daddy, clowning for the camera

Grandma Dee =) our visit with her and Brad was so sweet!

me and melissa =)

• Watched my littlest sister start her first semester of college
• Waved goodbye to my middlest sister as she left the country for another 2 years, just when we were starting to get used to her being back…

… and that brings us to this week.

I’m about to wave goodbye to my littlest sister – she’s headed for a semester in Ireland.  And I’m about to wave goodbye to the job I’ve had for almost a year – my contract at the hospital is up on August 31.

David’s about to start adjunct teaching again as he begins the pastoral candidating process.

Lots of changes have happened already, and lots more are about to come.  Stay tuned.  =)

My dog got beat up by a vampire dog.  After a being attacked by a “borderline” dog at the doggy daycare, he has puncture wounds on the top of his head and on his neck.  Look at this!

The daycare is a great place, and the owner is really good with dogs.  She ran Jake over to our vet and took care of him and bill.  She’s also not taking that other dog back.  This kind of thing happens rarely, she tells us as we pick up our dogs (and so say friends who also use this place), but it just figures that our poor super-sensitive Jake is the victim. 

The vet gave us antibiotics and pain meds for him.

Dave picked up the dogs last night (Lindy at the daycare and Jake at the vet) – apparently Lindy was really confused and concerned that Jake wasn’t around.  He said she couldn’t wait to get out to the car, and then when she didn’t find him there, she started crying/whining until she picked up his scent at the vet.

Jake is fine.  Dave says he looks sad, but he’s a hound – he always looks sad.  Dave also says he’s pretty lethargic – but the dog just spent 3 days and nights running around with tons of other dogs, as well as having a traumatic experience.  =)  I’m betting he’ll be fine soon – he’ll just look crazy, what with the shaving and all.

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happy birthday melissa!

(Sorry Mac folks, it’s a wmv.� Because I don’t have a Mac.� And because I had 10 minutes.)

Here’s Melissa, enjoying her birthday soda:

Here’s the cake, up close and personal:

… and here’s a bracelet they gave out.� What does it say, Shmel?

.. back to life, back to reality… isn’t that from a song from the early 90’s? Well, whenever it’s from, it’s stuck in my head.

We’re back from another action-packed weekend. Another weekend, another reunion, another bout of illness from these Aukerfolk. Dave’s ill and I’ve been experiencing stomach distress. Enough distress that while I DID participate in and lose the Schrader classic [mini-golf game] as is my tradition, I did NOT ride the carousel or join the cousins at the batting cages this year. Instead, I took pictures and then crashed on a picnic table bench.

Fun reunion photos are here.

Also, it’s VBS week at Woodruff Place Baptist. I may post a few funny pics, but I probably won’t blog too much this week. Maybe.