What Dad has been working on...

The all new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado (GMC Sierra too)

Just in case you didn't know...

IU men's soccer won their 8th National Championship on Sunday, increasing IU's total national championships  to 24 for all sports.  Hopefully "we" can get another in basketball this year too!!

HOO HOO HOO...... HOOSIERS!!!!!

Dad's new car

Check out Dad's new 2011 Chevrolet Caprice

 It's 6.0 liter 355 horsepower 384 lb-ft torque rear-wheel drive V8 beast

As you can tell, it's meant to be a police vehicle, probably used as a demonstration vehicle before being sold to Ed.

Technically, it's called a Caprice PPV (Police Patrol Vehicle).  The tag on the back didn't say that though, so Ed bought 2 "CAPTIVA" tags, and created the "PPV" tag himself.

The interior is very minimal and resilient.  Feel free to drink too much orange soda and puke in the back!

Dad recently bought the steel center console seen above.  There are lots of fun add ons available that Dad is very excited about.

Come visit and take a ride!

Christmas Gift Exchange 2012

According to the blog, this is what we did last year.

Ryan/Casey give to Edward/Meridth
Margie/Brandon give to Karl/Emily
Betsey/Richard give to Ryan/Casey
Edward/Meridth give to Margie/Brandon
Karl/Emily give to Betsey/Richard

So, I'm shifting everything up this year. So, here we go.

Ryan/Casey give to Karl/Emily

Margie/Brandon give to Ryan/Casey

Betsey/Richard give to Margie/Brandon

Edward/Meridth give to Betsey/Richard

Karl/Emily give to Edward/Meridth

How does that look? Let me know if there are any problems

Happy Halloween!

This year I went as a geisha.

Love you guys, wish I were there.

RUSTY

Yay for Labor Day!

 Emily and I went to Portsmouth, New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend for her sister Abby's wedding.  I didn't travel East much growing up, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and cram as much in as possible.

 

We stopped by New Canaan, CT on our way out to tour Phillip Johnson's glass house.  We drove through Boston and ate on Newbury Street.

During a free hour before the wedding I drove to Maine and saw a lighthouse... It's back there if you look closely!

 

We saw the Book of Mormon musical by South Park creators Matt Paker & Trey Stone.  We walked on the High Line and ate at this place where Leonardo DiCaprio ate once... OMG!!

 

We stayed at the Ace Hotel and got upgraded to a loft!!  It was really cool.  This was the view from our window.

We saw the Flatiron building (designed by Daniel Burnham, Co-author of the Chicago plan of 1909 and Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893), the Statue of Liberty, and the  9/11 Memorial.

Then I had to drive home and I was really tired... but we had a great time, which is easy to do when you're not at work!!  Happy Labor Day!!

Dad's NEW, new Favorite non-TV Show

Can you believe it?  Dad's got a brand new favorite television show, (but just not on TV).  His long history of favorite shows include Seinfeld, Cops, 48 Hours, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and the Big Bang Theory.  But he now has a new favorite--one he watches on the Internet.  I'll bet you didn't even know your old Dad was so tech-savvy!

Anyway, this new show combines two of Dad's favorite things--cars and Jerry Seinfeld.  Yep, you guessed it!  The name of his new favorite show is "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."    In every episode Jerry features a different car and a different comedian friend.  One episode had a vintage Carmen Ghia, another time he was driving a 1952 original German VW bug.  He's also featured Ricky Gervais, Alec Baldwin and Larry David.  Does it sound interesting?  Go have a watch.  Here's a link:

comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com

Butters Dancing!!!

I was cleaning out my work computer and found some pictures from a port in Sendai, Japan after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that slowed our production last year.



Think about all the lost freight!

They just look like lego bricks, not 40 X 8 X 8 shipping containers

Funny Way to End the School Year

At our last staff meeting yesterday, Tim (my soon-to-be former principle) showed us the following Jimmy Kimmel video.  If you can forgive the vulgarity or two, we were all laughing our heads off.

Here's the link:  http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2012/05/11/jimmy-kimmel-a-message-from-your-kids-teachers-video/

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Love,  Claudia

Happy Birthdays!

I have a pound of chocolate and am going to make some cakes! Wish all you March birthdays could come have some!

What is everyone's favorite cake? I love Red Velvet (but this changes, spice cake used to be my favorite... maybe it's a cream cheese frosting thing?)

There goes my hero...

Watch him as he goes... suing people.

What's your favorite movie soundtrack?

I'd say right now, mine is the Donnie Darko soundtrack. Below are some gems!!









Technically, I don't think some of these songs are on the soundtrack, but they're in the movie, so I count them.

I'll see your Bulls intro

And raise you a nerd handshake.  I liked this.  I hope you do, too.

Go Bulls!

Rental

I got my house rented out for next school year!

And I'm getting 20% more this year, so I'm pretty excited.

I posted it on Craigslist, had an email from someone within an hour, showed it 2 days later and they told me they wanted it later that night (after checking with their parents, of course).

I'd like to refinance with a 15 year mortgage, but I'm not sure how that would work since it is now a rental. I think rentals are subject to higher rates... I'll have to investigate.

For a Future Date

Karl and Emily, I wanted to make sure you knew of an awesome venue for your (someday) wedding.  McDonald's!  We were getting ice cream comes on Tuesday night and came across this awesome advertisement in McDonald's.  You can have this "unique venue" for your party.  "Everything will be taken care of by McDonald's"  

"All you need to do is to be there and enjoy the moment of your lifetime"  

SUPERBOWL MADNESS

There are a ton of celebrities in town for the superbowl. (you know like rob low and jimmy fallon, and madonna and stuff)

I have been dressing SUPER cool at work just in case anyone comes shopping and might want to be my new best friend or something.

This website is dedicated to my favorite celebrity who is in town (and had lunch in noblesville yesterday, thanks twitter diehards for breaking that news): RYAN GOSLING

I love that Indy is willing to screech like a little girl over celebrities and not be all nonchalant like those new yorkers and LA folk.

speaking of letting your emotions show, this clip made me laugh, and then wonder why on earth she brought it to share with Ellen?::
Kristen Bell and a Sloth...

My New Favorite Thing

George Michaeling

check it out.

Beardo

I would have loved to see some of these in the Gimbel Men's photos.^

and I know your babies need these:

Who is who?

Someone at Thanksgiving had the bright idea to buy the Gimbel men matching shirts.

Clearly, Dad was not a fan...

But I think Chloe was...

Ryan and Karl... or Karl and Ryan...

Not sure...

Indiana House passes right-to-work bill

Boo!!

Don't mind the name...

but this website is fun to flip through. Below are some of my favorites, which gets me thinking...

the Gimbels should buy a cabin / vacation home / lake home! I'm serious!

I want to use your money to make my life more enjoyable!

Propose your desired location in the comments...

Acura ILX

Say hello to the all new 2013 Acura ILX concept vehicle, scheduled for mass production at Honda Manufacturing of Indiana in April of this year!

I have begun ordering the safety stock inventory for the Japan supply parts, loading the new part numbers in our ordering system, and coordinating small lot specifications with our suppliers.

It is an exciting and busy time at HMIN. I just hope I don't mess something up...

Sweet Little Felix Turns One

Happy First Birthday, little Felix!

Grandma Claudia and Grandpa Ed have been thinking of you all day, and hope you had a really happy day, filled with cake or cupcakes, hugs and kisses and lots of happy times.

Did Uschi give you sweet kisses? Did you have fun playing with your toys? We can't wait to hear about your celebration (complete with pictures!). We wish we could have been there with you to share your favorite foods, sing gusty refrains, and have cake and ice cream. We love you SO much!

We will call you! All our love to you!

So....Karl turns 27 today.

It's just a low key January Day. No blizzards, no snowstorms. Here in Indiana we almost set heat records. The sun was warm and cheery.

But what really made today special was that Karl turned twenty-seven. To celebrate on the home front, Emily made all his favorite foods: hamburgers on the grill, homemade baked beans, homemade macaroni and cheese, and best of all--homemade apple pie.

Dad and I got to see their cute apartment on our trip home from Edward and Meridth's. They are furnishing it with their own touches little bit by little bit. They have an extra room that will act as an office/guest bedroom, so we will look forward to spending time with them.

In case you would like to have their new address, here it is:

Karl and Emily

630 Shale Drive, Apt B

Indianapolis, Indiana 46227

Karl, we wish you a very happy birthday! Little Felix will be the next to celebrate, two days from now on January 12. We will wish him a happy first birthday then!

We love you so!