The man to my left is Seth Keever.  And for this blog, he is my hero.

He has played a major role in a rather monumental moment in my life.  Seth is singulary responsible for showing me how to put his picture (and of course, any other) on my blog. 

I admit it!!  It’s true.  All of the technical changes that seem to occur almost daily is very intimidating to me.  Heck, until recently I was still using a VCR!!  Imagine how embarrassing it was going  to a movie rental store and asking saying “Excuse me, but uh, do you have this on VHS?”  Oh , the looks I would get made me want to crawl into a hole.

  The problem is I just get overwhelmed when trying to figure out how to use just about anything new - on the phone or computer.  I have to go through a certain amount of drama before I actually sit down to figure it out.  “Oh God!”  “Not another thing to learn.  What was wrong with the old way?”  (These days, old is about six months.)  Seth calls  me a “Digital Immigrant”.  That, he says is someone who did not grow up using computers and other high-tech gadgets for just about everything.  He,  on the other hand,  is a “Digital Native.”  He says that’s a person who wasn’t born in the old days - which he says is any date before 1979.  Geez!!!  For them, life begins and ends on computers and other high-tech devices.

  At any rate,  he patiently guided me through the process of posting his picture and, what do you know, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.  Isn’t that always the case.

  So here’s to you Seth, and other Digital Native’s, who can take the time to teach an a Digital Immigrant how to feel at home - in this ever chaning digital age.

What a strange day it has been.

The news we waited for all day finally was confirmed at 9pm: IU basketball coach Kelvin Sampson resigned in the wake of alleged NCAA recruiting violations, accepting a $750,000 settlement.  Athletic Director Rick Greenspan says the deal is in the best interest of Indiana basketball and the University.

There is undoubtedly debate taking place in bars, kitchens, dorm rooms, and offices all over Indiana and the US for that matter, on whether IU did the right thing, why Sampson made the choices he did, and what this will mean for Hoosier basketball.  I certainly wonder what this must be like for the players, in the middle of a successful season, keeping their heads high and their sense of “team” intact without their coach.

Todd and I welcome your thoughts.

My family and I had such a fun and action-packed weekend visiting the Windy City. It was a great way to end a very stressful week - surrounded by family. I don’t have tons of time to write tonight but thought the camera-phone shots I snapped might bring a smile to your face. As good as it was to get away, I was really ready to be back in Indy by the end of the weekend! (I’ll explain a little later)

Here’s my 5-year-old, Calvin, showing off the new suit jacket, tie, shirt, and shoes he BEGGED me to let him go shopping for. I took him to a second-hand clothing store to spend the $24 dollars he’d saved up in $2 bills from my mom. (It’s her little tradition to include 2 bucks in every Valentine, b-day card, etc.)

He used every dollar to create this look -and was SO PROUD that he woke up before the sun on Saturday asking if he could get dressed yet for the “party” at Grandma’s house. He wore this all weekend long. He couldn’t seem to stay away from mirrors.

At my parents’ house (in the ‘burbs of Chicago) we saw all the aunties and uncles, and very importantly, my kids’ two baby cousins. 1-yr-old Jackson was pukey and sick so I’ll do him a favor and save his photos for a time when he’s feeling better! But here’s the newest member of the family, Anna, looking as sweet as can be with her mom, my sister-in-law Kim.

Sunday we spent the day downtown Chicago where we linked up with Ian’s younger sister, Meredith, and her boyfriend, who were visiting from Ontario. Here’s “Auntie Mer” with my 2-year-old, Clara, in a fantastic Cuban-Mexican restaurant where we all had brunch.

We also got to see my husband Ian’s cousin, Joel, who lives downtown with his family. Their dads are brothers. I see the Shepherd resemblance - do you?

We talked ourselves into visiting the Shedd Aquarium downtown. Awesome facility. Enormous cost and crowd. As fascinating as the place is, I found myself yearning for the Children’s Museum in Indy, where it’s free to park, the crowds aren’t quite so thick and aggressive, and you don’t have to spend a small fortune to have a great time! The kids were honestly more fascinated with the guy in the scuba suit than the fish.

We also spent a ton of time staring at lizards in tanks.

And sticking our tongues in and out to try to look like them.

It was a weekend of memories, for sure. And as much as I love Chicago, it really felt good to be going home - to our new home, here in Indy, when the weekend was done. Ian’s band (http://www.thenadas.com/) plays a song about a place that “feels like home to me “. The song was written about Des Moines, Iowa, and the video was produced for a city fundraising event, but if you close your eyes, listen, and picture the place you call “home,” I think it stirs up a nostalgia and appreciation that rings true almost anywhere.

Home is to me is a feeling, not a place. I think after a series of major moves and up-and-down transitions, our little family has found it again.

Have a great day and don’t be shy about writing.

Trisha

My heart started racing as we were handed breaking news to read during the 5pm news Thursday night.

Mass shooting in a lecture hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

My youngest brother is a student there. (Brian is pictured here on the left, next to our other brother, Kevin)

**(He has now commented at the end of this blog with some very personal observations)

As horrifying as any tragic story is, it’s unbelievable how much more intense it becomes when someone close to you - very close - is potentially affected. I couldn’t wait until we got into a commercial break. I called my dad from the news desk - he answered without a hello.

“He’s okay.”

After the show I talked to my brother Brian - a newlywed journalism student with a darling little boy. “I was supposed to be there” he told me. “I had to miss class this afternoon because of my job with the radio station. I would have been sitting right in the front, next to the emergency door where they say the guy came in and started shooting.”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes at the thought of how close my brother had just come to grave danger, and how horrible this time must be for the families of those students who were hit.

An update as of 6pm Fri: Brian has discovered this was indeed his classroom. His class class was scheduled for 3:30. The shooting was right around 3pm.

“I haven’t stopped going since this happened and I don’t think it’s sunk in yet - but yeah, it’s really freaky” he told me.

It’s so strange how quickly tragedy turns an ordinary day upside down.

Brian had been wearing a tux and handing out roses as part of a Valentine’s day stunt for the classic-rock radio station where he works. (He’s a bit of a ham with understated charm - so they love to send him out into public to embarass himself for the benefit of listeners.) But his lighthearted assignment dissolved after this news came in - Brian switched into news reporter mode, calling classmates for more information, checking out info from scanners and other broadcast reports, and fielding the onslought of calls from concerned family members.

I’ll make sure to update if he hears anything more. I’m definitely sending a few prayers toward DeKalb tonight.

TS

      I said goodbye to a longtime friend today.  Ivy (named after the creeping vines that cover the walls at Wrigley field) had been with me for more than 11 years .   Within a couple of short months she went from a healthy, affectionate, slightly sassy cat with a gorgeous silky black coat, to an absolute shadow of herself.

The vet said her kidneys just gave out.

     Before Ian accompanied her to the vet today (bless him for volunteering to do it because I didn’t want her to be alone) we gave the kids a chance to say goodbye, and tried to explain what was happening.  I was worried it would hit them hard. Instead, I was the one choking back tears as they accepted the news in a stunningly matter-of-fact way. “Ivy’s died. She got really sick. But we still have Tucker.” (our other cat.)  

 It’s funny how in grieving for  a pet, I think you grieve for the chapter of your life they represented.  Ivy was a huge sign of independence for me. As a young professional, out on my own, I wanted company in my humble apartment, and realized I was grown-up enough to take care of my very own pet.  I considered myself a “dog person, ” but since they weren’t allowed where I lived, I thought maybe a visit to the Humane Society could convince me cats were okay.

     That tiny paw reached out to me from a cage at the Humane Society, and unbelievably to me, I became a “cat person in an instant.”  I didn’t choose Ivy - she chose me.

   When Ian came into the picture several years later, that little cat’s jealous streak needed some serious taming.  Luckily he’s magical with animals. Ian got her wrapped around his finger, and they came to an “understanding” as he likes to say. 

       We have fond memories of all the hissing, growling, paws-flying-hair-raising squabbles that erupted when we merged our pet families - but eventually the menagerie adapted, and sometimes even liked each other. 

     While Ivy wasn’t much into sharing her turf with other animals, she was a “people-cat,” even to those who didn’t consider themselves “cat people.”  Guests at our house would constantly find her curled right up on their lap or chest, her loud motor purring.  

Somewhere tonight, I’ll bet Ivy is ruling her own turf once again - curled up on a welcoming lap like the Queen Cat she was meant to be, purring.

Thanks for listening-

Trisha