Week in Review: This week we focused on celebrating Stormy as she prepares to leave for Pennsylvania in the very near future. Instead of a goodbye party, Stormy wanted to go on a farewell tour of our hometowns. So, on Friday evening, we drove over to LaPorte and met her brother Danny and his wife, Jane, and her niece, Judy and husband, Greg. We went by Stormy's old elementary school in Galena Township, which is now a banquet center. The school is in the country and there was a nice hill behind it that the kids used to sled down. (I was a little envious because my school was on the prairie) Apparently their school mascot was the Galena Midgets. (I know) We visited her parents' grave site and went by both of the homes she lived in, although one is completely gone, and so is the library she used to walk to. She checked out one book (Betsy, Tacy, and Tibb) so many times that the librarian gave it to her! We ate dinner at a renovated restaurant that used to be Duffy's Bar, Stormy's favorite place to trick or treat because they handed out regular-sized candy bars - Snickers, she thinks. We spent the night with Judy and Greg and the next morning we stopped by the outlet mall at Michigan City and purchased some Le Creuset cookware.







After that, we headed south, down Interstate 57 to Effingham, Illinois. Here I am standing in front of Funkhouser Grade School - "Little Schoolhouse with Three Baseball Diamonds on the Prairie." Only three classrooms too. This is a song that we wrote about our school when we were in the fifth grade. It's sung to the tune of "Way Down Upon the Swanee River"



"Way down the road to Old Funkhouser
School of our dreams.
There we work and study, playing never
At least that's the way it seems.
All the day is gay and happy
We love and mind each rule.
And if, to you we seem a wee bit sappy
The reason is the Funkhouser School."

We went by my old house and the house that Bob and I lived in right after we got married. We stopped by and visited briefly with Bob and Darlene and then we took Maw-Maw out to dinner at Tuscany. We spent the night with Maw-Maw and on Sunday afternoon, we met Lindsey at a spa in Carmel and got pedicures. Then we drove back to Kendallville.


Stormy's favorite Mother Ferguson saying:
"We came here for a treat and we got a treatment!"



My favorite Maw-Maw saying:
"Who do you think you are, Joey Chitwood?" (she said this when we drove too fast)


The Book Babes hosted a farewell dinner for Stormy on Wednesday night. I'm not going to say where we ate or what we ate, but I will say this: Never, ever, make the mistake of patting a large, loud, man (with workman's cleavage) on the arm when you go over to apologize sweetly and retrieve the wine stopper that went flying over to his table because you were spinning a bottle of Pinot Grigio in ice to get it cold because the establishment served you warm Pinot Grigio. Never do that.



From the Archives: Lindsey as the flower girl with Cody, the ring bearer, and Amy, who married my cousin Richard in 1986. Lindsey really kicked up her heels at the reception. My, how she danced!

"In the future, could you look like someone who enjoys his own gardening but could afford a gardener if he wanted to?"

Hyacinth to Richard

Recipe of the Week:

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

6 tablespoons melted butter

Combine crumbs and butter and press into bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

1 - 14 oz. package Kraft caramels

1 - 5 ounce can evaporated milk

1 cup chopped pecans

2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted

In a saucepan, melt caramels and milk over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour over crust. Top with pecans. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until well-blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in chocolate; pour over pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Garnish with shipped cream and addition finely chopped pecans, if desired.

"If you had a school for professional fireworks people, I don't think you could cover fuses in just one class. It's just too rich a subject."

Jack Handey