Ice, Ice Baby

We have a problem with our ice maker.  It's not

a mechanical problem, it is a problem with its

mere existence...  according to Mia the Wonder

dog that is.  She hates the ice maker.  For years,

we bought bags of ice so we could disengage the 

ice maker so it wouldn't bother Mia.

That is until this summer and my discovery of

iced coffee.  You see, up until this summer I 

had never had coffee, the smell just didn't 

appeal to me ~ at all.  

In May Wonderful and I were at International

Quilt Market in Pittsburgh.  We had worked all 

day in our booth, taken the booth apart and 

packed the car and were heading West for a 

six hour drive home.  Wonderful said he needed

some coffee so he pulled into a fast food place and

decided to get an iced coffee since we were so hot

from packing the car.  He had them put some 

flavoring in the coffee and it smelled delicious!

I took a sip and I was hooked.

So a few times this summer I drove through the 

fast food place and got the iced coffee and loved

it.  But, my family had to be honest with me, I

had a problem.  Did I mention that I have been

caffeine free for over a decade (except for any

caffeine that is found in chocolate)?  Yeah, it seems

caffeine just is not good for me.  I start talking a

mile a minute, I start coming up with all these

fabulous plans and my family just looks at me

like, "who is she"?

So now I make my own decaf coffee and pour 

it over ice and add a flavored creamer and it's

really good.  

Except for the ice...

We have started using the ice maker again 

because we are going through a lot of ice.

And that is no bueno for my puppy dog. 

I try to get her outside when I'm getting 

ice out of the bin so she can't hear it.  Or 

I'll very quietly put in piece by piece into 

the glass but she knows...  can she smell 

it?  But the worst part is when the ice 

maker decides it needs to add more ice 

to the bin.  When the ice falls in, Mia 

freezes and then looks at us and

then skulks away, looking something 

like this.  She heads upstairs and hides behind 

the bed.  We call the noise "Ghostie" because 

that is what we imagine she must think, that

there is a little ghost inside the freezer, throwing

ice cubes around.  

Poor Puppy.

And don't even ask about windy days that may

make the curtains move or thunderstorms.

I Was Frantic...

Another shooting occurred yesterday on an

American campus, it also happened to be the

campus where one of our kids attends school.

I was happily posting yesterday's blog about

soap and travel when I brought up my facebook

page and read a post about a shooting at Purdue.

This was at 12:36pm, I immediately started

calling, texting, messaging on fabebook and I

couldn't reach Kate.  I called Rob, I called my

sister, I put on the local news.  Both of the 

anchors on Channel 12 had kids at Purdue too

and they had already checked in.  We are so 

connected in today's world ~ where was my Kate?

Kate's major is in the School of Science so she

certainly could have a class in the EE building.

Tornado sirens are blasting, texts are flying

all over the place.  And nothing...

Finally, at 12:55 pm Kate messaged me on 

facebook.  She said she was in Potter, the 

building next to EE and in the library on

lockdown with the doors locked.  It had been 

a long 19 minutes.

When I finally spoke to Kate after she was 

released she said she had a 12 o'clock class

in Potter, so she had walked right past the 

EE building next door.  When they got the 

text from Purdue about a shooting the professor

locked the door, they had a guest speaker and

the class went on.  They were released at 1:30pm

and as they left the building they saw LOTS of 

police and homeland security and helicopters

overhead.  They didn't know if the buses were

running so they called a sorority sister to pick

them up ~ they were scared and shaken.

Once home the sorority said they were not 

supposed to leave the house though Purdue

resumed classes.  Finally, Purdue cancelled

all classes for the remainder of the day and the

next day.  

Later, I asked Kate if she had heard the sirens

or shots.  She said they hadn't heard anything 

while inside.  I asked why she didn't call us right

away.  She said the text was Shooting reported 

on campus, EE building, avoid area, shelter in 

place.  They didn't know a person was shot, it 

could have been that shots were heard.  When

they came out of the building, they were shocked

at all that was happening around them.

By later in the day, they were allowed to out.

Kate and her sorority sisters attended the vigil

last night.  

As we breathe a sigh of relief and are so thankful

that our child is safe, we also know there is a family

that is experiencing the worst day of their lives

and our heart goes out to them.

Now a note to Purdue and all other

schools:  Part of your readiness training

needs to be that you instruct all teachers

to have the students contact their families

immediately when something like this 

happens.  It was all over the news and

we had no word from our child.  Almost 

every student has a phone these days and

if they don't, someone would loan them theirs.