Weekend trip to the Bluegrass State

Cathy surprised me for my birthday with a weekend trip to Louisville. It was great to get away. We stayed at the historic 1905 Seelbach Hilton Hotel, in the heart of downtown. We were a block off of the 4th Street Live! entertainment complex. The hotel has enjoyed guest the likes of Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald and nine U.S. presidents and the Oak Room was featured in the Paul Newman movie "The Hustler."

While in Louisville, we toured the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchhill Downs, shopped along quirky Bardstown Road and ate at the Bluegrass Brewing Company and Wick's Pizza Parlor. (The Wick needs in on that action. They're using his name!) We did not however get to enjoy any mint juleps. Maybe next time.....or maybe next weekend!

Congratulations to Gretchen and Jeremy

When we returned from our weekend trip, more on that later, we had an exciting message from Gretchen Giddings. She and Jeremy Stark are engaged! He proposed to her on the steps of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indy. Not very original, I must say. I think I know a certain Blogger that proposed to his wife there too!

Cathy and I have only met Jeremy a couple of time, but we can tell he's a great guy and that the two of them are very much in love. Our most sincere congratulations to Gretchen and Jeremy.

Happy Birthday to.......

............ Dr. Seuss, Jon Bon Jovi, Desi Arnaz, Laraine Newman, Pope Pius XII, Mel Ott, Karen Carpenter, Tom Wolfe, Lou Reed, Mikhail Gorba­chev and me! The big 3-0. Cathy's turn will come very soon too. But I'm ready for 30. It seems right to me.

Bowling for Kids Sake update

I wanted to thank everyone for their generous donations and continuing support of Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Our bowling event was this past Saturday. We bowled the first session of the “Community Bowl.” It was a packed house and our session raised about $14,000. By the end of our session they had raised $43,000 with 11 more sessions to go! With your generous donations, Cathy and I raised $450, very close to my personal goal. We’ll know next Monday if the organization reached their goal for the year.

With your help, BB/BS will be able to continue to provide adult mentoring matches for 6-17 year old youth in Monroe and Owen Counties. Approximately 1/4th of their annual operating funds comes from the "Bowl for Kids Sake."

For more information, check out the following web sites:
Big Brother/Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Central Indiana
Bowling for Kids Sake

Weekend Events

Cathy and I had an event filled weekend!

• We got to meet MacKenzie McElwee for the first time. The youngest McElwee cousin is only about 2 weeks old. We met her while celebrating her grandmother's 69th birthday.
• We were part of the largest crowd to ever attend an IU women's basketball game. The crowd of 10,022 helped to ensure that Vera Bradley Designs Corporation will donate $10,000 for breast cancer research. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn't enough to ensure an IU victory as the Hoosiers fell to the Purdue Boilermakers 58 to 62 in overtime.
• Finally, we found out that Cathy's favorite resturant, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, will be opening their Bloomington location on Sunday, February 27th. Although to us it will always be BW-3, or even B-Dubs.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Movie?

I just saw that there is going to be a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie. It opens on April 29th. It's based on a series of books by the late Douglas Adams that was one of my favorites as a kid. Check them out on Amazon.com. Hum....... could be interesting, just hope it doesn't stink.

U2, Wilco sweep Grammys

Two of my favorite bands, U2 and Wilco, won Grammy awards last night in every category for which they were nominated. Having been twice in the past for their collaborations with Billy Bragg on never finished Woody Guthrie songs, Wilco brought home their first two Grammys. They won for Best Alternative Music Album for their "A ghost is born" album. Past winners in this category have been R.E.M., Tom Waits, Radiohead, Beck, Nirvana and even U2(for "Zooropa"?!)! They also won Best Recording Package along with their art directors Peter Buchanan-Smith & Dan Nadel. I guess people like the "egg!"


U2 won three Grammys bringing their all time total to a phenomenal 17 (tied for 8th overall with Alison Krauss & Ray Charles)! They won in the Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocal, Best Rock Song (songwriters award) and Best Short Form Music Video categories, all for their single "Vertigo." Their album "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" was not released in time to be eligible for this year's Grammys. U2 also gave a bitter sweet performance of "Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own" which Bono dedicated to his late father. You can see video of their performance on this web site. It was a great night of music, well except for that abysmal group performance of the Beetle's "Across the Universe."

Eat pizza, support local girls

Pizza Queen Restaurant, located at 1909 S. Walnut St. in Bloomington, is sponsoring a fundraiser for Girls Incorporated of Monroe County on Saturday, February 12 from 3 p.m. to midnight. During this time, Pizza Queen will donate 25% of its profits from dine-in, carry-out, and delivery purchases to Girls Incorporated. A coupon must be presented at the time of purchase. You can download a coupon from the one from the Girls Inc. Website. Call to place an order at 336-0000.

In addition to Pizza Queen's contribution, Wal-Mart will match this amount up to $1,000. Proceeds from this fundraiser will be used to support the Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Girls Inc. 3rd annual Girls Weekend Retreat.

The Roaches are Multiplying!

Cathy and I are proud to announce that we're expecting a baby! Her due date is September 13th. We went to her first ultrasound on Friday, January 28th and got to see and hear the baby's heart beat. Everything looked great! If you want to see copies of the ultrasound pictures, go to our dotPhoto.com photo album.

Ok, so that headline was really cheesy, but it was on my birth announcements in 1975. Well, it was the 70s.

Congratulations to the Griggs'

Wow! Another baby! Brown, Hill, Beard, McElwee and now Griggs. Ben and Sara Griggs were proud to announce today the arrival of Kendall Grace Griggs. She was born yesterday, weighed in at 8lb 9oz and is 20'' long. Conner and Drew are now both big brothers. Ben reports that "Both mother and baby are resting comfortably".

Send the proud parents an e-mail at ben AT bengriggs DOT com or check out his web site at bengriggs.com