A few days ago my husband and I got free tickets to the very first high school football games being played in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  We really had no interest in the games at all we just wanted to see the new home of our favorite team, the Indianapolis Colts.  The stadium itself was magnificent.  The upper levels were closed to the public but we got to walk around the lower level seating and around the concourse.  The concourse is a promotional products machine with each area being dedicated to a particular sponser.  Chevy and Huntington Bank were just two of several sponsers that got to decorate a section of the new stadium.  Unfortunately, the retractible roof was closed but overall we were blown away by how awesome this stadium was. 

There is probably nothing more frustrating than shopping for car insurance.  There are so many different insurance companies offering the best deal, the best coverage, and the best customer service.  So where do you begin? Many companies like esurance.com and Progressive offer comparion tools between insurance companies so you can compare pricing and coverage.  If you own a home you can get the best discount by having your homeowners and car insurance with the same company.     

As much as we all hate to admit it, summer is almost over.  Yet the great thing about labor day weekend is the end of summer sales on sporting goods.  Right now Dick’s Sporting Goods is offering 10% off on online orders.  The discount includes everything from Callaway irons to Magellan navigation systems.  Some items even qualify for free shipping.  Bicycle car racks on Amazon.com are reduced up to 56% depending on the model you need to fit your car.  Rei.com has discounted selected camping, cycling, and paddling gear up to 30% with clearance items being up to 50% off the regular price. 

This past weekend I visited my best friend in Ohio where we went to Jungle Jim’s Supermarket.  This isn’t just grocery shopping but really an experience of every kind of food and beverage from all over the world.  The beer and wine selection just completely blew my mind.  I have re-named the aisle of beer at Jungle Jim’s, “beer heaven.”  There was a buffet style salad bar of nothing but olives.  On one side of this massive store were long huge aisles of food divided by country of origin.  I spend far too much time in the Eastern European cookie and chocolate aisle.  I bought some beer from London and Belgium.  Some Droste Pastilles chocolates from Holland (thanks to my Dutch friends for bringing those to me several years ago!)  Hit cookies and Ritter Sport from Germany.  The yummy Walkers shortbread cookies from Scotland.  The great thing is they have everything from the U.S. too.  From acne treatment cream to Dutch chocolate to all the European beer you could ever hope for right in the same store!         

Using different types of outdoor lighting is a great way to improve the beauty of your homes curb appeal.  Just about any type of outdoor light fixtures can be used from landscape lighting, burial posts, ceiling lighting, hanging lights, post lighting, wall lighting, and security lighting.  Outdoor lighting has also become very creative to suit the style of your home.  You can choose from rustic, traditional, contemporary, modern, mission, craftsman, and even old world to gothic styles of lighting to decorate your home.    

I read an article online that said despite the declining economy many are still splurging for luxury items.  The No. 2 selling automobile right now is the Lexus LX SUV starting at $74,700.  I guess I wouldn’t mind car pooling with the person who bought it.  I have friends the shop for items like luxury watches, flat screen tv’s, and costly home improvements.  I just visited a friend that purchased a monster flat screen plasma tv for about $4900.  And they are planning to pave their long driveway with stamped concrete for the bargain price of about $6000.  I guess if you can afford it then why not right?        

One of the greatest and things about my job is working with the elderly.  They have many stories to tell from how great their new walk in tub is to what life was like back when they were a kid.  My favorite discussion was with a 65 year old woman about “going commando.” 

One of my pool patients was bringing a friend already on our exercise maintenence program.  This friend began to tell me how she had forgotten to pack her panties for when she got out of the pool.  My patients friend asked me, “what you do young people call it….going commando?”  “Yes, going commando.”  I said.  “I had to go commando to lunch on Monday because I forgot my underpants.”  I wanted to die laughing.  I think its great when anyone over the age of 65 can use the term “going commando” in a sentence correctly.   

My flowers are growing so well this summer.  I love my purple petunias, every night when I get home from work my back patio is the best aromatherapy.

Lately I’ve had such little inspiration to blog.  Perhaps I have bloggers block?  Usually I have so much on my mind that blogging about anything and everything just to get it off my chest is a welcome relief.  My mind races about a million miles an hour and it seems like I’m constantly thinking about something even if its a relatively stupid thing.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only person in the world who thinks of silly random things out of the blue like laptop memory, bicycle tires, re-usable grocery bags, and what in the hell is causing my cat to vomit so frequently?   

I love to travel but the idea of going on a cruise makes me a little nervous.  I guess its the idea of being on a big ship with thousands of people out at sea with no way to escape.  At least if your on land you have a way to escape.  Even though I have my doubts about cruising I think its a great way to travel.  You pay for one vacation, all you can eat food and entertainment, and you get to see several different places at once.  I guess if were to ever go I would try Mediterranean cruises, or possibly Alaska and Hawaii.