Cait and Todd's Excellent Adventures

Closer

2010-10-25T12:38:00.001-04:00

I can't drive my bug much longer

Awesome Music Mash-Up

2010-09-13T09:05:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted in a while but had to share this. - Cait

Weddings and Summer Fun

2010-06-25T11:30:00.001-04:00

An Album from our 2nd Year

June 5, 2010 in New Glarus, Wisconsin for Sarah's Wedding

Busy Bees and Happy Times

2010-03-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

Todd and I have been up to plenty of fun! Super Bowl, Ski Trips, Disney World, AIGA Indy events, NCAA basketball games, nights at new friends' houses, days at work, afternoons and evenings at band concerts and school musicals... the list goes on. Here's a small selection of photos highlighting our adventures! [super bowl cupcakes] [super bowl snacks] [super bowl watchin'] [ski trip to Colorado with the guys] [todd skiing (or posing) in Colorado] [the shack that they had to tough out while in colorado] [the music dept poster for 09-10 at Riverside Junior High] [mr. mccready conducting the jazz band at arts on the river] [todd and cait after arts on the river. cait was sick and was going on 15 hours since she left home for work that morning.] [thirsty camel eating establishment in fort wayne, indiana. cait visited megan corrigan and ate there before the fort wayne philharmonic concert.] [where we watched the fort wayne philharmonic concert.] [todd and matt were excited to have jay gephart guest conduct the spring band festival at riverside.] [they are quirky and distractible] [they had left over energy after the concert. hooray band!]

Of Hearts and Health

2010-03-04T11:04:00.009-05:00

(Borrowed from my private health blog- for you all to benefit from!) Yesterday, I had my yearly physical with my doctor and so far everything looks normal. I had a documented 8 lb weight loss since Dec. Not enough for me to be happy but the Doc was pleased. We also noticed a trend in my cholesterol. My LDL (bad) cholesterol was within ideal range but my HDL (good) cholesterol was significantly low. It was at 24 and healthy is 50-60. It's not a hug scale so that's a big sign. There are a handful of things I can do to improve it, thus reducing the risks that come with it. If my LDL was high and blood pressure was up, I'd be in big trouble but they're not, oddly. Low HDL increases my risk of heart disease greatly. This is true for anyone and everyone. If I hadn't had my blood tested, I wouldn't have known. By donating blood, like through Indiana Blood Centers, they'll give you your numbers free- FYI. I learned EVERYONE SHOULD MONITOR THEIR CHOLESTEROL LEVELS TO LIVE! Here are some things to do make sure you keep your HDL up! It's summarized from a few hours searching reliable sites online and summarizing.

• Keep triglycerides at a low level
Triglycerides modify HDL structure and hasten their elimination from the blood. (See last blog post on reducing triglycerides to 60 mg/dl.) Thus, keeping triglycerides low allows HDL to rise to healthier levels. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil are crucial for this effect.

• Aerobic Exercise
─The magnitude of increase in HDL depends to a great degree on your starting level. People who begin from a sedentary lifestyle can expect 10 mg/dl increase or more; people who begin with mild-moderate activity can expect less. Many people don't like to hear it, but regular aerobic exercise (any exercise, such as walking, jogging or bike riding, that raises your heart rate for 20 to 30 minutes at a time) may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels. Recent evidence suggests that the duration of exercise, rather than the intensity, is the more important factor in raising HDL choleserol. But any aerobic exercise helps.

• Lose weight
Obesity results not only in increased LDL cholesterol, but also in reduced HDL cholesterol. If you are overweight, reducing your weight should increase your HDL levels. This is especially important if your excess weight is stored in your abdominal area; your waist-to-hip ratio is particularly important in determining whether you ought to concentrate on weight loss.

• Avoid smoke and smoking (duh)

• Reduce or eliminate foods that wipe out HDL
Hydrogenated fats ("trans" fats) should be eliminated, since they reduce HDL (as well as increasing LDL and blood pressure, and have been associated with cancer). Hydrogenated fats are found in many margarines and processed foods. Because low-fat diets reduce HDL (and raise triglycerides), doctors recommend a diet approach that involves the elimination of foods made with wheat or cornstarch, as well as reduction or elimination of junk foods. This reduction can skyrocket HDL enormously over time.

• Increase or introduce foods that reduce HDL
Monounsaturated Fats─Monounsaturated fats such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil and in the fats found in peanut butter can increase HDL cholesterol levels without increasing the total cholesterol . Red wine─Although all alcoholic beverages raise HDL, red wine confers additional benefits, such as reduction in blood sugar and blood pressure, provided no more than 2 glasses per day are consumed. Dark chocolate─Preferably 70% cocoa or greater. We ask our patients to not exceed 40 grams, or approximately 2 inches square, per day. Green tea─Brewed only, never instant or pre-mixed bottles. Several cups per day are required for its full effect. Vitamin D─Restoration of vitamin D levels to normal can yield increases in HDL of 10, 20, even 30 mg/dl, though it may require up to a year for the full effect to show. Low vitamin D has also been linked to C-Sections Soluble fiber─This is found in oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, and result in both a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase HDL cholesterol. For best results, at least two servings a day should be used.

Cranberry juice has been shown to increase HDL levels.

Omega-3 fatty acids─ Fish and other foods contain this, can also increase HDL levels

Other dietary means to increasing HDL.
If the above fail
to raise HDL to your desired target after being patient, then niacin is worth considering. For raising HDL, a dose of 1000 mg per day yields maximal effect. (The doctor I'm referencing uses the non-prescription preparation, Sloniacin, made by Upsher Smith, exclusively. It has a proven track record of safety and is widely available in the vitamin aisle of drugstores and some department stores. He advises patients to begin with 500 mg at dinner for four weeks, then increase to 1000 mg.) Work with your doctor with niacin, but generous hydration (e.g., 2 big glasses of water) helps turn off the hot flush common with niacin.

Using the above approach, HDLs of 60, 70, 80 mg/dl and higher are commonplace.

Armed with this info, my head spins. My doctor said that if I keep up my activity levels (a challenge right now with a semi-lame foot) and my levels are still low, it could be a big problem. I'm interested to find recipes and whole foods that incorporate these new diet items so I can make a whole hearted (pun intended) attempt at avoiding heart disease.

Let me know what you think of the post and if you discover any great recipes...
Love,
Cait
(sorry for the post delay - pics coming soon of Todd's ski trip and my Florida escape!)

New Post coming soon

2010-01-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

Uploading and editting a ton of photos from break and holidays. Will post soon! Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-10T22:10:00.004-05:00

Another year passed already? We've been up to plenty and you can catch a recap of it here! I work hard to document life for posterity, for my future memory slip ups and for the sheer joy of letting friends and family near and far know how our lives have been blessed. Chrissy went to Midwestern University in Arizona to start dental school. Max started at Indiana University and is deciding on his major but loving college. Sam is now a sophomore and passed driver's ed! Lauren is a sophomore at Ball State University and will begin her Nursing program studies this summer. Todd is wonderfully employed as a Band Director at Riverside Junior High in Fishers, Indiana. I am in my 10th month at Indiana University as a Graphic Designer in Marketing in Bloomington. Todd's cousin, Rachel, with her husband Anson and daughter Hannah, welcomed Cy Anson to the family on my birthday (August 16th) last summer in South Carolina. Todd's cousin, Angela, with her husband Josh, welcomed Aiden to the family on New Year's Eve last year in Chicago. His little brother or sister should join us this spring! My cousin, Mike, with his wife Suzanne, welcomed Lucas on February 16th to the family in St. Louis.

Something about today

2009-10-16T13:20:00.002-04:00

I'm reflective. My day started nicely, spent extra time curling my hair only for the big fluffy curls to fall out by 9am :-( stubborn straight hair. Worked a bit, then met a friend for lunch

Our Excellent Weekend

2009-10-16T09:53:00.000-04:00

Friday: Work a haunted house for Cait's professional design group, AIGA, with Rick and Anita. Saturday: Cheer the Boilers on to victory in Lafayette, visit with the Gepharts (spa time for the girls) Sunday: Visit the pumpkin patch with the Gepharts to pick some jack-o-lanterns-to-be and apples, carve said pumpkins and head home. Monday: Work and Todd's first band concert as a Director. It went really well!

Rain, I'mma let you finish, but....

2009-10-08T10:51:00.002-04:00

...Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst storms ever. How rude of you to attempt to ruin my day with too much sogginess. Please don't wash out any roads, ok?! I want to get home tonight to watch Pam marry Jim after all this time!

Weekend in Review

2009-09-14T09:27:00.004-04:00

Cait's Stupidest Moments
1. "Losing" my phone at the football game, only to discover that dumping my bag out to find it had not been a thorough search. It was located in my bag on Sunday night- over 30 hours after misplacing it. Dumb.

2. Dutifully locking the car door as my family exited. Upon closing the last door on the car, I remarked, "Why is the car still running?" The driver had taken his key off the key ring, got out of the quiet running car and left it on. 45 mins later, the lock smith got us in and we were greeted by a thoroughly air conditioned car.

3. I mistook Monday for Tuesday and didn't bring any clothing for the personal training assesment after work. Slightly dirty t-shirt and workout pants will have to do :-(

Cait's Best Moments
1. Teaching the high school color guards for IU's Band Day and having my name announced in Memorial Stadium.

2. Spending time with my mom and brothers for Family Weekend!!!

3. Attending the Cancer Sucks party with Andrea, Ben and Todd and running into Amanda!! That was a great shin dig for a great cause!

It's Monday- Clean slate,
Cait

Life and Commuting

2009-08-25T08:43:00.003-04:00

We're into the daily grind and it's going ok so far!

Todd loves his school and his students, and the new wheels. I'm staying super busy in prep for the student returning to the University campus. Early mornings and later nights to pull off the rebranding of the dining program!

Last week was a long week of driving but for a good cause. Friday and Saturday revolved around trips to Lafayette to mourn and celebrate the life of a dear friend, Carolyn Gephart. Moving services but a large void exists where her spirit was here on Earth. She is with her Lord now, rejoicing in Him.

Looking forward to seeing family in a few weeks and taking care of our apartment as schedules eliminate free time.
More soon!
Cait

Veni Vidi Jeepie

2009-08-05T11:19:00.017-04:00

We came. We test drove. We clunkered. After 4 years driving a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Eddie Bauer Edition that was purchased from a family friend with 60K on it, we said our goodbyes to it yesterday. "Jeepie", as it was lovingly named by the children in the family who owned it before us, was hardly a clunker. It ran great, had comfy seats, rocked out with the best of the sound systems of the late '90s and was a really distinguished shade of metallic maroon/eggplant. But it's age and mpg rating (15 city/20 highway) justified the move to a new vehicle as we commute more and tow less. The hiccup of uncertain time for dealerships between the initial $1 Bil being released for CARS and its replenishing funds from the government was still present as we negotiated. To our relief, the news media is chattering today about how the prospect of a new $2 Bil pledge to the program will likely occur. If the Cash for Clunkers program had not been available, we would have happily driven Jeepie many more miles. It's a major factor in our decision to swap out. As Jeepie was Todd's car, the 2010 Mazda 3 manual car that we purchased is now his new baby. As an homage to Jeepie, I've nicknamed his new car, Majide. It blends "Jeepie" a stupidly close cognate of Jeep (ok, kids named it that) with sounds from the word Mazda that happens to be the name of the American gameshow-within-a-gameshow that mimics games played in Japan and kidnaps its players. We enjoy the show as a light diversion and I think the name fits. When you turn the car on, the LED display where the clock usually appears shows "Hello". In essence- Hi Majide, the phrase that the goofy host exits with, including the flash of a hand sign that looks like a peace sign with a thumb included, turned upside down. Love it. Memoirs from Cait: I surprisingly mourned Jeepie's departure more than I could have imagined. Maybe it was the suddenness of the hand off. We decided to drive some vehicles after finding out I was let off work early due to power outages from a storm, never realizing we might buy that night. Personification of inanimate objects is a horrible byproduct of my Disney upbringing and my sensitive soul. I used to care which stuffed animals slept on the floor when I was a child and swapped them out the next night so they all felt loved. (GAG factor = 10.) As horribly stinky and environmentally irresponsible as Jeepie was, I pictured the mechanics loading her works up with water and sand and running her till the engine seized. A kind of car euthanasia. Thanks, lot worker who told me that. It deeply disturbed and saddened me to the point of crying on the ride home. Visions of spray painted letters spelling out "clunker" on her beautiful hood tore at me. Don't even get me to the point of where they'll destroy her. Maybe the movie A.I. and the scenes of the Flesh Fair were the biggest influence in this horrifically traumatizing experience. If only we'd traded her in instead of having to clunk her. She was an awesome car. Sigh, sniffle. Getting over it will take a few.... days. The Mazda 3 is a blast to drive, it's way better for commuting and saves more gas. Plus, Todd looks good behind the wheel. Excited for our first road trip in it, probably to a Purdue football game this fall. Hi, Majide! Cait

Happy July, Happy One Year

2009-07-10T14:54:00.005-04:00

We were lucky to see family last weekend for the 4th. Some fun pics going public soon on Flickr. For now, enjoy these darling shots! Lauren and Melissa hold the slingshot while Luke loads up a water balloon and takes aim. Background L to R, Rachel behind Anson, Angela, Josh and on the far right, Todd. - Cait The Kennedy Sisters snapping pics of the cousins - Cait Rachel and Hannah (1.5 yrs) - Cait Hannah playing with the water balloon timer exploding ball. Surprise! - Cait Taco Dip before the car ride and 20+ family members got to it! - Cait We've celebrated a lot lately and the weekend that our friends Jenny and Andrew became Mr. & Mrs., we celebrated our one year anniversary. It's been a year?! What the heck?! We're doing great, love our new apartment and are excited as fall approaches. Todd's new job is going to be a wonderful opportunity. Much love to our friends and family. Please update us when you move so we may stay in touch! In the mean time, watch for new photos soon. Happy One Year to us! CM

Movin' and a Shakin'

2009-06-01T09:38:00.005-04:00

Hello from Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN! We've had a great month of May and can't wait to share it with you. Todd and I have been moving into our new apartment in Indy gradually. Check out painting and in-progress pics here! Our friends Megan, Mike and Natalie were a huge help in getting the paint on the walls! Here is Todd with our REALLY long counter top/bar area: 112" !!! CN hosts a huge even called American Pie. Much like any variety show it's got a lot to offer, but these kids ans staff really pulled out all the stops and put on a great show about the history of Rock and Roll through music. Todd directed the CN Jazz bands for their Evening of Jazz. It was a great night of lively music and learning. Plus they had some killer desserts! Then we mustered through the Purdue Alumni Band performance at the Indy 500 in honor of the Purdue Band's 90 years of participation in the spectacle. Sore joints but lots of fun! We attended our friend Stacy's Wedding this past weekend in Auburn, Indiana. It was held at the really cool facility of the World War II Victory Museum. Stacy and her new husband, Bob, are too cute together! Cait and Stacy were in the same pledge class in 2001 for the Reamer Club. More adventures soon! Cait and Todd

:-)

2009-05-05T11:03:00.000-04:00

This is Cait being cheesy. Glitter clip art!

B-E-A-U-TIFUL

2009-04-27T19:53:00.006-04:00

Hello friends! Greetings Family! It's been a wonderful spring so far. Far better than Fall and Winter! Todd conducted a Folk Song Suite with his students at Columbus North. The school has been great as a partner in education, Mr. Stultz and Mr. Burton are amazing mentors! See more pictures of the April 23rd concert here! See my trip to the Bloomington Farmers Market on April 25th. We did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure a few weekends back! Pics to be posted shortly. See Todd's Feb 27th Dodgeball game with his band kids! A few pics from Easter. Basic highlights of our spring break trip to Sioux Falls, SD. And fun in the kitchen in early March. Busy as bees, more to tell soon! Love, Cait and Todd

I won!!

2009-04-17T15:23:00.001-04:00

Free Chipotle for the office. Well, the marketing department. Instant hero :-) Thanks, Chipotle! And thanks printing department for equipping me with free lunch raffle tickets others call business cards! Cait

Extra, Extra!

2009-02-18T11:45:00.005-05:00

(note, something has gone funky with the code for the site and I'm working on it!-CM)
Hi all! There's plenty of fun news in our world and we couldn't wait to share it!
NEW BABIES!!
Aiden Healy, born 12/31/08 to Todd's cousins Angela + Josh Healy, live near Chicago.
Lucas Derenski, born 2/16/09 to Cait's cousins Suzanne + Mike Derenski, living in St. Louis area.

WORK
Against all economic odds, Cait was offered a position at Indiana University as a Graphic Design Specialist in the Residential Services and Programs department. She accepted it late last week and Todd is thrilled for her. She starts on March 2nd and has no idea what she'll use to decorate her office as most of her knicknacks are Purdue memorabilia. While she loves Indy, she really looks forward to gaining 16+ hours back of her life that she spent commuting weekly.

Todd is having a great time student teaching at Columbus North High School. He's had great success with students he is teaching privately and loves the program. He conducts their high school basketball pep band and will be involved in their school musical this year. He did luck out with 4 consecutive snow days, producing a 6 day vacation and a 1 day work week. Graduation is so close we can smell it (and it smells like spring and freedom!)

Cait has been elbow deep in fabulous freelance design with wedding and marketing clients. Todd has sacrificed the kitchen table for use as Cait's desk until we move into a bigger place. Bless him. She will launch her business' website in early March. The focus will be accessible, personal, wedding and baby related design of invitations, formal stationery, announcements, etc. She has several brides currently on board, including her girls Sarah and Carrie! Cait loves helping others create what they're looking for while educating them on how not to get taken advantage of by the industry. If you know of someone who might be interested in any type of design work for hire, pass them along to my website after March 2nd, there's nothing there now. Friend and Fam discount and a chance to be featured on the site as an example of a successful client! Or they can email me at cm.holdthecheese@gmail.com

FAMILY
*Chrissy, Cait's sister, got into Dental School!! She's headed to Arizona this summer to attend Midwestern University's campus with the dental school (there IS a campus in Illinois, hence the school's name.) We're super excited for her!
*Max, Cait's brother, got into Indiana University and will attend beginning this Fall! We are thrilled to welcome him to southern Indiana and can't wait to help him move!
*Lauren, Todd's sister, is doing great at Ball State University in her first year. She's studying Nursing!
*We can't wait to head to Chicago this weekend to see Max and Sam, Cait's brothers, in the annual GBS V-Show! A true family legacy :-) It should be a quick turn around weekend but well worth it! Bonus visit with Cait's aunt and uncle!
*Our family friend, Carolyn, who has been battling cancer has had great reports come back and is doing super! We continue to pray for her and her family and will be walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (with the AIGA Indy Team) on April 18th to honor her and other friends who have had cancer. You can make a donation here or join our team if you'd like! Our joint goal is $300.

We're planning our summers and trying to make it to the 8 weddings we're invited to. Hooray for love, egad for airlines and the economy.

That's it for now. Glad we have so much good news to share- it's been long coming. Take care and let us know what you're up to!
Cait and Todd

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T06:56:00.015-05:00

We celebrated New Years in style with bubbly and Cait's parents. Thank you Carson Daily for counting down the seconds for us. INCLUDING a leap second this year... what the heck is that! We enjoyed our thawed out wedding cake topper (7 months prematurely but the baker didn't wrap it in a seal for it to stay good(?) for a year plus it was taking up 1/4 of Cait's parents' freezer- much needed space with two teenage boys at home!) The cake tasted pretty good for coming out of a deep freeze and looked nice too. It's been a great, challenging and exciting 5 months so far, almost 6... We're excited for all that 2009 will bring and are thankful for the amazing family and friends that we have. 2008 was a great year to get married. This year we'd like jobs, to stay healthy and to see more of those people we hold dear! Oh and Todd would like to survive driving 2 hours round trip for student teaching daily... off to his first day at Columbus North! :-) Love, Cait and Todd

2008 'Unorthodox' Holiday Newsletter

2008-12-14T21:27:00.016-05:00

Greetings, near and far!

Welcome to our first Holiday update letter! We're going to simply fill you in on what's happened since our last post with a brief recap and links to each of our postings from earlier this year!

June-

Welcome!

July

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!

Harnessing the Power of Craigslist + Fam News

August

We got Maui'd!(+ links to honeymoon pics!)

September

Strike up the band

Chicago Flooding

Caution: Professional Drivers, Do not attempt

October

A liberated weekend

Another One Bites the dust - Mike's Wedding

November

2008 Marching Band Season is DONE!

A road trip north brought us to Purdue for tailgating and trying to stay warm during the annual attempt to wallop the Hoosiers. The final score was 62-10. I think the Boilers stayed warmer in the stands with all that cheering!

Megan, James and Cody were good sports and tolerated our novice tailgate- what happens when all you know of game day is waking up early and reporting to the band drill field? No clue how to tailgate. We cooked up egg dishes the night before enthusiastically and doctored some hot chocolate. A great day was all wrapped up and packed back into the Jeep when we went to start the car and, click. Oops, we left the trunk open, the light stayed on and the battery died.

Hooray for friends who jump the car in the cold! We headed home happy, tired and with 2 i.u. fans sleeping in the backseat. Todd tried a new Starbucks energy drink on the way home. It worked, but yuck.

We wrapped up November with Thanksgiving at Cait's family's home in Glenview, Illinois. We played plenty of games with the family, mostly game system based (see glazed eyes battling with fake guns!)

Cait's grandpa, Boppa, headed into the hospital the day after the feast with some complications from an "indoor climbing" accident a few weeks earlier. Some broken ribs and complications kept him over night and we're still hoping that he'll make it out of the hospital before Christmas. Hard to keep that octogenarian down. Good times were had meeting Cait's sister Chrissy's boyfriend. Then a jolly 5 hours road trip home landed us back in Bloomington.

Todd played his Senior euphonium recital on the 6th and had a great turn out! His parents drove down and Cait's family stayed over night. It was great to see our families and to enjoy watching Todd cap off his studies with an exciting and challenging performance.

Then we shared the news we'd learned of after Grand Nationals let out in November: Dec 2 was Cait's last day at her job. In a wave of layoffs, she was thrown a surf board and told good luck. A non-profit has to do what a non-profit has to do in a down economy with budget woes. She's thankful to have family and friends that care and feels lucky that at least she has experience working the system and job hunting from when she was laid off last May. How did people job search before the internet, or before Careerbuilder and Monster for that matter?! We're optimistic but with hiring freezes and layoffs surrounding us, a little part time work will go a long way until a full time creative position comes along. Cait's looking at places with LARGE in-house creative/marketing teams or design agencies/studios where her position is valued and not the first to take a budget cut. Hopefully she can stay in Indy but we will have to see. We'll keep you posted on search leads and results but it looks like nothing big will happen before the ball drops in New York in a few short weeks.

In other news, just today we came home from church to find a light haze of smoke in our apartment. Our olfactory skills told us it was plastic, maybe even electrical and we scanned the vicinity. We opened the dishwasher and located the culprit.

We can no longer measure 1/4 cup of anything, thanks to silly slots on the top rack that don't hold onto things. Then MUCH to our surprise... after countless loads in the dishwasher and living in our apartment 5 months, we discover another heating-element victim: a cutting mat that we've never seen before. That's right.

Someone who was in the apartment BEFORE us had done this and never knew... It had dropped to the back of the washer, was clear and had been burned through the element so that it just sat in the back. We're so glad it never started a fire!!!

And to end on a happy note, we made some awesome chocolate cookies

(email me for the recipe!) just yesterday and have a ton to enjoy and cover up the smell of melted plastic with. Todd has finals then we head to Chicago land for a reprieve. Tell us what you've been up too?! We're dying to hear from friends and fam that we rarely see!

God Bless and keep smiling!

Cait and Todd

(Leave a little message if you stopped by to read this! We love our friends and family and would like to know if it's worth keeping up our public banter...)

2008 Marching Band Season is DONE!

2008-11-16T16:14:00.005-05:00

Shout it from the roof tops! Our crazy fall with marching band centric life is over! The final commitment for both of us happend over the past 5 days at the same event! Music for All hosted the Bands of America Grand National Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the first time. Columbus North, the high school where Todd is on marching band staff, placed 9th on their day of competition and advanced to the Semi-Finals. A very competitive event, they did not move further but had a very successful season of growth and improvement, their reputation for being a great band getting stronger. (see Cait's take on the event: Tales of On-Site Event Graphics Production)

As Todd begins his midterms, Cait slips back into the pattern of pseudo-sanity, creativity and perhaps some freelance work before the holidays.

To get everyone up to speed, much has happened since Mike's wedding in late October!

Cait traveled to St. Louis from October 16-18th to help put on the Super Regional Championship for Music for All. Fast paced, unforgiving and again, highly rewarding. Quick turn around straight into more prep for the Grand National Championships in a week or two. Attempts to see local family were thwarted with the aggressive event schedule and left Cait wanting to see her St. Louis family even more!

November 1 : We headed to Purdue to witness a hard earned Boilermaker victory over Michigan at Ross-Ade Stadium! We caught up with Cait's mom and brothers and saw some friends. It's hard when you get very little time to talk and really visit but enjoying a game will tide us

over until the next time. Pictures from top right, Sam greeting us at Slayter double fisting Dr. Pepper, Todd hugging Max and the Purdue Band gets to turn their hats around for a Big Ten win!

We were also lucky to get to hang out with Libby Gephart at the game while her dad was busy. I'm a pushover: totally caved to her request for cotton candy. And boy was it good! She shared some but ate it like she hadn't been fed in days. One behavior we left in our youth.

The following weekend was spent actually being in the same place for once! We cleaned, and went to see the movie "W." and ate a meal together! Simple things really but out of the ordinary for us right now yet. Planning for Thanksgiving in Chicago with Cait's family, Todd's upcoming Senior Recital at IU on euphonium, and Christmas in Indy & Chicago. Wrapping up his coursework, Todd is looking forward to student teaching this spring!

Next weekend is our trip to Purdue for the game against Indiana with some friends. After that, the holidays come fast and furious but we'll share our adventures as the season progresses.

Have a great week!

Cait and Todd

Another One Bites the Dust

2008-10-27T15:34:00.000-04:00

Mike and Steph got married on Saturday, October, 25, 2008. Congrats, you two!

More pictures here!

Cait drove to Chicago, celebrated, stayed the night and drove back home. Todd went to a band competition with the marching band he is on staff with. Neither can wait for marching band season to be over :-)

That's all for now!

A Liberated Weekend

2008-10-03T18:30:00.000-04:00

Work called me to spend time at the office this Saturday. That kept me from going to Kentucky for an event but allowed me to see the IU opera tonight with Todd. Details later. Where did this week go?

Caution: Professional Drivers, Do Not Attempt

2008-09-23T19:54:00.000-04:00

Miles Cait puts on in a week: 543 plus any events on the weekend with work (15 hours) Miles Todd puts on in a week: 226 plus competitions on Saturday with his marching band (7 hours) Gas has remained at around $3.99 here in southern Indiana after hanging out around $4.15 for a while. Ouch. It's not a great year to be heavy commuters. Cait's been lucky enough to join a 4 person carpool that allows her to ease the impact on budget as well as car wear and tear. The idea is to drive 5 times in 4 weeks. Funny hours have her changing her schedule daily to meet up with the carpool after work but it all evens out. Todd drives to his high school band job 3 times a week and drives with classmates who also work there. Not bad. It's still taxing to be in the car as much as we are. The spring will be tough when we're both going over an hour in different directions 5 days a week. Needless to say we can't wait to live within a half hour at most of a job. The apartment is getting closer and closer to looking like a home. We've only been here 2ish months. That's not long right? Well, looking at my math at the start of this entry, if we got our 22 hours of commuting back, a lot could get done around the house. We're JUST starting to get into a routine. Sigh. This Friday is our friend Adam's wedding in Indy at the Historical Society. Should be really neat! One of the few weddings we can attend this fall together with Todd's band competition schedule. The following weekend, Cait heads to Kentucky to work her first Bands of America Regional. Neat! Downside- we drive there. More miles! A weekend where we spend less than an hour in the car will be a blessing. We walk to the grocery store as often as we can and try to go work out together when we have a night (hard: Todd has All-Campus Band on Monday nights, is at the high school Tuesdays and Thursdays, Teaches a euphonium lesson on Wednesday nights and has band competitions until really late on Saturdays.) Hawaii feels so long ago and so very far away. Still hanging on to the memories of floating in the clear blue water staring at fishies and hiking the crater from sunrise to noon. That's it for now, folks. Gotta rest up for the morning commute! CM

Chicago Flooding

2008-09-13T13:10:00.000-04:00

My parent's home in Glenview, IL is practically an island! The flooding has happened quickly and they haven't even gotten hit by water from Hurricane Ike! Our center green area is drainage but despite being the size of almost a football field, it's filled and so is the street and the first third of our driveway! Check out these pictures my mom took with her phone!More pictures on my Flickr site: HoldTheCheese/ChicagolandFlooding Updates soon, CM

Strike Up the Band!

2008-09-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Singing the words to the Indiana University Anti-Fight Song (Indiana, you big banana...)was all we could do to make it through Band Day at IU! Cait got a chance to instruct the visiting high school flags... about 70 girls! The IU band department hired her for the day, she got about 45 mins with the girls and NO MUSIC!! :-(

It was a blast either way. The girls had fun and Cait got to perform with a flag on the field of Memorial Stadium. No, Purdue Fans, she didn't burst into flames from my gold and black blood boiling... and She made sure to fit the first to 8's of Hail Purdue into the flag work... happened to be the part that repeated all through the routine :-D Cait's joke that no one got but made her feel better. Todd's fellow students were super friendly and Cait had a lot of fun with them!

Notice the empty part of the stadium and the warm band members with their jackets off during pregame practice. WARM DAY! Here's Cait in her Marching Hundred Shirt for the day. She wore an undershirt with it so the fabric would make her break out in hives ;-)

IU won the game against Murray State! Cait was glad Todd could make it back from his band camp at Columbus North High School to join her for the game and our fence side view... no need for seats when the most familiar view if field level in front of a loud drum line. Cait wouldn't mind doing it next year... Todd'll probably have his own band responsibilities though!

That's if for now from the McCreadys.

We got Maui'd !!!

2008-08-18T16:39:00.003-04:00

Still on Hawaiian time, work is hard to focus on. We had an absolutely amazing week that I can't wait to post pictures of and comment on. Here was the brief run down:
Sunday- 9hr flight, arrive, swim, pick up snorkle equip, eat, swim, sleep
Monday- 3am out the door for sunrise at Haleakala Crater, 6 hrs hiking, swim, eat, sleep
Tuesday- 1 mo anniv, morning sea kayaking and turtle finding, lunch, swim, eat good food, swim, sleep
Wednesday- wake early, explore state park and southern coast, eat, swim, eat, swim, sleep Thursday- wake, drive road to Hana, hike and swim in waterfalls, eat good food, sleep
Friday- sleep in, swim in ocean and look at fishies, eat, rest, play card games, shop, eat, swim sleep
Saturday- Cait's 25th B-day, more sea swimming and snorkleing, pack, check out, return equipment and eat Maui Tacos :-), shop, eat, fly 5 hours
Sunday-chill in LAX 1.5 hrs, fly 4 hours, pick up in Chicago, family b-day party in Glenview, IL, drive to Bloomington, Indiana, eat, watch Bob Saget get Roasted on Comedy Central, sleep More later, From the Honeymooners

Harnessing the Power of Craigslist + Fam news

2008-07-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

I posted information about carpooling from A to B and got a taker for one way after work from B to A. Yay! I successfully sold our extra microwave and purchased a small book table making a net profit of $5. :-D If only Craigslist could help me unpack. Goodwill saw enough of our stuff while we were moving. Craigslist will get my unpacking love. I can't wait to be done with more of our unpacking! Big shout out to Lindsey and Brent Chismark on the birth of their first baby, Noah, on July 26! Lindsay is my first "old friend" to get hitched and preggo and now has a beautiful family started! My cuz Suzanne Derenski (and Mike) and Todd's cuz Angela Healy (and Josh) are both expecting. Fun news for the family and more reasons to keep in touch! Back to the working world... CM

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!

2008-07-21T10:22:00.000-04:00

I'll paint you a picture: 94 degree heat + humidity 1 sixteen foot UHaul 2 guys, a girl and a new apartment We officially made the move to Bloomington! Todd's been there since the 1st and I trailed him on our one week wedding anniversary. After a snafu with picking up the UHaul (Greenwood does not equal North Indianapolis FYI) things went better. Stresses, exhuastion and lack of space tried our nerves but by the time I headed to work on Monday morning (my first commute of many!) we really felt like a home was forming. The song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat kept running through my head- happy reminders and a little mantra that saved patience. Excellent lyrics: "I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend Lucky to have been where I have been Lucky to be coming home again Lucky we're in love every way Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed Lucky to be coming home someday." Big shout out to our friend Matt who helped lift, lug and subdue tiffs. You were a God send! Cody also helped a bunch in the unload phase- huge help when we were all tired. Gratzi! The gang wrapped up the night with a trip to Cheeseburger in Paradise a few minutes from our new apartment. I splurged having a Pina Colada (a-MAZ-ing) and a bacon cheeseburger. It was beyond delicious. My fries disappeared into the still-hungry tummies of Matt and Todd. Sunday started slow, like it should. A recover phase that lead into returning the UHaul. We stopped by Crescent Donuts on the other side of town. It was our first time there and they only take cash. Apparently, we don't use cash very often. Our selection of a half dozen fresh homemade donuts and two milks rang up as more than we had in our pockets. Todd was awesome and cleaned out the change in his car- not beyond paying with nickels and pennies. We had committed to those donuts. The milk was placed back in the fridge. We drove across the street and got the same milk, with a debit card, for .20 less each. HA! We win! Donuts consumed, we extended our snooze alarm until noon. Just what we needed. Small victories after that included arrangement of couches/entertainment center and our kitchen table. Much larger victory was arranging the Queen sized bedroom furniture set in a twin sized room. One broken board (luckily not broken hand!) and averted disasters later we're done with that for a long time, or until we move... Wrapping up the night putting away clothes, Todd made a delicious homemade pizza. Served with the second half of a bottle of shiraz, he put on some great jazz music and we enjoyed a little time not moving. Our night cap with a dip in the pool left us ready to face a new week. No case of the Mondays for me. :-) Time to get back to work. -Cait

Welcome!

2008-06-30T09:53:00.001-04:00

Hello friends, family and world! Stay tuned for ponderings, documentation and photos of our excellent adventures in our new life together. Our biggest transitions at the moment are moving, Todd finishing summer school and Cait starting a new job. Plenty to chatter about! I hope you'll stay in touch with us on here or at toddandcaitlin@gmail.com. Best wishes for a happy summer! Cait