We bought a house!

Here we are at the closing with the keys to our very first home.

This is the same house we were looking at around Christmas so many of you have seen pictures of it already.

The negotiation process was lengthy but we think we ended up with a pretty great deal. The loan approval process was lengthier still and much more harrowing. We had absent realtors, mortgage brokers who didn't communicate enough to us, ridiculous checks into our financial history (like confirming our income from 2007), and last minute paper-work that had to be filled out and returned right away. For a while it looked like we would have to push back our closing date but eventually we got everything worked out, and even ended up with a pretty good interest rate and some unexpectedly low closing costs.

We're not actually going to move for a few weeks still because we have a lot of wallpaper to take down and painting to do. Tonight Susan and I spent two and a half hours removing one wall's worth of wallpaper. It's going to be a slow process.

If any local Eddys would like to stop by this weekend feel free (it's 619 Park Ave, very near Columbian Park). We'll probably be spending most of this weekend over there.

The Farm wth Snow and Frost

This morning we had a heavy frost which looked pretty spectacular with the snow and the bright morning light. I went out with my camera and tried to capture the look of it. Between my my lack of skill with a camera and the camera's trying to do everything on its own, I don't think I really nailed it. But some of the pictures were kind of nice. You can see more here.

Pictures from Mike's 60th

I've posted several pictures from my birthday party one week ago here. Thanks to all who attended for making it a very memorable evening, even for the memory-challenged. Thanks for all the well wishes from those who could not be here; hopefully the pictures will be the next best thing and without the snowy drive. Special thanks to Bonnie for planning the event. I think the last big birthday party I had was when I was six; this one was better.

Corrections, Clarifications, and Elaborations

I got 90 percent on my trivia quiz; I think that's probably an adequate level of self-knowledge. I offer the following comments on several questions.

Question 5: Regarding my TV preferences at 4 and 5, partial credit should probably be granted for Howdy Doody and Pinky Lee (who was a precursor to Pee Wee Herman).

Question 8: Regarding classical music, I also was interested because Mom played Moonlight Sonata, Liebestraum, Afternoon of a Faun, some Chopin, etc. on the piano.

Question 16: Regarding the naked John and Yoko poster, I don't remember adding paper underwear. Sure that wasn't Mark?

Question 20: I'd note that getting arrested on Thanksgiving was the crime Arlo Guthrie was convicted of in Alice's Restaurant. Nice item whoever wrote it!

Question 24: I'd note that Mike's date to the Prom is now a guidance counselor at Sunnyside Jr. High, where she got to know the other Michael Eddy!

Question 28: "Body by Fisher" was college girlfriend Cathy Fischer's slogan in her campaign for Grand Prix queen, not actually Homecoming, per the answer guide--but close enough. Mike felt a strange mix of pride and embarrassment over this.

Question 36: I stored records in a green trunk (rusting in my garage), but I think Chris is also right about the white painted orange crate. I'd urge giving him credit for that, except for the fact that he's still got the records.

Question 41: Answer key is wrong here. I saw Bobby Kennedy, but I shook hands with Gene McCarthy.

Question 43: The alleged making out occurred only once and under circumstances in which I was not entirely responsible for my actions. To illustrate I note that on that same night I also lavished attention on another woman who could have ruined the remaining years of my youth had I not backed away the next day. Whew! All this was pre-Bonnie, of course.

Question 53: I note that we were accompanied on our Canadian honeymoon by most of our graduate student friends from the English Department; we were all attending the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. We all stayed in a big tent together. After the honeymoon we all drove to Michigan City for our wedding. We had the sequencing backwards there, but it worked out okay in the end.

The Answers You Seek Are Here

Belly up to the bar of Eddy Family History, folks: The answers to the Mike Eddy 60th Birthday Trivia Quiz are here.  Even the man himself couldn't get them all right.  But on Saturday, he elaborated on some of the stories under the influence of German Chocolate Cake. Enjoy!

A Great Party

Well, this is my third attempt to write this. It says it publishes but then just publishes the title!
Anyway what I wnated to say was that we owe Bononie a big thank you for the great party on Sat. nite. For those of you who missed it, it was a wonderful meal-turkey, baked steak, bowls of mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, gravy, slaw, green salad and hot rolls. For dessert there were bowls of cherry cobbler, apple cobbler and of course Mike's favorite German sweet chocolate cake. The resturant had a interesting history having started out as a bar and brothel!
After dinner we went back to the farm for presents, drinks and conversation. Mike seemed to really enjoy his party though not the part about his turning 60. His mother wasn't too crazy about that part either! I told them that I thought I should have been the guest of honor. After all, what did he do?
We missed all of you!
Thanks again, Bonnie

A Great Party

The Mike Eddy 60th Birthday Trivia Test is now online!

Thanks to the Technology Department (of One) of The Talking Eds Blog, the Mike Eddy 60-Question 60th Birthday Trivia Test is now online here, just in time for tomorrow's celebration in Delphi. Thank you to all who submitted questions and photos--we think the range of events and lack of embarrassing mythology about our family patriarch makes this one of the more challenging Talking Eds quizzes to date.  

...But perhaps the most informative, heh heh.  

Answers will be posted in a few days.  Keep your answers secret at dinner tomorrow if you want to preserve your trivial dominance.  Or for you educators in the family, take your test before and after the party to see how much Mike Eddy information you can absorb.

And one last question for posterity: Has this man ever had a nickname in his life? Submissions welcome.

A glimpse into the near future?

Dad's co-workers had a party for him today. One of them is a photographer who worked some Photoshop magic on this picture to illustrate just one possible lifestyle change Dad may go through now that he's turning 60.

This was posted in several places in the Union and Stewart Center to ensure that it was seen by as many people as possible.

Click for a bigger version.