Sorry that I’ve had no stamping for you the last couple of days. But I’m very excited to tell you what I did yesterday. Lance and I took Mallory, our youngest, to visit Ball State University yesterday. She has already been accepted but we all wanted to visit campus before she committed to attending. It has been close to 25 years since I have been on BSU campus. Both Lance and I attended there in the mid-70s, and I have to say, I am highly impressed with the changes that have been made. We found out yesterday that Intel has ranked Ball State #1 in the nation for wireless internet connection. In one dorm that we visited, even the laundry room will be hooked up to the internet. It will be possible for the student to put in their wash and then go online from anywhere on campus to see how much longer the cycle is. The dorm complex that both Lance and I lived in has been completely remodeled within the last few years. We both just stood in shock at all the improvements. Imagine our surprise when we learned there were no more food service cafeterias. There are food courts now – the student can eat anywhere on campus and have basically whatever they want. Every dorm now has a workout center – treadmills, weight equipment, bikes. They have a new School of Music that has hydraulic walls, ceilings and floors that can be set to get the best acoustics for whatever is playing at the time. The School of Journalism has won 5 Emmys for the work in news casting. We left after a 4 hour tour with our arms loaded down with t-shirts and Mallory really excited to be attending Ball State next year.

I have also received over the last two days’ stamps and more stamps. I can’t wait to get in the studio and stamp something. But first, I had to find a place to put them all. So I have spent the afternoon organizing and cleaning – blech, not one of my fave things to do, but nonetheless, something that needed to be done.

Now for the final thing I wanted to share. Today is Thunder over Louisville here in the Kentuckiana area. It is the opening event for the Kentucky Derby which is held the first Saturday of May. This kicks off a 2-week celebration of events from the Mini-Marathon, The Pegasus Parade, Chow Wagons, concerts, The Great Balloon Race, The Great Steamboat Race, plus many more events. Tonight you should be able to view the fireworks display (which we proudly tout as the largest in the country) by clicking on this link: Thunder Over Louisville.  It is truly the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen. For the first time in 8 years, I have chosen not to fight the hundreds of thousands of people down on the river front and watch on television from the comfort of my recliner.