Let it snow

Well, we have about 3 feet of snow. There are some places I don't think will thaw until May or June. The parking lots are piled 10 feet high. It's pretty amazing. Baylor hasn't been at school since last Tuesday. Here are some photos to enjoy.

Our picnic tables. You can only see the tops:

Baylor using the snow blower last week:

TJ and Max enjoying a romp in the snow. Max's ears aren't really pointed, I caught him in mid-romp.

This is the drift in front of the barn doors last week. It's a good five feet tall.

Hope you are enjoying your weather. Remember, we will have spring in about 60 days! Keep warm and be safe.

The 2010 challenge

I joined America's Knitting on Ravelry and decided to do the 2010 challenge. This challenge is to get things OFF the needles. Since I, like Mary, start lots of projects and do not finish, this is a great challenge for me.

So, in addition to the swaps I do, the projects I enjoy for family and friends, etc. I am trying to finish other projects and get my craft room organized. Wittenberg was great in helping to make this a reality. They gave us from Christmas Eve to January 4th off. YEAH! It was wonderfully relaxing, but here it is not even a month later and I could easily take 10 more days off.

What I've done so far: I didn't take photos of my craft/sewing/laundry room because honestly, I was too embarassed. It was a disaster with cobwebs hanging everywhere like I intentionally draped them from the ceiling. You could hardly walk through for the stuff piled everywhere. So, I went to the Evil Empire (also known as Wal-Mart) and picked up 6 totes... the big ones... to sort what I wanted. They are divided as follows: Ribbon, fabric, books, beads, paintables, kids crafts. After I fill a tote, I sort it. For one entire afternoon, I sat on the floor with a needle and beading string and picked up seed beads off the floor. I also found LOTS of change, which is going towards coach's gifts.

Other things I've completed: The January WTS swap! I made a WTS bookmark for my partner. I hope she likes it. It's 100% alpaca in RED so she can find the book. Didn't take photos of that, either (note to self - TAKE PHOTOS!)

Next on the list is the LYS1 traveling scarf that should be completed tonight, followed by the Ohio Traveling Scarf that's been at my home for about 2 months.

Other projects:

1. Headband Swap
2. Versatility
3. Rainbow dog lead
4. French Press slippers (I actually have two pair ready to felt!)
5. Calorimetry (would like to make several of these for a student's community service project)

Guess that's about it.

Wrestling is going well. Baylor has lost a few and won a few. He placed third at the London Harry S. Steele Tournament last weekend. Not to bad, in my book. He is now 18 - 4. One more and he ties last year's record.

Ethan is back at school taking Bio, Chem, Africana Studies and Black History. He wasn't too sure about the Africana Studies or Black History but says he has learned a ton already. He sounded really excited.

I, too, am back at school taking America Literary Survey. We have touched on Emerson and Thoreau. I have to go home and READ tonight, plus make some banana muffins for the team for tomorrow.

A New Season

Well, it's started.... the smell of testosterone and sweat in the air, screams of 'Base up! Base up!' and 'Walk towards the head', the heat of the gym, lots of laughter and tears... what is it? WRESTLING SEASON!!! We officially started wrestling season this past week.

Northeastern's team is tough and has lots of potential. We are a D-3 school and wrestle against a lot of D-1 and D-2 schools and still win. Our first meet was against Lima Catholic Central and West Liberty-Salem. Baylor is wrestling at 135. He beat the LCC kid, a senior. WLS didn't have anyone in his weight class.

At the Duals this weekend, Baylor went 8 - 1, losing only to the opponent from Covington. He placed second in his weight class. The team placed third, right behind Covington and Fairborn. It was a great weekend.

Ethan got home from college on Friday, also. Now we have a house full of young men. It's great to have him home again. He will be home for about a month.

As for Christmas, well I am having a tough time getting out to do any shopping. I need to get done this week so I can finish decorating the house. Not today, though! We have a booster meeting at 7 tonight.

They will know

You know, as your children grow up there are a lot of things you wonder about. I wondered if they knew I was at events, especially sporting events. I wondered if they cared. I wondered what impact there was on them if I was there or not.

Well, let me tell you. They know. They know if there is 500 people in the stands. They know if they are concentrating on what they are doing. They know. Not only do they know, their friends know.

When Ethan was in 8th grade, I got to a game right before half time, just in time to watch him intercept a pass and run it in for a touchdown. I was walking in and could just tell it was him. I couldn't see his number really well, but a mom knows how their kids move.

I was screaming and cheering, as were some friends. In the next play, some of Ethan's friends told him 'Hey your mom just got here.', to which he replyed 'Yeah, I could hear her too.'.

Flash forward a few years to Kelly's high school band concerts. She looks into the stands to see where we (Grandma Penny and I) are sitting. She looks up, winks and there's a little wave. She is looking to see if we are there.

A little further ahead. Baylor is wrestling at Mechanicsburg. Just as the match ends and he wins, he looks around, just as I am running into the gym to watch. The smile on his face is larger after he sees me.

Last weekend I went to Baldwin Wallace to watch Ethan in his last (for this year) reserve game. It was a 3+ hour drive, but he was playing. It is important. I got there after the game started. Some day, I will be able to judge how long it takes to get up to Wooster/ Cleveland. During the game, I didn't see him look into the stands. Not once. He was busy playing ball.

After the game, he was looking around. You know the look, if you are a parent, kind of looking around knowing someone is there. 'I was looking for your red hat.' he said. Sometime during the game, he saw me in the stands. He didn't think I would be there, but he was watching anyway. It is important. They know when you are there and when you aren't.

If you are a parent, please remember to show up. You don't have to comment on mistakes, or praise successes. They know when you travel for hours to watch them stand on the sidelines. Just be there. They will know.

College and such

Well, the new school year is in full swing. Kelly isn't going this semester, due to financial problems.
Ethan is at the College of Wooster and Baylor is a sophomore this year.

Kelly is living with her BF. I don't know if that's good or bad, but that's where she is.

Ethan is living on campus and playing football. I try to get to a game a week, but it's a 2 1/2 hour drive up there. It is a beautiful drive and a lovely campus. Their marching band is really good. Ethan is primarily playing Junior Varsity, but has to dress for Varsity as well. He ran in a 'pick 6' on the 20th, so he officially scored a TD in college. Not too shabby. I always like going up to watch the games. It's fun and if I don't have anyone with me, I usually talk to whoever is around. Mom has gone up with me once.

Baylor is liking school about as much as he will ever like school. His interims weren't too bad, with mostly b's and c's and a few a's. I'm happy.

I am taking Ethics of Everyday Life this semester. It's a pretty interesting course, and I think it will be more so now that we are through the 'introductory' stage. Still working on knitting projects and reading books from the library. Busy busy busy.

Week at the fair (part 2)

Yeah, I know I am a terrible blogger. My neighbor asked if I was ever going to finish this, so here is part 2 of the week:

Sunday July 26 (Junior Fair Board Day)

This is the day of the beef breeding show. Beef showmanship starts the day, followed by the feeder calves, then beef breeding. Baylor took a breeding heifer, Ronnie. She's a beautiful Shorthorn. Anyways, Northeastern cleaned up in showmanship, as they always seem to do. Hallie from our 4H club won Junior Showmanship. The top 5 in Senior Showmanship were all from Northeastern. Baylor and Ethan did not show.

Ronnie was behaving well all day. Baylor even dropped her lead and she continued walking beside him. She placed all right, just seemed real antsy once she got in the show arena. When B tried to take her out of the arena, some thing spooked her. She ran back into the arena. Baylor and Steve waited a while and tried again. This time, whatever spooked her really spooked her. She drug Baylor 30 feet and stomped on him several times before he let go. She continued running until she got to the fence. Steve loaded her in a trailer and took her home. By the time she got home, she was asleep, so whatever it was wasn't bothering her any more.

See how pretty she is? Crazy as a bedbug.

I think the Expo center is haunted. The darker photo before this on my camera shows 4 orbs. I think this is what spooks the calves.

Later our 4H club worked the ice cream tent. Several of our members suggested we sign up for two sessions next year. That sounds like a good idea and a chance for everyone to be involved.

Monday, July 27th

Today is the slow day. Not much going on, except preparing for the rest of the week.

Tuesday July 28

Baylor was officer of the day for FFA. We monitored the salad booth and worked 7 - 9. Savannah, Baylor's GF, showed her goats and did really well. She is goat ambassador this year. She's so cute. Savannah and Baylor are a cute couple. They have the same attitude.

Adult make n take was today. Kelly helped me. We decorated reusable shopping bags. It was a huge hit. We went over time and used all 25 bags.

Wednesday, July 29 (beef day)

Baylor showed in the first class. He placed 2nd with Victor. Go figure. That calf was so crazy. Guess it's B's year for crazy. Ethan got 4th with Deeds.

After the show, it was Margaritaville at the trailer. We got together for food and drinks to say 'Thank goodness that's done'. It was great fun.

Thursday, July 30

Well, no show for use today. I went to the fair about 5 to vote and pick up Steve. This is weird having so much 'stay at home' time.

Friday July 31 (the saddest day)

Animals are rapidly leaving the fairgrounds. Pens are cleaned and everyone is getting ready for the scrambles. Baylor is in the scramble, but didn't get a calf. He was really upset, but I think a lot of that is from being stomped early in the week. Time to start thinking of next year.

Saturday August 1

Official clean up day. Tumbleweeds of trash blow across the midway where yesterday there were food booths and rides. No one is here except those who make the fair work. Projects are picked up and we all start to plan for 2010. We say our goodbyes and tell stories of the week. Since we all see it from different perspectives, we all have different stories. The stories see us through until next year, making us laugh and cry. They are our hope and dream. Our plan and our ideas. Next year, we all say, I will do better.

A week at the fair (part 1)

We just finished our county fair on July 31. I know there are two types of people... fair people and non-fair people. Our family is definitely fair people. We work all year to do our best at the fair, either by bringing our best cattle, editing the fair book, planning parties at the fair... whatever. It's always a lot of hard work and fun.

So as a recounting, here is what happened at the fair this year:

Wednesday, July 22

Fair set up day! This is the day we go to the fairgrounds and set up the barns so we are able to get our animals in on Friday, quickly and easily. Our 4H club (Livestock Unlimited) had a meeting/pizza party before set up. It's always a good time. Several of our club members participated in the 'Livestock Unlimited Photo Scavenger Hunt'. It's great to see so many involved. Hopefully we will have more in it next year. The winner was one of our Cloverbuds.. Taylor! He was so excited about Clark County Fair survival pack... especially the CAT hat Baylor threw in.

The weather was lousy and cold. It rained...no poured. It was miserable and we were using black mulch. By the time we left, we were all covered in black goo, yet everyone was smiling!

We worked until 9 PM. After a day at work, that was more than enough.

On Thursday, we had time to rest, eat and get ready. This was my last day to work, so I was really excited. The first day to set up is always so exciting. It's hard to sleep.

Friday, July 24th - The day of hope and promise:

Today is the official start of the fair. We start by setting up our 4H booth. Everyone pitches in and has fun. This year's theme is Hometown Pride shared Countywide. We already completed a HUGE map of Clark County, with each township a different color. Part of the scavenger hunt gave points for photos of anything that said a township name. We were hoping to get all the townships. The only one we didn't have was Green township. Not bad!

It took about 5 hours to set up our booth, but I think a lot of it was the details we put together. We had flower pots with each township name in them. Ten in all! It was a lot of work making them. The girls did a great job. (Note to self: Change camera batteries BEFORE the fair!).

Here are some photos of the booth set up:

And the finished booth:



As I said, it's far from professional, but we had a great time putting it together. That's what really counts. I am going to make this frame smaller for next year, though. We had to call John to bring it in a truck! The white piece with the map is 4 feet x 8 feet!


I know you can't see it well, but almost all the townships are marked with photos of something with a township name, either a road sign, side of a fire truck, some patches, etc. The club was very creative.

In the afternoon, I went to the Arts & Crafts building and helped set up there. From 2 until 8, we accepted entries. We had 511 entries in our department alone. Only 19 were absolute no-shows. (yes, I was one of them!). Then we organized from 8 until 11. It is a lot of walking, climbing up and down ladders, etc.

Saturday, July 25th

OK, as busy as we were last night, we were just as busy Saturday morning. Open class judging started at 9. I was working with the Children's judges. It was fun, but we all felt a little rushed.

We were done with judging well before 1 PM. Then we had to try to figure out where to put everything and display it well. As always, it worked out. After standing on the concrete for so many hours, my whole body ached. We didn't have much else going on so I went home to nap thinking I would come back later. I slept for 4 hours, so I decided to stay home and rest to get a good start to the week.

I will post more about our fair week later.