Monday, December 31, 2007

St. Sylvester

Wisconsin Edition of The Ohio Experiment: Feast of St. Sylvester
In the smallest of nutshells, Christmas in Wisconsin was nice - though as always, trips back to WI are packed full of trying to see as many people as we can in a short amount of time - if we weren't able to see you, it's not for a lack of wanting. Next time we're both in the state together, we're going to have a ginormous pot-luck and you'll all be invited!

Janet returned to OH on the 26th, and I remained to work (at Urban & Taylor, where I was formerly a paralegal) and to have out annual new year's celebration of midnight mass and dinner party afterwards (something that's been happening 7 for the past 8 years). Blog next week will follow about this tradition. As happy as I am to be here, I am excited to return home to Janet later this week.

As for school, it's nice to have a break, but until a day ago, it hasn't felt like vacation, with all the running around we were doing. My course load is the same next semester, with the addition of a Criminal Law course.
From Ohio - by way of Wisconsin - Happy Feast of St. Sylvester - and Happy New Years in advance.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Ohio TRIVIA!!!!!

Here's one for you from Brian (who's taking a bit of a study break at the moment)

What happens Friday at noon?*

*note, there are many answers, but one correct answer...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Time to assimilate!

So I've got 2 work days under my belt and I'm sure you're all anxious to hear about it! It's going well! I haven't been too busy, because I still don't really know much of anything. (My boss has been busy in meetings, so we haven't even been able to meet much.) I will have email access tomorrow though. And, good news, I don't ever have to postage again!!! They have a mail room. Although, dad assures me that when we're home for Christmas I can get my postaging fix by helping him. Everyone is really nice. I'm not super busy yet (because of the not knowing anything), but I can tell I will be. I go to Columbus for some training next week. I think I'll learn a lot in this position - I am already learning about the far-reaching impact of development on a campus. It's super interesting!

Today, I got my BuckID - this means I can now buy Ohio propaganda at a better rate and get sports tickets. And, some of the other offices at the school are seriously covered in Ohio stuff from floor to ceiling -- I might have to purchase a few items to fit in.

Thanks for all of your well wishes!!!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to say - even though we were here, we were thinking of all our family and friends at Thanksgiving! We had some of Brian's classmates over for a potluck dinner party, and did have a nice time. But we missed everyone!

In other news, I start my new job tomorrow! I'll be working at Ohio State University - Lima campus in the development office. It's a state school so the benefits are great! And, the staff in the office seemed really nice, so I'm excited to get more people interaction. And, I quit the retail job, because I wanted to keep my sanity.

Also, we got another car so I don't have to hitchhike to work. It's a white, '96 Chrysler Sebring LXI. It's in really great condition, and seems to be running okay. And, we got a pretty good deal on it.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Lots to talk about!!!

This weekend Tick and Janel came to visit! We ate lots of food and played lots of games. We played Settlers of Catan (everyone should really try this game!!), and Guitar Hero 3 and some other games. Apparently, we were too loud because our neighbor came down and said she could hear the bass in Guitar Hero. (Oops! But she vacuums at 6:00 a.m.) We also took a trip to show off Findlay and we took a little detour at Best Buy to demo a new video game coming out - Rock Band! It has a bass guitar, guitar, drums, and microphone and combines all these glorious things at once so you can play up to 4 players. Best Buy was missing a guitar, so only 3 of us could play at once. So we played twice with the boys both trying guitar and drums and I sang!! I sang in public everyone!!!! :) Thanks again to Tick and Janel for visiting!

In other news, I have 2 more interviews this week. One tomorrow for an accounting assistant at a factory and one Wednesday for a program assistant in the development department at Ohio State University - Lima Campus. I'm hoping the one on Wednesday goes particularly well. In addition to these interviews, I also got a part-time job! It's at Elder-Beerman (like a Younkers or Boston Store), and is only a sales associate position, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!

And lastly, worth mentioning - over the weekend the Badgers were vindicated for their loss to the nutty Buckeyes. The #1 ranking OSU team fell to Illinois.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

My new favorite internet video...



By an English animator called Simon Tofield and it is actually called 'Cat Man Do'. He works for an animation company called Tandem Films.

Politikin'

I've been promising some people bits and pieces of politics on the blog for a while, and here I go:

See this op-ed piece in the NY Times from NY Senator Schumer for a well written explanation why I disagree with WI Senators Feingold and Kohl for their disapproval of nomination of Judge Michael B. Mukasey for U.S. Attorney General.

Yes - this is one of those rare times that I agree with Bush 43rd. NPR has some good reporting on Judge Mukasey when he was announced as nominee, and my opinion hasn't changed since then (and I have to admit, that I am slightly surprised with Kohl on this one...)

Saturday, November 3, 2007

In the lion's den

Columbus this weekend...we didn't get ticket to the game, but we did go to a pub relatively close to the staduim, and Janet and I were the only fans clad in Wisconsin attire (we were with my friend Bill, who is a grad student at OSU.

WHAT A GAME - that is, if games only lasted three quarters. I actually started to believe that I'd walk through this pub from the back outdoor patio where we sat, passing two hundred CRAZED Buckeye fans, smiling clad in cardinal W's. Well, if you haven't seen the score of the Badger's game, sorry for the spoiler, but they (we) lost.

It was fun, and I only got heckled badly by one "fan", who was wearing his buckeye gear. He offered me a dollar for my Badgers hat, and I retorted he should keep his dollar, and buy five Buckeye hats. It was completely lost on him, and the "badgering" of the Badger fan didn't bother me so much, since OSU was favored to win.

The moral of the story - OSU fans are seriously, seriously, crazy!!! I vow not to assimilate, and will continue to be a Badger booster.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

employment difficulties....

I know everyone is anxious to hear that I've procured a job. Well, sorry to burst your bubble....not yet. I had a lot of leads and a couple really good interviews. I finally had a verbal offer, but every time I've gone in to their offices to talk through the offer something comes up. They wanted me to start today, but as of Tuesday, needed to wait on a final approval for the position before we could even go through the offer. So maybe one of my previous interviews will come through in the clutch.

On to happier news, this last weekend Brian and I went to an ONU produced one act play - Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams. They gave us student prices (even me!), so that was nice. I read the play in college, it's kind of disturbing, but it was pretty well done. And, Monday night we had some friends over for Monday night football because the Packers were on. I made very tasty cupcakes and if you visit, I'll make them for you too.

This weekend we're going out for our friend Austin's (from Malawi) birthday on Friday. Then we're going to Columbus for the Wisconsin/Ohio game with Bill & Melisa. And, don't worry, Brian's been studying a LOT, so he's due for a little fun, and he's back to the library on Sunday!

I will close with a parting shot of my little bundle of joy!


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Catch up!

Greetings!
We're a little behind in our blogs, but have much to report! Two weekends ago, we had a great visit from Jeff & Mary! They arrived on Friday evening, and we had an activity packed weekend. We went to the Red Pig Inn for ribs and came back to our apartment for games galore!

Saturday, we went to Van Buren State Park for geo-cacheing. (If you're not familiar with it - it's kind of like a treasure hunt with a GPS!) We followed some trails around the park - they even have a horse camp with horse trails. To the left is Brian and Jeff finding a cache.




After some finds, we went to a corn maze. It was very educational and space themed with questions to find and answer throughout the maze, with stamps to find too. We also picked up some pumpkins for later. Here's an action shot of everyone writing down answers.

Then we went to ONU to show off the campus and to watch the Homecoming football game of 1L's. The game was a teensy bit boring, just because we didn't really know anyone playing, and Brian's section lost. :(

Then we headed home for pizza and pumpkin carving. Pumpkin carving was very fun, and messy! After that we played some more games and regrouped Sunday morning. Sunday morning we squeezed in a few more geocaches and then jeff and mary were off. Thanks for visiting guys!!

Sunday afternoon we went to Tiffin, to do some exploring (and really so I wouldn't get lost going to an interview.) An update on my employment situation - I've had several promising interviews in the last 2 weeks, so I'm hopeful. I particularly liked some of the people I met at Tiffin University and at Owens Community College. We'll see what pans out.

Another update coming soon about Brian's Fall Break. (I'm always on Break!)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

What's in a name?


Is a Brisco by any other name still our dog? We often thought about trying to casually re-name our dog "Brisco" with something we like better, but similar enough so as not to freak him out, say if we started calling him "fred". Well, I've found it - from inspiration from one of my favorite blogs - Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish - BROSCO - the gun-toting mascot of the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, helping Jewish children across America learn gun safety. Look out doggie, you may have a new name...

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Weekend Last

It's catch-up time, and we're posting what we can to catch us up to date (just in time for a return trip to WI in three days!)

Last weekend we had a great occasion to return to Wisconsin - the baptism of our niece Grace's baptism, at which Brian was godfather. It was a lot of driving for a short weekend, but well worth it. We had a nice time, and it was good to see family for the first time since we moved, and awesome to meet Grace for the first time!!!

We also had the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of our friends Tick (a.k.a. Jon) and Janel in Waukesha Saturday, and among other things got to play some of our favorite board games, Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. We were also introduced to new games, nearly always an occurrence when we visit these two.

Thanks to Mom & Kevin and Tick & Janel for providing lodging during our visit. Later this week we'll blog about this weekend's visit by Jeff & Mary P. Stay tuned...

Friday, October 12, 2007

at the races...

Yes - this is delinquent, but we'll play catch-up with the blogging...

Two weekends ago Janet and I attended one of the marvelous activities ever to transpire at the Hancock County Fairgrounds - the Annual National Dachshund Races! Yes - "wiener dogs". They raced, people cheered, and the stakes were almost as low as the racers were to the ground.

All in all it was a fun time - the race itself took place in one of the event halls - otherwise known as a concrete barn. There were bleachers set up around the 25 foot raceway (sprint), and a stage on which a very annoying emcee announced the events, and made jokes that only he seemed to think were funny (and some double-entendres that would conservative censorship gurus to have been on fox news the following morning calling for his head - and honestly, we thought a few comments were a bit too risque for the children...)

Digressing, we stayed for the younglings - up until about 1 1/2 years old, and then saw the senior races. Very rarely would they just tear off from the starting blocks to their respective handlers, making for a competitive race. In reality, it was more like "dumb dogs walking around sniffing the astro turf seeking treats." It was highly entertaining though, however, pretty clear that the event, which I'd say garnered about 400 spectators, has outgrown it's facility, and there is a need to expand, perhaps next year have a jumbo-tron for better viewing capabilities.

Below is a video clip that shows some racing, for a second at least, from the beat vantage point I had with our digital camera!

This weekend we're graced with the presence of our friends Jeff & Mary, who are presently on their way to the Yuckeye State - oh, sorry - that's the Buckeye state (see Kevin, I'm still retaining my Badger heritage!!!!!)

Next blog - also retroactive - about last weekend's trip to Wisconsin for a visit with friends, family, and my goddaughter Grace's baptism!!!


Thursday, October 11, 2007

Breakfast...

Every Thrsday monring the Dean of the law school has a continental breakfast out for the law school - pretty nice, huh? I think so too. Today I'm eating a cheese danish.

There - a blog - I'm under fire for not blogging in a while - and as Janet reminds me - it's my turn, because I have all the photos from the Daschund races.

So, tonight, there will be substantial blog material!

Peace!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

bloggin'

A new blog will be posted soon...

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Shear cheer!

Brisco got his hair cut today and looks hilarious!!! It was pretty matted from his previous owner, so I thought he should get it short, so they didn't try to comb it out and hurt him.
He's been doing well. He's super funny and has a giant bear that he plays with. We're still adjusting to our sleeping patterns - for whatever reason, I've been hearing him sniff or bark at the neighbors around 5:30a.m. He would go back to sleep, but I've been getting up with him and going outside to keep the creepy bats company.
In other news, I had an interview at Freudenberg-NOK for an office coordinator position today. It went well. I should hear back late next week, if I make it to the second round of interviews.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Would you like cheese with your whine?

It's my turn to blog, as I've been delinquent. This weekend we went to a wine and cheese party in honor of ONU's LLM students. All the LLM students are international students that have been practicing law in their country, which must be an emerging democracy. Brian and I went with Brian's friend Randy. We were told practically the whole school goes, and most of the school - including faculty would be there. Brian and Randy ended up being some of the only first years there - so they didn't know much of anyone. I didn't know anyone.

When we first got there we ended up meeting someone's husband, Lance, who is from New Orleans. He works on a ship that basically maps the ocean's floor looking for oil. He's home every other month and told us some ship stories. Then I got to meet Brian's property professor. She's new to the school this year and is from Indiana, and brought her son. She was very nice. After that we started talking to one of the LLM students, Austin from Malawi. He has travelled more in the US, than most of us probably have, and has a very sincere appreciation for the US government. He even named his son after Jefferson, because of his political writings. When he told us that he named his son after the 3rd president, Brian said Jefferson, and Austin said that Brian is the FIRST American to get it correct!!! Isn't that horrible? So, anyway we talked more and it was very inspiring to just go home and learn more about our government, which we often take for granted. And of course, to learn about other countries. We also met Fred, from Kenya, who invited us to someday visit him. He left before we could talk too much with him. But Kenya has taken in a large number of refugees and has worked hard to keep fighting in Somalia from coming into their country. Both of these issues have caused a big strain on the government and resources. Again, a reminder of how lucky we are. We also got our pictures taken with Fred and Austin which may make Brian one step closer to his ultimate goal of being one of the "models" on the giant ONU outdoor billboard on the way into Ada.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Driving Tests and Doggie Doors

Brisco!
We've got a puppy! Brisco is his name-o. He's a 1 and 1/2 year old Shih Tzu , and a gooooood boy! Nice to have a little more company, especially for Janet while I am at school!

He likes kibble, long walks on the blacktop, and having the hair out of his eyes so he can see things!

Still getting used to his new house, but he's settling in nicely.

In other Ohio news - Janet and I both passed out driver's test!!!! That's right, in order to get an Ohio license, we had to take a 40 question multiple choice test, showing that we wouldn't join all the other maniacs on the road. From my perspective, the test needs to be given to all the others living here, with the first question dealing with how to use a turn signal!!!!!

Classes are going well. I've joined a law fraternity - Phi Alpha Delta - and will be inducted next week (this is a professional organization people - no hazing jokes please.) Classes are going well...5 weeks in already.

Janet had a job interview this week, that went well, and has another next week - so good luck to her!!!

Stay tuned for more trivia soon.....

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

WI news...from OH...broadcast to the World!!!!!


Congratulations to Corinne & Ed Johnson (Brian's sister & bro-in-law for those not in the know) on the birth of their daughter, Grace Corinne!!! A happy and healthy 8 lb. 6oz. and 21.75" long! We're very excited and can't wait to make it back to Wisconsin to visit!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Your Dose of Ohio Trivia...

Here's one that will make you work...

Ohio is rich in its civil war history, though, throughout the course of the war, there was only one significant battle fought here.

Question: On what date of the battle and what was the location of the battle (also by reference the name of the battle)?

Bonus Question: What three notable figures in American History are said to have been present at the battle?

(Rules for this trivia: first person to post correct answer to the Question receives a prize. First person to post correct answer to Bonus Question receives a prize (if it's the same person, they get a prize upgrade!) The Ohio Experiment trivia winners are not eligible to win back to back questions (Sorry Heidi, but we need to spread around the cool prizes!!!)

Monday, September 10, 2007

An addendum.

I'd just like to add to Brian's post. Here's a picture of a John Deere tractor for Grandpa Vernie. We saw it at the festival. His tractors are only a few years younger than this!!




And they had a HUGE miniature train display that was amazing. They had all sorts of tiny little people posed all over and even "underground" and they had stories for all the different settings.


And, more on the bookstore....It was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! It's called the Stately Raven Bookstore. The walls were painted all cozy colors, and there are chairs and couches, the stairs to get to the various levels are gorgeous. The balcony is a beautiful cozy little couch-y area, perfect for book clubs, or just reading by yourself. And, they had an awesome selection of books, the standard best sellers, good varietals in all sorts of book categories and our favorite - a great quirky section called the wierd room, where we also found one of our new games - Munchkin! Also worth noting because of my love for young adult books (you'd think I'd grow out of those), they have a downstairs room dedicated to kid's books and a little room for young adult/teen books. (I found all of the books Jessie and I talked about this summer and some more that she would like!!) So after perusing the store, we checked out with some books from the wierd room - I got another Neil Gaiman book. But of course with us, we don't just check out. We started talking to the 2 guys at the checkout and Brian was talking to the one about Munchkin and games. I was talking to the other about Neil Gaiman. I didn't realize it, but I picked out his staff recommendation book! Unfortunately, we had to skedaddle so we couldn't talk long, because we would have missed our movie. But, we're going to be regulars there. And we're taking all of our future visitors there.

Thanks again dad for coming to visit!!

Living the Ohio Dream...

Another week has come and gone in beautiful north-west Ohio! I've gotten through three weeks of law classes, and in another twelve it's on to my first round of law school finals. I'm not nervous yet, but I am spending much of my free time at school in the law library studying.

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Rick (Janet's dad for those not in the know). he arrived Saturday morning, and after he and Janet bummed around town and I studied, we drove a 1/2 mile down the road for the "festival" taking place at the Northwest Ohio RR Preservation Society.

It was an annual festival with food (notably homemade ice cream from some type of John Deere contraption, see photo); a 1/4 scale steam locomotive offering rides; a large and impressive train layout; tour of an old caboose many tractors and other old-timey tractors and steam engine powered stuff. the coolest part for me was the modestly sized civil war reenactment encampment, while Janet loved the alpacas!












We had a nice dinner, and went to see the film 3:10 to Yuma, which was GREAT!!!! I think I can speak for all three of us that we highly recommend it. Also, we found a wonderful new bookstore in Findlay, The Stately Raven, which is housed in a beautiful old church, recently renovated for its new purpose. We'll likely be spending much more time there in the coming months...

Sunday was relaxing, mixed with studying, and watching (but mostly fast-forwarding) the recorded Badgers and Packers football games. We're determined to "buck" the system, and not become "Buckeye" fans just because we're Ohians...Ohioans...Ohionites...um, people who live in Ohio. And, just to make our friends in Italy jealous, we also enjoyed take-away from Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner!

Coming soon - more fun Ohio trivia...stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Our Columbus weekend!

This weekend we went to Columbus to visit Bill, Melisa & Emily. We left Friday evening and got there around 6:30/7:00 p.m. We visited, ordered pizza, and played some Word Sweep. Saturday, we slept in, and went to the mall!! At the mall, we were looking for 2 stores in particular - a game store and a Banana Republic. We found both. I used my Banana Republic gift card and we got a couple games - Munchkins & Carcassone. Both games we play with Tick and Janel. Carcassone is extra fun, because it can be a 2 player game. Then we regrouped back at Bill & Melisa's and played some more Word Sweep and Carcassone. We played a lot of Carcassone - I think Bill will be getting the game. The next morning we tried out one of Bill's mall purchases - Settlers of Catan. It was a little difficult initially, because none of us had ever played, so really it was the blind leading the blind. But, once we got the hang of it, it was fairly easy. After the first game, we played a quick second where Bill slaughtered the rest of us. We had lots of fun in Columbus and are looking forward to our next trip! Lots of thanks to Bill and Melisa for hosting! And, thanks to Emily for being such a good baby who barely ever cries and is super cute!

We got home Sunday afternoon and vegged out. On Monday, we went to Kohl's which was great for Brian, depressing for me. I'm too tall for petite size pants, but too short for normal size pants, which led me to the conclusion that I just need to buy more super high heels. And, we went grocery shopping...where we saw a giant Ohio State University football sign made out of seven-up cases. In Wisconsin, you would maybe see something similiar regarding the Packers, but not for the Badgers, unless maybe you were actually in Madison. But we're nearly 2 hours from Columbus - home to OSU. It's really an interesting phenomenon.

Today, I'm doing laundry and made some more banana bread. I've also been watching the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet....so at least my television viewing is educational. And, I finally finished reading the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, as recommended by Angie and Laura. I liked it a lot and am mailing it to Charlotte to read!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Due to some technical difficulties, we haven't been online much this week. Seems to be working today though. Heidi wins the trivia and will be getting a fantabulous prize mailed to her soon.

On Wednesday, Brian had the day off of school. We were going to go hiking, but it was in the 90's, so we decided against the fatigue and dehydration. Instead we opened up a checking account! Since the bank was downtown, we saw some of the flood damage and clean up efforts. There are just piles of debris (carpet, insulation, wet dryall) in front of nearly every store front. The post office is still not up to full functionality - we couldn't even get postage there!! The library is closed indefinitely due to extensive flood damage. (So much for joining a book club!) And due to the flood Brian and I are now hesitant to buy a car in Findlay. There were a few lots downtown and we're just not sure if those cars were half underwater, or the underwater ones were moved to different lots. What happens in that situation? Does insurance cover the damage to the cars on a used lot?

This weekend we're going to Columbus to visit Bill, Melissa, and Emily. Brian and Bill have been planning, so I think it's going to involve a number of nerdy games. There may be a game store involved, so this could mean trouble!!

Have a safe weekend everyone! And, if you're by the river, go kneeboarding for me as it's one of the last weekends for water fun!

Monday, August 27, 2007

Ohio trivia! Prize for the winner!

Greetings and salutations!

This weekend was quiet. We're finding that the most popular things to do in Findlay are go to the movies or the mall, which is making us feel a little like we're back in high school. This Wednesday Brian has no morning classes due to some school wide in-service type thing, and he normally doesn't have any afternoon classes, so we may do some exploring of the area. I'm trying to talk him into going hiking at one of the area state parks.

Last Saturday, we checked out the very close by antique mega-store. It was ginormus!! We got lost in it, and didn't get through the whole thing because Brian got antsy. (Which I really thought would happen to me before him!) But we did find all sorts of red dishes for tick & janel. We also found Grandma Evie & Grandpa Vernie's dish set. (Grandma - if you need any extra plates, or anything, just let me know. Also, some of your dishes were quite pricy!)

And we went to the mall to play with the puppies at the pet store. This was a mistake. Now we just want a puppy. We played with a shitzu and a maltese. I preferred the peppy little girl shitzu and brian preferred the timid little boy maltese. (The maltese peed on me a little.) No puppies for us now, but that may be revisited once I get a job.

TRIVIA!!!
And now, it's time for the long awaited trivia game. The rules are simple. We give a question and the first person to respond with a suitable answer gets a prize mailed to them.

We've been driving along and noticed Ohio licenses claim to be the "Birthplace of Aviation." Why does Ohio get this claim, instead of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina?

We'll watch for your answers in the comment section! Be sure to sign it with your name, if you post as anonymous.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Doxie derby

The school week is almost over for Brian. So far he's really enjoying his classes and he's got a good study regimen down. I'm still jobless, but sent out some resumes this week. Our house is still clean - I think I'm spoiling Brian by being home. We haven't flooded. But best of all, we found something ridiculously fun to do in Findlay. It's coming up September 30th, so we recommend visitors that weekend....are you ready for it? It's the National Daschund Races!!!! We'll definitely be posting some pictures after this! And, in honor of the daschund races we'd like to say hello to our favorite daschunds JoJo, MoMo, Gus & Rosie!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Ohio Countryside

You know what they say, there's no better way to take in the upper-Ohio countryside than...fleeing from rising floodwater!

Normal day, left at 8:15 a.m. to go to a brief tutorial of a legal research program, and to the library to study before my 10:00 a.m. Property class. Leaving the driveway for the apartment complex, I saw a mini-van parked oddly in the road "that's a very strange place to park, I wonder AHHHHHHHHHH!" I thought. Flooded road.

Stop, turn around, go the other way.

After a while I figure out how to get onto I-75 south, and make my way to school. About 1 mile from the exit to Ohio Hwy. 235 (which leads right to campus), traffic stops. "Crap" I say to myself. After avg. speeds not exceeding 10 mph, I exit, and head south towards campus.

"Well, at least traffic isn't too bad here;" I say to myself "it seems that AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Crap.

Yes, flooded, several roads are, the majority that I could find in fact. Tediously long story short, I drove to Upper Sandusky (far east of campus), took some back roads, and finally found my way to campus, and did in fact make it to my Property class - 2 minutes before it concluded. Fortunately for me before I lost mobile phone range, I was able to call the professor, who was very understanding of the situation.

So, that's that. I wouldn't call things "devastating" per se, but the flooding is worse than I've ever seen in Milwaukee, or the Creek for that matter. Fortunately, from what I've heard from asking people so far, this doesn't seem to be a regular occurrence, so that's a good thing!

As it turns out, things are actually quite serious! The Findlay Courrier is reporting that non-emergency vehicles found on southern roads in Hancock County will be ticketed - looks like I'm going to have to find an alternative route home! Crap in a hat!

As for my classes, I'll be general and brief. i like them, and all the professors seem nice. Having worked for Scott Taylor when he represented a Marquette Student who was heavily punished for blogging about students and professors at the MU Dental School (Scott prevailed by the way) - I will keep my coments to a very cordial and vague minimum at this point!

Okay, really it's that I have to study, because I'm already 2 hours behind my planned library time, and I want to be able to watch 1 or 2 episodes of season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Janet and I started to re-watch the series before we moved, but now we're clipping along at a bit slower pace!)

Monday, August 20, 2007

Stardust & deals

Hello all. I haven't blogged over the weekend, cuz we didn't do much. We skipped the balloon fest since Brian was studying very diligently the entire time! And, it was pretty dreary here anyway, so we didn't know if they'd have the balloons there anyway. After we went to see the movie Stardust on Friday, I had to read the book. I finished it on Saturday and I won't say this often but I liked the movie more than the book. The book was good, but the movie had more little details, which is usually the other way around. If you liked Princess Bride, you should like Stardust. I was smiling the whole movie. It just made me heart-happy.

Today I'm "pounding the pavement" in that I'm really getting into this whole job hunt thing. I've been a little bored not working, but on the other hand, I've kind of enjoyed being a housewife...our house is cleaner than ever before. (which is really saying something since we've just moved in.) And, I've been honing my cooking skills - I made homemade banana bread, which turned out to be quite tasty! I've also been working out with my new found freedom from work. The workout room at the complex is SUPER tiny, which would be awkward if someone else came in, but so far, it's just been me. (Thank goodness!!)

Brian emailed me after his first class - it went well. He'll probably blog about it later, so I don't want to steal any thunder with details.

And for any visitors coming out (Danny - I have to call you back!) if you stay at the Country Inn, you should say you're visiting a university student and you'll get a deal on a rate. And, they have a really good continental plus breakfast....other hotels may do it too, so it doesn't hurt to mention it.

Friday, August 17, 2007

I'm All Orientated!

Two days, relatively intense, but enough time for a little relaxation too. Met all the professors, made a few friends, and even have a classmate who is from WI! Went to UW-O, but has been living in FL for the past few years - in any case, he said he wants to "find a bar that shows Packer's games!" We'll see.

In any case, to the studies - I've got 5 classes, for a total of 14 credits. Civil Procedure, Torts, Contracts, Property, and Legal Research & Writing. Classes officially start Monday, and I've got loads of reading and case briefing to do before then! (Case briefing is law school speak for summarizing cases, and being prepared to discuss them in class - at times perhaps against one's will.)

Tonight Janet and I took a little break and saw the movie Stardust - which...was...AWESOME!!! Highly recommend it. The rest of the weekend will likely be devoted to study, though we may take a trip tomorrow evening to see the Balloon Fest in Findlay.

Janet will probably post soon, but I wanted to make a little contribution too!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Ohio residents = buckeyes = nuts

We finally have the Internet! I haven’t been able to post anything since Saturday, so there is a lot of catching up to do! Interesting tidbit of info – Ohio residents are called buckeyes, which are actually nuts. Therefore, using my extensive deductive reasoning skills, Ohio residents are nuts!

Anyway, on Sunday we slept in and had a nice bacon & egg breakfast (thanks Dad!) with Jeff and Angie, then we got back to work and did some more unpacking. In the afternoon, Emily & Kevin came over and helped with some rearranging and unpacking. Jeff and Angie headed home. We took a trip to Target which was about an hour away!! (Although, local rumor has it that there may be a Target going in just down the road from us in a year or two.) We tried out a local eatery for some dinner – Steve’s Dakota Grill. Very tasty! Brian and I had rib-eye and would definitely recommend it to our meat-eating friends. Here are a few pictures - the living room, us & jeff & angie, kitchen, brian's office, & angie lounging.




Monday we took a trip to Columbus with Emily and Kevin. We visited friends Bill & Melissa and baby Emily. Bill and Brian went to grade school together at the French immersion school. We went to the German Village part of town and ate at Schmidt’s for lunch – I had my first spatzel. I liked it! Then Bill and Melissa headed home before Emily could fully wake up and realize she wasn’t in her usual location. But, we had a great time at lunch and Emily was just a little doll and slept away the whole time. After lunch, the rest of us checked out the Village and went to The Book Loft, where I would still be, if Brian hadn’t pulled me out. It was an old giant Victorian home renovated with tiny rooms going up and down and willy-nilly filled with books from floor to ceiling. I didn’t even make it through the whole thing. We said our good-byes to Emily & Kevin that evening and spent the rest of our evening driving through a bit of Findlay and watching buffy. Here are pictures of the Union building, the law building and a study/common area inside the law building. And pictures of us, Bill, Melissa & baby Emily, and the outside patio of the book loft. Pretty, pretty!

Tuesday, we did a LOT of exploring in Findlay. We found a Papa John’s that delivers and a sushi restaurant. And, best of all, we found Menards!!!! We said if we’re homesick we’ll just have to go there, because it smells like home. They even have Sprecher root beer! We also found the local mall, which includes what we think is a budget theater and a book store. After our excursion, we went home and I repotted a plant and planted a mum on a roller pot for outside our door….unfortunately it’s a little shady by our door, so I scooted it out closer to the outside, so it gets enough sun. It looks a little funny just sitting over there, but it’s cheerful.

Wednesday, we did a lot of putting away and stayed in because we were supposed to be getting our internet/tv connection in. By 3:30 we were getting stir-crazy, so we called and apparently it was actually scheduled for today, Thursday! Ooops!

Wednesday night we had our first Ohio thunderstorm. When we got up on Thursday – we both looked at each other and said “do they have tornado sirens in Ohio?” My guess is yes, based solely on the Helen Hunt movie, Twisters. And my mum plant did not roll away in the wind, in case you were wondering.

Brian had orientation today. It went well. He met some of the other students. He got his student ID, which will get me discounts on cute clothes at the women’s boutique! And, his picture is a good one – very slimming, no weird expression! J I stayed home and waited for the Internet guy, who didn’t come until 5:30. But I was productive.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Moved in!


Well, it's 7:00pm Wisconsin time and we're in our new place. Here's a picture of us in the car!

Special thanks to our movers and shakers:
Dad, Rod, & Aaron
Jeff & Angie
Emily & Kevin
Mary, Tim & Joey for all the packing help!

And, shout out thanks to our cd makers that made our drive even faster - Tick, Janel & Kate!

More pictures to come! We're "borrowing" a neighbor's internet connection!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Write to us!

Only 3 full days left in Wisconsin. We know you'll be wanting an address, so here it is!

1161 Claudia Lane, Apt. #B
Findlay, OH 45840

Here's a floorplan of our place. And once we're settled, we'll post some pictures of it!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

3..2..1.....CONTACT!!

Well, we're leaving in 10 days for our Ohio digs. We did seemingly find a place. We still have to sign the lease, so it's not official until then. We have a lot to do though before we move and before Brian starts school.

Here's my list:
SEE MORE FAMILY & FRIENDS BEFORE WE'RE GONE!
Sort through storage stuffs and coming to Ohio stuffs.
PACK the Ohio stuffs.
Address changes up to wazoo. (too many bills!)
Clean up the A-Frame when it's near empty.
Find a pesky job.
Find a source of transportation.
Then comes the unpacking and arranging and exploring....