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.

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.

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.....

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!

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!!!)

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.

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!