Milestones

M and B had a great moment this morning. B smiled at M and then when M started to walk away, B followed M with his eyes. The smiling is new over the past week but today is the first time we've seen him follow us with his eyes. Go B!!

Working the polls

M volunteered to be a poll worker.  He had to go to a training class to learn all about the process.  He was assigned to be a roster judge - checking IDs and signing them in.  He also had to be a backup for the other jobs as well.  He knew he wasn't going to be able to vote on Election Day, so he went the Saturday before and stood in line for 4 hours to cast his vote.  So proud!!  On Sunday, he had to go to back to the polling place to do some roster judge practice.  He spent about an hour doing his training.  He was told he probably couldn't leave at any point during the day so we packed snacks and meals for him.  We thought he should be prepared to be there until midnight since the workers cannot leave until the Election Judge says they can leave.  

He got up at 4:45am on Election Day and headed for his polling place.  He got there and there was already a line waiting!  The day was a long day - many voters.  M said there weren't any problems that day.  By 6pm (an hour and a half before the 7:30 close time), the polling place had slowed to a crawl so he was pretty sure he wouldn't be there until midnight.  He was home by 9pm.   A long day that was worth it.  The outcome is irrelevant - he participated in the democratic process!  Way to go M!!!

My Election Day was much less eventful.  I waited in line for about half an hour and cast my ballot.  :-)

Getting the Vote Out

Our county's website has a section where you can get a sample ballot so you know what issues/people are going to be on your ballot BEFORE you get into the voting booth.   Check to see if your county has the same thing.  Ours is:  http://vote.franklincountyohio.gov

Once you have that information, you can go to the League of Women Voters to get the real answers on the candidates/issues - non-partisan answers.   The league asks all of the candidates the same questions and then compiles their answers.  They are a nonpartisan political membership organization that encourages informed, active participation of citizens in government.  

Happy voting!

A Day of Adventure in Hocking Hills

M and I wanted to go camping in Hocking Hills State Park.  It didn't work out that we could stay overnight so we decided to go down for the afternoon - after morning soccer - yes, hiking after already a good workout in the morning.  M made a very yummy cold shrimp and peanut sauce pasta dish for dinner that we loaded into the cooler.   We made sandwiches for lunch, packed fruit and granola bars for the day.  It was sunny so we took the convertible and enjoyed the drive.  I think I took a short little cat nap in the car - I guess I must have been tired.  

When we got to the park, we found a picnic table and ate our sandwiches for lunch.  There are trails both in the gorge and above the gorge to the various falls and Old Man's Cave.  We took the lower trail to Devil's Bathtub and up to the Upper Falls.  We climbed over rocks, up rock stairs, over fallen trees.  We then walked down the trails to Old Man's Cave and on to the Lower Falls.  The fall foliage was so pretty.  At some points, the leaves would fall and it sounded a bit like rain.  We went through a place where the water dripping through the rocks would echo off of the gorge walls - I think it was called something Echo.  We really enjoyed walking over the rocks and fallen trees in the gorge.  

We figured we would walk along the lower gorge to Cedar Falls and then take the higher trail as it got darker - I was a little afraid to be in the lower gorge when it got dark and had packed a few flashlights just in case.  Yes, always the safety girl.  We met another couple along the way that were wondering if they too would run out of sunlight in the lower gorge.  They had turned around and started heading back to Old man's Cave but I knew we were closer to Cedar Falls and the crossover point to the upper trail.  We told them our plan and they decided to walk with us.  We eventually made it to Cedar Falls, took some pictures and were pleased that we decided to stay in the lower gorge the whole way as it was definitely cool to see.  We climbed many many stairs to get to the higher trail and walked with our new friends.  We walked along and chatted.  We walked up a long hill, when we got to the top, there was a large clearing in the woods.  Rose Lake was breathtaking.   It was soooo beautiful and the afternoon sun made it a beautiful sight.  At this point we found out that our new friends had the same first names as we do!!  We shared cheese and crackers as we enjoyed the beautiful lake.  

It was windy all day and being in the clearing made it a little chilly.  We went back into the woods to continue along the trail.  We eventually made it back up to the Visitors Center.  We left our friends at the parking lot.  We sat in the car (with the heat on!) and ate the yummy shrimp/peanut pasta dish M made.  M said it was the perfect way to end the day.  Although it was cold, it was still sunny so we decided to try to make it home with the top down.  Well, we got too cold - and put the top up at a stop light - but we definitely enjoyed trying!

We have been so happy to be so active.  We know from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls is 3 miles one way so we figured going to the Upper Falls, then past Old Man's Cave down to Lower Falls an on to Cedar Falls - and back - we probably went about 8 miles.  We laugh at how much we like having adventures together and this was just another example of a great adventure!!

Waves and dolphins

We woke up on day one to the sound of ocean waves - our bedroom faces the ocean and we had the door to the porch open to enjoy the sound. After getting ready and having a bowl of cereal, we went out on the first floor porch. Imagine our delight when we saw dolphins swiming by!! This vacation thing is really great so far!!

My first soccer game

I was so proud of K when she started back playing soccer in the spring. I watched her games and they seemed to have a lot of fun so I decided to give it a go.

This Saturday I had my first game and I had a blast. It's much harder than I thought it would be but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to many more games.

Farmer's Market, Swimming, naked front door & Some Like It Hot

We got up early on Saturday morning to go to the Worthington Farmer's Market.  We really enjoy walking around and seeing all of the fresh produce and organic meats.  We ended up getting fresh blackberries and raspberries, zucchini, a basil plant, fresh raw milk cheddar cheese, purple tomatillos and some tomatoes.  When we asked the "tomato guy" for some info on the tomatoes, he explained that the ones we were purchasing were called "grandpa's tomatoes".  He explained that his wife's grandfather brought the seeds over from Italy when he came to the States.  I love the Farmer's Market!!   Oh yeah, and we shared a fresh key lime bar :-)

We dropped our wares off at home and then went to the gym to go swimming.  I don't usually pay much attention to how far we go but M figured out how many laps we needed to do to make a mile so we did it.  My arms were pretty tired when we were done but it was nice to finish a mile.

We took the front door apart and stripped the paint off of it.  When we switched the door handle, we were hoping to only have to sand a small spot on the door and paint it.  Our luck was that there were so many coats of paint and that one of the middle layers was goopy that it just wasn't going to work.  We spent the afternoon taking the paint off and sanding.  We put the door back on the hinges with no paint on it as it was time to go out.

One of the east suburbs (Gahanna) was showing "Some Like It Hot" in a local area park.  www.creeksidegahanna.com/index.html  We invited some friends (C&B) to go with us.  B agreed to bring white wine, hummus and pita crisps.  We brought red wine, homemade salsa (from the Farmer's Market tomatillos) and chips.  They got there first and called to tell us that it was in more of a brick plaza than a park.  We didn't have chairs so C went to the nearest Kroger and picked up four chairs - whew!  It was very cool - so great to watch the movie on the blow up movie screen.  Funny movie if you have never seen it.  What was even funnier is that in the building behind where we were watching the movie, the third floor was a reception hall with a lot of windows and we could tell it was a wedding reception.  We got to see the first dance, the father daughter dance, YMCA, and Hang On Sloopy (O-H-I-O).  It turns out that the plaza had an amazing fountain and a restaurant overlooking the fountain.  It is now on my list of restaurants that I want to try - if for nothing other than the atmosphere.  www.mezzoitalian.com