Back Again in Ohio!

Before Thanksgiving envelopes us, it's time to recap the adventures of last last weekend (i.e. I'm slow posting, again).

We went to Ohio.

Yes, I know, before you groan you should know that interesting things do happen in Ohio that don't involve corn or poultry. For one, our sister Kelly attends school there at University of Miami, thereby taking the whole state up a notch. And despite our propensity for misadventures, we had a grand old time. Come little bullet points, lead us onward...

*Oxford Ohio has the highest per capita drunk college students of any town within 10 miles. Cold weather, snow, and high quantities of parents roaming campus did not dissuade large volumes of students from running through the streets, taking off their shirts, and screaming loudly until the wee hours of the morn.

*Skating is cool. High school was our last time on the ice, but it all came back to us. And by "came back to us" I mean we were just happy not to fall on our butts.

*Silly hat parties rock. Make sure to throw one as soon as possible.

*Who on earth buys their RVs from "Tom Raper RV Sales"? (http://www.tomraper.com/) I mean, seriously, the guy seems to have the market cornered on the entire southeast Indiana / Ohio area despite the flagrant broadcasting of his felonious-tendencies.

*Ohio is home to one of the most inexplicable 80 foot tall homages to our Lord, ever. Witness, "Touchdown Jesus", found just off the highway outside of Dayton.

*You might need a filler bullet point here to recover from the last one.

*Cracker Barrel is waaaaaaaaaay too popular down there. Seriously, if you want to own a recession-proof business, buy one of these restaurants and plop it down in Anywheresville, Ohio.

Thank you to our dear little sister (and her six roomies) for entertaining us for the weekend. Skate well, study hard, and always go for the touchdown.

SONG!!!

This past weekend, we traveled to Ohio to visit Kelly (Jeff’s Sister) at college. We had a great time visiting with her, and seeing her world… Jeff will share more about that soon… I get to share with you our visit with SONG!!!

About a month ago, I was chatting with my college roommate and we had the following conversation (or something like this):

Song: So where are you and Jeff going to travel next?
Allison: I have cut us off from travel this fall, so all we have planned is a weekend visit to Ohio to visit Jeff’s little sister.
Song: Oh that sounds nice. Peter and I will also be in Ohio in November for a wedding.
Allison: You will? When?
Song: The weekend of November 15th. We will be in Columbus.
Allison: Really? Interesting… same weekend as us… Wanna meet up?
Song: How does a random Cracker Barrel in south Dayton sound to you?
Allison: Perfect!

So… Song and I had a carb-laden, yummy breakfast with our two husbands… In the middle of nowhere Ohio…

It was awesome to see her after so many years, and meet her husband Peter. We reminisced about how we would battle our snooze alarms for hours on end, not waking up even when people would come to our window on their way BACK from their first class. Jeff and I had a delightful time chatting with the Gedneys… it was like no time had passed.

It is nice to have people like that in your life. You know, the ones who knew you “back then” and help you reflect on how much you have grown over the years. Song, thanks for driving to meet us, and thanks for being an awesome friend.

I love you!

Relating....

I love music... Often there will be a certain song that just hits me right where I am at in life. This week, there is a new song out from a band called Big Daddy Weave called "What Life Would be Like" that I can really relate to. It not only speaks to my cheesy-power-balad loving side, but the words really make me think, and provide comfort in this crazy time. Here is the chorus, if you like that, go find the whole song on BDW's website.

Enjoy.

Chorus:
He made the lame walk and the dumb talk
He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits while His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like if we let Jesus life thru you and me

PS: On the previous topic of dogs, I just watched Gracie eat her own clipped nail (gross!) She then had the audacity to act injured when I would not let her lick me. Dogs are stupid... but cute

What We Can Learn From Boston Terriers

They may be dumb, ugly, gassy, and incapable of walking in a straight line, but I contend we can learn a lot from our little friends known as canis familiaris bostonis.

Sleep - Get more sleep, Boston Terriers get 14+ a day and they're never groggy.

Food - There's nothing like a good meal, or an okay meal, or stale chips that fall on the floor, or a thorough crotch-licking. Everything is a feast, and you should enjoy it.

Friendship - Everyone is your friend...everyone. Love and lick them accordingly.

Fun - It's possible to have fun with anything: people, leaves blowing in the wind, your left back leg. Have fun and don't hold back.

Forgiveness - Forgive everyone. Boston Terriers will forgive you for anything, no matter how mean or stupid your offense was. This may be helped by their inability to remember anything after 30 seconds, but the rule still applies.

Naps - It's a subset of sleeping, but napping is important. Don't forget to fit time in your schedule for a mid-morning nap, late-morning nap, post-lunch nap, late afternoon nap, and random-whenever-you-can't-find-anything-better-to-do nap.

Spinning - Spinning in circles is fun, apparently. Try it.

Snorting - It may not win you much admiration from the opposite sex, but it seems to get a lot of laughs of out people. Don't believe me? Can you help but chuckle when someone lets out a huge snort while laughing?

Economy - The economy is really simple. It's defined as GDP (Gross Dog-related Purchases) and consists simply of dog food, dog treats, dog toys, and related dog products. What politician couldn't handle managing that?

Politicians - Republican? Democrat? Who cares, dogs don't care about politicians and you shouldn't either. Unless they are scratching your belly or have strips of bacon for you.

It's a beautiful day, the whole world is full of potential friends, and if you're persistent one day you'll catch that squirrel that hangs out at your bird feeder. Life is good, soak it in, live like a Boston Terrier and prosper.