Butterworth South

Fall is coming!

2011-09-08T13:42:00.001-04:00

This past weekend we went from one day at over 90 degrees to the next day needing blankets to keep warm. I could live in this 60 degree cocoon all year long. At the farmer's market on Wednesday I heard several people lament on the cool weather and all I could think was "it's about time!" Summer to me means great produce from local farmers, but it also means that I hide out in the house until the heat passes. But this week all that changed. I have never been so happy to wear a sweater.

My Dining Room

2008-04-02T16:21:00.003-04:00

One thing I really like about our condo is the fact that we now have a dining room. In the ten years we have been married, this is the first place we have lived with this luxury. I still remember going to Crate & Barrel to pick out dining room furniture. This was a big deal and I had saved for months for the purchase. Matt and I spent over an hour going from table to table before we found just the right set.

But no matter how much I prepared him, he still was a little shocked at the price. The table wasn't the problem, it was the six chairs we were going to purchase. Considering they were nice hardwood chairs, I thought the price was pretty average. We weren't getting super expensive furniture, but we also weren't buying the set at Target. So Matt complained for a while, but he soon got over it.

In my last post I mentioned going to get Matt's new bike. It is fancy and special and now sits in my dining room along with the furniture pictured above. The bike costs more than the entire dining room set...

I'm sorry, I have no excuse

2008-03-21T12:45:00.004-04:00

I recently received an email from my Aunt Polly asking if Matt and I were okay because I had not posted anything in over a month. No problems or accidents to report, we just seem to be unusually busy lately.

I spent most of February knitting a sweater-tank for my sister Michelle, and since I had the deadline of her birthday on the 19th, when I wasn't working or sleeping, I was knitting. I will post a picture of the sweater soon. I have to crop the picture; I promised I would remove her head (sounds pleasant, right?).

I have also been participating in a mystery sock group where every month we meet and get a new sock pattern one row at a time during the evening and then we have the rest of the month to finish the socks. This has been harder than I thought. So with a new sock coming up on the 31st, I am working whenever I get the chance to finish February's pair.

The snow storm we had at the beginning of the month proved to have some benefits. Matt and I actually spent an entire Saturday together just puttering around the house. We also learned how to rent movies online since we had no cable, not from the storm, but due to a hard-drive malfunction with our box.

Days before the storm hit, we had to go down to Cincinnati to pick up Matt's new bicycle. So the three of us hopped in the car after work and listened to old podcasts of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on my iPod. The drive took only about 90 minutes in each direction, but the bike fitting, test drive, computer installation, blah, blah, blah took almost 3 hours. Goliath and I took a walk that lasted about an hour. We then sat in the store for another hour, and spent the last part of the wait sitting in the car in the dark listening to a book about the Supreme Court. Goliath should now be able to tell you the names of the nine justices.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, Matt and I will be off to Washington, DC for about a week in the beginning of April. I have a library conference and he is going to bum around town. I know he is planning on renting a bike and riding down to Mount Vernon. He made the suggestion that we go together, but the trip is 18 miles one-way, and I don't think my weak little legs could handle that. For him, this is hardly even training distance, so I have wished him luck. I'm hoping to get enough free-time to visit the National Gallery and try my hand at getting into the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress. I know, I'm a library geek.

I'll post again soon with pictures.

Have a happy Easter.

Man, is it cold outside

2008-01-30T16:46:00.000-05:00

Good thing I made these socks for myself.
It's okay, you can say it. You're impressed.
I can hardly believe it myself.

My monthly update

2008-01-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

I was hoping that after Christmas I would have more time to devote to updating this blog, but things have not let up that much.

Matt has begun two-a-day training during the week and extended training on the weekends. Next weekend he travels down to the hills of southern Ohio for a team training retreat. He told me that he was asked to reserve a cabin for the event and since he put down the fee, he gets the king-sized bed all to himself. He sees this as a good/bad situation. It's good because everyone else in the cabin will have to be in bunk beds, but he is afraid when he comes home he'll crowd Goliath and I out. I hate to break it to him, but he already does that from time to time.

While he is off training, I have been busying myself with committee meetings and knitting groups. I am the chair of our church facilities committee, so I have been immersing myself in all things related to building maintenance. I ask Matt a lot of questions, but after 10 minutes of his detailed replies, I get a headache. This must be what he feels like when he asks me about library stuff. Note to self, keep my big yap shut. So, most of my Thursdays are taken up with meetings and every Wednesday I go to my local yarn shop for my knitting group. I don't talk much but I get a lot of work done and pick up several tips and tricks. I think it helps when you are not trying to balance a dog on your lap while avoiding stabbing him with needles. I have managed to finish the Christmas sweater for Brendan, a scarf for my sister's beau, and a pair of socks for myself (a first for me). I am in the process of knitting a test sample of another sweater vest for Matt, tweaking a pattern for a pair of thick wool socks for myself to wear around the house, and waiting for Matt to give me specific team colors for a toque. So be warned people to which I give birthday and Christmas presents, I have a stash of yarn that I want to use up this year, and I am on a mission.

In other news, Matt and I are slowly getting sucked into the Wii cult. We went over to Michelle's this weekend and had a play date with Connor, Cole, and Brendan. Matt seems to pick up what to do pretty fast. I still suck at it, but I showed improvement in the five hours that we were there. It is scary how fast the time went. Cole even created an avatar for me, complete with glasses, so I have to play so that she isn't shamed in front of the other avatars. But before we can think about getting one of our very own, we have to figure out how to get the video on my iPod to work through the television. So far, I only have sound, so if you have any ideas, let me know.

And on a final note, the ducks might take me out tonight when I get home. At lunch they were all having a feast around the patio and when I opened the door to let Goliath out, they started to charge me. I am pretty sure they were expecting some type of food. They wouldn't back off no matter how much I yelled and clapped my hands. So I let lose the hound and watched him chase off every last duck (over 40). I assume they have been plotting their revenge ever since.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

A brief update because it has been a while since the last posting. Matt and I are getting ready for some much needed vacation this week. But, since Matt is on call 24/7, we will be satisfied if he does not have to spend the night at a building for the holidays.

It is currently snowing and quite windy as I look outside. Makes me appreciate not having a driveway to shovel. We had a Christmas get-together with my family yesterday, and my sister planned it very well. Since yesterday was also my mother's birthday, we had two occasions for the price of one and seven hours of food and family. The boys got a Wii for Christmas, so we tried out some of the games. Connor beat me in tennis 2-1, but it was a lot of fun. I even woke up with a sore bicep this morning.

I can hear Matt downstairs dealing with paperwork for the office and Goliath is sleeping next to me as I type. Overall, a pretty low key afternoon, but all that should change in a few hours when we take Cole to see Sweeney Todd. Matt and I saw the stage production a few weeks ago, but I cannot resist the Burton/Depp duo. It should be fun. Maybe we will come home and watch our copy of Sleepy Hollow. But what I really want to see is the 1945 version of Christmas in Connecticut, a holiday classic!

Merry Christmas everyone

November wrap up

2007-11-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't posted anything since my surgery in October. What have I been doing? I've been breathing!!

Anyway, here is a run down on all the haps for Matt and myself (plus Goliath) since then:

Matt ran the Columbus Marathon on about 2 hours of sleep

Goliath had surgery to remove fatty tumors from his little tummy

Carved pumpkins with the Youth group at church

Bought a bunch of candy and then no one stopped at our house on Halloween

Went to see Spamalot at the Ohio Theatre (quite funny)

Matt was given the Swimming award at his triathlon team dinner

I knitted Matt a sweater vest

Actually watched the entire OSU vs. Michigan game (I think the last time I watched, Mike Tomczak was playing)

Matt learned he isn't very good at playing Halo 3

Had Thanksgiving at my parent's house

My nephew Brendan asked me to make his traditional sweater with a star for his Christmas present

My back went out just before Thanksgiving (thanks to my chiropractor and acupuncturist for fixing me)

Watched a local presentation of Nunsense (I fell asleep)

Can't bring ourselves to get out the Christmas decorations

Have become addicted to watching Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Dirty Sexy Money (the strike must end soon!)

Matt spent the night at one of his buildings to be on Fire Watch during his Thanksgiving vacation

*****************************************

If you are expecting a Christmas gift from us, we need to know what you want. Email me or call us. You know who you are. If you need ideas for us, Matt needs money for new uniforms for the team and money for clothes for work. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. I am always happy with Whole Foods gift cards, it's boring, but it is something I will actually use.

Ouch, my face hurts

2007-10-19T02:10:00.001-04:00

Image from flickr "HDR-procedure-6.jpg"

So, it's 2:00 in the morning and I can't sleep. I had the surgery to repair my deviated septum sixteen hours ago and for the most part things are going fine. I am just so packed in that I cannot breathe through my nose, which explains the sleeping problem, also I have to get up every four hours to take pain medication.

From what everyone told me, the procedure when fine. There were a few problems getting the iv line established. They tried both hands twice and then finally put it in my right arm. That was no fun, feels like a mosquito bite my eye! Next thing I knew I was waking up and in a bit of a panic. I wanted water desperately and I was so cold my teeth were chattering. It did not take too long for the nurse to take me to my final recovery spot where Matt was able to sit with me. He tried to cheer me up as he fed me cheese crackers, but I still think I cried.

Once home, I got in bed and slept most of the day. My mom stopped by in the afternoon and she, Matt, and Goliath all stared at me while I ate a piece of toast. They finally quit when I told them they were freaking me out. Granted, I think Goliath was much more interested in the toast than me. After she left, I got in one more nap, had dinner and a movie, and haven't been able to sleep since.

I am happy at how little change I see on the outside. My nose is stretched a bit due to the packing and splints. Plus, the skin around it is shiny, sort of like people that have had too many face lifts. There is just the faintest hint of bruising under my eyes. It just looks like I haven't been sleeping well. I expected there to be more. Like the time I was about 4 or 5 and managed to get in the middle of a fight at the local swimming pool. Both boys swung at the same time, and I got two black eyes.

In 7 hours, I get the splints removed from my nose. Can you tell I'm anxious? Hopefully it won't hurt to have them removed. Maybe it will feel like the time when I was little and shoved M&M's up my nose. Mom had to removed them with tweezers, remember that Michelle? Oh the memories...

Go Tribe!

2007-10-17T09:22:00.000-04:00

I am not much of a sports fan (I take books to hockey games, sorry Matt), but I was excited to wake up this morning and find out the Cleveland Indians are one game away from making it to the World Series. Why, do you ask, would someone with no interest in sports care? I mean, I make it a point to go to the market during Ohio State football games. One simple reason, my dad.

I have so many memories of growing up and having the Indians games playing in the background on television. The first professional baseball game I ever went to was a Cleveland Indians double-header. This was back when Municipal Stadium was the playing field. Michelle and I played a game of counting the color of cars on the long drive from Bellefontaine to Cleveland. I cannot begin to tell you why I remember all of this. I don't even remember if they won that day, but it has stuck with me nearly 25 years later. My dad was raised a Cleveland fan, and for better or worse, it has been passed to me as well (what little there is).

My sister and her son Connor are probably staying up 'til all hours to watch the games. I can just hear Connor yell with each run and out. Good thing he doesn't have school on Friday in case they win. I also know my friends Michael and Marlys are rooting for the Tribe and what a lovely wedding gift it would be for them if Cleveland beats Boston. Good thing game 3 will be in Colorado or we would have to move the wedding and reception to Jacob's Field.

So what else can I say, Go Tribe!

Ten

2007-10-02T17:21:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday Matt and I marked our first decade of marriage. How did we celebrate such a momentous occasion? In multiple ways and typical Butterworth South style.

Matt started by going into work on his day off for a meeting. I then had to teach a yoga class, but caught up with him for lunch. We did have plans to go to the cheapy movies (only $1 before 6:00), but instead watched episodes of Pysch and Burn Notice that we had recorded weeks before. But the fun did not end there. We celebrated throughout the weekend. On Friday, I scheduled surgery to repair my deviated septum and the rest of the day was spent doing laundry in preparation for our big trip to...Cleveland.

Whenever we told people that we were going to Cleveland for the weekend, we received the strangest looks. I realize it is not a hotbed of tourism, but we had a good reason for going. We stayed in a delightful bed & breakfast in Ohio City, a small community located next to downtown Cleveland just over the Cuyahoga river. The community web site touts Ohio City as an area in the midst of restoration and provides a walking tour to see the classic architecture in the area. Needless to say, it was not all we hoped it would be, Ohio City must still be in the beginning phase of restoration. We did visit their large community market and it was a sight to see. Stall after stall of fresh produce in one building, homemade cakes and pastries in another. There were also dozens of butchers with their own areas and once I caught sight of a whole small suckling pig I announced I was ready to leave. I am perfectly happy with my soy sausage patties, thank you very much.

Dinner was spent at the Great Lakes Brewing Company, known for their finely crafted micro brews. Considering neither Matt nor I drink beer, the full experience was lost on us. We were content to eat our food and walk back to our room where we prepared for the main event, the Genesis concert later that night. Thanks to Matt's brother Mark, we had tickets to the show. Matt has been a fan for nearly 20 years and was looking forward to the event. A friend of mine saw the show in Columbus, so I already knew that it was going to be good. We were younger than most of the crowd, but still old in so many ways. About halfway through the show, my ears were ringing and I could still hear the music, but couldn't really understand Matt when he talked to me. Understated as always, Matt did not yell or cheer. He sat through most of the show and a few times I could see him mouthing the words to the songs. He told me he had a good time and I believe him.

The next morning, we had a fantastic breakfast of fresh fruit, pumpkin bread, and french toast. We also met the other couple staying in the house and found out that they had also come into town for the Genesis show. They were from Canada, just outside of Toronto and that led to hockey talk. The best part was when they did not realize that Columbus had an NHL team. Go Blue Jackets! Maybe more people would know about them if they actually had a winning season. And to complete the meal, they commented about leaving soon so that they could get home shortly after the dog sitter left. I think Matt and I met our future selves.

Cheating death, a lighthearted tale

2007-09-15T10:45:00.000-04:00

Just a few things have happened since my last posting. Goliath and I met several new neighbors when a gang of 40 ducks congregated around our house. At first, I saw them when I was going to get the mail and they trapped me by the garage. One duck is not intimidating, but 40 is a different story. They then moved around the front door to the back yard where they hung out for thirty minutes or so. I took Goliath out to see them and was a little concerned he would go bonkers and chase them, but all it took was for one rogue duck to charge him and he hid behind me the rest of the time. I think the stripes on their wings are their gang colors. Ever since, they come by once a week to scare the locals and patrol their turf. We stay away from them, and they leave us alone.

But this is not the only story for my theme. Wednesday, I came home from lunch to let Goliath out and found he had eaten about 3 ounces of dark chocolate that I had forgotten in the office. I called the vet and told them he wasn't sick and seemed to be acting normal, so they told me to keep an eye on him and bring him in if he had problems controlling his muscles. The only thing I noticed was that he was extremely thirsty. After Matt got home for the day, we began to see a change in the pup's behavior. He was bouncing off the walls and constantly looking for food. I could understand the hyper activity from the caffeine in the chocolate, but what was up with the hunger? Was there pot in the chocolate as well? Goliath was buzzed for the rest of the night and finally calmed down around 11:00. Thinking the worst was over, we were not prepared for the two days of vomiting and detox that followed. Most times, there was enough of a warning, but the office (the scene of the crime) took a hit. We have been spot cleaning.

While all of this was going on, I had gone to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to find out why I could not get rid of a sinus infection that I have had since May. I found out that I have a badly deviated nasal septum and will most likely need surgery, but there were some other things that raised red flags, so I have been taking some tests. I had a CT scan on Wednesday, allergy tests on Thursday, and Monday I have an ultrasound on my thyroid. I don't know what the CT scan results are, but I did learn something from the allergy tests. After 25 fun injections in my left arm, I now know that I have a problem with mold, grasses, and tree pollen. Luckily, I am not doing any more yard work because of the condo, so I am a little better off. But, our basement does not have much in the way of ventilation, so I have noticed a little mold development in the half-bath down there. We have obtained a dehumidifier, thanks to my friend Ginny, and I check on the area every day. We have also decided to take off our shoes when we come in so that no extra allergens get spread on the carpet. But the most surprising results were the animals allergens, namely the two photos above...feathers and DOG! When she mentioned that the dog was pretty high, I just smiled and thought, I'll stay congested. But it appears that the mold is the big trigger and Goliath just adds that something special to my sinus passages. I have since taken to sweeping and dusting more than once a week and vigilantly vacuuming the furniture and bed. Matt and I both agreed that if we thought the chocolate bender was bad, it would be worse trying to keep Goliath off the bed. Yes, we are weak. For proof re-read the duck story above.

Freecycle...how much do I love thee, let me count the ways

2007-08-21T13:05:00.000-04:00

Since we have moved, Matt and I have been walking around a few items in our garage that we just don't know with what to do. First there was the piano that used to sit in our family room, but now has no place in the condo; and the reel mower that we will never have to use again. Then there was the patio set that we used as a dining table because we found that when you actually used it as a patio set, the table would rust since it was not protected. These things took up residence in our much smaller garage and proved a source of irritation until I remembered my old friend Freecycle.org. I was reminded of this site in one of the blogs that I read and thought I should go check out the postings of what people wanted.

My first discovery was a woman that needed a piano for the organization she runs for the blind. After a quick email, she had a truck scheduled and ready to pick up the piano in days. I then placed a posting for the mower and was stunned when nearly 2 dozen people in the Columbus area emailed me to ask for it. I felt bad having to turn so many people down, but the mower now has a new home. The patio set was my last hurdle. The table is rusted from being out in the rain and I thought no one would want it, so I waited nearly two months to post it. I made my post this morning and at lunch already had people responding. A gentleman let me know he would be happy to get it tomorrow and could fix it up, so bye-bye patio set, enjoy your new life.

It makes me feel great that these items are getting a second chance that they may not get if we just donated them to the local thrift store. Matt told me of one that will take donations, but if the items do not sell in a few months, they go to the land fill. But with Freecycle, you are subscribed to a group discussion of people in your area that are constantly posting items to be given away and even requesting items from the group. Check it out for yourself.

Happy Birthday and Erin Go Braugh

2007-08-05T07:39:00.000-04:00

We have celebrated a fair number of birthdays lately. My step-mother-in-law Betty, Matt, and our nephews Connor, Cole and Brendan all have birthdays within about a week of each other. While Betty celebrated out in Las Vegas, we had my parents and the O'Brien clan over for a small gathering last Saturday. To add to the chaos, we were also getting some furniture delivered when everyone showed up. The couch we had ordered for the office made a noble effort to fit into the room, but in the end it just sat in the hallway looking for a new home (it would not fit through the door). Much to Matt's dismay, we had to place it in the living room, and now the furniture in both rooms do not match. He is learning to live with it.

This weekend, we had a lot going on. We attended the Dublin Irish Festival where Matt got to try his hand at hurling (see photo above), we watched an Irish dance contest, got to listen to the Columbus Police & Fire Pipe & Drum, watched the Gaelic Football National Championship and a Hurling Tournament. All in 90 degree heat and high humidity. It was okay in the shade, but you took a beating in the sun. Matt wanted to wear something festive for the occasion and pulled out a bike jersey that had a British flag design on it. I told him he might get beat up for wearing a British flag at the Irish festival. He wisely changed his mind.

As I write this, Matt is participating in another triathlon and I am getting ready to go to a library conference. Hopefully, this will be our last travel weekend until we head out for some races in September. We need the break, plus Matt has threatened me with a training schedule for a race I agreed to ride in next month. Pray that I do not fall off the bike.

More lessons learned...

2007-08-04T07:47:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update.

My left side has taken a beating this week due to "user error" on the bike. Tuesday, I had a collision with a guardrail while I was trying to avoid getting hit by a car making a right-hand turn. Just a few bruises, my pride was damaged the most.

This morning's ride found me falling off the bike completely. Luckily, I landed in the grass. This I cannot blame on a car: I have started using clipped pedals and biking shoes. When I came to a stop, I had already released my right foot and was getting ready to place it on the ground when I started to tip over to the left. One quick squeak came out of me and I fell over bike and all. My left shoe did come out of the clip, and the trailer with Goliath stayed upright. Matt had ridden past me and told me he was stunned when he turned around and I was sprawled on the grass.

I'm off to yoga class to work out the kinks.

I'll report more happenings later when we get back from the Dublin Irish Festival tonight. Knowing my luck, Matt will hit me in the head with a ball during the hurling (it's a stick and ball sport) hands-on demonstration.

Lessons learned behind the handlebars

2007-07-17T08:12:00.000-04:00

Image courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Matt and I are officially moved into our new home and are slowly making adjustments and getting used to new routines. I have managed to run into every sharp edge and corner of all of our furniture, walls and counters. I now sport a network of cuts and bruises that don't seem to want to heal. As a matter of fact, I gained a new one this morning when I was trying to get past Goliath in the kitchen. I scraped up against the counter hard enough that the cut managed to developed through two layers of fabric. Matt has yet to take an injury.

Anyway, on to my topic of the day.
I have been making my commute via my bicycle instead of my car for most of the last two weeks. It is a fairly easy trip, just three miles north and usually takes me twenty minutes to complete. My first trip went quite well. I made it over the two big hills without much of a problem and was able to take a bike path all the way, so no collisions with cars. The ride home was a different matter. It was 20 degrees hotter and about 1,000 percent more humid. I also dropped my bike off at the local bike shop for a tune up, a new seat, and a cargo rack. I then had to walk the three miles home which took the better part of an hour due to the heat. Luckily, this was the worst of it. I picked up my bike a few days later and continued my casual commute. I have since learned a few things about life on a bike:

Stamped concrete, while it looks pretty, is murder on a bike. No gel seat can soften the impact.

Runners and walkers wearing iPods tend to weave on the trail, start shouting you are going to pass them and ring your bell (mine is a lovely orange bell).

If you are looking for an easy way to peel a hard-boiled egg, just carry it with you on a bike ride. All that bouncing breaks the shell into a million pieces that are almost impossible to brush off.

When your husband, the triathlete, comments that the hill isn't that bad, just smile as you are trying to breathe and your legs are shaking because you were foolish enough to keep up with him.

You can never have too much water, no matter how short the ride.

Try not to lose the keys to your bike lock. You will be forced to rush out and purchase a new one.

Riding up hills with a dog in a bike trailer is almost as bad as keeping up with a triathlete.

When you have to watch the Tour de France every day in July, you develop a whole new understanding of how out of shape you really are.

What did you do today?

2007-06-22T15:40:00.000-04:00

Today would have been any other day at the office except for one thing, it is national Take Your Dog To Work Day. As you can see in the photo above we had a nice turnout at the office. Goliath was one of 52 dogs who came in today. I was not quite sure about doing this, but I figured if it did not work out, I could always take him home. I am happy to say, he made it the entire day, but really pushed to go home in the last hour. He will sleep well tonight and dream of large biscuits.

Swim, Bike, Run...oh my

2007-06-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

Well, Matt's first race of the season is behind us. We had a busy weekend preparing, enjoying, and reflecting on our time at Maumee Bay State Park. We started off on Saturday morning with a 5-mile walk downtown to get us all moving around and help wear us out so that we could fall asleep around 8:00 that night. We enjoyed the cookie from the little neighborhood bakery, the sites of the various sculptures on the city streets, and watching Goliath chase squirrels in the park. What we weren't expecting was for Goliath to fall face first into a pond. We were strolling through the park when we came to a large pond surrounded by an elevated sidewalk. The top of the pond was covered in green algae, so you could not see into it. Goliath strolls right up to the edge to check it out and I cautioned Matt not to let him too close. Matt, assured me that Goliath would not jump in and the next thing we know, he had gone in head first and disappeared under the surface. Within seconds, his little head came up and Matt was on his knees pulling him out. All we could do was laugh as Goliath staggered around from the shock.

Sunday morning had us starting out at 4:00 in the morning for the trip to Lake Erie and we thought it might rain on and off for most of the race. Luckily, it stopped raining shortly after we arrived at 7:00, but the muggy heat took over. I would have preferred the rain. This was the first time we have been to Maumee Bay and I must say it is a lovely state park. The bugs are huge, but the grounds are wonderful with plenty of bike paths, dunes, and more importantly a swim lake, so you can avoid Lake Erie when the water does not look good.

Matt met up with several of his teammates and we left him alone to get prepared, but caught up with him shortly before the start of the race. There were over 500 participants for the various races and Matt competed in a field of 150, finishing 74th. He looked great coming out of the water and I could tell that all those hours of swim practice paid off. Matt used to look exhausted coming out of the water. This time, he flew right past us on his way to the transition area to get on his bike. He then was able to navigate his way around a small bike pile-up to start his second leg, where he averaged around 20 mph. Once more, we caught up with him as he began his 10K run and he took the time to say "hello." By this time, it was very hot and humid and Goliath and I grabbed shade wherever we could find it. Considering all that he had done, I was surprised to see Matt ran an 8:41 pace, but I don't think he was happy about it. Oh well, he has 5 more races this summer to improve his time. The Sunday after we move, we journey to Caesar Creek State Park. We should be able to sleep in until 5:00 that day!

What does a week's worth of food look like?

2007-06-06T15:49:00.001-04:00

Photo from bigfoto.com

In one of the blogs that I read, there was a mention of the book "The Hungry Planet" where a series of photographs from around the world are taken of families with their food for the week (see a sample of photos here). It is really amazing to see what other cultures are eating and even more shocking to see what they are paying ($68.53 for what appears to be a family of 12 in Egypt!). What is disturbing is the amount of processed foods and sodas that can be found in many of the pictures. So my challenge to you is the next time you go to the market, unload your groceries and take a picture, then email it to me with the cost. I will do the same and post my results later this week. Now is the time for farmer's markets, so go out and buy local ingredients instead of ones shipped hundreds of miles away. You will be supporting your community and helping to cut down on oil consumption used to power the boats, planes and trucks used to haul all of those items. Remember, even the smallest action makes a difference. And don't forget to take your own bags for those great finds at the farmer's market instead of collecting more plastic along the way (you can do this at the regular market too)!

Oh, what fun

2007-06-05T12:17:00.001-04:00

The winner for the biggest laugh of my day goes to this commercial Matt just email to me about what it takes to be a triathlete (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk). He said it would be a great way for me to help him train. Of course I said yes, anything to help him succeed.

Sigh.....

2007-06-03T12:27:00.000-04:00

I have been neglectful in my postings for more than a month. Many times I thought of entries, but just never got around to it. The truth is, I am wiped out and a little melancholy. I have been standing outside on the deck with Goliath today, just looking around at all the beautiful trees, shrubs, and flowers Matt and I have taken care of these several years and it makes me a little sad. The reason -- we are moving. At the end of April, someone made an offer on our house and we quickly found a new place to live that will be more suitable for us. The first week of July we will be moving into our condo in Dublin, located about 3 miles from my parents. I am excited for the change and look forward to many things. We won't have to worry about mowing the yard, getting the siding replaced after a nasty storm, and no more figuring out what I am going to do with the deck. I will be able to walk to work every day, even though Matt is concerned about what I will do in foul weather. I assured him that for 4 years I walked myself around campus at Akron in some of the worst weather I have ever experienced. We will be moving into a smaller space (so that means less energy for heating and cooling), there is a small stand of woods and a creek behind us (for wildlife to explore), and for the first time, we will have a dining room. I have spent so much time packing, going to inspections, setting up a new loan, and arranging for the movers, that I haven't taken any time to look around. We are leaving the first house we ever purchased. Here is where I watch the geese on the pond behind us, and where I wait anxiously for the hummingbirds to return each year to the honeysuckle over the deck. This is also the place I have celebrated holidays, birthdays, and the arrival of a little puppy that would change our lives. It is just walls and carpet, but it is my memories that I now have to pack up. I know that the most important things are going with me and wherever Matt and Goliath are, I am home. Maybe it is the muscle I pulled in my back yesterday, but the whole thing is making me weepy. Yet, I have a new chapter ahead, and I am looking forward to what comes next.

Earth Day is April 22, how are you going to celebrate?

2007-04-18T09:14:00.000-04:00

My mother has many nicknames and labels for me. Just this weekend, she referred to me as "Miss Free Speech," but one of my favorites is "Social Activist." I have realized that I am the radical of my family and most likely Matt's as well. One of my biggest causes is saving natural resources. I pester my parents about shutting off unneeded lights and I'm looking for a home closer to the office so that I can walk or ride my bike instead of driving. But one of my favorites (and one that Matt rolls his eyes at) is hanging the laundry outside to dry. Just my way of trying to be more responsible.

Now Earth Day is approaching and I am wondering what else I can do to take another step towards "no impact." I am investigating under the counter composters instead of running the disposal (I would go with a yard composter, but we are hoping to move into a condo soon). I have committed myself to taking the stairs instead of an elevator; I work on the 4th floor so I should get some strong legs from this. I am bringing a large thermos of water to work instead of using the disposable cups provided by our cafeteria. Plus, I am going to take my canvas bags to more than just the market to avoid coming home with more plastic (We use my parent's plastic bags as our garbage and dog waste bags). So think about what you can do, it does not have to be big. How about going to the library for books and movies instead of buying them, or buy them used? Replace your incandescent light bulbs with compact flourescents and shut off lights when you leave the room. Just one Mom, please! For more ideas, visit http://earthday.gov, and email me with what you decide to do. I would love to hear from you.

If you think one little change won't make a difference, think again. Matt and I were talking this morning about our neighborhood. Today is trash day. We have one of those huge city garbage cans into which I could easily fit. Every week our neighbors load those cans to bursting with the lids popping up because they are so full. We put our trash can out most weeks, but if we miss a week, it is no big deal. It usually contains one grocery bag of garbage and a smaller bag of Goliath's contribution. The bags barely cover the bottom of the can. How can we have so little? We recycle everything we can. So just imagine if one more person on our street did that every week. What a difference it would make.

Stinkin' 5K Race

2007-04-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

As you might have guessed from the title of today's entry, we have a race coming up this weekend, and no, I am not happy about it. You know when you have a project to do and you do anything and everything you can think of except work on that project? Well, that is where I am. I have been doing yoga, taking various fitness classes, going on walks, mowing the yard, everything but running. To be honest, I did run about 1.5 miles a few weeks ago, but lost interest quickly. Now on Saturday, I am going to be downtown with all the happy runners wondering why I signed up. Matt will be competing in the half-marathon portion of the race, so at least I will get to see that. The upside -- this cannot be any worse than the marathon relay we did in September. Plus, I finally got an appointment with an acupuncturist next weekend, so maybe he can fix the problem I keep having with my knee and foot whenever I run. At least I could be healthy to walk in the Race for the Cure event in May. Aunt Martha, that would be for you!

My Husband Went To Camp and Family Came To Town

2007-03-28T16:57:00.000-04:00

Last week was quite busy at the Butterworth South compound. Matt had Team Training Camp which entailed him swimming every morning and every night he had some other sort of training, lecture, or testing. Plus a 3-4 hour bike ride on Wednesday. The picture above is him getting his sodium testing done. Evidentially, Matt loses more sodium than average during training and needs to replace it faster than most. Good thing he found this out. I am just surprised that he hasn't had problems in his past races. For more pictures from his Camp adventure visit his team web site at Human Powered Racing.

While Matt was in super training mode, I went into full librarian mode attending an Electronic Resources Management conference on Thursday and Friday. Don't pretend that you're not excited! Basically it was a bunch of librarians getting together to talk about how to deal with all the databases and electronic books and journals we purchase. Trust me, it is not fun. I spend most of my work day trying to fix problems because people cannot access resources. The best part of the whole conference was getting to see my friend Jim who is also one of my vendors.

Then Friday, Mark, Brenda, Andrew, and Alivia came down for a short visit. They were in town for a high school state basketball tournament game and spent the night with us. It is great to be able to catch up with all of them, but I have to laugh at how excited both kids are to see Uncle Matt. Wherever he goes, they want to follow. He has always had that affect on all the kids in our family. Alas, our visit was all to brief as they met up with friends at COSI downtown and then had to get back home so that Andrew could maintain his eating schedule to control his diabetes. Matt had a 10K race Saturday morning (results here). He finished 32nd in a field of 189 and I think he had his fastest pace yet.

So that is all I have for now. We have had a few more house showings, but no offers. It is still early and maybe the warm weather will bring out more interested buyers. At this point, I am just trying to keep everything tidy and my spirits up. I think Matt is looking forward to not finding me crying over the bathroom sink because I can't handle the stress.

Thanks to everyone that has written to me about the blog. Please continue to let me know what you think and I will talk to you soon.

Finally, something to do...

2007-03-12T16:44:00.000-04:00

Not much has been going on with Matt and I lately. The weather has kept us in most of the time. Still, we have managed to get out to look at more houses, escape while ours has been shown, and of course Matt continues to train for his triathlons. But, finally this weekend the sun came out and we took Goliath for a nearly 3-mile walk along the river. It felt good to get out in the fresh air and run. Although Goliath tends to run in the zig-zag pattern along the trail and he tried to make friends with the young couple several yards in front of us. I think he was throwing off the guy's romantic vibe.

The Big Chill

2007-02-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of bigfoto.com

Things have been pretty cold here lately. Luckily, Matt has been on top of keeping the driveway and walks all cleared for any prospective buyers. Unfortunately, I think the weather is keeping people away. Once is starts to warm up (come on 15 degrees!!) I hope people will be more willing to leave the house. On the upside, the house has been nice and warm and Goliath has not refused to go out even late at night when the wind is brisk. We had one hitch earlier this week when a brief storm came through the area on Tuesday. After a long commute, I came home to find out we had no power. Matt was already home and had some candles lit and the remote taps running at a steady drip. He was able to get through to the power company to find out that we were part of a small group (50 homes) that had lost power in the storm. By 7:00 that night, the power came back on and the house had only gone down to 59 degrees. By the time we went to bed, I reduced my four layers down to two and was quite warm once Goliath curled up beside me. Keep warm and please feel free to send a comment or message to us at any time!

Of sauce and saris

2007-02-01T15:31:00.000-05:00

With the bitter cold, things have slowed down considerably and it was a perfect time for me to stock up on some goodies and curl up with some movies.

While Matt was out riding his bike and running over the weekend, I was making jar upon jar of tomato sauce for canning at my parent's house. I had purchased all the ingredients only a few days before we put the house up for sale, and realized too late that I could not take the chance of destroying the kitchen with gallons of sauce. The recipe said that it would make 6 pints; I ended up with 13 pints. Don't ask me how. We have sauce in the pantry and more in the freezer. Matt's idea of a quick meal is to throw together some pasta, sauce and veggies, so this is perfect for him.

My reward for all this hard work was an afternoon of movies. I have been watching a lot of Indian Bollywood and old episodes of Nero Wolfe mysteries. Quite the strange combination. Matt can handle the mysteries, but either falls asleep or leaves the room when I am watching Bollywood. I think the fact that they are in Hindi is what drives him away. He prefers not to read for his movie enjoyment.

So, stay warm and think of us as we go out again this weekend for another round of house hunting.

FOR SALE!

2007-01-25T13:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, it has been a million years since I have posted anything, but we have been busy. On Tuesday night we officially put our house on the market. After I went through the house with a fine tooth comb and only had one panic attack, we signed all the paperwork to have the For Sale sign placed in the front yard. The next trick will be finding just the right place for the three of us. We have already looked at several places and have begun to narrow down the search. It looks like we will end up pretty close to downtown, enough that we could walk to the state house if we so desire. That would be perfect in the summer since there is an adult kickball league that plays on the state house lawn and I have always wanted to check out the games. See, there are already benefits.

Things were not looking so rosey earlier this week. Tuesday as I laid awake in bed at 4:00 in the morning, Matt tried to console me on his way to team training. He told me that the house looked great and I should just relax. I then proceeded to introduce myself to him since he had obviously never met me before. At work, my boss' response was "that can be pretty stressful and you don't handle stress well." And the hits keep on coming. Finally, Matt came home that evening to find me sitting in the family room with a glass of milk and a bag of Oreos. Most who know me realize that I have to be pretty upset to eat Oreos since they contain high fructose corn syrup and I am a firm opponent to that form of sugar. I had gotten myself into such a state of panic that I was ready to call the whole thing off. Then our realtor Brian showed up with his associate Linda and they said the house was "show ready" and in great shape. Once I handed over the key, I felt so much better. Matt later asked me why I didn't believe him when he said the house looked great. Now, I have never heard him say a negative thing about my appearance, cooking, or weight so I just figured he was being nice. My mistake.

New Year, new fun

2007-01-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

We all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. On Christmas Day, my Dad captured a side of Goliath not many get to see. He looks pretty fierce, but actually he was in the middle of a yawn. He is not tough at all, just likes to think he is.

We were able to catch up with lots of family and friends and managed to get some painting done in our family room. This is by far the biggest room in our house and after two days and two gallons of paint, Matt and I were exhausted, but happy that it is finally done. For more than a year, I had a splotch of slate blue paint on the wall to see if we really liked the color. Many people told us that it might make the room too dark, so I finally gave up on the blue and we chose a light stone color. It looks almost white, so that is fine. It is now nice and bright in that room and since it is halfway in the ground, that can only be a good thing. Now I just have an extra gallon of paint hanging around. Luckily, this project went quite well considering neither of us was looking forward to it. The only incident was when I found a fresh drip of paint on the piano.

The news was not so good for what should have been simple oil changes on our cars. Matt had to have all the struts replaced on his car. At least we saved $100 with my work discount. My car was found to need a new air filter. The reason: a mouse had taken up residence in it. They showed me the old filter and told me the mouse was not at home when they pulled it out. What does this mean? We need to sweep out the garage and check a few items like Goliath's bike trailer. It also means that the boy should spend some time with me in the garage while I am cleaning it up. He can find anything if it means it would run from him. Don't get me wrong, I will not let him kill it. I just want it to get scared enough to find another neighborhood. Goliath managed to frighten away a little family of field mice that were living in our compost pile, so he can handle a mouse in his garage. If all else fails, maybe I should print out my Dad's picture above and those teeth should do the trick.

Getting ready for Christmas

2006-12-20T13:58:00.000-05:00

It is now less than a week until Christmas and things are finally calming down around here.

Goliath has made a full recovery, but we are taking things slow on the running and playing since he has recently gone off his meds. I think our shopping is finished and now all that is to be done is the wrapping of presents. We had to get a new computer since the old one died a painful and slow death these last few weeks. Luckily, my office offers no-interest computer loans to staff since we would need to work from home from time to time. So we have been moving files and setting up onlne connections the last few days. Add to that the fact that we moved from a PC to a Mac and it gets confusing. It took me almost five minutes to find and open the internet browser.

Now the fun begins. We go to my parent's house on Friday to celebrate my Mom's birthday. On Saturday, we are spending the day at Butterworth North with Matt's family. Back home Sunday for morning and evening Christmas Eve services. And on Christmas Day we go back to my Mom's where my good friend Mary will be joining us since her parents live in Wisconsin. This is the best part of the whole hoopla. I look forward to just spending time with family and friends that we don't get to see very often. Also, it has been wonderful getting cards and seeing pictures of everyone.

Matt is still quite busy with training. He had to swim this morning and I think he needs to run tonight. With him gone, I have had time on my hands since I am on vacation until January; so I keep moving the furniture in the living room. He just looks at me and shakes his head. I told him that I need to get out of the house since it has been just me and Goliath for so long. I am starting to get a little loopy. Maybe I just need a nap.

Anyway, to everyone, have a wonderful Christmas and I hope to write again before the New Year.

Merry Christmas,
Matt, Terry, and Goliath

Goliath's on the injured list

2006-12-05T09:13:00.000-05:00

Goliath was injured over the weekend. Sunday night, he went outside and then came in not acting like himself. We did not know if he was just tired since he had not slept much that day, but by 8:00 we knew something was wrong. At first, we thought he had an upset stomach and forced some Pepto-Bismol down his throat. After that, when he could not stop shaking, we took him outside again; but he basically sat in the yard looking sad. We got him inside and I massaged his little belly until he calmed down enough to got to sleep, but he woke us up around 1:00 moaning in pain. It was now time to go the Emergency Vet. They took some x-rays and determined that he was experiencing some spinal pain and that he most likely had some problems with a disc or pinched nerves. He was given a shot for the pain and we had some pills for him to take. He slept for another 3 hours, but then woke up crying in pain. Luckily, our vet was open early and he went in for another exam. By this time, he couldn't walk and he wouldn't eat. They diagnosed him with a swollen disc and gave us detailed instructions about medication and keeping him inactive to help with the healing. After crying my eyes out and praying for him to get better, we went to pick him up and bring him home. He wagged his tail when he saw us, and I felt so much better. Once home, he had regained his appetite and tried to walk. He had some spills, but he could stand, so that was an improvement. We kept a close eye on him all day and he was great about not jumping down or walking too much. He is taking his medication and letting us carry him around without much of a fight. Today, he has to start spending his time alone in a crate so that he can be safe and heal while we are gone. So please keep him in your thoughts and join me in staying positive for his full recovery.

Philadelphia and Thanksgiving

2006-12-01T13:59:00.000-05:00

Matt and I had a wonderful time in Philadelphia. If you have never been, I really recommend it if only to see where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Plus, we got to see an original of the Declaration that was handed out to the delegates for reading before it was signed. Also, Walking around in the historic district every day from our bed and breakfast was amazing. We would just look at the buildings and realize many of them are over 200 years old and could have been a stopping place for George Washington or Benjamin Franklin. I got a real sense of history from this place, more than I ever felt in Washington, DC. So go visit if you ever get the chance.

Matt finished the race and was in a great mood. He commented that this race felt better than any other he has run. He took it slow and you would have never known that he just ran 26 miles if you saw him at the finish line. Other than the race, we were able to explore the city and meet some interesting people. At the Love statue downtown, a homeless man offered to take our picture. I think we spent 10-15 minutes having him position us all around the statue and we have several shots of us against the skyline. He was a lot of fun, and he made us laugh through the entire photo shoot. I looked for him every time we passed the plaza, but I never saw him again. At least we got the chance to meet him.

I shared a Rocky moment with another tourist as we were both running up the stairs to the art museum as Stallone did in the movies. By the time I got to the top, I was ready for a break and Matt took a rare picture (follow for additional photos) of me just enjoying the view. Some girls we met at the Whole Foods told us the best place to go for cheesesteak, and the people I met Sunday at Old Pine Presbyterian while Matt was running were really friendly. All in all, it was a great trip and I look forward to going back again. But of course it could not compare to coming home to the boy. Goliath was very happy to have us home and we celebrated by going out to buy him some more food and a long walk in the park.

By the time Thanksgiving was upon us, we were well rested and ready for our pre-lunch races. Matt ran with his new team members in a 5 mile race while I ran a race closer to my parents' house with some friends that was 4 miles. I added a little to my mileage when I went out to catch up with Connor who was running from my sister's house before lunch. I was ready for my ice bath after that, and the entire house was amused to hear my screams as I sat down in the tub.

So now we are getting ready for Christmas and some down time. We have our decorations up and the shopping has begun. The weekends are already getting packed. Tonight, we have Matt's office Christmas party; then Saturday morning, we will help decorate the church and that night another party. Since I am the Lay Reader all month for our early service, that will be just the excuse we need to get home early and get a decent night's sleep. Something tells me that we will need a lot of extra rest this month.

City of Brotherly Love

2006-11-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Matt and I fly out to Philadelphia for the marathon weekend. This is Matt's last big race of the year, so keep him in your thoughts and help him to have a good race.

I have been watching the forecast every day and it keeps going from rain to perfect running weather. I just hope that it stays consistent the whole weekend, so that Matt is prepared.

Speaking of Matt, he has been quite busy lately with his racing team. It sounds like he is really enjoying himself and they start serious training at the beginning of next month. He will be either running, swimming, or biking every morning. His next big race that I know of will be a half-IronMan in Panama City, Florida in May. Several people from his team go down together and get rooms and train, so he would be traveling in a group. He has to find out if I can tag along. Although, I do not relish the drive down to Florida, I don't want to miss it.

So check back here next week for photos and details of our trip. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is almost here. Even more strange is that Matt and I are running races on Thanksgiving morning, but they aren't the same race. I would have never guessed I would be going out on my own, but at least my race is one mile shorter than Matt's. That limits my dinner roll consumption to just two at lunch.

2 races and 2 reasons to celebrate

2006-10-20T08:44:00.000-04:00

I have been lax in my postings lately (thanks for the email Aunt Polly), so it is time to catch up on all the activities from the past 30+ days. Let's see, Matt and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary at the end of September. His gift to me was cleaning out his sports memorabilia closet in the home office. For days, you could only get about a foot or two in the door. It has been almost a month and he is nearly finished with the clean up. For years I kept hearing how he could sell this stuff on eBay; well, it is time to put up or shut up so he can afford race fees for next year.

Another "event" for us in September was the Akron Marathon Relay. I am pleased to report that Team Butterworth (consisting of Matthew and myself) completed the race and earned our medals on a cold and rainy Saturday morning. I originally agreed to the relay when we were going to have a team of five, but slowly it came down to Matt and myself. He had to run 15 miles while I finished the last 11. It is something that I never thought that I could do, but now I know that it is possible and I know that I don't enjoy running that far. My knees and my foot were sore for several days, but that was the worst of my "injuries." On the trip back home the next day, we stopped to pick apples. The next weekend I made a double batch of apple sauce and canned it, so we should be set until January 2007 for a quick snack or dessert. We still have a few dozen apples left that we are slowly eating. Goliath is very happy with this development since we always share with him when having an apple snack.

Once we hit October, things have been constantly busy. The first weekend, Matt volunteered three days in a row for the Blue Jackets Hockey team. Then the next day we participated in the Crop Walk with other members from our church. I have two highlights of that weekend. The first was Saturday late afternoon when Matt and I had lunch and decided to get some ice cream on the way to my dropping him off for the game. We had cones of some great dark chocolate gelato and 20 minutes before he had to start work, of course he drops it on his light khaki pants. We had to race home, get him another pair of pants (that he was horrified had not been ironed) and get back to the arena. Luckily, we live close to downtown and made it with a few minutes to spare. The pants did not fair as well. We are giving them away to a good home after two unsuccessful washings. I offered to dye them a dark color, but that suggestion was not acceptable. Oh well.

Our second highlight came the very next day when we were waiting for people to finish the Crop Walk. We had Goliath and he was getting restless, so I decided to take him for a little stroll along the riverfront downtown. We managed to come across a large flock of geese sunning themselves and what does he do? He chases them at 100 mph dragging me behind him down towards the river. I managed to stop, but Goliath felt that he could get his message across better standing chest deep in the waters of the Scioto River. Let me tell you, it does not smell pretty. He was very proud when we caught up with Matt a few minutes later.

The following weekend was just as busy. The Columbus Marathon was being run that weekend and I volunteered both Saturday and Sunday to help out. Saturday, I worked the Expo while Matt stayed home to wait for the carpet cleaners. You see, it was my birthday and that was the present that I asked for. So I came home to clean, but wet carpeting and Goliath has already managed to have an accident in the living room because we were late getting home on Wednesday. Couldn't even make it a week. Sunday, I worked the finish line of the race while Matt took a well deserved break from racing and stayed home to rest. He has a marathon next month and was thinking of running Columbus just as a training race, but he has been having problems with a swollen ankle and needed the healing time. In some great news, his swim coach has asked him to join the Human Powered Racing team. I don't think he has to try-out or qualify to be on the team. Just fill out the application and give them the fees. So, I keep pushing him to sign up and take his racing to the next level. He still keeps talking about competing at the Ironman distances, so I want him properly coached.

And that brings us to this weekend. Matt is currently traveling for work in the northern part of the state and will be spending time with his family in Canton. Goliath and I are going to make batches of tomato and roasted garlic soup and can it this evening. Tomorrow, my nephew Cole is coming over to help me clean up the yard and garden beds for a volunteer project for school. Both he and his brother Connor are coming to my office this afternoon to work in the library to rack up some additional volunteer hours for their project.

Next weekend's highlight will be a visit from Matt's Dad and Stepmom who live in Las Vegas. Matt is trying to pack every possible event into two days. Let's hope we have some time to just sit and relax (and there isn't an ice rink in front of me!).

Great Lakes part two

2006-09-11T15:40:00.000-04:00

We went up to Catawba Island this weekend for the Great Lake Escape triathlon and had a nice short vacation. For this trip, Goliath came with us since we found a bed & breakfast that would let him stay over. We went up Saturday morning to East Harbor State Park in Marblehead so Matt could get his registration packet and attend a race meeting. While he was doing that, I tried to get Goliath to the water. I managed to nearly fall into the lake twice from the rocky shore of the park and freak out the pup in the process. He was not eager to explore after my flailing about. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so we drove the bike course around the peninsula and through the village.

Afterward, we got settled in to the B&B and discovered that it was pretty informal. There was no one there to meet us, they do not issue keys, or lock the doors so that guests can come and go as they please. It was a little unsettling at first, but we got used to it. After a late and much needed lunch, we took a walk through the neighborhood to Catawba State Park where Goliath found his lake legs. He spent a fair amount of time in the water and chased rocks as Matt threw them in. Once he got in chin deep, he gave up the chase and opted to roll in the sand. After the walk, we settled in to relax with some football on television and Goliath took a well deserved nap in my lap. We did not stay up for the Ohio State game, but instead had to get to bed early since Matt had to be at the race site by 5:00am the next morning.

On Sunday, the weather had turned. The wind was roaring through the park and they had to cancel the swim portion due to a small craft advisory warning on the lake. So, Matt prepared to run, bike, and run again. Goliath and I left him to position ourselves at mile 5 to see part of the bike race and we were able to cheer on all 150+ participants. Since Matt still had an hour of cycling to complete, we went back to the B&B for breakfast. Goliath was welcomed into the dining room where the other 3 couples and the manager gave him lots of scratches and many offers of sausage which I refused much to his dismay. We did a dine and dash to catch up with Matt at the finish line where he was good and tired; but not too tired to go get an order of chocolate chip pancakes at a local spot not too far from the park.

All in all, we had a great time and are thinking about going back just to explore the area as well as the islands. So, that officially ends the triathlon season for us this year. Stayed tuned to see if Matt can grab a registration spot for the Florida Ironman in November 2007. He has a window of opportunity for a few minutes to register online in a few months. God help us if he actually gets in.

For some photos of our adventure, check out the Lake Erie album here.

Welcome home...it's time to leave

2006-08-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

No sooner than Matt returned to Columbus on Friday, we were in the car and off to Cincinnati on Saturday for an overnight. Our original purpose was to go to the Cirque de Soleil afternoon show with friends of ours, but Matt and I managed to pack an entire weekend of activities into 21 short hours.

In the elevator of our hotel, I ran into a friend of mine from high school that I have not seen in nearly nine years, so I had a mini-reunion. We then went to the show where Matt was able to eat his way through the pre-show appetizers and intermission desserts in the VIP tent. After a quick change at the hotel, we set off for dinner. We took a sightseeing shuttle bus for half of the trip and managed to grab a bus with half-a-dozen drunk women having a bachelorette party. Just one more item to add to the list. We departed the crazy bus and made our way on foot to the Montgomery Inn, where as you can see above, Matt managed to eat his way through some ribs and wings before calling it a night (how does he stay so thin?). The walk back to hotel was what we needed since we were stuffed with food, and then Matt and I walked up the 25 flights of stairs to our room, so we had a workout thrown in as well. Our friends Jim and Wendy opted for the elevator.

Sunday morning, we took off for a 6:30 run and crossed the bridge into Kentucky. The sun was just coming up, so once we were over the river, we had a nice view of the skyline. Of course being downtown we had to visit every major sports facility since they are all lined up in a row. There is a nice little elevation difference from the south end of the football stadium to north, which made for an interesting finish to a nearly hour and a half jog. So we had a sightseeing tour of the river district. Once we were back at the room, we grabbed a quick shower and hit the road to go back home, where we made a brief stop at the IHOP so Matt could get some chocolate-chip pancakes. I enjoyed the cinnamon-swirl french toast and did not feel too guilty about eating it after all the running/walking we did that morning.

Yet, the best part of the trip was just returning home. Goliath was glad to see us and spent the afternoon sleeping next to one of us as we watched movies. I think he is still tired from his surgery on Friday. He broke one of his front teeth and had to have it removed. He still won't let me look at it and I am pretty sure he is going to hold a grudge for a few more days. Oh well, it can't be any worse than when we had him neutered.

Good news and bad news

2006-08-18T07:35:00.000-04:00

The good news is that Matt gets to go see his Dad and stepmom out in Las Vegas on his way to a business trip in Denver. The bad news is that Matt is going out to Vegas and Denver for a little more than a week. The pup and I will miss him, especially those first few nights when Goliath will spend most of the evening looking for Matt out the bedroom window. He used to lay against my neck at night and whine when Matt was on a trip, but at least he has moved on to a silent vigil that does not involve choking.

So, in anticipation of the departure, we tried to make the most of last weekend. We started out by dogsitting for the neighbors which proved to be exhausting but fun. Goliath is never very happy when other dogs come into the house, but he seems to tolerate Echo and Missy. I let them all run around out back while I cleaned up the garden, and then they ran around the house while I made dinner. Even more running around as Matt and I watched some television, then Missy (in the middle) curled up with Matt when he went to bed. They eventually went home that night and we started Saturday with our one pooch.

Saturday morning was full of small trips. We went to the Ohio Theatre downtown to watch a Daffy Duck cartoon festival. The picture at the top is one I took from the upper balcony. If you have never been to the Ohio, I recommend the trip. It is a beautiful old theater and Matt and I enjoy going there every chance we get. Next was the farmer's stands at the North Market where I was on a quest for okra. Matt also picked up several ears of corn and fresh lima beans. Yum! Our last stop was the Book Loft in German Village to find some diabetes cookbooks to send to my sister-in-law Brenda. I wrote in my last entry about my 6-year-old nephew Andrew's diagnosis of type 1 juvenile diabetes. We received a message recently that his parents are going to be participating in the 2006 Walk to Cure Diabetes. Mark has a web site established for walk donations at: http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=86414436

That was the extent of our fun-filled weekend. We spent the rest of the time doing laundry and cleaning. And now tomorrow Matt takes-off in the morning to head out west. He is not to happy about the no liquid rule, but at least they will serve him drinks on the plane.

Project meltdown

2006-08-10T13:07:00.000-04:00

Quite a few things have happened this week that have left my head spinning. The most important was the news that our youngest nephew, Andrew, has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Andrew is a happy, active, and loving little boy and from what his Mother has said, he is over the initial shock and doing well. I think it was an exhausting and scary time for the family and now they are just glad to be home and will take each day as it comes when dealing with new diets, injections, etc. We hope to make the trip up to Canton soon to see everyone.

We also have realized that our two Summer projects have just gotten away from us. This is due to a lot of apathy on our part combined with the hot, hot days. The deck looks sad and depressing with its peeling paint, but there is hope on the horizon as the temperature comes down into the 80's and affords us the opportunity to spend a few hours on sanding and painting. The veg garden is also a nightmare as the zucchini is taking over everything, but only producing a few mammoth offerings that I learned do not taste good at all. The broccoli never bunched, but instead bolted and attracted every flying insect in the county. I have been able to gather cucumbers and tomatoes from time to time, so it has not been a total loss. I may chalk this up to experience and try to grow some plants to attrack more butterflies next year. I have not seen too many of them around, but our hummingbird keeps coming back every day to drink from the honeysuckle on the deck.

I leave you now with one of my favorite pictures from a triathlon. Just look at how happy he is coming out of the water. If only his Poppy could be that excited.

Wolverines and Hoosiers

2006-08-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

I can hardly believe this weekend has come and gone. All summer we have been preparing for this first triathlon and I am so glad that it is over. The drive to Michigan was boring at times because we were on the Ohio and Indiana turnpikes, but once we arrived in St. Joseph, we found a quirky little community that turned out to have plenty for us to do.

Our rooms at the Econo Lodge left something to be desired, but beggars can't be choosers and we were not the only people from the race staying there. It appears that most of the hotels/motels sold out due to the race. Not surprising when about 3,000 people descend on a town of 8,700. Once we unpacked, Matt and I took off for the race expo at the finish line. While he had a rules meeting, I went for a walk on the beach. It took me a little more than an 30 minutes to walk to the starting location of the swim. The races began at the North Pier Lighthouse where Matt jumped off the pier 10 feet down into Lake Michigan. The water was choppy on my walk, and he told me that it had not changed on Saturday morning. I found out a little too late that I had done some trespassing on my walk. I saw a sign towards the end that stated I had walked through private property, but it only extended to the water's edge, so I rationalized since I walked through the water the entire time, I was on government property.

After I committed my misdemeanor, I found Matt and we walked around the downtown area, then picked up his mother at the hotel and had dinner. If you ever make it to St. Joe's, I suggest a visit to the Pump House Grille. We had some great food and were stuffed by the time we left. A quick trip to the local grocery and it was 8:00 and time to go to bed.

Why so early, you may ask? Because Matt had to be at the race site around 5:00 the next morning and I had to drive him there. When three alarms went off at 4:30 Saturday morning, it was easy to wake up, but torture to get out of bed.

Cindy and I were able to catch up with Matt after the swim where he delivered the news that he had cramps in his calves, so I knew this was not going to go well. He did not have anything to help relieve the pain and I could not give him anything for risk of getting him disqualified, so he made the most of it and was able to finish. He was not happy with the results, but he finished and that is all that matters. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating and going to a winery where we nearly crashed a wedding.

Sunday morning was spent packing, going to the beach one last time and deciding on a detour home. We stopped on our way home in South Bend, Indiana and visited the campus of Notre Dame. Matt said that we had to find Touchdown Jesus which made me a little nervous. I had to laugh when I realized it was a mural on the side of the library. I thought it was appropriate to go to the library for salvation. As soon as I found the library, Matt located the ice rink and took off to see if he could get in. He called me and asked that I take his picture on the bench. This was a very interesting experience since I stood in the middle of the rink to take the shot. Instead of ice, I was on a concrete slab. This was the first time I had ever seen what was below the ice. It was pretty cool.

I would show you all of these pictures, but Blogger seems to not want to load any no matter which computer I use, so you will have to see the rest of the highlights here. Select the Steelhead album.

We were all glad to pull into the driveway and unload the car. It had been a long weekend and 6 hours each way. Goliath was thrilled to see us and it took him almost 30 minutes to be able to sit still. I missed him, my bed, and my quite neighborhood. I think I fell asleep by 8:00 and did not budge until the alarm went off at 5:30 this morning.

It is good to be home.

And we're off

2006-07-31T11:19:00.000-04:00

This Friday we begin the race season for 2006.

Matt's first race is the Steelhead Triathlon in Michigan. This is a half-ironman triathlon, so it will be a long day for all of us. Matt's Mom will be joining us for the race, and she will be in for a surprise. There is a whole lot of waiting to do for this type of race when you are there for support. You wait for them to come out of the water, then you wait for them to come back from the bike course, then you wait for them to cross the finish line from the run portion. Even with all of that waiting, it is quite a sight to see the participants cross the finish line and know that they have completed something that few people ever do.

This will be Matt's second half-ironman, so he has some goals for himself. I just want him to cross the finish line. The weather is supposed to break the day before the race and the forecast looks to be sunny with a high of 81. Matt will be racing for at least 4 hours, so the less humid and hot the better. You should be able to see his race results on Sunday and I should have some pictures to post.

As I said before, this is just the beginning. We seem to be embarking on a lot of traveling next month, but we aren't always going very far from home. Matt has a business trip out to Denver the third week in August and he is going to hop over to Las Vegas to see his Dad and Stepmom. Then we go to Cincinnati the day after he gets back. September takes us to Marblehead for the Great Lake Escape triathlon where Matt will have to jump off a ferry boat into Lake Erie and swim to shore, on purpose. While jumping into Lake Erie sounds crazy, the real crazy part is if he does well, he could qualify for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. That's right, the prison. But as crazy as it sounds, it makes him happy.

At the end of September we go up to Akron to visit the university where we met and to participate in the Akron Marathon. Supposedly, Matt's brothers and sister-in-law are going to join us for the 5-person relay. Mark, if you are reading this, I hope you, Brenda and Mike are still be planning on being there. I have been training for the final leg of the race and I better not have run 7 miles this past Saturday for nothing. I am not the runner in the family, but Matt figures it will be an easy race for all of us. We'll see.

October keeps us home for the Columbus Marathon and a visit from Matt's Dad and Stepmom. Then in November we go to Philadelphia to eat cheesesteak, kiss the Liberty Bell, and participate in the Philadelphia Marathon and knock Pennsylvania off the list of states in which Matt needs to run 26.2.

Of course, all of this is done without the pup. So we will get the glare and pout every time the suitcase comes out. Of course, he is spoiled enough that we have someone come over to watch him and the house while we are gone. So Goliath still gets plenty of attention while we are gone and I toss and turn each night because I don't have a 15-pound furnace pressed up against me while I sleep.

I once grew a zucchini this big...

2006-07-28T08:39:00.000-04:00

Time is flying by and the weather is heating up. In the past week, I ran in a 5K race, Matt had a birthday, I went to a library conference, and the garden has grown. You can see above our new deck shading. It has really come in handy on the hot, hot, hot summer days. We have not been able to sit outside much, but it really shades the kitchen where the walls are mostly glass.

Luckily, we have been receiving a fair amount of rain, which was the case last Saturday when we went downtown for the Dash For Donation. A good friend of mine asked me to run in it since it benefits organ donation. Her son was born with only half of his heart developed and had to have a transplant at only a few weeks old. Now he is a happy and healthy 4-year-old that ran to meet his mother as she crossed the finish line after race-walking a half marathon. I just went in for the 5K. If you are interested, you can see the results. Matt did not participate since he needed to ride his bike that day. He has a hard time being a non-participant. I could tell he was a bit antsy when the half marathon finishers were coming in. But, how often do I run a race while he watches? I was really grateful for the support.

Sunday through Tuesday of this week, I was down in Wilmington, Ohio for a conference/retreat of which I am on the planning board. I did not get to attend many sessions (only one), but I did get to meet several new people in the library world. I did not, however get much sleep in the campus apartments. I forgot how uncomfortable a college bed could be. Needless to say, I was so happy to come home Tuesday night and crash in my own bed.

Wednesday was Matt's birthday and of course, he wanted to keep things low-key. We went out for dinner to one of our Columbus Originals restaurants (The Clarmont) and ate way too much. Matt's boss commented that our choice of restaurant was were all the "old folks" went to eat. Matt did have to laugh at all the Cadillacs and other large cars in the parking lot. We had a great meal, and got seated just before the rush. The diners at the Clarmont do not follow the "elderly as early diners" rule. We were seated by 6:30 and were one of the first dozen there. The place was hoppin' when we left and this was a Wednesday night. Retirement should be a lot of fun.

This morning Goliath and I went for a walk in the neighborhood and then a stroll through the garden. I was looking to harvest a cucumber or two and some tomatoes, but we were in for a shock. There was a huge, and I do mean huge zucchini waiting for us. Too bad I cannot enter it in a county fair, it weighs over 6 pounds. Goliath is about 13 inches from neck to tail and this veg might be a bit longer. I cannot find my tape measure to be sure. I tried to get a picture of Goliath next to it, but every time I would move it close to him, he would jump away. Yes, my dog is a afriad of a zucchini.

Busy, busy week

2006-07-17T09:16:00.000-04:00

Now that Matt is back from Florida, things seem to be busy all of the time. Last Saturday we went to the movies and out to lunch and I was able to capture this gem of Matt in the theater lobby. I told him that I was going to use it for our Christmas card. I think he needed the break of no work at home or at the office since he was just so tired from the trip. It is good to see him smile again.

We have had quite a bit of rain with our hot humid weather and garden is going crazy. I have harvested my first crop of zucchini and I have had no problem figuring out what to do with it. One of my favorite dishes in a no-fry eggplant parmesan and I have found that I can substitute summer squash and it taste just as good. So here is the resulting dish. This will last us a few days and I picked up some more sauce at the market for when the next crop comes in.

Matt enjoyed it for lunch one day with a salad using lettuce and cucumbers from the back yard. So even though my eggplant never managed to grow, we still are able to create a meal from our fledgling garden. That to me is success.

The big highlight of the week was the installation of shade covers on the deck. We now have lovely bright yellow canvas stretched across the top level and it has made all the difference. The house is cooler upstairs because not so much sunlight is flooding the kitchen and I found that I had to get a blanket out on Sunday afternoon when I was reading a book. So between the new air conditioner and the canvas shade, we are finally getting the house to a comfortable temperature for us. I have even found myself sitting outside around noon enjoying a book and the view. Something that I would have never, ever done before. It has been quite toasty this weekend, but I can at least last for 20-30 minutes at a time.

The Best Laid Plans...

2006-07-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

Our holiday weekend was interesting in a very non-traditional way. I spent most of the day Saturday either steam cleaning the carpets or napping trying to fight off what felt like sinus or flu problems. Sunday was more of the same until Matt returned from Florida in the evening. I heard from a few of his fellow travelers that he was a "treat" to be around. Evidentially, he made a declaration that he was not going to shower for the entire trip and that shocked a few of them. Now, I know that he was just joking and trying to get a reaction since he pulls this kind of stuff all the time with me, but these folks seemed to take him seriously at first. Oh well, he took regular showers each day and even got a rain bath one night. By the time he got home and Goliath jumped all over him, I could tell he was wiped out. Good thing he had Monday off. I, on the other hand did not.

Monday started just like any other work day with me going in early to get my run and weight training taken care of before I head up to my office. On this day, getting into the building was a challenge since a fire broke out around 6:30 in the morning. A group of us stood outside for an hour before we decided to have a late breakfast. My work day which normally begins at 7:00 did not start until close to 10:00. Even then, things were crazy since the smell of smoke was still lingering in the atrium and hallways. We lasted until 1:00 and then took off for the rest of the day with some headaches and sinus problems. Today, the smell is all but gone, unless you go down the stairs close to the source of the fire. Unfortunately, people that have their desks located in that area have to work in one of our other buildings for a few weeks until the damage is repaired.

Matt and I went swimming Monday afternoon, and I never realized how hard it can be when you actually do it the right way. I always swim laps by using the backstroke so I don't have to constantly move my head in and out of the water, but today I thought I would try a front crawl. After two laps I was huffing and puffing and had to ask for a technique lesson from my resident expert. Matt walked me through the 5 stages to get to a full crawl and I got through the first 3 without too many problems. I will need to get some goggles and wear a swim cap if I want to try the 4th stage again. What a mess and my eyes were burning.

Tuesday morning we had planned to go on a long bike ride at one of the local trails, but the rain was constant so we stay in and cleaned furniture and the bathrooms. We then decided to go to a movie and have some lunch. Lunch ran longer than we thought and we decided to not rush the food and skip the movie. During lunch, I was witness to one of the most disturbing sporting events I had ever seen: Nathan's Famous July Fourth International Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN. I do not eat hot dogs EVER and to see people cramming them into their mouths for 12 minutes was unreal. I think the winner ate almost 54 hot dogs. That's right, 54 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Next time to have a cookout and grab a dog, see how long it takes you to consume it at a normal pace. And believe it or not, these people are pros. There is an entire organization called the International Federation of Competitive Eating. There are international rankings and various disciplines for competition including ice cream, pies, pizza, ribs, and even corned beef and cabbage. The fact that no one threw up during the contest amazed me. Of course they would be disqualified. Watching it was like looking at an accident. You know you should just move on, but you are compelled to witness the spectacle.

Anyway, we returned home for some more lazy time since the rain was not going away and continued to witness disturbing and bizarre America by watching the Dirty Jobs marathon on the Discovery Channel. This is one of our favorites. If you have never seen it, check it out. The host participates in 1-3 real jobs per episode, and it just amazes me what people do for a living. We got to see him catch, tag, and release sharks for marine studies; artificially inseminate a horse and a pig; but by far the worst to watch was putting on a tar roof. The work looked miserable and something that I am glad that I do not have to do, but I am glad someone knows how. I would not last an hour at some of these. Wow, what a lot of work. I will never complain about shelving serials again.

The Suburban Version of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

2006-06-30T07:21:00.000-04:00

It was a sad day in our backyard last night when I finally got around to taking down the Red Bud tree. This was the tree that never developed its beautiful pink Spring blooms and did not sprout a single leaf this year. A landscape friend of Matt's said that the best thing to do was to cut it down since there was no hope of it coming back to life. This tree had been a source of delight and complete frustration since it was installed over 4 years ago. We loved to look at it, but the branches had a mind of their own and would grow in just the right direction so you could not easily walk under the tree. We always had to walk around it by stepping into the flower beds, or going under it by lifting branches and hoping whoever was behind you did not get slapped in the face, and finally just avoiding it altogether and walking under the deck to get to the yard. But we really did not want to let it go. There was some discussion early in the growing season that I was the source of death because I pruned the limbs back so that I could walk under it, but as I found out, an insect infestation was the real culprit.

I still cannot believe how easy it was to tear apart this tree. It took me about one hour and I used my hands for most of the demo. The poor tree just crumbled in my hands like soup crackers. It was also interesting to note that something that had a span of at least 10 feet could be reduced to the contents of a blue tub and a few limbs. I tried to break the largest limbs down further, but by this time my arms and shoulders were getting sore and I had taken a branch in the knee when it snapped a little too easily. I have everything lined up and ready to be taken over to my parent's house this afternoon. The tree will get a new brief life as firewood for their outdoor pit.

So my dedicated companion and myself were able to call it a day. We need to get our rest for a few more projects this weekend before Matt gets home. I spoke with him last night and he is just as exhausted from his labors. He won't be home until Sunday night, so that gives us a lot of time to wait. In the meantime there is a lot of weeding to be done, grass to be cut and deck boards to be lightly sanded. Plus, I need to go pick out the deck stain at the store after I take my measurements. Thanks to my instructions from the Paint Quality Institute, I should be able to tackle this project over the next few weeks. But, we'll see what really happens.

Hail

2006-06-29T09:15:00.000-04:00

Last night I went outside to rid my lettuce patch of the thistle and had just finished the job when the rain started. They were big large drops that were hitting me as I made my way in closely followed by a less than happy dog. A few hours later, the sounds of the rain changed and I realized that something stronger was hitting the house. We received a brief hail storm and I started having flashbacks from a few years ago when we had a horrible hail storm that caused power outages and holes in our siding. Fortunately as you can see, the hail was quite small and caused no damage at all. We were even able to go back outside for a little bit before heading to bed. The best part is that the various rain showers that we have been receiving this month has provided enough water to keep the gardens going strong. I think that I only watered when I put in the veg plants, and I have not done anything since. Our lawn is starting to look a little dry in places, so I should start some early morning watering before the heat of July kicks in. The forecast calls for several moderate days for the rest of the week until we hit the 90s on Saturday, so I better get a move on and mow while I am at it.

Goliath and I went out to get some more lettuce this morning, and picked three varieties for the next few days. I am almost halfway through my crop, so I need to get some seeds and figure out what I am going to do with the bed until Fall. Maybe some herbs would be a good idea. That way I can load up on them for the Winter. Or better yet, some additional tomato plants so that I can make some sauce to set aside. There is already one volunteer tomato plant growing in the middle of the lettuce. Where it came from, I have no idea, so if it is thriving, than maybe that is the best choice to make. I will leave you with our view as we headed back into the house. The plants look great and the color is really starting to come out. When the deck is gray, it will really let the flowers shine. It just dawned on me that as we paint the deck, it will be nearly scarlet and gray. That should make the Ohio State fans in the neighborhood happy. We better get it finished before football season starts.

Hacking through the wilderness

2006-06-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

It is supposed to rain tonight so I figured that I better work on weeding the veg area before the thistle takes over. Plus, I have eaten through my first harvest of lettuce (3 small heads) and need to see how much is left. I think that I am going to have to purchase some additional seed for a Fall planting. The lettuce tastes great and I have been making a simple balsamic vinaigrette to go with it, so having a salad with every meal has not been too bad. If only Matt were here to enjoy it.

Speaking of my poor beleaguered husband, I am including a picture of him from Florida. The few times that I have talked to him, he has told me a little about how the work is going. Tearing out drywall and insulation, finding mold, and battling the heat. I am so glad that I did not go. I would not have lasted very long in the heat. To learn more about his trip, check out the HPC web site. July 1 seems so far away. I have a feeling that I better not ask him to do any projects around the house for a few months.

First Harvest

2006-06-27T08:16:00.000-04:00

Goliath and I went out this morning to see if we could grab any lettuce for lunch. Wow, what a change the rain makes. I am going to have to start eating salad all the time, or give this stuff away before it bolts. Mom, are you interested? While I was delighted to see all the various lettuces waiting for me, I realized that only about one third of the plants made it from seed. There could be many reasons for this lack of a crop but my guess is that the competing vegetation took over: the dreaded thistle.

Now being part Scottish, I enjoy the thistle symbol, but I don't want to see it all over my yard. And as you can see, they are everywhere. This particular breed is nasty because they see to spread from an underground runner, so even when I pull them out in one location, they are happy to flee to another part of the yard and cause more headaches. We did not mulch this year, and this could be a major source of their success. Just something to remember for next year.

Our other veg plants look great. The broccoli is huge and the squash and cucumbers are already starting to produce immature fruit. I spent some time on Sunday getting the cucumbers to climb the support I made for them. Unfortunately, I forgot about the spiny vines and finished the job with some sore fingers. Oh well, all for the culinary cause. I do not seem to have any eggplants growing and will have to put in transplants next year and not seeds. I also noticed that barely any sunflowers made it. I think they were eaten before they had much of a chance. One thing is for certain, no matter how well Matt cleared and turned the soil to prepare the beds, a lot of the previous plant life has come back. There must have been a great deal of seed activity when we were ripping out plants. Yet another case for mulch.

Our trip back into the house at the wee hours of the morning gave us a nice view of the flowers along the deck before the bumble bees came out to get to work. The purple coneflower seems to have spread itself around quite a bit, but it does add some color in July when I need it most. Well I will leave you for today, be well.

What happened to June?!?

2006-06-26T14:00:00.000-04:00

Things got away from me in June. I have no excuse for my lack of posts, but I now have a chance to write a few paragraphs to catch you up on all the drama.

The week of Memorial Day, Matt had to work at the ProLogis house for the golf tournament. And just like every other year, it rained, so no progress made on the deck or the yard. A few weeks later he fired up the new power washer and we discovered that it is not the final solution for taking the paint off the deck. Our plan of complete paint removal and then staining has gone out the window. Time for plan D -- painting again. This has not begun since neither of us wants to actually start the project of painting the deck. We do not tend to agree on how the process should work so our solution is to ignore it until I can't take it anymore and buy the paint. Instead of screaming brick red, we are going to go for an understated gray. This should put the emphasis on the surrounding gardens and not the two story beast in the backyard. We also moved shade cover from the bottom level on the deck to the top. Hopefully in three weeks we will be getting a canopy system installed that will make the summertime more bearable. The canopy will be a nice bright yellow that you can probably see from space. If anything, when you fly into Columbus, you should be able to spot our house from a few thousand feet.

Finally, this week Matt is in Florida with a group from the church. They are helping to repair homes damaged by last year's hurricanes. This community is primarily older residents that cannot perform the repairs, so they have had their FEMA supplies for quite a while and need help with roofing and drywall installation. Matt left on Saturday morning for the long drive down and called from Georgia Saturday night to say so far everything was fine. Unfortunately, things are no so golden at the house. I have a depressed dog that keeps looking for his "poppy" and does not sleep well through the night. So I don't sleep well through the night. I am hoping that he will settle down tonight and get some rest. Either that, or I will have to take him on my run tonight and just wear him out.

On the bright side, I have a crop of lettuce to harvest when I am ready. On the dark side, I seem to be growing more thistle than anything else. Once I find the digital camera, I will be able to provide some art.

Hot, hot, hot!

2006-05-30T10:54:00.000-04:00

Wow, was it hot over the weekend. Temperatures hit the 90s in Columbus and sapped most of our energy. We were able to go out early (between 6:00 and 7:00 am) for walks and a run on Saturday and Sunday, but turned into zombies by mid-afternoon. We did get a few things accomplished in the mornings. One of which was garden clean up. I cut back bulbs while Matt edged most of the beds in the backyard. Goliath found various shady spots join us while we worked.

Our other big project was repairing/replacing our mailbox. The numbers kept falling off the post, so we needed to apply a fresh coat of paint. Matt determined that with the paint the actual box would look shabby, so we went out and purchased a new one to install. Unfortunately, we (meaning Matt) did all of this on Monday when the heat was unbearable. I tried to work on this project and was reminded that he "promised to take care of it by Memorial Day." To quote Matt yet again, "nothing like waiting until the last minute." But it is now done and we have a shiny new box.

We have had a few setbacks with which to contend. Our lovely redbud tree has died. We have only had it for about five years and it seemed just fine last summer, but this year it did not bloom and has produced no leaves. When we asked the landscaper that installed it, he told us that the main trunk had died and we could cut it down and allow the small new growth at the base of the trunk to grow and replace it. We would probably be well into retirement when it catches up to the current dead portion. So we decided to cut off the limbs that get in the way when we walk past it and wait for cooler weather to cut it down. One advantage is that the tree's trunk is only 3-4 inches in diameter, so we can saw it down, and it is not a major part of any landscape bed. It sits right next to the deck and we would often have to push limbs out of the way in order to get to the yard. It will be sad to see it go, but it is not the blue spruce or birch, so I am okay with the change. One change that I am not okay with is the fact that we need to get a new cooling system installed.

During a regular maintenance check up, we were told that there was a leak in the cooling line. This makes sense because every year, they need to recharge the coolant in the system. We had two options: keep putting a bandage on the gaping wound, or just replace the entire system. We thought we could get by without replacing anything, but then we practically melted this weekend and the decision was easily made to go into debt for the ability to survive the summer. We are getting some cold air from the system, so we are not going to suffer too long while we get quotes, but we need to get the new one installed before the real summer meltdown begins. We have been spending a lot of time downstairs and are grateful for the leather furniture. Also, I have been sleeping outside in Matt's tent and find that I get pretty cold during the night. Matt has stayed in the house since it hurts his back to sleep on the ground. We having been meaning to pick up an air mattress for him, and this is just the push we need. It has been fun to be outside at night. I seem to fall asleep much faster and wake up on my own around 5:00am with the help of the birds. Most importantly, I feel well rested and no aches or pains, which is very surprising. Since it is going to be horribly hot again today, I left the tent up on the deck for a smoother sleeping surface. I cannot seem to get Goliath interested in staying out with me. He is too much of a suburban pup and requires a king-sized bed for his evening rest.

We're back

2006-05-25T14:36:00.000-04:00

We have been so busy lately, but I feel like we have not accomplished much of anything. The rain was on and off for more than a week and kept us indoors and unmotivated. Yet, we were welcomed back to garden with beautiful color. I need this because the vegetable garden isn't doing much without the warm days and sunshine. We do have more lettuce coming up and I can see some sunflowers poking through, but otherwise nothing exciting.

Matt's mother came to spend the weekend with us for Mother's Day. We had a wonderful visit with her and took her and my parents out to dinner. Not much later we had another visitor. While out on the deck, I was taken by surprise when I saw a baby robin just sitting on the railing looking around. It was still quite fluffy and looked a little dazed. But it held our attention for quite a while until I had to get Goliath inside since he was intent on trying to smell it. I still remember several years ago when another baby robin caught his attention. He followed it around the yard as it hopped and chirped, but he never got really close to it. He was just curious. Yet, that was too much for the mother and she proceeded to dive after him until he came crying to me. So even though I was excited to see this year's baby, I knew the mother could not be far away, and I have an unnatural fear of things flying around my head. Time to move inside.

I am hoping that with the long weekend, we can get back into the yard and work or at the least hang out in the hammock or read on a garden bench. Have a great weekend.

Lettuce celebrate

2006-05-09T13:18:00.000-04:00

As you can see (if you squint) we have little lettuce seedlings popping up in the garden this morning. The other plants look good, but this is our first seedling to emerge this summer. There are supposed to be various thunderstorms in the next two days, so I will have to keep my eye on these guys to keep them protected. You can also see our lovely Ohio clay soil. No matter what I do, I cannot seem to get that perfect Martha loam. Oh well, things continue to grow every year, so I won't worry too much.

I spent a few extra minutes walking around the yard this morning. Matt has been working hard every night cleaning up the flower beds. Everything looks so wonderful and green. I still remember when we first moved in and the entire backyard was nothing but grass. Not one single flower bed. But we did have two dead trees. We spent one year mowing and decided that we could not stand to mow for 2 hours in the backyard alone. Once we got a plan from a landscape architect, Matt starting taking out sod. He must have filled over 30 lawn and garden bags and he only used a shovel. Then to top that off, he planted all the shrubs after we had the trees installed. I might be the one that considers myself the gardener, but Matt is without a doubt the reason the yard looks so good.

We have seen the veggies and they are planted!

2006-05-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Matt was able to turn the rest of the vegetable bed area and he even created walking paths so that I can have easy access. Isn't he wonderful? I was able to get all the seeds and plants installed Saturday morning. We have garlic, lettuce, sunflowers, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, basil, and eggplant. I am a little unsure about the eggplant since I planted them as seeds. The packet stated more than once to start them indoors, but I was not paying attention. I might go out this weekend and pick up a plant just to be safe. I am not 100% certain on all the spacings of my plantings, but I figured that I gave everything nearly a foot of room. I even made hills for the zucchini seeds. I found out later that this was the only thing of interest to Goliath when he started to paw through one to see what I hid inside. I was able to get him out and rebuild the hill. He then pretty much ignored me for the rest of the day.

Sunday was a great day to be lazy, but that feeling did not last for long. After church, we went to the market where Matt kept getting "samples" of honey-roasted peanut butter. At our local Whole Foods you can grind peanuts to make fresh butter, which Matt enjoys doing. He also likes to grind just enough extra for a tasty sample that he scoops into his mouth so that he looks like a chipmunk. It makes him happy, and makes it difficult for him to object to the price of organic milk with his mouth so full. I eventually hear all about it on the ride home as he goes over every item on the bill. He is always quick to point out that the apples he selected were the most inexpensive, while I went nuts on one heirloom tomato. Whatever. I'll be able to get tomatoes from the backyard this summer while he will still have to purchase apples at the store.

Anyway, once we got home and had some lunch he took off for a 50 mile bike ride. I tried to hold out and read or watch television, but I thought this was my golden opportunity to clean out the garage. It never fails to surprise me when I do this task how much useless stuff finds its way into our house. I think this is only one of half-a-dozen times that I had filled up our city garbage can. Goliath hung out in the front yard as I swept and threw stuff away. He wandered in from time to time to see if I was done and only got excited when I repositioned his trailer for my bike. I need to get air put into the tires so that we can go for a ride. We always get a response from people when they realize I have a dog in the trailer instead of a child. It works for us. I get exercise, he gets fresh air, and we always stop for a quick walk halfway through the ride.

I will leave you with my poppies that are starting to open. We are supposed to have rain later this week and that always wreaks havoc on the delicate petals, so enjoy them now!

Begin Phase 2

2006-05-02T15:26:00.000-04:00

Well, we did it. Matt turned over the soil in the top bed (by hand) and we now have garlic and lettuce planted. We have several other plants and seed packets to put in the garden, but I want to make sure that I have the right combinations. Besides, Matt still needs to turn over the other two beds, and they get more sunlight than the first one. Until then, my plants will have to tough it out on the kitchen counter.

I can now wander around the yard to see what else is going on, and there has been a lot of activity. Our poppies look wonderful. Hard to believe when I took them from my mother's yard that they would survive. We had dug them up shortly after they bloomed, so of course they looked horrible. Plus, I had forgotten how they die back and started to panic when they turned brown and disappeared. Yet more than 5 years later, they look great and keep spreading. Luckily they have some company with the purple cone flower and columbine, so the bed stays full throughout the season.

We also had a visitor looking for food. I saw this cardinal jumping around on tree limbs and had to stalk her to get this picture. My zoom was set to the maximum, so she might be a little fuzzy, but I was happy to get the shot. I will need to get some advice from my dad about better ways to catch wildlife on "film."

Throughout everything, Goliath has been keeping me company. I often find him laying in the grass getting some sun, but this time he was hanging out on the deck while I took pictures. Hopefully the next time you see the deck, most of the paint will have been removed, thanks to the power washer. Maybe I can help out with that project after my piano lesson tonight.

Moving ahead

2006-05-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

We have made progress on both projects over the weekend.

Friday night I came home determined to get some work done on the deck. I grabbed our spackel knife to continue scrapping paint and brought out my orbital sander (which I put away after 30 seconds). After an hour, I had cleared off a space about 12 inches by 4 inches. This was going to be torture. Matt came home and got to work weeding flower beds while I continued peeling paint one millimeter at a time. After another hour, I decided it was time to get some dinner and see if my legs still worked. A bit of advice, don't kneel for nearly two hours. I could not stretch out for a few seconds and I hobbled around the deck. It was like a charley horse in both of my knees. Goliath thought it was some sort of game and followed me while I limped in pain. I gave up on the deck for the night and went out to get some dinner which we enjoyed outside while watching a movie. It got cold and we must have spooked the neighbor's dogs (because they would not stop barking at us), but we finally got our first movie night under the stars.

On Saturday, Matt went for a run while I created tiers to the vegetable garden. I tried to take it easy on the shoveling because I knew if Matt didn't admonish me about taking care of my back, my mother would. Matt returned for 30 minutes, then left again to go to a swim clinic with his triathlon group and I took a nap. Afterwards, we went out and purchased a variety of vegetable plants for our space, and they are still sitting on my kitchen counter.

Sunday we tried to turn the soil with the tiller that my father has been storing at our house for two years, but could not get it to start. I managed to spill gasoline all over myself and smelled lovely the rest of the day.

We had a cookout to go to that afternoon and on the way home stopped to pick up a few things. We almost brought home the gazebo that we wanted to put on the deck, but things did not work out so well. At the store, we notice that the cost had gone down $100 and it was on clearance. Matt suggested that we get it now, but it took me a while to come around. We hadn't made much of a dent in scraping the paint from the deck, so who knew when we could actually put the thing up. Yet, I saw his logic and we found someone to help us. It turned out that the floor model was the only one they had left. And we found out it was the same story at all the other stores in town. The upside was that we would get an additional 30% off, but we would have to come in with our own tools and take it apart...without instructions. I started laughing so hard, I don't know if I upset the guy or not, but he was very easy going. Believe it or not, Matt actually considered this option. This from the man that has probably not assembled more than a sandwich since we have been married. I knew it was time to go. But here is the icing on the cake. When we went to check out, I was told I could save 10% on my shower curtain liner by opening a credit account. I declined and the guy at the registered said, "Are you sure? You would save a quarter." I almost started laughing again.

But our journey did not end there. I still needed some paint for the guest bedroom shelves, so we went to the home improvement store. After I picked up my paint, I went to check out their selection of gazebos and found none. I was disappointed, but figured I was better off taking things slow since the deck was no where near ready and it would probably take us all Summer to scrape paint at the rate we were going. Then it happened: Matt stopped to play with power equipment. While this phrase sounds harmless, it is one that sends chills up my spine. Let me explain. Matt is on his fourth (and better be his last) lawn mower. He actually bent the crank shaft of one, but that is a story for another time. He also has managed to break loppers, a sledge hammer, two tillers, and thought he broke my Dyson vacuum cleaner. I don't know how he does it, but it happens all the time. So when he became interested in the power washers, I had my doubts. Luckily, he asks a lot of questions and is not an impulse shopper, so we were given clear instructions on how to operate the machine. Appropriately enough, it has a Honda engine, so that was an added bonus. Once we got home, I pulled all the manuals out to read them and Matt fell asleep.

So the power washer is still in the box, and we are in for a week of rain. I just need a break in the weather to turn the soil so that I can get the plants in the ground. At least we are making progress.

Back to work

2006-04-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, Matt was able to finish clearing out the vegetable bed area, so I just need to set up the beds. I did have this big elaborate plan with raised beds and everything, but I thought that I had better just take it easy. I am just going to even out the soil and make my little planting areas. Later, if this is successful, I can make my own raised beds.

I have been out of town for the last few days at a library retreat, so I am ready to get back to the garden. I went out at lunch today and picked up several packets of seeds. I am going to have to find out our last frost date so that I don't kill the seedlings before the rabbits have a chance to eat them. Luckily, I don't have to wait too long since I have lettuce. That can go in the ground today after I clean up the bed. Of course, I will need to make little protection covers out of whatever I have laying around the garden shed. I have some old wire fencing from when Goliath was little and could get through the wood slats, but I need to find some heavy plastic. That will be my project for the night.

On another note, my nephew Cole came to work with me today for Bring Your Child to Work Day. I don't know if he has had any fun, but it was nice having him around. He told me his mother asked him if he was going to do any work over the Summer and I let him know about our projects. I told him that I would expect him to put in the work, but I would pay him and feed him for cleaning up flower beds and helping to scrape the deck. I can use all the help that I can get.

Finally

2006-04-22T19:44:00.000-04:00

When I woke up this morning, I was expecting another wet one. But I was delighted when I walked out back to see a perfect gardening day.

Of course, I had take care of someone before I got started, so we took Goliath for a long 2 mile walk. He proceeded to get good and messy by running through every puddle and trying to jump into a creek. He is always so happy when he his muddy. Once we got back to the house, Matt picked him up only to have him drip about a half-cup of water down his front. Much to Goliath's dismay, Matt immediately gave him a bath.

After everyone was clean and dry, I went outside to take some measurements for the vegetable bed and Matt got ready to go on a 50 mile bike ride. Since I cannot dig out plants without his help since my back is still a little sore, I was able to catch up on some reading while I waited for him to return.

I was able to help by pulling out what should be the state plant of Ohio: wild onions. They are all over this part of the yard. I think that is because we haven't done much with this area for almost three years. I have been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it and just let nature take over. She wasted no time. But, I have to say, the soil is fantastic, loamy, and dark in this section. Our yard is composed of typical central Ohio clay soil, so this was a welcome surprise. Even though, I am going to have to create raised beds for the vegetables since this area has a significant slope. By the time we quit for the evening, I think about one-third of the bed was cleared out.

Currently, Matt and Goliath have fallen asleep while watching a hockey playoff game. I guess they both put in a full day. Too bad for them that we will have to repeat the same thing tomorrow.

Rain delay

2006-04-21T10:30:00.000-04:00

The day started out beautiful as I walked into work this morning, but by the time I left it had started raining and it has not let up. If it was just a slight drizzle, it would be great for pulling out weeds, but it is a steady stream and knowing my luck I would wind up with a cold. The bright side is when I came home I found our crabapple beginning to bloom, so I cannot complain too
much about the rain. By the middle of July, I will be begging for it.

I am procrastinating working on the living room table, yet I will force myself to finish it tonight. But in the meantime, I was thinking of something today that I had talked about with my mother.

I love words.

I like to read the dictionary for fun and I have been this way since I was a child. Ironically, I am not the best speller. Maybe that is why I spend so much time looking in the dictionary. I even keep one on my bedside table so that I can assuage my curiosity at any time. I finally took the time to count how many dictionaries I have. I was surprised to see that I own six. Being a librarian, people would think our house is filled with books. Not so. That is why we have a public library, so that I don't have to keep them at my house! The less that makes it past the front door, the better.

But, I digress...

Unfortunately, I do find that I can be a word snob if I am not careful. I can be listening to a conversation and if I hear something that does not sound quite right, I will become fixated on it until I write it down so that I can get it out of my head. Poor Matt has had to take more than his fair share of my grammar attention. He is one of the few people I feel comfortable correcting. It's just like I am one of the few people that he can "accidentally" hit with various balls and it's funny because he "could not do it again if he tried." It is a fair exchange: I get hit in the head with a wet tennis ball, he is told that "anyways" is not a real word. My pain lasts a few minutes, his goes on as long as I can retain the power of speech. Ah, life at the Butterworth's.

But now I must get back to the task of cleaning up the living room table. I know I'll feel better when it is done, yet part of me just wants to toss everything in the recycle bin. I keep thinking of what some investigator would think if they had to process my house for clues; that I was an information junkie.

I watch way too many episodes of CSI and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Agony, Agony!

2006-04-21T09:42:00.000-04:00

Thursday did not go as I had planned.

It started off normal enough with going to work and my Basic Training class. It is wonderful to have fitness facilities on site, this way I do not have to go to the gym at 5:00 in the morning to be at work by 7:00. On this day, our dedicated little group was building up a sweat and I was happy to get my workout in early. One of our last exercises was a jump squat and on the last one I felt a muscle in my lower back rebel. Thankfully, we were finished and I did some stretches before taking a shower, but then reality set in. I could barely bend to dry my legs off and putting on my pants and shoes was a real adventure. I had an instant ice pack at my desk, so I was able to deal with the swelling right away as I lay on the floor to let my back rest.

Things just got worse, so I went home for the day to heal. Unfortunately, it was painful to sit and to lay down for any length of time, so I pattered around the house with an ice pack strapped to my back. Not being able to relax and read, I thought that I would tackle an easy project that has just been waiting for me to find the time. I decided the armoire in the living room needed to be cleaned out.

It had become a filing cabinet of sorts and something I always meant to take care of, but the doors are kept closed, so there was no rush. Since the mess was at torso level and paper is lightweight, this was perfect.

Goliath kept following me around the house as I would put things in thier proper place or the recycle container. But after a while, he got bored and decided to hang out in the bedroom to watch the neighborhood. Matt was concerned that I was doing too much, but since I was not re-arranging the furniture (another nervous habit of mine) he left me alone. He was impressed with the final results, but commented that I had moved almost everything from the armoire to our coffee table. I never said this was a perfect system and I am working on the project in stages. But I will win the war.

After finishing stage one, I took the rest of the night off to catch up on my television watching. Matt rewarded me by going to the store to get milk and bringing home one of my favorite guilty pleasures: Apple Jacks. It was a good day after all.

Beauty and the beast(s)

2006-04-19T15:41:00.000-04:00

Our flower beds have exploded after the various rain showers and beautiful weather that we have been experiencing the last few days. At lunch today, I was pleased to see the brunnera has taken off and now has its little blue flowers.

Unfortunately, the dandelions and thistle have also come out of hiding to mock me.

Based on this, I have made a hit list of items in the yard that must go, chief among them is the mint that Matt seems to think needs to run free in our yard. I thought this would be a battle of wills between the two of us, but he told me that he had been working on it. Once he saw my list of things to pull, I think he felt a challenge to see how fast he could cross things off the list. Matt is always big on making a "to do" list to organize our weekends, so this is something he can deal with rather than me verbally telling him what I need help with. Something about crossing those items off gives him a real sense of accomplishment.

We got a later start on the yard because tonight was Youth Group with the kids at church. We only have a handful of meetings left, so the group is getting quite small. After dinner, they wanted to be able to sit outside, but the sun set a little too fast for me and I wound up snuggled in a blanket for warmth during the lesson.

Once we got home, we had enough daylight to tackle the intruders. Matt made quick work of cleaning up the mint while I took care of other weeds around the yard. Goliath, of course, stood guard to make sure no one attacked.

Hopefully tomorrow we will make some progress on either the vegetable bed or the deck. Now that the Blue Jackets have no more games, I will have more of Matt's attention for two days until the hockey playoffs start. He should bring the television out so he can watch the games while he scrapes paint off the deck. I'll have to work on that.

And so it begins...

2006-04-18T12:55:00.000-04:00

After reading the book Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, I had become fascinated with the blog. Not having much to say, I had been content for three months to read other's postings on my favorite subjects. But then came Spring and the vegetable garden.

I wanted to create something completely different in my yard. Knowing what a challenge it would be, I thought it would be best to document the project. This way I could either look back and think what a wonderful experience it was, or (more likely) see why I became a raving lunatic because I could not get any eggplant to grow. I thought if I created a blog, I would be able to keep my extended family up-to-date on this project (and others that my husband and I undertake) without having to tell the same story 4 or 5 times. Plus it just sounds cool: "Want to see my latest project? You can check it out on my blog."

So here I am on my first posting, getting ready to clean out a flower bed so that I can become a suburban farmer. Yet, at the same time, I am helping my husband refinish a two level deck, so that we can create an outdoor "entertainment" area. This started out as my idea as well, but now he sees a location for watching movies under the stars and has dubbed it the "Butterworth Cinema". I do not know which project will be worse, but if they both succeed, it will be wonderful.

Now I have taken the prerequisite before photos in hopes that the after ones will have us saying, "Can you believe how different everything looks?" and have started to come up with vegetable plot designs. I even have my first veggie selected: baby carrots.