Friday, September 29, 2006

Stetson almost brings down OU Football...

Here's a really funny story where a potential crisis has been averted.

Did you look at Stetson's pics from the fundraiser? One of them was a close up of Rob Trainor's bruised ear, with a caption of "Trainor's story involving an altercation with an OU football player did not end as ceremoniously as Schnieber's"
The picture:

Welllll......my friend Amy, who was going to come to the fundraiser from Athens but was ill, was looking at the pictures online this week, her boss looking along with her.

Did I mention her boss is the Athletic Director at OU? Yeah.

So two days ago, I get this email from Amy who needs to get ahold of Rob. The photo apparently opened up a big ol' can of worms at the Ath. Dept at OU and a full-scale investigation has insued....but alas, the culprit was discovered and found NOT TO BE A CURRENT OHIO U Football Player, so heads WILL NOT roll and according to Amy, a "Crisis has been averted"

As for the "ceremonious" end to Schniebers altercation with an OU football player you might be wondering about, I have to say - It was TWO OU football players, and as the legend goes, some trash talking esclated at the Cats Eye between Casey and two football players who I will not name (to protect the embarassed) - Although I recall the trash-talking was a one-sided effort on Casey's part....Comment's like, "Oh, you football players and all your time-outs....all your subs...short quarters...blah. blah. blah" can often be overheard in the football vs. rugby argument.

As the story goes - the conflict traveled all the way from the Cats Eye to the rugby pitch, (a good solid MILE away) where Mr. Schnieber set up lines in the snow and offered the football player to "Try and tackle me"...and anyone who has ever seen Casey run with a rugby ball - this is not an easy task, as the player found out.

I cant remember if Casey tried to tackle the guy - Casey help me out here? - But I can only assume that he crushed the guy

Football player #2 was only there to observe & neither has ever spoken of the event since. But one can deduct that the football players went home embarassed, and all they got out of it were Casey's shoes that they stole after the event. A sure sign of defeat.

My only real contact with this event was showing up at the Cat Eye that evening as Casey was leading the two out of the bar barking orders to "Lets go! Right Now!" and, "Just let me run home and get my cleats". No one in the history of OU scuffles has burned more calories in the process. Heres to you, Casey.
Friday Question of Day!!!


What's the best live concert you ever attended?

Gotta say - Eighth grade - UD Arena - MC HAMMER!!! Awesomest concert ever! It was Halloween & En Vogue opened for them (Vanilla Ice was supposed to open as well but he was sick) Mom was working at the UD concession stands and we got in for free & sat right next to the stage. Say what you want about the Hammer, but he and his ninety person entourage put on one hell of show!!!
Tell me all about your favorite concert experience!! (Or Jami, tell me about your favorte DMB venue...) Jami posts alot - here's a picture of her in a Stacy/Fort Sandwich...The Three Scrapbooketeers!!!

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Here's what you've all been waiting so patiently for - thanks Stetson for the pics, & be sure to expand the screen so you can see all the captions...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=ilq8ct1.26jbaf25&Uy=849104&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

SO PUMPED!
Id probably write more tonight but John just noticed an ad - David Sedaris at the Aronoff center in October - Im SOOO ordering tickets online AS SOON AS I GET OFF the blog - - - SO PUMPED!!!
See you soon David!!



I realize these posts are probably getting more boring by the day...Im sorry!

Heres an update on my diet - which ive decided will be done for my brothers wedding since I picked out a really sexy top that probably will look rediculous on me but what ever. Heres a picture of it - i created it online and couldnt do it without that stupid green belty tie thing. Ok. so just imagine that dress about nine sizes bigger and minus the bow. and a chick with a Susan "stop the insanity" Powter hair cut. that should do it:
Ive been keeping track of my calories for about a week & a half, which is about 3 days longer than every other time Ive tried to count calories so Im happy with it! Ive been obsessed with this website www.caloriesperhour.com - its sweet - you punch in your weight and pick from about a thousand activities, punch in how long you did it for and it calculates how many calories you've burned.

I find myself doing things JUST so I can visit the website and calculate it. You really need to check it out...its got everything as hard core as rugby & running at a 10 mph to the dumbest things, like "office work" and "going to church" ....im not saying that going to church is dumb, im just saying its not what most people consider the "gym"....

Today I went NUTS and will probably be wiped out tomorrow - did about two hours of skid moving with the pallet jack at work = 585 calories.....walked to winton woods and around the lake and back home (6.4 mi) = 788 calories....then Ive got my volleyball league tonight at 930 which I calculated to about 440 calories or so.

I guess its just more fun to go hog wild now that I can finally breathe! Yee haw! Rugby practice tomorrow is going to kick my butt! But John picked up some filets at kroger so its going to be another exciting Friday at the McLaughlins....lots of beef and a walk to the football game - its Finneytown's homecoming match vs. Indian Hill. who knows. Maybe we'll skip the game. But the beef is definitely on.

let me know if you want to join us for David Sedaris...

Monday, September 25, 2006

I know, I know....

Shame on me for not posting after the awesome "SUPPORT FORT" fundraiser put on this weekend...special thanks to Ang, Stacy & mom for all your help! It was a success and I had a blast. I was AMAZED at the gift baskets. I really had no idea how much planning had gone into this.

The few pics I took came out BLURRY so you're gonna have to wait until Stetson posts a link (STETON POST A LINK THAT PEOPLE CAN PASTE INTO THEIR BROWSER...) Ive seen his pictures already and he took many...what's best though, are the captions. You will not be dissapointed...

Here are a few highlights that I can remember. Post yours as well if I forgot anything....

1 - the Big Travelers!! Kelley Russell traveled all the way from San Diego and really helped ang out a lot. Lots of OU peeps were there - Alisa & David from Brown County, Andy, Carl & Maribeth from Cleveland, Jami & matt from Columbus, Trainor and Stacy's cousin Alison came from Athens, And Stetson showed up!!! All the way from the ATL! I had no clue!! I was out front and I heard someone behind me say, "THIS PARTY SUCKS!!" and there he was! He seemed to have a good time slow dancing with my mom....watch those hands, stetson! (lots of Blog fans got a chance to meet him and he really worked the Wilbur Wright table...)

2 - The T-shirts looked awesome. the brown and pink was a hit.

3 - the raffle was fun. Bone got the tony the tiger glass head cookie jar. "You put yer weeeeed in that, man!".....When I called the number for the Wine basket, I told all the MU of Ohio kids to get their tickets ready... John Gennett won! (a miami grad)

4 - All the late show ruggers - what a pleasant surprise! Hope you had fun!

5 - The Rumrunners were a hit - took awhile to get people out on the dance floor but once they were out, it was crazy! Thanks to John Gennett - the lead singer who was breaking a fever durning sound check. Way to go the distance.

6 - Food was Great! Thanks to all who brought something. I heard rave reviews about the taco dips ( I especially had my way with the jalopeno version) and missy's cheesy sausage dip (I forget what you were calling it)...but it was awesome.

Im sure Im forgetting something.

I dont deserve my friends! Thank you thank you thank you! Thanks to Ang especially, the underappreciated project cordinator for the majority of major events in my life.

If you have any other funny stories/memories of the night please post....Id love to hear them. And stay tuned...Ill post pictures as soon as someone emails me some...

thanks again!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

OOPS....

Have you ever blurted something out to someone that you thought you were fairly comfortable with, and their reaction shows that you might not be as familliar with each other as you thought?

At my volleyball game tonight our team lost the first two matches...after doing pretty well actually, just some late game breakdowns.

In the third match, had some great breakthroughs and I high-fived one of the guys on my team and said, "Good job dude, way to save it till the last match"....then I laughed...but he didnt. I keep forgetting these people arent angie or stacy or kj whos nasty sports related banter can go on and on....

any hoo...i just felt bad becuase apparently it didnt go over as swimmingly as I thought.

I was embarassed, but then I remembered my Rubi Girl night performance and I COMPLETELY forgot about it.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

DEFINITELY NO pictures for this post...

So Ang & I started this “Fit by New Years Diet” yesterday…I made binders with calorie “fill-in” worksheets and we’re going to meet on Mondays to “Grade” our previous weeks progress, weigh ourselves…(NO I WILL NOT be posting that) and see what happens. The last time we dieted together we were seniors in high school gearing up for Panama City Mania – we worked at Marions and ate cheese-less pizzas for months – ahh….life before carbs….we never had it so good. I don’t know how that turned out – I know Ang was still in a bikini, although even at my fittest, Ive never been socially “cleared” for the bikini – my white stomach might blind you.

It will definitely be tough, what with fall coming around – campfires and beer, rugby games and beer, tailgates and beer and all the junk you can consume!!

One thing that I need to work on – drinking more water….Found these Kroger brand “Fitness water packets”….whatever…it just makes it taste like Cherry Kool-aid so Ive drank more water today than I have all week – hopefully that will ward off those late night binges and keep me a little more hydrated for Rugby practice…that’s really what Im focusing on…and keeping calories around 1500/day. Ouch. My stomach grumbles every time I think about it!!

Ang needs to work on eating breakfast and not skipping meals. We’re on a 2 lb a week plan so that’s THIRTY POUNDS EACH by new years – together we’re gonna try to lose an eight year old. Sorry Johnny, but you gotta go.

Anyhoo – Its kind of embarrassing to put your weight issues out there but I figure if I tell people what Im doing, Ill have better motivation not to fail. There will be no “Before” pictures posted…. Maybe an “After” picture when its all said and done.

How many calories are in a Bud Light? This could pose some problems….

ONWARD AND DOWNWARD!

Ps – if you’re interested in joining us – post here or shoot me an email and Ill send you the “weekly form” to fill out.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

BUSY WEEKEND!!!
Cincy Women vs. Antioch...Tailgating for the Bengals/Browns game...Oktoberfest ZINNZINNATI!!!
Played another game on Saturday...sort of. Antioch came to town for a match, but they've just started out as a team. After we scored about three tries in the first four minutes of the game, we decided that nothing good could come from 90-0 win. We'd look like assholes, they wouldnt learn anything, we wouldnt get a workout...you get the picture. So about five minutes in, we brought everyone together, and split the teams up so that we could have experienced players on both sides. Everyone was happy...we got a better work out, the Antioch girls learned something...hopefully, and a good time was had by all. Now how the Antioch campus has eluded the drunken curse of flip-cup for so long, that we do not know, but after the likes of Kat/Casey/Eva at the post game party, I suspect the game will spread like wildfire up in Yellow Springs.....Here they are, showin' em how its done!!!!:

There were actually a few pictures of me playing that John took, but let me tell you - I look like a HIDEOUS, SCARY BEAST (ok even more so without a hat and my ears taped down and metal cleats on) I want you all to think of me as the dainty, happy looking person in my blog profile so until Ive got the figure of Casey James, you probably wont see any rugby related pictures of me. Oh yeah....that Im so out of shape that its virtually impossible to get a shot of me actually doing something other than walking around.

Got up around 830 to make our way down to Longworths for the tailgate - Bengals/Browns is an ESPECIALLY crazy tailgate, so there was plenty of stuff to entertain us....the Bengal-mobiles are all over the place...this little guy was up and down the alley all morning....we thought it was a souped up golf cart but then he started it up...pretty sweet whatever it is!!!

OK - This is will become hands-down, one of my favorite blog shots...LOOK CLOSELY - Those are people PLAYING CORNHOLE ON TOP OF A BUS....I had to comment that it was the most fantasically dangerous thing I had ever seen in my life!!! (you might have to click on the picture to really appreciate the view)
Here's JMac workin it on the grill....actually we werent grilling anything. We were making the ziploc baggie omelettes - What a great idea. Unfortunately when we got there around 930, the REAL early birds had already gotten into some breakfast casserole and were already full speed ahead with the drinking and weren't up for omelettes - I guess not everyone is up for eggs at all hours like we are. So we each had Two. That Louisiana Hot Sauce on eggs is fantastic.
But, the tailgate doesnt last forever - around 1230 people started the pilgrammage to Paul Brown Stadium they all went straight to the game, & we hung a left and went downtown for Oktoberfest.
Fortunately, being there during the game was crowd-free - and we headed home around halftime. I WOULD NOT want to be there right now after the game let out...Its got to be an absolute nightmare!!!
I think only my dad will think this is funny - For those of you hard core, Daytonians, you might know of a chinese restaurant near UD's campus called Wah-FU. This was dads favorite place to eat when we worked at Bass back in the day. Dad! Look what I found! Wah-Fu's Cincinnati cousin, Wah-Mee!!!
Life's too short not to be corny....
The walk back to the car was LONG. It didnt help when J-Mac Stopped to ponder the option of visiting the Scientology Center downtown.

Well, thats it - played some rugby, drank some beer, boiled some omelettes, drank some beer, ate some goetta, muched on roasted almonds, and went home. Now Im just trying to get motivated to get some cleaning and laundry done....this was a long weekend. Hope you all had a good one too.


Friday, September 15, 2006

Finneytown's Not-So Good Luck Charms:
Well - it started out great - my plan from a week ago was to spend friday night with a couple of "good steaks" before the football game..Now Im a carnivore, but I had NO IDEA what J-mac had in store. I wasnt planning on taking a picture of dinner, but this was just too amazing...these had been marinating all night in a combo of teryaki & soy sauce, brown sugar, a bottle of Great Lakes brew and God knows what ever else he had in there...it....was....AMAZING. he needed a separate plate for the corn on the cob and the garlic mashed potatoes (not shown) Needless to say, I didnt touch the asparagus or the potatoes. My expanded gut could not take it... Here's three weeks worth of protein:

Here come the Undefeated (3-0) Finneytown Wildcats! Great crowd, everyone was pumped. They came out and really put a whompin' on deer Park - it was 21-7 at halftime & things were going good.
Coming from a DI school, I have to admit I was nothing short of SHOCKED to see five, count em, FIVE football players in the Deer Park MARCHING BAND!!! Remember BB Coach Casey at Fairmont? Didnt he used to have coniptions over basketball players also wanting to play FOOTBALL?? (or maybe he just didnt like my brother....whatever) Im confused how they work this out because any school Ive ever known, the band and the football team both have long practices after school - How these fb players knew these convoluted marching band walking routines was impressive. Ah....Donny Fortener, this one's for you:

Long story short - Finneytown DISENEGRATED in the second half and ended up losing by 9 I think. It was ugly...but we'll definitely be back!!
Has anyone ever seen the football/band combo?
Addition to this post….

So today is the first day Ive come to work with out my do-rag on and whats the first comment I get from one of the forklift drivers?
“You look like Squidworth”


Thanks!!

THIS IS BETTER THAN THE “SUBSERVIENT CHICKEN”…

If you have yet to discover the Monk-email through career builder, I HIGHLY recommend it.
Very easy to do – free – and did I mention HILAROUS??

Consider this your fun, Friday activitity!!!
http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/Default.aspx?mid=13700248&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=419398bf5f89496bb981e26f5d2ae218-211635464-W4-2
Busy Busy Busy weekend lined up – Tonight John is grilling some expen$ive $teaks for dinner & then we’re walking over to watch the undefeated (3-0) Finneytown wildcats take on Deer Park. We’re pumped, and not surprised at all that NOBODY wanted to join us. Thank God we found each other…we certainly enjoy these cheap thrills, don’t we?

Tomorrow is Rugby vs. Antioch College – Then John is off to Downtown for the After party – (Halfway to St. Paddys) & Im heading down the road to Greenhills to sub on Angie’s Bowling league. Why they continue to invite me to sub I don’t know. I SUCK. If I break 100 Im excited…. I must be that fun to hang out with because it SURE AS HELL isnt my bowling skillz… My bowling fantasies don’t go much further than wanting an special “Ernie McCracken style” bowling ball – the clear globe with the rose in the middle…Fantastic.




Sunday will be busy as well – we’re tailgating for the Bengals game, then heading downtown for Oktoberfest – Im sure the game will be on big screens all over (hopefully)… We’re busting out for the first tailgate ever, our recently discovered (thanks diana!) Ziploc bagged omelettes!! John needs to get the coleman grill ready to boil the water and its baggie omelets for all! Ill let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!
(don’t forget to check out the MONK-E MAIL!)

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The most eventful Wednesday Ive had in many, many moons...


Ang invited me to a Breast cancer luncheon at the Hyatt Regency downtown and it was really nice! Awesome food, great speaker. Sat at the 5/3 table with a few of Angie's bosses and some others...took the "late lunch" to a new height....2.5 hours!! Fountain square traffic really added to the delay in getting back but it was worth it. ......
Have to say Ive never seen a "pinker" room in my life...
I get back to work to find an email from jmac reminding me that his folks were coming through on their way back from North Carolina. They were getting to our place before I got off work!! The house was A MESS!!!! I like to clean the place for company so that people think that is our normal level of cleanliness. Guess I blew it this time. He didnt even clean (shut the door) our bedroom!! Headed over to applebees for an early dinner - They were so excited from thier trip we could BARELY CONTAIN THEM!!!
Now im off to volleyball...one of the teams I played with last winter needed a sub so hopefully Ill be back in the swing of things! Ill let yall know how it goes.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Not painting again for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time...




Well - the room is DUNZO!! Its been a complete pain in the butt, but it was worth it! we originally painted this room for the blue batik we found in Florida...(in the black frame) but then I decided the quilt my MIL made from my chemo scarves (from 2003) would look much better as a focal point - not excactly sure what im going to do with this room. I may turn it into a scrapbooking room so I can practice for the scrapbooking weekend in November - Im going to try out for the varsity scrapbooking team if I get in enough practice...Oprah said once that you SHOULD NOT have a tv in the bedroom - it should only be for sleeping. Seeing as Ive been quite the insomniac I think I might move the TV into the blue room. I also rented one of those rug steamers from Krogers tonight & I must say, I could tell a SLIGHT difference in overall look of the carpet - but when I poured the water out it was NASTY!!
That made me feel a little better.


So just a few minor boxes to empty and the upstairs should be done. Next on the list - remove the archaic looking bathroom sinks and replace with new. Call me if you know anyone who can install these. I dont think John is too excited about the project as he's never done this before and I am envisioning hammers and wrenches as projectiles should he attempt to install them.



Monday, September 11, 2006


Patriot Day
September 11, 2006
David P. Leary

Dave & I at OU Rugby Alumni Weekend - Spring 2005

Im dedicating this post to my friend David P. Leary, an old rugby buddy from Ohio U. and a native New Yorker who, on 9-11 was on the subway on his way to work as a corrections officer. As I remember the story, it was in the days after 9-11, when movements to Afghanistan were starting up that Dave was sitting in the subway, giving the once over to the other passengers. “Too young to fight, too old, too sick…” he thought to himself. He basically qualified himself as the only person on the train at that moment that was physically & mentally able to join the ranks and he did just that. He walked off the train and directly to the Army’s recruiting office to offer his services to our county.

It doesn’t matter how I or anyone else feels about how our country is handling things abroad. We may not agree on why or where we’ve decided to fight, but what we can all agree on, is that there are some great men out there who cared enough about their friends, family, and fellow countrymen to literally DROP EVERYTHING, and walk away from the easy life they’ve come to know to do what they could to avenge the 9-11 attackers. That’s why Dave enlisted and I admire him for it.

He’s now in Iraq & we haven’t heard from him in a long time. He does have an email address that he can only check infrequently, and he is always vague about his whereabouts. Vague….meaning…he can only say he’s in Iraq!

Send a positive thought or a prayer Dave’s way today. Also think about his new wife he left behind when he went to Iraq. Hopefully she’s doing well & we cant wait to meet her at the next alumni weekend at OU!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Cincinnati Women's Rugby Inaugural Match vs. the
LOUISVILLE RIVERSHARKS
Cincinnati - 72 Louisville- 7
The night before the game we hosted the Ladies for a pregame meal followed by a campfire in our backyard! Of course I shouda' known people wouldnt be making a late night of it but we're firepit crazy around here...John worked up a blaze worthy of a high school pep rally, only to have me put it out an hour later...and did i put it out thouroghly? thought So! But the next morning our back yard still smelled of campfire and smoke was still streaming out from the coals. oops! sorry neighbors!

Well, I didnt get many pictures of our first game as an independent Cincinnati team, I was too busy playing!! I did take this one right before we took the field..no team pics till the new uniforms come in. Of course my fat butt was WAY outta shape but I managed to play for about 30 min - same as aways...a few nice bursts and a lot of walking around. Nothing much has changed. Did score a try after being out of position...just making the best out of being lazy I guess!
After party at Haps was a good time...missed the guys, they were playing in Lexington and we had to get home to watch the OSU game. Go bucks. woo hoo. There, thats my OSU enthusiasm. I just dont feel it. Sorry. Give me a MAC game anyday...Did you all see Akron beat NC State last night?? Three seconds to go on the one yard line and they punched it in!! Now THAT was an exciting game, and I only had to watch the last ten minutes.
SUSAN G. KOMEN Race for a cure
Cincinnati - 2006
Forts Ruggers 4 Jugs!!

Mom, Me & Dad - before the walk...


Needless to say, it was tough trying to find ANYONE you knew...I heard a lot of other people wandering around on their cell phones going, "Im WEARING a PINK SHIRT...no, PINK!" or "Im by the big tent and Im wearing a WHITE SHIRT...WHITE!!" Get real. Everyone we found was due to a complete random run in.

Funny side story...when I got my registration packet in the mail a month ago, I was PUMPED to find out that I got race number 2006...WHAT ARE THE ODDS??? out of tens of thousands of particpants, I GOT THE NUMBER WITH THE YEAR ON IT!! I couldnt wait to show up to the race and even had a preminition that others would notice and discuss how fortunate I was. What were the odds? Pretty damn good. Everybody had 2006 on their race numbers.
Here we are: Forts Ruggers 4 Jugs! I ended up running a little over two miles of the race and felt great! Ive done more physically in the last two days than I have since the fall of 05!! Who hoo!!! Feelin' Good! Thanks to all who joined the team - I think everyone had a blast..got lots of free goodies too!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Ugh...my apologies to those of you who have enjoyed this virtually political free blog (minus my Strickland links) but in honor of my mother, who told me this story about the IRA (International Reading Association) who has a yearly conference and an incident that I belive deserves a little attention...Ill let childrens author Patricia Polacco speak for herself:

Open Letter From Patricia Polacco t r u t h o u t Report
Thursday 11 May 2006
To All Educators, Librarians, and Media Specialists
Regarding the cancellation of my appearance at the IRA in Chicago for May 2 and 3, 2006:
A few months, ago I was approached by The Buchanan Associates in Dublin, Ohio, to appear at the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago on May 2 and 3, 2006. I was to be part of 5 events: speeches, "meet and greet," and book signings.
I was happy to accept the invitation which, I assumed, was coming from the IRA and my publisher. It is always such an honor for me to speak and interact with teachers and librarians from around the country.
But, then, a very disturbing turn of events transpired. My staff started receiving phone calls and emails from this firm in Ohio requesting that I furnish them with a detailed written outline of what I intended to include in my speeches. I assumed, of course, that this was asked so that a synopsis of my content could be included in a printed brochure furnished to the conferees.
You can imagine my astonishment when I finally called the firm and learned that this was not the reason. They requested my written outline because their "client" wanted to make sure that I would not discuss my deep concern about the "No Child Left Behind" mandate ... as well as my concern that there is a link between this mandate and the SRA/McGraw Hill Company, which manufactures, prints, and profits from the sale of these tests to school systems all over our country.
It was then that I closely reviewed all of the emails (I had not done so up until this time, because I had been doing school visits and was not home until now). I then realized that the "client" that this firm referred to, but never named, was indeed SRA/McGraw Hill! I also learned from the officials of the IRA that SRA/McGraw Hill was indeed sponsoring the event that I had been invited to. I was shocked!
This "firm" insisted that my speech be "upbeat, non-controversial, and non-political" ... I countered with the fact that the plight of American teachers is far from "upbeat" and that they are caught in the vice grip of the most controversial and political LIE that has ever been perpetrated on the American teacher.
I was also quite mystified as to why SRA/McGraw Hill would even select ME and invite me to be a part of their program, knowing how strongly I feel about this entire situation.
My speeches certainly do inspire teachers.... I truly believe they are among the last heroes we have in our country ... but I always mention the destructive path that is laying waste to our schools, and that is the No Child Left Behind Mandate! I did mention to them that I considered that this request approached "censorship" and a violation of my freedom of speech.
After receiving numerous emails from this "firm" that got more and more "insistent" ... I finally sent them a written refusal to alter my speeches in any way. Certainly I can moderate their length, but I refused to alter the content. I made them aware if they truly had a problem with this, then they could "un-invite" me to be part of their event.
Needless to say, SRA/McGraw Hill cancelled my programs within the hour! My main concern here is that I very much fear the conferees will be led to believe that it is I who cancelled this event. The cancellation was the choice of SRA/McGraw Hill and was generated by a blatant attempt to CENSOR my remarks and the content of what I say to teachers. Which is a clear infringement of my constitutional right to freedom of speech. I pride myself on being an advocate for America's teachers as well as being one of the most reliable speakers at conferences in our country.
My lawyers and I have sent a formal request to SRA/McGraw Hill through their representative, The Buchanan Associates, in Dublin, Ohio, to post the following signs outside each venue at the conference where I am scheduled to speak:
DUE TO PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SRA/McGRAW HILL AND PATRICIA POLACCO, SRA/McGRAW HILL HAS CHOSEN TO CANCEL ALL OF PATRICIA POLACCO'S APPEARANCES AT THIS EVENT.
Call anyone you know who was either going to attend my events, or who did and was disappointed, and tell them why this happened.
I am very disturbed by this on many levels. It seems that we Americans are losing, by leaps and bounds, our constitutionally "guaranteed" rights. I am insulted and very offended, not only on my own behalf, but also because of these various organizations that seek to profit from the misery of our teachers and school children. Profits and money seem to matter much more than truly making changes to our educational systems that would truly help our children. I have to admit that I have a certain amount of pride in taking this stand on your behalf.
Yours faithfully,
Patricia Polacco

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Susan G. Komen Race This Weekend....STILL SHORT OF MY GOAL!
hey all - this weekend is the Cincinnati Susan G. Komen Race for Cure and Im going to try and RUN IT!! - Im not joking!! I dont have high hopes but Im going to give it a shot. The gal who organized my team is beating me in fundraising and keeps giving me a hard time about it...if you can spare a dime (or 250), you can make donations through the website.
My team is Fort's Ruggers for Jugs, and all are welcome join!!
THANKS FOR ALL WHO HAVE ALREADY CONTRIBUTED!!! YOU RULE!!

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

ACTUALLY…..

So I get to work today and Im in the middle of describing this HORRIFIC accident I saw (or at least the aftermath of) on my way to work and my co-worker Tom interrupts me and and hes all, “You know when someone just completely OVERUSES a word?”

I have a feeling I know where this is going….”Ok, Tom….what word to I overuse.”

“You say ‘ACTUALLY’ ALL THE TIME….mostly on the phone.”
“HUH? No ones ever told me that!”
“Yeah well, your friends probably wouldn’t”…

So of course the next call I make Im on the phone and without even thinking I say….”You know what? Lee is ACTUALLY on vacation….did you want to leave him a voice mail?”

Yells Tom from his cube on the other side of the office,…”ACTUALLY!...You said ACTUALLY again!”

Ok, I get it.

So what else am I guilty of, people?

Monday, September 04, 2006

Apologies and Explanations!!

What can I say? Upon our return from Florida, I had to jump head first into reunion activites, and in the week following, as you were all expecting fantastic blog updates, I got some crazy ambition to make some minor home improvements...for the last week, Ive been busting my ASS peeling two rooms of wallpaper...Frick thank you so much for the steamer, perhaps one of the greatest inventions after the internet...(worst invention? WALLPAPER) ...painting rooms, and God help me, when the temperature dropped this weekend, I got ABSOLUTELY FALL DECO WILD...Fall is my favorite season of all and as soon as summer shows just a minor HINT of fading away, I bust out the boxes of fall deco, stock up on Pumpkin spice candles and go HOG WILD.....Here are some of my recent fall additions along with my room painting progress:

Mantle with the fall leaves spray, Pumpkin spice candles, and the ceramic pumpkins I picked up at Old Time Pottery..perhaps the greatest store in Cincinnati: Dining Room Table Centerpiece - Fake Flowers I keep stored, Pilgrims courtesy of OTP...
OTP Strikes once again...Harvest Wreath and a cutsey scarecrow. Im so friggin domestic.
Ok - for those of you unfortunate enough to have seen our bathroom before, it was a striking, painful shade of yellow, and when you turned the lights on, the entire hallway would glow with yellow. It was like bathing in mustard. I removed the vanity, painted the room white (White idea thanks to Stacy and her unhealthy obsession with all things white) removed the glass shower doors and added a white shower curtain, new white toilet seat and $2 wall art from you guessed it: OTP!!!

This room has taken up most of the week...Ive been coming home from work and putting in 3-4 hours a day peeling wallpaper and I finally finished painting it last week. Im not a clean painter and the carpet looks like shit but overall I think it looks ok! (much better than before!!)


This is my current project. The goal was to finish it this weekend, but the fireworks train kicked my butt and it was either catch up on my blogging, or work on the third bedroom. The blogging involved much more sitting so it won out. Ill keep you updated on this one...I was peeling the wallpaper all friday and saturday and now I just need to clean the walls and then it will be time to paint again. Ill keep you updated with the results!!!

Keep reading!! Ive got three more posts below....Fireworks Train, Class Reunion & Vacation stuff! Sorry for the delay. I didnt realize how badly you all needed your fixes. Ill be better, I promise! Things have been CRAZY!!!!

WEBN Labor Day Fireworks Train to the Ohio River:
Sunday, Sept 3rd, 2006

The fireworks train to the boathouse on the Ohio River was awesome. It got a little hairy before the train departed..I was stressing out a bit trying to ensure that around 200 people had the correct wristbands for their train. It was a bit of a "Cluster" as my boss described it (I was checking people in at the entrance and he was helping people on board, some of which I had given incorrect seating instructions to, giving him absolute fits) but eventually we got the pizzas on board, plenty of room for our coolers and the fun (but painfully slow) trip to the Boathouse was on.
My brother and his crew from Dayton came down and took some nice real estate on the table in the lounge for some drinking games. Let me first say that in the weeks leading up to this trip, when we would have fireworks train meetings, my boss's description of the consist was somethign along the lines of, "well, we've got the Chapel Hill, Birch Grove, Dome, Perry, two coach cars and all your drunk friends".....The Tavern Lounge that we all rode in was affectionately called "All your drunk friends" for the last few weeks...
Well, let me just say that we delivered. When my boss first entered the Tavern Lounge after departure, what was his first sight? This table playing either "Kings" or "Asshole"...what ever it was, someone had made a rule that you had to keep your finger in your nose for what seemed to be an hour. So my boss walks in to see my friends all sitting at the table, wasted, with their fingers jammed up their nose like it normal. The double-take he did was priceless.
Here are some of "my drunk friends" watching the fireworks...spectacular!!
This was the back half of the car..theres Donny & Pam chillin at the bottom of the picture. I think everyone had a great time. I know I did!!!
FHS Class of 1996 Ten-Year Reunion a HUGE SUCCESS!!!


The reunion weekend was great...all except for Fairmont losing to Alter, something that still makes my stomach turn. I thought about going into my "why I hate alter" rant, but im going to keep things friendly. Just being at the foot ball game was a blast, and we had about 30 or so people turn out from our class which was awesome.
Of course, another thing I inherited from my dad was the desire to show up to high school football games WAY TOO EARLY...we passed the time by taking sweet pics of the new stadium...Heres Darian, my buddy who used to entertain all of us when we worked at Marions back in the day. He drove down from Whitmore Lake, MI for the event:

After the game...ok...into the third quarter (sorry Andy) we took off for the second phase of the Friday Night events, HARRIGANS!! We had the porch reserved and had a great turnout. Did I say I was going to be nice about Alter?? I lied. Alter, this ones for you!!!

Bone, Katy, JoJo, Me, Michelle
Marisa, Michelle & Goad tell the Knights WHASHAP!

The actual reunion on Saturday was a blast. We rented a GIANT hall and had a little over 200 people show up so we still plenty of room for things like Cornhole & Flipcup:

We hooked the band up with some FHS Basketball uniforms which made for a pretty sweet on stage ensembele...Janicki & Eck worked it onstage! Somebody gets these girls a tambourine!!


Perhaps it has something to do with his "last call" antics...feeding the dance floor wine straight out of the box...this never leads to anything good.



As any party that kills 6 kegs and 9 boxes of wine does, there were some unfortunate spills on the dance floor. From what I can recall, a few people slipped on the butter that spilled from the caterer drippings en route to the buffet line, and the rest were from people jumping off stage onto a beer soaked dance floor...it wasnt that funny until Goad bit it...then it was just HILAROUS!

Here are John and I for one of the brief moments we were toghether for the night...I spared him from making the rounds and he pretty much kicked it with Karens husband Joe for most of the night... (like our outfits? El Cheapo Florida Purchases...my dress? $10...John's Shirt? $3!!")

...when he wasnt breaking it down on the dance floor!!!