Sad News Folks -

So this weekend was CRAZY...Ive kinda been avoiding going to my parents house because dad got a bug up his you know what to clean out the attic. So the entire upstairs is FULL of boxes. And dad wants nick and I to pick up our stuff or its getting thrown out.

Mom saved EVERYTHING. Every single piece of artwork, cursive writing, spelling test, coloring book page...its there... from 1978-2006. I was up there taking pictures of some of the stuff I knew had to get thrown away but I wanted to remember it.

We needed to leave for Merediths shower and in the confusion, my camera got lost amid all the boxes and papers...

I figured Id just look for it when we got back. The shower was lovely, & when we got back, I went back to looking for that stupid camera and enlisted my mom to help.

"Melissa, Meredith found your camera before we left! She gave it to you!"

"Um, NO. I didnt know she found it and she DEFINITELY didnt give it to me."

Mom calls Meredith who tells her that she gave it to MY MOM, not me. So now its on Pam's shoulders. We're turning the place upside down and I just decide to say screw it. If they find it they can send it this week. I am a little crushed though, becuase tomorrow is beggars night and I was excited to post cute pictures of all the neighborhood kids. This is the first time Ive ever given out candy!

(PS - Funny side story....Stacy grew up on a farm and for halloween, her parents had to drive them all over the countryside from house to house!! But Stacy did say, "But we really did get better stuff since all the people knew what a chore it was to trick-or-treat" If found this incredibly funny)

Oh YEAH! AND I wanted to get good scrapbooking shots!

where was i? Oh. Screw it. So Im taking my bridesmaid dress to the car (which I might add needs SERIOUS alterations...One A Cup and a chest cavity equals enough space in the torso to fit a friggin beach ball) and my dad comes outside.

"Whats that?" He points to the drive way.

There was my camera, in the middle of the drive way. I can only guess that someone carried it out en route to the shower, dropped it and it bounced under the car.

I picked it up, and it had sort of "snapped" open and when I turned it on , the screen was shattered. I felt liike I got punched in the gut.

Now get this - Mom offers to replace it as a "Christmas AND Birthday Gift" as if having a Early January birthday doesnt suck enough...

Im going to go around and break peoples things and then offer to replace it as a Christmas gift just to see their reaction and to make sure Im not out of line in my outrage...

So anyway, No more pictures. I talked to Stetson today and he's sworn off my blog and proclaimed that he'll just have to start tormenting the family blog.

Now this is where it gets funny. In all the boxes, I found my senior year Creative Writing journal from Mrs Rab's class. Basically gives a semester of my high school senior year in excrutiating detail....all the volleyball games, basketball games, unrequited crushes, Donut Man schedule, Marions pizza schedule, but amid all the details were some entries that made me laugh:

After a volleyball game: "Well, we finally beat Alter our senior year and it f**king rocks! All thier seniors were standing in a huddle crying - IT WAS GREAT!!!"

On my new volleyball shoes: "I got new volleyball shoes and they're so damn white. - Everybody says that at first glance I look like Ive only got socks on"

I cant belive Im going to share this but it was too funny: "I had a cool dream last night. I dont remember much, but I was sitting in some guys parents apartment waiting for the guy cuz teh parents had gone off to tell him that I really loved him and that I wanted to see him, so I walk out the front door and he's walking up and we get these big smiles on our faces and we're like, dirty dancing on the walkway and he looked like a cross between Mr. Russo, CJ's basketball coach and that hot guy that coaches the reserve soccer teams. It was great, and I was like, YES! Im finally gonna get some! And then I like, wake up and im like, uh, this sucks."

Im not kidding I really wrote that -

And finally, my recap of the senior Homecoming dance: "Homecoming was a blast - The only think that sucked was all the decorating we did Saturday afternoon. It took like 6 hours from start to finish so Mr. Bauser put me in charge of making sure no freshman tried to rip anything down. So of course I get really anal retentive at the dance and when people tried to rip down the gossimer from teh ceiling I went buck nutty and went on a man hunt to find who took teh gold mylar balloons off the ceiling. I found the culprit - John Hill. I went up to him and went off on him and took the balloon and walked off. Then I felt really bad about being such a bitch because John is such a nice guy. So I called him and apologized and it was all cool"


Well, I hope the content of these posts are entertaining...I dont know when Ill have pictures up again....HAPPY TUESDAY! FOUR DAYS TILL SCRAPBOOKING WEEKEND!

Halloween Party #2! Spoons Bonfire!

It was a tough day trying to recoup from Friday night and get ready for Saturday night. Johns leg started to feel a LITTLE better and after a night of lubricating the joins with a steady dose of Killians & Blue Moon, its feeling at least better than it was yesterday. He still limping around but its better...
So! ON WITH THE COSTUMES!
Harry & Jean - Yeah, I had to think for a couple seconds about this one too...

Bonfire Fun!
Brendan ("Todd") O'Connor is doing God-Knows-What with Funhater, who rode that ostrich all night long.


Hans & Franz ah gahing to PAHMP......YOH UP!!!
This picture is kinda dark but as you can see, Kim Jong Il and "East Coast Liberal Professor out of touch with middle america" get their daily dose of Marxism. Yeah. Its over my head too.
Here's a really funny story...so last night I decide to start probing people on their own personal Ghost stories. I have always thought that peoples personal experinces were MUCH MORE enthralling than those cookie cutter urban legends of pre-pubescent sleepovers...

So anyway, Jean turns out to have a TON of experiences that had me on the edge of my hay bail all night. Shes in the middle of telling me these stories and I hear my phone beep. It only beeps like that if I have a message, or if the battery is running low.

I check it. No message. one full bar left. No low battery message.

We continue to talk, and througout the conversation, the phone "beeps" about four times. Every time I check it, Nothing. After about the fourth time it beeped, I was all, "Ok Jeanie - Lookit, Im turning my phone off. It cant even make a beep if its turned completely off"

So we both stop our conversation and watch as my phone says, "Goodbye" and goes dark. Its off.

We go back to talking and about five minutes later, "Beep"....

We stare at each other in disbelief. Actually that was just me because this stuff is old hat to her. It beeps one more time before we get up to walk up to the house and leave.

Im up there telling Harry and John the story of the "Posessed Phone" when Kenny and his girlfriend, the last ones left at the fire, come walking up.

"Hey Spoons, I think I found your phone under one of the bails of hay"

Oh well, it was freaky while it lasted. Im off to Dayton for Meredith's shower. More on that later tonight...

One Halloween Party down, One to go....

Ryan Gennett (on the right..) hosted the friday night party that offered up some great costumes as well as a kick but whiskey slush drink... Below - "FREE THE DOG!" - "Dog" The Bounty Hunter & his son Leland get the party started:

The "Who Dey" Fairy & poncho Villa!!!

Slash & that dude from "V for Vendetta"

J-mac, who was going as "East Coast Liberal Professor Out of touch with Middle America" (Yes he shaved that "bald spot" and me, who just simply went goth...im so angry...so alone.

Tony Montoya and that dude from "V for Vendetta" (Ryan's Brother John) team up for a game of beer pong.



Had a great time - dance party in the living room where John messed his knee up pretty good. He can hardly walk today but he says its feeling better...may go get x-rays tomorrow or monday. Its 530 on Saturday and we're heading to party # 2 in about a half hour...Spoon's Bonfire not too far down the road. Ohio State is on the television and they're killing Minnesota...BOOOR-RINNNNG...
Tomorrow is Meredith's shower so Ill have tons more pictures tomorrow. Looking forward to more great costumes tonight!!!

Random Thursday Thoughts....

Check it out…I noticed that in all the pictures im wearing a hat of some sort…so for those of you who were curious about the hair status – here it is as of last night…just another step of post chemo hair growth – step 1 – peach fuzz, Step 2 – Spikey Boy Hair:

Does anyone else have this problem? I went to fill my tank on my way to my volleyball game last night and stopped at a shell station. Are they now constructing these pumps so you cant “lock” the lever and then “Hang” the nozzle in your tank? Im lazy. Lets face it. I enjoy leaning up against my car for 57 seconds once a week, looking cool, watching the cars go by as the tank gets filled. All I got last night was a frustrating episode of trying to “lock” the trigger and it clicks and stops. Then I keep trying to hang the nozzle and it wont stay. It was TERRIBLE. I left frustrated and only put five gallons in…all because I am THAT lazy. I will never go to that shell station again!!
John made ribs and Mac-n-cheese last night. Then I took his picture:


As I had long expected, and feared, the big tree in the back yard in what seems as if it happened overnight, has taken a MASSIVE DUMP of leaves in the back yard. Please call me if you’d like to come and rake this all up!
And Lastly, I found out this morning that this month I may be going to Cincinnati’s channel 12 to talk about the trains in the upcoming future. The time slot we might get would be earlier than the owner comes alive so I said I would do it. This is what I would be talking about – Brian is my boss - http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060919/LIFE/609190381

It might happen later this month. I bragged about my extensive on-air live interview experience. Once in high school, I was chosen to do the Channel 7 “Fan Cam Ham” report. I went to the Fairmont football game, taped my friends, the crowd, and the game, then went back to the station, cut the footage into a cute little montage, (with help of course) and than sat with Mike Hartsock for the live Friday night sports wrapup. I predicted a Fairmont win over Centerville (which DID happen), walked the audience through my footage, and basically sat there as a poofy banged, brace-face eye candy for my legion of fans. (now that im thinking about it, Ill try and find the tape when Im up in Dayton this weekend and Ill take a picture of the show and share it with you all…its HILAROUS)

thats all - please share your Gas Station Frustrations here:

Anyway, that’s whats going on. This is yet another busy weekend – Halloween Party Friday night, Germania Parks 10K Volksmarch Saturday morning – DII Collegiate Midwest Championship where my beloved OHIO U men are playing Illinois U, then its off to Spoons Halloween Party/Bonfire…Geesh…GREAT PICTURES TO COME!! EIGHT DAYS TILL SCRAPBOOKING WEEKEND!!! >enter Howard Dean-esque scream here<

!!!Important!!!
Wednesday Question of the Day

Honestly - HOW LONG DO YOU TYPICALLY TIME A BAG OF MICROWAVE POPCORN??

BONUS QUESTION: Does keeping a bag of popcorn in the fridge have ANYTHING to do with how long you should pop it?

This question may or may not have something to do with something I may or may not have done again in my office today....

To my faithful readership...

Please dont think that my attention to my new blog means Im breaking up with you. Its just that things have been slow and boring for the last few days and so I was inspired to create family blog....and not just my "mom & dad" family....and not just "grandma & Grandpa" family, but the whole FAM - "Great-Grandma & Grandpa Fortener" DAMILY!!

We used to get together every Christmas and those were some of my favorite memories. Mark Ewald, a friend of the family, who I would later buy office supplies from in one of my first real jobs, was always Santa Claus, and by the time I was in Elementary school, there were already twenty some great grandkids, so Ewald, er, Santa, would take over an HOUR calling out EVERYBODYS name.

It was never about the gifts, and when Santa called your name, you went up giggling becuase you knew what to expect....all the gifts could fit into your basic ring box, and every typically went home with some nail clippers, or a tube of chapstick, or if you were lucky, a pack of gum.

There was always a "Merry Christmas" Banner that was made from a dot matrix printer that probably took 45 minute to print....an "M" made of all little "M's"....remember those? How amazing we thought those were?

As the years went by, though, the "Sub" families grew and plans got busier and the Christmas Parties ceased. I started this blog to try and get everyone back on the same page, and updated with pictures of whats going on with everyone...its sad that there's kids who are in college or just graduating that I havent seen in forever! Many of them I babysat at one point or another!

So anyway, thats what ive been doing instead of posting to this blog for the last few days. I promise you! They'll be come great Halloween Party pics and of course, Stacy, Jami & I's (and the rest of the Fortener Ladies) Trip to "Scrapbook Mountain" in November.

Hold on to your hats, folks. Things are gonna get crazy!

So for those of you who give a crap, here's my family blog that Ive got started:

http://fortenerfamily.blogspot.com

Happy Tuesday!!!

WHO-DEY SUNDAY!!!!

Got to see the Bengals put up an impressive win over the Carolina Panthers....from all the talk, it seemed like NOBODY was confident they could do it!

Like a true classy Marshall grad, Eva puts one down at the tailgate..


Another self portrait - we spent most of the 2nd quarter waiting in the ATM line....then waiting in line for hot chocolate...during that time, the Bengals tied it up....and then went down a score...

Ritchie, Me, Eva & Kat try to stay warm:

Ok people! It was friggin FREEZING out there!! These guys had their shirts off?? Sorry I dont have any interesting stories from this weekend...it was eventful, fun and incident free. See below for the Friday/Saturday rundown...

Friday/Saturday at Indian Lake...

well, we only stayed with the in-laws till Saturday night since sunday we had bengals tickets...but we made sure to hit up the Tilton' Hilton friday night...Here, Diana and I ham it up for the camera...

I threw out the "Do a fake sleeping picture!"....aparently big John didnt get the memo....
I walked around Sassafrass point taking all kinds of pictures - The trees were beautiful!

The true highlight of Saturday was watching Michigan State pull off the biggest upset in D1A football ever, and my cousin Danny is a red-shirt freshman who went in the first half when the starting safety got hurt. This picture is taken a second after a crucial interception...i wasnt able to get a shot of danny playing.. everytime he was on I was grazing at the snack table. And by the looks of my recently protruding double chin, was for a good majority of the game...way to go danny!


My father-in-law was facinated by the "Hip-Bumps" of college football players and wanted to try it out with John...crisis averted...

Happy Friday!
Hope I didn’t throw you all in to a deep depression with yesterday’s post. There’s not a whole lot you can do for that occasion and a small tribute was the least I could think of. Now its time to get your spirits back up with this little gem my boss emailed me this morning with the following message: Chelsea and I were at Target Sunday and we noticed someone had rearranged the Smith & Hawkins duck yard ornaments. Naturally, Chelsea took a picture.

PS - some of you were asking when the new CIncy-Dayton Womens Rugby Calendar was coming out - its out..and here's a sneak peak at your favorite bald beauty in all of her splendor..just call me Mrs. June...if it encourages you to buy one, Im by far the ugliest of the group...order it TODAY at www.cincydaytonrugby.com !!!

So yesterday wasn’t exactly EASY, but we get by. Ang sent me the cutest little arrange of flowers in a Halloween mug. I took a picture but I keep forgetting to save it so I can post it. Take my word, its cute.

John and I went to Applebees to “Celebrate” and in an event of painful irony, the staff of 8 STRONG skipped to the booth next to us and sang the most obnoxious rendition of “Happy Birthday” to the little boy with his family. We just stared at each other, shook our heads, rolled our eyes and smiled. What else can you do, really?

I went home, crashed on the couch and fell asleep till 1030!! That NEVER happens!! Im not a napper at all. As a matter of fact, I intentionally DON’T nap, because, I disagree with the notion that napping makes you feel “energized” and “renewed” like all the magazines will tell you. If I take a nap on a Saturday afternoon, I am tired and bitchy for the rest of the day. It has the opposite effect on me. But I did nap, and when John woke me up at 10 30 to go to bed, I STILL fell asleep, which surprised me…

Now for the crazy dream I had.

We were on our way home from Urbana, after a visit with the in laws (we’re going up there this weekend) John is driving in front of me getting ready to turn onto the interstate (in my dream its not the exact same urbana roads) but I turn the other direction because Im going to stop by the Urbana library for something. I take a left and head up the hill toward the library. The library is at the top of the hill and there’s a spot right in front for my car.

Don’t ask me why, but for some reason I take one of our big dining room chairs out – maybe with the intention of sitting in it at the library? But then right before I go in, I leave it sitting out side of the library, kind of like others have left their bikes, only I don’t lock up the dining room chair.

I walk into the library and im only in for seconds when I think, “I shouldn’t have left that chair sitting out there, someone might steal it” so I walk back towards the front door and see some dude walking away with my dining room chair. I start to run, and by the time I get out in front of the library, the guy hears me yell, ditches the chair in an alley and runs off. I retrieve the chair, put it back in my car, and go back into the library.

When I come back out of the library, something is wrong with my car. The tires are turned like someone was in it and it just doesn’t look right. I pull out into the road and start to back up to turn the car around but the brakes are out!! Now Im flying down hill backwards towards the main intersection and I cant stop! I whisk through the moving intersection and see a woodsy area with small trunked trees…the kind that wouldn’t create much of an impact so I steer my car towards it.

(this is a great feat as though Im not a very proficient backwards driver in real life, yet in my dream Im doing it with ease, making split decisions going 60 mph…)

So I make a relatively soft landing in the brush and Im alive! My feet are in the air so somehow the car’s nose is shooting upward… I scramble for my phone to call John, he cant be that far away, and a group of onlookers rush to the car and it seems as though everything is going to be alright.

So I guess if I had to break this dream down, I would say that crazy $hit seems to happen to me at all times, but I usually land on my feet…sort of. John’s always a phone call away if he’s not right there, and Im never short of people running to my rescue, offering to help.

Either that or I have a suppressed desire to stunt drive cars. I don’t know.

PS - John just emailed me & we’re getting TWO FREE TICKETS TO THE BENGALS/CAROLINA GAME THIS WEEKEND!!!! So now its looking like we’ll head to the lake tonight and tomorrow – Bengals on Sunday.

WHO DEY!! HAPPY FRIDIZZLE!!

Happy Birthday, John Patrick, "JP"
October 19, 2003

Can you believe its been three whole years? I never thought this is how I would "celebrate" my child's birthday, and it just doesnt seem to get easier! Its still not easy and we think about him every day. But through everything, we have so much to be thankful for, and after such a stressful year, we've come out ok, and I like to think that he's looking down on us and keeping us sane through all of the hurdles. We love you so much and miss you everyday, and always wonder how our lives would have been different if we had the chance to hold you just for one more day.

A song to Celebrate my 100th POST!!!
I keep hearing about this Bob & Tom song - an Homage to the Solid Rock Jesus on I-75 and came across the lyrics to the song...(in response to the post below)

so without further ado:

(and PS - I know FIRSTHAND that God has a WONDERFUL sense of humor and Ive been happlily laughing at all the jokes he's played on me, so I am certian this, in no way is an abomination...ok...i dont really know, but its funny anyway...)

In southern Ohio, just north of Cincinnati
I beheld a vision, next to the expressway.
Was a 60 foot jesus, with his hands in the airlooks like he’s carved out of butter,just like at the state fair.
Big butter Jesus
Sweet cream Jesus
Oh country fresh Jesus
Unsalted Jesus
Oh Promise Jesus
Imperial Jesus
Can’t believe it’s not Jesus
Oleo Lord.
Well you see him from the chest uplike he’s about to do a back flip,like he scored a touchdown
or maybe melting or about to drown.Well I’ve been to the state fair
seen a cow made out of corn cobs
Garth Brooks made of string cheeseand the virgin out of olives.
Big butter Jesus
Sweet cream Jesus
Oh country fresh Jesus
Unsalted Jesus
Oh Promise Jesus
Imperial Jesus
Can’t believe it’s not Jesus
Oleo Lord.
Shipped in pieces on a flatbedstaring backwards was his big head
Driver stuck in traffic backups
desperately avoiding eye contact
Well don’t make no graven images.
That’s one of the 10 commandments
I hope the grading curve is kindly
You get to heaven with a 90
Big butter Jesus
Sweet cream Jesus
Oh country fresh Jesus
Unsalted Jesus
Oh Promise Jesus
Imperial Jesus
Can’t believe it’s not Jesus
Oleo Lord.
Can’t believe it’s not Jesus,
Oh spread the word.

The following was given by a friend of mine who offered a guest sermon at a church this past weekend in Dayton. I felt it was worth sharing... Almost over the hump! Happy Wednesday!

Headlines! Headlines.....read all about it!

A rapist in Florida was pretending to be a cop.Also in Florida, a family is shot to death in their own car.Kim Jong II has nukes.Racial Tension is on the rise in the South.The President's approval ratings dip again.Buddies in Iraq killed within days of each other.Elephants are dying out.A Record snow in New York in October.AIDS is ravaging Africa.New Kindergartners smiling as they enter Dayton Schools.

WOW...that is the most important story I've heard in weeks.

There is still HOPE...there really is.Before I begin today with our message, I want to say it's so wonderful tosee everyone here, and to be back at Hope. I still believe in thiscongregation and all it attempts to do.

I was driving to work about three weeks ago when I saw a beat up, old VWBug with a bumper sticker that really resonated with me..."Be more like Christand less like Christians." I sped up to get a look at who was driving.It was a middle aged African American man...looked like a nice guy with aYankee Candle air freshener hanging from his rear view mirror. I smiled.I felt this sudden osmotic sense that I got him...I understood him.

Judgement had befell this man...maybe all of his life people had played the race game with him, that he had probably turned to church to be his protector...and he wasl eft to wonder, why do Christ's followers pick on me...pick on people???Makes nosense really. And I wanted to somehow say, "I understand...and it hurts."

You know, Christians in our country have hijacked that wonderful word. A word that once meant people would know you because of the love you would give to them. now it means a select group of people with a plan and designs for all other people.

I think the perfect analogy of what I mean awaits any visitor who drives down75 to Cincinnati. There is a spectacle there, the largest statue of Jesus in the Midwest, and maybe in the United States. The funny thing is Jesus appears to be drowning in this pool that lay in front of the Solid Rock Church,while the church itself sits proud and postured, filled with cars and dollars.I'm sorry, but I can't imagine that Jesus had any intention of people coming to a humungous complex with buildings for every purpose under the sun, where a fresh batch of judgement awaited all visitors. Where you dumped your last dime to get more air-conditioning and your personals truggle with salvation become a marketing scheme to increase the size of this monolith.

Jesus, with hispained face, drowning in the water.

They have lost the message of Christ. Forgiveness, love and understanding.Those things were never intended to be used as a way to make profits, andChrist himself said "make not my temple a place of business".

Walk into Solid Rock someday and you will see a coffee shop, a souvenir store, and a place to buy our own color specific Bible with your name in Gold Letters. What doest hat have to do with Christ's message? You got me. On the flipside, walk into that place of worship with heavy heart, and mind riddled with fear and guilt andfor a specific price, you can leave being a Born Again, and broke,Christian.

Jesus with an ache in his eyes looks out onto the fields of livestock and farmhouses.If you were watching the television the other day, you may have seen a real showdown about the upcoming elections. Now, I am not going to drift off into politics, because I don't think church and state really are meant to be mixed,but one of the Senators form a southern state, made a statement I couldn'tbelieve. He said, America will only find peace and grace when we elect ourfirst-ever Born Again President.

Have you ever wanted to jump into a television and say "Hello, are you stupid?"We HAD a born again President. He was a model of the Christian life andstill believes that all good can only come through Christ. If you read his book, oreven about him, he says his downfall as a President came from one sector of the American Public. You ready??? Born-Again Hypocritical Christians. His Name...Jimmy Carter. President Carter went as far as to say that the most self-righteous influences in this country are the members of the Christian Right.

This from a man who took every step in his life as a Born-Again,well-meaning Christian. Now, I'm not here to defend his policies, but this man, aging and weak, is still building homes for the poor, vaccinating children from foreign countries and attends church daily. I

f that isn't a model of Christianity,what is? I can't imagine Christ ever condemning a man who is so selfless.Oh and what about Madonna...you know the Material Girl herself. Like heror hate her, she recently adopted a young boy named David from thepoorest country in the world, Malawi, Africa. The country leads th worldin AIDS cases. More than 50% of the children there are orphaned. Theyhave very little food, clean water or clothing.

The childn's father was ecstatic to know that his son was getting out of this "hell" and into areal shot at a good life. Madonna says she will bring the boy back tovisit his home and family as often as she can. And what do you supposethe Christians had to say....check it out online...ShortTalkChristian.com a place to post your blog if you are a born again memeber of the Church of God had a field day with this one.

"How could an immoral Lady like Madonna be allowed to adopt a child anywhere?""Does Madonna realize that she is white and the child is black?""Madonna should be ashamed of herself for adopting an African baby, it's not fair to the child""is the baby Muslim? And is it safe to bring him into Europe if he hasties to Muslims?"and then this...."why doesn't Madonna adopt 10 or 20 children from AFrica, she has the money. One child makes little difference."

I beg to differ my Christian friend...it made a big difference to that one child. I'm sure that Jesus is up there somewhere thinking, alright, somaybe Madonna is a little obnoxious, but at least she's trying to help.

Lastly, I ask God to look at me in a different light than other Christians I saw on TV this summer. They were protesters standing outside funerals of our fallen soldiers in Iraq. They were protesting the fact that the United States tolerates Gays in the military.

None of these soldiers were gay, not that that even has a bearing on the preposterous behavior of these people. Quit usingthe word "Christian" to defend your prejudice and hatred. I'm sorry, but Jesus would never pick up a picket sign and join these people.

I believe this cheapens Jesus and all he stood for in his life.You know, Jesus Christ was always trying to make changes for the better.For the open-minded. For the weary, the lost and the rejected. He was aman with an open heart, a true sense of what could be , and the greatestexample of theword Love.Which brings me back to those kindergartners with smiles on their faces gettingready for school in Dayton.Take a second and think. Think of all thepossibilities the eyes of these children can see. Think of all theopportunities they have to make this place so much better. And think howwe can help them with their future. And, remember...be more likeChrist...and lesslike Christians.-

Josh Stucky

Of course I wouldnt leave you with out some "other" images I found online while looking for that shot of Touchdown Jesus...."Mechanic Jesus"...."Free Weight Jesus" and of course, "Vegas Jesus"....sad. For those of you out of towners, I pass this tacky monstrosity everytime I drive to Dayton & often wonder how many mouths that statue could have fed with the money spent on it..ugh. Without further ado...

Sunday thoughts...

Yesterday I started slamming hot tea before bed while I was working on starting the rugby alumni blog. I WAS UP UNTIL FOUR.....stupid stupid stupid. I did catch a cute movie - Jersey Girl....shut up. it WAS cute.

I did manage to do about three loads of laundry and mopped the floors - the list of things I DIDNT get done was longer....need to get the garage cleaned out. If you're interested in an entertainment center let me know and Ill post a picture.

The best thing about this weekend was that I FINALLY STARTED TO HAVE SOME EYELASH SPROUTS!!! I was starting to get a little scared that they hadn't started to grow back...but Ive got some nice little spiky eyelash sprouts around the five or six lashes that didnt fall out. Chemo Eyes begone! Whats interesting though is how eyelashes are TWO rows... top and bottom. It looks weird close up. But its exciting. Have a good week.

Im sorry. But Im going to have to use the word LOVELY...

It was a LOVELY fall day. Saturday was Waynesville's Sauerkraut festival, other wise known as the life threatening gauntlet of craft booths and the psychotic quest of women like myself, overdosed on pumpkin spice and harvest wreaths, seeking that ever important piece (or pieces) to add to their home. This picture doesnt quite do it justice, but someone, somewhere in this picture is getting shoved by some old woman en route to her next booth...

I went with Alisa on Saturday since our Rugby game got cancelled, and I called her minutes after her sister called to cancel on her yesterday, so it all worked out. My mission was to find something to "liven up" the kitchen, and Alisa wasnt looking for anything in particular, but was given strict orders from her husband..."No more wreaths."

Any time we passed a floral spray or wreath booth, I would yell, "Look away! Look away!!" By the time we were ready to eat, we came upon the rueben stand, and as we were ordering, I heard a guy standing next to the booth yelling at the crowd to buy some pop. It was my cousin David! I had forgotten his Young Life group always mans the Reuben stand. His wife Amy, was there too, working in the booth.

(Dave...did you get that hat from Grandma?? tee hee hee...) Ok im looking at this picture and my sunglasses look kinda stupid. They're kinda pointy on the ends and I didnt realize that. I dont like it. Maybe its just the picture. While we're on the subject of my fashion sense (or lack thereof) I have to say what annoys me are "boot cut" pants that dont quite cover the boot.

Maybe Im just living in some fantasy land where my friends have stopped calling me out, (dude, im in remission, let the verbal beatings resume!) but when john and I went to the David Sedaris thing Thursday night, I noticed these khakis ive been wearing are NOT Long enough....I dont do a lot of walking in front of wall sized mirrors - there were quite a few downtown - and i was MORTIFIED!!! I look JUST LIKE the people I see on the street and shake my head at. THAT was embarassing. For those of you have noticed this, please know that I have inded TAKEN NOTE and will be working on this.

Here, alisa and I pass out after we asess all the stuff we we came out with from our "Craft Gauntlet Run"....and we still had to get the car and drive behind the parade so I could pick up a shelf I had purchased and didnt want to carry....

I know you're on pins and needles waiting to see what I was able to accomplish with that kitchen corner huh??? Well, the one thing I fell in love with at the festival were the booths with the hanging, dried herbs...so thats the "theme" im going to focus on for the kitchen....the dining room will remain a coffee theme...

YESTERDAY....

AND TODAY!!!!!
...Also posting the lamp I got so my mom can see what I was talking about...

David Sedaris….awesome!
This was about as close as we were going to get...I was stuffy and didnt feel like hanging around for the book signing...and oh yeah...I forgot my book.

So we went out last night to see David Sedaris…as I was getting into Johns truck, I slid the front seat back for some leg room, and what’s sitting right there? A pair of women’s shoes….SIZE 8!! (im a 10) So I have to admit there was an immediate awkward silence, John denied everything, and we took off, trying to figure out when the last time someone could have left a pair of shoes in the car….oops! Sorry Kristen! I’ve been directing you to harass Stetson and all the while they were in J-Mac’s truck. But I liked Stetsons idea about E-bay so just keep pretending that he’s holding them hostage in the ATL….

Sedaris was hilarious. We had dinner at Nicholson’s across the street from the Aronoff and ran into Kat’s sister who was all, “Isn’t this a practice night?” I laughed hard. People are FUNNY!!! I was just playing around and took this picture of John – with the flash – and 2.1 seconds later one of the staff member’s had run down the aisle and was leaning into our row wagging her finger at me.
“Ooops! Sorry!”

I looked at John, “Well, thank God I was here to teach by example that flash photography is NOT permitted at the ARONOFF”
Then I took This picture of him with out the flash…what a hottie!
This was the embarrassing ending - I must not have been paying attention when we parked the truck but I forgot that we had cleaned out our garage the other day and put all the junk in his truck…and we never made it to RUMPKE! So we’ve just been driving all over with a truck full of trash….You stay classy, Cincinnnati:



Other than that, it should be a pretty unexciting weekend...if im not feeling sick - Ive just been a little stuffy for the last few days - Women play Western Kentucky on Saturday, & Sunday I want to head over to the Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville.

I have a feeling where my cold may have come from...last night when we got home I commented on how cold the upstairs was...just wasnt right!! So this morning..its still freezing...I check the windows and one of them was WIDE OPEN on the other side of the blinds.

Not just a pretty face, folks.

John may want to stay home and watch the Bengals game on Sunday instead of joining the ranks of all the other men at the Sauerkraut festival, in a zombie like state, following the wives, carrying armfuls of arts & crafts..

Friday Question of the Day - WHATS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME???

A day in the e-life of Stacy and Fort

Im just going to let this discussion speak for it self…this was an actual email exchange between stacy and I today that lasted over an hour…..

ME: From the brain of J-Mac….

From: McLaughlin, John [mailto:JMcLaughlin@JohnMorrell.com] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 1:38 PMTo: Melissa McLaughlinSubject: Halloween

I know what I'm going as for Halloween. Picture this:
Full beard, short hair, top of head shaved clean. Ivy League t-shirt under tweed jacket (preferably with elbow patches). Eye glasses that are always worn on top of the head and never actually used for reading. Collected works of Karl Marx under arm.
What am I?
East coast liberal professor who's out of touch with Middle America.

STACY: Hes WAY to smart for you.

ME: Spoons is having a party…do you guys want to go? We could be sorority sisters….

STACY: when is it? Sorority sisters? Really?


ME: Its on the 28th…

Ohhhh…..LETS GO GOTH!!! Its easy, you get to wear black and slutty make up….perfect
*****this was an email that, for what reasons we don’t know, was never received by stacy, leading up to the following emails…continued…over the course of an hour.

ANOTHER ONE FROM ME:
Why no response? Don’t be so vanilla. If you don’t go as my Goth sister, J-mac suggested just getting a blond wig and fangs and going as ann coulter… Think of the scrapbooking potential!

STACY:
2nd time... when is the party?

ME: Dude. I emailed you that in my “goth” email.

STACY:
I took the liberty of cutting/pasting the email where you supposedly told me when the party is... Seriously, boldface the part so I can find it easier:
"Why no response? Don’t be so vanilla. If you don’t go as my Goth sister, J-mac suggested just getting a blond wig and fangs and going as ann coulter… Think of the scrapbooking potential! "
Did you tell me when you suggested we go goth? Or was it when you called me vanilla? Or the scrapbooking potential part?

ME:
For the 3rd time…(doesn’t that make you feel like a child? I think so) What…..about….Goth….. (throw your obsession with all things white and turn to the dark side for a night, will ya?) (I copy the email where I mention the 28th…and THIS email apparently for some reason DOES NOT MAKE IT EITHER…continued)

STACY: WHEN IS THE PARTY?

Me: Damm!tt!!!! its below!!! I sent it to you at 1:41 pm!! Geez louise!

STACY: emails me the following link:
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=PHYRCELXHHNVQPINXPDJ&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

ME: Ok. Now im laughing so hard im crying. I told you an hour ago. you must not be getting those emails. I don’t know what the fuk Is going on.

STACY: i'm thisclose to sending you a fax.

ME: Its on the f’ing 28th!!! Are you messing with me? Ive seriously sent you this information THREE TIMES….see below…. And read ALL OF IT…I Sent it over an hour ago…

STACY: i'm seriously not getting those emails or else i would have stopped asking you an hour ago.

ME: Ive got our costume: (a picture I cant post)

STACY: andy just texted me and asked if we could go closer to columbus for NYE. i told him to research it and get back with me.


Seriously. This is what goes on.

Desperately Seeking Decorating Advice!!!

Im sorry that Ive subjected you all to "Tacky Corner" (or the place in our kitchen where random junk like beer coozies, novelty beer mugs and tin baking pans are stored for all the world to see)...the corner of our home that I stare at, scratching my head, wondering how in the world we're gonna jazz it up. And by "we" I mean "me", because J-Mac could care less about it!...But its driving me nuts!!

I cant fall asleep and its 12:30 so Im going to post this and get it out of my head or else Ill NEVER get some Z's. Ok - so what you're looking at are two industrial looking shelving units that have NO BUSINESS in a kitchen. Im more than ready to take them down (they were in EVERY SINGLE ROOM...ugh), but I dont know WHAT to do with the space! The marble top table we picked up when we moved in to fill in the space. I think it works there, but if you have a better idea, it could potentially move into the dining room...

Im thinking about taking the shelves down & turning the table out ward and putting stools on either side so its like an eat in kitchen....but thats really not what the table is for and it might make it look worse)

(My dream is to win the lottery, and take out that wall and put a bar in a la Mom & dads kitchen, but for now I need some low budget options.)

If you have some suggestions, PLEASE let me know - or if you know someone who has a knack for this kinda stuff, could you kindly forward it along? Im SO open for suggestions! post here or email me if you have any ideas, or any potentional pieces of furniture or shelving/storage units that you think might work.

A big project that Id like to do is paint these metal cabinets (they're painted BRICK RED but they're in such good shape that Id like to just paint them...) Let me know if you have any sort of experience with this sort of thing, or if you know of a color scheme that would freshen it up...the appliances are black, the cabinets are metal painted brick red, the walls are ivory and the countertops are BLUE.....yeah. You try and make something work... I think it would MAKE a great project for an interior design class...

(oh...Alisa! Do you have Cara's email? Can you forward this to her?)

Signed,

Seeing Brick Red in Ohio

Im about to share a story with you that I wasnt expecting to post...

You might be wondering why my weekend wrap-up didnt involve a summary of the very first Cincinnati vs. Dayton matchup post-separation. Well, its because we lost, and I guess I was more a sore loser than I had thought....

Hey! Who's the bald dude out there during the women's game??? oh. thats me.

So here's the story: There's minutes left in this ass-whooping that we were on the receiving end of, and to make matters worse, its by a bunch of girls that were teammates for the last five years. Bitter Betty was emerging....I was getting scrappy and dirty.

Im in a ruck and its not looking good. The ball was too far from me to try and actually pull it back to my own team, so I was throwing my leg around, violently trying to just kick it out of play when, out of nowhere, Kristen takes her boot and drives her cleat into the top of my foot!

Ten years of team-matery, and this is how its gonna end?? I was so full of piss & vinegar at this point and that was the cherry on top what had quickly become the most frustrating and gut-wrenchingly emotional day of rugby ever....

Im a MESS at the end of the game. They do a two-team photo and im easy to spot...the salty, bad-attitude whiner in the back row, ball cap pulled so far down over my face that im literally unrecognizable. (there's me again at the bottom of this ruck...oh well, good ball placement if nothing else:)

so ANYWAY...I dont want to talk to ANYONE after the game and im pouting while at the same time feeling kind of embarassed that I cant hold it together...I wont the SPORTSMANSHIP award in high school for crying out loud!!! Im a GREAT loser, dammit!! So I just leave right away and dont talk to anyone.

So we head up to Cleveland & on the way home, Im telling Stacy & Casey about the incident. But they know me a little to well to let me get away with my "Why me" saga, and start probing further, as they both seemed suspicous of "my side" of the story...

"So Fort, were you WINNING the ruck?"

"No"

"So you were just violently & innocently hacking away at the ball and you didnt hurt ANYONE in the process?"

"NO! I wasnt trying to hurt anyone! I mean...well....I SUPPOSE that maybe I COULD have kicked her in the foot or the shin, but I WASNT TRYING TO"

So they both sort of smile and nod knowingly and finally agree that I probably deserved it, despite my innocent intenions...

So im still kinda bitter about all of it and this morning I get an email from Kristen:

"I’m still sore from Saturday. I have no idea if you are aware of this but right at the end of the game I was in a ruck and someone was trying to kick the ball out and they kicked my toe very hard (I’ve been having a lot of problems with the joint on my big toe – just went to the doctor’s Friday for it) and it absolutely killed me it hurt so much. So I stomped on the foot of the player that had just kicked me. Then I looked up and it was you. Ha ha ha."

So that settles it. I deseved every cleat mark apparently, and I made sure to forward that on to the suspecting schniebers...they werent surprised im sure...

Introducing...Mr.& Mrs. Andrew Santoli!!!

(Me, Stacy, Sarah, Andy, Julie & Alisa)

What a weekend...My rugby game vs. Dayton was over around noon, rushed home for a shower and a quick pack...headed over to Brimelow to watch the Wolfhounds play, wait for Casey and then it was off to Cleveland for a 4.5 hour trip. We had both played rugby so we went the whole way with no pit stops except for stopping at BP about 30 miles out of cleveland to change. First time I ever got ready for a wedding in a BP bathroom. It was exquisite!!

The wedding and reception was held at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Cleveland! So nice! Actual TOWELS in the bathrooms...(although it was rumored that Rory and Richard still found the class to start a towel "whipping" fight in the mens room) one of those deals. I told Andy that more laundry will be done for his reception than we've done in the last two months. Here's some hot mama's draped over the piano.


Let me guess what you're thinking. "A bunch of old OU rugby players get together for an open bar...certainly could lead to some debauchery, but they would definitley try to behave themselves and avoid things like shooting the boot in a five-star hotel!!!"....You'd be wrong though....Here...Kevin Reilly administers Rory's punishment for what I dont know...One might guess that drinking beer out of your shoe is SOMEWHERE on the Ritz-Carlton's forbidden list, but we never saw it:

Staples (a moniker given after a rugby injury warranted, well, staples in his head) comes over to check on David, Alisa & Stacy....obviously 7 hours of open bar service and 4 hours of breaking it down on the dance floor finally got to them....WOULD WE POSSIBLY BE ABLE TO PULL OFF A SECOND PHASE OF THIS RECEPTION BY GETTING KICKED OUT AND HEADING TO A BAR???

Of course we would!! Stacy, Alisa, David, Me & Sarah's sister Kate throw down a few more beers at the MAP ROOM. We look MUCH more awake than we really were.

And Last but NOT LEAST...
Mrs. & Mrs. Surly-Philly!!

Philly & Tammy traveled all the way to a Mountaintop in Maine for their commitment ceremony. Would I embarass them and tell you all how they met? You bet I would...these two found each other on a Xena Warrior Princess fan site and have been together ever since!! They've been loyal Cincy-Dayton & Now Cincy rugby teammates of mine for almost five years and I love them both dearly. Segal traveled with them and a what looked like an incredible feast was had with Philly's family - saw you opening the gifts - I want that jalapeno cornbread served in that big dish...its lovely!!

Have the awesomest Monday - and feel free to post any noteworthy details from either ceremony.