Fort's Cancer Sux!!

Backtracking to this last weekend....

I have to go back to this past Friday - for those of you who didnt know, I left my camera up at my folks place this past weekend and I JUST got it tonight (More on that later) so I have some catching up to do.

Friday night Stacy & Casey had the Columbus crew in town - it was us, Lytle, Ruth, Scout & Wylie, Jami, Matt, & Zach. It was a rowdy crowd. We tried to calm the kids down with a Baby Einstein movie that about put us all to sleep. Luckly, Wylie was old enough to keep us all entertained with her antics: (Wylie is the eldest daughter of Ruth & Lytle above in the yellow jammies

• While out on the porch, Wylie asked the group sitting outside, "Is there a full moon out tonight?" and proceeded to bend over and pull her pants down for all to enjoy. Definitely Lytles kid.


• Came outside to inform Lytle (lower lip protruding) that, "Emma got my Buckeyes pants dirty"...ok, this doesnt sound that funny when I type it...guess you had to be there. Lytle then went on to tell how she doesnt like anything messy, and was forced to put a smores in the fridge to make it less messy. Ok, that didnt sound to funny either. This was all so much more funny five days ago.


• Got her jammies on and then complained that they were all twisted up...they were just a little too big, so Ruth pulled the top off and tied the arms around her waist, and the dancing ensued. Only an Ohio U spawn would have a natural inclination to get wild when teh top comes off....of course then we had to do the same to Emma to make for a better photo shot...she didnt seem to get the joke:

Jami explains to Zach, "Zachy, these are mommies college friends! They are why mommy and daddy have to go to church all the time! Yes they do! Yes they do!"

Handsome!
Of course we tried to do our best to get a picture of all the kids - Zach, Jami, Scout down front, Stacy & Emma, and Wylie....heres a fun trick: Look at Wylies face in the first picture, then look at the second, and then quickly back, and then back again! Fun for hours!!!!

Saturday it was up to Dayton to mom and dad's for a cookout for Merediths birthday party. I should have taken some pictures but I didnt. John made his Sweet Potato Fries with the Chipotle mayo sauce. Im thinking about starting a second blog for all of Johns recipies. Ill ask him now. Ok. I asked him and he looked at me like I was crazy. But dont worry. Ill start it up and post them If I have to.

Anyway - He made it for Stacy & Caseys party FRIDAY and the cookout on SATURDAY....thats A LOT of labor in ones free time, so me thinks it will be awhile before they make another appearance. If you were one of the people to try this for the first time, post your comments here for John, we need to blow some wind into those sails so he gets motivated to get the recipies posted.

Sunday afternoon we drove around Centerville & Kettering cleaning out the sheds and closets of of the staff of Moraine Meadows Elementary - Thanks Jackie Geary for the table and chairs and thanks Christine Murray for the new scrapbooking desk! Not a whole lot of scrapbooking going on these days...but it still looks good!

WEDNESDAY: A whole other saga

Ok, follow me here. The camera was left in Dayton. Mom and I hit up Odd Lots while we were scavaging the south dayton area and mom got ALL excited about some spring time table cloths for her teachers lounge. Well, as she usually does before I leave her house, she goes around the house picking up all my loose crap and making sure its by the door. Well, she accidentally put her bag of table cloths by the door so I accidentally took them home to Cincinnati. So we had to pull a Middletown "Switch-a-Roo" after work today. Of course, everytime we have to drive to meet each other, we reward ourselves by stopping for dinner at Cracker Barrell.

Backtrack to last night. I get an email from my cousin Becky in Columbus asking me if Im very close to Newport, KY. Its right on the other side of the river...about 20 min from our place. Apparently she found a purse on Craigslist.com, but thought she was on the C-bus craigslist, but was actually in the Cincy craigslist. So now she's found this awesome purse (at an awesome price... $35 for a $150 purse) but its almost 2 hours away.

Have you seen these purses?? My friend Julie has one and I comment on how much I love it every time I see her. Its all black and made of woven seatbelt material. (www.seatbeltbags.com) Becky's friend found this one online and it was made of scarlet and grey belts. Too cute not to make an effort for.

So she emails me and asks me if I could pick it up. Ive spent the last few years of my life sucking down heavy doses of favors from everyone else, so its nice return the favor every once in awhile. (I also told Karen on the way to volleyball that before I die, Id like to change someones tire on the side of the highway. I still havent found my moment yet)

Becky does warn me that the girl told her she lives in the ghetto, so I informed Becky that If I got shot, I was definitely keeping the purse.

Anyway, the plan is foolproof. I give Becky my checking account number, she deposits the money in C-Bus plus some extra for gas and time (Thanks beck!). I get the cash out and head to the KY after I leave dinner with my mom. The directions are fairly easy at first.... 75 south, 2nd street into downtown, left on Pete Rose way, and then over the Ohio river and into Newport. Thats where things get a little scary....I dont want to insult any locals that might be reading this blog, but lets just say I did not realize that there were projects in Newport and I was a little concerned with the heavy police force in and around the area that when I hopped out of the car to hand the woman a wad of cash in exchange for the bag, I later remarked how the exchange could have very well be seen as a drug deal.

Man, what Id give to be on episode of cops, getting approached by a camera crew, Newport police officer narrating the potential arrest: "Yeah, the Cincinnati women come down here looking for drugs, we see it everyday." Then I would explain the whole purse thing, and how my cousin from Columbus is a big buckeye fan, and she asked me to come down and pick it up, and we'd all get a good laugh.

I couldn't help but think about WHY a person in this situation would have such an expensive purse, I mean, I myself would have taken the $150 and had my two front teeth replaced if I really had to make the decision....I have never owned ANY accessory that expensive! Which then got me to thinking, was it hot? If you're missing this purse, guess what. You ain't gettin it back.

I did get out alive, the purse is now in my posession....oh and by the way, it smells like friggin' bowling alley (pre smoke-free resolution) so you're gonna have to febreeze the HELL out of that thing! Ill get that bad boy on the UPS truck to you tomorrow!! Of course I have to pry it off of John first!!!

Oh yeah...and when I got home, John was busy making enough homemade meatballs to feed a small army. Ziploc bags were filled and frozen, once again, highlighting my lack of domesticity.

Ill see to it that the meatballs and other recipies get posted shortly and ill post the link to the blog once its up.