Monday, March 28, 2011

Loneliness

Feeling lonely is not fun.  Parker is normally here to keep me company but he is with his Grandparents until Wednesday when we leave for our fist solo vacation to Tennessee.  Even when he is here though, I am starting to feel lonely.  I am back to my routine of staying up too late, watching too many movies and wanting to have someone to call.  I remember last year around this time being content with life and not allowing myself to feel lonely.  I want to get back to that place but I don't know how right now.  I know I am strong and resilient but it seems too far away right now to know that I will get back there.  I don't want to be the kind of parent that depends on my child to not be lonely but right now I wish he was here.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Another Parent-Teacher Conference

Make way for Proud Mama!  Today was my second Parent-Teacher conference for Parker.  I wasn't as nervous this time as I was last.  Parker's behavior has been eons better than it was in the fall.  Our new morning arrangements have been tiresome but beneficial.  This is really funny, I was a little nervous about talking to his teacher because this morning Parker told me that his red workbook was supposed to be turned in before spring break (which is next week).  Well....little story about the red notebook.....he is no where close to having it finished.  We used to work on it in the fall but it was a little further ahead than what he was learning at school and it would always end in frustration and tears.  Then I lost it.....(i know....bad mommy).  I found it last week and he has been working on it in the mornings while he is at work with me.  It has been a breeze for him now.  So when he told me about completing the workbook by tomorrow I told him that the last 45 pages would be easy but we would just have to crunch down and do them when we get home.....the underlying lesson from mom....how to be a Grade A procrastinator!!!  Another reason I will be receiving Mom of the Year this year.  But anyway, while I was driving to the school I was trying to think of reasons why he didn't have it completed to tell the teacher.  When I got there, Parker was across the hall with the after school program and he invited himself to the conference as well.  I asked about the workbook and the teacher looked at me and kind of shook her head no as I went into the story that Parker had fabricated about being the only student who hadn't turned it in.....she laughed.  It is never due, just a way to get kids used to the idea of homework and to get parents into the habit of helping.  Completely embarrassed but totally relieved.

I am so happy with his progression at that school.  I was so nervous about sending him to a Montessori school, but close to the end of Kindergarten, he has been doing 1st grade work.  His teacher said that when he turns in his writing assignments, it is complete and beautiful...he takes his time and his pride in his work shows on the paper.  Their writing samples that the school used for the state testing a couple weeks ago were hanging up near where we sitting.  His had a picture of Batman and a sentence that he wrote on his own telling why he brought Batman for show and tell.  He also wrote a letter to me on his own with limited spelling help.


I can't even explain how amazed I am at how smart he is and how he has developed.  In the letter that he wrote, that is a picture of the two of us together in Jimmy John's clothes.  What a ham!  My 5 year old who looks like he is 7 is doing the same work as other 7 years old in 1st grade classes.  It is astonishing.  He is smart, kind, a good friend and role model.  
So yea, like I said....make way for Proud Mama!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Blank Space Where my Mind Should Be

The 30 day blog challenge was great.....I had something specific to write about everyday.  I couldn't allow my mind to wander and only want to write about a specific person.  But now I sit here siliently because I don't want to go back to only wanting to think and write about him.  I made decisions last week that have yet to be determined if they were good or extremely self destructive.  I know....I know.....you are wondering why.  So am I.

I want to write but I have no thoughts right now.....some one give me something!  Please?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Ides of March

When I was little and people would ask when my Mom's birthday was, I would tell them, March 15th....they would say, "The Ides of March."  But as a child, I always heard, "The Eyes of March."

Today is my Mom's birthday.  I will not disclose her age because she will already be mad at me enough for putting these pictures on here.  She hates all pictures of herself, I can understand, I feel the same about pictures of me.  But anyway, today I am obviously writing about her.

We celebrated her birthday over the weekend because Lauren was home from Michigan and I drove up from Cincinnati.  Saturday morning, Lauren and I decided that we would swoop her up once we arrived in Dayton and take her for a pedicure.  I swear there is nothing better than a pedicure after a long work week.  Jen then met up with us after she was done with work.  The picture is from the nail drying station, I was on one side and those three were on the other.  We were laughing and being so loud that I am pretty sure the workers were talking smack about us in Vietnamese.  But that is the joy of being around my mom and my two sisters....no matter what is going on in our personal lives, we can just have fun and laugh until we either choke or cry.  It helps when my Mom makes up strong cocktails too.....(we raided the liquor cabinet later that night).



Pat took us all out to a great early dinner the next day and then we celebrated with cake and more laughter until we all had to go our seperate ways.  I hope that my Mom had a great time....

She is so wonderful that every year I never know what to get her to show how amazing she is to me.  We had a rough patch when I was younger, but we are so close now that I would never change the path of our relationship.  She and I can relate on a unique level compared to my sisters because we are both mothers and because we have both been or are single parents.  Granted my dad was involved, but she gets it when I talk about how hard it is to drop the kid bomb when you meet someone.  She gets it when I just need some time to myself.  She gets the things that I don't say more than anyone else out there.  She also makes me want to be the best at everything I do.....I still get childishly giddy when I know that I have made my Mommy proud.

I hope your birthday is wonderful Mom....thank you for everything.

I love you :)

 (evil eyes...note that Jen's look normal and not evil at all...she is bad at making faces)



Monday, March 14, 2011

Rainy Day

Last rainy Saturday, Parker and I decided to get back to our typical weekends of doing fun free things around Cincinnati.  Luckily the night before I was looking at the Cincinnati Art Museum's website and found out that the first Saturday of every month they have family fun day.  Naturally it fit the next day's rain.

Last summer, Parker and I spent the afternoon hiking around Eden Park and we had walked by the Art Museum.  That day he wanted to go, but it was too wonderful outside to spend the afternoon inside....so we kept hiking.  It was perfect timing last weekend.  There is a new exhibit that just started there too, American Circus Posters.  It was really neat.  I love old propaganda posters from any point in history so it was something that both of us could thoroughly enjoy.  (expect the clown posters....why are they so creepy?)

We started our afternoon there with a scavenger hunt.  There were clues that took us all around the galleries.  Each one had to do with a specific piece of art on the walls.  At first I wasn't sure about the scavenger hunt and whether Parker would enjoy it but it turned out to be a great way for him to connect with the art.  He was excited about finding the right piece before me and writing down the information needed to answer the question.  One of the tasks was to redraw a painting of a clown....it was great to see what Parker drew based on his own interpretation.  We also met an artist who is in charge of a gallery in Northside.  When Parker had to ask him a question, he suddenly became shy...it's funny to witness your very outgoing child suddenly have fear of speaking to a new person.  I wonder why that happens......but anyway.







At the very beginning of the day, they had clown noses that they passed out to all of us because of the theme of the day.  And again, based on that theme, there were performances.  The first one we saw was by the kids at My Nose Turns Red Theatre Company.  It was hysterical!  Parker laughed so hard at the other kids performing.  His eye lit up and I have a feeling he would fit right in at the camp they have over the summer.  They kids did great juggling, hulu hoop, tightrope and balancing tricks.  They were very comical.











The next performance was from Happen, Inc.  They did some magic tricks that we unfortunately missed but the part we saw was great.  Although we really only got to see one group perform, I would have never heard of either of this places without having visited the museum.  I haven't been able to look further into Happen, Inc, but I know that it is a youth service place where Parker and I can go for more fun stuff to do that is really close to home.

It was a great day and I plan on going to this even every first Saturday.  I hope that Parker will continue to have interest in the Art Museum.  The only down side to the activities that they had were that they were more for school age children....which is fine for me, but other parents who have younger children would not have the same experience.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 30-a picture

LAST DAY OF THE CHALLENGE!!!!!!! WOOO HOOOOOO!

Parker and I (with a clown nose on) at the Art Institute last weekend...more on that great day tomorrow :)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 29-3 Wishes

1. Spending a day with my grandparents that have passed.  I wish could have 24 hours with them as an adult so I can ask them the things I didn't have a brain to ask when I was younger and so that I could share my life with them.

2. That the ERA had actually passed....it would be neat to see how the US would be different if it had.

3. I wish that my friend's step sister recovers quickly and completely....and as soon as possible.

That's all....and those three were quite difficult....

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

Everything.

Just kidding.  But seriously, a lot of stuff stresses me out but I don't stay stressed for long.  Most of the time if I can just be loud about it and vent...I'll be good.  Mostly those things have to do with work....like how ridiculous people can be when they are ordering food....read the menu people.

There are real life things that get too me.  Like medical bills.  My insurance is not the best so I pay a lot to doctor's offices and a lot of the stuff isn't covered.  That was most of my stress last year, but I am happy to say that almost a year later, Parker's surgery is almost paid off.  Before he had that taken care of, he went to the doctor so much that I could barely budget me money right. (sometimes is can be hard with two people on income)

The other stuff that stresses me out are the things that I can not control.  Like Parker's dad.  I can't control what he does (in terms of involvement or not) and that is hard for me because I am such a control freak.  But his choices are not something that I can control....I just have to be the best mom and dad for Parker that I can be.

There really isn't stress that keeps me up at night.  This is totally zen of me to say right now because normally I am a little bit more high strung than this, but I know that everything will be alright when I am stressed out because I have amazing friends and family.  I have my personal support system as well as a great support system at work...so like Bob Marley says, "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing gonna be alright."

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Day 27-Pets

When I was born, we already had a dog.  She was an Irish Setter and her name was Abby.  My parents got her before Jen was born so she was their first baby.  She died when I was four to cancer.  I remember her and I was sad when she died, but I don't remember her too well.

We found a box turtle some where and had it for a few days but then we drove to the "county" and set it free.  I don't remember if we named it or not.

One year for Christmas we got a canary from Santa.  It's name was Vivaldi after the composer but I will tell you this....it never sang.  I think we had a it a year or maybe 18 months.  I do not recommend a bird as a pet.  You have to change the stinky news paper everyday....they poop a lot.

When I was 9, we decided that it was time to get another dog.  I don't know whose idea it was to get a Dalmatian, but that is what we got.  She was great.  She had a blue eye and a brown eye and tons of spots.  We named her Freckles.  She was a pretty big puppy but then quit growing, she didn't get nearly as big as Dalmatians are supposed to.  She was crazy and ate like a maniac.  Some dogs you can have food in their bowls all day and they will much on it whenever they feel like it....not her.  You would put the food in her bowl and about two seconds later it was gone.  She didn't like dog treats either, her favorite was ice cubes.  Dalmatians are only supposed to live like 8 years or something short like that but I am pretty sure she was around for almost 12....although I can't remember because I was away at college when my mom had to put her down.  She was so sick and not herself anymore that it was really sad to watch.  It was a hard decision for my mom to make but we all knew it was right.

During some of the time we had Freckles we also got a water turtle from Santa.  His names was Zoit.  He was angry  He would try to bite us whenever we got him out of his tank.  One time I was bobbing for apples, and for some reason there were gold fish in the water with the apples, well after the party I took one of the fish home with me.  It was going to go either way, Zoit would eat it or they would live in perfect harmony.  It was the latter.  So eventually I, so creatively, named the gold fish Goldie.  I went to the pet shop and bought Goldie a buddy to swim with, it was a white "gold" fish with an orange spot on it's forehead, so we named it The Brain.  The Brain didn't last more that 4 days in the tank with Zoit and Goldie.  Apparently Zoit liked white fish better than gold ones.  Eventually Zoit died, but Goldie out lived him.  I swear we had that gold fish for 2 years..or longer!

Now Parker has two pet frogs.  They are kinda boring.  You can't take them out of their tank and they are about an inch long.  He likes them though.  He named them Salt and Pepper (one is dark gray and the other is light gray).  At first it was Salt and Salt, then he was convinced to change one of them to salt's partner pepper.  Naturally he named the light one Pepper and the dark one Salt.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Day 26-Picture of your family

  My Mom's family

 In the back: Lauren, me, Jen, Uncle Steve, Cousin Aurora, Cousin Aurora's husband Matt holding Brailyn.

Front: Parker, Pat, my Mom and Aunt Karen.




My Dad's Family
This one is really old...as you can see, Parker is a baby.  Jen and Eric are missing, Lauren is minus a Kevin and I am plus a "Parker's Dad"

But in this picture are (from left back to front)
Aunt Sally, Cousin Karl, Cousin Karl's Wife Rhonda, Cousin Jon, Cousin Jon's Wife Sarah, Cousin Andy, Uncle Ron, Aunt Nancy, Cousin Chris, Grandma Phyllis, Lilia, my Dad, nameless.
Front: Uncle Rick, Cousin Katie holding Karl and Rhonda's daughter Anna, Grandpa Don, me holding Parker and Lauren.

This is the wedding picture of my maternal grandparents.  My Grandpa Ray (Parker's first name is Raymond after him) passed away in 1993 before I turned 11 years old.  And my Grandma Peggy passed away a month before Parker was born in May 2005.  She died on their anniversary at the time that they were married.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

1. She-Over the Rhine

This is from Changes Come (live)My old GM at the JJ that I now run introduced me to Over the Rhine a long time ago.  I never appreciated their music as much until I saw them live at a free concert in Kettering.  Powerful.

2. Colonel Forbin's Accent-Phish

This song is from Colorado '88 which is one of their live albums.  It was released while they were broken up.  While this song is not one of my favorite's it is part of the Story of Gamehendge which was written by Trey Anastasio when he was a senior at the University of Vermont.  It is part of a story told by some narration and songs together.  The story is wonderful.  Gamehendge songs are rare to hear live, especially this one.

3. Broken Boy Soldier-The Raconteurs

It's funny, I didn't like Jack White the first time that I heard The White Stripes in college but I started liking them because a couple of my employees from my Dayton store liked them.  Then this came out album, Broken Boy Soldiers, came out and I liked his solo stuff too.

4. Could You Be Loved-Bob Marley

I love Bob.  All of his music makes me feel so good whenever I am down.  This is from Legend which I have discovered is in almost every person's CD collection.  It just makes me feel good....love it.

5. El Torrente-Minus the Bear

I don't know very much about this band.  A friend of mine gave me a bunch of music a while back and Minus the Bear was one of the bands that he thought I would like.  He was right....I enjoy them a lot.  This song is from Menos el Oso.  It's really cool music and the band has a lot of different sounds...this song is definitely a more mellow one.

6. Faces-Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I kinda forgot I had Yeah Yeah Yeahs....this is from It's Blitz.  I bought this album because I liked Show Your Bones so much, but I didn't like this album nearly as much.  As a whole, this band keeps me moving....which is a great choice for work in the morning when I am the only one there and it is 6:30am.


7. Angel from Montegomery-Ben Harper

This is from the same friend that gave me Minus the Bear.  His favorite is Ben Harper.  I have to agree, Ben is the bestest.  No matter what song and what cd it is, you don't want to skip or stop....just listen and appreciate his music.  This song is from Pleasure and Pain.

8. Sans un Mot-Nuttea

I found this guy from a French radio station I used to listen to when it was on itunes radio.  He is a French rapper.  This is one of the slower songs on the album.  His rap is very different from ours here...there is a lot of African influence which makes it sound like it has some reggae influence.  I only have one of his albums, Urban Voodoo.

9. Homecoming-Robert Randolph and the Family Band

I have to laugh because the majority of this list isn't music that I bought but that people gave to me because they thought I would like it.  This was passed on from Corndog.  Among this one, Colorblind, he gave me some other ones.  It is bluesy and funky and right up my alley.  It reminds me a little of Ben Harper which is fine with me.

10. Fake Plastic Trees-Radiohead

This is from The Bends.  Anything Radiohead is amazing.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Day 24-Something you've learned

Oh man....something I have learned......I have learned a lot and I learn new things everyday.  Recently I have learned that arguing with a 5 year old leads to nothing...there is no point in doing it.

I have learned that trying to have power over people because you are in a higher position will work against you more than for you....you have to have authority (same with parenting).

I have learned that you have to give respect to everyone you meet before you take it away.  Kinda like the idea that you start with 100% and get percentages subtracted off that first total.  And if you don't give it first, there is no way you are ever going to receive it.

I have learned that to really understand another person and their story you have to remove you from your own position before you can say that you empathize with that other person.  Self removal is hard and it takes practice.  You have to be willing to let go of all of your own views, history and thoughts on how you would handle whatever situation...literally let it all go and then place yourself where the other person is standing.  I think that being able or willing to try to do this is having a true open mind.

I have learned that you can not change a person.  Not even when you see all the good that is in their core.  Not even when you push for them to see it too.  They are the only ones who can change themselves and usually you showing them the other side of the fence creates more resistance.

I have learned that dealing with the hard times in anger is much easier than dealing with them in an honest way.  Feeling your feelings is very hard and confusing.  But anger tends to make it go away only for a short time....eventually you have to face all the other crap that came along with the anger.

I have learned to keep hardass in my front pocket and vulnerable locked in a safe.

I have learned that you truly do need a village to raise a child.  I can not do it on my own....I need my family, my friends and espeically my amazing upstairs neighbors.

I have learned that I can love and allow another person to love me.

I have learned that I really like Legos.  They are fun to build and then end product is really awesome....I don't mind over paying for those toys.

I have learned that I can not pull teeth.  I did once accidentally and tried another time but made Parker do it.  Out of his 5 lost teeth, he has pulled three of them out himself.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Day 23-Favorite vacation

I am not going to think about my favorite vacation...I will just right about the first one that comes to mind....which would make it the most memorable since I am thinking about it first right?

So in 2000, when I was 17, my dad had a Goldwing motorcycle with a sidecar.....yes you read that right....a sidecar.  Until he brought one, I had never really seen them in person before.  He loved his motorcycle but wanted something that me and my little sister could enjoy with him all at the same time.  After he had it for a little while he decides that he wants to take Lauren and I out to Rocky Mountain National Park, The Great Salt Lake, Vernal (the National Dinosaur Museum), and up to Yellowstone and over to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands.  We had taken a very similar trip once when I was about 10, but we went up through Minnesota and across to Glacier National Park in Montana and then down to Yellowstone and across South Dakota....but I digress.  It was a trip that took a lot of planning....or well, my dad plans everything down to bathroom breaks, regardless...it was a long planned trip.  He installed speakers and a cd player in the sidecar for my little sister and bought these things called "Catterboxes" for the helmets so we could talk to each other during the trip.  I don't know how familiar everyone is with Goldwings, but for me on the back, it was like sitting in an easy chair.  There were heating vents and a radio.  The luxury of motorcycles.  It was the beginning of July when we set out for our 4000 mile vacation, just the three of us on my dad's Goldwing.

The route of the trip started in Dayton, though Indiana to Illinois to Missouri to Kansas.  Our first day was long, get through the states we had been to fast and then it was our first time in Kansas.....I will not go back.  I am sure there are nice things in Kansas but the bad memory is still to fresh.  It was two days of no clouds in the sky at a 110 degrees.....and because I am so fair, I had to wear long sleeves, I was lucky that my dad let me take of my leather jacket (he is a safety nut and leather is the safest protection).  No joke, as soon as we crossed into Colorado, there were clouds.

There is nothing like driving on 70 into Denver.  I love driving into big cities, I love to see the skyline.  They always give me chills...even the cities I know like Cincinnati and Dayton....neither of which are crazy impressive either.  But Denver is like no other city because it's skyline is set against the massively impressive Rocky Mountains.  It was really cool because it was the silhouettes of the buildings against the mountains, so you saw little grey outlines with the mountains.  I am doing a really bad job of describing it....just drive into Denver on 70 sometime and you will see what I am talking about.

We went from super hot in Kansas to being in the mountains where we had to wear full gear, gloves, chaps, jackets...the whole 9.  That is one thing I love about the West.  In the summer you can stand next to a glacier in a t-shirt.  There is one picture of Lauren and I next to a glacier, I am freezing with my leather on and gloves, and she is next to me in a t-shirt happy as a clam.

We were in Vernal, Utah looking at the dino fossils when the first bump in the trip happened.  We got a flat tire so we had to reroute the trip.  It was going to take us a day to get the tire replaced, which honestly was fine with Lauren and I because we got extra rest and a longer break from sitting on the bike, but it meant that we had to skip going to Salt Lake City....which kinda sucked.  Vernal was really cool though and I want to take Parker there sometime.  There were so many dinosaur bones there and they were still finding more.  There were also cave like paintings on the sides of the canyon walls.  I know they aren't cave paintings but I forget what they are called right now.  It was neat.

The next leg of the trip was going north into Idaho, another new state.  It was late in the day when we crossed the Utah-Idaho border but we made the deal that as soon as we found an exit with a hotel we would stop....82 miles later, we found one.....that was a really long day, but the next day we were in Yellowstone.



There was a scenic overlook at either Upper Yellowstone Falls or Lower...I can't remember, but my dad pulled the sidecar right up to the very very edge while Lauren was in it...it seriously looked like it was over the edge of the cliff...she wasn't happy.  But we also encountered the next bump in the trip...while we were driving on one of the paths through the woods (we were looking for bears) and at some point, the cord that connected my helmet to my dad's was lost.  This meant not more communication between me and my dad and Lauren.  They could still talk to each other because they each that their own "Chatterboxes" but mine was only via the cord.  That was a tragic day for me.  We were barely halfway through the trip.  We had been gone for about 7 days and we had about 10 left.  That is a lot of hours without talking to anyone else.

Yellowstone was great for the second time and when we left there we went on this mountain pass called the Beartooth.  It was a very narrow two way highway all the way up one side of the mountain and down the other side...pretty intense.  From there we went to Little Big Horn then to a horse ranch in North Dakota then headed South to see Mt. Rushmore, the Blackhills and Devil's Tower.  Some where in SD we experienced on of the most intense rain storms that came out of no where.  We had to pull off and rush to get our rain gear on because it was so out of the blue.  Of course it lasted no time at all and while we were coming down the road ( I am pretty sure it was at Devil's Tower), we saw a double rainbow.  Eventually one of them disappeared but the one that remained got closer and closer until I swear, we were driving right next to the end of the rainbow....maybe it was the beginning of it because it was in the middle of the road and there was no pot of gold.  After that area of SD we moved onward to the Badlands.  Another remarkable place.

After the Badlands, there isn't much in terms of highlights in SD.  Well, except the Corn Palace in Mitchell.  But after that, you are basically home.  They are all familiar states with familiar scenery.  I love being the in West.  It has been 11 years since I have seen the mountains and sometimes they are the only view I wish to see.  That vacation had so many more stories that I could tell you about and so much more of the US that everyone should witness but I would be writing a book about it.  Being there though, by the mountains, the fossils, the natural beauty of the US, the history of the Native Americans, the way the we have literally changed the face (or faces) of a mountain, and then back to the raw beauty of the Earth....it just makes you appreciate this country.  Most of my travels have been with in the borders of the US and while I want to see Europe some time, I don't know how it will compare to the natural history and natural beauty of the parts of the US.  Sitting here and going through the photo album in my head of that entire trip makes me think that the very old ruins and man made beauties of Europe are nothing in comparison to Devil's Tower or the Yellowstone River Canyon.  But of course, this is not an objective opinion since I have not had the other experience.

(I wish I had those pictures on computer or even at all)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Day 22-Favorite city


So you may all think that I am silly for this but Cincinnati is my favorite city.  I simply love Cincinnati.  It isn't because I haven't been any where else, I have traveled quite a bit, but it has such an incredible culture and history that I just love it.  There are only a couple other cities that I have been to that I believe I could live in and those are Chicago and San Fransisco.  I love both those cities as well, but Ohio is home.

I never knew how much I loved Cincinnati until I took a class in college about the German influence and history in Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio.  I don't even remember very much from that class in terms of historical facts but it changed the way that I looked at the city and my heritage.  This city is my heritage...my family came through here and moved north closer to Dayton.  (my other family heritage is in Chicago which is probably why I am fond of the Windy City).

Like I said, that one class changed my perspective but then when I had to move away from here my absence made me long for it even more.  I never cared for Dayton once I was old enough to discover it on my own so when I was living there again mostly out of circumstance (although I am very happy that I had to), I wanted to move back to Cincinnati.  This is the city were I discovered who I am, I grew into my personality, I made life long friends and now, where I want to create a future.
Fountain Square

I love love love this fountain...I have way too many pictures of it

Thought that was cool...one side was frozen

Being here again, as a parent, has changed my perspective on the city.  I still love everything German about the culture, architecture and history, but as a parent there are so many things that Parker and I can do together for small expense or free.  Last year we started going to the different parks and just walking around them for hours.  We have only visited a few which you can read about here.....or here  This is obviously a warm weather thing so we haven't had the chance to recently but there are so many parks in and around the city that we can always keep busy.  (In Northside there is Parker Woods....that was the first on the list but long before blogging)

Another thing is the museums, there are a lot of those too.  He is too young to fully appriciate all of them but his favorite is Union Terminal.  Last year when we were walking around Eden Park, he showed a lot of interest in going to the Art museum....so that is something that we have to look forward to.  There is also the Freedom Center that I am anticipating visiting with him.  I haven't been there but there is no other city that had such a huge influence and participation in the Underground Railroad....another really unique bit of history for this city.

To gush on a little more...there are so many festivals here in the spring, summer and fall and most of them have something to do with something that serves a lot of sausage.  Being Porkopolis and all it is quite fitting that there are metts and kraut at every festival created.  I swear to you I eat more sausage now that I ever have in my entire life.  Plus there is beer served pretty much everywhere (hello Germans!).  Nippert Stadium serves beer....and the indoor soccer place Parker plays at serves beer too....

And if I was into sports, we have more than one sporting option.  The Bengals, the Reds and the Cyclones....not to forget the UC and Xavier teams too.





After reading all this don't you kinda like Cincinnati a little more too?  I mean where else can you go that has the biggest German influence in the US and was one of the biggest stops on the Underground Railroad?  German culture, Black culture, crazy conservatives, huge range of socio-economical status....talk about diversity.

I want to end this one with some of my favorite pictures of Cincinnati taken from the top of Carew Tower.




Paul Brown



Great American Ballpark is behind that new building

Looking down on 5th St

Fountain Square


Towards Mt. Adams

Towards Mt Auburn

Towards Clifton



(Parker lost his 5th tooth today.....I think he pulled it at school because his adult tooth was growing over it....but yea, 5 baby teeth down.  I don't think he has any room for any more adult teeth though)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Day 21-Picture of yourself

Jen, Jackson and I at Jen's wedding 2008

Reading up on work stuff at 4th St.

Parker and I making the same face

Mulhuland Dr.  over looking smoggy LA

AHAHAHA!  yea, right....

This is actually the most recent picture of me with Amber....(I don't like it very much but Amber looks soooo good)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 20-Nicknames

On the volleyball team while I was in high school I was some how nicknamed Smiley.  I don't remember how but it was the year that we made tie-died t-shirts for our jerseys.  We all got to have our name printed on the back of the shirt and since I was a captain that season, the team decided the captains should have nicknames instead of last names....some how they came up with Smiley.  I haven't ever had a nickname that I was always referred to.  When I was younger and hanging out with Jen's friends alot, they called me Little Moyer and a friend of mine from college would yell out "MOYER" whenever she lost me at the bar....but I don't know that those are really considered nicknames.  The other common thing that I have been heard, but mostly by strangers, is "Oh hey, you're the Jimmy John's girl!"