Hillsdale County Fair

Tomorrow is a very big holiday in Hillsdale County -it's Fair Day. Fair Day you ask - well it's the opening day of the Hillsdale County Fair. It's such an important day that all the schools are closed. There is a parade through town that officially opens the parade with bands and fire trucks and farm equipment. You may think this is funny, but for people living in Hillsdale, fair week is sacred.

Dan and I try to go at least once. We usually get dinner, walk around and check out student exhibits - generally animals. We even walk around the midway so that we can see all our students -not doing their homework. It's definitely an experience.

A big win for the Chargers

The Hillsdale Chargers traveled to Ashland University (in Ohio) yesterday. Ashland is ranked 13th in the nation. Hillsdale has not done well on the road the past few years. Well, they went into Ashland's brand new stadium and owned it. Nate was able to play a limited amount on special teams-which was good.

He made the comment last week that this is the first time EVER (since 7th grade)that he has missed playing in a game - with the exception of being red shirted last year. Pretty good for 8 years of football

The final score was Hillsdale 38 Ashland 19. This is a huge win for the Chargers who face another ranked team next week (Findley) and then the #1 ranked team the week after that (Grand Valley).

Thank you Honyack Construction

We were able to save A LOT of money with Dan and Nate doing the roof project this summer. Because of that we have been able to afford some long awaited purchases-all new kitchen appliances. I feel like I've just won The Price is Right.




You will notice on the picture of the stove I did not include the microwave. That's because I did not get a new microwave. Ours is still good and I couldn't see spending the money to get a new one. Well now that all the new appliances match, the microwave looks out of place. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we break down to buy one that matches. Even Dan agrees that we should upgrade, and he generally never cares about looks.

Things I love about fall

It generally takes me a bit to actually like fall. For about 2 weeks after we cover the pool, I miss summer. Well after this weekend I now love fall. Here are some of the reasons why...

Flannel sheets
Cooking with the crock pot
Jeans and sweatshirts
Mums on the front porch
Football
Closed toe shoes-don't have to be as diligent about the pedicures
Turning on the fireplace with my morning coffee

reality check

I have a poem on my desk with a line that reads, "Who is closer to 40 than 30." this is from a poem I wrote when I started teaching. Today a student read the poem and questioned, "Are you really closer to 40?" I had to sadly say that I am now closer to 50 than 40.

They were still very nice and said I looked good for my age. I'm sure some of them only say that because they think it will help their grade.

I thought I was organized

For the last-I don't know how many years-I have been busy with multiple levels of football. This year with Dan not coaching and Matt not playing I thought it would be a little easier. I was wrong.

On Friday I planned to work out, get dinner made, cut the grass, and go shopping for the ONE tailgate on Saturday. Out of that list of things I got two done: ate dinner-which I picked up and I went to the grocery store-at 9:00 at night.

How come last year I could go to the Friday night high school game and have everything ready for two college football games on Saturday?

Puppy update

We've had Daisy about a week and a half. Things are going well.
Butch is tolerating her.
She has figured out that it's in her best interest to leave Butch alone.
She's not getting up on her hind legs to try to get on the furniture
She stopped trying to bite our toes.
She likes being in her crate to sleep.

Those are the positives. The negatives are:
She still likes to pee on the rug
She doesn't like wet grass, so in the morning it's very difficult to get her to take care of business.
She's a very light sleeper, so any noise wakes her up.

A birthday of ups and downs

Nate's birthday started out great. Lots of family came to Hillsdale to watch him play. He was doing great until the middle of the second quarter. On a play Nate got hit and went down wrong on his ankle.

I knew it must be bad when he didn't get up right away. When they finally got him to the sidelines and Dan and I got close enough to talk to him and the trainer-he told us it felt like his foot was detached from the rest of his body.

Earlier this year one if his teammates actually did have a break in his leg that detached his lower calf and foot from the rest of his body. And for all football players and football parents, that is one of the biggest fears.

At half time Nate went into the locker room to be evaluated by the team doctor. When he returned for the second half he was wearing a walking boot to help keep the swelling down. After the game (a BIG win for the Chargers) Dan took Nate to the hospital for an X-ray.

We had big plans for a "Happy Birthday To You" for Nate after the game. After a while everyone did get back into the festive mood and we had a lovely afternoon and evening.

Nate goes for injury check later today and will hopefully have some information about his injury. One of the bad things about having a child 21 is that you are no longer the "go to" person when it comes to their personal health and welfare-they are. I'm sure if Nate's injury was anything more serious than a sprain the trainer would have already called him.

Interesting Fact:
Allen wrote in Nate's card that he was 21 when Nate was born. We started calculating about how old people will be when so and so is 21. Here's a good one. Nate will be 40 when Neil is 21!!!

From Vertical to Horizontal

Tomorrow is the day that every 20 year old looks forward to-the day they turn 21. Today in the mail Nate got his new license. Tomorrow he goes from the vertical license for those drivers under 21 to the horizontal license for those drivers over 21. Eventhough he is a grown a** man, he's still my baby.