I'm Technology Challenged

I thought I was doing the right thing a few days ago when I downloaded Internet Explorer 7.0, but as soon as I did that, there were problems with my computer. I restarted the computer. That didn't help. I didn't do anything else that night and I was really hoping that the problem would just sort of go away on its own, BUT NO SUCH LUCK.

The next step was to try a system restore. Unfortunately a screen came up and said that it was unable to restore to the point I wanted. That made me mad.

Okay, on to the next step. I'll just uninstall IE 7, BUT, will I still be able to connect to the internet? Well, I just decided that I would reinstall IE 6 first, THEN uninstall IE 7.

Of course, Microsoft WOULDN'T let me do that. A screen came up that said that I already had a newer version of Internet Explorer on the computer.

THEN, I decided to download Firefox. The very second that was downloaded, I went to "Add or Remove Programs" and got RID of IE 7. After restarting the computer as I was told I HAD to do, I couldn't wait for this thing to fire back up.

Well, wouldn't you know it...the Internet Explorer icon was STILL THERE! I clicked on it, then clicked on "About" and discovered that IE 6 was back!! It must have never left, and idiot that I am, never freaking realized it.

And this is why I am sticking with my day job.

I Have a Confession

Last Friday...the day after Thanksgiving...the day that is referred to as Black Friday...

(okay, here is where I hang my head in shame)

...found me (the woman who does NOT like to shop AT ALL!)....

...at the store that I dislike the most. And then after a brief stop at home, I went to yet another store.

There. I've said it. I'm still trying to come to terms with it.

Last Thursday night, after everyone had left and after I'd taken a shower and was all comfy in my recliner in the bedroom, I went through the sale ads for Friday. I'd looked at them earlier, but this time really looked at them, to see if there was anything at all I absolutely HAD to HAVE.

I tend to be a list maker, so out came the pen and paper. Before I knew it, I had several things written down for Wal*Mart (I hate Wal*Mart), Kohls, and something for Staples. I decided that I needed to check out the GPS system at Wal*Mart, along with a few other things that the kids wanted for Christmas. There were a few things at Kohls that I needed to look at too, and then there was a different GPS system at Staples.

HOWEVER, I was NOT getting up at FOUR FREAKING A.M. to venture out in the cold and dark to these stores. If they still had what I wanted when I got there, then fine, and if not, then that was fine too.

I got to Wal*Mart around 9:30 or so and they still had a ton of the GPS systems. In fact, they still had everything that I was interested in, with the exception of one item. I was surprised. And to top it off, it was NOT that busy there! I was in and out of the store in less than half an hour.

After stopping at home to drop things off and check on the progress of the menfolk (Ted, Joey, and Alex) as they were working on the outside Christmas decorations, I decided to again venture out, this time to Kohls. I was able to cross Staples off my list, as I didn't need to check out the GPS system there since I had gotten one at Wal*Mart.

At Kohls, they were out of one item I wanted, but they had something very similar still left, so I altered my plan a little. They had everything else on my list, so I was able to quickly get in line to check out. OH MAN. The checkout line weaved throughout the store. Was it worth it? Did I really need these things THAT bad??

I decided to get in line and see how quickly it moved. We were almost in constant motion. The longest that I went without moving was about 20-30 seconds. There was one line and when you got to the front of it, an employee told you which checkout lane to go to. This kept things moving fast and there was no "second guessing" about whether or not you got in the fastest moving lane. All in all, I was only in line about 20 minutes. Not bad.

Once I got home and things were unloaded and placed into the depths of my closet, I went to the computer and continued my shopping, but this time it was on MY terms! I probably do 80% of my shopping online. Believe it or not, it can be cheaper that way. One place that Alex wanted some things from was having a sale...they had 50% EVERYTHING! In addition to that, there was free shipping if you spent over $75, which I did, AND you got a free stuffed bear if you spent over $100, which I also did! I got some REAL bargains at that site, as well as at several other sites.

Okay, so Friday was my big shopping day, and I feel so much better now that I've confessed it to the world!

Football

I was born in northeast Ohio and lived there until I was 9 years old. Due to my dad's promotion and transfer we moved a little over an hour south and now reside in east central Ohio.

Football is BIG in northeast Ohio AND east central Ohio. Not only is it BIG, but it's HUGE! An excellent autumn weekend is when our high school team wins on Friday night, the Buckeyes win on Saturday, and the Browns win on Sunday. Unfortunately we've had a holdout for the last few years. It seems as though the Cleveland Browns just didn't want to cooperate. This year, however, the tide is turning a little.

After today's game the Browns are now 7-4, and have won their last 5 home games in a row. Even the "P" word has been whispered throughout the area. (For those, NOT in the know...the "P" word is playoffs.)

Today as we were watching the game, there were some amazing plays by several Browns players. I made a comment that wasn't met with a whole lot of enthusiasm, but I still stand behind it.

"They SHOULD be making plays like that since they ARE professionals AND are making several million dollars a year."

Maybe I expect a lot, but if someone is going to pay me several MILLION dollars a year, then I better make sure that I complete every assignment given to me and that it is completed without any errors.

I am a professional educator, and I make it my JOB to continue to make myself better at what I do. I read articles and try to implement ideas that I feel will benefit the students I work with. I try to find ways to solve any problems I come across within my teaching, and I make sure that I am prepared for each and every lesson that I teach.

Professional football players should do the same thing. They should work at doing what they need to do to be successful, each and every week. When they miss a ball that is being thrown to them, or miss a tackle, or miss a reasonable field goal attempt, or make a STUPID move that results in a penalty, then they are not being professional. If they were not playing at the level they are OR if they only made $40,000 a year, then there might be a little wiggle room.

But heck, is it asking too much for them to make the plays that they are HIRED to make??? And very well financially compensated to make??

I realize that many of you may disagree with my opinion, but that is your choice. In the meantime, I'm not in total awe of Kellen Winslow (don't even get me started on the lack of respect for the Browns Organization that he displayed a few years ago!) Yes, he's a good player, and he SHOULD be. As should Braylon Edwards, Jamal Lewis, and all the rest of the players.

Anyway...GO BROWNS!

November 22, 1963

Although Thanksgiving was on November 22 this year, in 1963, November 22 fell on a Friday. I was five years old (okay, quit doing the math...I'm 49, YIKES!).

My memories go back to a select few when I was about 4 1/2 years old, but become a little more frequent as I started kindergarten.

On November 22, 1963 I was in kindergarten. This was a day that truly had an affect on Americans everywhere.

Our kindergarten room was so much fun. We had a huge area with tables that we sat at, and another very large area with a piano and open space so we could dance and play. Our teacher would often play the piano for us as we danced and sang. I recall doing the "Hokey Pokey" quite a few times that year. We also had a painting center, and my teacher was very good at making sure that we participated in many different activities each week.

The school itself was big, as it was an elementary school attached to the junior high. It was by no means a new building, but wasn't extremely old either. The two schools combined covered grades kindergarten through 8th grade. I recall that there were two different principals, as my best friend at the time was the daughter of the junior high assistant principal. I'm sure that we also had separate P.A. systems.

On this particular day, an announcement came over the P.A. saying that our president, John F. Kennedy had been shot and died.

My teacher was standing near her desk when this was announced, and she continued to stand there...and she began to cry. She was not sobbing, yet there were tears streaming down her face, and there was absolute silence in our room for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a couple of minutes. As children, we knew that something terrible had happened, but couldn't quite grasp the importance of it all.

I remember watching all kinds of things on television about President Kennedy's death and funeral. Of course, way back then, we had three television stations, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

For those of you who remember back that far...where were you when JFK was killed?

Happy Thanksgiving

I sure hope that everyone has had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. Ours went well, for the most part. Since we just did this whole "meal" thing on Sunday for Ted's family, today was just an encore. Other than my immediate family being driven crazy by me, getting everything ready, the day really did go well. The food was great and it was so nice being with the extended family.

The snow never materialized, but that's okay. It's a little too early in the season for accumulating snow.

If anyone left here hungry, then it was their own fault, because there was PLENTY of food! I had so much help in the kitchen after people got here, that there was hardly anything left for me to do. And then after dinner...wow, is all I can say! Everyone pitched in to help rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher, then wash and dry and put away all the things that either wouldn't fit in the dishwasher OR couldn't go in.

Now as far as tomorrow is concerned, I really don't think I'll be heading out to do any shopping. I'm not a shopper, first of all. Secondly, if I DID enjoy shopping, I don't know that I would want to be around all those people! Some stores are opening up at FOUR A.M., yes 4:00 A.M. I do NOT plan on being one of the people waiting in line for the door to open. At that time, I plan on being sound asleep.

Although...one of my cousins has a GPS unit and he brought it in to show us. It was quite interesting, and I've been thinking about one on and off for a while now. I just wasn't too sure about how they worked. After he explained it, and showed us how simple it was, I recalled that I had seen one in an ad and it will be on sale at a very reasonable price tomorrow morning. Sigh. Gee, I need to think about this.

I'm really hoping that we can get our outside decorations up tomorrow, but we'll have to see how things go. Ted is taking the day off, so that might be a plus. I just know that I am certainly going to enjoy not going to school for the next 4 days!

Thanksgiving 1950

I was not around in 1950, but my mom was. She has told us about this particular Thanksgiving holiday several times over the years and it still intrigues me.

My grandma grew up in a very small community in western Pennsylvania. It's where her family settled when they came over from Italy. In this community they STILL go to the post office every day to get their mail! They only got actual addresses a few years ago when they finally became part of the "9-1-1" system. When I send Christmas cards to the family there, it's still "P.O. Box 7" and their town.

Anyway, back in 1950 my mom was in her first year of nursing school, but they were given a few days off at Thanksgiving. My grandparents, along with my mom, aunt, and uncle were going back to Pennsylvania for the holiday. They had a car, so that made the journey much easier than it could have been, although it still took several hours to get there.

Back in 1950, Doppler Radar was a part of technology in the far distant future, so they really didn't know that there was a snowstorm coming in, or if they did know, they had no clue as to how bad it was going to be.

After they got to PA on Wednesday evening and were all settled in with the family, preparations for the feast began. At some point on Thanksgiving Day it began to snow...

and snow...

and snow...

and snow.

When everyone woke up on Friday morning, it was clear that no one was going to be leaving to go anywhere that day. There were a bunch of people in one small house, as it was a typical holiday in which everyone was together. Since no one had predicted a snowstorm was en route, they were really not prepared for it. Fortunately there was enough food in the house, so that wasn't a problem.

However, they didn't have an indoor bathroom at my great-grandparents' house...in fact NO ONE in that area of Pennsylvania had an indoor bathroom!

And there was only ONE pair of boots at the house. New boots had not been purchased for the upcoming winter season yet.

Apparently with so many people in the house, they had to be very patient and wait their turn for the boots to go to the OUTHOUSE in the back! But that was only after they somehow created a path to actually get there.

By Saturday my mom was starting to panic a little. There was absolutely NO let-up in the snowstorm, and she needed to be back to Akron on Monday for nursing school. There were NO EXCEPTIONS in nursing school. Grandpa had to be back at work on Monday too.

Sunday was the same as Saturday, except that the panic level was a little higher. Mom wanted to get to a telephone to call the hospital where the nursing school was, to let them know where she was and that she would be back as soon as she could.

Again, with technology not being quite what it is today, the few phone lines that were in existence were down due to the weather, so she wasn't able to make that call. On Monday, mom and Grandpa set out for the train station, walking through the snow drifts and STILL FALLING snow, only to be told that the trains were all canceled.

It snowed from Thanksgiving Day (November 23) until the following Tuesday (November 28).

Later in the week, they set out again, and this time they were lucky and the trains were running again. Just because the snow had finally stopped falling did NOT mean that things were all clear! The roads and tracks were still a huge mess and had to be dealt with. Grandpa and mom FINALLY were able to make it home after over 12 hours on a train, and mom finally got back to nursing school with NO repercussions, thank goodness.

Several days later, after roads were finally cleared, Grandma was able to drive the car home with the other two kids, my aunt and uncle.

If something like that happened today...well, let's just say that we would be totally prepared for it in every way possible. I like snow...but not driving in it or shoveling it.

And this Thanksgiving?? According to Dick Goddard (our Cleveland weather guru) we're supposed to have rain....that will turn to SNOW!

Virginia Tech

This picture is made of up PEOPLE!

As readers of this blog may know, Terre is a friend of mine whose daughter Alexa attends Virginia Tech (as does Alexa's boyfriend, Aaron). They were there last April when the horrific massacre occurred. This past August, Ted and I met Terre, her son Trevyn, her daughter Alexa, and Alexa's boyfriend Aaron for lunch and had an absolutely WONDERFUL time!

We talked a little bit about the Virginia Tech incident during our time together and they both said that they had no trepidation about returning to school. Virginia Tech is still healing from this awful disaster, and they are so appreciative of all the thoughts and prayers that have come their way since April 16, 2007.

If you have a minute, check out this website. http://glovis.geog.vt.edu/hokiesthanktheworld/ It will be time well spent.

The event was designed by someone in the Geography Department at VT, and was scheduled for the exact time that a satelite could pick it up from space. If it all worked out right, it will be available at Google Earth, but I have not yet checked on that, to be honest.

Okay, I'm off to download Google Earth!

My 100th Post!

When I first started this blog, I honestly thought that it would get "old" after a while. Ironically, just the opposite has happened, and I look forward to adding to it as often as I can. Although I've been a little lax as of late, I still thoroughly enjoy it and especially enjoy the comments that some readers leave.

Here's to the next 100 posts!

Thanksgiving Memories

When I was young, we always went to my grandparents' (my mom's parents) for the holiday. It was a typical holiday in that there were aunts, uncles, and cousins there, and we all sat at a table that was just a little too small for all of us. Eventually as other cousins were born, we had the proverbial "kids" table and the "adults" table and that helped. Of course since I was the oldest grandchild, I usually got to sit at the "adults" table. Wow, I was definitely privileged!

As we walked into their house, the aromas of the turkey, dressing, pies, and everything else would just fill us up. To this day when I smell turkey cooking, I get melancholy, thinking of my grandma. Grandma outdid herself.

She would make at least 10 pies and what wasn't eaten on that day would go home with everyone. At the end of the day when we left, each family had a big banana box with pies, leftover turkey, dressing, rolls, and......

This is the good part....

If grandma found a "good" stewing chicken at the meat market, she would make wedding soup, and she made a TON of it!

So....if there was a good stewing chicken within a 30 mile radius (I never could get the definition of "good" out of her), then each family would also take home wedding soup!

For those of you who have never had homemade wedding soup, OH WOW...you don't know what you're missing! I'll share the recipe sometime.

Thanksgiving was quite a feast, and it was always fun seeing the rest of the family.

One year when I was in high school, Thanksgiving ended up being at our house somehow. I wish I could recall the circumstances, but I just can't. I guess I should ask my mom. I woke up early that morning and heard her out in the kitchen, talking to the turkey. Yes, I said TALKING to the turkey. She called him "Tom" and I heard her telling "him" to bend his wings and to keep his legs open so she could get the stuffing inside. I knew it was in my best interest to just stay out of the kitchen and let her do her thing. In fact, I'm sure my dad heard her, as well as my brother and we all must have had the same idea, because as soon as we heard her finally get the turkey IN the oven, we all got up.

She did a great job with it because everything tasted wonderful!

There were a few times after Ted and I were married that we hosted Thanksgiving, and by then mom had gone back to nursing and was working that day. HOWEVER, she would show up at our house on her way to work and around 5:30 AM we would start working on the turkey together. I felt so bad for her, having to do all that, then go to work, but she insisted. After work, she would come over and get to eat and see everyone, but still it made for a long, tiring day for her.

I'll share a few more memories soon.

My Favorite Holiday

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. This is my favorite holiday. I know I've mentioned it before, but that's okay. I'm saying it again.

THANKSGIVING IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!

This is a holiday in which families get together and eat and talk and eat and lay around and eat and do very little of anything else. There are no gifts involved, so we're not trying to find the perfect present. All that's really required is that you create a good meal.

Uh oh. Yep, there's that cooking thing again.

It's okay....I can handle it nowadays. There were times when I couldn't, but I can now. In fact... I can handle it SO darn well that we're going to do it TWICE THIS YEAR!!

This Sunday we'll be having Ted's family here for Thanksgiving. Yes, I realize that his family is my family and my family is his family, but this is just an easy way to describe it without going into a class on family genealogy.

I came up with this idea last year, for all of us to get together the Sunday before the "real" Thanksgiving since we would all be going to the "other" side of the family's get togethers on Thanksgiving Day. It went over very well, and everyone seemed to have a good time, so I decided that I would venture down the same path again this year. The turkey is in the refrigerator thawing slowly as I type. There will be about 12 of us, so that won't be too bad.

On Thanksgiving Day we will be having my family here to celebrate and I'll get to cook again. I really don't mind because Ted helps. Alex will help too, but with complaints. Joey will also help some, but with an attitude. That's okay though...it's all worth it. There will be 12-13 of us again that day.

Thanksgiving hasn't always been my favorite holiday. As a child, of course it was Christmas, but not just because we got a lot of presents, but mostly because we got to see some relatives that we didn't normally see all the time. After getting married, I still wasn't a huge fan of Thanksgiving, but then somewhere around the time Joey was born, it started to hit me...this isn't too bad.

I have a couple more Thanksgiving stories to share over the next week, but for now let's just say that it's time to bring out the pots and pans and have a wonderful time!

Happy Birthday and Veterans' Day Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday. I'm not going to tell you how old he is, because first of all, it really doesn't matter. Secondly, he'd wring my neck if I did that! But I AM going to tell you that today is HIS day.

Dad is the oldest of two children. His sister is younger by only 15 months. Rumor has it that they did NOT get along well as children. Their mother, my grandmother is still with us and she and my aunt have shared some tales over the years.

In order to preserve my own future, it would be best if I didn't share those in this forum, but let me just say this....my grandma was one of six. Out of those six children, five got married. Okay, that's pretty "normal" for lack of a better term. Out of those five that got married, ONLY my grandma had children. The other four did not.

When my Uncle Raymond (one of grandma's brothers) passed away over 20 years ago, I just came out and asked her, "Grandma, why do you think that none of your brothers or sisters had any children?"

Without skipping a beat, she simply said, "They all saw how bad my two were and decided that it wasn't for them" and then she laughed.

From what I've heard...that could be true. Not that they were bad, so to speak, but they were just ornery.

There was the fire truck incident...nah, better not share that one.

Then there was the butcher knife episode...nope, that's not one to be shared either.

Of course there's always the story about the...darn, can't tell that one either.

Ironically, when Dad left for the Army, their relationship changed a little, and they became as thick as thieves.

When Dad was 13 he decided that it was time to go out and earn some spending money. He lied about his age so he could get a job working for the railroad. This was just the beginning of his resourcefulness.

While in high school, he was an excellent baseball player, even playing for the local semi-pro team. He played in the outfield, and helped his team win numerous games.

Immediately after he graduated from high school, Harold went to work at a nearby steel mill. When he turned 18 that fall, he was required by law to register for service, and enlisted in the United States Army for one year. Once he returned home, he again worked at the steel mill, until his reserve unit was called back up for the Korean War in 1950. That's when he was sent to Japan. During his two-year stint he suffered from many bouts of tonsillitis and ended up having to have his tonsils removed in an army hospital while in Japan. Now that was definitely NOT fun.

After returning from his two years with the Army Reserves Dad once again returned to work at the steel mill. He was an excellent worker and they kept a job for him each time the Army called him back up.

One day my grandpap saw an ad in the paper for the Ohio State Highway Patrol School, and showed it to Dad. After thinking about it, Dad went to the closest patrol post and filled out the application and took care of the paperwork. In the spring of 1953 Dad entered the academy and the rest is history.

I'm very proud of you Dad...not only have you been an excellent role model for me, but you worked hard for our country, and have always given 110% to everything you've done.

Happy Birthday Dad...and Happy Veterans' Day!

Ramblings

Yes, every once in a while I tend to ramble on and on, and this may be one of those posts.

First of all, I'm sick of being sick!

The medication I've been on has helped just a little, but not enough. Yesterday morning I called the doctor's office and left a message with the receptionist. The nurse called me back...TWICE. I happened to be at home because we had Parent-Teacher Conferences and our hours were noon to 7:30 pm.

When the nurse called me back the second time, she told me that the doctor wanted me to go to the Emergency Room for a breathing treatment. Oh joy. I told her that I didn't have time to go in the morning, but would go once I was home from conferences. She told me that it was up to me, and that I would know how much distress I could handle.

Since I spend two afternoons a week at a different building, I was required to spend a little time at that building for conferences. I was there for the first two hours yesterday, then went to my regular building. We had a break from 4:00-5:00, so around 3:30 I called the hospital that is just a hop, skip, and a jump from school.

This is a small local hospital and it reminds me of the kind of hospital that Mayberry would have, if indeed Mayberry had a hospital! There is a larger local hospital closer to where I live and that's the one that I usually use, although the Mayberry Hospital was where I had my last colonoscopy.

So anyway, I called the Mayberry Hospital and talked to someone in ER. I explained my situation and her comment was, "We're open 24 hours a day." Well, no crap. I sort of figured that one out on my own. Then I asked if they were very busy. I was hoping to get over there, get in, have a breathing treatment, get out, and be back at school in that one hour time frame. She said, "Yes, we're very busy right now."

Her responses had an attitude and I didn't appreciate that. Fine. Thanks and good-bye.

As the evening wore on, I was feeling worse and worse and by the time I got home I was not doing well. I walked in, changed clothes, and Ted and I left for the bigger hospital by 7:45 pm. Gotta love emergency rooms, paperwork, and protocol. We got home at 10:15. I had a 20 minute breathing treatment, took a pill, and got a prescription. The rest of the time there was spent playing the "Hurry up and wait" game. However, I do feel better and that's the most important thing.

Today we have a Waiver Day at school, which basically means meetings, so I took yet another sick day to stay home to try to continue to recover from this crap.

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On another note, I got this brilliant idea to send Jim Tressel (head football coach for THE Ohio State Buckeyes!) an email with Alex's picture in which he was dressed up as the coach. I mentioned a couple other things in the email, but kept it short and sweet. I sent this Wednesday night.

HE RESPONDED AT 6:56 AM ON THURSDAY!!

Now I realize that he may not answer his own email, but still it's wonderful PR that he has SOMEONE do it for him if it turns out that he doesn't. It was a personalized email too, not just a standard reply. He commented specifically on something I mentioned in the message.

This morning I checked my email again and saw that yesterday morning I received an email from a guy who runs http://www.coachtressel.com/ and he said (and I quote),

"Coach Tressel asked me to post the photo you sent him on his website, http://www.coachtressel.com/ in the “Buckeye Kids” photo gallery. You can access this image by clicking on the following link: http://www.coachtressel.com/sideline_pass/gallery/index.asp?archive=0&gallery=Buckeye%20Kids&section=gallery

Thanks again and GO BUCKS!"

Is that cool or what?? I checked the link and saw that Alex is by far the OLDEST kid there, but that's okay. Some of the children are absolutely adorable!

And for the record, it was not real easy to track down Jim Tressel's email address, but perseverance pays off!

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One more rambling...CONGRATULATIONS to Christa's husband Dave, who was the TOP VOTE GETTER in Tuesday's election as he ran for school board! There were SIX candidates for THREE seats, and he had the most votes!

I have confidence in the fact that he will always put the best interest of our district's children first.

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Okay...so how was YOUR week??

Tomorrow is Election Day

Tomorrow, after work, Ted, Joey, and I will go vote. This is not only our right, but our obligation. I view voting as a very serious thing, as does the rest of my family.

I have the utmost respect for ANYONE who throws their hat into the ring to run for public office. Putting yourself "out there" for public view, possible ridicule, and intense scrutiny is not an easy decision to make.

Back in 1984 my dad made this decision. He had recently retired, after over 29 years, from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He was ready to run for county sheriff. This was not to be an easy task, as he was going to be running against the 12 year incumbent. They would be meeting in the May primary. The winner would go on and run against an Independent candidate in the November election.

My first thought...a 12 year incumbent??? Dad, are you serious???

As a family, we all knew that we were going to work as hard as we possibly could to make this dream come true for my dad. Not only did this "group" include the family, but also friends, neighbors, and professional associates.

We began the process with all the gusto we had. First we formed a committee and appointed a treasurer. Then we began researching the election laws, which mentioned all kinds of things, including how to do the financial sheets to how soon you can put out yard signs, and everything in between.

Making decisions on yard signs was a huge thing. Not only did Dad decide on what they said, but the layout and the colors. We used someone's garage as Sign HQ. We got the stakes and used a power nailer to nail them together properly, then a staple gun to attach the signs to the posts. We kept records on who took how many signs and where they were placed throughout the county.

We organized a fund raiser, and made sure that tickets were sold and advertisements went out. We baked and cooked so we could be sure that no one went away hungry.

We also organized the door-t0-door part of the campaign, and I can recall that one guy actually wore out his shoes helping out with this. He was in charge of everything for one very small community in the county and even went so far as to measure the distance from the road to each yard sign. When you went into that community, you could see that all the signs were all lined up and they looked really great!

We accounted for each and every penny that went into every step of the campaign, and the official treasurer and I spent one school night (he was an educator also) "looking for" SEVEN CENTS. Our numbers just didn't work out right, and they had to be precise to the absolute penny. We were at my parents' house and every single time my dad could sit with us and look at the financial stuff with us, the phone rang and it was for him. FINALLY around midnight, we discovered the error. Then I had to type all the reports out, and we didn't have an electric typewriter, let alone a computer!

Being new to the entire of idea of running for office, we felt good, heck, we felt WONDERFUL when we won the election! It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it. It took a lot of teamwork, dedication, and time, but it was a commitment we were all willing to make.

We also knew that there was now going to be a chance that the safety of our county was going to be in excellent hands...IF we won the fall election.

WE WON IN THE FALL!!

Dad went on to run for sheriff several more times, and ended up being in office for a total of 16 years before deciding to hang up his badge. He was ready to retire from law enforcement.

I've seen first hand what kind of hard work and perseverance is required to venture into this area and I have such respect for those who choose to do that.

Good luck to ALL the candidates as we prepare to vote tomorrow.

(And a special "good luck" to Christa's husband Dave, as he runs for school board tomorrow!)

Don't forget to VOTE!!

Harold's Ties

In the last post, I alluded to the fact that my dad has a LOT of ties. Tons of ties. TOO many ties. But he is well aware of what he has (and for the life of me, I have NO idea HOW he can keep track of them all!)

Back in 1999 we attended a family wedding in Pennsylvania. As soon as we got the invitation, I knew what was going to happen. Ted does not wear good clothes to work. He wears jeans and pocket t-shirts, along with sweatshirts and hoodies when it gets cold out. Ted is also a pretty big guy, so "normal" size clothing doesn't work for him. He wears extra tall t-shirts, and sometimes has a little trouble finding pants that fit quite right.

In preparing for the wedding, he knew he was going to have to get some new clothes. He went off to the local men's shop the week before our weekend trip to PA. He came home with a pair of nice pants, a dress shirt, a jacket, and a pair of shoes. Okay, so this wedding was going to cost us a little more than what I originally budgeted, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. Let's just say that he never says a word when I spend money on clothes for work, so I sure wasn't going to get all worked up about him spending over $300 (EIGHT YEARS AGO) on some clothes.

The boys were not going to the wedding, but would be staying with A.P. and U.T. and we would leave Saturday morning, attend the wedding, spend the night, have dinner on Sunday with the extended family, then come home late Sunday afternoon.

When Ted got home from the men's store and showed me everything he purchased, he commented that he didn't buy a tie because he figured he could just borrow one from my dad. No problem. I called my mom and we arranged for a time for Ted to take his pants, shirt, and jacket to their house and she would help him pick out a tie, all while my dad was at work.

*Sometimes it's just best not to let Dad know everything*

When Ted came home from this secret meeting, he had two ties with him. We ended up taking both ties along and would make the decision as to which tie to wear at the last minute.

When Saturday came, we drove over to the hotel we would be staying at and met my parents in the lobby, along with a few cousins, and an aunt. We all had reservations and just happened to arrive around the same time. Everyone else was changing clothes and getting ready to go to the wedding. It just so happened that I had a work project that I needed to spend a lot of time on and Ted was really tired, so we decided that we would be going to the reception only.

Several hours later we walked in to the reception hall and sat down with everyone. The place was starting to fill up and we were sitting there talking and having a great time.

My dad kept glancing over at Ted. Finally...he said something.

"Hey Ted, looks like you got yourself some new clothes."

"Yes, I did...this past week. I couldn't wear my pocket t-shirt or they would throw me out."

We all had a big chuckle over that one.

Then dad said, "Where'd you get that tie?"

Ted looked at me, I looked at my mom, she looked at Ted, and then we all looked at dad.

Then dad said, "That's my tie, isn't it?"

We all laughed.

You have to hand it to him....the man knows his ties.