THE LION KING

We are going tomorrow!! I am so excited. We tried to get tickets when they first went on sale-orchestra on the main floor-and could get nothing. I was very disappointed to say the least. Mom called yesterday and wanted me to try again because a friend of hers just called the other day and got great seats for Wednesday. So, I got back on the Ticketmaster site this morning and after looking at a few dates that did not have tickets, I thought that just maybe I could find some for today or tomorrow given that it's the holiday weekend. Well, I got tickets on the main floor, right in the center, three rows back AND one of our four seats is an aisle seat so that Evan can see all the animals coming down the aisle. Yes, I love Broadway musicals!! THANK YOU MOM FOR BEING SO INCREDIBLY GENEROUS!!

Updated at 10:40 pm Sunday. The show was unbelievable. It was all I had hoped it would be and more. I only wish I could of snuck a camera in to take pictures!

1st day of school

Kindergarten
1st grade
2nd grade

DISCLAIMER: Judy may say that I'm stealing her idea because she had it on her blog first BUT I really thought of it myself as well. :)

Evan and Andrew have been friends from the very first day of kindergarten. Two years later I can easily say that they are BEST friends. Andrew's mom Judy took a picture of them together that day and now we HAVE to make sure we get one of them together on the first day of school.

Evan said he had a great day today which was music to my ears. He cried last night, saying that he didn't want to go because he wanted to stay with me. So, I was thrilled when I left his classroom and no tears were being shed! That in itself made it a good day.

The past couple days

Woody and Bo
The 'Shoe
We held the cruise-in for ALS on Sunday afternoon and despite a slow start due to bad weather, we raised $1400 for the ALS Association thanks to the generous people in London Ohio! Above were a couple of drawings that were auctioned off drawn by a friend of my sister's-I now wish I would of bidded on the one of the horseshoe!





Of course, there is always some type of excitement when Liz, Cathy, Mom and myself are together. I think I mentioned that Evan and I stayed overnight in London both Sunday and Monday night. Well, we were out on the porch counting money Sunday night, just relaxing and having a beer when all of a sudden Cathy said she smelled skunk and a second later, Liz's dog started barking out back. Yep, he got sprayed. The smell was soooo strong that at first we couldn't tell if it was actually on him or just permeating thru the house (as it's done before-oh, like Christmas 2003). Gotta love country living. Anyhow, it got him right in the face so Liz cleaned him up as best as she could with V-8 (that's all they had!) for the night but by then the smell was all thru the house. So, the next morning, I took Jordan to the vet to get a skunk bath and then proceeded to wash all our clothes that we had out there because someone told Cathy at work yesterday morning that she smelled like skunk. My purse STILL smells like skunk. Nice.




Today was our visit to the voice clinic.Well, I wanted to cry yet again during the scope up the nose but it's because Evan was so incredibly brave. It started with him telling the nurse that he could take care of squirting the medicine up his nose by himself (that set him off the last two times we've been there) and then he practically pushed the dr. out of the way so he could see everything on the TV screen! He started out by saying that he could sit by himself and I could sit across from him. About two minutes later he ended up in my lap which was fine. The kid didn't even flinch when the camera (on what seems to be a big cable at least compared to the size of his nose) went up and in-he thought it was great when the dr. pointed out the boogers in his nose. Anyhow, there were no tears and no screaming this time-he did exactly what they told him to do as far as what noises to make, etc. It was interesting to watch-the last two times I was too busy holding him down! No great surprises but the good news is that he's not using his false vocal cords as frequently as he had been-the bottom line is that he has function in about 1/3 of his cords. There is nothing that can be done surgically at this time which I knew but we're all hoping that the game plan that they are going to develop specifically for Evan will at least help him maximize the voice he does have. I feel as though the team is more on the ball than last time-I really, really like the ENT. He's doing a research study on voice quality/disorder after a child has had airway reconstruction like Evan-I told him he could do whatever he needed to do and use any of Evan's info so he's not now a part of it. The dr. even took the time afterwards to burn a copy of the scope on a DVD just because Evan asked him to!

Wedding anniversary

August 24th, 1957
August 24th, 1997

My parents would of celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary tomorrow. What a celebration that would of been, along with their 50th and 49th. My dad made it until their 48th and then died a couple weeks later. I love the picture from their 40th. We had had a surprise party for them when the family had gathered in New York for Toyfest that year. They look so happy, don't they? I admired them so much becuase they had been through so much during their married life. Illness (you name it, they had it-TB, hepatitis, Guillain-Barre,cancer, ALS), financial struggles, family issues and they were this close to divorcing back in 1979. Everyone thought it was over. Dad moved out, the house in Worthington was sold and Mom and I were preparing to move back to NY when I finished up my sophomore year of high school. I mean it was that close! But, they found their way back to each other and never looked back. Here's to you Mom and Dad.

Tomorrow will be a busy day because it's the ALS cruise-in out in London. See link below. Please pray that it doesn't rain!! I plan to head out to London in the morning for church and then spend the day with my mom before the event. Evan and I are then going to stay with the girls for a couple nights. He was upset because I hadn't had a sleepover with him at grandma's house this summer like we always do! It will work out well because I have to take him to the voice clinic in Cincinnati Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. and the trip down there is a little easier to do in the wee hours of the morning if we start from London rather than Columbus!

http://webcsoh.alsa.org/site/DocServer/Team_Jimbo.pdf?docID=31141

Totally Random!

Kali put herself in timeout
Evan's 1st pumpkin of the season-it came from our backyard-I only hope more show themselves closer to the big fall holiday
Attempts to get pictures of our hummingbirds-there are 3 that come to our feeder every night when we are sitting there eating dinner-they actually look in the window at us!

Our nice dead grass

Evan eating corn on the cob

Trip to East Aurora

Pop-up Pluto
My grandma's house

I spent the weekend up at my cousin's in East Aurora, NY which is about 20 miles from Buffalo. This is where I lived until I was 9 years old-it was so hard to move to Ohio because we were leaving family behind. This is my mom's hometown and although we've been gone for 36 years, I still have a special connection to this place and so many memories. Above is the house my mom grew up in and where I spent so much time with my grandma when I was a little girl. I still dream of her house-isn't that funny?

East Aurora is the home of Fisher-Price toys. My grandma actually worked for Mrs. Price (she was an artist and illustrator)and my mom has hanging in her house a portrait of Mom done by Mrs. Price when Mom was a little girl. Back in the 30s, they made these pop-up critter toys that they would have local families put together. We went to the toy museum on Saturday and saw the exact toy that my mom and her family worked on-the Pop Up Pluto. I've been the museum before but don't remember seeing that toy. I love this museum because they have all the popular Fisher-Price toys from when I was young. Talk about a blast from the past!!

The trip went by way too fast. I'm still recovering this morning. We ate too much, we drank too much and we laughed way too much-no, I don't think you can ever laugh too much. :)

Article in the London OH paper about a benefit for ALS

Article features my sissy!!

Cruise-in for a cause
Thursday, August 14, 2008
By Brian McKinneyStaff Writer

Sometimes when you are trying to make a difference, it helps to know the right people.
For Liz Blakeslee, that right person is Les Takacs of Takacs Family Ice Cream.
Blakeslee lost her father and longtime Takacs friend Jim in 2005 to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Soon after her father’s death, Liz wanted to help spread the word about ALS and give back to the ALS Association, which had helped her family during her father’s decline.
“Last year we decided to throw something together,” Blakeslee said. “They (the Takacs’) had asked if we were interested in doing something to raise money for ALS.”
The idea the pair carried out was a “Cruise-In to Help Defeat ALS.” Takacs hosts several classic car cruise-ins throughout the summer at his West High Street ice cream stand, so why not just designate one to benefit a good cause?
“We just do this in memory and honor of my dad,” Blakeslee said. “Dad called (ALS) an orphan disease, because it doesn’t get a lot of the funding other diseases get.”
The idea was a success. By way of a raffle that gave away Ohio State football tickets and several restaurant gift certificates, the Aug. 25 event raised close to $2,000. Naturally, the event will be held again this year Sunday, Aug. 24.
As opposed to how other car shows operate, Blakeslee and Takacs keep their cruise-in as informal as possible. Like last year, there will be no registration, no fees and no trophies awarded. The sole purpose is to come together for a good cause.
“We keep it informal, and that is the way dad would like it, because he was a pretty informal guy,” Blakeslee said.
This year’s cruise-in will feature much of the same items up for auctions this year. So far, they have secured more tickets to see Jim’s beloved Buckeyes and gift certificates from the Red Brick Tavern, Ann and Tony’s and art donated by local artist Kim Lattimer, to name a few. Takacs’ son Matthew will provide some of his homemade glass beads for auction as well.
When Blakeslee informed Takacs that she wasn’t aware that Ann and Tony’s Restaurant donated, he coyly replied, “We’re doing that one.”
Takacs involvement with Blakeslee’s cause is just one example of his generosity. Whenever there is a friend in need, he does what he can to help.
Last year, he held an event for a local boy, David Cave, who passed away as a result of Cystic Fibrosis. He also held a fund-raiser for Andy Borders, who was wounded in Iraq.
“People turn out for this kind of stuff, that is the nice part about it,” Takacs said.
Not only is the Blakeslee family lucky to have friends like Takacs, Liz also explained how lucky they are to have a community like London.
“I think London is a very generous community,” Blakeslee said.
Raffle tickets for the event are $1 each and participants can purchase six for $5.
For anyone who cannot attend the cruise-in Aug. 24, another opportunity to help the ALS cause is right around the corner. Blakeslee and Takacs also participate in the ALS Association’s Walk to Defeat ALS held at the OSU Campus-Fred Beekman Park in Columbus on Sept. 28.

The fire

My bedroom
Liz's bedroom
Kitchen
Bathroom Picture from Dispatch (top floor far left)
Front window
Living room
Dining room
My bedroom

15 years ago?? That doesn't seem possible. August 15, 1993. I will never, ever, forget that day or the days following. Liz and I were living together in an apartment in Grandview and we had made plans to move into a townhouse the first of Sept. I decided to go see a friend in Minneapolis-I left on the 12th-it was kind of a spontaneous trip for me because I had only made the arrangements and plane reservation the week before. I was planning on coming home on Sunday the 15th. So, the phone rings Sunday morning. It's Julie, Liz's friend. I'm thinking why the hell is Julie calling me here in Minneapolis? My heart starts pounding. She let me know right off the bat that everyone was o.k. but that there was a fire in our apartment building and things look pretty bad. They were going to be allowed up (we lived on the top floor) for a few minutes to grab what they could (they ended up with some of our clothes-there is news footage of them throwing them out the window since they had such little time to be inside). I was in shock and sobbing-I remember the only thing I asked her was if my photo albums made it! Believe it or not, some survived-damaged but they could be dried out. So, I flew home a few hours later and although my car was at the airport, my parents met me there. I immediately started to cry when I saw them and collapsed in my dad's arms. Anyhow, I wanted to see the building right away so my dad drove me in my car and I couldn't believe what I saw. We lived in the first apartment in front of our building-the fire started in a laundry room in the middle of the 2nd floor, shot up to the roof and moved forward so our apartment was destroyed-the roof had collapsed. These pictures are from two days later when we went up with the insurance adjuster-that was the last time we were allowed in. You can click on the picture to make it bigger and see more detail. It's funny but the ceiling to my walk-in closet didn't collapse so most of my clothes were salvageable (most of my work clothes were dry clean only so we had to get very expensive cleaning done), most of my photos that were in there as well as my special letters, cards, etc.-all the things I would of wanted. I couldn't believe that my "treasures" were o.k. I was really sad though about losing the cuckoo clock I had bought in Germany in '89.

We soon learned how generous and giving people are. It turned out that our church knew about the fire the day it happened and took up a collection for us. People gave us household items along with money, including both our offices. Mine actually had a housewarming party for me. My boss (who I wasn't a big fan of) actually gave me a week off w/pay and he didn't even count it as vacation. It was overwhelming and it was as a result of this experience that I learned how to accept help-that came in handy after Evan was born! I'll never forget being at the laundromat the next day and having our pastor walk in-he had tracked us down. He had been on vacation and had just got home but wanted to come see how we were.

Needless to say, I have a bit of a fear about fire now! I really can't enjoy fires in our fireplace.

Lots of little strange things happened prior to the fire:

1. Although my friend's phone number was in my address book at our apartment, I felt compelled to give it to Liz anyhow-she then put it in her purse. They would not have been able to get ahold of me before I boarded my plane without it because his number was unlisted. I am so glad I knew what I was coming home to. Hard to believe but we didn't have cell phones way back then!

2. I drove myself to the airport. Usually I would not have done that-I always just had someone take me. My car would have been destroyed in the parking lot.

3. Liz went to a party Saturday night and ended up staying over at her friend's house-she did not plan on doing that so she wasn't there nor was her car. They happened to see our apartment in flames on the news Sunday morning! We were told the firemen busted our door down because they thought we were in there-the apartment manager was certain we'd be in there and he made sure they looked for us. I can't even imagine what it would of been like to have been there and watched everything we own go up in flames. It was traumatic enough to witness the aftermath. We were lucky too in that we had our purses and I had some cosmetic items, my camera AND my contacts-thank God!

4. Our cat Murphy had been living "illegally" with us since we got her in Jan. '92 and just a few weeks before the fire, we were found out. She went to live w/Mom and Dad until our move. I would of been heartsick if she would have been in the fire.

I definitely think God was at work!

Come Friday, I will be enjoying myself with Liz, Cathy and my cousin Sue up in Buffalo. We will no doubt be drinking, eating and laughing alot-a great way to acknowledge this particular anniversary!

Great day

We had an awesome day yesterday down at my cousin's place near Cincinnati. Jim and his wife Jenny bought this place last year and yesterday was the first time we visited. Oh my gosh, it was like being at a vacation home. It's absolutely beautiful and so incredibly peaceful. We had a great day full of food and laughter which is typical for our family get togethers. We hiked around their property-12 acres (I think) of woods w/a creek running through it as well as a pond. Evan was in heaven because they have a dog and six cats as well as bunnies (see below). We made plans to go down for a weekend in October to actually stay overnight and Evan has already made plans w/Jim on how their house and the woods should be decorated for Halloween!!

They have two bunnies-Flopsy and Sara. Cathy and Evan lulled them into a trance. We call them The Bunny Whisperers.
Nope, they didn't catch anything. This picture is from Friday night before we headed off to a party-yes, we wore the Hawaiian shirts on purpose!

I'M DONE!!

I am officially done with jury duty as of this afternoon. Do you like my certificate?? I do have to go to work tomorrow but that's fine with me. Anything is better than sitting in a room for hours on end. I've done my civic duty for the year!

Getting closer to the end...........

So, I wake up at 2:30 a.m. because of the storm that came through and guess what? I couldn't go back to sleep. I read, went downstairs and watched TV (Tori Spelling's show-hard to not watch it, kind of like going past an accident), got on the computer and then at about 5 I climbed back into bed. I think I fell asleep about 5:30 and the alarm went off a hour later. OK I REALLY didn't want to show up for jury duty today. This morning was torture. The good news was they let us "2nd weekers" out at 11:45-woo hoo!! So, I was able to get a good walk in THEN go get ice cream with my mom, Evan and nephew Sam. It was nice to have a Tuesday afternoon off since I'm usually at work. Shhh, don't tell anyone at the hospital that I got off that early.

The countdown begins...........

So, after sitting around all morning in the jury pool room (I am so tired of seeing these people), I kind of thought that I'd probably be dismissed shortly after we returned from lunch. Wrong. At 2 o'clock I was called up to a courtroom because a judge needed a jury for another criminal trial. So, we all rush up there and then have to wait for a hour in the hallway to have the judge finally come out and tell us that there was yet another plea bargain accepted. I'm ready for this to be over!