Fair Week '06

Aloha all! I'm hoping that everyone had a great Labor Day and enjoyed the long weekend. Labor Day was great for me! I went down to Cinci and visited fellow B5 Naashom and also B6 Emily for the day. We checked out the Ohio River, made earrings (Naashom and her mom are crafty folks) and talked a ton. It was so nice to joke about stuff that only a PC/Bangladesh Volunteer would get. And to whip out the Bangla, shake it off and see if anyone still understands you. I have a bad feeling that my Bangla (as poor as it was) has a limited time span, so I'd better enjoy and use it while I can.

The Hardin County Fair is going on right now. Cousin Jamie Jo's kids are showing goats, rabbits and horses. Petite Shelby said that last year she showed two draft horses driving a showcart! She is just a tiny bird of a girl! I don't know how she does it, but it is amazing that those kids can do what they do.

As for other stuff in the news.... check out Princess Megan's story in the Chicago local news: You go, girl!
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectionfiltered=community&id=4534984

busier than a one-legged guy at a butt-kickin' contest! (Dolly Parton)

Friend Carrie came down from Wisconsin to visit! We had a delightful time visiting the office, playing with Baby Jilli Bean and Grandma F. We also hit up Columbus and visited the Best BookStore in the Whole World as We Know It, or commonly known as the Book Loft in German Village. We finished off Columbus at the CAPA movie series and watched a Marlene Dietrich silent movie with the Mighty Morgan Organ playing accompaniment. Without the organ, I don't think that silent movies would have been bearable. Sunday, we went to the Ohio State Fair and had a lovely time viewing the butter cow and all the strange folks that come out of the woodwork to go to a fair. Lord knows how I blend in with all of them! My proudest purchase from the Ohio State Fair was a mandolin. For those who are not in the know, a mandolin is a smaller than a guitar, more roundish in shape and has 6 strings. I am slowly making myself familiar with chords and good stuff like that. Then for a send off, Carrie and I trekked to Toledo to meet up with Friend Kristin and her brand-new hubby Chip for Indian cooking and gossip. Very early the next day (3:30 am to be specific), Carrie and I got up so that she could meet up with AmTrak. On our way to the station, Carrie called their 1-800 hotline and found out the train was going to be about an hour or so late, so we turned around and found the nearest Denny's and ate a spot of breakfast. We were so early that we beat the regulars!

Oh! Not speaking of blending in... Mom and I went 5 other ladies and one 18 month old 'little lady' to the Mall of America for a long weekend of Shopping. Mom's girlfriend, Cathy, turned 50 and her daughter set up this trip. I believe a good time was had by all and I know that I came home with a couple of bills, but super-cute clothes.

Ok, I've chatted long enough. I'm over the birthday blahs. I swear. I'm working towards a goal finally and I have some cute clothes in my wardrobe. I can deal with whatever comes flying my way! grrr...

on being older...

I am now officially in the last year of my 20s... my how the time has flown. I still have to work on my 4 goals that I set for myself and I have a year to finish them. Knowing me, I'll procrastinate like there is always a tomorrow.

As for the social... Amy H and I stirred 8 or 10 pots of noodles and I helped make some more chicken sandwich filling. It was a busy, hot day, but worth it.

I also went black raspberry picking with Alison and we each netted over 7 lbs of berries. This was enough for me to make two batches of jam and to freeze some lovely ones for later.

usin' your noodle

This past week I have been a disgustingly good person. My inner bitch has laid low, I was exceedingly helpful and I just need a vacation from it! (Or at least an opportunity to lay down until the feeling passes.) Earlier this week, I helped with the Annual Noodle Day, which entails the ladies of the Mt. Zion United Methodist Ladies to group together at McDonald Grange in McDonald Township in Hardin County, Ohio (read: out in the boonies) and make egg noodles for the upcoming Mt. Zion United Methodist Ice Cream Social. The ladies arrive and set with tables for noodle making extravagenza and a smaller one for snacks (with few exceptions, they are all grandmas, so we a had some very lovely snacks and gossip). We rolled the dough into circles, laid them out to dry and then cut them up into the actual noodle shape. This only took about 4 hours and by noon, there were a boo-qoo of noodles and a floury Laura. It was so humid that day, that the noodle did not dry completely before cutting, so we decided to let them dry and under the fans we had jerry-rigged and a couple of ladies came back later that day to bag them up and put them in the freezer with the Schwan ice cream. Come the 20th of this month, Amy H and I will be in the kitchen of the said McDonald Grange Hall to cook these noodles without the benefit of a/c or personal slave. Being 27 and 28 respectively, we are the youngest ladies there and befittingly we are the lowest on the totem pole. We are the step and fetch it. I think that is why our moms had us, so that they could raise the next generation of go-fer. Maybe this should be some sort of incentive to get knocked up. Child Labor. The only problem with that is they the kids will probably need feeding and caring and they aren't good for much the first several years... A lot of putout with not alot of potential incoming... I may need to rethink this whole kid thing. hmmm....

Well, the point is, come out to McDonald Grange Hall on July 20th and get some good homecooking. Don't worry about me and Amy making the noodles... we just stir the pots. (We typically make about 7 pots of chicken noodles.) Marge is the only one allowed to put in spices and is the General Taskmistress of Noodles. We are just the Stirrers. Until we reproduce our replacements. I think we might have this job for a few more decades.

i didn't forget you...

... I just had no life. However, I now able to report that I have gotten my Causualty and Property insurance license and will be working at the family insurace agency as of 1 July 2006. Woo-hoo for me. Now, I just have to figure out all the lingo and good crap like that for the respective insurance companies. FUN.

I am still on the search for the ideal grad school that will offer what I want and won't put me into debt until I'm dead (they'll take the life insurance, thank you very much!). Any and all suggestions about what I should do when I grow up, please just email me.

Sad news... Sweetie has moved to Chicago for a very good promotion. Good news on the promotion part, bad news for the leaving me in Ohio after I finally moved back into the state. Glitch.

OK, gotta go and look productive. Take care and give me a buzz when in town.

its been a while

It has been a while since I've last written... Sorry! I have had sort of a boring life, as of late and then BAM! stuff happens.

Last week, I was in Columbus for Insurance Class and now I am somewhat ed-u-ma-cated on the subject of insurance. I don't suggest anyone take these classes for fun, but I know feel somewhat knowledgable. Who knew? I'm sure if I lay down, the feeling will pass.

While I was in Columbus, I housesat for Sweetie and poochsat for Trevor, his dog. The outcome of Sweetie's trip to CA was a promotion and by June 1st, he'll be in Chicago. I'll have to travel abit further for a Sweetie fix. Glitch. However, I am so happy for him, that I won't begrudge him the additional 5 hours of travel. And then I get to see Megan and Matt at the same time. Will Chicago ever be the same again? I think not.

As for the rest... I'm still trying to get into Case Western and figuring out funding for these lofty grad school plans.

Maybe I need to start with a nap.

just a simple update

Nothing exciting lately, except for the pearls. I brought back a large number of pearl earring/necklace sets back from Bangladesh and I just got them appraised by Ernie the Jeweler and I found out I was sitting on a crapload of moola. So, if you are one of the folks that received a pearl set from me, while they aren't AAA quality, they are still worth quite a bit. I cracked up Ernie the Jeweler when I told him that I walked it onto the plane and didn't get taxed for it. He thought it quite rich.

Let me know what your spring plans are and maybe we can get together (yeah, yeah, yeah) and have a swingin' time! This goes for everyone!

i am so stinkin' happy....

.... that the GMAT is taken and over! I visited the testing center today and a few hours later, I left with a headache and a lighter heart. Yeah for me.

Next week, it's off to Cleveland to visit Case West and their program and finish up the apps. In the meantime, I'm going to work on my before 30 goals and enjoy Spring springing.

Keep a look out for Sweetie, especially if you are on the West coast. He's going to be there for the next 10 days or so.

Ok, I've gotta take an asprin and lay down until the math problems float out of my head.

PC/Bangladesh gone

Peace Corps/Bangladesh is being consolidated/evacuated as I write. For those not familiar with PC-speak, that means all the Volunteers in-country are being pulled into the capital city of Dhaka and being flown to DC and the program will be closed - probably for good. This makes me so upset! There are a ton of details that I won't go into on a public blog, but I truly believe that they are being pulled out prematurely. I was in-country with the other B5s, 4s and 3s at the begining of the Iraqi war, when they were burning effigies of President Bush and you got harrassed if you said you were American. This sucks majorly for the Volunteers who really wanted to stay to the end of their service. I hope that the kids who came this past August will sign up to go to different countries and get a full 2 year PC experience.

blackberry wine.... fruit of the vine...

As I sit on my comfy couch and drink a glass of Dad's most recent purchase of blackberry wine from the lovely neighboring state of West Virginia, I think back to this past extended weekend. Chicago was good... very good. I got excellent Megan time and I enjoyed Matt. I saw their wedding video, which will have to do, since I couldn't make it to the real thing. How lovely! Megan got me walking and enjoying the ability to do so! After living in the Midwest (where we drive everywhere) and Bangladesh (where you ride a rickshaw everywhere), I enjoyed just hoofing it and I have the blisters to prove it. The school was good and as of 1 August, I can get 40% off of the tution for being an RPCV! Isn't that crazy? And if I get a second degree, I can get it for 50% off! Who knew?

As for the actually roadtripping itself... Megan can attest that I had a long and extended self-guided tour of Chicago, starting on the South Side, going through China town and eventually (after several mobile calls to Megan) I made it to the very big lake and then went a touch North to Megan and Matt's place. Going home was not as adventurous, but I did not end up going the way that Megan's map told me to go. Nevertheless, I made it home in time for dinner. All's well that ends well.