With fall around the corner, schools across the country are starting a new academic year. The same rings true at my old university in which classes began this past Monday. There are times when I become reminiscent of my college days - but honestly, there are few memories that I can call happy. College never ended up being something I enjoyed. The grind of classes really wore down on me. And coming right out of high school and starting college classes that fall really proved to be a struggle for me. My focus was never there. It finally took me to my fourth year before I finally got a handle of the college studying routine and by then, my GPA never recovered to where I was hoping to get it. That's not to say my entire five year college experience was a total waste. I did end up with a four-year degree and there were a few people who had a positive effect on me. But the negatives far outweigh the positives and as far as I'm concerned, I really have no desire to go back.
When I started classes for my freshman year in the fall of 2000, I wasn't positively sure of what I wanted to major. I had declared my major to be in network computing systems - something to that effect. But I just wasn't sure if I'd be able to handle the more complicated mathematics that would be required for the major. Algebra 2 was as far as I had gotten in high school and taking a higher math course in high school like calculus scared me. I was happy with Algebra 2, to be honest. So following through on the math was going to be a huge test - and sadly it was too large of a goal to overcome for me. But it wasn't just the math that caused me to change my major; it was my first computer science course that totally threw me for a loop. It was Computer Science 120 and right from the first day, I was confused. We had started to make these simple programs with our laptops and I just couldn't understand what to do. The professor I was dealing with was absolutely no help. She wasn't even that approachable, in my opinion. She was old and quite cranky. I knew this computer science thing was not going to go in my favor, so I soon became an "undeclared" major and knocked out some of my elective courses.
One of the very first elective courses I decided to tackle was Music in Society. It was basically a music history course, but it also made you learn about some basic music terms. In fact, this was the first class I went to at 9:00 AM on day one. The professor was super nice, one that I had dealt with briefly in high school as he helped our high school choir group. But coming out of high school and into college, I was not prepared for the course load and so I was unfocused. I could not study the material for this class. And looking back on it, it was such an easy course! I ended up with a "D" as my final grade and getting that D honestly hurt. Never in my life had I gotten a D in a class. If I kept this up, I was in trouble. Not only was that class somewhat of a nightmare for me during semester one, but Intro to Sociology was a struggle, too. If I didn't study the material for Music in Society, well I certainly didn't for Sociology. And I did something in this class that I regret to this day and vowed not to do it ever again - I cheated. I didn't bring a cheat sheet, but I was looking at other students' bubble sheets in the row below me (we were in an auditorium setting). I honestly believe a girl sitting below me caught me looking at her sheet because she gave me a dirty look and covered up her paper really well. I thought she was going to turn me in and my college career could've ended quite abruptly. I was so scared she was going to say something to the professor when she turned her bubble sheet in. But apparently she didn't because I never was talked to by the professor. I ended up with a C for the final grade in that class which amazes me. I hardly studied as it was and I ended up with an average grade. The only class that semester I did well in was a freshman college composition course which I wound up with an A-. Intermediate Algebra I ended up with a C+. That didn't bode well for my future with Math.
The Winter semester of 2001 went a little better for me, but not much. This was the semester where I took the computer science course but ended up dropping out. I just couldn't hack it, no matter how hard I tried. I also took a basic Biology course which, again, I didn't study much for but ended up with a C. The professor for that class was easy on the eyes at least. I also took a Finite Mathematics course which, to my surprise, I ended up with a B. The only reason I did decent in that course was because of the professor. He was originally from India and his teaching methods were pretty lax, in my opinion. His grading methods were so lenient. Overall, he was a nice guy even though there was a bit of a language barrier that hindered the learning process. But growing up, we had Indian priests at my church, so I was kind of used to hearing the Indian dialect. Also this semester was another Sociology course, which I did far better with than the previous Soc. course. That was because the teacher basically referenced what would be on the test through the course material she covered in class. This was a class that met only once a week in the evenings. And more often than not, the class ended far earlier than the 9:20 ending time. So overall, the second semester of the year ended up much more positive than the first.
Then came the third semester, the first of my sophomore year. Again overall, this semester was 0.2 GPA better than the previous one. But that ain't saying much! I took a more advanced English course, a Writing and Literature class. It wasn't terribly bad, but it wasn't great either. The professor could put you to sleep at times with his lecturing. I think we ended up writing four different essays in this class - obviously these essays weren't stellar on my part. But this was the semester when the tragedy on September 11th occured. In fact, this was the first class I went to on that day, and it was extremely hard to focus because of the events that were going on. Classes ended up being called for the day soon afterwards and rightfully so. But it's one of those events that I'll never forget. Also during this semester, I took a history course called "The Third World." If you couldn't already guess, it was a class on the third world countries in our world. It was interesting to learn about the history of some of these countries, particularly those in South America. But do you think I can remember much of that history anymore? Anyways, I ended up with a C in this class which was disappointing because I took rediculously good notes and it didn't exactly help me. I also took an Intro to Philosophy course which was a class I honestly had no use for. I didn't know Philosophy could be so boring! I consider the "C" I got for a grade pretty good. And a big plus was that the professor re-used some of the questions from previous tests on the new tests. Last but certainly not least for the fall semester of 2001 was Statistics and Probability - yes, one of those dreaded math courses. I certainly made an effort and tried the best that I could with this course, but I was doomed from the start. I technically didn't have to take this course because after I became an undeclared major, I didn't need it for my network computing major. But it still qualified for an elective which is why I decided to give it a try. Well, it didn't work out and I soon struggled with the course material. It wasn't long before I dropped out.
As you can tell, I definitely had my struggles through the first three semesters of my college career. Keeping focus was proving to be a tremendous challenge for me. And I blame a large portion of my non-focus on my living arrangements through the first three years of college. I made an arrangement to live with my grandmother who lived a relatively short distance from campus. I think living with her and her boyfriend proved to be a double-edged sword. Growing up, I didn't really see her that often. And after living with her for three years, I can understand why. But all of that is for another day and part of me doesn't really want to go into those details for fear that one of my family members should happen upon this particular blog. Even though my grandmother has burned a lot of bridges in her life, I still think she has one or two people that are close to her. I don't want those individuals to be upset by what I have to say.
This blog posting is going to run rediculously long if I continue into my college career, so this will be a multi-part blog. Expect part 2 to be posted soon.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Lost Love
Her name was Jennifer Swanson - a woman who was strikingly beautiful and whom I had determined to have zero chance even speaking to. The first time I noticed her was during an upper level non-fiction writing class. I sat towards the back of the room while she was placed in the middle. At certain times, I would stare at her and not pay attention to what was going on in the class. I just had to talk to her, even if it was just "hello." But that would be difficult, because I had always been shy, especially when it came to striking up conversations with pretty girls. The non-fiction writing class would not be the one where I would "introduce" myself to her, so to speak, but later on in my college career.
It was the next winter semester and Jennifer and I would end up having another class together. I remember entering the classroom and the room was packed with people. I managed to find one of a few remaining empty seats and it was up towards the front of the class. The classroom ended up being way too small for the class and we eventually moved into a bigger room. But on that first day of class, I wasn't the last one to enter the room. Jennifer ended up being one of the last to show up. She found a seat on the other side of the room and she was striking up a conversation with another fellow classmate with whom I had class with prior. I was feeling pretty jealous but I knew if I kept my courage up, I would get a chance to talk with her. Hey, the semester lasted around four months long. I figured that was a lot of time to bump into her.
I can't remember the exact details of our first official conversation, but we bumped into each other outside of the classroom in the hallway during one of our breaks. I remember a feeling of euphoria coming over me as I talked with her. She was so easy to talk to; I felt comfortable and didn't stumble over my words. I knew that she was single because she had brought it up during her introduction to the rest of the class when the semester first began. From that point on, I continued to talk to her whenever I got the chance. However, it remained simply a college friendship and nothing outside of the campus life.
We would end up being part of another class together the semester following. She even sat right next to me in that class as I was the most familiar face that she knew. And despite the class being absolutely useless - she actually made it fun for me to attend. I know we would converse about the teacher and her being an absolute dingbat. The professor seemed absolutely unprepared to teach and her syllabus was so unorganized. Despite that, Jenny made all of the headaches involved with the class go away. She was an absolute joy to be around and I was a total fool for not making that next step and arranging a date outside of school with her. Who knows what life could've been like if she would've been more involved with me? And even if she only wanted to remain just friends - at least I would've know.
After that semester, I lost all contact with Jennifer. Those were the days prior to facebook and myspace - so I really didn't have a source where I could find her. I know she talked about flunking out of the second class we had together and she was looking forward to officially being done with school after the last semester we had that class together. All I can guess is that she either quit college altogether, graduated (barely), or transferred to a new school. I know that she lived in Illinois originally and that she possibly went to be closer to home. In other words, she was no longer in the local area. Also during that last class we had together, she revealed that she had a boyfriend but that the relationship was "new." I felt that all but quashed my chances of us being an item. Foolish me - I was so naive.
Hard to believe, but it's been five years since I've talked with Jenny. She's been on my mind recently which is why I thought she would be a good topic to discuss in my blog. Where ever she is - I hope she is happy. And if she happens to see this blog about her, I hope she even remembers who I am. She may not have felt the same way about me that I do about her, but she still holds a special place in my heart. And on the very slim chances that we ever to talk again, I hope I am able to tell her how I really feel about her, even if she is married to someone else. You know, I've had a lot of missed opportunites when it came to women in my life, but not initiating a relationship with Jennifer is probably the biggest missed opportunity of them all and it's something I'll live with for the rest of my life.
It was the next winter semester and Jennifer and I would end up having another class together. I remember entering the classroom and the room was packed with people. I managed to find one of a few remaining empty seats and it was up towards the front of the class. The classroom ended up being way too small for the class and we eventually moved into a bigger room. But on that first day of class, I wasn't the last one to enter the room. Jennifer ended up being one of the last to show up. She found a seat on the other side of the room and she was striking up a conversation with another fellow classmate with whom I had class with prior. I was feeling pretty jealous but I knew if I kept my courage up, I would get a chance to talk with her. Hey, the semester lasted around four months long. I figured that was a lot of time to bump into her.
I can't remember the exact details of our first official conversation, but we bumped into each other outside of the classroom in the hallway during one of our breaks. I remember a feeling of euphoria coming over me as I talked with her. She was so easy to talk to; I felt comfortable and didn't stumble over my words. I knew that she was single because she had brought it up during her introduction to the rest of the class when the semester first began. From that point on, I continued to talk to her whenever I got the chance. However, it remained simply a college friendship and nothing outside of the campus life.
We would end up being part of another class together the semester following. She even sat right next to me in that class as I was the most familiar face that she knew. And despite the class being absolutely useless - she actually made it fun for me to attend. I know we would converse about the teacher and her being an absolute dingbat. The professor seemed absolutely unprepared to teach and her syllabus was so unorganized. Despite that, Jenny made all of the headaches involved with the class go away. She was an absolute joy to be around and I was a total fool for not making that next step and arranging a date outside of school with her. Who knows what life could've been like if she would've been more involved with me? And even if she only wanted to remain just friends - at least I would've know.
After that semester, I lost all contact with Jennifer. Those were the days prior to facebook and myspace - so I really didn't have a source where I could find her. I know she talked about flunking out of the second class we had together and she was looking forward to officially being done with school after the last semester we had that class together. All I can guess is that she either quit college altogether, graduated (barely), or transferred to a new school. I know that she lived in Illinois originally and that she possibly went to be closer to home. In other words, she was no longer in the local area. Also during that last class we had together, she revealed that she had a boyfriend but that the relationship was "new." I felt that all but quashed my chances of us being an item. Foolish me - I was so naive.
Hard to believe, but it's been five years since I've talked with Jenny. She's been on my mind recently which is why I thought she would be a good topic to discuss in my blog. Where ever she is - I hope she is happy. And if she happens to see this blog about her, I hope she even remembers who I am. She may not have felt the same way about me that I do about her, but she still holds a special place in my heart. And on the very slim chances that we ever to talk again, I hope I am able to tell her how I really feel about her, even if she is married to someone else. You know, I've had a lot of missed opportunites when it came to women in my life, but not initiating a relationship with Jennifer is probably the biggest missed opportunity of them all and it's something I'll live with for the rest of my life.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Favorite Fast Food Restaurants
I'm hoping to flip the switch on more blogging here within the next few weeks. It's been a pretty hectic summer and I haven't really had the opportunity to do much writing. With summer winding down and cooler weather on the horizon, it'll give me more motivation to start writing again. But hopefully the cooler weather doesn't move in on us too fast! Because we've hardly had much of a summer as it is. It's finally gotten more summer-like and I'm hoping our fall ends up unseasonably warm. Only time will tell. I can promise that you'll see the return of "The Songs I Dig," which unfortunately has been placed on the back-burner in the meantime. I have so many songs to write about it's not funny! Rest assured, it hasn't permanently gone away. You'll see it pop back up here in a short amount of time.
I recently returned from a road trip to Central Wisconsin to visit with my sister. Overall the trip was nice, but I had hoped no problems would pop up. Unfortunately problems did occur - leaving me with a bit of a headache. I may address this at another time or not. But the main focus of this particular blog is to discuss and rank my favorite fast food restaurants. It's been awhile since I've done a blog like this, but I thought it would be something fun to do again. While sight seeing through many of the larger and smaller towns of Central and Northeast Wisconsin, you can't help but notice many of the restaurants that exist in each of those towns. It's quite expected to see a McDonald's or a Burger King in just about every town with a large enough population to sustain it. Yet others might not be as frequent. With that said, here is my ranking of favorite fast food restaurants. As always, this ranking is unofficial and very biased. Don't take my word for it.
#1 - Culver's : This fast food restaurant is most famous through most of the Midwest, although it is gradually growing and expanding its boundaries through other areas of the U.S. Culver's is famous for its butter butters and frozen custard. Not only are its hamburgers delicious, its fries cooked perfectly and always warm, and it's frozen custard to die for, but they also have numerous others items to choose from the menu. This fast food restaurant won me over as being a favorite of mine because of the wide variety of custard choices, from sundaes, to concrete mixers, slushies and so on. If you've never been to one and happy to drive upon one someday, be sure to check it out!
#2 - Wendy's : The restaurant made famous by Dave Thomas comes in a close second as favorite for me. If Culver's never expanded and entered the area, Wendy's probably would've made it as a number one choice. Nevertheless, it's still a very tasty fast food joint. Just as with Culver's, Wendy's hamburgers are very delicious, juicy, and cooked in that familiar square shaped. The fries from Wendy's are about as good as they get, cooked perfectly with the right amount of salt. It's not only about the burgers and fries, however. Their chicken and fish sandwiches are just as tasty. And how can you not include the always popular chili and frosty's!
#3 - Dairy Queen : I had considered not even including DQ on the list because where I live, it's basically just an ice cream stand and they don't even sell hamburgers or hotdogs. It's even opened just in the summer months. However, I know it's not like this everywhere. Just south of the Michigan border into Wisconsin, the DQ's there are open year-round and are enclosed buildings. They offer more than just ice cream on the menu, too. I think at one time in my life, I had a DQ hamburger and it was pretty good. However, I cannot give an honest opinion of their warm food since it's been so long. All we ever get from DQ is ice cream and it is always delicious! From their blizzards, sundaes, and ice cream cones and so much more. You cannot go wrong by making a quick stop at your local Dairy Queen.
#4 - Burger King : So next up is Burger King. Selections number four and five are going to be a bit more difficult because these are restaurants I basically go to in a pinch and are not frequented by me all that often. BK is a good selection for number four because their hamburgers are very good, being that they're flame-broiled. No other restaurant does it quite like BK. They have become famous for their whoppers and the fun-loving king they've developed as their mascot - attempting to act cool in many of their TV ads. One of their most-recent commercials had these people dressed up in hamburger costumes, playing roles as "Whopper" and "Whopper Jr." A few of those ads ended up being pretty hilarious. Another one I got a kick out of was where these two college-aged guys are eating these BK burger shots (mini burgers) and suddenly become surrounded by a group of very attractive-looking girls. One exclaims "I just want to squeeze them!" (referring to the burgers). The one guy says, "squeeze away." Gets me every time...
#5 - Hardee's : Rounding out the top five is Hardee's, which seems to be within a period of tough times, judging by the amount of closed restaurants I've been seeing within my travels. They are also known as Carl's Jr. in the western United States. As a kid, Hardee's was one of those restaurants we visited quite often. But then their quality of food diminished and eventually, it became a restaurant we rarely entered. To this day, I just cannot get myself to go to a Hardee's, even when I suddenly come to crave a Hardee's burger (and no, NEVER a thickburger - unless I want to gain a tremendous amount of weight). And their switch to Angus burgers did them no favors for me, in my opinion. They ended up giving me heart burn, unlike any other fast food burger I've ever had! But the Hardee's franchise still holds a special place in my heart, which is why sentimentally, I gave it #5 in my rankings.
And here are some honorable mentions:
-McDonald's : You might be shocked as to why McDonald's doesn't make my top five. Well, I've never been a big fan of their food overall and it was a restaurant we rarely stopped at when I was a kid and even now. However, don't be surprised if at some point, when and if I re-do this ranking, it manages to sneak into the top five. They are building a new McDonald's restaurant just two miles down the road from my new house. That easily beats out the seven or eight miles I need to travel to get to Wendy's or Culver's! I just might have to try McDonald's food a bit more often now.
-A&W : Another restaurant that seems to be having its struggles, at least locally, anyways. Within the past year, the last two A&W restaurants in the central U.P. have closed. One restaurant just a short drive from my new house closed a few years ago and was recently purchased. I was hoping someone would re-open it as an A&W but sadly, it's being converted into a different commercial business. The building is being transformed into something completely different and I find that disappointing! When they closed that A&W, they opened another one in the city of Marquette. But the location was very poor and within a few months, it was closed. I was looking forward to trying that one out, too, but it didn't stay open long enough. Now there are no more A&W's left within a short driving distance for me but it gets an honorable mention for me, basically for nostalgic reasons. Their root beer is what made them a household name and that rings true today.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my ranking of the favorite fast food restaurants. Like I said, this is only my opinion and I'm sure many of you may disagree with which restaurants belong where. And, if we had even more varieties of restaurants, I'm sure you'd see others included. There's no IHop or Sonics in Upper Michigan, that's for sure. Well, maybe eventually. And just in case you haven't heard or one or two of the restaurants featured here, maybe you learned something about them, too.
I recently returned from a road trip to Central Wisconsin to visit with my sister. Overall the trip was nice, but I had hoped no problems would pop up. Unfortunately problems did occur - leaving me with a bit of a headache. I may address this at another time or not. But the main focus of this particular blog is to discuss and rank my favorite fast food restaurants. It's been awhile since I've done a blog like this, but I thought it would be something fun to do again. While sight seeing through many of the larger and smaller towns of Central and Northeast Wisconsin, you can't help but notice many of the restaurants that exist in each of those towns. It's quite expected to see a McDonald's or a Burger King in just about every town with a large enough population to sustain it. Yet others might not be as frequent. With that said, here is my ranking of favorite fast food restaurants. As always, this ranking is unofficial and very biased. Don't take my word for it.
#1 - Culver's : This fast food restaurant is most famous through most of the Midwest, although it is gradually growing and expanding its boundaries through other areas of the U.S. Culver's is famous for its butter butters and frozen custard. Not only are its hamburgers delicious, its fries cooked perfectly and always warm, and it's frozen custard to die for, but they also have numerous others items to choose from the menu. This fast food restaurant won me over as being a favorite of mine because of the wide variety of custard choices, from sundaes, to concrete mixers, slushies and so on. If you've never been to one and happy to drive upon one someday, be sure to check it out!
#2 - Wendy's : The restaurant made famous by Dave Thomas comes in a close second as favorite for me. If Culver's never expanded and entered the area, Wendy's probably would've made it as a number one choice. Nevertheless, it's still a very tasty fast food joint. Just as with Culver's, Wendy's hamburgers are very delicious, juicy, and cooked in that familiar square shaped. The fries from Wendy's are about as good as they get, cooked perfectly with the right amount of salt. It's not only about the burgers and fries, however. Their chicken and fish sandwiches are just as tasty. And how can you not include the always popular chili and frosty's!
#3 - Dairy Queen : I had considered not even including DQ on the list because where I live, it's basically just an ice cream stand and they don't even sell hamburgers or hotdogs. It's even opened just in the summer months. However, I know it's not like this everywhere. Just south of the Michigan border into Wisconsin, the DQ's there are open year-round and are enclosed buildings. They offer more than just ice cream on the menu, too. I think at one time in my life, I had a DQ hamburger and it was pretty good. However, I cannot give an honest opinion of their warm food since it's been so long. All we ever get from DQ is ice cream and it is always delicious! From their blizzards, sundaes, and ice cream cones and so much more. You cannot go wrong by making a quick stop at your local Dairy Queen.
#4 - Burger King : So next up is Burger King. Selections number four and five are going to be a bit more difficult because these are restaurants I basically go to in a pinch and are not frequented by me all that often. BK is a good selection for number four because their hamburgers are very good, being that they're flame-broiled. No other restaurant does it quite like BK. They have become famous for their whoppers and the fun-loving king they've developed as their mascot - attempting to act cool in many of their TV ads. One of their most-recent commercials had these people dressed up in hamburger costumes, playing roles as "Whopper" and "Whopper Jr." A few of those ads ended up being pretty hilarious. Another one I got a kick out of was where these two college-aged guys are eating these BK burger shots (mini burgers) and suddenly become surrounded by a group of very attractive-looking girls. One exclaims "I just want to squeeze them!" (referring to the burgers). The one guy says, "squeeze away." Gets me every time...
#5 - Hardee's : Rounding out the top five is Hardee's, which seems to be within a period of tough times, judging by the amount of closed restaurants I've been seeing within my travels. They are also known as Carl's Jr. in the western United States. As a kid, Hardee's was one of those restaurants we visited quite often. But then their quality of food diminished and eventually, it became a restaurant we rarely entered. To this day, I just cannot get myself to go to a Hardee's, even when I suddenly come to crave a Hardee's burger (and no, NEVER a thickburger - unless I want to gain a tremendous amount of weight). And their switch to Angus burgers did them no favors for me, in my opinion. They ended up giving me heart burn, unlike any other fast food burger I've ever had! But the Hardee's franchise still holds a special place in my heart, which is why sentimentally, I gave it #5 in my rankings.
And here are some honorable mentions:
-McDonald's : You might be shocked as to why McDonald's doesn't make my top five. Well, I've never been a big fan of their food overall and it was a restaurant we rarely stopped at when I was a kid and even now. However, don't be surprised if at some point, when and if I re-do this ranking, it manages to sneak into the top five. They are building a new McDonald's restaurant just two miles down the road from my new house. That easily beats out the seven or eight miles I need to travel to get to Wendy's or Culver's! I just might have to try McDonald's food a bit more often now.
-A&W : Another restaurant that seems to be having its struggles, at least locally, anyways. Within the past year, the last two A&W restaurants in the central U.P. have closed. One restaurant just a short drive from my new house closed a few years ago and was recently purchased. I was hoping someone would re-open it as an A&W but sadly, it's being converted into a different commercial business. The building is being transformed into something completely different and I find that disappointing! When they closed that A&W, they opened another one in the city of Marquette. But the location was very poor and within a few months, it was closed. I was looking forward to trying that one out, too, but it didn't stay open long enough. Now there are no more A&W's left within a short driving distance for me but it gets an honorable mention for me, basically for nostalgic reasons. Their root beer is what made them a household name and that rings true today.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my ranking of the favorite fast food restaurants. Like I said, this is only my opinion and I'm sure many of you may disagree with which restaurants belong where. And, if we had even more varieties of restaurants, I'm sure you'd see others included. There's no IHop or Sonics in Upper Michigan, that's for sure. Well, maybe eventually. And just in case you haven't heard or one or two of the restaurants featured here, maybe you learned something about them, too.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
A Recap of Last Weekends Events
Around 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, I'll be heading down to Wisconsin for the weekend to visit my sister who lives about five hours away. It'll be our first visit down there in six months. Believe me, we've tried making it down there sooner, but a lot of different things came up. One specifically was my move into the new house back in June. I am really looking forward to the visit and being able to get away from the U.P. for three to four days. That's not to say I am sick of living where I live - I can't think of living anywhere else! It's just that any person, not just me, needs a breather every now and again to appreciate where they live and to be grateful about where they live once they do arrive back home. So, with the impending trip, I want to try and get in a few blogs before I go. Otherwise by the time I get back, it'll already be the middle of August!
So this week I'm on vacation from work - and let me tell you, it's been a long time coming. I was last on vacation over a year ago back in July 2008. So I was definitely due for a week off. This past weekend, I spent some time back at my parents place where the annual homecoming and county fair were being held. If you read my previous blog post, I'm sure you saw how excited I was to go back and be apart of the festivities again. I arrived on Saturday, plenty of time to take the walk down to the downtown area of the village to watch the parade march down the street. Like I said in the last blog, no matter how old you are, you never get sick of watching a parade. And there's something absolutely special about watching your own hometown parade. You see familiar faces and businesses represented in the parade and it truly makes it feel like home. What made it even special was my niece and nephew being able to watch the parade and to retrieve enormous amounts of candy. Heck, even my parents and I were picking up the candy off the street every time people from each float would throw some at us. It always helps to have kids with ya, cause as soon as they saw them, out flew the candy! I took a whole round of pictures with the kids and of each parade float as I'll soon be uploading them to my hometown website. As soon as I get the pictures and the time!
One of the activities of the county fair is a tractor pull that is held during the weekend. I believe there were at least 12 different tractors in the parade and a couple of them were pretty unique. One individual souped up his tractor and installed a V-8 engine in it! He was revving it up every so often and it was a pretty interesting piece of equipment to look at. Another tractor was a real-old timer. It was one of those old steam engine tractors, complete with a whistle you'd hear from a train back in the early 1900's. You could smell the wood burning inside the tractor as it went by. It was a cool sight to see and it's one of those things you don't often get to witness. There were also a countless number of reunion floats this year - probably the most I've ever seen. From the class of 2009 (which I had to admit was pretty clever - only 60 some days of being out of school, but having the least decorated float) to the class of 1949, there were a lot represented at this year's parade. And next year, it'll be my class, the class of 2000! Our ten year reunion will be held, and I just might happen to be in the parade. How crazy is that?
The parade is always the biggest highlight of the event for me, but it's always nice to walk the grounds of the fair as well. It's a small fair, so it doesn't encompass many acres. We checked out both exhibit buildings, saw my sister's and her kids' exhibits and variety of ribbons. Then the kids went on a few of the rides there. They were just those bouncy-slide kind of things and my nephew especially likes those. So they got their fill of those rides and then we went and checked out the animals in the barns. My niece loves animals and she even got to pet a baby calf. We got a few refreshments and took a final walk around the grounds until we headed home. And home for us is just a block away practically.
So now that that event is over, my summer is practically over with! No big occasions to look forward to, other than to enjoy the rest of the summer and to finish some of our big remodeling projects. I am hoping the end of summer and fall will end up being warmer than average. I mean afterall, I think we're due. And better yet, I have another week off from work in September to enjoy, so I'm sure there's plenty of nice weather left to enjoy. Better make the most of it, because it won't be long until the snow starts flying!
So this week I'm on vacation from work - and let me tell you, it's been a long time coming. I was last on vacation over a year ago back in July 2008. So I was definitely due for a week off. This past weekend, I spent some time back at my parents place where the annual homecoming and county fair were being held. If you read my previous blog post, I'm sure you saw how excited I was to go back and be apart of the festivities again. I arrived on Saturday, plenty of time to take the walk down to the downtown area of the village to watch the parade march down the street. Like I said in the last blog, no matter how old you are, you never get sick of watching a parade. And there's something absolutely special about watching your own hometown parade. You see familiar faces and businesses represented in the parade and it truly makes it feel like home. What made it even special was my niece and nephew being able to watch the parade and to retrieve enormous amounts of candy. Heck, even my parents and I were picking up the candy off the street every time people from each float would throw some at us. It always helps to have kids with ya, cause as soon as they saw them, out flew the candy! I took a whole round of pictures with the kids and of each parade float as I'll soon be uploading them to my hometown website. As soon as I get the pictures and the time!
One of the activities of the county fair is a tractor pull that is held during the weekend. I believe there were at least 12 different tractors in the parade and a couple of them were pretty unique. One individual souped up his tractor and installed a V-8 engine in it! He was revving it up every so often and it was a pretty interesting piece of equipment to look at. Another tractor was a real-old timer. It was one of those old steam engine tractors, complete with a whistle you'd hear from a train back in the early 1900's. You could smell the wood burning inside the tractor as it went by. It was a cool sight to see and it's one of those things you don't often get to witness. There were also a countless number of reunion floats this year - probably the most I've ever seen. From the class of 2009 (which I had to admit was pretty clever - only 60 some days of being out of school, but having the least decorated float) to the class of 1949, there were a lot represented at this year's parade. And next year, it'll be my class, the class of 2000! Our ten year reunion will be held, and I just might happen to be in the parade. How crazy is that?
The parade is always the biggest highlight of the event for me, but it's always nice to walk the grounds of the fair as well. It's a small fair, so it doesn't encompass many acres. We checked out both exhibit buildings, saw my sister's and her kids' exhibits and variety of ribbons. Then the kids went on a few of the rides there. They were just those bouncy-slide kind of things and my nephew especially likes those. So they got their fill of those rides and then we went and checked out the animals in the barns. My niece loves animals and she even got to pet a baby calf. We got a few refreshments and took a final walk around the grounds until we headed home. And home for us is just a block away practically.
So now that that event is over, my summer is practically over with! No big occasions to look forward to, other than to enjoy the rest of the summer and to finish some of our big remodeling projects. I am hoping the end of summer and fall will end up being warmer than average. I mean afterall, I think we're due. And better yet, I have another week off from work in September to enjoy, so I'm sure there's plenty of nice weather left to enjoy. Better make the most of it, because it won't be long until the snow starts flying!
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