I prefer blonds in my bed

Most nights, I share my bed with two blond gentlemen named Jasper (after the national park in Canada, not Twilight) and Bogie (after Humphrey Bogart, not golf). 

I've decided I like blonds because the hair doesn't show as much on my light-colored counterpane. 

Jasper (on the left) and Bogie, peacefully snoozing away.
After a brief discussion, they decided they too liked the word counterpane instead of bedspread, because it flows off the tongue nicely and sounds more romantic. 

They, like many males, hog the space and the covers, snore, and thrash around in the middle of the night. They are primarily motivated by food and demand that I wake up early to feed them, because we need to eat RIGHT NOW.

Oh thank you, you've saved me a narrow sliver along the wall. How kind. 

I admit, I'm weak, and I just can't say no to faces like these. (And they're both way more difficult to move than you'd think.)

They don't seem to get that curling up at the end of the bed would be an excellent option for them, but not so much for me. Some of us have legs a few feet longer than others of us, and therefore appreciate a little more space... 

A Particularly Epic Tuesday

Tuesday evening we made the arduous trek up to Cleveland to watch the Indians play some baseball. Perhaps I should rephrase that-- we went to Cleveland to sit at Progressive Field and eat popcorn and hot dogs and watch the people cam on the scoreboard (we had free tickets).

Approaching Progressive Field via the cemetery, which prompted discussion of people who get their ashes scattered at stadiums (so that they'll never miss another game), and about someone's ashes that ended up on a roof somewhere in a plastic bag and the cops thought it was drugs until they tested it (Eric contributed that). 

Cleveland Rocks!

The Indians, not so much.

We spent a great deal of time trying to take a picture that looks decent. Turns out I'm really bad at the whole hold-the-camera-out-in-front-and-take-a-picture-of-yourself thing. 

"Yeah, I like baseball capris better than the long pants too, like on the shortstop. He looks better than the other guys."
"That's the second baseman. Generally, the shortstop is between third and second, not second and first."
"Oh. I knew that."
 "This is why they'd put you in the outfield all the time, isn't it?" 

Eric's response to the above conversation. 

To sum it up: We and negative 13,413 other people (there were nowhere near that many actually present) spent negative 3 hours and 13 minutes watching the Indians not score and lose to Oakland. The Tribe did have 16 strikeouts, which was impressive. And the Indians script looks cooler than Oakland all spelled out in caps. So there. 

This face sums up the entire game. 

Megan loves Asdrubal! (Primarily because this picture was directly behind our seats while we were leaving).

Some of us are not willing to admit we're Indians fans.

Photo opt! 

And in other, much more fantastic news:


Welcome To the World little Elizabeth Grace Covey! Born Tuesday morning at 9:41 a.m., to proud parents Amanda and James Covey. Little Ellie measured in at 7lbs/9oz and 21 inches long with a full head of blond hair.


 

Amanda, I shamelessly stole this picture from your Facebook page. I hope you don't mind.

Little Ellie- someday your honoray aunties Jenna and Lauren will take to you an Indians game and introduce you to the world of Cleveland sports. Maybe by the time you're old enough to hold up a hot dog they'll have a slightly better record. Even if they don't, we're still going to fill you up with all sorts of yummy stadium food and then send you home to your parents all hyped-up on cotton candy, pop and peanuts. It's going to be a blast. 

What I learned at Penn State

1) That I need a water lily pond like the Lotus Pool at the Penn State Arboretum.

2) That I also need a giant planter filled with succulents. (Would make an excellent birthday gift, though I do admit that it might not be the most practical, since it's probably not very portable.)

3) That there are Japanese bananas. And that I have never thought about bananas being from Japan.

I forgot to get a picture of the banana plants, so this one is from bbc.co.uk.

4) That the Creamery makes excellent ice cream and has proportions about as large as your head.
It is also advisable to have yours in a bowl rather than a cone, unless you are able to eat large quantities of ice cream quickly and you are also sitting inside in the A/C so your ice cream meltage is kept to a minimum. Not being savvy in the ways of Creamery portion sizes, I had mine in a cone. Still not entirely sure how I managed to eat the entire thing and not explode nor get melted ice cream all over my person. I feel that my twenty-odd years of eating ice cream were just to prepare me for that moment, and that I preformed quite admirably.

I was too busy eating my enormous ice cream cone to remember to take a picture, so this one is from the PSU website http://creamery.psu.edu/ 

5) And that Meghan is an excellent friend for introducing me to all these new things.

She is a Penn State graduate and lives in State College, which explains why she knows all these things. 

Meghan is a superb American Coot rescuer as well. 

An Evening At the National Hamburger Festival

 Our evening in photographs:

Don't worry, Eric brought appropriate reading materials for this festival.

These are the last two burger halves from Menches Bros, which Eric (after some prompting)  promptly ate.  Eric is our resident plain burger connoisseur. I believe he said these landed somewhere near the top of his list of favorites. Also note the Football Hall Of Fame t-shirt, which has nothing to do with burgers but is always an appropriate shirt to be wearing.

 

Beautiful Lock 3 Park, in the wonderful city of Akron, Ohio!

We did not try any of the Max & Erma's burgers, since we've eaten there before and already know how good they are (which is quite good). And those are lights, not barbed wire. I checked. 

STD burgers. They do in fact brand each bun with the STD logo.

"Dad, you ruined the brand!"
This STD had onions and a spicy chipotle sauce on it, absolutely delicious. 

Marching off to the next burger stand. 

Megan spins the wheel in hopes to win a fabulous prize!

Instead, she wins a bottle opener and a coozie. 

New word of the day: Grillebration.
Also: Whitney, you might be receiving a coozie care package in Kentucky sometime soon... we might have gotten a few more of these than we really know what to do with (which would be 3). 

Green means go! We've got more burgers to consume!

Ah, the Civic Theater, the site of many years of dance recital memories. Almost makes me want to dig out my old dance shoes and bust out some lyrical moves, of which I remember about five. Lyrical is a mix of ballet and modern dance, for those of you who didn't know. Which is usually about everyone. 

All in all, and excellent way to spend a beautiful Sunday evening in Ohio. Sorry Dad, but your burgers at home just can't compete. 

If you're interested in actual information about the National Hamburger Festival 2012 and all of the deliciousness you missed, here's the website:

http://www.hamburgerfestival.com/

If you're interested in reading the book Hamburger America, or watching the documentary (of course there's a documentary, and yes Eric does own it), here's the link. The author also has a burger blog. 

http://www.hamburgeramerica.com/index.html

Adopt a kitten, get some sweet corn!

Is anybody out there looking for a new pet? I know some kitties that need good homes!

You know you want to take me home. 

My aunt and uncle live on a farm near Hartville Ohio that is a magnet for stray cats. We adopted our Jasper kitty from my aunt two winters ago. The other strays decided they weren't going to let him near the food she'd set out, or on the porch to keep warm. She'd run the dryer with nothing in it so that he could huddle under the vent outside. Needless to say, his life at our house is now much cushier, and he only has to put up with one 19 year old cat who is the definition of the word crotchety (her hatred of the new cat has given her extra pep, I swear. She was much less active before Jasper came, now she's all full of energy to hiss and torment).  He is currently sprawled in the middle of my bed, taking up as much room as possible.

As my brother says, my uncle farms the vegetables and my aunt has a cat farm. There are lots of stray cats that have ended up at my aunt and uncle's farm, and it would be wonderful if some of them could find homes before it gets cold out. In particular, she's worried about these three gray cuties, all siblings, one boy and two girls, probably 4 or 5 months old. They were born in the duck barn and sleep there every night with the ducks (who are not exactly pleased with the arrangement).

Frolicking in the garden. 

Hide and seek.

My aunt calls them her Peaweeds, and they come streaking across the yard to get put away every night. The ducks also come when she calls, but at a much more sedate waddle. The gray kitties are very playful, and my aunt can pick them up and cuddle with them. It's pretty adorable.

Look into my eyes and take me home. 

I spy a little gray kitty who needs a good home.

None of these cats have had their shots or been fixed, but you get a free dozen ears of sweet corn with each cat you take home! Well, that part may not be true, but I can certainly get you some produce I'm sure. I'll even deliver the kittens to you, as long as you're within reasonable driving distance from Ohio. 

Not only are they cute, but also thrifty! A plastic bottle cap is just as good as any fancy toy from the pet store. 

Treat time in the duck barn. 

This callico is also very much looking to be a house cat, she tries to sneak into the house every chance she gets. However, with 6 cats already inside, my aunt has drawn the line at any more coming in. Not sure how old she is, perhaps a year or so.

I don't know who you are, but I suppose I will allow you to take my photograph. 

All cats, even strays, know how to sit like royalty. 

If anyone out there is interested, let me know and I'll hook you up with some extremely grateful kitties! 

This Here's A Goose

Brant. New York, 2011.

This here’s a goose, not at all like a moose
You can tell this by looking at its caboose.
A moose won’t have feathers; its behind is all hairy
A goose is more pointed back there, so be wary.
Mooses are also generally taller,
Gooses are therefore generally smaller.

Moose. Yellowstone, 2012. 

If you get them confused, you should check your glasses,
And probably take a few animal classes!

Young Canada Geese. Pennsylvania 2011. 

Snow Geese. New Mexico, 2011. 

Snow Geese. New Mexico, 2011.