Cincinnati visit

Yesterday, Brian and I went to Cincinnati. Brian had an interview, and I tagged along to spend some time with Anne (& Ginger). Anne and I went to lunch, did some she shopping, and hung out around the house. It was great to see her and have a chance to visit.

Ginger was pretty excited to have a visitor too, I think. She showed me several of her toys and did a little running in the backyard to show off the new fence. She is a very attentive dog.

Obama in Columbus

Today Brian and I went to see President Obama give a speech at a high school in Columbus. The speech closely mirrored the one he gave last week when he introduced the American Jobs Act to Congress. It was a sunny afternoon, and we got hot and a bit sunburned waiting, but it was a fun thing to do together. We even had a decent view, since a large part of the crowd surrounding us was made up of school children, who were nice and short. :)

Brian got the tickets from Columbus State, where he works. They offered them to faculty and staff via email, and he was able to get us a couple.

Here we are, killing time while we wait. We were required to arrive by 1:00 pm, but it didn't start until about 2:30. Unlike when I went to see Jill Biden several years ago, here there was security, with a checkpoint we all had to go through. There were also several sharp-shooters and many guys with huge binoculars, keeping an eye on everyone.

Here is Obama! It was a great speech, and as you can see, we had a decent view.

We had to wait for the president's motorcade to leave before we could exit, but it was pretty fast and I thought it was cool to see. This picture also has one of the many secret service people in it.

The location for this speech was at a high school next to Columbus State (CSCC), so we parked there and walked over. And here's a bit of good news: I will soon also be employed by CSCC! I have a class for the autumn quarter, which starts next week. It's isn't as many hours as I would hope, but it is a start.

Ferrets report it is still hot

At least, it was until Saturday evening. Now we are enjoying very fall-like weather. Still, at the end of last week, we were suffering in hot and humid weather, and the AC was working hard.

During that time, we got a small baby pool for the ferrets to use to cool off. It turned out that the ferrets didn't much care for actually getting in the pool, but they thought it was a great giant dish to drink from.

Rex encouraging Brian to stay in place by sleeping on his foot:

Rex waiting at the door for me:

Visiting Grandpa

On Saturday, Brian and I went to visit his grandpa and Virginia in Franklin Furnace. We mainly relaxed at the house. For dinner, we grilled hamburgers and boiled corn. Overall, it was a great visit.

Brian's parents were also there.

The beautiful flowers in the backyard had some squashes growing in them. I didn't see them right away, since they were dwarfed by the other greenery.

The cat is pretty, but she doesn't like people. She only tolerated this photo because I was on the other side of the window. When she wasn't in the side yard, all the feeders were busy with birds all day long.

Aunt Mary moves to Ohio

Last week, Brian's great aunt Mary moved to Ohio, a few hours north of us. We drove up with Brian's parents to help her get settled and check out the place. It was nice to see Aunt Mary again, meet a few new people, and see some relatives that live pretty close to Aunt Mary's new place. Here are some pictures from that visit.

vegi 'pasta'

We have been trying to eat more vegis lately, so I have been experimenting with different recipes. One I like is for vegi pasta. There is no actual pasta in this recipe, just vegis that are cut to act as pasta. The original recipe was for zucchini, but I tried it with carrots too and found that is also good.

To start, you put a bit of oil in a pan and saute some onion and mushroom. The first time I made this, I also put in garlic, and that was pretty awesome. This time, I added celery, which was good, but not as good. The mushroom is cut up pretty small so it cooks fast and is less recognizable (as not everyone likes mushrooms). I also add salt and black pepper to the saute (since I like to give my spices some time in the oil to release their full flavor).

While the onion et al are sauteing (or even beforehand), you need to cut your vegi noodles with a vegi peeler. Just cut the vegi into long thin strips (like you are peeling, but continue after the peel is gone). For zucchini, use the peel and the main flesh, discarding the seeds. For carrots, keep turning the carrot, getting as many noodles off each carrot as possible. (Zucchini may need to be dabbed dry with a towel, since they let off a lot of moisture.)

Once the sauteing vegis are looking just about ready (for me, this is brown on the edges), add the vegi noodles. Toss the noodles with the bits of sauted vegis and oil. The noodles will cook in just a minute or two, since they are so thin. Keep turning them to keep distributing the oil, onions, and mushrooms. To finish, add a dash or two of lemon juice and cut the heat.

Here are the results from tonight: carrot and zucchini noodles.

visit to gmas

I visited several relatives in CA also. It was great to catch up with several of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Deb & Joel, on the ranch, after dinner:

Deb has started harp lessons (which I did not know previously), and she let me try it.
The war memorial in Ripon with Grandpa's name on it.
Jill and Henry and soon-to-be-born baby, at Grandma's house:
Grandma by some of her flowers:
Grandpa and Rebecca in the backyard:
Jill and me at her baby shower:
Grandma and Jill at Sheri's house:
Me and my youngest cousin, with a cake Grandma made for my birthday: