11.28.2007

Yikes it's cold!

Button up folks, winter's here! It may not be official but it's a chilly 39 degrees out there right now. Those who didn't put up their Christmas decorations yet may be cursing their delay.

I'm getting ready to wrap myself up and head out there so my 3 year old will quit harassing me. Eventually I'll learn not to show my hand or talk about fun stuff until I'm ready to do it. My daughter will make a good detective or agent someday. She can find any candy hidden in the house, she has razor sharp hearing for things she's too young to hear and she can badger international secrets out of anyone.

She keeps me on task though! Anyone else put up their lights yet?

11.27.2007

Brutus on Parade

If you haven't heard, Ohio State is putting Brutus on Parade. Like Chicago's Cows and Cincinnati's Pigs, Brutus will be up for interpretation and placed throughout Columbus. There will be 250 Brutuses or Bruti(?) and already there is a Wood Hayes Brutus, a Christopher Columbus Brutus and an Elvis Brutus.

I'm submitting my designs this week for two of the statues. I'm not telling what they are but I'll keep you all posted on any news!

Check out photos of the four finished statues here.

11.19.2007

In Sickness and in Health...

The whole house is sick. Call it the Revenge of Preschool. My daughter goes to preschool, comes home teeming with cooties, she probably left a few herself, gets sick and then begins to pass them around to her sister and then finally chopping her father and me down.

This round has been particularly nasty as she has missed 3 days of germ exchange, I mean school. Now her little sister has become a wiggly, but cute, mucus machine. Yeah I know, not so pretty a picture.

I've been battling their symptoms the old fashioned way since you can no longer give kids cold meds. We've been corn syruping it up over here and our 3 year-old is loving it. It really does stop the cough and then she gets the sugar rush that I'm too sick and run down to defend against.

Here's the thing: sometimes being a grown-up sucks. I mean really, it's not the bills or jobs or responsibility. It's when you get sick you hate it the most.

The same cold that leaves the kids with loads of snot, but doesn't affect their energy level or their demeanor can knock grown-ups out like Captain Trips *see your Stephen King reference guide...

The other thing - if both you and your significant other are sick there's no one there to take care of you. Now that REALLY sucks. We discovered this inconvenient fact shortly after we were married.

David and I had one of those horrible, can't move, constant shivering, "I've got to be decomposing as we speak," viruses. As we laid in bed under as many covers and clothing our weak bodies could heap on, I thought about how thirsty I was. Dave couldn't get me water, I couldn't get me water, who was going to take care of us?

My family lives in another city, Dave's mom would have bugged the poo out of us or maybe the virus and our friends were all single and really not too good at taking care of themselves, let alone us. All I remember thinking is: I want my Mommy.

Ah well, I shall do what grown-ups do: complain a little more, though I'm so congested I can't hear myself, force down soup - yuck, and wait for Thanksgiving where I can drive home so somebody can look after all of us.

11.16.2007

Connie Schultz, Ohio State versus Michigan...

OSU vs. michigan
I'm sitting here on the eve of the greatest rivalry game in college football. OK drinking game - every time you hear or read that take a drink. I don't drink so I'll take a shot of good old H2O. Hang on water intoxication...

I'm strangely absent from all the fanfare this week. I've been keeping my eye out, but not reading or hearing too much about it. I know, what cave must I be in? The cave in which I have two sick little ones and a pile of work to complete.

Though I've been out of the build up for much of the week - I have been doing my part. I've been harrassing the Michigan lovin' moms in my moms group. I've been flying my flag high and I plan on going completely scarlet and gray tomorrow despite the twinge in my throat and the threat of a fever...Uh oh...

If we win I shall be estatic as usual and pass out for some rest. If we lose I'll be heartbroken and pass out for some rest - and avoid the phone...And those moms I harassed...And one of my editors...Boy we buckeyes have big mouths!

Connie Schultz
I had the immense pleasure of seeing Connie speak Wednesday night on OSU's campus. Though I was about ten minutes late, I enjoyed all that I heard. I walked away thinking, THAT'S what I wanna be when I grow up. A strong white woman married to Sherrod Brown - just kidding. A strong woman will work. A fantastic journalist/writer will do it too. Maybe it's age or maybe it's the realization that you earn wisdom when facing the wind. I read or saw that somewhere recently...

The main thing I got was about getting involved in the political process. If I want health care for all children, better schools and a bigger emphasis on social issues at home, I've gotta get out there. Make a difference. I remember my revolution days that slowly gave way to work to eat and do a little revolution on the side, to aww let someone else bring it... But I have been re-inspired. The revolution will be televised....

11.13.2007

BEAT MICHIGAN WEEK!

So it's Tuesday of beat michigan week (notice the lowercase m) and what are you planning to do today? If you are of like mind and love the Buckeyes, you'll want to do all you can to encourage our team to take the Big 10 title and the bid to the Rose Bowl.

Today's top five things you can do to show your spirit (for the ravenous buckeye).
  1. Paint your children's faces each day in scarlet and gray.
  2. Wear all of your Buckeye gear ALL WEEK.
  3. Annoy the person in the next cubicle by humming the fight song - ALL WEEK.
  4. Stand outside the stadium with a "Free Hugs for Buckeye Fans" sign.
  5. Give blood at the Beat Michigan Blood Drive.
Top five things you can do if you still have some sanity and regular business to conduct during the day.
  1. Wear one piece of Buckeye gear each day.
  2. Fly your Ohio State flag.
  3. Keep a single buckeye in your pocket or purse for a quick smile or tool of destruction (you know they're poisonous).
  4. Order an Appalachian State T on express shipping for Saturday.
  5. Give blood at the Beat Michigan Blood Drive.
Here's a list of fun things going on at the University today and tomorrow!

Buckeye Bonanza Sale and Raffle

-purchase a variety of OSU crafts handmade by students from Barrington Elementary School
Contact:
Shannon Peterson
speterson@mindspring.com

The Greatest Rivalry in Sports...in Concert!

Join the Columbus Symphony and OUAB for the best pep rally in town! Featuring the OSU Marching Band, Men's Glee Club, varsity cheerleaders playing fight songs and recaping all the times Michigan has fallen.
Contact:
Matt Suguitan
suguitan.1@osu.edu

Format Change!

OK. I admit it. I'm not on the in's and out's of the Columbus party scene. I don't hit the Short North often enough to know who the cool kids are and I don't rub elbows, often, with the elite of the Columbus political world.

What I do know about is being a parent in Columbus. Being a worker in Columbus. Being a Buckeye Fan and Ohio State Alumni in Columbus. So that's what I'm writing about. I resisted becoming a parent blogger because let's face it - there are a billion parents out there and everyone thinks their kids are hilarious, that they have unique insight and that everybody's interested in their every post about poop and carpooling.

My reality is that I work from home, have two kids and spend alot of time with other parents, buckeyes and alumni so shoot me. I just do not have the time, nor the true inclination to research the latest tapas bar to open. I rather write about the cool things that I come across in Columbus naturally.

I'm going to post as usual Monday, Wednesday and Friday - today's a bonus, count yourself as lucky :0) And let's see if we can't get a community going. I swear we won't go nuts, often, about the Bucks, I will keep the poop posts to a minimum and if I happen to rub an elbow or two - you'll know about it! So how was your Monday?

11.07.2007

Did you vote? Elections in Columbus come to a close.

Another election has come and gone. Mayor Coleman keeps his job along with several other Dems on city council. You do realize Coleman ran against someone right? Well to be fair, Todd did get 31% of the vote... It's not like he thought he'd win anyway.

Though Todd does have a base on which to stand and advocate for his pet issue - schools. Maybe he can live down that AWFUL crime/rape radio commercial. Where the hell did that come from anyway?

Another issue on the ballot that got approved was the Levy for seniors. This levy ensured that programs like Meals on Wheels continue so more good news.

On the bad news I never got picked or contacted regarding the poll worker position. Pity too, I would have ROCKED the vote. Sorry, I'm really into "Private Practice."

Did you vote? If not, why not?

11.02.2007

Apple's Slow Leopard Eats Entourage!

I feel like I'm waking up from my infatuation with Apple. After the Leopard Log In Debacle and the Apple Customer Service Caper I thought it would be pretty smooth sailing on the Apple love train. Sure I had read the issues with the firewall or lack there of and sure enough my firewall was not engaged upon upgrade, but I had decided to love my boyfriend Apple and Steve despite that. It was like an unsightly blemish that would be taken care of with a few patches.

Then as my system slowed to more of a turtle than a Leopard, I thought it was just me. Maybe I had done something wrong. Maybe I just needed to restart. I was leery of restarting when I had so much work to get through, so I suffered through Leopard slowing up every program I had going - Firefox, Entourage and Word. No games, no heavy graphics, just three of the base programs.

Every time I'd move from one program to the next I would get the spinning pinwheel of despair. This went on for two hours when I only had about an hour's worth of work to do. Finally at midnight I used my Entourage to send a project I had just finished. It took forever for the email to send and then I realized I had forgotten the attachment. I resent the email with the attachment and suddenly Entourage shut down!

Then it came back on as if I had just installed it and asked if I wanted to make it my default program - "Sure, maybe it's just a glitch," I thought hopefully. When Entourage asked me if I wanted to import my old contacts I really started to get worried and when it told me I had no old information I FREAKED OUT! Apple's Leopard had eaten my Entourage!

No editor contacts, no long lost friend emails, no saved "this is your registration information" emails, NOTHING. It was over. My boyfriend Apple had given me a line "this is it baby, you need me" just to get me into bed with him and Leopard and now he is acting like an ass and I'm confused and crying in the shower. Yes I dropped a tear or two. You know how it is when you find yourself banging away at search engines and support threads trying things that don't work and you realize you have to find help or drag your ass back to the store. I just never thought it would be the Apple store.

Am I still in love with Apple? Maybe, yeah, yeah I am. It's hard to let go of something that was so good. I just wish we could go back to Tiger when things were pretty sweet and Leopard hadn't come between us. I feel like I'm waking up from the honeymoon and realizing that my boyfriend Apple/Steve is just human, maybe more Clarke Kent than Superman. I'm hoping that Apple is just having some growing pains, rushing things because it feels it needs to live up to a certain bravado. I'm hoping that Apple isn't turning into a big fat jerk like that badboy Microsoft just because it finds itself the most popular kid in school.

So later on today I've got an appointment at the Apple store AGAIN and I hope they can find my lost info. If they can find old emails crooks have sent, surely they can find mine. If not, I think I may have them switch me back to Tiger. I'll consider myself a born-again Leopard virgin and wait until I'm really ready for it. Or should I say until it's really ready for me.

Anybody switchin' out there? Having any trouble?

11.01.2007

Apple's Leopard Trick *Update!

OK. So I am back typing from my MacBook Pro. Whoo hooo! I would love to say that I got the Leopard problem taken care of quickly, but I'd be lying.

I spent the morning on the phone with Apple Support. The helpful phone voice said I'd be on hold for 15 minutes or more. Not a good sign. I put the phone on speaker and bounced off to answer the door. Got to talking with a friend came back to a phone making that annoying, someone has hung up on you sound. Nice...

Called the back. My VoIP decides to drop the call or is it Apple? Conspiracy? Nah....

Finally, after a feeding and diaper change - my baby not me - got on the phone with a live person. I told him the Leopard log in issue, added that I know he's heard about it all weekend and he says, "OK. I'm going to have to research that."

Huh? Really? The problem that's been burning up the phone lines, causing the 15 minute or more wait is something that has to be researched? His research took another 10 minutes, I swear. I watched the minutes click down on my phone.

The Apple rep gets back on the phone and has me going through the fix I found online 3 hours previously. Didn't I just blog that I don't think I should have to type in commands into a system that costs as much as MAC's does?

Well that didn't go as planned. I was typing, he'd go "Wait, there was supposed to be a space after that slash." I'd sigh, do as I was told and it still didn't work. He escalated me to an Apple product specialist or was it a Leopard product specialist, I never found out because after waiting another 20 minutes I gave up.

Luckily my brain and my hubby's ancient PC was working long enough for me to make a reservation at the Apple store. I showed up for my appointment with the Geniuses or Geni at the Genius Bar and after two attempts they got me going by doing an archive and install. By this time my daughter's out of school and the baby's awake looking for a snack.

Heavy one hungry ladybug and one miniature Snow White (it's Halloween) I wait for the system to get ta workin.' And finally, about an hour after we got there, we walked out of the Apple Store. I'm happy, so happy to have my buddy back. I am disappointed with the experience though and discouraged that no one followed up on a tune up for my buddy simply because I haven't paid for the Apple Protection Plan. So the money and productivity I've lost doesn't mean to much to Apple I guess.

Steve, why so cold? I thought we had something. I hope Leopard's a whole lot better than Tiger, enough for the trouble, but right now I can't even play with it, I've got deadlines!